"Sister Powers" miniseries from Keenspot - and an Inktober mini-comic!

Hey everyone. Did you realize that I wrote a series that's out now from Keenspot? I will admit that it kind of caught me by surprise, too.

"Sister Powers" is a book that I wrote quite a number of years ago under the title "Faith and Charity" (after the two main characters) with artist Mario Wytch. Mario and I have known each other for a while, and we've worked together on a few stories that have been published - FUBAR and a short Teddy and the Yeti story among them. Faith and Charity was a story that I enjoyed, but had filed away for some time. I never really expected it to go anywhere. So I was surprised when, earlier this summer, I got a message from Mario letting me know that not only was he drawing it, but that it was going to be published as a three-issue limited series from Keenspot.

Mario was kind enough to let me go back through the script and make a few pre-publication edits. It had been about 13 years since I wrote the story and I was worried that not everything would've held up in the time that had passed. I was happy to see that I still liked most of it, and what I didn't like (mostly melodrama) could be fixed with a new line or two.

I met Mario in person - for the first time in my life - at Comic-Con in July. He had a booth with Keenspot, and a banner for the book under its new title. I do like the logo, which does, of course, take some inspiration from DC's "Super Powers" book from the '80s. Keenspot had a preview book to hand out with a short introduction to the characters in it that I was able to snag.

The first issue of the series came out in September, and it's (probably?) still available through Diamond. The next issue comes out in December, and the final issue of the miniseries follows in March (I think).

Mario and I worked on a new short story with the characters that we're releasing a panel at a time for Inktober. Should I use the hashtag for that? #Inktober? Sure.

We're posting the panels to various social media, and if you'd like to follow along, you can start here with this Twitter post:

For #Inktober this year, @MarioWytch and I are creating a six-page, 31-panel comic where we work on and release one panel per day for the entire month! Here’s the first installment of our story titled “We All Wear Masks”: pic.twitter.com/PRzpCSlJ38

— Jeff McClelland (@JeffMcClelland) October 2, 2019

Here's the Diamond Previews information for issue #2, out in December!

Pre-order IDW's "Imaginary Drugs" now!

Well, that was a lengthy break I took from this blog.  Not because I don't love you, blog...don't ever say that.  But I am back with good news!  The Imaginary Drugs anthology will soon be released by IDW, and you can pre-order it now!

I am, of course, very excited that the book will have such a high profile.  What started out as a moderately successful Kickstarter campaign has become a full-fledged wide-release graphic novel.  Not only that, but I was able to jump on as an assistant editor, which means I get to do things like slave away at a table of contents page design.  Above is a shot of it, and you can see my name pop up every so often in the midst of some other really talented creators.

Among some of my stories:

"Eternal Flame" with Paul Tucker!

"Teddy and the Yeti" (perhaps you've heard of it) with Pietro!

And as a special exclusive story to the IDW release, "The Corn Has Ears" with friends Lauren Girdler and Ian Chase Nichols!  Lauren, of course, is a Franks and Beans alumni!  And Ian drew a backup story in the 2014 Tick FCBD issue.

Also joining me on some of my stories is Duane Redhead, Mario Wytch, Rafer Roberts and Christine Larsen!

If you'd like to order this book (and that'd be great), you can do it in one of a few ways.  First, you can go to your local comic shop and use the code NOV140515 to have them reserve it for you (or just ask for it by name).  Second, you can pre-order the book on Amazon right now by clicking here.

I hope the book is well received.  I know that everyone involved put a lot of work into it.

I'll post again soon.  Perhaps it'll be more Comic-Con pictures.  You never know!

FUBAR FCBD signings, AHZ and beyond!

We're steadily barreling toward some big release dates for some books I've worked on.  The folks over at FUBAR central are gearing up for a push in this and the coming months, and we're all excited about what's on the schedule.  In a matter of weeks, the third volume of FUBAR, American History Z, hits shelves and it clocks in at a massive 436 pages, more than a few of which are written by me.  I've seen a PDF version of this thing and I think that it will impress.

To celebrate, a signing event, the size of which is rarely (if ever) seen in indy comics, is in the works.  Pictured above is a current list of all the shops that'll be hosting at least one FUBAR contributor on May 4th, or Free Comic Book Day!  You'll notice that there are quite a number of stores represented across the country and even into Canada.  For my part, I'll be in Boston at several of the New England Comics locations.  The Tick is obviously a big focus of this event for me, but I'll be there with FUBAR writers Jennie Wood and Kevin Johnson for part of the day and I promise to peddle our new FUBAR projects as well, including the ever-important Free Comic Book Day issue that'll hopefully be intriguing enough to convince a few people to pick up the collection.

Speaking of the third volume, the books recently arrived and were dropped off for folks like Jeff McComsey and Steve Becker to lug inside.  I hear that there were around 200 boxes of books in total, which led to some heavy lifting, I'm sure.  But oh, man, do they look great!  I can't wait to lay hands on some of these beauties.

Jeff made a social media push a few days ago and posted the above picture to Reddit, and within a few hours, the post was the #1 trending thread in the comic book category.  Jeff was a public relations madman, answering questions and selling books left and right.  And somewhere, in the middle of it all, someone started talking about me:

That was pretty strange.  I'm not sure if the post near the bottom, asking if the weird name was supposed to be hyphenated, was referring to me.  If so, I haughtily shake my fist in the air in the general direction of whoever left the comment.

The engine isn't cooling down, though.  In May's edition of Previews, we'll have a listing for the newest FUBAR project, By the Sword.  This will be a traditional comic book (as opposed to a collection) and it'll run for two issues.  The first takes place in medieval times, and I've got a Chaucer sendup to tell in that issue.  The second issues's cover is above, pencilled and inked by none other than Steve Becker, who has been really outdoing himself lately.

I'm pretty grateful to be a part of something as fun and successful as FUBAR.  Check out some of our new projects on May 4th and then again...whenever!  Seriously, we're all over the place.

FUBAR: Summer Special out today! Signing at Pittsburgh Comics!

I've had a few comics published in the past several years, but FUBAR: Summer Special, which is out in stores today, is the first to get mentioned (and pictured) on Diamond's Previews website.  The above image is a screenshot, one that was pretty neat to see when I checked to confirm the release date.

I'm pretty excited about this book - not only does having a new book feed my ceaselessly growing ego, but the Summer Special also features work from talented folks who, unlike me, you might actually recognize and admire, such as Chuck Dixon, Tim Truman, Jeff McComsey, Steve Becker, Lonny Chant, Jim McMunn and Leonardo Pietro.  I've read Chuck's story and it's really just fantastic.

I'll be at Pittsburgh Comics in McMurray, PA tonight from around 5:00-7:00 to sign copies in anyone is interested, or to just stand around and stare intently as people walk in the door.  I'll have a few copies of the anthologies for sale, and I'll bring the new issue of the Magic Bullet with me!  If you buy anything FUBAR related, you get the Magic Bullet, too.  What a great deal!  Trust me.

Pre-orders were solid on this book.  I'm hoping we get the chance to make more.

Preorder FUBAR: Summer Special!

The June edition of Diamon's Previews catalogue was just released, and if you flip to page 229, you'll see that there's a new FUBAR book being solicited: the FUBAR: Summer Special one shot!  This book was advertised in FUBAR's Free Comic Book Day offering, and I'm happy to finally be able to show the cover and give up a little more information about it.

Rather than a big phone book-style anthology like volumes 1 and 2, the Summer Special is a standard sized, 32-page b&w comic and will feature four stories.  I've written one of them, a short tale that'll be drawn by a familiar artist, none other than Leonardo Pietro, who also provided the cover.  The book also features a story from the upcoming third volume of FUBAR as well as two other brand new stories, one written by Batman and GI Joe alum Chuck Dixon and another by Conan and Hawken's Tim Truman!

The book retails for $2.99, which is a dollar less than what I expected.  It really is a great price for what's being offered, and I'm not just saying that because I desperately want people to buy it (though that is also true.  It is!).

If you've got a favorite comic shop that you go to, ask 'em to order a few copies of the Summer Special for the shelves!  It'd really help out and I think that there's an audience for it.  The all important Diamond order code is JUN12 0760.

The book will arrive in August and it'll serve as a lead in to the third volume.  Check it out!

FUBAR: Empire of the Rising Dead Diamond order code

I've known that FUBAR: Empire of the Rising Dead would be in this month's Previews catalogue for a while, but now I've got an order code to pass along.  Volume two in this WWII epic has the following order code: OCT11 0764.

I've got a few stories that will appear in this volume - "Life Preserves" with Mario Wytch, Amy Corbin and Jeff McComsey, the second instillation of "FDArrrgh" with Leonardo Pietro, and "Run Silent, Run Dead", which I lettered, with Daniel Thollin and Stephen Lindsay.  So that's three reasons right off the bat to give this book a try - but there are dozens more as anyone who's seen the preview edition that appeared at the Baltimore Comic-Con can attest to.  This is going to be a huge book - 256 pages! - and there'll be lots of stories to read from some incredible creators, topped off by Danilo Beyruth's awesome cover, also the second in the series.

The clock is ticking - pre-orders are being taken this month.  I hope that if you've enjoyed my writing and/or volume one of FUBAR, you'll take a chance and give this book a try.

FUBAR: Life Preservers with Mario Wytch, Amy Corbin and Jeff McComsey

With the exception of one pesky "radio" balloon on the final page, I've just finished lettering the "Life Preservers" story for the full version of FUBAR, volume 2, and I thought I'd show a preview of it here. The full story clocks in at 11 pages in length, and one of the things I'm most happy about (though you can't tell it looking at the first two pages...) is that I don't, for once, overcrowd the pages with huge blocks of text...in many cases, the art tells the story.  I'm really happy with how it all turned out!

Mario Wytch is responsible for the pencils and inks, with an inking assist a bit later in the story from Amy Corbin.  Jeff McComsey came in to add greyscales and round the pages out into a complete product.  This story is set to see print this December - in fact, the book will be listed in October's edition of Previews magazine, so I should be able to pass along the order code sometime within the next few weeks.  And there will be signings.  Oh yes, there will be signings.

Now I've gotta see where I put that Comicraft lettering guide.  Damn radio balloons.

FUBAR: FDArrrgh! Part 2: "Presidential Counsel" with Leonardo Pietro

The second volume of FUBAR, a preview edition of which appeared at the Baltimore Comic-Con, is all set to show up in the October edition of Previews for a December release.  FUBAR head honcho Jeff McComsey has put online the final page of the volume for all to see, so I thought I'd post it here as well.

This single page is the second installment of the "FDArrrgh" continuing story, with art by the great Leonardo Pietro.  I had a great time revisiting this mini world that was at one point just a one-off joke in "Yalta!" (you can read that here).  The third installment is on the way, too...but for now I hope you enjoy this bastardization of a an incredibly weighty historic decision.  Here's a little easter egg for this strip: the background characters are all members of Harry Truman's cabinet at the time: Secretary of State James Byrnes, Secretary of War Henry Stimson and Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal.

Also, Alex McKinley wrote a review of FUBAR's first volume here: http://smartalexsays.blogspot.com/2011/08/tpb-tuesday-fubar-european-theater-of.html

Notes from the Motor City Comic Con, new Franks and Beans, and more!

- Day #2 has just ended at the Motor City Comic Con, and so far it's been a very interesting trip.  I'd say that this show has been different from any other convention where I've ever exhibited, and it's all a good learning experience.  I've met some cool people and, hey, I've got Teddy and the Yeti out in front of a lot of new readers.  Oh, yeah...and there was this horrifying (but very well done) Superbaby guy there, too. I'll put up more pictures and write more about this show in the next few days.

- I watched the final episode of Smallville last night - it was the first time I caught the show in more than five years, but it was still pretty easy for me to follow.  I don't know if that's because the show's producers really made an effort to make everything accessable or if it really hadn't changed that much over its history.  In any case, I thought that it was fine - nothing spectacular, but okay.  The show's love affair with the Richard Donner-era Superman is still burning bright, and the glimpses of Clark in the suit were pretty cool.  But wow!  The show certainly hasn't lost any of its angst over the years.

I thought it was strange, though (and hey, spoiler alert), that throughout the entire episode the impending arrival of Darkseid and Apokalypse was built up and built up and built up...and then at the end of the episode, Clark just takes ten seconds, throws the planet back out into space, and everyone's happy.  Really, that was the big confrontation?  Oh well.  The show had a nice long run and it's good that it got to end how those who cared for it wanted.

- As the above flyer shows, FUBAR's second print is in the May edition of Diamond's Previews with an order code of MAY110785.  Check out that new cover!  Good stuff.  And check out a clip from a story of mine from the second volume, due out in the fall, with art by Mario Wytch:

- There's a new episode of Franks and Beans that's just been released, and you can watch it below.  If anyone's just stumbling on this site because of the cards I handed out at the convention this weekend, do yourself (and, well, me) a favor and check out all of the F&B videos and other stuff at www.franksandbeansonline.com!

- And lastly, I've been getting some nice comments on yesterday's "Accordion Theory" strip, and I appreciate all the kind things that have been said.  If you haven't seen it, well...here it is again.  So...read it.

Someone please invent a time machine.

A week or so ago I had a conversation with a very nice Teddy and the Yeti fan from the spacious state of Texas.  She bought the first two issues of the book, and I wrote to thank her and to ask how she had heard of the title - I'm always curious how people find the book, especially when they are from Texas, where I've found few inroads so far.  She mentioned that she had seen the first issue listed in an issue of Comic Shop News, which resulted in my head exploding.  But only in a metaphorical sense.

Comic Shop News is a weekly promotional publication that many comic shops give out; it previews upcoming books and has a few other features - articles and the Spider-Man newspaper strips, for example.  It's mostly used as a tool for comic shops to suggest new books to customers, as it lists titles and short descriptions of new releases.  I'd imagine that if Teddy and the Yeti was included in an issue it would be as a simple four-to-five line text piece with the official description, but still...I need to find a copy of this.

If I had to guess, I'd say that Teddy and the Yeti would have appeared in an issue distributed sometime in October 2009, which is when the book was listed in Diamond's Previews catalogue (the picture at left is just a random recent issue; not necessarily the one I'm looking for) and two months before it was supposed to ship through Diamond.

As this publication has a limited span in which it is relevant, I can't imagine that many copies from last year are still around to be had - but then again, comic book fans are nothing in not stringent collectors, so I guess you never know.  In any case, if anyone reading this has any leads I might be able to follow, I would really appreciate the help - having a Teddy and the Yeti reference in a publication such as this is pretty cool, and I'd like to own a copy ("Oh, Zoidberg, at last you're becoming a crafty consumer!  Hello?  I'll take eight!"), even if it's nothing more than the same thing that was in Previews.

Fate Magazine

As has been mentioned before, I do the "occasional" Google search for mentions of Teddy and the Yeti. Many times the results point right back to this blog, while others come from the standard Previews issue description online retailers have picked up on. In all, there aren't a whole lot of surprises, save for one curious result from Fate Magazine. Their online preview of the January-February issue includes a table of contents listing for "Presidential Bigfoot: Teddy and the Yeti" by Gary W. Hemphill, which, upon making this discovery, scared me right to high hell.

I'm sure a listing like this might make a lot of people worry. For one, the magazine is using the EXACT NAME I've chosen for the book, but beyond that, Teddy and the Yeti's first appearance in 2007's Josh Howard Presents: Sasquatch anthology dealt with the duo taking on robotic doppelgangers of historical figures, prominently including US Presidents, making the "Presidential Bigfoot" title all the more troublesome.

I didn't want to jump to conclusions, but I also didn't want to turn a blind eye to something that could end up being a serious case of copyright violation and cause me problems in the future, so I went ahead and plunked down $10.95 ($5.95 for the magazine, $5.00 shipping!!) to get a copy of the issue in question, which arrived in my mailbox today.

To my relief, there's no connection between Teddy and the Yeti the comic and Teddy and the Yeti the Fate Magazine article. The article in the magazine deals with Teddy Roosevelt and his experiences with a man who at one time MIGHT have encountered Bigfoot, and nothing more. Apparently Gary Hemphill also finds "Teddy and the Yeti" to be a clever title...but the similarities end there, much to my overwhelming solace.

I now have to deal with the fact that there is a searchable record of me purchasing a conspiracy theory magazine. This issue of Fate Magazine came with the can't-miss offer to purchase "Species Link: The Journal of Interspecies Telepathic Communication", which I can't imagine is an actual journal of academic repute.

The magazine itself had a section on psychic predictions for 2009 (remember, this was the January-February issue), which included one that stood above the rest: "Our government", predicts noted medium Jennie Easterling, "will obtain a device that will break a hurricane when it is several hundred miles out, so when it reaches land, it will be broken up into several tropical storms scattered along the shoreline." Well, I guess they still have almost two months to reveal this secret hurricane buster, but...I'm a bit skeptical.

Finally, if you look at the scan of the cover I took, this issue of Fate Magazine also offers tips on how to sell a haunted house, which, during a recession, is quite topical...so kudos on whoever thought to put that on the cover.

In 20 years or so, I'm sure there will be some congressional hearing not unlike the McCarthy hearings of the 1950s in which this purchase will come back and damn me. And I'll have no recourse but to admit I bought it.

Cover preview, part 3

If you look back far enough, you'll find cover previews parts 1 and 2...posted December 12th and 13th of last year. This one is a bit overdue, but once the whole thing is seen, I think it'll be worth the wait.

Wednesday of this week is the deadline to send solicitation information and cover images to Diamond for inclusion in the December Previews catalogue, and as such, I thought it'd be a nice time to show a little preview of the cover to Teddy and the Yeti issue #2.

Issues #1 and 3 will have covers drawn by Phil Hester and Tom Scioli, respectively, but this cover is all Duane's, and I have to say that he's done a knockout job. The detail, the action, the...ninjas...it's all a sight to behold.

Colors on this cover are once again by Karin Rindevall. You'll be able to see the whole cover, logos and all, pretty soon.

the mailer.

Because you can never do enough advertising (or spend enough money on it...), a few days ago I put together a mailer that I'm sending out to a bunch of shops - some of the ones that didn't get the preview books in the mail. I included the previous advertisement that worked its way into the Previews catalogue as well as a pandering letter to comic book shop owners everywhere.

Will this work? Who knows. But the post office is very happy with me lately, I'll say that.

Teddy and the Yeti in Previews!

I will admit it - I was slightly terrified that, despite assurances to the contrary, I'd pick up a copy of the October Previews catalogue and find that Teddy and the Yeti #1 wasn't listed anywhere. Thankfully, as you can see to the right, that's not the case. The first issue of Teddy and the Yeti is listed to order RIGHT NOW, which means that you should rush to the comic shop and order a copy IMMEDIATELY!

Well, you have a few weeks, probably even longer if you order from an online store. But why take that chance?!

I'm happy with the layout and how everything looks, from the ad to the solicitation. All of this is located on page 306 of Previews. The Diamond code retailers use to order the book is OCT091167; though you shouldn't necessarily need any info other than the title of the book and perhaps the publishing name (Wagon Wheel Comics, of course) for the comic shop retailer to order...they can look stuff up just as easily, I'm sure.

In any case, now comes the time when I need to push this book on anyone who will listen; and by "push this book", I mean "try to force people into buying it whether they want to or not." So if I cold call (or e-mail) you in the next few days with the only purpose that of selling this book, I apologize in advance for how gauche that might be. What can I say? I have a big stake in this.

So if you're reading this and you say to yourself, "hey, that sounds like something I'd like to purchase, but have been too frightened to walk in to a comic book store before so I have no idea where to go" (I understand, I do), you can just go to http://www.comicshoplocator.com/ and type in your zip code to find a store near you. There's even a link for shops outside the US! How fun.

I hope that a few of you will give it a try...a lot of me went in to this. And I don't just mean metaphorically; when my hair falls out I save it in an envelope with plans to either A) construct a toupee or B) toss some in to every issue!

Neither of those options is the least bit creepy.

the magic of Photoshop

The Teddy and the Yeti ad machine is in full swing. The October issue of Previews is here as of today, complete with a nice half page ad to do with its listing. I'll put a picture of that up tomorrow...OR WHENEVER I GET AROUND TO IT!!

Anyway, I cobbled together an animated gif that I'm hoping to use on a few comic-themed websites in the near future. Let me say that if anyone feels an inkling to use this or show it to others, well...*cough*...I certainly won't complain. Unless you preface it with something like "here's something I hate:" and then show the banner ad. That would make me sad.

EDIT: Dammit! It looks like uploading the banner to this site makes the gif lose its animated qualities. It does other things than just sit there, I promise. I'll try to get a link to it or something. Crap, this is just a wasted post without the animation!

The Ad.

Things are coming to a close with the first issue. The files are with the printer, the solicitation information is in and I designed this ad to be included in the October issue of Previews. Black and white was the cheaper option (though, wow...still expensive), and I'm reusing the cover art for this ad, but I hope that it gets people to at least think about putting an order in for the book as opposed to just waiting for it to hit the shelves in December.

If nothing, else, the ad states that the book is "possibly delicious". I tend to like linked phrases to come in threes, and I couldn't think of anything else after "FULL COLOR!!!1!" So I put in something random and, hopefully, not something that can be construed as false advertising. I did say "possibly", after all.

UPC Codes...AND YOU!

As comics have more or less lost their space on spinner racks in grocery stores and gas stations, the need for UPC codes have lessened; comics have since found more homes in smaller specialty shops with no capabilities or desires for electronic scanning devices.

If you pick up a back issue from one of the large companies published in the 1980s, it's easy to see which of them were originally sold in comic shops (i.e. the "direct market") and which were sold at, say, a Walden Books at the mall - direct market editions would still have the box on the cover where the barcode would have been printed, but instead of the zebra-stripe lines, companies would put logos or artwork in their place.

Until I figured this out, I would wonder why Marvel decided to put a picture of Spider-Man's head in the bottom left corner of all my Fantastic Four issues. Did they think I just wanted to see it? Was it a marketing tactic to get me to pick up issues of Web of Spider-Man? No (well, maybe on some level), it was because stores selling this version didn't need to scan a barcode to keep an inventory of what they were selling like they would at, say, a hardware store. They sold one thing and almost exclusively one thing - comics. If comics cost a dollar and you bought 16 of them...well, I'll bet adding all the books up wasn't the most difficult thing, either.

This, apparently, is changing, as I found out when I listed the first issue of Teddy and the Yeti in Diamond's Previews publication. It seems that anyone listing a book in Previews is now required to have a unique, scannable barcode on the cover.

I'm honestly not sure that I've yet been to a comic shop equipped with a scanner. The one here in Wilmington is a fairly up-to-date shop; it's a decent size with lots of different products - comics, shirts, posters, action figures, games - to choose from. They write down what you're buying on a piece of notebook paper and add the total up with a calculator. This is how they do it! And it's never once struck me as odd.

But I suppose that it was bound to happen, and, I thought, now I could have my own shiny barcode that I could flaunt around school to all of my friends. It seems that most barcodes are bought in bulk, and it was suggested that someone like me, who needed to buy...well, one...go to a website where they resell barcodes. I'm curious as to why there are barcodes available to sell again. The one you had wasn't working out for you? Found a newer one and decided to replace the older model?

At any rate, I ended up buying three from www.buyabarcode.com. One UPC code cost $85 and the total for three was $150...so now I have two codes just lying around, taking up space in my house. Maybe I'll take one and slap it on my pants...just so I can walk around scanning my pants when I go out shopping. Maybe there will be guards who will try and stop me as I walk out of Target or some place, and I will have to explain that this has all been a big misunderstanding, because you see, these pants are mine, and the barcode is mine. And then we will laugh.

So Teddy and the Yeti #1 is appropriately tagged and coded. I had to move a few things around on the cover to make sure nothing was obstructed, but it worked out just fine. Now the three comic shops with scanners can all breathe sighs of relief.

The Skinny

As promised, a more detailed update on Teddy and the Yeti and its current status: first, the bad news. Teddy and the Yeti #1 won't be in stores until December of this year. Now, the good news. TEDDY AND THE YETI #1 WILL BE IN STORES THIS DECEMBER!!!

Ah, the old good news-bad news trick. Gets 'em every time.

After lots of work and preparation, I submitted a complete copy of the first issue of the book to Diamond Comic Distributors, otherwise known as the distribution company who might as well be the only game in town. It's been accepted, which while I expected as much is still a huge relief, and is set to appear in the September issue of Previews magazine. Once that comes out, everyone can rush to their local comic book store and demand (DEMAND!) that a copy is held for them.

In the meantime, I'm trying to focus on printing the book. I am planning on printing through Brenner, and things seem to be going well on that front, though it's not finalized just yet. I hope to have that under control within a week, because the first time in forever, I actually have more than self-imposed deadlines to work against.

So things are moving along. There's lots to do, but that's an exciting feeling.