Neal Adams (l.) and friend and fellow artist Bob Larkin reminisce at The National comic con, in 2004. Photo by Steve Roman.
The comics industry was stunned last Friday upon hearing the news that comic-art legend Neal Adams had passed away on April 28th, at the age of 80.
Adams, if you’re unaware, was one of the most influential creators in the business—not just the artist who revitalized characters like DC’s Batman, Superman, Deadman, and Green Lantern and Marvel’s X-Men and Avengers in the 1970s, but he was also an outspoken advocate of comic creators’ rights, most famously in the way he forced DC Comics to not just publicly acknowledge that one of their biggest cash cows, Superman, was the creation of writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster but also get them to agree to provide Siegel and Shuster with pensions derived from all those millions and millions of dollars Superman had made for the company since his debut in 1938. And he’d remained active as a writer/artist in the years that followed, his final projects involving his return to Batman, the character he was probably most known for.
I only got to speak with the esteemed Mr. Adams once, but it’s a moment that’s always stuck with me, in a humorous way. Let’s turn back the clock…
It was sometime in 1993 that I dropped by the offices of Adams’s Continuity Studios in midtown Manhattan, at the invitation of Louis Small Jr., the artist who’d helped Harris Comics relaunch Vampirella that year with a sold-out, multiprinted run of the first issue, and who’d also helped StarWarp Concepts enter the full-size-comic publishing market by providing the cover art for Lorelei issues 1 and 2. Louis had joined Continuity after a temporary breakup with Harris, and was penciling what would turn out to be Ms. Mystic: Deathwatch 2000 #3, starring the catsuit-clad environmental witch who was an Adams creation and Continuity’s best-known character.
I meet Louis at the reception desk and he asks me to wait in the company meeting room while he finishes up work on the page he was penciling, so I went in and took a seat. A few minutes later, into the room steps Neal Adams. He stares at me for a moment, appearing confused by my presence there.
“Oh…hello,” I say. I couldn’t think of anything pithier.
“Are you here looking for work?” he asks.
“Uhh…no,” I say.
Adams nods. “Good.”
And he leaves.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, was my one personal encounter with comic-art legend Neal Adams. Not the greatest experience, but certainly a memorable one, if I’m repeating it almost 20 years later!
Rest in Peace, Mr. Adams. After all the good you’ve done for the comics industry, you’ve certainly earned it.
Happy Independent Bookstore Day, owners of indie bookshops around the world! Are you interested in adding StarWarp Concepts titles to your shelves? Given the quality of our releases, of course you are! Well, here’s how you can do it!
SWC’s in-print titles (as opposed to our e-book exclusives) are all print-on-demand releases available through our distributor, Ingram Book Group—and POD means they’re never out of print, so they’re always ready to appear on your shelves!
Our ever-growing list of titles ranges from the young-adult thrills of supernatural heroine Pandora Zwieback and the Lovecraftian chills of the graphic novel Lorelei: Sects and the City to the nonfiction books Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination (perfect for writers and RPG game masters) and From the Stars…a Vampiress: An Unauthorized Guide to Vampirella’s Classic Horror Adventures, and from the Illustrated Classics A Princess of Mars and Carmilla to the swashbuckling adventure of the fantasies Harbinger of Darkness and For a Few Gold Pieces More. StarWarp Concepts has a book sure to appeal to your customer base!
And our titles are critically acclaimed, with enthusiastically positive responses from reviewers:
“Far and away one of the best young adult supernatural fantasy novels in recent years. Pan is exactly the kind of teen heroine that readers should be standing up and cheering for.”—HorrorNews.net on Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1
“This is without a doubt the essential, authoritative reference book for anything related to the Warren-era Vampirella. There are lots of books out there with good information, but none offers such a broad, all-encompassing look at the history of this character.”—Vampirella of Drakulon (news blog) on From the Stars…a Vampiress: An Unauthorized Guide to Vampirella’s Classic Horror Adventures
“A solid introduction to the subject of world building. The book succeeds in helping the aspiring writer in creating a skeletal framework on which to hang the moving parts required of a believable fictional setting.”—The Gaming Gang on Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination
“A satisfying romp and one that feels like it would have made an excellent seventies horror film (especially one made by Hammer). The story is funny at times, graphic at times, and horrific at others, and it’s always delivering its stuff at full volume.”—Strange Amusements on Lorelei: Sects and the City
“A visceral adventure through a world of magic with well-developed characters, dynamic dialogue and a good dose of two-handed sword fights.”—Experience Writing on Harbinger of Darkness
“With a cover that looks like it belongs on the paranormal romance shelf in a bookstore and half a dozen illustrations provided by Eliseu Gouveia, this edition stands a good chance of tempting some younger readers to pick up this classic vampire tale. I wish I’d picked this book up in seventh grade instead of slogging through Dracula.”—The Gothic Library on Carmilla
Take a look at our backlist to see what we offer, and thencall Ingram Books at (800) 937-0152 if you don’t already have an account with them. If your store is outside the United States, call (615) 213-5000.
After all, why should Amazon have all the business—and the fun?
What a great time it is to be a fan of superheroes! Spider-Man: No Way Home and The Batman set box office records, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness opens next week, Moon Knight is nearing the end of its six-episode run on Disney+, The Batman 2 was just greenlit yesterday, on the very same day that Advent Comics started the relaunch of The Formidables comic series I edited for creator/writer/artist Chris Malgrain—and today is National Superhero Day!
According to a number of websites, National Superhero Day “was created in 1995 by employees of Marvel Comics, who sent a team of interns out in central Pennsylvania to hear what the public thought about superheroes and what super powers they’d most want to have. Today, the day is about honoring all the superheroes in our lives, both the fictional and the real-life heroes who give their all every day.”
It sounds like an apocryphal story (Why would Marvel send out interns to do a poll? Why only central PA and not the entire United States?), but in a country that celebrates National Chocolate Custard Day (that’s May 3, in case you were wondering—mark it on your calendar!) it shouldn’t be all that surprising that even a probably made-up story can get its own holiday.
Still, it’s superheroes we’re talking about, and if you’re looking for some around these parts, we have a couple of titles you might be interested in:
Troubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings is a general readers’ graphic novel about a group of supernatural-superheroes-for-hire taking on their first case. The team consists of a wizard, a female ninja, a sorceress, a werewolf, and a rock ’n’ roll lighting designer wearing high-tech armor. Sure, they might not be on a power level with the Avengers or Justice League, but they get the job done. (However, they have been compared to the JL’s supernatural offshoot, Justice League Dark and Hellboy’s Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, although TSI predates both organizations.) The graphic novel is written by Richard C. White (The Chronicles of the Sea Dragon Special) and his wife, Joni M. White, and illustrated by Reggie Golden and Randy Zimmerman, and features cover art by Richard Dominguez (El Gato Negro).
And Heroines & Heroes is a collection of comic stories and pinups all drawn by me, dating back to my days in the early 1990s small-press movement—that age of dinosaurs in which creators like me used to make our comics by printing them out on photocopiers and then stapling them by hand. In H&H you’ll find mainstream heroes and small-press heroines, and even a couple of anthropomorphic bikers. Leading off is “V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N (in the Summertime),” a three-page Wonder Woman vs. Harley Quinn story that I wrote and drew in the late ’90s as a sample for a DC Comics editor who thought I’d be a good fit for their Batman: The Animated Series comic (it didn’t work out). It’s followed by an adventure of small-presser Jeff Wood’s rabbit-eared superspy, Snowbuni; three pages from the long-canceled anthropomorphic indie comic Motorbike Puppies; and an adventure of the indie superheroine The Blonde Avenger.
Troubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings is available in print and digital formats; Heroines and Heroes is a free digital exclusive. Visit their respective product pages for ordering information, as well as sample pages.
Third time’s the charm? Well, that seems to be the case for the superhero comic series called The Formidables—a series that I was involved with as editor—because its first issue hits comic shops today, courtesy of Advent Comics!
A bit of history, first: Originally self-published digitally by creator/writer/artist Chris Malgrain through his Oniric Comics company, its print rights were picked up by Red Anvil Comics in 2017. However, when that arrangement didn’t work out, Chris elected to go back to self-publishing, in print this time, and so he relaunched the series with a reprint of issue 1 and continued on through last year’s series finale in issue 8 (I scripted issue 5, BTW).
But now the Formidables have returned to comic shelves via the Unbound Realms imprint of indie publishing house Advent Comics, with The Formidables #1 (version 3) on sale right now. Apparently the series is on a quarterly publishing schedule, considering issue 2 has been solicited for July 2022 release.
The Formidables are a quintet of superheroes battling evil and bigotry in 1950s America, with their first challenge coming in the form of a Communist super-villain…who’s disguised as a white supremacist! It’s a unique take on the genre, with Chris examining topics like race relations and sexual identity in a Cold War setting, but there’s also an old-school Marvel vibe to the proceedings with an appropriate amount of punching and explosions mixed in, of course—we aretalking superhero comics, after all!
So if you missed it before, then face front, true believer (again!), and head on down to your local comic shop to pick up The Formidables #1!
This coming weekend, science fiction fans from far and wide will be gathering for RavenCon, being held at the Virginia Crossings Tapestry Collection hotel in Glen Allen, Virginia. And among the exhibitors will be fantasy and sci-fi author Richard C. White, who’ll be there to promote his many projects—including his StarWarp Concepts titles, of course!
If you’re attending the show, be sure to purchase books directly from Rich, who’ll be selling copies of his fantasy adventure novel Harbinger of Darkness, his fantasy story collection For a Few Gold Pieces More, his dark fantasy collection Chasing Danger: The Case Files of Theron Chase, his supernatural/superhero graphic novel, Troubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings, and, of course, his popular nonfiction worldbuilding book for writers and gamemasters, Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination.
Raven Con 15 runs April 29 to May 1. For more information on the show, visit the RavenCon website.
Happy World Book Day in the United States! Run by UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), World Book Day (aka World Book and Copyright Day, and the International Day of the Book) is, to quote their website:
“World Book Day is a celebration! It’s a celebration of authors, illustrators, books and (most importantly) it’s a celebration of reading. In fact, it’s the biggest celebration of its kind, designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, and marked in over 100 countries all over the world.”
To explain this event further, let’s turn to Wikipedia for its origin story:
“The original idea was of the Valencian writer Vicente Clavel Andrés as a way to honour the author Miguel de Cervantes [author of Don Quixote], first on October 7, his birth date, then on April 23, his death date. In 1995 UNESCO decided that the World Book and Copyright Day would be celebrated on 23 April, as the date is also the anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare and [16th-century Spanish author] Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, as well as that of the birth or death of several other prominent authors.”
So then it’s really World Book Death Day? Hey, as long as it gets people to read…
Around the world (except for Ireland and the United Kingdom), World Book Day is held every April 23—so for more information, visit the World Book and Copyright Day site for all the latest news and events listings.
But the celebration doesn’t end at sundown, because April 23 is also World Book Night in the United Kingdom! Run by The Reading Agency, this annual gathering of book lovers is, to quote their website:
“World Book Night is a national celebration of reading and books which takes place on 23 April every year. Books are given out across the UK with a focus on reaching those who don’t regularly read, and are gifted through organisations including prisons, libraries, colleges, hospitals, care homes and homeless shelters, as well as by passionate individuals who give out their own books within their communities.”
A whole day and night dedicated to reading? Well, that should actually be every day, shouldn’t it? Of course! Anyway, start celebrating and get to reading!
Here’s the sort of holiday we here at ’Warp Central can get behind a hundred percent: National Library Week 2022 might have wrapped up just yesterday, but now today is National Encourage a Young Writer Day! Although no one seems to know the origin of this “holiday,” according to the National Day Calendar:
“Observed each year on April 10th is National Encourage a Young Writer Day. Do you know a young person who has a vivid imagination, maybe someone who likes to tell stories and reads a lot of books? These may be the signs of a great young writer. National Encourage a Young Writer Day would be a good time to talk to them about their ideas and dreams. Encourage them to pursue their goals and develop their writing skills.”
As I always say, everybody’s gotta start somewhere, and that’s true for writing as much as any other career. Want an example? Then head over to the Pandora Zwieback website and check out “Again, He Who Stalks”—a science-fiction story I wrote for my high school’s literary magazine when I was 16. Take a look at that, young writers, and then get to work—you could only do better!
Hey, book lovers! National Library Week is once again upon us, and you know us: any reason to read is a good cause for celebration!
According to the American Library Association (ALA), the organization that runs the event:
“First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April. It is a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation’s libraries and librarians and to promote library use and support. All types of libraries—school, public, academic and special—participate.”
This year’s theme is “Connect With Your Library” and promotes “the idea that libraries are places to get connected to technology by using broadband, computers, and other resources. Libraries also offer opportunities to connect with media, programs, ideas, and classes—in addition to books. But most importantly, libraries also connect communities to each other.”
National Library Week runs April 3–9, so check your local library for any special events they might have planned for the celebration.
Thanks for clicking the link at SMOL Fair and stopping by our Internet home this week to check things out. We’re always thrilled to meet potential new readers, and we hope we can add you to our fan base.
StarWarp Concepts specializes in tales of horror, fantasy, and dark urban fantasy, and our titles range from young adult horror (The Saga of Pandora Zwieback) and illustrated classics (J. Sheridan’s Le Fanu’s vampire romance, Carmilla; the 1932 novelization of the original King Kong) to fantasy-noir (Chasing Danger: The Case Files of Theron Chase) and graphic novels (Lorelei: Sects and the City, Troubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings). We also publish digital and print comic books (The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual#1, The Chronicles of the Sea Dragon). And we’ve got even more exciting projects in the works!
Currently, our most popular title is (oddly enough, for a horror publisher) Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination by fantasy author Richard C. White (Gauntlet: Dark Legacy: Paths of Evil), perfect for budding authors as well as RPG fans and gamemasters interested in building their own fantasy and science fiction environments. In this how-to book, Rich takes you through the step-by-step process of constructing a world for your characters, from societies and governments to currency and religion. Included is an interview with New York Times bestselling author Tracy Hickman (Dragonlance) that discusses his methods of world building, as well as his creative experiences during his time as a designer for gaming company TSR, the original home of Dungeons & Dragons.
Some of our other popular titles include:
From the Stars…a Vampiress: An Unauthorized Guide to Vampirella’s Classic Horror Adventures is a nonfiction examination of comicdom’s queen of the bad girls. Author Steven A. Roman (that’s me!) takes an extensive look at her early days, from the debut of her series in 1969 to the death of her original publisher, Warren Publishing, in 1983. In addition, you’ll find the tale of Hammer Films’ unproduced film adaptation that was announced in 1975 and meant to star Barbara Leigh and Peter Cushing (Grand Moff Tarkin of Star Wars fame); an in-depth guide to all her Warren stories; a checklist of all her Warren appearances; an overview of the six novelizations by pulp sci-fi author Ron Goulart that were published in the 1970s by Warner Books; and a look at the awful direct-to-cable-TV movie that was made in 1996, starring Mortal Kombat’s Talisa Soto and rock god Roger Daltrey, the lead singer of the Who.
The Saga of Pandora Zwieback is Steven A. Roman’s young-adult, horror/dark-urban-fantasy series of adventures about a 16-year-old Goth who’s spent the last decade being treated for mental health problems because she thought she could see monsters. It’s only after she meets a shape-shifting monster hunter named Sebastienne “Annie” Mazarin that Pan discovers she’s never been ill—her so-called “monstervision” is actually a supernatural gift that allows her to see into Gothopolis, the not-so-mythical shadow world that exists right alongside the human world. Pan’s adventures can be found in the novels Blood Feud and Blood Reign, and in the one-shot comic special The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1. You can also download—for free—The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0, a 16-page, full-color digital comic that introduces you to Pan’s world and provides a preview chapter of Blood Feud.
Carmilla is J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s 19th-century classic vampiric tale of love gone wrong. Laura is so desperate for a friend that when a young woman named Carmilla practically turns up on the doorstep of the castle owned by Laura’s father, she thinks her prayers for companionship have been answered. But as she comes to realize, Carmilla isn’t as interested in making friends as she is in spilling blood. Regarded as the one of the earliest female vampire tales—if not the first—Carmilla was an influence on author Bram Stoker in the creation of the vampire brides in his seminal novel, Dracula, and remains a popular character in fiction to this day. Our edition contains six original illustrations done especially for StarWarp Concepts by the super-talented Eliseu Gouveia.
Originally published in 1896 as The Were-wolf, our digital-exclusive “SWC Horror Bite” White Fell: The Werewolfwas written by renowned author, artist, and suffragette Clemence Annie Housman, and is regarded by scholars as perhaps the first feminist werewolf story. In it, a beautiful woman named White Fell wanders into a snowbound village—and into the hearts of twin brothers, one of whom immediately becomes smitten by her. The other brother, however, soon grows suspicious of the enigmatic White Fell. Where did she come from? Why does she always carry an ax? And is her sudden appearance somehow related to the recent sightings of a bloodthirsty wolf in the area? He may come to regret being so inquisitive…
And Lorelei: Sects and the City is a Mature Readers graphic novel in which a soul-stealing succubus battles a cult of Elder God worshipers attempting to unleash hell on Earth. Basically a love letter to 1970s horror comics like Vampirella, Tomb of Dracula, and Ghost Rider, it’s written by yours truly, Steven A. Roman, and illustrated by Eliseu Gouveia (Stargate Universe, Lady Death), Steve Geiger (Web of Spider-Man, Incredible Hulk), and Neil Vokes (Tom Holland’s Fright Night, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark). It also features a cover by legendary artist Esteban Maroto (Vampirella, Zatanna, Lady Rawhide), a frontispiece by original Vampirella artist Tom Sutton (Ghost Rider, Man-Thing, Werewolf by Night), and a one-page history of succubi illustrated by Ernie Colon (Vampirella, The Grim Ghost).
Take a look around, you just might find something that appeals to your darker nature…
Just a reminder: Starting this Saturday, March 19, book lovers around the world will be virtually gathering for the second annual SMOL Fair, an online book festival that promotes indie houses of all varieties. And us folks at StarWarp Concepts are among the more than 250(!) publishers joining the lovefest.
In addition to visiting the “dealers’ room,” you can watch panels and author readings, plus there’s a keynote address by Shirley Jackson Award–winning author Brian Evenson (Song for the Unraveling of the World) on March 18 that will kick things off. And it’s all free (although you have to register to “attend” the panels).
There are also book giveaways you can register for—for instance, we’re offering three copies each of our two most popular titles: the young adult, dark-urban-fantasy novel Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1, by Steven A. Roman (that’s me!); and Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination, Richard C. White’s how-to book for writers and RPG gamemasters that shows in detail how to create fully realized fantasy and science-fiction environments for your projects.
Smol Fair runs March 19–26. For more information on the show, its participating publishers (did I mention there are over 250?!), and its lineup of events, visit the SMOL Fair website.
No events to show
