Tag: DC Hopkins

Smash Pages Q&A | Luke Arnold + Chris ‘Doc’ Wyatt on ‘Essentials’

The writing duo discusses their crowdfunding project for the new graphic novel from The Lab Press.

Luke Arnold is an actor and writer best known for his roles as Long John Silver in Black Sails and INXS frontman Michael Hutchence in Never Tear Us Apart. His first novel The Last Smile in Sunder City came out in 2020 as part of the ongoing series The Fetch Phillips Archives.

Chris “Doc” Wyatt is a writer and producer whose work includes independent films like Napoleon Dynamite and Coyote, as well as animated series like Rocket and Groot, Lego Ninjago: Dragons Rising, Ultimate Spider-Man, Marvel’s Avengers Assemble, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and many more. He’s also written comics for Marvel, Dark Horse, 1First Comics and more.

Together, they are the writing team for Essentials, a new graphic novel coming from the newly formed The Lab Press. The story centers on a mathematician who predicted the end of the world but failed to prevent it. He discovers there are other survivors, but they’re trapped in alternate realities full of zombies, robots, mythical creatures and more.

Each of these alternate realities will be illustrated by a different artist, including Vince Locke, Andrea Mutti, MK Perker,Brendan McCarthy, DaNi and Jason Howard, with colors by Jordie Bellaire, Brad Simpson and Wesley Wong, and lettering by DC Hopkins. Bill Sienkiewicz provides a chilling main cover.  

The graphic novel is currently up on Kickstarter, and has already reached its goal. (Please note that the interview was conducted prior to the project’s launch). I spoke with Arnold and Wyatt about the project, working with seven different artists and what’s “Essential” in this story. My thanks to them both for their time.

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Clay McCormack + Ricardo López-Ortiz tag-team on the wrestling crime drama ‘Hard Style Juice!’

The five-issue digital series will debut from Comixology Originals on April 16.

Just in time for Wrestlemania, Comixology Originals has announced Hard Style Juice!, which brings together the worlds of family crime and pro wrestling.

Writer Clay McCormack, artist Ricardo López-Ortiz, colorist Heather Moore and letterer DC Hopkins have formed a stable and will bring the story of King Castro and his family to the arena. Or, in this case, to Amazon and their digital comics platform.

“Pro wrestling and comic books have always felt like two sides of the same coin for me, so combining the two was a no-brainer,” McCormack said. “Hard Style Juice! is a crime drama, but instead of organized crime the family is dedicated to the glitz and spectacle of professional wrestling.”

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Dark Horse teams with synthwave band The Midnight for a new graphic novel

Zack Kaplan, Stephen Thompson and Jahnoy Lindsay will bring the band’s music to the comics page.

Music and comics will collide in a new graphic novel this fall, as the synthwave band The Midnight teams with Dark Horse for The Midnight: Shadows.

Written by Zack Kaplan with art by Stephen Thompson and artist Jahnoy Lindsay, the graphic novel is about a soon-to-be father who gets literally sucked into a cyberpunk video game from his youth called The Midnight. Colorist Thiago Rocha and letterer DC Hopkins round out the team.

“Before I got the privilege to write this graphic novel, I was a fan,” Kaplan said. “Intoxicated by the immersive beats and heartfelt lyrics since their very first demo. It was no surprise to me to see them become one of today’s best synthwave bands. Their presence is so narrative that it was dying to be shared in this form. And it’s been a joy to bring it all to comic life, to partner with Dark Horse for such a vivid and mind-bending series, and to create this electrifying world with a powerhouse creative team, Stephen, Jahnoy, Thiago and DC, that will blow your mind with one visually stunning page after the next. Whether you are a listener of the music or you just love a good sci-fi adventure, we cannot wait to take you to that place half in dark and half in light, where arcade dreams are a reality, where heroes battle monsters. Get ready for a truly epic, synth wave adventure.”

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Scott Bryan Wilson + Al Barrionuevo unleash an ‘Angry Ape Army’ next week

The digital comic will debut on Zestworld, Comixology and GlobalComix.

Technology and magic will clash on a world inhabited by apes in Angry Ape Army, a new digital comic coming from EEP Universe, the production house behind House of Slay, as well as Zumeta Studios and XRM Media.

Writer Scott Bryan Wilson and artist Al Barrionuevo, who worked together on Savage Tales, will bring this world to the comics page.

The story revolves around a tribe of peaceful apes on a planet called Genesis World, where they have lived under the thumb of the more advanced Nano Apes for generations. The Nano Apes strip-mine the Genesis Apes’ natural magic for fuel, and their culture has been eradicated. Then a secret warrior tribe arrives just in time to start an uprising.

“Angry Ape Army is a high-octane sci-fi adventure full of twists and turns and heroes you love to love and villains you love to hate. It’s breathless, character-driven action in a world where the nearly forgotten ancient forces of magic are needed to ward off a seemingly unstoppable technological threat. Al Barrionuevo and I are thrilled to team up again to bring this story, world, and characters to life,” Wilson said.

Here’s an exclusive first look at the trailer:

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Fund Me Friday | ‘The Trap,’ ‘Foundlings’ and Christmas with Karl Kesel

Check out crowdfunding campaigns featuring John Stanisci, Emma Kubert, Kyle Higgins, Lance Briggs, Danilo Beyruth, Liana Kangas, Scott Bryan Wilson, Ross Radke and more.

Crowdfunding continues to serve as a viable method for creators to fund their creative endeavors, as comic-related projects flourish on sites like Kickstarter, Patreon and IndieGoGo. The internet also allows creators to sell their creations direct to fans, through sites like Gumroad, Big Cartel and of course their own websites. If you’re looking to buy something from or support a creator directly, you’ve come to the right place. And that’s a good thing to do, now more than ever.

Send any suggestions of your own to jkparkin@yahoo.com.

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Smash Pages Q&A: David Pepose enters ‘The O.Z.’

The writer of ‘Spencer & Locke’ and ‘Going to the Chapel’ discusses his latest project, which is now up on Kickstarter.

Most online comic fans probably first knew David Pepose as a reviewer for the comic site Newsarama, where he contributed to, and eventually took over, their Best Shots review column. He recently left that position to pursue a growing career as a comics writer, having written two Spencer & Locke miniseries and the excellent Going to the Chapel miniseries, all with publisher Action Lab.

For his latest project, Pepose is taking a new path, as he branches out into crowdfunding and self-publishing. Much like he did with Spencer & Locke, Pepose is taking a beloved, iconic property — in this case, The Wizard of Oz — and remixing it with another genre. The O.Z. stands for Occupied Zone, and features the granddaughter of Dorothy Gale, a war veteran, entering the war-torn land of Oz. Pepose is joined by artist Ruben Rojas, colorist Whitney Cogar and letterer DC Hopkins on the project.

The O.Z. Kickstarter is now live. I spoke with Pepose about his first crowdfunding project, L. Frank Baum and more.

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