Oooh, Mutants on Hoverbikes!

Have you been reading the World's End blog? There's a bunch of new stuff up from last week, including the above.

Check it out.

Addendum to the last post…

Poof of Pudding = In Eating. Just finished the first draft. I'm... well. That was emotionally draining to say the least. Very fucking cathartic though. I think I'm going to go pass out for a bit.

Oh, also, the script is LOADS better with the different approach. I swear.

The Most Interesting Thing About Writing…

for me, anyhow, is no matter how well planned out a story is, when you're actually executing it, things have a tendency to just go where they want. Best laid plans and all of that. I've been hammering hard at Elk's Run 8's script for a couple months now. When things slowed down at Speakeasy, I took some time away from the book to get the other projects up and running, only to come back to the book with, at the very least, a very different sense of place and purpose for what I'm doing. So, I have this interesting little fight with myself between the story that I've been planning to tell since page 1, panel 1 of issue 1, or, just letting it roll where it needs to.

We'll see how it goes, I suppose.

Rue Morgue’s Got Elk’s Run Review Fever

In that issue there, there's a beautiful Elk's Run Review that says things like the following:

"Easiest described as Stephen King's The Body (aka Stand by Me) crossed with M. Night Shyamlan's The Village, but comic's best kept secret is actually a great deal more."

and

"A far from happy ending is exactly the reason we're reading why we're reading this excellent book in the first place."

So, go support the best horror mag on the stands, cause they've supported the best indie comic on the stands. It all works out karmically.

Publisher’s Weekly on Speakeasy

Speakeasy Comics Shuts Down - 3/7/2006 - Publishers WeeklyThere's a few quotes from yours truly, and it's a very interesting read. Go on and check it out.

And one more Best o’ 2005 List…

Ain't It Cool News' Comics Reviews Year End Recap Delcares:

"VROOM’S 'WTF?' AWARD FOR MOST INSANE PLOT POINTS PER ISSUE ELK'S RUN from Speakeasy Press. "

Thanks Vroom & Co!

Harvey Awards

The deadline for the Harvey Awards Nominations are tomorrow at Midnight. The nomination process is open to all comics professionals and the form can be downloaded here. Now, if you were to say nominate Noel Tuazon for Best Artist, or Scott Keating for best colorist, and maybe even Jason Hanley for best Letterist, that'd be unbelievably cool. f you were to nominate Elk's Run for best mini-series, or Western Tales for best anthology... wow. And if you nominate me for best writer? Well, that's just crazy.

So anyways, whether you vote for us, or yourself, get out and vote!

Oh…

Jebus. Thanks for all the well-wishes and kind words everybody. I'm behind on a deadline, so I'm gonna end up not answering a lot of these, at least not tonight. For those concerned, we're fine, and all saw this coming, so, don't worry. We've been planning our next move for quite some time, and know what's what.

Of course, if you really want to cheer me up you can visit http://www.WorldsEnd-TheComic.com and http://www.PunksTheComic.com still on the horizon.

Speakeasy, RIP

So, just got off the phone with Adam Fortier, President etc. of Speakeasy Comics. Speakeasy is no more. Due to some payment problems and low sales, it seems, they've had to lock up shop. Elk's Run... well... We're working on it. The book is 90% done, and it's murder keeping it away from you guys, cause frankly, I've never been prouder than I am of the back half of the series. Everything clicks, and it's just amazing work from Keating and Noel... The type of stuff you, as a writer, only dream of having turned in.

The book will come out. You will get to read the rest of the series.

When and How are still our main questions.

Punks: The T-Shirt

ON SALE NOW!!!

Punks is coming along…

Newsletter, and T-shirts, get getting.

Gary Dressed in Punks

Picture018.jpg Originally uploaded by Joshua Hale Fialkov.

More Punks

So... Got a huge rash of e-mails on Punks, and Kody and I wanted to share some more. Here's the first two pages. Just enough to torment you tll the whole thing comes 'round.

http://www.punksthecomic.com Get gettin'.

Updataroonies

So, there's more of World's End up at the blog, etc, including a script to page thing with the full first page. And then there's this...

Visit the production blog, and you get to see the full first page of the book.

That's here.

AND, my other new project...

Kody Chamberlain and I bring you: Punks

Go here to sign up for updates, etc.

We’re Indispensable

Or so says Steven Grant's readers Elk's Run is right smack dab in the middle of the list of Indispensable Comics Series of 2005. Take that Fables and Y: The Last Man! We're at the very least alphabetically superior!

World’s End

So, so, so. The other project I'm working on has it's own little page up over at www.worldsend-thecomic.com. There you'll find some concept stuff, info about the book, and, the World's End Working Blog. This is where Keating, J-Rod, and Myself are hoping to portray exactyl what it's like to make a comic, from conceptian to final publishing. So, go by, bookmark, and keep an eye out. We'll be putting up most everything we do, as we do it.

Added Some New Stuff on the Side There

There's a little RSS feed of my last.fm thing, so you can see what i'm listening to, and I added a del.ico.us blog roll. Thinking about mounting a redesign of the blog, but I've been swamped just trying to keep up with the three new projects, my freelancing work, and trying to figure out what happens with the rest of my life. So I need a nice distraction, I suppose, I just don't know that I can afford the time to do it.

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Also of note, I started getting art in on my other new project with an artist y'all should know and love. I'll announce it officially once we're more than a few pages in (hate to jinx things). It's been shown to the brain trust, and everyone's pretty ecstatic about it. It's a much more sophisticated action piece than Western Tales of Terror, while still being considerably more accessible than Elk's Run. It's even got a clearly descriptive title that's not quite so on the nose. I do listen to Warren Ellis' advice afterall.

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Elk's Run 6 is going into lettering as soon as Keating finishes colors (which should be any day now) and issue 7 is at least half penciled if not more at this point. It's my favorite of the bunch, and makes getting through the script for issue 8 (le grande finale') tremendously daunting. So much so that I've managed to start (and script) three other projects rather than work on it. This week is it though. I'm putting the son of a bitch to bed, and moving on whole heartedly, and with joy to the next projects.

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Is this format strange?

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Got quite a bit of feedback (although you wouldn't know with how none of you bastards post in the comments) on Punk (as seen below), even had a few publishers sniff around. That's good. It'll be nice to have something come out that a large cross section of people will actually be interested in that I also enjoy writing. Like I said before, doing it feels like it makes my brain stretch, and that's a good thing.

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Being that tonight is my night off (I have transcriptions, a job interview, and Elk's Run 8 to do this weekend), I watched The Jacket (beautifully shot, well acted, hell, even pretty well scripted, and yet... eh. The endng's just not there,) 12 Monkeys (after The Jacket I figured I'd watched the clone, might as well watch the masterpiece it liberally takes from as well), and the first half of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I can't remember what I said about it when it originally came out (it's somewhere in the archives here), in watching it for what is my third time (twice in the theater, dammit), it's finally gotten to the 'Alright, this movie doesn't work anymore' phase for me. Which is a shame. I've listened to the radio show, read the books, watched the BBC show, and played the video game constantly throughout my life. And they never get old. The movie... eh... They softened it too much in the wit and fury departments, and inflated the zany and quirky to a point where it eclipses the other more important aspects of the film. Yes. The Lemon Juice helmet is a funny addition... but, we've got a main character who's reduced to being a babbling idiot for the sake of it. Just hurts the overall movie when all of your protaganists are bumbling idiots except for the one character who seems to get kidnapped constantly.

Anyways, go read the book. It's worth it.

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Now, to bed I go.

Coming Soon

Written by me, Art by Kody Chamberlain Script's all set, and Kody's commencing art.

Still figuring out our publishing plan, and any interested publisher folks, can e-mail me at josh@hoarseandbuggy.com.

We got many votes…

In the Comic Bloggers' Poll 2005 So, thanks for voting! We grealy appreciate it.

Lo-Fi Interview Me.

Lo-Fi Magazine has a big ol' interview with me in the issue that just came out. If you've never heard of Lo-Fi, you're missing out. Think of it as Wizard meets Maxim, minus the fanboy bullshit and naked chicks. It's really and truly excellently done. So, go and check it out. You're local comics retailer should be able to order it for you.