ZOMBIE-PROOF #2 Cover B (and other news)

Billy Tucci and Adam Bray really kicked it on the variant cover for Zombie-Proof #2. I'm really thrilled with it. Billy, Vincent Spencer and I will be at the Big Apple Con's "The National" show in New York City on November 16-18, 2007.

It ought to be great, particularly since we've added Well-Defined Productions' Cruise Director Michael A. Solof (you might know him as the Scoop convention photographer or the Bendis stalker immortalized in the first ever "all stalker" letters column in Powers #9) to our roster. Mike loves Zombie-Proof and he'll make you love it, too!

The Black Forest co-writer and Frankenstein and Me writer-director Robert Tinnell, The Wicked West co-writer and So, You've Downloaded a Demon writer-director Todd Livington, I Have Never Forgotten You: The Life & Legacy of Simon Wiesenthal co-producer Carey Ann Strelecki, and Geppi's Entertainment Museum curator and Zombie-Mania: 80 Movies to Die For co-author Dr. Arnold T. Blumberg have all contributed character and atmospheric blog entries to Zombie-Proof #2.

This issue will be on sale mid-November!

Zombie-Mania on Scoop

In addition to our own Zombie-Proof, we're big fans of the zombie genre, at least the good stuff. Helping you sort out the good undead from the plain old undead is Zombie-Mania - 80 Movies to Die For.

Zombie-Mania is written by Geppi's Entertainment Museum curator Dr. Arnold T. Blumberg and registrar Andy Hershberger and I talked with them for this Scoop interview a few weeks ago. Arnold also contributed one of the blogs posted in Zombie-Proof #2, as you'll see in a separate post.

I'd definitely like to recommend the book to anyone into the genre, and I hope you'll read the interview.

More DEAD INSPECTOR Developments

Filip is cranking out some sweet stuff for Dead Inspector. Take a look!

ZOMBIE-PROOF #2 Cover A

Vincent "Vinvent" Spencer's amazing cover to Zombie-Proof #2, on sale in November. Don't miss Vince, me or alternate cover artist Billy Tucci at the November 16-18, 2007 Big Apple Con in New York.

New DEAD INSPECTOR Sketches

Filip Sablik, Top Cow Productions' marketing supremo, is one of the good guys in this business. As many of you know, he's a talented artist, and he's also my partner on Dead Inspector, something we've been slowly developing for quite some time now. He frequently has new sketches from this project up on his blog, which you should definitely check out.

Billy Tucci meets ZOMBIE-PROOF!

If you've read his "Hellion for Hire" column on Newsarama or talked with him at shows (or, alternately, listened to my voice mail without my knowledge), you know that Shi creator and Sgt. Rock writer-aritst Billy Tucci had his own hand in the development of Billy Bob Driwahl, the star of Zombie-Proof. Now he's finally done his long-awaited cover. Here it is, colored by Adam Bray. Look for it on sale in November!

ANTIQUES On Sale Now

Finally! Antiques: The Comic Strip - Volume One is ready to roll. The finished product is beautiful and it's on sale now! Take a look at the complete story in this cool 80-page hard cover edition (with dust jacket) for just $14.95. Both the Fraim brothers and I are extremely happy with the book and we think you will be too. Give it a whirl! Either ask your comic shop to order it or visit the site and order online.

Writing the Ghost Who Walks

I had a great email conversation with Mike Bullock, the talented scribe of Moonstone's The Phantom. It was featured in Scoop's Main Event section. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Mike has been doing some amazing stuff with the character!

Sgt. Rock in Suburbia with Billy Tucci?

Billy Tucci, for whom I frequently write or co-write Shi, was announced at the Baltimore Comic-Con as the new writer-artist on DC's Sgt. Rock. It's going to be awesome. It features what some of us who know him think is his best art ever. He's had a couple of photo shoots that I am sure confused his neighbors... ace Scoop photographer and Well-Defined Productions cruise director Mike Solof was even in one of them.

Here's links to two pieces on Scoop about it:

Sgt. Rock in Suburbia

Sgt. Rock: Billy Tucci and the Lost Batallion

ZOMBIE-PROOF #2

Zombie-Proof #2
SEP073857
For 20 years, people thought locksmith Billy Bob Driwahl was at least a little crazybecause he offered the rather unusual service of "zombie-proofing" in his Yellow Pages ad. Now that the world's being overrun by zombies, things have changed. But how did he know beforehand?

It's Billy Bob and Rufus vs. the Mayor's idiot henchmen and a hoard of undead as the zombie crisis reaches San Rosina in full force. Can Billy Bob persuade his fellow citizens to zombie-proof their homes?

Ships with 50/50 covers, one by Zombie-Proof artist Vincent "Vinvent" Spencer and one by Zombie-Sama creator and newly announced Sgt. Rock artist Billy Tucci.

You can find Zombie-Proof #2 in the September 2007 PREVIEWS from Diamond Comic Distributors, DCD item code SEP073857, Page327 under MOONSTONE.

Cory Doctor Futuristic Tales Order Info

Cory Doctorow's Futuristic Tales of the Here and Now #2
IDW Publishing
Written by JCV, illustrated by Daniel Warner, cover by the ultra-cool Scott Morse. It's on Page 314 in the September 2007 PREVIEWS from Diamond Comic Distributors. The short story I adapted is "When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth." It's pretty cool.

Other JCV Projects

Here are the Diamond Comic Distributors item codes for my other projects:

Antiques: The Comic Strip (Vol. 1) JUL073588
Zombie-Proof #1 JUL073732
24: Nightfall TPB JUN073692
24 TPB JUL058364
Shi: Ju-Nen TPB OCT050019

CORY DOCTOROW’S FUTURISTIC TALES OF THE HERE AND NOW #2

Written by J.C. Vaughn, illustrated by Daniel Warner, and with a cover by Scott Morse, IDW Publishing continues to bring the stories of acclaimed science-fiction author Cory Doctorow with "When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth" that asks the question of who will keep the computers online when the end of the world comes? Winner of the Locus Award for best novelette of 2006. FC, $3.99, 32 pages, it's on Page 314 of the September 2007 PREVIEWS.

Since this is my first time adapting someone else's work, it was a very interesting experience to able to concentrate on the craft of writing the comic while staying faithful to Cory Doctorow's original short story. Additionally, it's a huge bonus for me to have a Scott Morse cover. Of his many impressive works, I liked his arc on Casefiles: Sam & Twitch best, but just about anything he's done has been worth checking out. I was on a panel with him before and he seemed as nice as he is talented.

ZOMBIE-PROOF #1 Exclusive for BALTIMORE COMIC-CON

From Moonstone Books, the exclusive Baltimore Comic-Con Edition of ZOMBIE-PROOF #1!

For 20 years, the denizens of San Rosina, Texas have thought locksmith Billy Bob Driwahl was at least a little crazy because he offered “zombie-proofing” in his Yellow Pages ad. Now that the world’s being overrun by zombies, though, he’s ready for them… but how did he know beforehand?

Zombie-Proof’s creators, J.C. Vaughn and Vincent Spencer, and cover artist Neil Vokes (The Black Forest) will be at this year’s show. The Zombie-Proof #1 Baltimore Comic-Con Edition is limited to 500 copies.

24: Nightfall Trade Paperback on Sale This Week

On sale Wednesday, August 8, 2007, is the new trade paperback from IDW Publishing, 24: Nightfall. It collects the prequel mini-series to the hit Fox show. It's written by me with Mark L. Haynes and illustrated by Jean Diaz.

Zombie-Proof #1 Off to the Printer

Here's the final versions of the covers. The book is set to debut at the Baltimore Comic-Con, September 8-9, 2007. Here's a look at the covers, provided by the fine folks at Moonstone Books. And there's one more announcement regarding this issue coming soon!

Cory Doctorow’s Futuristic Tales of the Here and Now

A very interesting mini-series from IDW Publishing, Cory Doctorow’s Futuristic Tales of the Here and Now includes one issue written by me, with a cover by the incredible Scott Morse. My pal, Jim Kuhoric, also wrote an issue of the series.

Happy Fourth of July!

ZOMBIE-PROOF #1 in PREVIEWS

Zombie-Proof #1 is featured in the July 2007 PREVIEWS from Diamond Comic Distributors. It received a "Staff Pick" (on Page 264) and a "Spotlight" (Page 325) in this issue. It's listed under Moonstone, due on sale in September, and planned to debut at the Baltimore Comic-Con, September 8-9, 2007.

Recent coverage includes the following outlets offering the comic:

Comicbooknews.us

Comicscontinuum.com

Paragon Comics

Major Spoilers

Westfield Comics

If you're a retailer offering Zombie-Proof #1, please send me a link and we'll post it here, too!

ANTIQUES Gets Collected

Antiques: The Comic Strip - Volume 1 is in now featured in the July 2007 PREVIEWS from Diamond Comic Distributors, listed on Page 304 under Gemstone Publishing in the Comics section.

It's an 80-page hardcover with dust jacket the collects the complete first story from this Harvey Award-nominated strip.

Here's the story:

The death of billionaire Jackson Reynolds throws his impossibly high-grade collection of pop culture artifacts into most comprehensive auction the world has ever seen and attracts competitors from around the globe, including a colorful cast of interested parties who are not what they seem…

Packed with real life guest starts and cameos from the world of collecting – including legendary Spider-Man, X-Men and Fantastic Four creator Stan Lee – Antiques introduces readers to Reginald Winston and William Winston. The last members of a once-proud transatlantic family, other than blood they have three things in common. First, they’re both antiques dealers. Reginald is a fine antiques dealer in London; William is a junk dealer in Chicago. Second, they don’t speak. Third, they’ve each got a secret.

Then comes Suzie Magee, the beautiful expert hired to supervise the mammoth security concerns of the auction. Once they meet her, they suddenly have another thing in common.

Beginning in June 2006, Antiques: The Comic Strip ran weekly in Antique Trader, the 50-year-old grandfather of weekly antiquing publications in the U.S. Each week, readers got a dose of the behind-the-scenes action at the mythical largest auction ever held.

This hardcover edition also comes with plenty of extras including the non-continuity Christmas and New Year’s strips, a character key and index, a step-by-step guide to the one character who keeps appearing in disguise throughout the story, the exclusive strip that appeared only in the Baltimore Comic-Con 2006 program book, and even one strip that has never previously appeared.

The book should be available at your local comic shop. You find the nearest comic shop by using the free Comic Shop Locator Service, or you can order directly from Gemstone Publishing (free shipping until 8/31/07).

The official debut of the book is set for Septmeber 8-9, 2007 at the Baltimore Comic-Con, and it's scheduled to go on sale no later than September 15, 2007.

Here are some of the outlets covering Antiques or offering the collection:
Wizard Universe
Baker's Dozen
Scoop (about the release)
Scoop (about the Stan Lee strip)
Toy Collector Magazine (see full TCM post below)
Comicon.com
Harvey Awards
CGC eNewsletter

If your store is offering the book, send me a link and I'll post it here!