More Drac-ety Yak plus first look at Colton Worley's artwork

The Complete Dracula page 4 by Colton Worley.

Those nice chaps over at Newsarama have been kind enough to do a fair bit of writing about The Complete Dracula over the last few days and you, you lovely people, have been getting all excited and saying lots of very nice things about it, so thanks for that. We really, really appreciate it.

Just in case you missed it first time around here are the links:

Series announcement http://www.newsarama.com/comics/010927-Complete-Dracula.html

Interview with Moore & Reppion http://www.newsarama.com/comics/010930-Moore-Reppion-Dracula.html

Today they've posted an interview with our amazing artist Colton Worley but, not only that, they've also posted the first four pages of the book! Head over to http://www.newsarama.com/comics/020903-Dracula-Worley.html and feast your eye's on the man's genius.

New Moore & Reppion stuff out now!

The trade paperback edition of our 4 part Top Cow/Dynamite Entertainment crossover mini The Darkness vs. Eva - Daughter of Dracula is out this week.

If you missed it the first time around, here are a couple of pages to whet your appetite.

You should be able to find the book at your local comic shop but, if you don't fancy the walk, you can order a copy from Forbidden Planet international by clicking the banner below.

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Also out this week is Mike Raicht's Creature Feature #2 from Th3rd Wold Studios. Which features a 12 page story called "Imago" written by us and drawn by 2000 AD legend P J Holden.

Here's a taste of the schlocky horror goodness:
CF #2 also features horrific tales written by Stuart Moore (IRON MAN, WOLVERINE), Mike Raicht (ARMY OF DARKNESS) and Brian Smith (ADVENTURES OF DANIEL BOOM: LOUDBOY) with art by Alberto Ponticelli (UNKNOWN SOLDIER), Jacob Chabot (MIGHTY SKULLBOY ARMY), and Brian Smith.

Again, all good comic shops should have CF #2 in stock but if they don't (why those lousy...!) then click on the banner below to visit the official Th3rd World store.


Sod the recession, cheer yourself up and go and buy some comics!

The Complete Dracula coming in April 2009

Coming April 2009

THE COMPLETE DRACULA #1

Written by Bram Stoker, Leah Moore and John Reppion, art by Colton Worley, covers by John Cassady.

Dynamite presents an unprecedented comic book series that tells the complete story of the Lord of the Undead -- Dracula! For the first time in 112 years the tale that Bram Stoker intended to tell is told (including "Dracula's Guest"!). If you thought you knew how it began or how it ends, you were wrong! A five-issue issue odyssey of life, death and the blood that flows within us all!

This fully painted series features a massive 32 pages of story and art per issue, each page fully-painted in a rich, moody style by Worley, all under covers by modern master John Cassaday! Moore and Reppion also provide bonus material such as script pages, annotations and samplings of the original text by Bram Stoker!

40 pages, $4.99.

At last we can talk about this project! We have been working on The Complete Dracula since late 2007 and the finished scripts add up to over 120,000 words (which isn't all that far behind the 166,000-ish words of the original text really). It's been a mammoth undertaking but we have really enjoyed it and can't wait for people to see what Colton has done with the artwork.

Here's to the year of the vampire!

Out now, coming soon and after that.

Dynamite Entertainment's Savage Tales #10 arrived in shops this week featuring the final part of the second act (got that?) of our micro mini Battle For Atlantis with industry legend Pablo Marcus on art duties. We're very pleased with the story and always really enjoy working on BFA; we've tried to make it as authentically "classic" as we can, as if we were writing for the original Savage Tales back in the 1970s.
Also in this issue: the first part of a brand-new Red Sonya two-parter by Mike Lieb and Diego Bernard, part two of Valaka by Doug Murray and Lui Antonio and part one of a brand new Hercules story by Doug Murray and Fabiano Neves.

You can see preview pages from ST #10 HERE

This issue is part of our £1 sale so, if you haven't picked up a copy yet, head over to moorereppion.bigcartel.com and place an order.

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Mike Raicht emailed over the lettered pages for our Mike Raicht's Creature Feature story Imago last night and Leah and I were really happy with the finished product. Imago was drawn by the infamous PJ Holden (in his pre-iPhone super-stardom days) and will be published in Creature Feature #2 sometime in late December/early January.
Keep an eye on www.th3rdworld.com to make sure you don't miss out!

In the meantime you can order a copy of #1 HERE (if you haven't already got one) and read a review/creator interview HERE

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Prior to enjoying possibly the best con ever at Thought Bubble Leeds (proper write up to follow at some point - here are some other people's in the meantime http://forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/?p=10301) on the 16th of November, we managed to turn in a one shot script for IDW which we are very, very excited about. We're working with an artist whose work we both love and with characters that we honestly never imagined we'd get the chance to write. Less cryptic news to follow ASAP but certain rumourmongers have already hinted at the project so, if you can't wait, get Googling.
[EDIT: see moorereppion.blogspot.com/doctor-who]

In the next week or so we'll be putting the finishing touches to a five part Dynamite Entertainment mini series we've been working on for just on a year now. Each issue has 32 pages of story in it but that doesn't even begin to explain how dense the series is in terms of reference research and the sheer amount of stuff we've had to cram into every panel and page. It's a piece of writing that we're both extremely proud of and we can't wait to be able to talk about it properly and for people to actually read it.

We're almost half way through another five issue Dynamite mini which has some similarities with the one previously mentioned and have quite a few other potential projects on the horizon. 2009 is already looking like a very busy year.

Anthologies ahoy! (and a new TPB too!)

As I'm sure practically everyone with a pulse is now aware the magnificent Comic Book Tattoo was launched this weekend just gone at San Diego Comic Con. For those of you who have just woken up out of a coma (welcome back by the way - I bet your glad it didn't all end up like 28 days Later...) CBT has been described thusly:

This July the ever-growing relationship between comics and music reaches new heights as Tori Amos and Image Comics release COMIC BOOK TATTOO, a 480-page, full color anthology adapting the themes and ideas behind her songs into a lush volume of sequential art.

“I have been surprised, excited and pleasantly shocked by these comics that are extensions of the songs that I have loved and therefore welcome these amazing stories of pictures and words because they are uncompromisingly inspiring,” says Tori. “It shows you thought is a powerful formidable essence and can have a breathtaking domino effect.”

We're in there, collaborating to Pia (Y the Last man) Guerra on "Hey Jupiter". Other contributors include David Mack, Hope Larson, Ryan Kelly, Jonathan Hickman, Colleen Doran, Eric Canete, Ted McKeever, Jock, Anthony Johnston, Dame Darcy, Carla Speed McNeil, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Mark Buckingham, Ivan Brandon, C. B. Cebulski and Mr. Rantz Hoseley. There's even an intro from the ever charming Mr. Neil Gaiman.

More details plus regular Blogs about the individual stories can be found at http://cbt.comicbookresources.com/

The book is all over "teh internets" already and a quick Google will probably give you all the info you could desire but, just in case you don't feel like trawling for CBT goodness here's a link to the Aint It Cool sneak peek at the book.

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Image Comics' Popgun Vol 2 is out this week featuring another Deadeye story from ourselves and Mr. Matt Timson (who is currently preparing to hit the big time with a new project he's working on - don't forget us Matt!). Other people in there include Dean Haspiel, Ryan Ottley, James Kolchaka, Erik Larsen, Frank Espinosa, Jim Rugg, Danny Hellman, Khary Rhandolph, Dan Hipp, Mark Andrew Smith and, of course, the most prolific man in comics Dwight L. MacPherson.

If you want to know how good Vol 2 is going to be then consider this: Popgun Volume 1 is nominated for a Harvey Award! So, (if you work in the industry) please take a moment to head over to the website and vote for it.

Visit http://www.harveyawards.org/ and follow these steps:

• Download the .txt attachment from the site.
• Chose your picks and put an X next to Popgun Volume 1.
• Save the document and attach it in an e-mail or copy and paste it into the text. E-mail your vote to pjcjmc3@sbcglobal.net

Simple.

And don't forget to pick up a copy of Vol 2 tomorrow or else at your nearest convenience.

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And lastly, but by no means leastly (leastly?), the trade paperback edition of our Dynamite Entertainment/Top Cow cross over mini series Witchblade - Shades of Gray is also out thsi week.

Featuring issues 1-4 of the mini-series from writer John Reppion and Leah Moore (also the writers of Dynamite's zombie opus RAISE THE DEAD) along with artists Stephen Segovia and Walter Geovani, and cover artists Stephen Segovia, Billy Tan, e-Bas, Adriano Batista!

Follow Detective Sara Pezzini and her new rookie partner as they race to stop a murdering madman. Waiting and watching in the shadows is the enigmatic Dorian Gray who may or may not be the murderer they seek! With the action spanning the globe as well as exploring Gray's colored past, this is an event not to be missed! Also includes a complete cover gallery.

Visit www.dynamiteentertainment.com for more info.

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Don't forget, if you're just too damn lazy to drag your arse down to the local comic shop and you can't even be bothered Googling round to find books online, then why not visit Our Shop Page where you can get all your Moore & Reppion goodness under on virtual roof.
You know it makes sense.

Comic books and ghostly tales

Okay, first thing's first, do you have Savage Tales #8 yet? If not, why not? As well as featuring Red Sonja, Quartermain By Lieberman, Wolpert and Bernard and The Trials of Osin by Lieberman and Fabiano Neves, this issue sees the return of Battle for Atlantis!
Yes, the evil Vacharn the necromancer is back and once again we've teamed up with PabloMarcos (yes, THAT Pablo Marcos) to bring you the next chapter of the fabled doomed island. I don't think I'm giving too much away if I say there are a hell of a lot of Harryhausen style skeletons running round.
http://www.dynamiteentertainment.com/htmlfiles/p-C109827.html

Supernatural wordsmith extraordinaire Brian J. Showers & John Reppion.

This weekend just gone saw the launch of my new book 800 Years of Haunted Liverpool here in Liverpool city center. The launch went far better than I could have hoped and we completely sold out of books. Thanks to everyone who came (some people from as far away as Dublin and Northampton) and helped to make the event a truly wonderful experience.
More info and images over at hauntedliverpool.blogspot.com

The book isn't officially released until the middle of the month so keep your eyes peeled for more news coming soon.

Eva, The Darkness and Benny Peiser

It only seems like yesterday (well, maybe a month or so ago) that we were doing all the press for the launch of our Dynamite/Top Cow crossover The Darkness vs. Eva - Daughter of Dracula. Sadly though, all things must come to an end and the concluding part of the four issue mini is on sale now at your local comic shop or internet retailer.
Of course, if you've missed out on the mini, you could always head over to our PayPal Shop where you can purchase the full series, signed by Moore & Reppion, for only £6 plus P&P.

In either case, you might like to take a look at some exciting preview pages over at http://www.wizarduniverse.com/061608darkprev.html

D vs. E has been a really fun series to work on and we've got really positive feedback from the Top Cow fans especially. We've really enjoyed working with artist Edgar Salazar too and hope to be able to team up again on future projects.


On a completely different note, back in March 2007 I interviewed lecturer, Spaceguard member, neo-catastrophism expert and all round good egg Benny Peiser for The End is Nigh #4 which, sadly is yet to surface (it's okay Mr. Molcher, we know that you're very, very busy). Benny emailed me a little while back to ask if it would be possible to publish the interview elsewhere and I passed my transcript on to him.
The full interview can now be read over on Die Achse des Guten ("The Axis of Good") and is a must read for anyone who is interested in the end of the world, asteroids, religious fundamentalism and all that good stuff.

New comics and signings coming up soon.

Coming this week from Dynamite Entertainment: The Darkness vs. Eva- Daughter of Dracula #2 (23rd April USA, 24th UK and Europe).

"This crossover of dark and demonic dimensions continues as Eva and Jackie Estacado are drawn together by mysterious forces and when they meet - darkness meets darkness and you can bet there's gonna be a fight"

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As you probably already know, the Bristol Comics Expo is next month, running from the 9th until the 11th. It's probably the single most important yearly event in UK comics and, naturally, we will be there (along with pretty much everyone else involved in British comics).


We'll be signing both Saturday and Sunday from 1-2pm and generally lurking around the Accent UK table for much of the rest of the weekend. Please come and say hello and maybe get you hands on a signed Raise the Dead hardback or two. ;)

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Before Bristol however, we will be doing a little signing back in Leah's hometown of Northampton at Phoenix Comics.


The signing will take place on the afternoon of Thursday the 8th of May at
Phoenix Comics
29 Abington Square,
Northampton,
Northamptonshire
NN1 4AE
UK

If you're in the area then please do pop in and say hello.

The Darkness Vs. Eva #1 OUT NOW!

Issue #1 of our new Dynamite Entertainment/Top Cow crossover series The Darkness Vs. Eva - Daughter of Dracula arrived in comic shops Wednesday/Thursday last week.

To celebrate we've been yakking on in a load of interviews which can be viewed online at http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=150642 and
http://www.wizarduniverse.com/031908darkeva.html


Lots more preview images accompanying the interviews too.

Hope you enjoy the new series.

Dakness Vs. Eva interview and previews

With issue #1 of our new four part Dynamite/Top Cow crossover scheduled to arrive in stores in a few weeks we spoke to Shaun Manning over at Comic Book Resources about the upcoming series.

In this corner, Top Cow’s tortured mobster-turned-hero Jackie Estacado, wielder of The Darkness; and in that corner, the challenger, from the pages of “Army of Darkness” and her own Dynamite Entertainment one-shot, Eva, Daughter of Dracula! Refereeing this Edgar Salazar-illustrated match-up are writers Leah Moore & John Reppion, who spoke with CBR News about March's Dynamite miniseries “Darkness vs. Eva” and the dangerous subject of what’s up next. [read on and see preview pages here]

Raise the Dead - it really, really is out now!

The Raise the Dead Hardcover edition is definitely, positively, absolutely arriving in shops in the USA on the 27th of February, 2008 (28th in the UK & Europe... I think) which, if I'm not mistaken, is today! Hooray!

If you haven't already reserved your copy (and you like ordering stuff online) you can get a copy from...

>>Forbidden Planet International<< (UK and Europe)
or
>>Amazon.com<< (USA & Canada)

And, just in case you need a bit of encouragement, here are the first 11 pages!!! *drool*

Raise the Dead hardcover out now! [edit]

"[Raise the Dead] thrilled me, captivated me, angered
me in places, and left me thinking, knowing, that as I switched off the light,
and lay alone in the dark, that somewhere out there, was a pair of red glowing
eyes."

-- Max Brooks (author of World War Z and
The Zombie Survival Guide) in his introduction to the Hardcover
edition of Raise the Dead.

Order now from Forbidden Planet International

Also, my 20 questions are now up on "Our Worlds at War". check it out.

L.

All the best and looking forward to 2008.

Just a quick message to wish you all the very best for the holiday season and a happy new year for 2008.

As well as Space Doubles #1, which is out next week, and the Raise the Dead hardback, which should be coming early in '08, we can now reveal a couple of other projects we'll be involved with over the coming months.

The Darkness/Eva - Daughter of Dracula 4 issue mini.
"Dynamite has confirmed for Newsarama that it will continue its “Eva” property (though now re-named “Eva: Daughter of Dracula”) in March, when the character will crossover with Top Cow’s the Darkness, marking the two company’s second such collaboration.

The project will be written by Leah Moore and John Reppion, with art by Edgar Salazar, and covers by Brett Booth, Salazar and Paul Renaud."

Comic Book Tattoo - A Tori Amos anthology
"... according to several blog posts that popped up last night it announces a new Image Comics anthology, Comic Book Tattoo, which will feature stories inspired by Tori Amos songs. Rantz Hosley is editing and the book will be out in time for Comic-Con International next year."
(We're going to be collaborating with Y the Last Man artist Pia Guerra on a story for this mega huge book!)

Thanks for all your help and support; thanks for buying our comics and being interested in what we do. Hopefully, next year will be even better for us all.

Cheers

J&L

Witchblade - Shades of Gray #3 out this week

So, after a bit of a delay (sorry about that) Witchblade - Shades of Gray #3 is finally hitting the stands this week with the concluding issue coming very soon. We're very pleased to have Walter Geovani as our new artist and can't wait to see the series wrapped up and "set free".

More info on the Dynamite site HERE.

More Raise the Dead?

A big thanks to everyone who has bought the series and emailed to let Dynamite know how much they enjoyed it.

This was printed in the letters column of Savage Tales #3 recently:

It's not quite official yet, so please keep letting them know if you want to see more Moore & Reppion zombie mayhem.

Cheers

:D

Savage Tales #3

The third issue of Dynamite Entertainment's bi-monthly anthology title Savage Tales arrives in shops today/tomorrow/very soon (depending on what part of the world you're in).

#3 contains the concluding part of our story "Battle for Atlantis" with art by Pablo Marcos and Stjepan Sejic. Here's a little taster of the thrilling finale.



Also, look out for conclusions to Mike Raicht's brilliant Lovecraftian savage-athon "The Elder Things that fell to Earth" and Lieberman and Avon's "Where Walks the Hunter".

Get down to that comic shop as fast as your little legs will carry you!

J.

Raise the Dead Hardcover!

RAISE THE DEAD OVERSIZED HARDCOVER COLLECTION

PRICE:

$19.99

DIAMOND ORDER CODE: AUG07 3499

Rating: Teen+
Covers: Arthur Suydam
Writer: Leah Moore & John Reppion
Penciller: Hugo Petrus
Colorist: Ivan Nunes
Genre: HORROR
Awards: None
Publication Date: NOVEMBER, 2007
Format: Comic Book
Rights: WW
Age range: 13-24

Marketing Description: Featuring an introduction from Zombie expert Max (World War Z, Zombie Survival Guide) Brooks!

Dynamite enters the land of the dead with an all-new Zombie tale set in the middle of a full scale zombie infestation! This time though, there's a twist as Dynamite puts the "living" into the living dead! Writers Leah Moore and John Reppion are joined by the newest Dynamite artistic sensation, Hugo Petrus, for this special Zombie event!
From its shocking opening to its ever-evolving cast of doomed humans facing an overwhelming number of the undead, Raise the Dead sets a new standard in horror storytelling - and all the gory details will be presented in full color!
This Over-Sized Hardcover reprints the entire 4-issue mini-series as well as a complete cover gallery featuring Sean Phillips and Arthur Suydam!

"Walking Dead is still a quality read about the emotional toll a zombie apocalypse has on the human spirit, but this is a zombie book that doesn't forget to put the bite into its story."
-- Ain't It Cool News

NOTE: ADVANCE SOLICITED FOR NOVEMBER

Retailer Incentives:
#1: SUYDAM INCENTIVE EDITION

New comics out now/soon/in the future

Raise the Dead #3 - "Thicker Than Water" came out on the 6th of June and the reaction seems to be very positive so far. We certainly like it anyway. Only one issue to go now; how time flies.

Witchblade - Shades of Gray #2 - "The Enemy of My Enemy" will arrive in shops in the USA tomorrow (the 20th of June) and here in the UK on Thursday (the 21st). Hopefully, the slight delay between the first issue and this one won't have put too many of you off *crosses fingers*.

Savage Tales #2 (featuring part two of our Battle for Atlantis mini) is also out as of tomorrow/Thursday. People seem to be loving this; it's a really old fashioned adventure/sword and sorcery type anthology title and that's obviously something that's very appealing to a lot of readers.

We're currently working on another four issue mini for Dynamite (which we've already turned in the first script for) as well as researching the hell out of a prospective adaptation project for them. Busy as ususal.

J.

A very busy few weeks.

Over the last few weeks we seem to have been up to all sorts and now that we're into June it's time to stop, take a breath and, well, Blog...

Over the weekend of the 12th and 13th of May we missed the Bristol Comic Expo (for the first time in something like four years) because we had a family wedding to attend.

Lots of people have since informed us that is was the best Bristol ever (which, we hope, had nothing to with our not being there).

Lots of images and even videos (isn't modern technology marvelous?) of the convention can be found here, here and here (and probably loads of other places):
http://flingk.com/10dh84jz
http://flingk.com/15fei7fi
http://www.ndcomicsmag.com/bristolcon/

On Saturday the 19th of May Leah and I headed down/over to Stoke on Trent where our old chum Shane Oakley had somehow managed to wangle us a day as extras in a zombie film called Out of Space. Ostensibly, this was so that I could write a piece for www.RevenantMagazine.com about the film and whole experience (which will be appearing online very soon) but it was also a very good laugh. Very nice popping into the pub over the road for last orders still dressed as zombies afterwards too. The bar man's reaction: "Alright, you doin' a film are you?".

The wife and myself (with photoshop enhanced eyes)

Sickly Suzanne and Icky Oakley

Sunday the 27th of May saw us over in the historic market town of Market Weighton for Giant Bradley Day which I will be writing an article about that will hopefully appear in Fortean Times during the next few months.


In addition to all the historical giant stuff (which I'm saving for the article, obviously) not only did we see what was professed to be the world's biggest garden spade...

...we also had a dream opportunity to take loads of photos of classic cars and produce the following Coop style post (with a uniquely British twist)...



That's right my friends, Morris Minors by the dozen. Look at the engine on this little bugger; that's an Austin designed 0.8 L overhead valve A-Series, unless I'm very much mistaken. A top speed of 63 mph. What a beauty, but I digress.

In addition to all the above mentioned shenanigans we've also completed (this very evening... or is that morning now?) the script for the very first issue of a brand new Dynamite Entertainment/Top Cow crossover series. Details coming soon.

Oh and don't forget, Raise the Dead #3 is out this week so make sure you pick up a copy before it sells out (did that sound too cocky?).

That's it I think. Time for my supper.

J.