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Bieser, Smith to appear at Freedom Fest
Las Vegas in July? Yes, well, the nights are pleasant and in the daytime there is air conditioning. This coming July 9th through the 11th, Big Head Press creators L. Neil Smith and Scott Bieser will brave the heat to appear at Freedom Fest, billed as "The world's largest gathering of free minds." The conference, to be held at the elegant Bally's Hotel and Casino in the heart of the famous Las Vegas Strip, offers opportunities to meet a variety of liberty-loving luminaries, ranging from bestselling financial author Thomas Woods Jr. and international investor Douglas Casey to Congressman Ron Paul and Peter Schiff, capital fund manager and media pundit. Smith and Bieser will be holding forth at the Big Head Press booth in the Exhibits area. The conference program includes a "Science Fiction Mini Festival" but its schedule has not been finalized. More information about Freedom Fest can be found here. Onward, through the blizzard!Despite blizzard conditions the first two days, we are counting the first ComicFest in Denver this year as a qualified success. Big Head Press brought writers L. Neil Smith and Mike Baron, as well as artists Scott Bieser and LEE OAKS! to the show, albeit a bit late. LEE managed to catch a ride from Fort Collins with our friend Nick Runge Friday evening, while Neil, Mike and Scott rolled in Saturday morning. We found that StarFest, the larger organization of which ComicFest is a part, had overbooked the exhibit space and the "talent" (that's our stalwart crew) were given tables in the crowded hallway fronting the exhibit and panel rooms. But we made do, and the convention volunteers did their level best to accommodate us, and we're looking forward to returning in 2010. Artist LEE OAKS! chats with Indie Spinner Rack podcaster Charlito. Photo by Anginet Page. Legendary writer Mike Baron gives some helpful advice to a budding young (unidentified) artist. Photo by Anginet Page. Scott Bieser shares his wisdom at one of the panels. After seeing this photo he says he's finally persuaded to retire the "Indiana Jones" hat. Photo by Anginet Page. Somehow we never got a photo of L. Neil Smith at the convention. However, we got a photo of his gun, along with Scott's, resting peacefully on the nightstand of their shared hotel room. Aren't they cute? ComicFest Denver
Rocky Mountain-region comics fans, mark your calendars for April 17-19 -- Denver is getting a brand-new, 3-day comics convention this Spring! ComicFest is one of three components of a ramped-up StarFest, a science-fiction event which has been around since 1998. 2009 will be the first year that the comics industry is to be included in the festivities, and Big Head Press will be there to help inaugurate what is to become the Mountain West's premier annual comics event. Big Head Press will be bringing writers Mike Baron (NEXUS, BADGER, THE ARCHITECT), and L. Neil Smith (THE PROBABILITY BROACH; ROSWELL, TEXAS; TIMEPEEPER) and artists Scott Bieser (THE PROBABILITY BROACH; ROSWELL, TEXAS; ODYSSEUS THE REBEL) and LEE OAKS! (BLACK ICE, ESCAPE FROM TERRA) to greet fans and autograph books. ComicFest is being held at the Hilton Garden Inn - DTC, located just off of Interstate 25 on Belleview. For more info go to the ComicFest page on the StarFest website, or call 303-777-6800. Digital Strips InterviewWhile we were at NYCC Scott had a brief interview with Brigid Alverson, who writes for the Digital Strips website. Brigid posted the interview and her impressions of Big Head Press on February 16. Scott says he's a lot funnier in person than the interview makes him seem. And he was just kidding about the ads bringing in beer money. Last month we used our ad income to buy our first Leer jet. Yes. NYCC in 3 minutesWhat was New York Comic-Con like? Well, here's a 3-minute walk-through we took on Sunday. You can see a somewhat better-quality version by going to the YouTube site and clicking on the little "watch in high-quality" text link under the right corner of the video box. Sorry for all the motion-blur. Best we can do with a $120 camera. LA MUSE gets PWCW honorable mentionLA MUSE by Adi Tantimedh and Hugo Petrus received honorable mention in the Publishers Weekly/Comics Week critics' poll of the best graphic novels of 2008, as announced on the PW website. Overall, 90 books were either ranked as best-of-the-best or given honorable mention. The list included a large number of manga books and more than a dozen collections of previously-published works. The critics panel included Chris Barsanti, Steve Bunche, Johanna Draper Carlson, Erin Finnegan, Kate Fitzsimmons, Laura Hudson, Heidi MacDonald, Calvin Reid, Frank Santoro, Sam Thielman, and Douglas Wolk. Naturally, we think LA MUSE should have been included in the top 21 best-of list, but we're happy the book received honorable mention. LA MUSE is still available in print, and can be ordered wholesale from Diamond Comics Distribution or Baker & Taylor. It can also be purchased at retail from Amazon.Com and Barnesandnoble.Com. La Muse reviews rolling inThe reviews of LA MUSE are rolling in, and the word is very positive. The latest comes from Gary Rodrigue, writing for ComicNews.info: "Adi Tantimedh provides plenty of depth to the story and to the characters. His story is laced with humor, violence, action and sex(quite a bit,actually), offering the reader a little bit of everything.... As for the art, well it has a beautiful woman on the cover licking a lollipop, works for me. Seriously though, the artwork of Hugo Petrus is realistic, attractive, effective and simply perfect for this type of story." We'd missed the Publisher's Weekly review when it came out, but managed to track down Steve Bunche's entry: "This tale is a pleasure from start to finish, and even though it kind of works in the same territory as Garth Ennis and Phil Winslade's Goddess (1995), it's still very much its own entity, refreshingly free of clichéd city-smashing superhero throwdowns." Ralph Mathieu also loves LA MUSE, as he writes in his blog Ich Liebe Comics: "This graphic novel and its central character has a very liberal political activist slant, but La Muse isn't preachy, instead it's a very smart, highly entertaining graphic novel that really expands on what Alan Moore did with Miracleman years ago." La Muse reviewed on G4!
We always love to get reviews of our books, but what can be better than a review on G4 by the telegenic and highly witty Blair Butler? While pondering that one, step on over to G4's Fresh Ink page and check out Blair's review of our very own LA MUSE, by Adi Tantimedh and Hugo Petrus. She reviews three other GNs besides ours, but it's worth viewing the entire "Fresh Ink" segment, especially for the turkey joke at the end. LA MUSE on shelves this week
La Muse, our smart-and-sexy sci-fi story about a left-wing political activist who is discovered to have god-like powers (written by Adi Tantimedh and illustrated by Hugo Petrus), should be hitting comics shelves this Wednesday (Nov. 26), according to our direct-market distributor, Diamond. The book is also listed on Amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and borders.com. However, you may have some difficulty finding the book with Amazon's amazing search engine. Typing the string "La Muse" buries us within 120,000 other listings that have "muse" in their title or as an author name. They seem to ignore the "La" altogether. To get to our book, you can type "La Muse Adi" in the search string, or after typing "La Muse" and getting that long and irrelevant listing, go to the categories links in the left column and click on "Comics & Graphic Novels" and then our book will show up in the Number 4 slot. We are in -ahem- discussions with Amazon about this problem but I don't know if they will fix their search engine, even if we threaten to sic the arse-eels on them.
ESCAPE FROM TERRA NOW!ESCAPE FROM TERRA, the daily sci-fi adventure strip, launches today: Friday, Sept. 26. The feature begins with the first 10 strips on launch day, then continues with a new strip every week-day (we take weekends off to go fishing). Join Agents Caillard and Stellina as they brave the wilds of outer-space for the cause of United World tax collection and social justice. A WORD FROM OUR BELOVED MASTERS
Meet Guy (pronounced "ghee") Caillard and Fiorella Stellina, two intrepid agents of the United World Revenue Service. Agent Caillard has a long and glorious track record with UWRS, being highly adept at ferreting out wealth hidden by selfish money-barons who don't want to share their bounty with Terra's downtrodden and impoverished masses in the late 21st Century. Our heroes have embarked on an ambitious quest, into the wild and untamed Asteroid Belt. There, a motley collection of anti-social adventurers has amassed great wealth mining the countless asteroids, and the UWRS intends to extend its beneficent authority throughout the Solar System and claim a fair share of this outer-space bounty for the rest of humanity.
On Friday, Sept. 26, Big Head Press will present the continuing adventures of Agents Caillard and Stellina, and the dangerous characters they meet on the frontier, in a 5-days-weekly web-comic adventure strip, ESCAPE FROM TERRA. Written by Sandy Sandfort and Scott Bieser, and illustrated by LEE OAKS! Tantimedh, Bieser at SPX
Adi Tantimedh, author of the upcoming hit graphic novel LA MUSE, will join Scott Bieser at the Big Head Press exhibit table at Small Press Expo, the place where the cool kids hang out. Adi will be talking about his new book, and upcoming projects. LA MUSE will not be released until the week after Thanksgiving, but we'll have some preview copies on hand which fans can look at before they run back to their local comics shops and place an order for it. The book will be listed in the Oct/Dec Previews, the Diamond Comics Distribution catalog. Bieser will be selling copies of his recently-released graphic novel, ROSWELL, TEXAS, written by L. Neil Smith and Rex F. May, and talking about his current graphic-novel project, ODYSSEUS THE REBEL, written by Steven Grant, plus a brand-new adventure comic-strip project which will be announced soon. SPX is being held Saturday and Sunday, October 4 and 5, at the Marriott Bethesda North Hotel & Conference Center, on the northwest side of Washington, D.C. For details, click on the banner at the top of this posting. ROSWELL reviewed (again) in PROMETHEUS"This is the kind of alternate history one almost wishes really happened, with a cast of characters transformed into improbably wonderful new roles, in a world fine-tuned to signals audible only on clear nights when the air is chill and strange patterns among the planets reveal the truly unexpected." ROSWELL, TEXAS has already received mention in PROMETHEUS, the quarterly newsletter of the Libertarian Futurist Socity, back when it was in the middle of its on-line serialization. Now the book is complete, and available in-print, and Anders Monsen gives it a more thorough treatment in this summer's newsletter. Anders does a pretty good job of summarizing the story without giving away too much, and sets the story in the context of author L. Neith Smith's oeuvre. The review is not available on-line. To obtain a copy of the newsletter, send $3 with a note indicating the issue desired to Chris Hibbert, 1195 Andre Ave. Mountain View, CA 94040. A full year's subscription is available with membership, which costs $25/year ($30 outside the U.S.), send to LFS, 650 Castro St. Suite 120-433, Mountain View, CA 94041. Inquiries regarding subscriptions should be e-mailed to Fred Moulton at moulton (at) moulton (dot) com. More Denvention Photos
Here are some photos L. Neil Smith took at Denvention with his handy-dandy camera phone. As you can see there were more than a few fabulous babes at this event. There was also a giant blue bear who didn't have the scratch for the attendance fee, and a book editor who apparently did. World Con Denver Report
Left - A view of California Street in downtown Denver from the official Big Head Press Hotel (the Hyatt). Right - A patriotic Wiccan, apparently, showing her colors. 
Our favorite of several spiffy models on display. This one wasn't used in the original Star Trek series, but it could have been. 
Our official Big Head Press mascot. 
Photos by Scott Bieser Above - L. Neil Smith ready to greet his adoring fans at the Big Head Press both. Reports are that both L. Neil Smith and Scott Bieser survived Denvention 3, aka the 66th Word Sci-Fi Convention, earlier in August. Actually, Neil had a great time, greeting fans and reuniting with old friends. His gift of gab was also of great benefit at the booth, where he regaled visitors with stories and opinions on everything under the sun, and sold quite a few books. While Neil may not like to travel, he is anything but shy. Meanwhile, Scott was responsible for getting the booth loaded in and set up, handling the cash, dealing with the hotel, getting the booth dismantled and loaded out, making sure our Star Author got fed properly. He was grateful for the assistance of Fran Van Cleave, who brought sandwiches at lunch time. Adi Interviewed at Forbidden PlanetForbidden Planet International has been a big fan of LA MUSE for nearly its entire run, and to cap off the serial's completion, they offer up an extensive interview with writer Adi Tantimedh. Adi talks about not only LA MUSE but his career, graphic novels he enjoys, and his future plans. Smith and Bieser at World Sci-Fi Con
The 66th World Sci-Fi Convention is in The Mile High City for 2008 and Big Head Press is bringing author L. Neil Smith and illustrator Scott Bieser to meet science fiction fans and sign books. The convention runs from Wednesday, August 6, through Sunday, August 10, at the Colorado Convention Center in Downtown Denver. Big Head Press' table location, number 1302, is indicated in the map above. LA MUSE FINALELA MUSE, the sci-fi-glam adventure by Adi Tantimedh and Hugo Petrus, completes its serialization today, July 28. A full-color print edition is planned, and we will be announcing details as soon as we have them nailed down. Grant and Bieser Interviewed on PopThought.ComAlex Ness of PopThought.Com asks Steven Grant and Scott Bieser some thoughtful questions about ODYSSEUS THE REBEL, and the writer and artist endeavor to provide some thoughtful answers. ODYSSEUS THE REBEL Launches Aug. 4
ODYSSEUS THE REBEL, Steven Grant's take on the classic Odyssey story, will launch its serialization on the Big Head Press website August 4. The story will launch with the first 13 completed pages on that day, and then the story will update with a new page each the following Wednesday and Friday, continuing a Monday-Wednesday-Friday update schedule until it is completed in July 2009. "I've completed the first 65 pages of the 156-page story already, so keeping up with the schedule should be fairly easy," said Scott Bieser, who is illustrating the story. Grant's version of Odysseus' voyage home from the Trojan war is a departure from the theme of the original story. Rather than simply being a luckless minor king who was batted about by feckless gods, Grant's Odysseus is a visionary rebel who challenges the gods' supremacy, standing up to these powerful beings to demand that he, and men generally, be free of supernatural interference, whether hostile or friendly. "This is a hero the gods are determined to break, to prove forever that even the greatest of men is less than nothing to the smallest of gods, but he is a hero who will not be broken, even when his goal is snatched right out of his grasp, when the men under his command are butchered and crushed around him, when his comrades-in-arms are made to share his punishments only because they fought alongside him, when he is even cast down to hell," as Grant outlines the story. Bieser will be drawing the story in a different style than what those familiar with his work are accustomed to. "The artwork will be black and white, with grey tones in a mostly cell-shaded style," Bieser explained. "The line work is streamlined, stylized and borrows a bit from the manga idiom, although a better term for it might be 'fusion style,'" he added. "My goal is to create a more energetic style which will evoke the highly intense, driven personality of Odysseus," he said. Grant has many credits in the comics-writing field but perhaps is best known for his work on Marvel Comics' PUNISHER miniseries of the mid-1980s (collected under the title CIRCLE OF BLOOD). Other Marvel credits include THE INCREDIBLE HULK, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN, and THE AVENGERS. He also scripted BADLANDS and COMICS X for Dark Horse, two CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION miniseries for IDW, and numerous DC Comics titles. He currently pens "Permanent Damage," a weekly column commenting on the comics industry for the Comic Book Resources Web-zine. Bieser first entered the comics industry as a penciler and cover colorist for Malibu Graphics' various imprints in the 1980s, drawing THE ROVERS, GAMBIT, and guest-penciling one issue of DINOSAURS FOR HIRE, as well as the first computer-drawn "adult" comic, CYBER-LUST. He left comics for a career in the computer games industry but returned in 2002 to draw A DRUG WAR CAROL as a commissioned web-comic, which was later published in print form by Big Head Press. Subsequent works include THE PROBABILITY BROACH: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL, written by L. Neil Smith, and ROSWELL, TEXAS, written by Smith with Rex F. "Baloo" May. ROSWELL authors' signing in CheyenneROSWELL, TEXAS author L. Neil Smith and illustrator Scott Bieser will attend an authors' signing in Cheyenne, Wyoming on July 26. The event takes place at Phoenix Books & Music, located at 1612 Capitol Avenue, in downtown Cheyenne. The shop is located just a block north of the Union Pacific Plaza. Neil and Scott will be greeting the public and signing books from 4:30pm to 7:30pm. The event is being held during Cheyenne Frontier Days, a 10-day long rodeo festival during which time the city's population almost doubles, and quite a lot of foot traffic will be expected downtown. For details call Phoenix owner Don McKee at 877-632-3476. Cheyenne is the city where Scott makes his home, when he's not living on Mars. L. Neil On The RadioJust a quick note -- we learned just yesterday that L. Neil Smith is going to be giving a radio interview Anti-War.com, the premier Error War news site, on Monday, July 14 at 12:15pm EASTERN time. Go to http://antiwar.com/radio/ and click on the link to hear the live podcast. And if you miss it, I'm pretty sure they'll have a link up to the archived interview in short order. Heroes Con re-cap(A slightly belated re-cap of Big Head Press at Heroes Con -- I returned home Monday afternoon and had to spend the next day and a half dealing with personal stuff, getting LaMuse pages ready for upload, and completing a milestone for Odysseus The Rebel.) This was our first Heroes Con, either as attendees or as exhibitors. Convention organizers Shelton Drum and Dustin Harbin go to great lengths to showcase "indie" artists and publishers, and word in the industry is that the con is very well organized, so we went in with fairly high expectations. On the organizational side, those expectations were fulfilled. The convention was indeed well-run, and the staff was responsive to exhibitors' requests for service. Other than a bit of difficulty getting our gear out of the building at the end of the con -- which was due mainly to how the convention center is designed -- we had no logistical problems. The only "large" publisher with a booth was Image, presenting current President Erik Larsen (who also writes and draws SAVAGE DRAGON) and several other creators. No DC, no Marvel, no Dark Horse -- although several dozen of their artists were on hand in Artists' Alley, furiously drawing character sketches for fans. We were a bit surprised at the lack of "mid-list" publishers, with Top Shelf and Bonaventure being the only companies in that crowd holding forth. No Oni, no First Second, no Fantagraphics. It was kind of odd. Edit: Frank says he did see Oni there. I didn't, and a couple of other people at the con told me they didn't see Oni there. So either Frank was hallucinating or he has sharper eyes than I and two other people. Edit: Frank says they were in booth 631 in the "indie island" area of the floor, and his eyes can pierce a man's soul. A bigger surprise for us was the appearance of Andie Tong, the artist for our book The Architect, who showed up more or less unannounced (he was listed in the program guide and on the website, but he didn't tell us or his mailing list he would be attending). Andie is now in high demand as an illustrator, drawing the Marvel UK/Pannini version of Spider-Man and doing an increasing number of gigs in the U.S. But success hasn't gone to his head -- he's a really warm and friendly guy and we hung out together after-hours on Friday and Saturday for drinks, where he introduced us to several other artists and writers. With the lack of large-ish publishers there weren't any of the after-hours parties we see at other conventions, but we found a huge crowd of comics people at the Westin Hotel bar -- which was odd since it was the Hilton which was the "official" convention hotel. But the Westin had held that honor in years past and I suppose old habits maintained. And it probably helped that the Westin bar was a good bit larger. Also, for people who don't care for mob scenes while relaxing with a drink, the Hilton bar offered a more congenially quiet place for relaxed conversations. Our only disappointment with the con was that despite the efforts of the owners to promote indie comics, the attendees were for the most part not up to speed with the program. Artists associated with Marvel and DC characters were mobbed with fans, and were drawing character sketches as fast as they could, while most of the indie publishers and artists (with a few exceptions such as the legendary Jaime Hernandez and the phenomenal Frank Cho) sat idly with pained smiles. And some of the publishers who did get attention complained of slow sales. As for us, we did sell dozens of books, some of them to L. Neil Smith fans who were surprised to see us there, some to Mike Baron fans who wished we'd brought him along (Mike's a light sleeper, and Frank and I snore like buzz-saws, so it's difficult and expensive for us to travel together) although having Andie on hand to autograph the books helped quite a bit. Frank did take some pictures at the convention, and we'll post these as soon as he sends them to me. Frank also has an interesting story about his trip home, which we'll put up along with the photos. I may also yap a bit about the panel on web-comics I attended. --Scott Bieser R,T reviewed in NewsaramaRoswell, Texas gets another brief but positive review on Newsarama, one of the top entertainment industry web-zines. The review is grouped in with several others, so to find it you'll have to scroll down the page a bit. Here's the link . Sold out at Amazon?We've been getting reports from fans that Roswell, Texas is listed as "Out of Stock" at Amazon.com, and wondering if we've sold out our print run. Well, not yet. We do still have plenty of copies handy. What happened was Amazon under-ordered from us and sold through their supply more quickly than they expected. They placed the largest order we've ever received from them late last week, and copies are on their way. So, if you're wanting a copy, and your local comics shop doesn't have one, you can order from Amazon in confidence that you'll be getting the book very soon. Book Launch Party!Alternative-history and comics fans alike are invited to the official Roswell, Texas release party sponsored by publisher Big Head Press and to be held June 7 at Gryphon Games & Comics in Fort Collins Roswell, Texas is an alt-history graphic novel set in a Republic of Texas which had never joined the United States. Set in 1947, the story involves many familiar historical figures in imaginatively different roles and situations. The graphic novel was written by Fort Collins residents L. Neil Smith and Rex F. May, and illustrated by Fort Collins native Scott Bieser. Smith, May, Bieser, and colorist Jennifer Zach will be in attendance and available to sign books and answer questions. Snacks and light beverages will be available, and attendance is free and open to the public. Legendary comics writer Mike Baron will also be a special guest. Baron will sign and talk about The Architect which is also published by Big Head Press, and other projects he is currently working on. The party will begin at 5pm on Saturday, June 7, and wrap at 8pm. Gryphon Games & Comics is loated at 2020 S. College Ave., between Rutgers Avenue and Spring Park Drive. LP National ConventionBig Head Press will be selling advance copies of its newest book, Roswell, Texas, exclusively to attendees at the Libertarian Party National Convention to be held in Denver, Colorado May 22-26. Author L. Neil Smith is widely known among libertarians, and that's why we're bringing him to the convention, where he will sign copies of R,T as well as his other books, and will talk about current and up-coming projects. Illustrator Scott Bieser will also be at the Big Head Press booth in the convention Exhibits area, signing his books and previewing artwork for his next project, Odysseus The Rebel, being written by comics favorite Steven Grant. The Eyes of Texas Are Upon UsWe got a brief but very nice review of Roswell, Texas in this week's Austin Chronicle. The article is a listing of favored graphic novels -- scroll to the bottom and there we are. "An outlandish narrative that'll appeal to any pop-culture fans who like a bit of conspiracy theory sprinkled on top of their flakes of sci-fi goodness. Scott Bieser and Jen Zach's artwork, classic comic book rendering, effectively nails the tone and the times to each grayscale panel." One great thing about this is that we get associated with indie-cartoonists-extraordinare Jaime Hernandez and Lynda Barry. Excellent company, to be sure. The Chronicle is a venerable Austin, Texas institution dating from the early 1970s, one of the first arts & entertainment weekly newspapers that spawned scores of imitations around the country. WE IZ NOW FAMOUSBig Head Press is highlighted in the current Publishers Weekly/Comics Week webzine. They give us a really nice write up -- check it out! Announcing ROSWELL, TEXAS trade pb
SIXGUNS, MOTORCYCLES, FLYING SAUCERS, AND INTERPLANETARY PASTIES will hit comics and bookstore shelves the first week of June, when the trade paperback version of ROSWELL, TEXAS debuts. The 272-page sci-fi/western/romantic comedy has been serialized on the Big Head Press website over a nearly-two year span, steadily building an audience, and now readers can enjoy the story in meat-space with a printed book, said Scott Bieser, director for the publishing house. The story, written by L. Neil Smith and Rex "Baloo" May, follows the exploits of some Texas Rangers in an alternative-timeline where Texas never joined the United States. They are sent by Texican President Charles A. Lindbergh to investigate reports of a flying-saucer crash in the far west-Texas town of Roswell in 1947. The story is illustrated by Scott Bieser with colors by Jennifer Zach. In this story, familiar historical figures turn up in intriguingly different roles in the story, although some, such as FBI legend Elliot Ness and T.E. Lawrence, are ominously similar to our own history. Several intriguing fictional characters are added to the mix, from the classically "western" Rattlesnake Pete (who holds an Oxford degree in French literature) to the feisty Amber Rose Bierce, a news reporter who is the fictional grand-daughter of the real-life Ambrose Bierce. The book is marketed for mature readers, due to some light nudity, and printed in black-and-white with a full-color cover. At a 6"x9" form-factor it is a bit smaller than the standard comic-book but considerably larger than most manga and competitively priced at $12.95. "We are also heavily promoting the book with advertising placed in the major comics trade magazines and news websites, along with REASON Magazine, whose audience is heavily populated with L. Neil Smith fans," Bieser added. Majesticon April 2008L. Neil Smith, Mike Baron, Scott Bieser and Jen Zach will make public appearances at the upcoming Majesticon in Denver, which is happening Sunday, April 13. The show will open at 10am in the Ramada Plaza Convention Center, which is just off Interstate 25 at the 120th Street exit in Northglenn. Smith, Bieser and Zach have recently completed their latest graphic novel, Roswell, Texas, and sample copies of the printed book will be available for viewing. The book goes on sale at the end of May. It can currently be viewed on-line in its entirety ad the Big Head Press website. Mike Baron will be answering questions about his current projects and signing copies of his book The Architect, which was published by Big Head Press last year. This book was seriously under-ordered by comics shops but is a hot seller at conventions. STAPLE! March 1If you're going to be anywhere near Austin, Texas on March 1, then you can stop by the Monarch Event Center from 11am to 5pm and see me, Mike Baron, and several other indie-comics luminaries at the STAPLE! Independent Media Expo. A great deal for five bucks admission. For details go to http://www.staple-austin.org/ . Call for SubmissionsWe have an opening in our schedule later this year so are calling for project submissions. Big Head Press publishes graphic novels, and serializes them on-line in their entirety in order to help publicize and promote the works in advance of selling the dead-tree versions. All our projects are entirely creator-owned, and we offer a modest page rate as an advance on royalties in exchange for a fixed-term exclusive license. We are looking for stories in any genre (although La Muse to the contrary notwithstanding, we are not keen on superhero stuff), which promote generally individualist themes -- standing up to the Man, struggling against conformist pressures, being your own person, that sort of thing. Not interested in "futility of life" or military-type stories unless they're really, really funny. We also have a stronger preference these days for black-and-white or greyscale art, given the realities of printing costs. But if a story really needs to be in color, we won't pass on it just for that reason. We are also looking for creative teams -- we aren't offering a writer/artist matching service. We're also not picking up stories that started with another publisher and failed for whatever reason. We want fresh work. Deadline for entries is Feb. 24, 2008, at 11:59pm CST. Send submissions or queries to submissions (at) bigheadpress (dot) com . TimePeeper LaunchesIn 2080, three teen-aged students of Heinlein Memorial High School "borrow" a TimePeeper -- a time-traveling device designed for recording past events -- and promptly lose it in the past. To avoid discovery and harsh punishment, Bernie, Valerie and Arthur must themselves travel 75 years into the past to retrieve the gadget. But what they encounter in the dark and barbaric year 2005 will completely change their lives. TimePeeper, a new graphic novel by L. Neil Smith and Sherard Jackson, debuts on the Big Head Press website Tuesday, January 15. The direct link to the story is http://www.bigheadpress.com/timepeeper. The story will begin with a 13-page opening chapter on that day and then present a new page every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday until the serialization is completed in September. This sci-fi adventure story offers action, drama, a bit of romance, plus a modest dollop of the libertarian political commentary that is Smith's trademark, according to Big Head Press director Scott Bieser. "This is mainly a teen action story, with some twists, that should appeal to a wide audience," he explained, "but there is also enough classic Smithian brain candy included to satisfy Neil's legion of fans. I like to think of it as a descendant of the Robert Heinlein "juvenile" books." This will be Smith's third published graphic novel, the previous two being Roswell, Texas, written with Rex F. May and with art by Scott Bieser and Jen Zach; and The Probability Broach: The Graphic Novel, which adapts his first prose novel. In addition to the original Probability Broach, Smith has written and published 24 other prose novels (not including foreign editions) since 1980, and has three more in the works, including a prose version of Roswell, Texas. Sherard Jackson is a 12-year veteran comics artist, and drawing in an engaging "world manga" style. Recent works include Cthulhu Tales: Tainted (BOOM! Studios), Semantic Lace: Ghost Story (Devil's Due Publishing) and Assembly, (Antarctic Press). He has also contributed art for role-playing game systems and worked as an animator on the 2006 film "A Scanner Darkly." A great big holiday gift from Joe"Aided by Hugo Petrus' fine artwork, Adi has taken one of the most clich'd genres in comics, the almost godlike superhero, and then twisted and exploited the stereotypes and clich's we're all familiar with into new directions, with plot turns that have frequently taken me by surprise, which is incredibly refreshing to me, when you read a lot you often develop a sixth sense for a tale and can predict where it will go next, so to have one where I really don't know how it will turn out is immensely welcome. As is the wonderful layering Adi puts into La Muse, with finger-on-the-pulse observations of popular culture, celebrity, political machinations, political activism, celebrity, the media, he even manages to get sex in there in an adult way and not the cringe-worthy, exploitative way some mainstream comics use sex (which frequently leaves us apologising about it and trying to defend the medium as not all being like that, honest)." Adi Tantimedh sent his "Best of the Year" graphic novel picks to Joe at the Forbidden Planet International blog, and Joe decided to preface Adi's remarks with a really huge plug for LaMuse. Thanks again Joe! We knew we had a winner when Adi sent his pitch, way back in late 2006, and we're glad you agree. Forbidden Planet, in case anyone still doesn't know, pretty much rules the comics and graphic-novel retail business in Great Britain, with fifteen stores and two "associate" stores located throughout the kingdom. And one in New York City. Hmmm. Another British invasion, it seems. Forbidden Planet still loves LaMuseLaMuse has been getting fairly consistent and positive attention from the Forbidden Planet Blog. Forbidden Planet is one of the premier comic-book / graphic novel shops in the United Kingdom. Here is what they had to say today: "After dropping in a surprise return from La Muse's parents asking about her use of her near-omnipotent powers to alter the world (almost a classic Star Trek-style moment before Adi then kicks things sideways again) and then a real bombshell in her life, Adi Tantidmedh once more takes a little side-swipe at our media-obsessed world: with the entire global economy transformed almost instantly, with all the chaos that can bring, the Hollywood power lunch meeting in a posh restaurant to secure a new show deal still goes on. Get your people to call my people, we'll do lunch." The Architect Re-Listed at Diamond
Mike Baron's horror graphic novel The Architect , illustrated by Andie Tong, will get a re-listing in the October Diamond Previews catalog, according to publisher Big Head Press. "We're getting a second chance!" exclaimed the delighted Scott Bieser, director for the small-press publisher. "Diamond is re-listing the book because they agree that retailers and fans should have a chance to order it after they've seen some of the tremendous art for this book, which will appear in a Previews ad and in an ad campaign both during October and in the December sales period," Big Head director Scott Bieser said. This time around, Big Head Press will have a half-page ad in the Previews catalog, and is placing ads on consumer-oriented websites both during the October ordering period and the December sales period. "We've already had advance review copies of The Architect out for a while, and several favorable reviews have come back in," Bieser said. He added that British comics retailers should pay special attention to the listing, because illustrator Andie Tong is gaining an enthusiastic fan following in that country as the penciler for Marvel UK's version of The Amazing Spider-Man. The Architect is a horror story loosely based on the life of Frank Lloyd Wright. The book contains 70 pages of full-color story art, plus a seven-page bonus prose story, "Dream House Turns to Nightmare" perfect-bound in a wraparound painted cover. It retails for $9.95. The Diamond order number is OCT073345 Forbidden Planet gives more props to LaMuseThe Forbidden Planet Blog continues its praise for La Muse by Adi Tantimedh and Hugo Petrus. "Joe" also seems to like our new page-a-day upload schedule: "Frankly it is probably just as well that Big Head Press has been posting La Muse one page at a time now on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, because otherwise I think I might have rushed through it all at breakneck speed .... Posting the pages this way actually pushed up the dramatic tension for me, almost like a cliffhanger from an old movie serial or even the old Doctor Who, but not as contrived (or cheesy)." Adi has been providing a sort of running commentary on the pages as they get uploaded over on the the Panel & Pixel comics forum, which is where all the "cool kids" hang out (when they're not at our own forum, that is). Another Rave Review for The ArchitectLewis Fowler, writing for the site Bookgasm, is excited about The Architect: "Ever wonder what THE FOUNTAINHEAD would have been like if it were written by Aleister Crowley? Of course you have. We all have! But where would one even start to find a book like that?" "Let's all take a collective breath and pick up a copy of The Architect, a highly entertaining one-shot, prestige-format graphic novel written by comics legend Mike Baron (NEXUS) with art by Andie Tong." Read the rest of the review here. Not Your Daddy's ArchitectAaron Stueve, on Broken Frontier, gives The Architect a rave review. Click here and check it out. Steven Grant To Pen Story For Big Head PressHardly anyone knows this, but there is a special reason why the classical Greek hero Odysseus was reviled by his fellow kings and warriors, and a reason why The Odyssey, the story of this hero's 10-year voyage home from the Trojan War, was the last of the great Grecian epic stories. And Steven Grant is going to explain it all in a new graphic novel to be presented in 2008 by Big Head Press. "This is a hero the gods are determined to break, to prove forever to men that even the greatest of men is less than nothing to the smallest of gods, but he is a hero who will not be broken, even when his goal is snatched right out of his grasp, when the men under his command are butchered and crushed around him, when his comrades-in-arms are made to share his punishments only because they fought alongside him, when he is even cast down to hell, " Grant explained. "We think Odysseus The Rebel is a great fit, thematically speaking, for Big Head Press," said publisher Frank Bieser. "Of course, we're also thrilled to be working with a writer of the caliber and industry stature of Steven Grant." Grant has commenced work on the script and Scott Bieser has begun some preliminary design work. Under a production system adopted this year by Big Head Press, the entire script will be completed before major art production begins. "This is how movies are usually made, and we see no reason why this shouldn't also be the case for graphic novels," the publisher explained. Scott will begin full production for Odysseus The Rebel in November 2007, after he completes work on his current project, Roswell, Texas. As with its other books, Big Head Press will serialize the story in its entirety on the company's website before releasing it as a trade paperback. Serialization of the 156-page story is currently scheduled to begin in January 2008. Steven Grant is perhaps best known for converting The Punisher from a third rate supporting character to a major star in Marvel's PUNISHER MINI-SERIES, but his career ranges three decades and virtually every major American comics company, including DC (Batman, Ghost Rider, Superman, Catwoman, Challengers of the Unknown), Marvel (Spider-Man, X-Men Unlimited, The Punisher War Journal, Captain America), Dark Horse (Invasions, Enemy, Alien 3), First (Whisper, Grimjack, American Flagg), IDW, Malibu and Avatar. His range extends to novels, short stories, film and music criticism and screenplays, and he pioneered the modern crime comic with works such as Whisper, Badlands, Damned and the currently running Two Guns from Boom! Studios. Permanent Damage, his Internet column of cultural criticism and political commentary, runs every Wednesday at www.comicbookresources.com. |
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