QUANTUM VIBE Volume 1 on sale June 3

QUANTUM VIBE fans wanting a print collection for their bookshelves need only wait a little longer. Big Head Press announces that QUANTUM VIBE Volume 1: Nicole will be available for sale on June 3.

The trade paperback volume presents the first 400 strips of the popular web-comic, from the opening scene in the L-5 space city to the end of the Luna arc. It weighs in at 246 pages at a 6.69x9.25 inch trim size, and features an original cover by Scott Bieser. A brief appendix includes the "motivational poster art" which appears in the Aldrinopolis Jail backgrounds.

"I will always be grateful to Big Head Press for giving me this opportunity to develop and publish QUANTUM VIBE, which has been a dream project of mine for several years," said writer/artist Scott Bieser. "I hope fans will be as pleased with the print version as I am."

QUANTUM VIBE is the story of a young woman, Nicole Oresme, who takes a job with "mad scientist" Seamus O'Murchadha on a project he hopes will free humanity from the confines of a Solar System which has been largely settled in the year 2523 C.E. (or 566 S.A., as people in that time reckon the years). The project takes them on a grand tour of the Solar System, where they meet strange and wonderful people and have thrilling adventures.

The book will be available from Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com, as well as directly from the BigHeadPress.com website. It is distributed by Ingram Content Group. List price is $14.95.

Meanwhile, back at Amazon.com

Mike Baron's action-noir-thriller prose novels are getting great reviews. Here's a sampling of what some readers and comics pros are saying about them:

HELMET HEAD

"If you want action, you'll definitely find it in this yarn about a cop and a motorcycle gang joining forces to battle a demon biker with a big-ass sword who's been murdering people on the rural roads of southern Illinois for years. Helmet Head is considered to be a legend among bikers, but the characters in this book discover that he's all too real." --James Reasoner

Baron fan from Day One! He delivers raw action in a fast paced story that will keep you turning pages till the pages are done. This is the guy who showed me how it's done back when he was on the Punisher at Marvel." --Chuck Dixon

"This is pure Grindhouse and I mean that in the best possible way. When I was a child, I would go to the local drive-in and be exposed to a whole series of films that psychologists everywhere would advise against showing to a boy of my young age -- and now you know why I turned out like this. I've always loved grade-b horror, as a result, with all the over-the-top blood and sex that accompanies those kinds of things. Helmet Head fits in perfectly with that, telling the story of a good copy named Fagan who ends up involved with not only a gang of tough outlaw bikers but with an urban legend involving a motorcycle-riding, katana-wielding undead Nazi with a penchant for beheading people." --Barry Reese

WHACK JOB

"In Whack Job, Mike Baron mixes thrillers, political satire and weird adventure to produce a fast-paced, engaging tale of assassination and international high-stakes gamesmanship. As Otto (codename Aardvark) digs into this problem, he finds things are nothing like he expects. He's thrown into a world he doesn't recognize or understand, making contact with conspiracy buffs, gamer geeks and computer hackers, all in an effort to dig beneath the surface of this unfolding scheme." --Drew Bittner

"The story never feels rushed. Baron lets it grow naturally while also keeping the reader engaged. Baron uses his time writing comics to his advantage, since he definitely has a keen on eye on pacing and how to keep the pages turning. The plot really goes full-bore, so to speak, as White makes a connection that’s been missed before: that there might be a link between all the cases and a mysterious campground/think tank." --Bruce Grossman

These titles are available in both Kindle and print formats. Check 'em out!

A note from Sandy Sandfort

GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS

Hi EFT fans,

I have some good news and some bad news.

First, the BAD news. It doesn't look as though Escape From Terra will be going forward any time soon. EFT Team members all have other priorities and obligations. So EFT as a graphic series is on the back burner for the foreseeable future. Should that change, you will be notified.

The GOOD news is that all old and all NEW stories in the EFT universe will continue, but in prose form. In some ways, this is nothing new. In the past, all EFT strips started out as my prose short stories which were then converted into scripts by Scott (and sometimes Leila) and then illustrated by Lee (and sometimes Leila). The only difference is that the stories will be published as prose only. So you can continue to get your EFT fix of its ongoing adventures in human space. That will continue as long as you want me to keep them coming. Plus there is a new twist I think you will like. The twist is that I will be publishing annotated versions of the prose versions of past and future stories. Readers often ask me where I get my story ideas, characters, character names, etc. Well, now you will know. Each story will include a foreword/afterword with the inside information about the people, places and things—real and imaginary—that inspired that story. Expect surprises. I am confident you will enjoy these “stories behind the stories.”

I have already started annotating the original EFT prose stories. So you will soon be able to get the inside scoop on stories you have already read and enjoyed. After that, I will begin writing (and annotating) brand new stories, with another interesting twist.

I plan to split EFT into two or more ongoing series. The current series will continue. (To get the ball rolling, I will send you the first new story for free... sort of. See below.) One of the new series will be a prequel set in the 1970s through today and a bit beyond. My previously published (and as yet unannotated) novella, THE RESURRECTIONS OF ROBERT A. HEINLEIN: GENESIS, will be the first in that series. There will be elephants, rollerskating and “ulu-fu.”

The second proposed series will follow the continuing adventures of the heroic crew who “liberated” the International Space Station in the EFT arc, “Gone Missing.” It will follow their epic journey to Mars and the creation of the first colony there. There will be danger, intrigue, triumphs and... betrayal.

I am also considering the creation of a “Steam Punk” series, “Steamship Troopers,” set in the original EFT universe and timeframe. Expect swashbuckling adventure, romance and humor. Okay, how about that “free” new EFT story? It's called “The Plume of the Eagle.” It's about a hollowed planetoid and the “Teddy” eco-terrorists. It takes its name from Aesop's, “The shaft of the arrow had been feathered with one of the eagle's own plumes. We often give our enemies the means of our own destruction.”

To get your copy, all you have to do is send me an email (with “PLUME” in the subject line). After you read PLUME, I would appreciate your honest opinions and suggestions about:

1. EFT going forward as prose only

2. EFT spin-offs and which ones sound the most interesting

3. What themes, characters, plot elements, etc. you would like to see more of (or less of) in future stories.

Your ideas and opinions are important to me. Please share them and I'll reward you with a pre-publication version of “The Plume of the Eagle” via return email.

Thank you for your support,

Sandy Sandfort

sandy (at) sandfort (dot) biz

A personal note of thanks from Scott Bieser

I want to thank everyone for the sympathetic expressions sent to me via e-mail and in the forum, regarding the death of my wife, EJ. And rest assured, everything sent to our "contact" address reaches my mail box.

The condolences do buoy my spirits. After 17 years of marriage EJ had become as much a part of me as my arms and legs -- more than that, she'd become part of my soul. And as that part of me has been taken away, for now, I feel incomplete. But the kind words from my readers and friends affirm for me (I can't really explain why) that EJ's life mattered, and that my loss is also felt, at least a little bit, by those who know me and my work.

QUANTUM VIBE will begin updating again on Monday, Dec. 17. It will run through the week, and then there will be another, shorter interruption for Christmas Week (Dec. 24-28). This was planned before EJ took a turn for the worse (because traffic tends to drop that week anyway as so many readers are on the road visiting family) as a way for me to restore my buffer. The strip will then resume on Dec. 31 and into the new year.

Thanks again for your sympathy, as well as your patience.

Mike Baron Goes Prose

Mike Baron, author of The Architect and The Hook for Big Head Press (and better known as co-creator of NEXUS and THE BADGER), has turned his creative efforts to prose novels, in the horror genre. His first two books are available on the Kindle reader from Amazon.com.

His first effort, HELMET HEAD, tells the tale of "a monstrous motorcyclist dressed all in black who rides the back roads of Little Egypt cutting off the heads of other bikers with a samurai sword. But on one terrible stormy night, Deputy Pete Fagan discovers that Helmet Head is all too real and filled with a fury that won't be satisfied until his demonic sword drinks deeply."

In his other book, WHACK JOB, "When world leaders burst into flame like a string of Lady Fingers, the President calls on a renegade former agent with a history of mental problems. Otto "Aardvark" White possesses a unique quality. He's lucky."

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