Out Now: Wolverine Noir Premiere Hardcover

I've really got to start paying attention to trade paperback release schedules...out this week (i.e., yesterday) is the WOLVERINE NOIR collected hardcover edition, with story by me, art by the incredible CP Smith, and color by the equally incredible Rain Beredo. Featuring the tragic tale of Jim Logan, P.I., as he plies his trade in New York's skid row Bowery district in 1937.

Update: And beautiful alternate covers by Dennis Calero -- including the image seen above.

Update update: The book also features my original script for issue #1!

We're really proud of this one. A few comments from here and there, carefully edited to make us look good:

"This new title from the Marvel noir run is very entertaining. The art is impressive, providing for a very unsettling and never comfortable tone."
-Alex Rodriguez, Comics Bulletin

"this wasn't a story I want to read in chunks over a few months. I want to know what's coming next. You win, Wolverine. I'm intrigued...The art in Wolverine Noir is gorgeous."
-Nina Stone, The Factual Opinion

"Absolutely incredible, a perfectly paced story, with brilliant artwork all the way until the final last panel. The next wave of Noir books have big shoes to fill, and a long shadow to walk in. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, YOU MUST PICK UP THIS SERIES!"
- Adam Chapman, Comixtreme



WOLVERINE NOIR - Premiere Hardcover. $19.95. Buy it. It might just save your life.*



*It won't save your life. But buy it anyway.

January - X-Men Origins: Cyclops

Now soliciting: X-MEN ORIGINS: CYCLOPS, written by me with art by Jesse Delperdang and cover (above) by Adi Granov.

I grew up with Scott (Cyclops) Summers, and I was always drawn to his brooding, sometimes over-serious nature. This one-shot tells Cyke's story from childhood through his early years with the X-Men. But it's not just a retelling of previously-depicted events...we show Scott growing into his role as X-Men leader, and his evolving, complex relationship with both Professor Xavier and Magneto.

X-MEN ORIGINS: CYCLOPS stands wholly alone, and is designed to serve as an introduction to this central X-Men character. But it also, very deliberately, plays off the dynamics going on right now in UNCANNY X-MEN, where Cyclops must make hard decisions as new leader of the entire mutant community, even when those decisions bring him into direct conflict with Professor X. That throws a lot of earlier stories into a whole different light, and it made this project much more interesting to write...without seeming artificial or superimposed (to me, anyway).

But really, all you need to know is that he shoots force bolts out of his eyes. A lot, actually.

On sale January 13th from Marvel Comics.

Amazing Spider-What Now?

This one totally sneaked up on me: Marvel recently published the collection AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: FAMILY TIES, which features not one but two Spidey stories by yours truly.

"Bridge and Tunnel" is a little New York love letter with sharp, kinetic art by Val Semeiks. But the much longer tale is "Fear Itself," in which Spider-Man teams up -- if that's the right phrase -- with the monstrous Man-Thing. Featuring lovely art by Joe Suitor that manages to look like watercolors and animation art at the same time. A small taste:



The book also features work by too many cool people to mention, including "The Amazing Spider-Ma'am" by Abby Denson and Colleen Coover. Go grab it for $14.99 now.

December - Wolverine: Under the Boardwalk

On December 2nd, Marvel Comics will release WOLVERINE: UNDER THE BOARDWALK, a one-shot by me and Tomm Coker, the multitalented artist of the recent DAREDEVIL NOIR.

Wolverine's been around for a long time, and as I conceived this story, I started wondering what would happen if he met up again with a woman he'd been involved with, say, forty years ago. She's older; so is he, but it doesn't show as much. I also barely remember visiting Atlantic City when I was very young, before the gambling came in, when it was a washed-up beach town whose glory days were immortalized in the game Monopoly, and whose biggest industry at the time was salt-water taffy. Put the two ideas together, and what you get is...well, it's sort of the tale of a long-lived mutant's midlife crisis. With claws, of course.

UNDER THE BOARDWALK is a very "grounded" crime story -- no X-Men or alien menaces from the stars. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.) Tomm Coker absolutely drew the hell out of it. He's developed a mixture of tight figure work and photorealistic backgrounds, and he does it as well as anybody in the business. The action scenes are great, but the quiet panels are the ones I find really haunting. Here's just a small taste.



WOLVERINE: UNDER THE BOARDWALK. Color by Daniel Freedman. $3.99 for 32 pages of story. Soliciting now.

Out Today: Wolverine Noir #4

Concluding the dark 1930s miniseries by me and CP Smith.

Above: a screengrab from the Marvel Hotline trailer, where I sum up the series pretty well, I think. Go there and spend one minute forty seconds in Logan's and my world.

I should do some San Diego wrapup, but I'm still exhausted, especially after The Comic Book Club last night (which was awesome, as always). For now, big wet kisses to all the girls and boys I saw last weekend.

San Diego '09!

It’s the Happiest Time of the Year once again! I’ll be roaming around the convention for the entire time, but here’s where you’re guaranteed to find me:

Friday, July 24
6:30 - 7:30 PM
Room 3
Panel - Four Color Reality: Making Comics Relevant to Readers Across Cultures. How can the comic book industry connect with changing audiences—not just of diverse races and backgrounds, but of different cultural and national origins as well? Moderated by Jeff Yang (editor-in-chief, per seSecret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology). Panelists include Dwayne McDuffie, Gail Simone, Gene Yang, Jai Nitz, and me. I might even have free copies of The 99 to give away. So come out and show some love to the token white guy!



Saturday, July 25
11:00 AM - 12:00 Noon
Booth #2001
Ait/PlanetLar - Signing with Ryan Kelly. Come by and pick up a copy of our political satire GIANT ROBOT WARRIORS, and see what the superstar artist of Local and New York 4 did before all that Vertigo stuff!



Sunday, July 26
12:00 Noon - 1:00 PM
Booth #2429
Marvel Comics - Signing. Bring your WOLVERINE NOIR comics and ask me what I’m doing next with Marvel. And remember: It’s not a complete collection unless you have copies with all the variant covers signed by the writer.

(Artwork: Private Detective Jim Logan, then and now, by the astounding CP Smith. From WOLVERINE NOIR #4, on sale July 29th.)

Me @ Comic Book Club 7/28/09

Announcement: I'll be appearing at the Comic Book Club Live, a New York-based comedy/talk show, on Tuesday, July 28th, 2009. I've done this show before -- it's funny as hell, and the hosts really keep things moving. And it's only five bucks American!

I'll talk about the final issue of WOLVERINE NOIR, shipping the following day, and probably reveal dark secrets about upcoming projects from Marvel and elsewhere. (Snikt.) Not sure who else will be guest-starring this week, but I can tell you that the show happens less than 24 hours after I get home from Comicon San Diego. So odds are I'll be babbling like an ape.

Follow the link for more info, but here's the salient:

Tuesday, July 28th
8:00 pm

The Peoples Improv Theater
154 West 29th Street, 2nd Floor
New York City

Come on out or else Wolverine gets it!