Colors by Homeros Gilani

Two weeks to go before the pledge period ends, so if you’d like to see this scene played out, I highly recommend heading over to Kickstarter and backing the project.

For over a year now, I’ve been working with Wolfgang Parker to craft a story of Victorian horror worthy of the legend of Jack the Ripper.  1888 is a unique take on the White Chapel mythos that I believe draws in Hellboy fans, Classic Horror aficionados, and Crime Noir enthusiasts.  The project is currently on kickstarter.com, as we are welcoming pledges and participants in the sharing of the creative process.  I’ll let Wolfgang tell you more, as he is slightly prettier than me.  but only by a little bit.

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So I figure now’s as good a time as any to wrap up the 2009 set of entries to this thing.  Maybe in a year or so I can look back and marvel at how much (or how little) I got done.  Hopefully the latter, by comparison of course.  Don’t begrudge me my optimism, it is Winter Time in my Summertown Country.

As with the year prior, 2009 saw me taking on more indies as a promise to myself to build a semblance of discipline for the grind, as well as take as many shots as I humanly could.  Learning how many chambers my pistol’s got, as it were.  How much I learn and retain remains a work in progress.  That said, DAMN that was a busy year.

JENNY STRANGE is on hold as Justin and I scout for a colorist.  SOVENA RED got shopped around and may yet continue with Scholastic.  Taking Christmas breather from game design gig as suits prepare second ongoing contract.  Might shelf it or bow out if other ongoing book projects begin to pick up steam.  Speaking of which…

JUDAH trudges on in healthy machine gun spurts.  I am convinced Will is trying to see how much more he can shock me with every five-page set.

HARBINGER WAR concept art is steadily taking shape as Jad and I have poured over Moebius, Frazetta, and Ash Wood art books to see how much writing we can get done with just visuals.  If that didn’t make sense, trust us… it will.

PLUCK scripts are beginning to pour in just as I do concept sketches for characters who may or may not be little more than cannon fodder.  Yes, Gabe is keeping it THAT close to his chest since he knows I’ll reveal just about anything if I’m not careful.  The Brothers White and myself  look forward to pissing on D&D tropes on ZUDA next year!

1888 is in retool mode as Wolfgang and I are streamlining that beast of a book into a prestige-format monster and I gotta say… just because artists need to read scripts and put pencil to paper before anyone else gets to see anything, doesn’t mean all the twistedness only comes from him.  Damn it, WP.

And 2010 will see me dipping my toes into new properties CLOSETWORLD — a planned webcomic much akin to Little Nemo, with Matt Yocum; and GEEK GODS — a contemporary fantasy combining sword and sorcery with the familiar charm of Archie, with Wade Alan Steele.

There’s a couple of other exciting things I really want to share but can’t yet, but suffice it to say that the ol’ work journal is thankfully going to be regularly updated for the next few months at least.  It seems like a ton of work… and it’s certainly not a walk in the park.  But I always take the Zen of Glengarry Glen Ross with me, and it helps to simplify what would otherwise very easily cause me to burst into flames.  It’s the closest I’ll get to a mantra when trying to simply get things done — A — B — C.

Always Be Closing, Baldwin said.  And as far as I’m concerned, it keeps you focused enough to not look back as you try to keep moving forward in a narrow and tricky road.

Always, all ways, be closing.

Gleep gloop, 2010.  Gleep motherfucking gloop.