On Saturday, October 2 head to:
The New Yorker Festival
The Vampire Revival panel with AMERICAN VAMPIRE co-author Stephen King
At 1:00 pm
Where: Stage 37
Ticketed
Kentler International Drawing Space
CUBA: MY REVOLUTION
Art exhibit and opening reception and talk with Inverna Lockpez and Dean Haspiel, moderated by Calvin Reid
At 4:00 pm
Where:353 Van Brunt Street, (RED HOOK) Brooklyn, New York
Free
Why Rafael Albuquerque is Amazing
(or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Hire a Cover Artist)
We weren’t even thinking about him for the covers. We knew we wanted something that said “horror” but could also be literary and elegant too. We wanted a strong design that showcased a cool logo and the creator’s names. A daunting task. I thought about it constantly. We were throwing around a lot of names, some big names, some unknowns. But we certainly weren’t even considering Rafael Albuquerque for the covers—he was too busy kicking ass on the interiors.
Then he sent me an idea and I was blown away.
It happened like this: late Friday afternoon Rafael shot me an email, “…I don’t know what your thinking for covers, but I had an idea, something like this…” with these two sketches attached.
Pretty hot right? Bold. Iconic. It looked like a book cover. Over the weekend I talked to Scott. He loved them too. Monday I met with Karen, Will, Ken Lopez and Richard Bruning. It was the fastest meeting I’ve ever had. We loved the layout and the concept. We thought maybe, since we were telling a dual narrative we should have a scene from each story, split by that killer logo, for the first five covers. Other than that, we loved it. No notes. Like Steve says in his introduction to the hardcover, referring to Scott’s outline for Avamp, “Why f--- with genius?”
Rafael took the note about the two scenes, chose Skinner’s gang waiting for the train, re-worked the Pearl image and we had our cover.
I showed it to Scott and Steve, they loved it and that was it. Cut. Print.
So we included these two sketches (along with TONS of other bonus features like early character designs, variant covers, script pages and more!) so you could get a behind-the-scenes look at the birth of “American Vampire.” Enjoy!
Lot’s of great comics and lots of great press coverage this week!
Let’s kick it off with CUBA: MY REVOLUTION. Features and positive reviews ran in THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, LATINA MAGAZINE, AM NEW YORK, EL NUEVO HERALD,WIRED, CBR, IGN, PUBLISHERS WEEKLY and LARGE HEARTED BOY.
Author Inverna Lockpez and, in case you missed him earlier this week at Midtown Comics, artist Dean Haspiel will be appearing together in NYC next month (details below).
Saturday, October 2
4:00-7:00pm
at the Kentler International Drawing Space
353 Van Brunt Street, (RED HOOK) Brooklyn, New York
There will be an opening reception and talk moderated by Calvin Reid
Cuba drawings by Inverna Lockpez and drawings from the book by Dean Haspiel will be on display through December 12th.
Wednesday, October 6
7:00 pm
BookCourt 163 Court Street Brooklyn, NY
Reading with art, Q&A, and book signing
THE UNWRITTEN Volume 2 and the amazing Many Lives of Lizzie Hexam issue #17 have received fantastic reviews from AOL’s COMICS ALLIANCE, TIME OUT CHICAGO, and IGN while issue #17 is io9 and IFANBOY’s Pick of the Week!
In fact, Blair Butler raved that Volume 2 is "Brilliant. . . . All leads to a final gorgeously illustrated chapter that takes a tragic look at children's literature. . . it's a showstopper. . . . May be the smartest thing on store shelves right now," on G4 TV ATTACK OF THE SHOW's FRESH INK segment.
AIN’T IT COOL NEWS featured an interview with AMERICAN VAMPIRE series creator and writer Scott Snyder in which he discusses both his Vertigo project and his upcoming run on the DCU’s DETECTIVE COMICS.
And JOE THE BARBARIAN #7 made TIME/TECHLAND’s Pull List and io9’s Pick of the Week!
Happy reading and have a wonderful weekend!
Writing the final issue of this first arc was bittersweet. I'm really gonna miss Steve's scripts. One part of issue #5 I especially love is Steve's page 9-11 sequence. [See pages below.]
He had this great idea to cross-cut between Skinner and Book, to show them both dealing with their vampire natures simultaneously. Though we didn't get much into Book's pre-vampire rivalry with Skinner (issue 1 starts with old Skinner already caught and shackled) - the two of them have a long and sordid history together. Book spent a long time chasing Skinner and their connection runs deep. In fact, in one draft of issue 1, right after killing Book's fiancee, Skinner said this: "Don't worry Pink. This here's all the bride you'll ever need." Ultimately, we cut the line for space, but it still rings true to me. The two of them are bound together in life death and afterlife. And while Book does get laid low at the end of this latest issue, the House of Book carries on….
Get ready for the next arc which begins in Las Vegas!
--Scott
PAGE NINE
Panel One
BOOK’S bedroom. He’s now dressed in loose white shorts and an underwear shirt. ABI is sitting beside him on the bed. She’s opened a button or two at the top of her dress to display her admirable attributes. Through the window we see WILL BUNTING riding away. He’s reading as he goes, the open book propped on the horn of his saddle.
BOOK and ABI don’t even notice. They are looking at each other.
BOOK: There’s no good way this can end.
ABI: Jim, you shut up that foolish talk.
BOOK: Look in the mirror.
Panel Two
In the mirror. We see ABI sitting on the bed. Book’s image is distorted, blurry.
BOOK (dialogue-balloon from where he’d be if we could see him in the mirror): Is that foolish?
ABI: If you won’t shut up on your own—
Panel Three
Resume BOOK and ABILENA on the bed. No sign of WILL; there’s only the hanging dust his horse raised on the road to town. She is kissing him passionately and speaking at the same time (a magical thing that only happens in comic books). BOOK has hold of her shoulders.
ABI (continues): —then I’ll shut you up myself!
Panel Four
He pushes her away. She’s sprawled back on the pillow, breasts heaving, cheeks flushed. A yummy sight. Her eyeline is much lower than BOOK’S face, and a small, vixenish smile dimples her cheeks.
BOOK: Are you crazy?! You’re young enough to be my daughter! I think of you as my daughter!
ABI: Part of you thinks of me as something else. I love you, Jim. Not as a daughter, but the way a man loves a wom—
Panel Five
BOOK (thundering): GET OUT!
Panel Six
ABILENA, stumbling out onto the porch. Tears stream down her cheeks.
Panel Seven
BOOK is sitting on the edge of his bed. Now he’s the one wearing the smile (which shows the tips of those fangs). His eyes are rimmed with red—a drug addict’s eyes. His resemblance to SKINNER is stronger than ever.
BOOK: A sheep. Just one. It…it’ll help me think.
PAGE TEN
Panel One
Back with the cowboys, digging.
COWBOY 1: Over here! I think I found something!
Panel Two
Close on a pair of yellow eyes being uncovered – Skinner’s… The cowboy recoils.
COWBOY 1: Jesus…
Panel Three
A meadow, with a four-strand barbwire fence in the bg. In the fg is JAMES BOOK with a dead sheep in his arms. His face is buried in its neck. The poor beast’s eyes are rolled up to whites and its tongue lolls from the corner of its mouth. There’s a puddle of fresh blood between BOOK’S gore-splashed boots.
SHEEPHERDER (off): Here, now! What the hell do you think you’re doing?
Panel Four
The two main cowboys pulling Skinner from the rubble. He’s emaciated, been starving down there for three full years. He should look the worst we’ve seen him. His fangs protrude all the way down to his chin. Not a pretty sight.
The other cowboys stand at attention, guns drawn. COWBOY 1 has his .44 leveled at SKINNER.
COWBOY 2: Careful!
COWBOY 3 (bg): Stay right where you are.
Panel Five
C/U of Skinner, weak, drained, but grinning.
SKINNER: Why hello there. Boys!
Panel Six
BOOK, his face smeared with sheep’s blood, whirls to face the SHEEPHERDER, who is stunned out of his initial anger.
Panel Seven
C/U
SHEEPHERDER (eyes wide, mouth agape): Book? Jim Book? What—?!
PAGE ELEVEN
Panel One
The COWBOYS and SKINNER. The COWBOYS are still holding their guns.
COWBOY 1: Our orders are to take you to Banker Percy’s ranch.
COWBOY 2: Escort you. That’s what he means. Escort, not take.
SKINNER: Old Bram Percy’s got a ranch now, does he… My, my, that’s a nice cross you got.
Panel Two
BOOK and the SHEEPHERDER. The dead sheep now lies between them. BOOK is flashing his fangs. The SHEEPHERDER’S face is a mask of terror.
BOOK: Run! While you STILL CAN!
Panel Three
SKINNER and the COWBOYS. Oh dear, this didn’t turn out well for the COWBOYS. SKINNER has got the first two fingers of his left hand knuckle-deep in COWBOY 1’S eyesockets, while he drinks spouting freshets of blood from COWBOY 2’S torn-open neck.
SKINNER : Too bad for you that I’m an atheist.
Panel Four
The SHEEPHERDER is running for his life. BOOK watches him go, his shoulders slumped.
Panel Five
Long panel across the bottom of the page. In the bg, the two drained COWBOYS lie where SKINNER dropped them. In the fg, SKINNER is riding away on a stolen horse. He’s grinning, exhibiting bloodstained, dripping fangs. Hanging around his neck are the two IRON CRUCIFIXES.
SKINNER: Time to meet my maker…
[gallery link="file"]
Scott Snyder, creator of AMERICAN VAMPIRE took some time to tell us what it was like to write the first page of the last issue of the first arc. Here's what he has to say,
While working on this final issue of the first arc with a big climax, I wanted to get everything just right.
This page was a last minute change, actually. The original had Pearl facing off with Vachon, the French vampire in Bloch's nest, in the garage. In the original, she bites him, paralyzing him, while the sun rises in the distance. She questions him about how many vampires are upstairs, while the sunlight slowly creeps towards him... See?
AMERICAN VAMPIRE #5 opener written by Scott Snyder
PAGE 1:
1.1
Bloch’s castle, spires rising from the pale, desert hills. It’s just before dawn – an eerie blue light in the sky. Now is the time when vampires go to sleep (Euros…)
PEARL CAPTION: “My father kept dogs on our farm.”
1.2
We’re in the garage. VACHON enters, having descended the stairs. He’s dabbing at his tie with a napkin. There’s blood on the tie.
PEARL CAPTION: “Big, mean Mastiffs. Six in all. Anyone came inside our gate without ringing and those dogs would run at him.”
1.3
He’s climbing into his car, which is idling in a row of gleaming automobiles at the mouth of the garage.
PEARL CAPTION: “I never saw them scared.”
1.4
He notices, out the window, that the driver of the car beside his is drained of blood.
PEARL CAPTION: “Except this one time, when I was a little girl, a gray wolf wandered on to our property. They were supposed to be extinct in Kansas by then, but there one was. Standing by the gate.”
1.5
And the driver of the car beyond that.
PEARL CAPTION: “The dogs hid under our porch all day long. It was like they just knew that the wolf was tougher than them, no matter how many of them there were.”
1.6
In the rear-view mirror, Pearl’s grinning face.
PEARL CAPTION: “And the wolf – well, he knew it too.”
PAGE 2:
2.1
Gastueau stumbling from the car, holding his neck, hissing. Pearl walking after him, Henry too. Pearl is holding his shoe in one hand. VACHON is looking back at them over his shoulder at the garage opening.
HENRY: So I take it the wolf just did them all in.
PEARL: It did leave one of our dogs alive. It was the friendliest of the bunch – Dinah?
2.2
Small - The bright dawn sun peeking up from behind the hills.
PEARL CAPTION: “My guess is she just whimpered and begged enough and the wolf…”
2.3
VACHON clutching his neck, stopping at the edge of the light as the venom takes hold.
PEARL: He plain old felt sorry for the old bitch.
VACHON: What did you do to me? I can’t… can’t…
2.4
Pearl, loving every minute of her revenge.
PEARL: Let’s how well you beg, Frenchy.
PEARL: Now how many of your pals are upstairs?
2.5
VACHON angry, not noticing his hand is smoking in the sun (this is only part exposed so far). Pearl loves every minute of this, maybe gives a mock sympathetic face.
VACHON: You insolent-
PEARL: Oh, you’re going to have to do much better than that.
2.6
VACHON sees the horrible truth – he’s paralyzed by Pearl’s venom, unable to budge, and the sun is creeping up his arm. In fact the exposed hand is completely engulfed in flames.
VACHON: My arm! My… There’s four! Four, I tell you! Bloch, Pietro, Vachon and Lars. They’re in the study!
VACHON: Now please! Move me into the shade!
2.7
Pearl and Henry watching him burn – Pearl with a stern look on her face. In the foreground, VACHON’s body is contorted in agony. His arm and neck are aflame, but he can’t do anything about the sun creeping higher and higher up his body.
HENRY: Pretty poor begging.
PEARL: I did a better job myself.
In the end, though, I felt the new opener would offer a better build-up to the fight. I wanted you to feel like you were getting ready along with Pearl and Henry to go back and face off with Bloch's minions. Rafa and I threw some ideas around, and he ultimately came up with the sequential grid concept - keeping Pearl and henry's faces hidden - giving you a kind of ominous sequence of them getting ready...
AMERICAN VAMPIRE #5 revised opener written by Scott Snyder
PAGE 1
Rafa, this page should be like a grid of 9 panels (3 rows of 3) showing glimpses of Pearl and Henry building weapons to fight the Eurovamps. I imagine the grid as made of panels even in size, but if you want to make the last one (which is a bit of an epilogue) bigger, or any of them different sizes, just say.
They’re still in the wilderness, the desert, putting together an arsenal from readily available materials. Imagine the setting as scrub-land 10 miles outside the city. This sort of thing. Except I think there should be a fence running along the side of the road – barbed wire and wooden spokes to rip up…
http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/ohq/105.4/images/allen_fig05b...
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1184/543172199_10b9ddd433.jpg
As for the images, here are some ideas. Try to keep tings tight on Henry and Pearl’s hands and arms and such (if we can avoid showing their faces, great – like the opening of Rambo!)
And as always, anything you think would be better, I’m up for.
1.1 – A sign reading “Welcome to Los Angeles!!! (city limits).” The sign is standing along a dirt road in the wilderness. The sign should be simple, just a wooden rectangle with 2 posts holding it up. Like the green sign in the background here (not the speed limit sign), but with the plackard being wooden, not green or reflective.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1184/543172199_10b9ddd433.jpg
1.2 – Close on Pearl’s arms ripping the sign from the dirt.
1.3 – Close on her hands ripping the sign head off the post.
1.4 - A fence post. One in a line strung together by barbed wire.
1.5 - A glimpse of Henry collecting this and other fence-posts – like a detail of him carrying the sharp posts in a bundle under his arm, or on his shoulder. You could show him from behind if you want, walking along the fence, a bundle of ripped up fence-posts under his arm.
1.6 – Close on Pearl’s hands tearing a strip of cloth the hem of her dress (so from here on her dress will be a little shorter and ragged at the bottom).
1.7 – Close on Henry’s hands sharpening a fence post to a super-sharp point with his knife.
1.8 – Close on Pearl’s hands using the torn hem cloth to tie a wrap and secure a sharpened fence-post to the top of the post from the old road sign, effectively building a scythe (though we won’t see the full scythe until page 3).
1.9 - The car driving away, down the dusty road, toward the hills in the distance. We’re looking at the rear of the car, a small cloud of dust kicked up by its tires… Maybe in the foreground, the head of the sign lying on the dirt: “Welcome to Los Angeles!!! (city limit).
AMERICAN VAMPIRE has a lot going for it. Like what?
How about the stellar art of Rafael Albuquerque? Check out this exclusive look at the cover of issue #8!
There’s also been a fantastic line-up of variant covers from the likes of Jim Lee, Bernie Wrightson, Andy Kubert, and J.H. Williams III. And to finish off the first arc, there’s a variant cover to issue #5 by Paul Pope (seen here for the very first time)!
What else?
Vampires? Check.
Compelling characters? Hell, yes.
National bestselling co-writer? You might have heard of him: Stephen King.
And then there’s the series creator: Scott Snyder. Snyder is a tremendous new writer with a fresh voice. AMERICAN VAMPIRE is his first gig on an ongoing series, and it’s rendered tremendous word of mouth and acclaim. We’re thrilled to announce that he’s just signed an exclusive contract with DC COMICS. So what’s he writing in addition to AMERICAN VAMPIRE?
Find out over on THE SOURCE!
Last week, I announced that we're going back to print on AMERICAN VAMPIRE #2. You can read about it here.
Now, check out the cover!
Issue #2 of the highly acclaimed new series AMERICAN VAMPIRE written by Scott Snyder and Stephen King and with amazing art by Rafael Albuquerque has sold out! So, for those of you who haven’t read it yet, you have another chance. We’re going back to press and copies will be available July 21!
Here’s what author Scott Snyder had to say about this exciting news, "Writing American Vampire at Vertigo is a dream come true for me. If no one read it but my parents, I'd still be on cloud 9. But to have readers like you respond so positively - I wish I could thank you all personally. I will promise you that all of us at team AV will keep putting in 110% to turn out something that you (and we) look forward to picking up. TCB.”
The series continues with rave reviews for issue #4 , out yesterday, from BUZZ FOCUS, CRAVE and COMIC ATTACK and IGN says, “Snyder, King and Albuquerque continue to put the cool back in blood-sucking.”
And if that’s not enough to make you read this series or love it just a bit more, Christopher Farnsworth, author of "Blood Oath" is reading AMERICAN VAMPIRE.
Check out these amazing pages by Rafael Albuquerque. Need I say more? Pick up AMERICAN VAMPIRE #4 next Wednesday.
Part I
Part II
And learn the secret history of Las Vegas in the conclusion to AMERICAN VAMPIRE #7 Devil in the Sand!
Though we’re in the midst of Skinner and Pearl’s first storyline, get ready to look ahead as we unveil the bonus features in this can’t-miss collection on sale September 29 in comic stores and October 5 everywhere books are sold!
Along with the first five issues of the hit Vertigo series — written by Scott Snyder and Stephen King, with art by Rafael Albuquerque — AMERICAN VAMPIRE VOL. 1 includes:
• All five variant covers, with art by Jim Lee, Bernie Wrightson, Andy Kubert, J.H. Williams III, and Paul Pope
• An introduction by Stephen King
• An afterword by Scott Snyder
• A sketchbook section featuring Rafael Albuquerque’s cover sketches and character designs
• Sample script pages by Snyder and King, along with the corresponding art by Albuquerque in black and white
KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN FOR THE REVEAL OF THE VARIANT COVER OF ISSUE #5 BY PAUL POPE!
Here’s what the critics are saying about AMERICAN VAMPIRE:
"Looking for a vampire story with some real bite? Then, boys and girls, Scott Snyder has a comic book for you. His American Vampire series debuts in comic shops today, and Snyder's taking literary royalty along for one bloody good ride. The master of horror himself, Stephen King is writing a backup story in each of the first five issues." – USA Weekend
“Fresh and original.” – Entertainment Weekly
“AMERICAN VAMPIRE is full of amazing dialogue and great characterization, simply an amazing book that begs to be picked up.” – Ain’t It Cool News
“We've seen comics from King before, and plenty of novelists attempting the jump to comics like Snyder, and of course, more than enough vampire franchises, but after reading the first issue we can say that the resulting comic here is something far more than the sum of those familiar parts, and beautiful besides, thanks to the spectacular art of Albuquerque.” – AOL Comics Alliance
“Sophisticated.” – The Onion A/V Club
"One hell of a satisfying package . . . a rich, textured romp through vampire Americana, in such a fun way as to suggest the possibilities of this vehicle are as endless as the lives of the undead.” – IGN
“Structured the way it is – with Snyder and King presenting very different tonal approaches to the vampire genre, even while sharing a character in common – the first issue feels layered. It feels literary. And yet still wonderfully nasty. It's not just another vampire story. It's a story about America. Bloody, vicious, and a whole lot of fun.” — Comic Book Resources
“Snyder, King and Albuquerque have definitely come up with a fresh angle on undead high jinks -- one that feels as comfortable as a pair of old boots, but is as creepy as ghost stories around the campfire. This is truly an American vampire tale, one that disdains Europe's rules for the genre and is as rowdy as the Old West.” – Scripps Howard News Service
