Crossposted from Murder Book.

If you have no interest in reading my long-winded intro to Murder Book, feel free to just click on the image above and read Catching Up.

So, basically Murder Book is a site for me to flex my writing muscles. I’ll be writing a bunch of short stories, generally crime, and will be bringing in different artists to give them life.

Rather than adopting some sort of regular update schedule of one or two pages a week, I’ve opted to instead only post stories as they’re complete. The upside is that readers, like you, won’t have to wait to get the entire story. The downside is that the site will likely only update once every four to six weeks. That said, I hope to find enough artists interested in participating in the project that I might be able to make the updates somewhat more frequent.

First up, is Catching Up with future superstar Simon Roy. Dude is currently up for a much deserved Joe Shuster award nomination in the best cartoonist category. Of course, he’s also the guy behind Jan’s Atomic Heart and is currently working on his own project Dead Lands. You can check out more of his work on his blog.

With any luck, there will be another story with art by Simon coming up in the not too distant future (I just need to finish up the script).

If you like the story and want to find more of my writing, might I recommend Acts Of Violence: An Anthology of Crime Comics? In the book, I have a 21 page story called The Orchard. The art is by the immensely talented Damian Couceiro. You can read 4 sample pages from The Orchard, as well as samples from the other three stories in the book right here. Should you be so inclined as to buy a copy of the book, you can get one from your local comic shop as of June 3rd, or buy one from the online New Reliable Press shop.

Regardless, I’d love to hear feedback on the stories that I’ll be posting.

Just got back from Emerald City Comicon where Acts of Violence made its official debut. I am exhausted from the trip, but super excited to have the book out and to have had the chance to flog it to new readers. Sales of the book were well beyond my highest expectations and the reaction has been great.

For more news on the book, including preview pages, check out the Acts of Violence website.

More news about getting the book into comic shops to come. In the meantime, just salivate over the beautiful cover artwork by Fiona Staples.

Just looking for an excuse to post on the newly redesigned site. I find if I keep the same design for any length of time, I start to get restless. Thankfully with wordpress, it’s pretty easy to find a new theme and adapt it to my own needs.

Also: a teaser panel from The Orchard. Hope to have more substantial Acts of Violence news to post next Monday.

2009 was a real up and down year for me in terms of lettering work. I finally got to work on an Image title (Sky Pirates of Neo Terra). I worked with book publisher Douglas & McIntyre lettering Red: A Haida Manga (shown above), which is a really cool piece of work, where each individual page fits together into one massive piece of artwork.

On the downside, comic publishers seemed to be hit hard by the economic downturn and those who’d published a lot in the past either dialed back their publications schedules or stopped publishing entirely. My fingers are crossed that publishers who had a rough go of 2009 will be able to bounce back in 2010.

In the coming weeks, I will have pages from the crime anthology Acts of Violence posted for your previewing pleasure. The book, which is being co-published by myself, Kevin Leeson, Todd Ireland, Dino Caruso and Chad Boudreau, contains four stories, each ranging from 20 to 38 pages. My contribution, The Orchard, runs 21 pages. The book is complete and just about ready to go out to the printers. Assuming no major catastrophes, the book should be back in our hands just in time for Emerald City Comic Convention.

Also, sometime in late March/early April, I’ll be updating this site to also include short comics that I’ve written.

Hey! Hey! My first Image comic came out this week. Check it out!

SKY PIRATES OF NEO TERRA #1 (of 5)

story JOSH WAGNER, art & cover CAMILLA D’ERRICO

32 PAGES, FC, $2.99

“SKY PIRATES OF NEO TERRA”
In Neo Terra, a world of forgotten technology and natural magic, reckless young glide-wing pilot, Billy Boom Boom, must outwit the Pirate King to stop him from ushering in a new Dark Age. CAMILLA D’ERRICO, (Burn, Nightmares and Fairy Tales) pencils this high adventure mini-series about loyalty, friendship, and what it means to be a true hero. Based on the Nintendo DS game “The Sky Pirates of Neo Terra”.

This book has been a lot of fun to work on and is a great read to boot! It’s been a blast working with such a talented crew.

This is the year that I get things done. For real. This will also be the year that I make a concerted effort to keep this blog updated more often.
Damian and I are pushing forward on the The Orchard, a 21 page tale that will be part of the (tentatively titled) Acts of Violence crime anthology that a group of writers and I are putting together.

Page 3 pencils from The Orchard:

Once we’re finished this story, we’re hopping back into The Division for Arcana and are hoping to have that complete early in 2009. When it will see print, I don’t know! Since coming across an old post where I claim that The Division will be out sometime in 2007, I’ve decided to stop making predictions. What I can tell you is that the first 3 issues are complete. Issue 4, the last, is currently (and slowly) being written.

Humanoids is plugging along. The artwork is looking great — SO, SO, GREAT — and I wish I could show it off, but I’m not sure how the publisher would feel about that.

I’ve got about a million and a half other projects in the wings, but will get to those at another time.

Lettering work is starting to look a little scarce with all that economic stuff going on. Right now, I’m enjoying the break, but in the next few days I’m going to dive in head first and see how much work I can drum up. A lot of publishers are cutting back on their production schedules in order to ride out the recession, so it’s not going to be easy, no sir.

What happened to October and November, you ask? A good question that I don’t have an answer for. They came and went.

I polished off the script to the first issue of Roger Corman Presents: Humanoids From The Deep and am pretty happy with how it came out. I think that fans of the film will probably dig it. I’ve worked hard to ensure that the script keeps in the spirit of the original while being more than just a rehash. Whether I’ve succeeded or not will be up the readers to decide. Hell, I’m just happy to be involved with a Roger Corman production. ROGER CORMAN! I would have his babies. Seriously.

Super talented Benjamin Hall is rocking out the artwork on the book (see his cover work above) and I couldn’t be happier about it. Not only is he a great artist, he’s also a huge fan of the original film. There’s a lot of great energy going on. We’re both so excited to be involved in the project and are working our balls off to make sure that the book does the film proud.

Other news:

The Mr. T book that I did some pre-press work on is now available for pre-order.

From the publisher:

With the outcome of the recent US elections, the time seems perfect for a real black super hero. British publisher Mohawk Media have answered this call with the worldwide launch of their graphic novel starring TV tough guy, Mr. T.

Author Christopher Bunting says: “Since the announcement of Barack Obama as President-elect, plans have apparently been fast-tracked for a black James Bond, a black Doctor Who, a black Captain America. But what’s missing is a real black hero.”

“Mr. T, star of this new graphic novel, is just the man for the job.”

Bunting continues: “Don’t think that we’re simply jumping on the bandwagon. Mohaw Media released a Limited Advance Edition of the Mr. T graphic novel back in February 2008, and it was made clear that this worldwide edition was to follow.”

The Mr. T graphic novel has already courted controversy, with its storylines concerning sex offenders, domestic abuse, and kidnap.

“One of the great things about Mr. T,” explains Bunting, “is because he’s real, we can tackle all kinds of topical and difficult real-world issues.”

Mr. T, star of smash-hits The A-Team, Rocky, and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs – the upcoming movie based on the best selling book of the same name – attributes this factor to his successful transformation into a graphic novel star: “People can relate to Mr. T. They know what he stands for: T for tender, but if you’re a bad guy, it’s T for tough!”

“Get that message out: give people their own black heroes!”

Mr. T has shown he believes what he says by providing world-exclusive interviews and a foreword for the Mr. T graphic novel, while also acting as Executive Editor.

Mr. T continues: “I pity the fool who don’t get my book, read it, and enjoy it!”

The Mr. T graphic novel can be ordered direct from publisher Mohawk Media for the exclusive price of £6.95 (UK) / $15.95 (US) including delivery. Alternatively, visit your local comic book store.

Even more news:

Just about complete lettering the ReBoot webcomic. Pages to date can be read over here. You will have to register for the site before you can read the comic. If you’re a ReBoot fan, then it’s well worth it.

Also, be sure to check out the 20 some-odd titles available over at Z2H (the folks behind the ReBoot comic), 90% of which were lettered by yours truly.

Further News Still:

The crime comic mentioned in the September post is moving forward. I did have some trouble finding an artist at first, but eventually teamed up with Damian Coucerio– again.

Damian and I have been working with for the past couple years on The Division, a comic that will hopefully be completed early in 2009 and published by Arcana sometime later in the year. I didn’t want to pull him away from The Division onto something else, but the need to get the crime comic complete over-rode that. In the end, it works in my favour as it gives me a chance to make a few tweaks to the final pages of The Division.

Well, finally got sick of the old site and decided to update the look a little. Will probably keep tinkering with it over the next couple of weeks.

I do love the header though! The above image is from a comic I wrote called THE KILLING STREETS (formerly BLACK RIVER). Jhomar Soriano did an amazing job pencilling and inking and Dean Trippe laid down some kick ass colours.

The book is currently sitting with a major independent publisher who I am hoping will decide to publish it. If they pass, I will be knocking down the doors of other independent publishers and, barring that, will publish on my own. The book is really some great stuff though, and I am confident that we’ll be able to find a publisher.

Speaking of publishing. I’m involved in a project with two other writers right now that seems to be coming together quite beautifully. We’re each writing short, self contained crime stories that will eventually be illustrated and published together in one volume. Dependant on the success of the first book, it may become a regular thing — only time will tell.

My story, The Orchard, is complete and I’m in the final stage of revisions. I’ve approached an artist and am waiting on word as to if he’ll be able to illustrate it. With any luck, I will be posting progress reports from the book over the next couple of months. I’m hoping to use this blog as a kind of “behind the scenes” look at the creation of my contribution to the, as of yet, unnamed book.

More details soon.

Here’s a quick rundown of what I’ve been up to for the past few months:

•Zeros 2 Heroes have posted a bunch of their winning books here. Of the 16 comics online, I lettered 13: Abigail’s War, Alma, Black Jack O’Breen, Blake Undying, The Brothers McElroy, Deutschmaschine, Hero High, Lotus, Mind Crimes, Minus One, Rip Current, Slaughter Inc and Supremacy: Dawn of Heroes. Check ‘em out. If you dig the comics, make sure to sign up to the site and become a fan. The more fans a book gets, the greater the chance that the series will be able to continue.

•I’ve been lettering both Gearz and Ray Harryhausen Presents: The Elementals for Bluewater Productions and will hopefully be working on more exciting projects with them down the line.

•Too many pitches to even mention, however there has been some great stuff that I hope publishers will have the good sense to pick up (and not just because it means extra work for me).

•We’re just about to start art on the final issue of The Division, a series that I’ve created and am writing. Should be out in 2009 from Arcana Comics. You can see some of the artwork from the first 2 issues on artist Damian Coucerio’s website: Click!

It’s been awhile. Apologies to those who’ve wondered if I was ever going to update this site. Since I use this site primarily for advertising my lettering work, I will generally only be updating when I have time to take on new work. I’ve been pretty solidly busy for the past year. However, I will be able to take on new work in the next couple of months, so here I am letting you all know.

Updates to published works and more samples soon.

DMP celebrates Speed Racer’s 40th anniversary with a 2 volume hardcover collector’s set. Speed Racer: Mach Go Go Go Box Set is the complete, unabridged version and contains episodes available in the United States for the first time. Join Speed Racer, Racer X, Trixie, Spritle and Chim Chim in this face-paced thriller of action and intrigue.

I lettered the entire second volume in this two volume set (about 360 pages). It was really intense and probably some of my proudest work. The restored artwork looks beautiful and the hardcover book and case look great.
ISBN: 1569707316
ISBN-13: 9781569707319
Dimensions: 6 x 8.5
Release Date: February 26, 2008
SRP: $39.95

I’m currently working on more for DMP, Sean McGrath’s latest issue of Frater Mine, a few projects for Zeros 2 Heroes and two personal projects which I’ve also written — both of which should be out later this year. Also out shortly is the new Avril book. Details when available.