More Pics of Jack!

I've had a lot more people asking to see more pics of Lucky, so here they are...

Say hi to Jack!

On December 11th at 6:20pm, Jack Clifford Avery Meredith was born, coming in at 7 pounds, 11 ounces and 19 inches in length. Jack (or "Lucky" as we have been calling him for months before we settled on his name) is my second child; Mackenzie (my 6 year old girl) is my first.

Although the actual birth was quick, the time at the hospital was not. We spent nearly a day in the hospital before the actual labor kicked in (which only took about 15-20 minutes). Afterwards, we spent the last couple of days waiting around while the doctor and nurses monitored the baby and ran some various tests. Finally, they gave Amy and Jack a semi-clean bill of health, and we're now home.

The picture on the top left is of Jack as we put him to sleep this evening, just about an hour ago. Notice how the binkie has fallen out of his mouth...?

Doctor Zombie Ad

One of the ideas I had for the upcoming Steve Lawlis Spectacular was a series of fake ads in the same vein as the old Hostess ads from the 70's and 80's. The first one we did (Erik T. and I) starred the indomitable Doctor Zombie and his faithful assistant Marigold Murray squaring off against a pack of truly vile French zombies.

This ad also shows Doctor Zombie in his first appearance, but certainly not his last. More details on the good Doctor Z can be found on the Steve Lawlis website.

Dallas McCoy Prologue

Since time has slipped past me in the last few weeks, I thought I would make a quick update and show a few upcoming pages for the Dallas McCoy Prologue, a ten-page online strip slated for next year. This story serves as a simple prelude to the original oneshot, Dallas McCoy Starstruck, and the upcoming miniseries. It's written by Amy Riddle and drawn by Sidney Lima, the artist for Dallas McCoy Starstruck.

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Steve Lawlis Preview Art #2

Here are the first three pages (in pencil) of the back-up for the Steve Lawlis Spectacular #1. The story is called "What a Nightmare" and is drawn by super-talented Dario Carrasco.

And yes, that is Pete Redshirt (Steve's partner) in a dress...

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Steve Lawlis Preview Art #1

Here's a sneak peek of Steve Lawlis Spectacular #1, page 3 and page 6. The artwork is by the aforementioned Erik Thompson...

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Steve Lawlis Update #1

I originally announced the upcoming release of my new series of comics, Steve Lawlis, many months ago. Now, with the new blog, I figured it was time to start updating those announcements again.

1 - Steve Lawlis Spectacular
A 3-4 issue mini-series, Steve Lawlis Spectacular will contain 2 stories per issue, with one main story continuing throughout each issue and a short one-shot backup story.

The main story will be about Steve, Pete and Babe as they first arrive in Roulette City, as they deal with their first case. It won't exactly be an origin story, but it will explain a lot about who they are and where they came from. The back-up stories will focus on each of the main characters, showcasing them on their own. There will be one for Pete, Babe, and Steve, and if the series goes to 4 full issues, there will be a Doctor Archibald Zombie story.

The main artist for the series, Erik Thompson, has completed half of the artwork for the first issue, with the rest to follow shortly. Dario Carrasco, who is doing the back-up story for the first issue, is also about halfway done.

2 - Steve Lawlis Super Special
Erik Thompson just turned in 24 pages of Steve Lawlis Super Special, the one-shot to follow the miniseries. The artwork is for the main story of the book called "Frankenstein's Monkey". There's still some miscellaneous artwork to be done and we still need to get this colored, but the majority of the art for this book is now done.

I'll be posting some art for both of these later...

Secret Agent X update!

Today in the mail, I received a handful of copies of Secret Agent X: The Man of a Thousand Faces Volume One. I have to say, besides being slightly buzzed on the feeling of finally seeing months of hard work pay off, I am quite impressed by the overall quality of the package. The paper stock, the binding, the cover, etc. -- it's all damn good.

In fact, I sold all of the copies I had within a couple of hours of putting them out in the shop.

It's time for me to get more.

Secret Agent X is back!

After many long months of hard work and secrecy by all of those involved, Secret Agent X: The Man of a Thousand Faces Volume One is now complete and ready for purchase!

This new book contains four brand new stories of action and intrigue, continuing the tales of one of the greatest pulp spies ever! The tales included are Skeleton-Men of Calcutta by Kevin Noel Olson, The Cult of the Walking Dead by Mark Justice, The Red Mercy by Steven Atkins, and The Cold Touch of Death by yours truly, Brian Meredith.

The book is edited by Ron Fortier (Brother Grim, Gibson Dent, Green Hornet, Mr. Jigsaw) with illustrations by Rob Davis (Dr. Satan, Hounds of Hell).

The book is now available for purchase at http://www.lulu.com/content/459506.

What happened to the forum?

Once the forum for Micro Brew Studios and Modern Pulp Comics, Beer Gardens has now evolved into the "blog" that you see here. Yes, it's true, I have indeed jumped on the bandwagon!

The reason for this change is actually pretty simple: the forum sucked. Now, I don't mean the content or the design of the forum was bad; not at all. The problem lied with the forum iteslf. The damn thing was far too susceptible to those freakin' robot spamming things. God, I hate them! I was just getting too tired of having to trim those little bastards out of the forum on a constant basis. So, with that in mind, I just locked it up a few weeks ago, until I could come up with a new solution.

Around that time, I was asked to join one a new blog devoted to the pulps and their creators: The Pulp Factory. Seeing how this blog essentially working like a forum, I figured this just might be the solution to my problem.

So, here we are... Beer Gardens will still serve the same purpose: to spotlight my projects, post news concerning said projects, and even the occasional rant.