VAMPIRE, PA #3 COVERS - First Look!

Vampire, PA #3 cover A by Brendon Fraim, Brian Fraim and Mark Wheatley, and Vampire, PA #3 cover B (wraparound) by Jacob Jordan.

BEDTIME STORIES FOR IMPRESSIONABLE CHILDREN

Sometimes a good idea just won't die. Of course it sort of helps when it's undead to start with.

To say that Bedtime Stories For Impressionable Children has been percolating for a long time would be something of an understatement. I had read Creepy and Eerie, of course, but years and years before I got to work on The EC Archives, even before I discovered Bruce Jones' Twisted Tales, the first screenplay I tried to write while I was still in high school was Bedtime Stories For Impressionable Children.

Sometimes, as was the case with Antiques: The Comic Strip, you just don't know enough to do a good job writing a project when it first hits you. Then later -- sometimes much later -- how to actually do it hits you suddenly. That's the case with this one.

I was having lunch with James Kuhoric, my good friend and the only comic book writer who has made Army of Darkness really come alive (so to speak) for me (he's also the creator of the great Dead Irons and Legendary Talespinners). We weren't even talking about horror anthologies are first, but then (with a nod to Ross Richie and company) ... BOOM!

A couple of minutes later we had the whole first issue figured out.

That same night I had dinner with two other good friends, photographer Michael Solof and multi-media artist Mark Wheatley (creator of, among other things, Vertigo's Breathtaker and the recent graphic novel EZ Street). We talked it over, and it really got rolling.

I wrote up a quick proposal about the one-shot (we're ready to do more if it's a success), sat on it a few days, good some feedback, and then sent it off to Joe Gentile and our friends at Moonstone.

The result will be a 32-page comic book of horror tales by the aforementioned creators along with one by writer-director Robert Tinnell (The Black Forest, The Wicked West). It should be fun, and I already have a lot of other really talented friends ready to roll if people like this one.

We've already started a Facebook page on it, so check it out.

More to follow.

CREEPY ARCHIVES - Volume 6

Due out in July 2010 from Dark Horse Comics, Creepy Archives - Volume 6 is a great collection. It features the material from Creepy #26-32 (not including the stories reprinted in previous volumes of this series, all of which I recommend heartily). The bulk of the art is by Ernie Colon and Tony Williamsune, but there's also work by Reed Crandall, Tom Sutton, Angelo Torres and one really interesting collaboration between Harlan Ellison and Neal Adams. It also has an introduction by yours truly.

VPA: BRENDON & BRIAN FRAIM INTERVIEW

Dinosaurs For Hire creator, TV scribe, and all-around writer-guy Tom Mason has interviews Vampire, PA artists Brendon and Brian Fraim about their work on the series on the Comix 411 site. Check it out!

JCV INTERVIEW on ComicMonsters.com

A very nice interview about Vampire, PA is now posted on a great site, ComicMonsters.com. Check it out!

VAMPIRE, PA #1 Eight-Page Preview

VAMPIRE, PA #1 (of 3)
J.C. Vaughn, Brendon Fraim, Brian Fraim

Vampires in suburbia? Dean Marklin didn’t think so. In fact, he didn’t believe in vampires at all. Then he met one. Then he met lots more, and they all wanted to kill him! Now he’s a vampire hunter, and he’s pursued by a beautiful vampire while he tries to hold onto what’s left of normal life. How do you think that’s working out for him?

From the writer of Zombie-Proof comes this trip to Western Pennsylvania’s oddly vampire-rich environment.

Cover A by Mark Wheatley. Cover B by Jacob Jordan.

VAMPIRE, PA #1 will be listed in the April 2010 PREVIEWS from Diamond Comic Distributors under MOONSTONE BOOKS and is set to go on sale in June!

The three-issue, bimonthly mini-series is based on my short story "Vampire Hunter Dean," which appears in the prose anthology Vampires: Dracula And The Undead Legions, also from Moonstone Books, and which is on sale now.

BRENDON and BRIAN FRAIM are the artists on the series. In addition to working previously on Antiques: The Comic Strip, they have also done The Odd Squad from Devil’s Due Publishing and America, Jr. from Image Comics, and other cool stuff.

The mini-series is being colored by multiple award-winning creator MARK WHEATLEY, the driving force behind such projects as Breathtaker, Blood of the Innocent, Mars, EZ Street, Lone Justice, Radical Dreamer, and more.

My previous credits include Moonstone’s mini-hit in 2007 Zombie-Proof, the adventures of Jack Bauer in 24 from IDW Publishing (based on the Fox series), Billy Tucci’s Shi from Crusade, Avatar and Dark Horse, and other stories. I’m also the Associate Publisher of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide and the writer of Gemstone’s Free Comic Book Day entry, The Overstreet Guide To Collecting Comics.

This issue features 32 pages of story and art! Vampire, PA #2 and #3 will feature a Zombie-Proof back-up story (and at least 28 pages of story and art each) leading into the upcoming new one-shot, Zombie-Proof: Zombie Zoo.

VAMPIRE, PA #2 COVER

Vampire, PA#2 (Cover A) by Brendon and Brian Fraim. Not only is it the second issue of our three-issue mini-series from Moonstone Books, it also touts the return of Zombie-Proof in the form of a back-up feature by Vincent Spencer and me.

Updates: The art for the lead story for Vampire, PA #2 is already being colored and lettered. The back-up story is being drawn. I'm at work on the script for the lead story in #3. There are two Zombie-Proof back-ups in that one. The script for one is already finished, and the art for the second is done. So, things are progressing nicely.

Vampire, PA #2 will be in the June 2010 Previews from Diamond Comic Distributors. It will be on sale in August 2010. More to come...soon!

FIVE MORE PAGES from VAMPIRE, PA #1

DARWYN COOKE'S OVERSTREET COVER

Another of the cool things about my job is having friends like Jimmy Palmiotti, writer-editor-inker-artist and all-around cool guy. So last year, right after The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide #39 came out, Jimmy called me.

"Darwyn wants to do an Overstreet cover for you," he said. I did not ask "Darwyn who?"

Not a phone call an editor is likely to forget, right?

Known for his fluid art style and highly respected storytelling skills, Darwyn Cooke won an Eisner Award for Best Limited Series and a Joe Shuster Award for Outstanding Canadian Comic Book Cartoonist for his work on DC: The New Frontier.

In 2009, he won further acclaim (and a very impressive amount of mainstream media coverage) for his graphic novel adaptation of the classic Donald Westlake – Richard Stark novel The Hunter, featuring the character Parker. The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and Entertainment Weekly were just a few of the outlets to recognize his efforts.

If you haven't checked out The Hunter and you like crime comics, what the heck are you waiting for? If you haven't read DC: The New Frontier, and you like Silver Age comics, likewise, get with it!

In the meantime, make sure you order either this or Mark Chiarello's great Batman cover on The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide #40, due out this July and in PREVIEWS right now.

VAMPIRE, PA #1 in April PREVIEWS

Vampire, PA #1 (of 3)
J.C. Vaughn, Brendon Fraim, Brian Fraim

Vampires in suburbia? Dean Marklin didn’t think so. In fact, he didn’t believe in vampires at all. Then he met one. Then he met lots more, and they all wanted to kill him! Now he’s a vampire hunter, and he’s pursued by a beautiful vampire while he tries to hold onto what’s left of normal life. How do you think that’s working out for him? From the writer of Zombie-Proof comes this trip to Western Pennsylvania’s oddly vampire-rich environment. Cover A by Mark Wheatley. Cover B by Jacob Jordan.

VAMPIRE, PA #1 will be listed in the April 2010 PREVIEWS from Diamond Comic Distributors under MOONSTONE BOOKS and is set to go on sale in June!

It's based on my short story "Vampire Hunter Dean," which appears in the prose anthology VAMPIRES: DRACULA AND THE UNDEAD LEGIONS, also from Moonstone, and which is on sale now.

BRENDON and BRIAN FRAIM are the artists on the series. In addition to working with me previously on Antiques: The Comic Strip, the have also done The Odd Squad, America, Jr., and other cool stuff.

The mini-series is being colored by multiple award-winning creator MARK WHEATLEY, the driving force behind such projects as Breathtaker, Blood of the Innocent, Mars, EZ Street, Lone Justice, Radical Dreamer, and more.

VAMPIRE, PA #1 Five-Page Preview