Quick hit interview with Comics Continuum.

Rob Allstetter has a quick write-up about the Lost Squad movie over on Comics Continuum. Scroll down to the second story.

Just a few quick quotes from me from behind the artist's alley table at WizardWorld Chicago.

There's this cool new thing called myspace. Ever heard of it?

Ok, so I may be the only person in cyberspace without a myspace page. Now the Lost Squad has a page.

Phil Kost has taken it upon himself to create a cool little Lost Sqaud outpost on myspace.

Give it a gander here - http://www.myspace.com/thelostsquad.

Add the Squad as your new friend!

WORDBALLOON podcast up!

John Siuntres, the Chicago based creator of the comic book conversation show Wordballoon, did yeoman's work stalking Artist's Alley at Wizard World this year and got a ton of quick audio interviews right from the floor from a bevy of comic heavies...and me.

The podcast was just posted and you can check it out here at Newsarama (right click and hit SAVE LINK to download) or over at the Wordballon homepage (including an in-browser player) here. The list of guests is very impressive, but if you want to skip to my jibba-jabba about the Lost Squad stuff I come in at around the 44:32 mark.

You can also subscribe to Wordballoon using your iTunes software. Some highlights for me from the Wordballoon library: the Bendis episodes are a riot and the Greg Rucka stuff is terrific as well. Two of my favorite creators.

Thanks for stopping by the table John!

Back from Chicago!

I had a fantastic time in Chicago. At the risk of being crass, sales were terrific and it was far-and-away the best show I've ever had.

I wasn't going to sell the nine copies of the Lost Squad trade that I had, but I sold out of Issue #1 on Friday and people were interested in grabbing the entire six issue run. So, I put the books out on Saturday and seven were gone in the first hour. I could have sold another 20 or so if I'd had them.

Reaction to the book has been very strong and I appreciate all the kind comments from readers. I can't thank you enough for picking up the book and giving us a read. One reader picked up the first three issues of the Operation: Crystal Ball storyline and came running back for the rest to have something to read while in line for the DARK KNIGHT panel.

I was set up next to my bro, Kody Chamberlain. We had fantastic booth placement along the back wall of Artist's Alley. Kody was next to superstar Bill Sienkiewicz and I had inker Rodney Ramos on my left. The rest of the row included Mike Norton, Tony Moore and B. Clay Moore - a very solid group. Spot the imposter in that row!

Kody and I hung a bit with Bill Sienkiewicz on Friday night and listened as he told old war stories and talked artistic technique. Great guy and it was an honor to meet him.

I had a great time hanging with some of the Kansas City comics guys - writer Ed Lavallee (REVERE), the GEARHEAD guys - writer Dennis Hopeless and artist Kevin Mellon. Sean Dulaney made it up Friday night and stuck around until Sunday. Glenn Jeffers made it out Thursday and Friday to have a few cocktails.

The Devil's Due crowd were fantastic as always. Thanks to Josh Blaylock, Tim Seeley, Sam Wells and Susan Bishop.

Met a bunch of great people. Phil Kost is the military adviser for Devil's Due and the G.I. Joe comic. Terrific guy. He sent me this picture of he and I by the Lost Squad banner. Phil's on the left. I'm the dork on the right. I must have run into him about thirty times Friday and Saturday night at the Hyatt bar.

Jeffery and Tonya, Kody's pals from Louisiana went to dinner at Gibsons' Thursday night with Kody and I. Great people.

Good to see Jon Malin, Dash Martin, Ryan Stegman, Erik Rose, Joe Judt, Jeff Stevenson and Matt Silady.

Stood around late Saturday night/Sunday morning listening to Kody and B. Clay Moore talk about the comics biz and the reality of it. Clay's a good guy who knows his stuff, so I just listened and absorbed. Also, I was kinda drunk, so that had something to do with not jumping in on the conversation.

Said hey to IDW guys hanging at the Hyatt - Chris Ryall, Nick Stakal and Chuck BB. I wanted to talk a bit with Chris about projects and such, but I figured it was bad form and just said hello. I'll try and drop him an email.

John Siuntres of the WORDBALLOON podcast came by and did a quick hit from the con floor for an upcoming podcast. I can only hope I don't sound like a complete moron. John's podcast is terrific. Give it a listen.

I'm probably forgetting a bunch of people and I apologize.

UPDATE: Dammit! I forgot to mention a couple of great DW message boarders. Mike Kasinger (MEK71) on the boards dropped by the table and picked up a Lost Squad trade. Send me a Lost Squad pin-up MEK and I'll see if we have room in the next issue.

I got a terrific Zombie Hulk sketch card from Rich Molinelli, who's always a blast to talk to as well as his significant (more significant?) other Samantha. I'm going to do my damnedest to make it to New York next year just to hang with them. I'll scan the card and send it your way, Rich.

Also got to meet Dirk Manning of Newsarama and NIGHTMARE WORLD fame in the flesh and in costume. Nice guy. Good to finally meet you, Dirk!

Thanks to everyone who bought comics or just came by to say hello.

Looking forward to next year.

Wizard World Chicago

I'll be setting up in Artist's Alley at table #5512 right next to artist Kody Chamberlain. We're there tomorrow for Preview night and thru the weekend. Come by and say "Hi!". We're all the way in the back along the wall next to the concessions stand.

I'll have LOST SQUAD books for sale along with my self-published horror anthologies FREAKSHOW and BRIDE OF FREAKSHOW.

And, I'll be hawking some terrific original LS artwork from Alan Robinson as well. Sharp looking artwork! Buy it now before Alan gets huge!

I'll also be signing at the Devil's Due booth #435. UPDATE: I'll be signing on Friday from 9am to 10am, Saturday from 12pm to 1pm and on Sunday from 1pm until 2pm. Come by their booth and you can preorder the Lost Squad TPB and qualify to win a free copy!

THE INTERROGATION

I was goofing on the web and found this short comic story online that artist Gil Agudin and I created.

Published back in 2004 in Digital Webbing #13, it was great fun to write and I hope to return to the scene for a sequel.

I love Gil's artwork and would love to work with him again.

Check it out here - THE INTERROGATION.

Back from Comicon

Back and decompressing from Comicon. Had a terrific time.

FINALLY, got my hands on a copy of the Lost Squad trade. That was definitely one highlight of the con. The downside is that the book won't even arrive on these shores in the U.S. until Aug. 30th. ugh.

The Devil's Due crew were, as always, a blast to hang around. Thanks to Susan, Josh, Cassie and Liz for the hospitality. Thanks to Sam Wells for shlepping copies of the trade to San Diego.

Got to hang with Andrew Dabb - writer on DRAGONLANCE, Mark Powers - writer/creator of DRAFTED and the talented Tim Seeley, who is always cool to hang with. Josh Blaylock had some nice things to say about the new project I'm working on and he dropped a few scoops on what DDP has up their sleeves in Hollywood as well.

Dropped by the AiT/PlanetLar booth and saw Larry Young and took a look at pictures of his newest creative triumph - his son Walker. Met former Champaign native and author of the amazing book THE HOMELESS CHANNEL Matt Silady. Terrific guy and very talented.

Dan Taylor from IDW is always up for a beer and talking comics. Danny is a good man. Good luck with everything, bro. You're doing what I can only dream about.

Had a good visit with Courtney Huddleston from Penny Farthing Press.

Talked a bit with Mel Smith and his crew from Wildcard comics about working on...something. Wilcard publish the new GUMBY comic which is a great read. I'd love to find something to work with them on.

Met up with the talented Chad Hardin about something we're working on that we might actually get paid to create. Got some mixed signals here and there, but I got my fingers crossed. Chad and I have something else up our sleeves if this gig falls through, something creator owned that we hope to shop around once we hear the verdict on this other deal.

Had a good time eating and drinking around SD and met a ton of cool people. Colorist Mark Sweeney, THE ENGINE governess Rachel Young, the talented Phil Hester, All The Rage's Stephen Saunders, artist Steven Perkins, and a bunch of Digital Webbing message boarder's: Ray and Ranae, Joanne, Rich Nelson, Jeff Stevenson and Michael Colbert.

Hung a while with Kody Chamberlain, Rob Guillory, and their significant others. Always a good time.

Artist Ryan Scott and I were able to peel ourselves from the convention floor and actually get some work done on our new project. I was able to slip it in the hands of a few people and I'm VERY pleased with the reaction. More on that when I have something concrete to talk about.

Bunked up with Sean Dulaney, Barry Buchanan, and the all-networking Tony Lee. Good mates one and all. Sean made the Top 50 in the Platinum Studios contest and got us into the rooftop party they tossed for the winners. The one bummer of the entire con was the Sean just missed the top 10.

Talked briefly with Daniel Alter producer on the Lost Squad and met his pal, producer Howard Sun. These are the guys that always seem to have some kind of ace up their sleeves.


Tried to talk with Ryan Ottley, but every time I dropped by the Image booth, the guys was swamped with fans looking for sketches. I got to talk with him a bit. He's right at the top of the list of guys I want to work with.

Felt bad about not being able to toss in with the Epic Proportions guys for a booth next year. I've got some things going on right now that won't allow me to commit to the con next year. Hope I didn't piss them off. It was going seeing Ken Knudtsen and Jerry Ma along with their pal Fisk. Ken, I promise I WILL finish part two of MINDGAMES!

Congrats to Shawn Granger another DW regular who did make the Final 10 in the Platinum Studios contest. Shoot on over to their website and vote for Shawn. We palled around a bit with him and one of his sometimes partners-in-crime, the too-damn-funny Jason May. Jason and I share the same kind of twisted sense of humor.

The highlight of the con for me came when I went back to the Devil's Due booth on Saturday to meet one of my screenwriting idols Stephen E. De Souza writer of such movies as DIE HARD 1 & 2 and 48 HOURS. IMHO, DIE HARD is a perfectly constructed script. Currently, he's writing the Sheena book for DDP and was signing copies on Saturday. I found him at the signing table reading the LOST SQUAD trade during a lull in the crowd. How cool is that? He was kind enough to spend the next 30 minutes or so letting me pick his brain on writing for the movies.

I'm probably forgetting a lot of people. Sorry, the booze took it's toll. I had a couple of really great meetings that I'm hoping will pan out into something larger and the reaction to the new project was above expectations.

Here's to hoping that I can make it out to San Diego next year.

Sandy Eggo plans - UPDATED!

Headed to the left coast for Comicon. I'll be there Wednesday through Saturday and jetting out on Sunday.

No table this year so I'll be roaming here and there doing the grip-and-grin networking thing. Hoping to have a few meetings as well.

This is the first year in a while that I won't be setting up somewhere to peddle comics, but I will be signing at the Devil's Due booth # 2415 located across from the Diamond Comics booth.

UPDATE: Susan at DDP is being cruel to me as she's stuck me on the morning shift! I'll be signing on Thursday and Friday from 10AM - Noon and on Saturday from 9:00AM until Noon. Please bring breakfast nosh and hangover remedies.

Got a coupla things in the hopper to show around. Hoping to find a home for one of the projects.

Looking forward to the good food and good folks. It's always great catching up with people every year.

Fan email! This is pretty cool.

I received a terrific email on the Fourth from reader Chris Jachimowicz. He gave the Lost Squad some nice props but also sent along photos of a project he's been working on inspired by the Lost Squad's Spider Tanks.

Here's part of the email:

"The photographic results of my first project are attached. I spent about three months scratch-building a Spider Tank or, "Spinnergewehr." The body is a combination of styrene plastic sheeting for the sides and basswood for the top and bottom (due to the difficult angles). The legs are all styrene plastic rods and tubes. The legs are joined to the body with half-spheres of wood. The neck is a piece of sump pump tubing and the head is a used "Bubble Tape" container. The gun itself is a 1/35 scale 88 gun - "36 FLAK" without the carriage. I then added bits from a tank model to add some realism. The driver/gunner is from a West Wind miniatures "Secrets of the Third Reich" walker model (I did it "buttoned up" so the figure wasn't needed).

I've been purchasing other 28mm figures and should soon begin work on Nazi zombies, rocket troops and the Squad itself.

Thank you again for your imagination and for the opportunity to share these with you."


Check out the photos.

How cool is that?

For the record, I nicked the idea of the Spider Tanks from Jonny Quest (and not the awful Wild Wild West movie), but the actual design of the tanks came from the mind of Alan Robinson. He's really the one who brought them to life.

Thanks for reading, Chris. Make sure to send photos of your next project.

Cat no longer in the bag - St. Leger & Mather to write/direct Lost Squad

News Headlines from Variety: Irish duo join Rogue's 'Lost Squad' and The Hollywood Reporter: Saint, Mather put 'Squad' into action.

For the record: I couldn't be more thrilled!

I was blown away after seeing their 15 minute short 'Prey Alone' - a balls-to-the-wall action stunner with terrific effects. The project's live action elements were shot in only 4 days on a green screen soundstage back in 2004. Digital Animation and effects were added later.

Check out the trailer.

Click on over to their website to view more videos and photos of the shoot. There's some terrific video comparing the raw live action footage to the finished project.

Cool stuff. YouTube has the entire fifteen minute short posted in two parts.

Part one.
Part two.

It's one more (HUGE!) step down that road to making the movie.

Sláinte!

Lost Squad mention on Fanboy Radio.

Writers Phil Hester and Chuck Satterlee , along with penciler Kevin Mellon, were interviewed on Fanboy Radio a few weeks back about their new book THIRTEEN STEPS from Desperado Publishing.

Chuck gives a nice shout out to Lost Squad in the podcast at about halfway mark. Thanks, Chuck!

If you haven't checked out the Fanboy Radio podcast, give it a listen. GREAT stuff and a terrific guest list. It's available on iTunes. Chuck, Phil and Kevin are on Episode #396 recorded on 6/6/07.

Speaking of THIRTEEN STEPS, it's a werewolf book with a twist. Here's the solicit copy: "Semi-pro baseball player Justin Ullrich has a problem… he’s a werewolf and he wants to talk, but nobody’s listening. Not his Mother, Priest, stoner pal or his ex… the succubus. So where does a monster with bloodlust issues go? He enters a twelve step self-help program, of course! But instead of finding answers he finds himself swept up in the identity politics of the monster set. Super-sized 40 page first issue! Thirteen Steps…. Because when it’s supernatural you need that extra step!

Written by Phil Hester and Chuck Satterlee with art by Kevin Mellon (GEARHEAD)".

SOLD!

Interview with Lost Squad producers Adrian Askarieh and Daniel Alter

The men behind the Lost Squad movie have a ton of stuff on their plate but they found time to sit down with IESB.net's Robert Sanchez and talk a bit about their upcoming movie HITMAN and some other projects.

Lost Squad gets a little love in there as well.

UPDATE: IGN has the HITMAN teaser trailer up.

Broken Frontier debriefs the Squad

Fletch Adams takes a long look at the first arc of Lost Squad over on the terrific comics portal Broken Frontier. Thanks for the write-up, Fletch!

I wish it hadn't taken as long between issues #5 and #6 and, believe me, readers have told us so in more ways than one. We're hoping to do the next installment either as a super-sized one shot or as a short two part mini-series. We'd like to follow the same model HACK/SLASH followed before becoming a regular on-going.

Alan is penciling another project currently for another creator. The artwork looks fantastic. Once this is in the can, he can start on the next installment of LS. I don't want to solicit until we feel comfortable with the pages we have in the can.

"Dude, what's up with the movie?"

That's a good question and something I get asked all the time.

So, here's the skinny as I understand it: Rogue Pictures has an offer out to a director(s) who will both write and direct. I've seen this person(s) work and let me say that I am thrilled and hope a deal can be reached.

I'm not sure I can say much more than that. Things are moving forward and I'll post more when I can.

PUNKS!

Gotta give a shout out to my homies Kody Chamberlain and Josh Fialkov who's new book PUNKS is in Previews this month and published under the Digital Webbing banner.

Click on over to the official site and give it a gander. I guarantee you that it's not like anything else out there. Here's the funny-as-hell press release with a ton of links to make your clicky finger happy.

Fantastic stuff and a couple of damn fine creators. Josh is the Harvey nominated writer of ELK'S RUN and Kody's handled the art chores on Boom! Studios TAG book (written by Keith Giffen) and 30 DAYS OF NIGHT: BLOODSUCKER TALES from IDW.

Make sure to pre-order this one and support indy comics.

5 page preview up at the Devil's Due site.

The fine folks at Devil's Due have tossed up a five page preview of Lost Squad #6.

Go there and read and be amazed.

That new comic smell.

A box showed up on the doorstep yesterday jam packed with 50 copies of Lost Squad #6.

FINALLY!

I'm anticipating the book will be on shelves next Wednesday, April 25th, at finer comic shops everywhere.

Believe me when I say that this issue, without a doubt, contains THE strongest work from Alan to date. He knocks the action out of the park but also shows off his storytelling chops with some of the quieter moments and reaction shots.

And, there is one large splash panel which is absolutely gorgeous.

Featured inside LS#6 is an ad with artwork by Invincible artist Ryan "WyA" Ottley for DDP's newest horror comic CHUCKY. He's handling the incentive cover for this issue. WyA's stuff really is fantastic and he's a good man. If you haven't been reading Invincible, well, then you've missed a terrific super-hero comic. Check it out.

Chucky looks like a fun horror book with Brian Pulido writing and Josh Medors handling the art chores. Josh has done some really solid artwork for Steve Niles on FUSED and 30 Days of Night. Give it read.

More on the release date of LS #6 and the collected trade when I have it.

Some new reviews from non-comics websites.

Did a bit of vanity googling for the Lost Squad and found a couple of mentions out in the blogosphere from some non-comic websites.

Armchair General's online magazine has a nice review of the Lost Squad written by Paul Glasser. Give it a read and stay for the cool military history and in-depth war game reviews. I'm a huge fan of this stuff and this site delivers in spades. Check out the article on the movie adaptation of Frank Miller's '300'. Good stuff.

Check out the comics roundup over on war game publisher Shrapnel Games community blog. Scroll down and you'll find a nice Lost Squad mention. Thanks to Shrapnel staffer Scott for the kind words.

Issue #6 preview artwork.

Apologies are in order from everyone here at Lost Squad HQ for the cancellation of Issue #6 back in October.

We've regrouped, resolicited and the big finale to the Operation: Crystal Ball will appear on comic book store shelves in March.

Here's a few sample pages to tide everyone over in the meantime.



More goodness from Alan.

Sequential Tart reviews Lost Squad #5.

Wolfen Moondaughter takes a look at issue #5 and likes what she sees.

Give it a read here.