While paging through an online copy of PREVIEWS, the monthly magazine/catalog of the comic industry from Diamond Distributors, I came across the following:

Which means you can all reserve your copy today!

Now, I have to say I’m not thrilled with the selection of cover art.  Originally, Candice Crow was going to be released as five separate issues and the cover art for each of those issue was superior to the art that was chosen to grace the cover of the graphic novel.  But as the writer I don’t have much say in that issue so all I can do is grimace a bit a hope folks looks past that to the cool story and terrific art inside.

I should also point out that in the listing the writer’s name is wrong – Sean O’Reilly is the head of Arcana Comics, not the writer of Candice Crow, that’s me – and the short summary of the title is also incorrect.  I’ll post the proper one below.

If you’re looking to order a copy over the web, the best prices I’ve seen are at:

Westfield Comics

BoomPanda

Urban Collector

For my overseas fans, you can find it at Forbidden Planet

“For the last six months my life has been sliding out of control, but even in my worst dreams I’d never imagined that it could get this bad.

My father’s a drunk.  My boyfriend’s a selfish pig. And a week ago, my best friend “committed” suicide. To top it all off, I have to climb into some weird freakin’ suit every few hours to keep from looking like a reject from Dawn of the Dead.

My name’s Candice Crowe.  Welcome to my messed-up life.”

Candice Crowe’s just your average American teenager until the death of her mother and the stress of her best friend’s alleged suicide causes her previously dormant powers to surface.  Telepathy.  Telekinesis.  Extreme strength and agility.  Everything a girl could ask for, really.

Gifts like these always come with a price, however, and for Candice it means she’s forced to wear a special suit every few hours to keep her skin from necrotizing from the inside out.  Still, she’s determined not to let that put a damper on either her love life or her dreams of being a rockstar.

But first, Candice intends to find out what happened to her best friend, Claire, and heaven help anyone who gets in her way.

Word came in this morning from Sean O’Reilly, publisher at Arcana Comics, that Candice Crowe will be released as an original graphic novel instead of a five issue comic series.  The coloring of what was originally the fifth and final issue is being completed as I write this and the complete work should see publication later this fall/winter.

Here’s the official blurb:

“For the last six months my life has been sliding out of control, but even in my worst dreams I’d never imagined that it could get this bad.

My father’s a drunk.  My boyfriend’s a selfish pig. And a week ago, my best friend “committed” suicide. To top it all off, I have to climb into some weird freakin’ suit every few hours to keep from looking like a reject from Dawn of the Dead.

My name’s Candice Crowe.  Welcome to my messed-up life.”

Candice Crowe’s just your average American teenager until the death of her mother and the stress of her best friend’s alleged suicide causes her previously dormant powers to surface.  Telepathy.  Telekinesis.  Extreme strength and agility.  Everything a girl could ask for, really.

Gifts like these always come with a price, however, and for Candice it means she’s forced to wear a special suit every few hours to keep her skin from necrotizing from the inside out.  Still, she’s determined not to let that put a damper on either her love life or her dreams of being a rockstar.

But first, Candice intends to find out what happened to her best friend, Claire, and heaven help anyone who gets in her way.

I really enjoyed writing CC and I’m looking forward to seeing it hit the store shelves.  Here’s a look at some of the completed art..

I’ve just learned that issue three of the Templar Chronicles comic adaptation has been out for a few weeks now so if you’ve been waiting you should be able to pick one up or ask your local comic book shop to order it for you.

I’ve also learned that issues four, five, and six will not be released as stand alone products, thanks to poor sales (Gee, Mr. Publisher, releasing every single one of the prior three issues anywhere from two to three months late doesn’t have anything to do with that, now does it?). Instead, the new artist will be completing the run strictly for release as part of the trade paperback which is slotted for publication in March 08. Truth be told, I’m not holding my breath.

Covers for all three issues released so far:

Here is the color version of the cover art for issue #3 of the Heretic comic. It is my understanding that there is supposed to be a pencil-variant limited edition version as well. I will post that when I have it.

I’ve been working on a comic project for Arcana Studios for the last several months about a teenage girl with some unusual powers who is forced to investigate the death of her best friend. The concept was jointly created by myself, my teenage daughter Halston, and Arcana’s EIC, Sean O’Reilly. Angel Angelov handled the artwork.

You’ll be hearing more about Candice Crowe throughout the summer and fall as we get ready for our early 2008 release. For now, I just wanted to introduce the character to you through one of Angel’s cover shots.

I received the news recently that the artist on the Heretic comic series, Bruce McCorkindale, had to leave the job to handle some family issues. Which means that the publisher, Markosia, is currently looking for a new artist for issues 4, 5, and 6 on the mini-series.

If you are an artist looking to work on a really cool series that combines military action and supernatural threats, drop me an email at author at josephnassise.com. If I like your stuff I’ll put you in touch with the right folks at the publisher.

I found this interesting, especially since it is one of my publishers and I had no clue that it was going on…

MARKOSIA MERGES WITH ASSOCIATED ARTS AND MEDIA

A global production studio, AAM is a talented pool of creators who assist in either putting packages together for submission to other agencies, producing books for other publishers (including book adaptations for mainstream publishers), and for putting flash or other animation trailers/teasers together. Additionally, AAM are currently creating packages together for other media – television, film and radio, as well as promotional material for non-comic businesses.

“With AAM we can target all areas.” Harry Markos continued. “There are a lot of businesses out there who need quality scripting, art and design. Animation companies in both the U.S and Europe are interested in us developing non comic projects with them. We have book publishers who are interested in us creating graphic novels for them rather than through Markosia. And of course we have a variety of projects that we will be putting through Markosia itself, which is why we’re combining the two.”

With a talented pool of creators already involved including Chuck Satterlee, Tony Lee and Harry Gallan, Ryan Stegman, Dan Boultwood, Sam Hart, Chris Dibari, Jose Torres, Thomas Mauer, animator Rob Freeman and colouring studio Oran Utan Studios, AAM is building in size daily with new creators coming on board every month.

As for the name change, Harry Markos doesn’t feel that such a change would affect Markosia’s presence. “We have a lot of loyal fans, and a lot of retailers are buying more and more from us each month. With a daily comic at Newsarama and thousands of hits on our website daily, whether we’re Markosia or AAM/Markosia really won’t affect the products we release. We’ll still be bringing out top-notch licenses like Kong – King Of Skull Island, Heretic and Starship Troopers as well as great new titles like Breathe, Vengeance of the Vapor, The Witness and Hope Falls. And that’s not including the big announcements we have coming up over the next couple of months.”

“Whatever our name – we’re here for the duration.”

For more information on what Associated Arts and Media can do for your company, or to discuss future projects, email aam.markosia@gmail.com.

PRESS RELEASE – MARKOSIA

HERETIC #1 IS NOT SOLD OUT!!!!

Fans across the globe were disappointed this weekend when their favorite comic stores informed them that Markosia Publishing’s HERETIC – THE TEMPLAR CHRONICLES #1 was sold out at Diamond.

“Being sold out is a great thing to say, because it makes us look like demand has exceeded our expectations, which in this case it did.” Harry Markos, Managing Partner and Publisher of Markosia explained. “But when we sell out, this means that the fans lose out, because they can’t get hold of a copy.”

Having had sell out issues and the problems that surround them for a fan and retailer before, this time Markosia were ready for the news.

“We have a great title and a great creative team,” Harry continued. “Based on the bestselling novel by Bram Stoker award nominee Joe Nassise? Adapted by Chuck Satterlee with art by Bruce McCorkindale, and lettered by Thomas Mauer? Of course it was going to sell out.”

Although Diamond have stated the series is sold out on order, Markosia has already ensured that re-orders through Diamond will be fulfilled.

“We had another printing ready the moment the book was released.” Tony Lee, Group Editor explained. “We’ve not sold out. Diamond have sold out, which in itself is incredible. But we now have stock for anyone who needs it.”

Retailers and fans are urged to continue ordering HERETIC #1 – and if unavailable, to buy it online at either www.midtowncomics.com or www.markosia.com .

Waiting to hear from too many editors on too many projects and waiting is not something I’m good at, not at all. At this point I’m ready to tear my eyeballs out.

The good news is that issue one of HERETIC came out last week and initial reactions have been good. If you’ve seen it in your local comic shop, or better, yet, took a chance and gave it a read, I’d love to hear any and all impressions. Thanks!

-Joe

The launch of the Templar Chronicles comic series from Markosia Comics is only a month away. I’ve posted the cover art to issue #1 on this journal previously. Today’s email brings me the cover art for issue #2…