NEWS
Tue
21
May
2019
BLACK MAGICK: THE FIRST BOOK OF SHADOWS HC
WRITTEN BY: Greg Rucka
ART BY: Nicola Scott
COLORS/TONES BY: Chiara Arena
LETTERS BY: Jodi Wynne
BOOK DESIGN BY: Eric Trautmann
The complete first chapter of the critically acclaimed series from New York Times bestselling creators GREG RUCKA and NICOLA SCOTT, assembled together for the first time! Rowan Black is awakening to the almost unimaginable power that is her inheritance—a power she neither wants nor is able to refuse. But all power comes at a price, and those who seek to destroy her may not be as dangerous as those who wish to control her. Yet when one’s will can alter reality, the ultimate enemy may be the human heart.
Collects BLACK MAGICK #1-11, plus additional content, artifacts, and backmatter designed by ERIC TRAUTMANN.
Image Comics | Hardcover | Color & B&W | 296 pages | Mature | $34.99
I'm very proud of this one. It's a lovely package: matte finish cover with spot gloss, red tail bands and endpapers, a bound-in bookmark ribbon, and almost FIFTY PAGES of bonus material—interviews, sketchbooks, script-to-page process, prose fiction, and some other fun bits (like the "Preliminary Incident Report" ghosted into the background of the front cover; a careful read shows it's the summary of the events of the first issue).
It is rather a hefty tome that honestly should cost closer to $45 or $50, and I hope you check it out.
Wed
03
Apr
2019
HOUSEKEEPING
First off, a general update—the Lazarus section has been updated to include the newest stuff (notably Lazarus: Risen #1), and there's been a pretty big overhaul on the Vector Art Store.
Because:
THERE'S NEW STUFF.
As a skills-sharpening exercise, for the month of March 2019, I posted one new piece of vector stock art (theme: reticles) to my Tumblr, and as each one went live, made it available for sale for $1US.
Now that March is over, I've collected the set of 31 vectors -- licensed for commercial and personal use -- and included five additional vectors, not available separately. You can purchase the set ($30US) via my Gumroad store.
Some preview images:
I hope you'll check it out, either at the Gumroad link above, or via the Vector Store here. The new set is FM 010: The "Reticle A Day" Collection; a complete preview of each reticle and some sample uses (including the bonus vectors) is available at the above link, as well. (I recommend clicking to the full-screen view.)
Thu
31
Jan
2019
UPCOMING PROJECTS
It's been a while.
My apologies. As you'll see, it's been a busy time, prepping material for 2019.
First up:
THE WORLD OF LAZARUS ROLEPLAYING GAME
From the fine folks at Green Ronin, The World of Lazarus adapts the setting and characters from the Greg Rucka/Michael Lark Image Comics series Lazarus for use with Green Ronin's Modern Age RPG system.
WRITTEN BY: Neal Bailey, Crystal Frasier, Robert Mackenzie, Dave Walker
COVER ART: Michael Lark
INTERIOR ART: Michael Lark, Owen Freeman, Eric Trautmann
CARTOGRAPHY: Eric Trautmann
The World of Lazarus is the first campaign setting for Green Ronin’s new Modern AGE RPG. Based on the critically acclaimed Lazarus series by Greg Rucka and Michael Lark and presented by Image Comics, the book brings this noir dystopia to tabletop roleplaying games.
In the near future, time has rendered death obsolete, and life infinitely cheap. In the wake of governments’ failure and global upheaval, the Families stepped in and divvied up the world. Now peace and order reign in a world of technological marvels and neo-feudalism. The Families quietly war with one another, wagering the lives of loyal Serfs while they relax in lives of indulgence, all while the Waste—those left behind by this new order—struggle daily for base survival.
Play members of a Family in the highest of high-stakes game, Serfs fighting for their Family’s interests to maintain order and safety, or disaffected Waste fighting for a better life in the burned ruins of the old world. The World of Lazarus requires the Modern AGE Basic Rulebook for use.
Green Ronin Games | Hardcover | Color | 144 pgs | $34.95US
SKU: GRR6302
ISBN: 978-1-934547-92-2
ATOMIC ROBO PRESENTS…REAL SCIENCE ADVENTURES: THE NICODEMUS JOB TPB
WRITTEN BY: Brian Clevinger
ART BY: Meredith McClaren
COLORS: J.N. Wiedle, Shan Murphy
LETTERS: Tess Stone
PUBLICATION DESIGN: Eric Trautmann
The deepest dive yet into Atomic Robo's history is here!
Constantinople is the setting for the crime of the century. The 11th Century, that is!
On the eve of the First Crusade, the fate of the world rests in the hands of a disgraced soldier, an assassin, an orphan, a scribe, and a thief who have no idea they're pawns in a clash of civilizations. Heretical texts, ancient star maps, sacred geometries, and one impossible heist.
Collects all five issues of the Real Science Adventures: The Nicodemus Job miniseries.
Tesladyne, LLC/IDW | Softcover | Color | 136 pgs | $17.99US
AVAILABLE MARCH 2019
LAZARUS: RISEN #1
WRITTEN BY: Greg Rucka
ART AND COVER BY: Michael Lark
INKS BY: Lark, with Tyler Boss
COLORS BY: Santi Arcas
LETTERS BY: Simon Bowland
SHORT STORY: Lilah Sturges
PUBLICATION DESIGN AND ADDITIONAL ART: Eric Trautmann (with Richard Howe)
“FRACTURE I,” Part One
Lazarus returns in an all-new prestige format! New series, new story arc, new size, and a new quarterly schedule!
Introducing a new ongoing Lazarus series—at 64 pages, perfect bound, Lazarus: Risen continues the story of Forever and the Carlyle Family… featuring an oversized, 44-page story by Eisner winners GREG RUCKA and MICHAEL LARK, an all-new short story exploring the larger world of LAZARUS by Eisner-nominated writer LILAH STURGES, an all-new supplement to the Modern Age: World of Lazarus Roleplaying Game by Green Ronin, original design artifacts and art supplements, and more!
Two years have passed since the Carlyle Family was betrayed in battle, and the Conclave War encroaches on every side. As a new era dawns, Johanna Carlyle goes on the attack to ensure the survival of her Family, relying on the loyalty and support of the Carlyle Lazarus—her sister, Forever—remaining at her side. And while their united front may be enough to turn the tide, the cracks are beginning to show…
IMAGE COMICS | Softcover | 64 Pages | $7.99US
AVAILABLE MARCH 2019
BLACK MAGICK: THE FIRST BOOK OF SHADOWS HC
WRITTEN BY: Greg Rucka
ART BY: Nicola Scott
COLORS BY: Chiara Arena
LETTERS BY: Jodi Wynne
COVER AND PUBLICATION DESIGN, DIGITAL "ARTIFACTS": Eric Trautmann
The complete first chapter of the critically acclaimed series from New York Times bestselling creators GREG RUCKA and NICOLA SCOTT, assembled together for the first time!
Rowan Black is awakening to the almost unimaginable power that is her inheritance—a power she neither wants nor is able to refuse. But all power comes at a price, and those who seek to destroy her may not be as dangerous as those who wish to control her.
Yet when one’s will can alter reality, the ultimate enemy may be the human heart. Collects BLACK MAGICK #1-11, plus additional content, artifacts, and backmatter designed by ERIC TRAUTMANN.
Image Comics | Hardcover | 328 pgs | B&W and Color | $34.99US
AVAILABLE MAY 2019
Sun
15
Jul
2018
PARDON THE DUST…
…it's just that I'm apparently awful about keeping this site up-to-date these days.
Several projects on the cusp of releasing, as well as some potential interesting new comics writing developments which, sigh, I can't talk about.
A science-fiction themed RPG product of particular interest to people who liked my old work at West End Games in the '90s will be announced shortly, and that's something I'm very excited about.
Some minor housekeeping around here, as well, including the addition of the Atomic Robo and Real Science Adventures section of my Comics Design Work bibliography. In addition to developing some additional material for inclusion in Team Robo's crowdfunded limited hardcover editions, I put together a few softcovers for them, published through IDW Publishing.
People who know me will attest to my deep affection for Atomic Robo; it was a blast getting to work with Brian and Scott on what is easily one of my favorite comics currently on stands.
Here's a look at the cover of the Atomic Robo and the Spectre of Tomorrow TPB…
I almost forgot to mention: my old run with my friend Greg Rucka on the DC spy series Checkmate have been reissued in a new collection, Checkmate by Greg Rucka, Book 2. And, finally, the last arc we did, "Castling"—which was previously only available in a frankly pretty obscure collection of old Kobra stories—is at last collected under the Checkmate banner!
(The collection also includes Nunzio DeFilippis' and Christina Weir's Checkmate issues featuring the Suicide Squad, and the Checkmate/Outsiders crossover by Judd Winnick and Matthew Clark. It's a hefty 300+ pages, too. Lot of superhero spy bang for the buck.
Fri
08
Dec
2017
'TIS THE SEASON
I've been blathering on for a while about the pulp RPG supplements I've been working on for Adamant Entertainment.
Typically, these are PDF only—we publish through DriveThruRPG/RPGNow—and the system available to us does allow for print-on-demand.
That said, the individual supplements are designed to be low-cost for the consumer, so they don't run more than 35-40 pages. Meaty pages, but still, not giant mega-sourcebooks.
This means that the print-on-demand option is not particularly cost effective for the consumer.
Recently, though, we took a page from the comics biz: we've amassed enough of these supplements to combine into a "trade paperback" of sorts—edited and updated, with some new material into the bargain, and can charge a not-extravagant price for it as a print-on-demand book. (Plus you get the PDF, too.)
So, I give you, for Thrilling Tales, Second Edition: "Axis of Evil, Volume One," an omnibus of pulp villainy.
This book contains a heavily updated version of Pulp Villains: Violet, plus:
Pulp Villains: Count Shadau
Pulp Villains: The Yellow King
Pulp Villains: Von Keiner
Pulp Villains: The Subterranean Monarch
Pulp Villains: Baron Korga
Be bad for the holidays, and order a copy from DriveThruRPG or RPGNow! Six villains, twenty bucks.
HEY KIDS, COMICS!
Also out, just in time to celebrate the holidays with tales of a soul-crushing dystopian oligarchy: LAZARUS X +66 #5! This issue, we're joined by the incredible Bilquis Evely (Wonder Woman).
LAZARUS X +66 #5
WRITTEN BY: Greg Rucka & Eric Trautmann
ART BY: Bilquis Evely
COLORS BY: Santiago Arcas
LETTERED BY: Jodi Wynne
Sére Cooper has spent years not only surviving but thriving as she delivers the Family approved news via CEEtv. Now, she’s told one truth too many and finds herself sidelined. When a puff-piece story leads to an explosive revelation, she must decide what matters more: the truth or her life.
Image Comics | Color | 40pg | Mature Readers | $3.99
Also available now:
BLACK MAGICK #9
WRITTEN BY: Greg Rucka
ART BY: Nicola Scott w/Chiarra Arena
LETTERS BY: Jodi Wynne
BOOK DESIGN BY: Eric Trautmann
"Awakenings II," Part Three. The Hammer is in Portsmouth. Alex learns the name of one enemy and the face of another. And Rowan's troubles only grow as both Samhain and the baby come due.
Image Comics | Color & B/W | 40 pg. | Mature Readers | $3.99