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, 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...

The Road To Emerald City

This is the time of year when my brain melts.

As one of the 4 Founding Fathers of the Emerald City ComiCon, a portion of the operations of the show (i.e. setting it up, processing all of the info coming and going, design, print, etc.) falls on me. We all have our areas of expertise, and we all bust our asses all year long to make this show happen. However, with less than a month away, TONS of little things crop up that need to be taken care of on a daily basis. Along with a normal family life and work, this makes for a very scatter-brained Brian... hence, the meltiness of my brain, as of late.

Anyway...

Besides the running of the actual show, there has also been certain preparations for the show that I have been working on, in regards to Rorschach Entertainment. As it stands, RE will have a busy year at the show. We have a couple of new books, an artbook (by Sean Dietrich), and a special guest.

After a long delay, Issue #2 of Sprecken: Kalabus Rex finally makes its debut this year, continuing with the original miniseries of Sprecken that I started at last year's show.

I have also lettered the first issue of a brand new RE series called Bolt Magee, created by Steve Lawlis artist, Erik Thompson. It's a great little book by a talented creator, so pick it up if you're at the show.

Lastly, Gigi Edgley will also be making an appearance at the show, sitting behind the RE booth to promote our venture, Blue Shift. Although the miniseries is still in production, she will have the ashcan on hand for sale, as well as a brand new art print (see above) by artist Camilla d'Errico (who will also be at the show).

As for me, I will be running all over the show floor during the event, but I will try and make time to spend at the RE booth when I can.

Steve Lawlis Preview Art #3

Here are some recent pencils from Steve Lawlis artist Erik Thompson for the upcoming Steve Lawlis Spectacular #1...

Emerald City ComiCon!

Looking at my last post, it's been nearly 2 months since I had the chance to sit down and put together a post, a blurb, or even a pimp. Well, now that the eve of the of show is here (for me, that is; I have to set everything up tomorrow for it to be ready on Saturday), I find myself with a sudden calm, a peaceful respite from the VERY HECTIC past two months. At least, enough of one to make a quick update.

For the past 6+ months (more so these past 2), I've been working extremely long and hard on getting the 5th year of Emerald City ComiCon ready to launch. It's been a hell of an experience, again. Badges to design and make, questions to be answered on a regular basis, website to be built and updated, applications to process, signs to design and make, show floor to design, and t-shirts to design and make, just to name some of the things I've been doing. On top of that, I also had my own projects to prepare for the show.

Now, the show is here and it's time to relax, enjoy, and sell some comics!

I've got 2 new books ready for the show this year, Steve Lawlis: Frankenstein's Monkey Special Edition and Sprecken: Kalabus Rex #1, and both of them can be found at the RORSCHACH ENTERTAINMENT booth (#706). I will be in and out of the booth all weekend, hanging out with James Taylor (Publisher/Inker), Sean Dietrich (creator of Fervor and Mess), and Amy Riddle (writer of Dallas McCoy: Starstruck). We'll be doing our best to get these hot little comics into the right hands all weekend!

Also at the show this weekend is Erik Thompson, the artist for Steve Lawlis, who will be located at Artist Alley Table #111. He will have a Steve Lawlis print on hand for sale, as well as plenty of his own stuff, and will be available for sketches all weekend!

So, if anyone gets a chance to come to the show, please do so and stop and say hi!

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...

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...

Page 3


Page 6

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...