It's been a busy week, so here's a link-dump of current activity. 

• Greg Rucka and I recently gave a talk on collaborative writing at Blizzard Entertainment, home of World of Warcraft, Starcraft, and many, many excellent people. A great time, in the company of wonderful hosts. 
• The recent Vampirella interview with "Decapitated Dan," which appeared on ComicMonsters.com, is now also available on the ComicRelated website. 
• David Pepose and I chatted (for two hours!) about comics and the writing process, for David's excellent "Writer's Workshop" column on Newsarama. 
• Recently, I designed an album cover for comedian Gabriel Rutledge. Gabriel is very funny, and his new album is available via the replication house (and will soon be available -- with a slightly altered version of my cover design) -- on the Uproar comedy label and via Gabriel's own website. (Album is mildly NSFW.)

Recently, I was interviewed by "Decapitated Dan" for the horror comic news site, comicmonsters.com. 

The interview is up now, via this link or the comicmonsters.com main page. 

Enjoy! 

Vaneta Rogers interviewed me recently, and the first half of that interview -- focusing on my upcoming run on Vampirella -- is up on Newsarama now!

Part 2, focusing on Red Sonja, will be following soon. 

Enjoy!

I've been dying (no pun intended) to be able to talk about this, and as of this morning, the cat is officially out of the bag; I'll be handling the lead-off arc of Dynamite Entertainment's new Vampirella series, with artist Wagner Reis. 

I think it's a pretty different take on the character -- a bit more grounded and "street level" -- and Wagner's Vampirella is quite unlike any version of her you've ever seen. 

Here's the official press release....

Dynamite Entertainment is pleased to introduce Vampirella to a new audience of readers!

Vampirella's back and is hot on the trail of her nemesis, Vlad Dracula. It's a darker world for Vampirella, and something even more sinister than vampires lurks in the shadows, something that even Dracula himself has cause to fear. Vampirella is all that stands between us... and the end of the world!

Vampirella #1 is written by Eric Trautmann (Action Comics co-written with Greg Rucka), illustrated by Wagner Reis and will arrive at comic shops this November.

"It's a genuine pleasure to be adding to the 'legend' of Vampirella," says writer Eric Trautmann. "There's a long roster of talented creators - Forrest Ackerman, Archie Goodwin, Kurt Busiek, Warren Ellis, James Robinson, Grant Morrison to name just a few - who have cast a long shadow over Vampirella. It's an honor to be able to add to that long, rich history, and add some of my own peculiar brand of weirdness to it all. I think people will be really surprised by Wagner's work; he brings a real sense of realism and danger to the page, and manages to create a sexy, intelligent, dangerous Vampirella. Dynamite has been very welcoming, and the experience of working with them has been tremendous fun, and hopefully that translates to the printed page."

"Eric's a talented writer who we're proud to be working with, after first catching our eye while working with Greg Rucka on Action Comics," adds Dynamite President Nick Barrucci. "Dynamite Entertainment is incredibly proud of Eric's vision for Vampirella and we ask fans to join us on what will surely be a fun ride! We're extremely proud to show one of the premiere covers to Vampirella #1 with art by J. Scott Campbell and colorist Nei Ruffino! In the next few days, we will be showing more cover art from Vampirella as well as fantastic interior pages!"

Vampirella debuted in 1969 in a black & white magazine titled simply VAMPIRELLA. With a stunning cover by legendary artist, Frank Frazetta, Vampirella #1 quickly made publishing history with its depiction of a vampire heroine, and its success prompted comics giants DC and Marvel to launch horror titles of their own. Vampirella appeared in this magazine format throughout the 1970's. Many of these classic stories were illustrated by the legendary artist Jose Gonzalez and have remained quite popular with comics fans to the present day.

After a brief publishing hiatus, Vampirella returned in 1992 and quickly regained her reigning status as the queen of all female comics characters! In continuous publication since her early '90s comeback, Vampirella has been written by top talents including Alan Moore, Mark Millar, Grant Morrison, James Robinson, Jeph Loeb, Warren Ellis, and illustrated by fan favorite artists such as Joe Quesada, J. Scott Campbell, Michael Turner, Jae Lee, Adam Hughes, Mark Texeira, Joe Jusko, Arthur Suydam, and many more!

A Vampirella feature film premiered on Showtime Networks in 1996, and the character continues to appear on numerous items of licensed merchandise. Earlier this year, Dynamite Entertainment acquired the Vampirella property from Harris Publications. Vampirella is now a part of Dynamite's thriving comic book line-up, which includes Green Hornet, Project Superpowers, The Boys, The Lone Ranger, Zorro, Army of Darkness, Red Sonja and more.

To find a comic shop near you, call 1-888-comicbook

For art and more information, please visit: www.dynamiteentertainment.com

ABOUT DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT:


DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT, the publishing division of DYNAMIC FORCES, INC., was founded in 2004 and is home to several best-selling comic book titles and properties, including Red Sonja, Green Hornet, Project Superpowers, The Boys, Army of Darkness, Battlestar Galactica, The Lone Ranger, Zorro and more!In addition to their critically-acclaimed titles and best selling comics, Dynamite works with some of the most high profile creators in comics and entertainment, including Alex Ross, John Cassaday, Garth Ennis, Michael Turner, Jim Lee, Michael Avon Oeming, Brian Reed, Mel Rubi, Marc Guggenheim, Stephen Sadowski, Mike Carey, Jim Krueger, Greg Pak, Brett Matthews, Matt Wagner and a host of up and coming new talent and fan favorite creators!

DYNAMITE is consistently ranked in the upper tiers of comic book publishers and several of their more recent launches - including Alex Ross and Jim Krueger's PROJECT SUPERPOWERS - have debuted in the Top Ten lists produced by Diamond Comics Distributors. In 2005 Diamond awarded the company a GEM award for Best New Publisher and another GEM in 2006 for Comics Publisher of the Year (under 5%). The company has also been nominated for several industry awards, including the prestigious Eisner Award.

For more information (and a peek at the J. Scott Campbell cover to Vampirella #1, visit:

• Bleeding Cool
• Newsarama
• Comic Book Resources