paul cornell

Editor Will Dennis and THE BIG BUNNY

Thu, 05/10/2012 - 7:00am | Pamela Mullin

BIG BUNNY

Awhile back, we blogged about RYAN KELLY’S covers for SAUCER COUNTRY and how a bunch of them came out of his initial concept sketches. But issue #3 is a totally different beast...literally.

Sometimes you never know what a cover artist will react to in a script...what will inspire them to come up with an arresting image that will make a cool cover. In the case of SAUCER COUNTRY #3, it was BUNNIES. Yeah...not the most “Vertigo” thing ever to grace a cover, but who doesn’t love bunnies? Ryan wasn’t totally sure it would work but I thought it would cus it was just not what people would expect...and used my pink camo boxer shorts as an example. For those who don’t know the story: years ago, Jock had done a cover of THE LOSERS for me using camo as the background and we were all a little under-whelmed by it (no pun intended!). But then I suggested why not use PINK as I owned a pair of pink camo boxer shorts at the time. I sent him a jpeg of my shorts (no...I wasn’t sexting Jock) and the rest is history.

So hopefully this bunny will be Ryan’s pink camo boxer shorts cover. Check it out in-stores May 16th!

Tags:

saucer country, paul cornell, ryan kelly, will dennis

The 2012 Hugo Award Finalists Have Been Announced

Mon, 04/09/2012 - 10:11am | Official Press ...

The Hugo Award finalists for 2012, honoring excellence in science fiction and fantasy, were announced in the UK. In the Best Graphic Story category, the finalists include two Vertigo titles:

Fables Vol 15: Rose Red, written by Bill Willingham and illustrated by Mark Buckingham (Vertigo)

The Unwritten (Volume 4): Leviathan written by Mike Carey, illustrated by Peter Gross (Vertigo)

In addition, we’d like to give a special nod to Neil Gaiman for his nomination in the category of Best Dramatic Performance (Short Form), Paul Cornell in the category of Best Novelette and China Miéville in the category of Best Novel. Gaiman is the writer of the bestselling SANDMAN series and BLACK ORCHID, available later this month in a Deluxe Edition, Cornell is currently writing DEMON KNIGHTS and the new Vertigo series SAUCER COUNTRY and Miéville is new to the group with his debut DIAL H coming from DC Comics this May.

Congratulations to all the finalists! For the full list, head over to TheHugoAwards.org. The winners will be presented at the 2012 World Science Fiction Convention, August 30 to September 3, 2012 in Chicago.

Tags:

the hugo awards, fables, the unwritten, bill willingham, mark buckingham, mike carey, peter gross, neil gaiman, sandman, black orchid, paul cornell, ryan kelley, saucer country, demon knights, china mieville, Dial H

Preview Mondays: SUPERBOY #8 and SAUCER COUNTRY #2

Mon, 04/09/2012 - 9:00am | Alex Nagorski

For this week’s installment of Preview Mondays, we’re giving you exclusive first looks at SUPERBOY #8 and SAUCER COUNTRY #2.

Setting the stage for “The Culling,” SUPERBOY #8 acts as a prelude to its crossover event with TEEN TITANS, LEGION LOST and the upcoming DC COMICS-THE NEW 52 “Second Wave” title, THE RAVAGERS. But what is The Culling? What are Ravagers? And how do they relate to one another? Find out in SUPERBOY #8, brought to you by the creative team of Scott Lobdell, Tom DeFalco, Iban Coello, RB Silva and Rob Lean. Click here to check out an exclusive preview of the issue.

In last month’s inaugural issue of SAUCER COUNTRY, writer Paul Cornell and artist Ryan Kelly introduced you to Arcadia Alvarado, a governor from New Mexico who is running for President of the United States. The twist? She believes that she was abducted by aliens. The series’ second issue, out this Wednesday, picks up immediately where its predecessor left off – with Arcadia telling trusted members of her staff about the looming threat of a full-on alien invasion. But will Arcadia’s confidants believe her and does revealing this information put her entire campaign in jeopardy? Find out in SAUCER COUNTRY #2, previewed exclusively here.

Tags:

Preview Mondays, superboy, saucer country, Scott Lobdell, tom defalco, Iban Coello, RB Silva, Rob Lean, paul cornell, ryan kelly

DC ENTERTAINMENT TO SHOWCASE “BEFORE WATCHMEN,” DC COMICS-THE NEW 52 AND VERTIGO AT KAPOW!

Wed, 04/04/2012 - 10:46am | Official Press ...

DC ENTERTAINMENT TO SHOWCASE “BEFORE WATCHMEN,” DC COMICS-THE NEW 52 AND VERTIGO AT KAPOW!

Leading Entertainment Company Will Bring Top Executives and Talent to UK Convention

DC Entertainment announced its plans today to bring some of the company’s top executives and creators to Kapow! to discuss the year’s highly anticipated BEFORE WATCHMEN comic book event, the record-breaking initiative that took the industry by storm this past September, DC COMICS-THE NEW 52, and the four new series from acclaimed adult imprint, Vertigo. On hand to discuss all things DC Entertainment will be Co-Publisher Dan DiDio, Vertigo Senior Editor and BEFORE WATCHMEN series editor, Will Dennis, Senior Vice President of Sales Bob Wayne, and a roster of major talent including Scott Snyder, Peter Milligan, Paul Cornell and Ian Churchill. This event, which takes place May 19-20, will be occurring only a small number of weeks before the release of the inaugural issues of BEFORE WATCHMEN on June 2nd.

DC ALL ACCESS - SPECIAL EDITION

Panelists: Dan DiDio, Bob Wayne, Will Dennis, Scott Snyder, Peter Milligan, Paul Cornell

Don’t miss this panel about the sure-to-be most talked about project of 2012, BEFORE WATCHMEN! Join DC Entertainment Co-Publisher Dan DiDio, Editor Will Dennis, and Senior Vice President of Sales Bob Wayne as they talk about this next game-changing event. They’ll also join writers Scott Snyder (AMERICAN VAMPIRE), Peter Milligan (HELLBLAZER) and Paul Cornell (SAUCER COUNTRY) to share the latest news on all your favorite Vertigo titles and discuss details about the new wave of Vertigo! No comics fan will want to miss this!

DC COMICS – THE NEW 52

Panelists: Dan DiDio, Bob Wayne, Scott Snyder, Peter Milligan, Paul Cornell, Ian Churchill

DC COMICS – THE NEW 52 is the industry’s most talked about industry-shattering event of the last year. Although the landscape has changed, we’re not done making news! Come by and be a part of history as DCE Co-Publisher Dan DiDio and Senior Vice President of Sales Bob Wayne discuss the books that are shaping the dawn of this new era along with some of the major talent writing and illustrating these titles, including Scott Snyder (BATMAN, SWAMP THING), Peter Milligan (RED LANTERNS), Paul Cornell (STORMWATCH) and Ian Churchill (THE RAVAGERS).

Tags:

Kapow, Before Watchmen, DC Comics-The New 52, vertigo, dan didio, bob wayne, will dennis, scott snyder, peter milligan, paul cornell, ian churchill

From The Editor's Desk: SAUCER COUNTRY--The Future

Fri, 03/16/2012 - 7:00am | Pamela Mullin

THE FUTURE:

SILVER SPACE LADY. GREYS. ZETA RETICULA. MEN IN BLACK. BARNEY & BETTY HILL. MISSING TIME. PHANTOM AIRSHIPS. PROJECT BLUEBIRD. AREA 51. ROSWELL.

If these terms mean something to you already, then SAUCER COUNTRY is the book for you. If they don’t, then SAUCER COUNTRY is STILL the book for you!

Because apart from being a political thriller set during a crazy Presidential season (something we’re all familiar with by now), SAUCER COUNTRY is going to be a deep exploration of the mythologies surrounding UFOs and how they’re all intertwined with the history (and mythology) of America. It’s about the lies and truths we tell ourselves...and the narratives that spring out of them. It’s about the power of the bully pulpit but also about the power of faith. Not necessarily a religious faith (although that will likely come up in time) but faith in our leaders and the faith we have in our shared experiences both as Americans and also as humans beings.

Paul Cornell has said that he’s been writing this book in one form or another his entire life. I believe him and I can’t wait to see what he and artist Ryan Kelly come up with – I have faith that it will be fascinating, thought provoking and totally entertaining. I hope that you will choose to make the journey with us.

Thanks for you continued support of VERTIGO and keep watching the skies!

Will Dennis

Tags:

saucer country, will dennis, paul cornell, ryan kelly

Will Dennis Talks SAUCER COUNTRY Artist Ryan Kelly

Thu, 03/15/2012 - 1:24pm | Alex Nagorski

Sometimes a series comes with an artist attached to it but, in my experience at Vertigo, that’s pretty rare. Usually I have to work closely with the writer to get an idea of how they see the series in terms of the art – the look, style, and tone of it. I have my own ideas often but it’s always a back-and-forth since the writer is the one who has the pictures in his/her head.

In the case of SAUCER COUNTRY, Paul and I had some long talks about the overall “feel” of the book and knew we needed someone who was very naturalistic in style who could handle a lot of the “acting” that would be crucial to this series. Almost immediately, I thought of RYAN KELLY.

Having worked with him before on DMZ and NORTHLANDERS I knew he was incredibly versatile and creative and knowing well his work on NEW YORK FIVE and Local, he was amazing at tackling real characters (especially women) struggling with real issues.

I sent Paul some samples of his recent work and he totally flipped for it! So we called Ryan and asked for a few character sketches based on very broad strokes. He nailed them and as it happens, he’s a total alien conspiracy geek himself. As soon as we started riffing on Whitley Strieber minutiae, I knew we had our man!

Here are some of his first character sketches and thumbnails of the first script pages. Be sure to check out SAUCER COUNTRY #1, on sale now!

Peace & elbow grease,
Will Dennis

See a gallery of SAUCER COUNTRY sketches here.

Tags:

saucer country, will dennis, paul cornell, ryan kelly

From The Editor's Desk: SAUCER COUNTRY--The Pitch

Tue, 03/13/2012 - 7:00am | Pamela Mullin

Every comic series good, bad or otherwise begins with a pitch.

Sometimes it’s a writer sending in 5-6 short ideas and asking you to “pick one” (Appreciated!); Sometimes it’s a writer approaching you at a convention after a panel to ask, “What you’re looking for?” (Answer most often given by me? “I’ll know it when I see it.”); Sometimes it’s even a drunken writer cornering you in the men’s room to berate you about his misunderstood genius (True story).

In the case of SAUCER COUNTRY, I have no idea what writer Paul Cornell’s approach was because he originally pitched it to my former colleague PORNSAK PICHETSHOTE! So I inherited the project from him, which sometimes is a drag, but in this case, Pornsak had me at “it’s THE WEST WING with aliens written by Paul Cornell.”

What follows is one of the later drafts of Paul’s pitch. Much of it has changed in the time we’ve been working on it (for starters the title!) but the heart of it is still beating strong. We hope you like it as much as we do so please check out issue #1 this Wednesday!

Peace & hair grease,
Will Dennis

Resident Alien

A Vertigo Series by Paul Cornell

ARCADIA ALVARADO is the Latina, female, Republican Governor of New Mexico. She’s on the Libertarian wing of her party, a secret athiest who attends church to appease the religious right, but still a basically honest and dedicated politician who knows that people want to believe in something.

But when, one night, she and MICHAEL (who has a well-rumored drinking problem) are taken from their car by what she believes to be ALIENS...her life changes forever. She was told by the little Grey beings that they'd nearly completed their centuries-long plan for Earth, and will be back, not just for her, but for the whole human race... in one year’s time.

She makes herself tell her fatherly Chief of Staff HARRY BROOKS. Hotshot new PR consultant CHLOE SAUNDERS finds out what happened from MICHAEL. BROOKS hires Professor of Modern American Mythology JOSHUA KIDD to dissuade her from going public. Of course, none of them believe her but they still believe IN her. For that reason, they will follow her orders to try and hack through the chaos of UFO myth in a quest to find some solid evidence that they can show to the White House, before the year is out.

ARCADIA’S team soon discover they’re being played against: by foreign intelligence services, who seem to know that something is going on; by the USAF; by the office of the President, who want to know what ARCADIA is up to. But it turns out all of them are absurdly reacting to smoke and mirrors, that nobody really knows anything.

The clock is ticking.

To complete her quest, ARCADIA must be at her very best. She’s going to have to become the person she wants to be, who can be honest about everything she is. And she might end up saving the world... from something she can’t yet begin to understand.

UFO mythology is wonderful, strange, and varied. It stretches back centuries, from Biblical descriptions of flying machines to medieval crop-circle-making demons to the ‘foo fighters’ of WW2 to the flying saucers of the 1950s and flying triangles of the 1980s. Only recently has it started to become a concrete narrative about ‘Greys’ and ‘abductions’. Our aim with this title will be to journey through this powerful modern mythology, weird and resonant, full of wonder, a map of what America (because these are American dreams) is right now. To know a country, know its mythology. And this is the only modern American mythology.

There’s a vast audience out there for conspiracy theory novels, Armageddon stories, for fiction about what’s really going on. Added to that, we have a dark satire about truth in American politics. It’s The West Wing with aliens.

Paul Cornell is well known in science fiction and television circles, having written critically-beloved episodes of the BBC TV series Doctor Who. He’s a multiple Hugo award nominee, and written comics for both DC and Marvel.

Tags:

saucer country, will dennis, paul cornell, ryan kelly

DC Entertainment Releases New VERTIGO App

Wed, 03/07/2012 - 12:16pm | Pamela Mullin

DC Entertainment Releases New VERTIGO App

And Announces SANDMAN Digital Comics Sale for $.99

Starting today, VERTIGO fans can download a new dedicated app featuring all Vertigo digital titles. The new app, available on the App Store, is free to download and features popular VERTIGO series THE SANDMAN, FABLES, Y: THE LAST MAN, PREACHER, 100 BULLETS, HELLBLAZER, AMERICAN VAMPIRE, THE UNWRITTEN, DMZ, THE INVISIBLES, TRANSMETROPOLITAN, and SWEET TOOTH, among others.

As an added bonus, readers who download the new VERTIGO app will have exclusive access to a three-day in-app sale that offers all SANDMAN digital comics for $.99 per issue. Written by #1 New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman, THE SANDMAN is one of the most acclaimed titles in the history of comics. Norman Mailer described the series as “a comic strip for intellectuals.” With a rich blend of modern myth and dark fantasy in which contemporary fiction, historical drama and legend are seamlessly interwoven, the series is considered to be one of the most original and artistically ambitious comic books of the modern age.

The launch of the app is timed to the release of four new VERTIGO series debuting each week this month, beginning with today’s publication of FAIREST by New York Times best-selling and award-winning writer Bill Willingham. A spin-off of FABLES, the series stars some of the fairest in the land and balances horror, humor and adventure. Each FAIREST storyline will explore the secret histories of one character, from Sleeping Beauty to Rapunzel to Cinderella to Thumbelina to Snow White and more. The first six issue arc drawn by Phil Jimenez (WONDER WOMAN, THE INVISIBLES) follows the misadventures of Briar Rose along with Ali Baba and the Snow Queen.

Also available same day digitally this month are the following new Vertigo series:

· SAUCER COUNTRY (VERTIGO / ongoing series / 32pg. / Color / $2.99), a dark thriller that blends UFO lore and alien abduction with political intrigue, all set in the hauntingly beautiful Southwest written by Paul Cornell (DEMON KNIGHTS, Doctor Who) with art by Ryan Kelly (NEW YORK FIVE).

· DOMINIQUE LAVEAU: VOODOO CHILD (VERTIGO / ongoing series / 32pg. / Color / $2.99), a high octane story set in New Orleans that blends the mortal and supernatural worlds, written by former editor-in-chief of The Source magazine, award-winning author, journalist and TV producer Selwyn Seyfu Hinds, with art by Milestone Media co-founder Denys Cowan (THE QUESTION) and John Floyd with covers by Rafael Grampá.

· THE NEW DEADWARDIANS (VERTIGO / mini-series / 32pg. / Color / $2.99), a murder mystery set among the world of the undead in post-Victorian era London, brought to vivid life by writer Dan Abnett (RESURRECTION MAN) with art by newcomer I. N. J. Culbard (At The Mountains of Madness).

“Making all of our digital titles available in one downloadable location provides readers even more accessibility to our vast array of ground-breaking stories. What’s better than that? I can’t wait to get the app on my phone.” said Karen Berger, executive editor, VERTIGO. “With four new series launching in March, this is the perfect time for fans to download the VERTIGO app and keep coming back each and every week.”

"As the digital landscape becomes increasingly crowded, this stand alone app underscores DCE's commitment to growing and spotlighting Vertigo by directly addressing its unique reader base,” stated Hank Kanalz, senior vice president of digital, DC Entertainment. “Vertigo fans can now access same day digital content faster and more conveniently on their iOS devices."

Click here to visit the App Store and download the new VERTIGO App.

Previews of all four new series are available for viewing here.

Tags:

vertigo, app, digital, sandman, neil gaiman, fairest, dominque laveau:voodoo child, saucer country, new deadwardians, bill willingham, paul cornell, selwyn hinds, dan abnett

Vertigo New Series Launches

Wed, 02/15/2012 - 10:00am | DCE Editorial

Last week, we linked to all of the exclusive previews of the new Vertigo series launching in March. Below, take a look at all the previews that ran (sorted in the order of publication and separated by cover--FAIREST March 7, SAUCER COUNTRY March 14, DOMINIQUE LAVEAU: VOODOO CHILD March 21, THE NEW DEADWARDIANS March 28), compiled here in one easy location for your convenience. [gallery link="file"]

Tags:

adam hughes, bill willingham, dan abnett, denys cowan, dominique laveau: voodoo child, fairest, inj culbard, paul cornell, phil jimenez, ryan kelly, saucer country, selwyn seyfu hinds, the new deadwardians

Graphic Connection: Vertigo Preview 2012

Wed, 02/08/2012 - 7:06pm | DCE Editorial

Vertigo Preview 2012 landed in stores today. In case you didn't get a physical copy at your local retailer yet, you can see the previews from Vertigo's new series launching this March at the outlets below.

USA TODAY spoke to writer Paul Cornell about SAUCER COUNTRY and ran the exclusive first look inside issue #1.

io9 ran the exclusive first look at DOMINIQUE LAVEAU: VOODOO CHILD #1.

The LOS ANGELES TIMES HERO COMPLEX spoke with artist I.N.J Culbard about THE NEW DEADWARDIANS and ran the exclusive first look inside issue #1.

And IGN ran the exclusive first look at FAIREST #1.

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