The ’Warp Heads for Baltimore Comic Con!

Posted on September 6, 2012 by Steven

The 2012 Baltimore Comic-Con is this weekend, and while comic book superstars like Stan Lee, Amanda Conner, and Scott Snyder may be among the guests of honor, StarWarp Concepts will be there, too—and that’s the really important thing, isn’t it?  😉

 


Artists Alley Table #A189 is The ’Warp’s home for the weekend, and where you’ll find me and my buddy Richard C. White—bestselling author of Gauntlet: Dark Legacy and contributor to the anthologies The Ultimate Hulk and Doctor Who: Short Trips: The Quality of Leadership. As always, just look for the Pandora Zwieback banner. On sale will be copies of Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1, Lorelei: Sects and the City (for you mature readers), The Bob Larkin Sketchbook, and the Official Pandora Zwieback T-shirt.

Not only that, but after raiding the SWC warehouse we discovered copies of Rich’s 2005 pirate fantasy comic, Chronicles of the Sea Dragon, so we’ll be selling that—and Sea Dragon T-shirts—as well. If you’re a fan of old-time swashbuckling and the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, this is the comic for you. And it’s a complete, done-in-one story—you couldn’t ask for a better introduction!

Baltimore Comic-Con’s show floor is open at the following times:

Saturday, September 8: 10:00 AM – 7:00 PM
Sunday, September 9: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

The Baltimore Convention Center is located at 1 West Pratt Street, Baltimore, Maryland. For more information, head over to the Baltimore Comic-Con Web site; just click here.

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StarWarp Concepts at Baltimore Comic-Con

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Steven

Press Release:

Independent publishing house StarWarp Concepts—home for edgy dark-urban-fantasy books and graphic novels—hits the road to make its first appearance at the popular Baltimore Comic-Con, being held September 8–9, 2012 at the Baltimore Convention Center.

Artists Alley table #A189 is where you’ll find bestselling author Steven A. Roman (X-Men: The Chaos Engine Trilogy) promoting The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, his young adult novel series about a teenaged Goth who teams up with an immortal shape-shifter named Annie to hunt monsters. Joining Roman will be author Richard C. White (Gauntlet: Dark Legacy, Star Trek: Echoes of Coventry), who will be promoting The Chronicles of the Sea Dragon, his pirate-fantasy comic book that’s perfect for fans of classic adventure and the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

On sale will be:

• Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1: The critically acclaimed first novel in the series finds Pan and Annie contending with warring vampire clans who attempt to unleash hell on earth.

• Lorelei: Sects and the City: Written by Roman and featuring art by Eliseu Gouveia (The Phantom), Steve Geiger (Web of Spider-Man), and Neil Vokes (The Black Forest), this Mature Readers graphic novel is about a succubus battling the members of a fanatical cult that’s trying to resurrect the Elder Gods they worship.

• The Bob Larkin Sketchbook: From Doc Savage and Batman to Star Wars and the X-Men, there’s little that this legendary painter hasn’t drawn, and this first-time collection of some of his detailed pencil work features pulp adventurers, wrestlers, femme fatales, and superheroes, and includes three new pieces done especially for this volume.

• The Official Pandora Zwieback T-shirt: Available in sizes for both women and men, it’s a full-color recreation of the T-shirt worn by Goth adventuress Pandora Zwieback on the cover of her first novel, Blood Feud.

• The Chronicles of the Sea Dragon comic book, as well as related T-shirts and roleplaying game figurines.

Attendees are encouraged to visit the Pandora Zwieback Web site (www.pandorazwieback.com) to download a free digital copy of The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0—a full-color, 16-page comic book written by Roman, with art by Eliseu Gouveia. In it, Pan introduces readers to her book series and presents a two-chapter sample from Blood Feud.

Baltimore Comic-Con’s hours are:
Saturday, September 8: 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Sunday, September 9: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

The Baltimore Convention Center is located at 1 West Pratt Street, Baltimore, Maryland. For more information on the show, visit.

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Critical Acclaim for Lorelei Breaks New Frontiers

Posted on August 30, 2012 by Steven

The succubus lovefest continues! At the comics news site Broken Frontier, reviewer Richard Boom gives his enthusiastic recommendation for our new Mature Readers graphic novel, Lorelei: Sects and the City:

“Personally I cannot wait for the well-deserved right response to come for the creative cast and the amazing and graphically entertaining character of Lorelei. Hopefully, this will warrant a new [original graphic novel].”

You can read the entire review by clicking here.

Lorelei: Sects and the City reintroduces The ’Warp’s first horror heroine, who made her comic book debut in 1993. Featuring a cover painting by comics legend Esteban Maroto, a script by bestselling author Steven A. Roman (that’s me!), and art by Eliseu Gouveia, Steve Geiger, and Neil Vokes, this adult-themed dark fantasy is perfect for old-school horror fans and admirers of fantastic “good girl” art.

Order your copy today through your favorite online bookstore or comic shop, or purchase one through the StarWarp Concepts webstore.

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Horror Fans Die Screaming for Lorelei

Posted on August 21, 2012 by Steven

Why, look—it’s the latest review of our new Mature Readers graphic novel Lorelei: Sects and the City! This time, reviewer Dan Cheek of the geek culture (and, yes, porn) site Die-Screaming gives his thoughts on Lori’s graphic novel debut:

“Lorelei: Sects and the City is a really fun and entertaining read. The art is solid, the story is full of lots of the things that make the horror genre so great, and the overall quality of the book is top notch.”

You can read the entire review by clicking here.

Lorelei: Sects and the City reintroduces The ’Warp’s first horror heroine, who made her comic book debut in 1993. Featuring a cover painting by comics legend Esteban Maroto, a script by bestselling author Steven A. Roman (that’s me!), and art by Eliseu Gouveia, Steve Geiger, and Neil Vokes, this adult-themed dark fantasy is perfect for old-school horror fans and admirers of fantastic “good girl” art.

Order your copy today through your favorite online bookstore or comic shop, or purchase one through the StarWarp Concepts webstore.

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Nerds Spread the Word About Lorelei

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Steven

Check it out—the first review of our new Mature Readers graphic novel Lorelei: Sects and the City is in! Here’s what reviewer Aida Jacobs (aka “Girly Geek”) of the comics news site Word of the Nerd had to say about our resident soul-stealer and her first graphic novel adventure:

“All in all, I have to say that this graphic novel was very well done. The art was wonderful, and the story itself (a major selling point for me with anything that I read) was entertaining and kept me happily reading until the end.”

You can read the entire review by clicking here.

Lorelei: Sects and the City reintroduces The ’Warp’s first horror heroine, who made her comic book debut in 1993. Featuring a cover painting by comics legend Esteban Maroto, a script by bestselling author Steven A. Roman (that’s me!), and art by Eliseu Gouveia, Steve Geiger, and Neil Vokes, this adult-themed dark fantasy is perfect for old-school horror fans and admirers of fantastic “good girl” art.

Order your copy today through your favorite online bookstore or comic shop, or purchase one through the StarWarp Concepts webstore.

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Visions of…?

Posted on August 14, 2012 by Steven

Y’know, that photo of singer Gwen Stefani on the May 2011 cover of Elle magazine is quite an eye-catcher—it sure got my attention when I stumbled across it last year—but I could swear I’d seen an outfit similar to hers somewhere, long before that issue was published. Gimme a minute; I’m sure it’ll come to me…

Oh, wait. Now I remember.  😉

 

 

 

Lorelei: Sects and the City is a Mature Readers graphic novel that reintroduces The ’Warp’s first horror heroine. Behind a cover painting by comics legend Esteban Maroto (Vampirella, Lady Rawhide, Zatanna: Come Together), you’ll find a script by me that pays homage to seventies horror comics and movies, and spectacular art by Eliseu Gouveia (Carmilla, A Princess of Mars), Steve Geiger (Web of Spider-Man, Power Man and Iron Fist), Neil Vokes (Flesh and Blood, The Black Forest), and Ernie Colon (Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld). Be sure to order your copy today.

Oh, and Gwen? You’re welcome.  😀

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Visions of Lorelei: Uriel Caton and Chuck Majewski

Posted on August 13, 2012 by Steven

Continuing Visions of Lorelei, an artistic celebration of the recent publication of Lorelei: Sects and the City, a Mature Readers graphic novel that reintroduces the soul-stealing succubus.

Today we reach the end of our 13-day event with a contribution penciled by Uriel Caton, artist of JSA Annual 2000, The Ex-Mutants, and The Outer Space Babes, and co-creator of The Saga of Pandora Zwieback (which sort of brings us full circle, since this artistic celebration was based on the similarly themed 13 Days of Pan-demonium, which you can still enjoy over at the Pandora Zwieback Web site).

Nineteen ninety-six found me in the midst of reviving the just-canceled original Lorelei series (which ran from 1993 to 1995), at new indie publishing house Power Comics. The publisher was a big fan of my writing and wanted to see Lori’s origin story pick up where I’d left off. We agreed on a two-pronged approach: he’d reprint the six SWC issues, starting with #1 (but skipping #0), while also releasing the unpublished seventh issue as the introductory Lorelei Returns! Special. That led to me suggesting we run a prologue in the special, during which Lori would introduce herself to new readers and tell The Story So Far. Now all we needed was someone to draw that intro…

Enter: Uriel Caton, with whom I’d worked on the first issue of Heartstopper: The Legend of La Bella Tenebrosa. I asked Uriel if he could pitch in, penciling four pages of Lori speaking directly to the reader, and ending with her changing into her costume to begin the story recap. Backing him up on inks would be “Chainsaw” Chuck Majewski, who’d been scheduled to work with artist Holly Golightly  on Heartstopper #3 before its cancellation.

Now, Uriel has always been talented when it comes to drawing pretty girls, but teamed up with Chuck’s inks, the results were even more stunning than I’d expected—as you can see here. It’s just too bad that a) the reproduction levels of the finished comic were crap, washing out most of Chuck’s details; and b) Power Comics folded up just after the special was published, which put a quick end to Lori’s triumphant return. Still, it’s a fantastic piece that finally gets the proper presentation it always deserved.

*   *   *

And so that’s it—13 amazing drawings by 14 supertalented artists. I hope you enjoyed seeing them, and learning about their backgrounds. Now all that’s left is for you to order your own copy of Lorelei: Sects and the City—“Visions of Lorelei” is a sales-promotion gimmick, after all—so you can read Lori’s first complete graphic novel adventure.

Lorelei: Sects and the City features a cover painting by Esteban Maroto (Zatanna), a script by me, art by Eliseu Gouveia (The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0), Steve Geiger (Web of Spider-Man), Neil Vokes (Fright Night), and Ernie Colon (Vlad the Impaler), and pin-ups by Louis Small Jr. (Vampirella). It’s old-school horror, where the monsters are scary, the villains are wicked, and the women (even the evil ones) are stunningly beautiful. Order it today!

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Visions of Lorelei: Mark Beachum

Posted on August 12, 2012 by Steven

Continuing Visions of Lorelei, a 13-part artistic event that celebrates the recent publication of Lorelei: Sects and the City, a Mature Readers graphic novel that reintroduces the soul-stealing succubus.

Today we feature the talents of Mark Beachum, whose work in adult comics has made him a much-sought-after artist. Back when this piece was done, however, he was just making news as the latest artist to take over one of Marvel Comics’ bestselling series, Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man. His lithe, loose-limbed web-slinger—then sporting the all-black, alien symbiote costume that later became the super-villain Venom (long story)—brought a dynamic, indie quality to what was a typical superhero comic, but it was his women that were the title’s real draw (pardon the pun). Every one of them had supermodel looks, even the mousy girl in the downstairs apartment, and every one of them didn’t so much as stand or sit but pose like they were working a runway. Mary-Jane Watson hadn’t looked so good in years!  😉

Anyway, I was making my way through the artist-alley crowds at another New York convention and as I was passing an empty table a guy arrived and started setting up house. I stopped as he opened his portfolio and placed it on the table.

“Are you Mark Beachum?” I asked. (Stupid question; it was pretty obvious he was.) He said yes. “I didn’t see you on the artist list.” Otherwise, y’know, I would’ve added him to mine.

“I wasn’t supposed to be here, but Mike Bair [another artist] talked me into it.”

“Are you . . . doing any sketches?”

“Sure. What’d you have in mind?”

I showed him my Lorelei minicomic (yes, the one with the Tom Sutton cover—it got a lot of use back then). He said to come back in an hour, which I did—and was blown away by a version of Lori presented in a fashion-sketch style. With ink washes, yet!

Was that worth the wait, or what?

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Visions of Lorelei: Bill Ward

Posted on August 11, 2012 by Steven

Continuing Visions of Lorelei, a 13-part artistic event that celebrates the recent publication of Lorelei: Sects and the City, a Mature Readers graphic novel that reintroduces the soul-stealing succubus.

A bit of an odd story to go with this one.

In 1991, I’d just published my second Lorelei digest-sized comic, this one with a cover by Ghost Rider, Werewolf by Night, and first Vampirella artist Tom Sutton (from whom I’d bought original Ghost Rider pages and a commissioned Vampi sketch). I was so thrilled to see a real, professional artist interpret Lorelei that I wanted to see what others might do (this was before Dave Simons drew my first-ever Lori convention sketch).

(Note: That Sutton drawing now appears as the frontispiece of Lorelei: Sects and the City.)

Well, one day I go into a local newspaper vendor and as I’m paying for the latest Fangoria, my eye drifts down to the wooden board stretched along the bottom of the sales counter, where the owner stacked the daily newspapers—as well as the cheap, newsprint porn mags. I don’t remember the name of the rag, but what had caught my eye was the bondage art on the front page, featuring women with overly glossy lips and huge boobs. I know that style, I thought, and picked it up. The artist’s signature at the bottom of the piece clued me in.

Bill Ward.

Wait—the same Bill Ward who created the forties “good girl” comic character Torchy? The one who drew the Nanny Dickering comic strips for Cracked magazine? He was doing porn comics, now? Holy crap. That seemed . . . unusual for somebody with his talent.

(Then again, maybe not so unusual. By the time I got around to approaching Sutton about working on the relaunched Lorelei series, he’d spent years doing porn titles for Eros Comix, under the name Dementia. When I asked him for recent art samples . . . well, that was sure an eye-opener!)

Just as surprising was that, right below the editorial information on page 2, there was an ad offering Ward’s services for commissions—with his home address listed! So of course I contacted him.  😀

I think he was surprised I was requesting a non-porn image—I mean, look at where I found his contact info—but once I showed him Sutton’s cover for the Lorelei mini he said he’d be happy to do a drawing for my collection. Imagine my surprise when I opened the package and found a fantastic painting on 11×17 art paper—done for the same price you’d have to pay a lot of mainstream artists for a convention sketch.

And of course, it being a Ward piece, Lori became the recipient of a generous grant from the Chest Fairy Endowment Fund.  😀  Well, what would you expect from Torchy’s creator?

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Visions of Lorelei: Gray Morrow

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Steven

Continuing Visions of Lorelei, a 13-part artistic event that celebrates the recent publication of Lorelei: Sects and the City, a Mature Readers graphic novel that reintroduces the soul-stealing succubus.

This is a very special piece.  And yes, there’s a story to go with it.

During my talks with Frank Thorne about his cover art for Lorelei, Vol. 2 #2 (see yesterday’s Vision for that illustration), I mentioned my dissatisfaction with current artists whose styles were all flash and no substance, and who’d apparently never taken an anatomy lesson. I preferred old-school artists like Thorne and Tom Sutton and Ernie Colon—artists whose work I’d grown up idolizing. I wanted to feature them in the new Lorelei, to remind comic fans of what good art was. Then Thorne asked:

“Have you spoken to Gray Morrow?”

Spoken to him? I hadn’t even considered him! (Not to mention I had no idea how to get ahold of him.)

“Well, here’s his number,” Thorne said. “Give him a call. I think this is something he’d be interested in.”

So I called. And Morrow was interested. Mainstream publishers had turned their backs on artists of his generation, but here was some small-press guy telling him he was exactly what he was looking for. That couldn’t be right, could it?

“Do you mind if I ask you something?” He wanted to know why I’d be interested in hiring someone like him. He wasn’t one of those flashy artists.

I told him the same thing I’d told Thorne: about my dislike of flashy styles, of wanting to remind people what good comics art looked like, of wanting to show my appreciation to the people whose work I’d admired.

There was absolute silence on the other end. Then:

“Thank you.” It was humble and heartfelt, and I could almost see him smiling.

What followed were a half-dozen sketches; when I suggested combining elements of them, Gray got right to work and provided the finished art in no time at all—hating the design of Lori every step of the way.  😀  (“There’s too much hair! That blouse is ridiculous—and so is that collar! It’s all too busy!”)

The most amazing part? He was suffering through the late stages of Parkinson’s Disease, his drawing hand shaking so badly some days that he had to use both hands to do his work. You’d never know it from this illustration.

Although we discussed the possibility of further projects, I never got to work with Gray again—he died in November 2001—but I’ll always appreciate the time and effort he put in to making Lori look her best.

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