Stuff... and more stuff.

So, somehow, I have completely ignored this blog for the entire year.

Whoops.

I can take the easy way out and say, "Oh, I've been swamped with work" and leave it at that... and since I have been swamped with work this year, I'm going to that. It has been a very busy year, after all.

The Spring saw our largest Emerald City Comicon ever, leading it to grow into a full 3 days for next year. Several books from Micro Brew Comics and Rorschach Entertainment were debuted at the show; Steve Lawlis: Zombieville USA #3, Doctor Zombie #3, and Dallas McCoy #00.

Spring beget Summer, and that brought on the preparations for the newest Seattle convention, the Jet City Comic Show. This new show is a companion piece to ECCC, focusing more on the local scene.

Still, a lot of work goes into putting these shows together, and putting these shows together at the same time running a small chain of retail shops... well, needless to say, it puts a damper on one's free time.

Oh, and on top of that, there's the family... Mackenzie and Trent have had birthdays, Mac has had another Kung Fu tournament (3rd Place is Sparring!), Anniversaries, Family Outings, and a whole lot more!

With all of this going on, it's been near impossible to be on top of this blog along with all of the other sites and social networking that needs to be done.

So, with that in mind, I'm going to try and refocus this blog... a separation of Church and State, so to speak. Updates for the cons and books will be on their respective sites, while I will use this blog just for the family updates.

I was just contemplating deleting this blog all together, but I like having the family stuff up here, available for friends and family that like to keep apprised. So, for the time being, we're going to try this out and see if it works...

-Brian

Yikes!

I know... It's been way too long since I last made a post here...

In my defense, I have been swamped with work for Emerald City ComiCon, The Comic Stop, Micro Brew Comics, the newly formed Jet City Comic Show, and more. Still, excuses are excuses. So, let's catch us up, shall we?

Over at The Comic Stop, we are currently working towards our general growth as a company. We now have 3 successful locations, and we are considering opening a 4th shop in the next year or so. On top of this, we now have a "full staff". It is no longer just us owners/managers at the shops, but two full-time employees and two part-time employees.

The 8th Annual Emerald City ComiCon is nearly here, just a couple of months away. We've sold out of space again, our lineup of guests borders on the amazing, and we are well under way to have our best year ever. Expect this show to blow up, Big Time, in the near future.

Speaking of shows... Since I don't have enough work to do, I have created a companion show for ECCC called Jet City Comic Show. This new show is a local 1-day show coming up in the fall, a full 6 months after ECCC. This new show will focus on the creative local talents and publishers and organizations of the Pacific Northwest, and well as spotlighting several out of town Special Guests.

Following that, the comics biz has been busy. From Micro Brew Comics, I am looking to have Steve Lawlis: Zombieville #2 and Adventures of Doctor Zombie #3 ready for ECCC, as well as a couple of prints. From my old stomping grounds of Rorschach Entertainment and Modern Pulp Comics, I have the final issue of Sprecken: Kalabus Rex (issue #4) coming out, and it looks like we might even have Dallas McCoy #0 (a prologue issue) done, too. I'll have more on all of this in the next few weeks...

Over at the homestead, the only big event was the shared birthday (on December 11th) between Jack "Lucky" Meredith and myself. My little man is now 3 years old, and cleaned up with a fat pile of Ben 10 action figures and clothes, and a couple of Batman Brave and the Bold action figures. He's become quite the little super-geek.

Well, that's enough catching up... next time, I'll talk about beer...

-Brian M.

Doctor Zombie - The Song!

A few months ago, I got in touch with this incredibly talented "Band of The Future" called We Wrote The Book On Connectors, the creators of Mustache Rock! This local band offered a very interesting service; a song writing service. So, after a few emails with the guitarist/singer/heart-breaker Mike Votava, they got to work on what is the coolest comic book promo ever -- A Theme Song!

Yes, you heard me right, folks! WE came up with a theme song... for Doctor Zombie! No longer will you have to read your Doctor Zombie comics in silence!

This awesome song can be downloaded for free at their website, and while you are there, you can check out a TON of other free songs that they have to offer.

To listen to it, just press play on the embedded Quicktime player below...

-Brian M.

Another ECCC passes...

The 7th Annual Emerald City ComiCon had come and gone, leaving me a tattered wreck of a man, a veritable shell of humanity that has been tossed aside by the teeming masses...

...ahem...

Sorry about that. I tend to get a little "dramatic" when it comes to ECCC. It's a huge deal for me, being of the of the top guys that puts it on. It's a large part of my life, and has become so large that it is literally like having a second job for 6-9 months out of the year, just to put it on for a single weekend. The stress from just putting on the show is enough to turn hair gray.

Anyway, besides striving to have a successful show (in terms of attendance, services, etc.), one of the most important things for me to accomplish is to put together as many personal projects as I possibly can. I usually do 1-3 projects/books for Rorschach Entertainment, but this is the first year that I also set up under my personal label of Micro Brew Comics. Of course, the subtle irony of this is that I am usually far too busy to be behind a table and promote any of these works.

That's where the family comes in. This year, the wife was put in charge of running the Rorschach Entertainment booth, which allowed her watch over our 9-year-old daughter Mackenzie as she promoted our latest issue of The Adventures of Doctor Zombie. Together, they pulled off an awesome weekend for all of us, selling over half of the stock that we had for the show.

So, what did we have, you say? I'm glad you asked. We introduced two new MBC books, plus buttons and a limited edition print.

First, we had The Adventures of Doctor Zombie #2, which continues the stories of the Doctor Archibald Zombie and his assistant Marigold Murray, as penned by my talented daughter Mackenzie. In fact, this issue has a double dose of awesome, with two stories drawn by two different artists. In the first story, our regular artist Erik Thompson illustrates what happens when Doctor Zombie and Marigold try to spend the night at the movies, especially with a vengeful magician named Chuck lurking in the shadows. In the second story, we have guest artist Ryan Cody (Villains, Popgun, Hurricane Kids) showing what happens when an irate Dinosaur tries taking his anger out on the city Doctor Zombie is sworn to protect.

We also had copies of The Adventures of Doctor Zombie #1, for those that missed out on the book back in the Fall...

Second, we have a brand new Steve Lawlis book! Steve Lawlis: Zombieville USA #1 continues the tales of Steve Lawlis and his pal Pete Redshirt, agents for the Department of Horror Intervention. In this first of three issues, Steve and Pete are called to a little town in the middle of nowhere to deal with a strange zombie infestation. Expecting a town out of Resident Evil, imagine their surprise when they find a peaceful little burg straight out of Leave It To Beaver. This series is not only drawn by Erik, but he is making his debut as writer. It's good stuff, kids.

Third, we had a limited edition print (only 20 made!) called DOCTOR ZOMBIE & STEVE LAWLIS FIGHT A GIANT APE WITH CYBERNETIC PARTS AT THE SPACE NEEDLE! Drawn by regular Doctor Zombie / Steve Lawlis artist Erik Thompson, this bad boy of a print sold for just $10, and we only have a couple of them left.

Finally, we introduced our first button set, featuring Doctor Zombie and Marigold Murray. We did 60 sets of these, and have less than 20 left.

Oh, and over on the Rorschach Entertainment side of things, we released the third issue of Sprecken: Kalabus Rex. Only one more to go!

As you can see, I had my hands full over the last couple of months, getting all of this ready... of course, this is only the beginning. Wait until next year! We'll be hitting hte convention on an official capaciy, with a full library of books and goodies. Now, I just need to figure out a way to be in two places at once...

-Brian

Doctor Zombie Update!

It's been almost a week since we debuted The Adventures of Doctor Zombie #1 at the Comic Stop and Bell-Con and we are just about sold out of copies!

The response to the book at the shop was amazing. We blew through 20 copies before my shift ended, so I brought more later that evening when Mac and I showed up for her Kung Fu class. As of yesterday afternoon, there are only 2 copies of the book left at the shop.

At the convention, Mackenzie showed the world that she was made for this business. Sitting with the Rorschach Entertainment tables, Mackenzie (along with the artist for the book, Erik Thompson) rocked the show by selling every copy of the book (the majority of what was left of the print run) that we brought for the show. She worked the crowd like a born salesmen, yet was completely upfront and honest about everything she said; no conning anyone. When the show slowed down, she actually grabbed copies of the book and went out onto the show floor and sold them to the other exhibitors, creators, and attendees. It was pretty amazing to see her at work.

Currently, this print run of the book is pretty much done. There are only a couple of copies at the shop and less than 10 copies that will be available online at Rorschach Entertainment later this week.

Mac, Erik and I would like to thank everyone at the shop and the con that took a chance on the book. We would really love to hear any feedback any of you may have, so please leave a comment or email us at microbrewstudios@gmail.com.

We are currently working on issue #2, which we hope to out before Christmas, and we are planning on at least 2 more issues after that. If they do well, we will be looking to re-release them in color on a national scale by submitting them to other publishers or through Diamond ourselves.

Doctor Zombie debuts!

The Adventures of Doctor Zombie #1 is finally back from the printers!

As some of you may already know (but let's recap for those that don't), this new book was written my daughter Mackenzie. After expressing interest in writing her own story, I encouraged her to put one together using one of her favorite characters, Doctor Zombie. Well, the story was a fun little romp filled with action, romance, and what I like to call "3rd grade Science".

I took her story and scripted it, handed it off to my artist Erik Thompson, and several months later, we have an all-ages comic about a dead scientist and his loyal assistant fighting demons and poor dating choices!

The Adventures of Doctor Zombie #1 will officially debut this weekend at Bell-Con, Bellingham's newest comic convention, but we will have copies at the Lynnwood Comic Stop this Wednesday for anyone that wants one. Anyone that wants to reserve a copy (many of you already have, thanks!) just needs to let me know, via email to the shop, a call, or even a comment.

The Adventures of Doctor Zombie #1 costs only a measly $2.50 and there are two covers to choose from (Good Guy Cover and Bad Guy Cover). Oh, and if anyone would like to have their copy signed by Mackenzie, let me know. She has been practicing her signature for the last couple of days just for this.

Doctor Zombie is off to the printers!

Issue #1 of The Adventures of Doctor Zombie is finally all done and off to the printers! He should see copies of the book in about a month. Mackenzie and I will officially "debut" the book at Bell Con 0n September 27th. Here are the two covers for the book...

GOOD GUY COVER

BAD GUY COVER

Liquid Science!

Behold the might of science gone mad, via the 3rd grade...

Doctor Zombie, Mac Style!

About 6-8 weeks ago, before ECCC, I was taking Mac to her Kung Fu lesson, as I am prone to do 2-3 times a week. As we were driving there, she expressed interest in writing a story. I simply told her to go ahead a make one up, as she is quite talented in the Off-The-Cuff-Story-Telling Department.

Picking one of her favorite subjects (Doctor Zombie, see other posts or the Steve Lawlis site for more info...), she immediately weaved a tale called "Marigold's Birthday Surprise". It was a fun little romp as Doctor Zombie and Marigold Murray try to celebrate her birthday, but their plans are ruined when a devil appears and takes away Marigold for refusing to go out on a date with him. It falls to Doctor Zombie to use his genius to create potions in order to save her.

Although the story was short, it was good, really cute and funny. I told a few of my fellow writers, such as Brian Joines (the talented mastermind behind the Indy hit 7 Guys Of Justice), who just loved it. So, with the help of my regular Steve Lawlis artist Erik Thompson, we proceeded to put it down on paper. I turned the story into a 16-page script, and Erik is already halfway done with the artwork. Once we are done with the artwork, we will put this out as a limited Doctor Zombie Special through Rorschach Entertainment.

Mackenzie CANNOT wait to see this book done. Not a day goes by that she does not ask about it. She's only 8 years old, and she's already looking forward to having a comic book of her very own. I think she is plotting to take me out of the picture so she can write more Doctor Zombie stories...

Doctor Zombie enjoys his work...

... as one call easily tell by this great pin-up from Erik Thompson! Just another fine piece of art showcasing the Indomitable Doctor Zombie doing what he does best: takin' care of business!

This piece is not for anything in particular, just a cool pic for the hell of it (thanks, Erik!), but it does get me fired up to finish the one-shot storybook I have in mind for this character...

Some Ramblings & Sprecken Artwork

Now that the holidays are finally over, everything is starting to mellow out and I am getting back into a working groove. I have several projects that require my immediate attention, especially if I wish to have new books ready for the upcoming 5th Annual Emerald City ComiCon.

One of these books will be the Steve Lawlis: Frankenstein's Monkey Special Edition #1. Although originally planned to be released in Steve Lawlis Super Special #1 (and it still will be), I've decided to release a Black & White version of this story for the con in order to help promote the upcoming miniseries, Steve Lawlis Spectacular. Time permitting, I am also hoping to have a Doctor Zombie coloring book out at the same time, but I'm not holding my breath.

The other main book I am hoping to have ready for the con will be Sprecken: Kalabus Rex #1. This book is actually ready and in the can, but Rorschach Entertainment has been holding off releasing it because the miniseries is not complete, as there has not been an artist for the final issue... until now.

We just signed on an artist named Pedro Pablo to wrap up the Sprecken origin miniseries that was started by Walther Taborda. In fact, it was Taborda that recommended Pedro, who is an equally talented artist and can imitate the the style set by Taborda so closely that it will be very difficult to tell the difference. (Check out the samples of his artwork that are attached!)

Anyway, now that we have an artist signed on and working on the final issue, I am hoping that we will be able to release a limited edition copy of the first issue.

Also for Modern Pulp Comics, we will be releasing Lucifer Fawkes: North of Here, the final issue in a series of one-shots for the Supernatural Watchdog.

So far, those are my immediate plans for books, but I do have a couple of other ideas floating in my head. I may have more stuff ready, but I'll be happy to get these done...

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.

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...