Back from Long Beach...and off to Baltimore

So, Long Beach Comicon was a raging success and now i'm home for another 4 days and then I'm off to Baltimore Comicon, the fine show put on by Marc Nathan and company this upcoming weekend.

OK, besides all that the travel stuff, the first issue of Valkkadia was sold over the weekend at the LBCC show and will be available at the Baltimore show as well. They will be available at the same table as Walter Simonson. He will be signing copies of the book (which he inked the cover for) as well as copies of Volume 2 of the Walter Simonson artist sketchbook series which will be premiering at the baltimore show. We will also have a EXTREMELY limited number of copies of Vol. 1, as it is nearly SOLD OUT.
More news about Vol.2 to follow soon.

Long Beach turned out to be great for the planning stages of future projects for Square 1 Press. We got a number of new projects in the discussion stage and will let all of you know about them just as soon we possibly can. Getting these projects off the ground can be difficult sometimes, but not as difficult as actually getting the people involved to sit down and do their parts. This is not a knock on professional artists of any type, I know they're busy and in a lot of cases, they are making a living at a "real" job, not the freelance artist lifestyle that they might prefer. Just another reason why sometimes you hear news about new creative teams or project announcements and then hear nothing. Sometimes for years. Or ever.

We don't want to do that here. We don't ever want to let you believe we are capable of something we aren't. Projects will only be announced once they've been started or even, nearing completion, just to be sure.

We also got a number of inquiries at Long Beach about publishing finished projects by outside creators. So, there may be news of that ilk as well. All in all lots of new contacts and friendships were made at the show. THAT alone, makes it a success.

coming up quick...

It's been a crazy couple of weeks. Finally, the check and print files have been sent. The book is literally at the printers. In 10 days or so, hopefully I should have actual copies of the book in my hands. When I stop to think about all the work that has gone into this and the incredible amount of help we've received from friends and co-workers, (and ex-co-workers) it really can be sort of humbling. So many people gave freely their help and support to us to see that this project would see the light if day, we can't even begin to thank them all individually, I only hope that they understand how grateful we are to have them as friends and colleagues and how much their continued help has led us to this point.

Today, I am sorting through stacks of artwork to select the images that will go into the next Walter Simonson sketchbook, which we hope to have available at the Long Beach Comicon as well. If not, then certainly at the Baltimore Comicon the following weekend. Looking at the stuff I have pulled out, I now think that maybe I should consider changing the format size from the previous sketchbooks and see what the cost would be to get them produced at a full 8 1/2x 11. I'll have to see what I can do about that.

Oh well, just rambling now. So much to get done still for the LongBeach show, not sure where to begin. Oh, almost forgot. Square 1 Press will be located at booth #348 at the LBCC and we will also proudly be sharing our space with the talented and prolific writer, Steve Niles. Yes, he will be camped out at our booth all weekend long, so be sure to bring all your SN books down to get 'em signed. Well, not all of them, because, quite frankly, you probably couldn't carry all the books he's done. At least, not in one trip, anyways.

As always, we will have the first Walter Simonson and Howard Chaykin sketchbooks available for sale, but the first Simonson sketchbook is almost SOLD OUT, very few copies remain.

Also, available at the show (time allowing) will be a special edition of the 1st issue of Valkkadia #1. It will be signed by all 4 creators who worked on the book. Hassan Godwin (writer/pencils/creator), Steven Hoveke (finishes/lettering), Walter Simonson (cover finishes) and Dennis Calero (cover color). This special edition will be limited to 75 numbered copies. It will come bagged & boarded with a S1P certificate of authenticity.

More info will be up here first, as it's available.

Well, it only took a year or so...

Tah-DAHHHHHHH! Here is the final cover image as it will be printed. Less than a month away, we're so excited to have it finally ready and on the verge of being available.

I've been busy trying to get all my S1P miscellaneous convention stuff together as well. 1st time having our own space at the convention and so I need a sign, tablecovers, etc. all the stuff you never think about. SO, I've been running around, so to speak, the web searching for the best prices on things. So, we'll see what I can find by the end of the month.

We hope some of you can come to the Long Beach Comicon on October 2nd-4th to see us as well as a lot of REAL comic stars.
The lineup just seems to be getting better and better even as we close in the show date. I'll have our booth location listed here just as soon as I get the notification for the con folks.

Back to work...

A quick shot of awesome...

This came in late last night and I thought I'd share it with all of you. It's the finished cover image, colored and all. Colors by the always amazing, Dennis Calero, co-creator and artist for the X-Men:Noir miniseries and too many other comic projects to list here. Check out his website here for more info, also, listed in the links section.

My apologies

Howdy all, sorry for the long absence between posts. After I got back from SDCC, I was fried, both mentally and physically. I spent the next couple weeks decompressing and working on a side job I have going (construction) and getting ready for a week's vacation in the southern outer banks in North Carolina. We got back on Sunday and now things are going into overdrive. We have the preliminary cover colors done and will be showing the completed colors here just as soon as we get them and we'll be passing along who's coloring it as well.

We'll still be premiering the 1st issue of Valkkadia at the Long Beach Comicon, however,and hope to have signed premiere copies of the book available for purchase at the show as well as regular single copies. Signed by whom? You ask? Well, how about all 4 artists involved in the creation of the book.
These will probably be signed, numbered and very limited. More on this as it develops.

Other things, well, have been sort of put by the wayside in the rush to finish this first issue and get settled into a workable schedule se we can keep releasing future issues in a timely manner.
We feel this is an important thing and we have all the pencil art finished for issue #2 and it's over half inked, with the script coming in the next week. We are excited about this finally getting out there and getting some feedback. This book isn't your typical modern comic, there's a lot of story and a lot of action. Currently, we don't have the ending in sight. It has begun to take on a life of it's own and continues to grow (unexpectedly) larger as we create it.

Well, it's late and I'm headed to the city tomorrow for a meeting. I will do my best to keep the updates a tad more regular as we approach the date of the show and the release of the book.

Thanks to everyone who continues to support and help us and we appreciate any and all attention we get from all of you out there in comicland.

Talk to ya soon.

SDCC...Round 3/Preview night...It begins

SO, I woke up this morning at 7:30 or so and looked out my window, to behold....a line. Really? The doors wouldn't open for another 10 hours. I hope it was worth it guys.

I went to meet a buddy for coffee in the AM befoe checking in with the GGbooth to see if the crew from LA had arrived yet, which they had not and so I fiddled around getting some things organized and such. Once they arrived we were on automatic.

They had brought the display signage and we put it all up and had all the cases sealed back up in about an hour. All we had left to do was stock the booth with the 7 pallets of exclusives and wait for 5pm to roll around.

So at approximately 12:30pm...we had finished the booth setup and were allowed to wander off and do our own thing for the rest of the afternoon. I went looking for a few friends I knew were gonna be here and said hello to a bunch of others. Nice to see so many friendly faces in one place having a good time at a great show.

I thought I'd show a couple more pieces from GG as well.

And finally, at long last...Lando!

SDCC...Round 2

OK, this is the second time I am writing this entry as I had it finished and accidentally closed the tab and lost the whole fucking thing. Technology can be swell sometimes, and sometimes, well, it can be downright annoying.


SO anyhoo, we had an excellent day today, got the booth setup finished to within a few hours. We have the display info to setup tomorrow, but the prototypes are all placed and all that's left to do in the morning is some cleanup and get the displays finalized and locked up.


To anyone who has worked at one of these shows before, you know how remarkable and amazing this feat is. We will actually be finished, I believe, hours before we need to be. Well in time to wander around a bit before the show opens in the evening tomorrow night.

This due, in large part to the colossal pre-show prep work done by GG at their HQ well before sending all the stuff down here to SD.

And well, since this fine fellow wants be to bid you all adieu, I think I will listen and head off to bed.

BTW, this little buy is NOT GG product, but it is from the niftiest vinyl toy company out there. Rocket World. Check them out, they do excellent stuff.

Welcome to sunny San Diego!

Well hello all you readers of the Square 1 Press blog. Today is the first day of something a little different. I thought I'd keep those of you who don't attend the SDCC or can't attend, up to speed a bit on what's happening with me out here. Nothing too boring I hope, just a few pics and tidbits, maybe an update of the status of a new project as I get things finalized. Who knows.

Thought I'd start out with a shot out of my hotel window when I got in this afternoon. I left Newark's Liberty airport @ 7am and arrived here just after noon local time, after a quick stop and plane change in Salt Lake City, a "Starbuck's"-free airport, apparently. Yeah, never going there again if I can help it.

This is a nice shot looking up at the 6'tall "Voldemort" maxi-bust, I guess you'd call it, that Gentle Giant has created for the show booth display.










There is also a 6' tall Boba Fett.



















A nice shot of the (currently) empty hall, Monday is early setup day, most of the larger exhibitors can get in a day early to make sure they have enough time to get all their displays setup.

Also, in this picture, Brian Jouan, aka StaticJoe, creator of the "Valkkadia" logo and which I found out tonite, winner of not 1, but 2 Emmy's. That's right, THOSE Emmy's. He doesn't like to brag, and because they are for production...HE HAS EMMY awards in his house with HIS name on them. How cool is that??



















So we wrapped for the day, met up with our good friend John McGonigle for a nice dinner and then we all kinda parted ways. John and I were beat after having been up since the early morning dark to make our flights out here.


I just took this one out of my hotel room window, of approximately the same shot as when I got here. How awesome is this.

One beautiful place.

I'm leavin' on a jet plane...

Well, it's that time again. SDCC, (San Diego Comic-Con) as it is mis-labeled is upon us again (it's actually Comic-Con International). I have been busy getting some things ready for the show, mostly promotional stuff, as S1P will not be exhibiting at the show. I will be present, but I will be working for Gentle Giant Ltd. at the convention. Come on by and say hello, if you're gonna be there. I'll be the one in the "Square 1 Press" hat. I'll be happy to show you one of these little honeys:


Complete Valkkadia #1 ashcans. I have printed up 10 copies of it for promotional usage, showing friends, and hoping to push the project to other media. They are all B&W printed, same format as the artist sketchbooks, cardstock covers and all

They also have this delightful sticker on the back:



There are currently no plans to make these available to the public. However, if I get any interest in them, I'll reconsider. Since the issue is due out in a couple months, I'm sure folks can wait until the Long Beach Comic-Con in October to grab up their copies, especially when the book will have a full color cover and be in standard comic size format.

So, other things on the clipboard for SDCC, begin gathering artists and writers for a new anthology project. It is themed, and I will be making an announcement concerning it shortly, I hope. Also, will be pitching a couple new project ideas to companies while I'm out there. I think Long Beach will really be our coming-out party, but why waste a good opportunity?

Well, I have one more day to get things together as my flight leaves 7am from Newark airport on Monday morning. I will try to update this at least once while I am out there this coming week. If you're in attendance, and looking for the Walter Simonson or Howard Chaykin sketchbooks, some will be available at "Stuart Ng Books" booth, you'll have to look up the number, or else just get them at the website here.

Safe travels, everyone.

Cover inked!

I picked this up the other day and have been dying to post it but just have been too busy. Well, here ya go, the cover I showed several weeks ago now finished with inks by the legendary Walter Simonson.

Just a note, the black background and the logo have been added via Photoshop just for fun. I hope to have some info about a colorist soon. Stay tuned!

Busy, busy, busy...

Alright, so, I've been busy getting the ballons made and getting the pages lettered. I am doing this the only way I have figured out on my own. Of course, since then, I have discovered other easier ways to do this and will be experimenting with these processes on future issues. Onward and upward, Here's a preview of the first 2 pages of issue#1 of Valkkadia, lettered and all. Just click on them for a larger version.

I hope you like them and if all goes right in the universe, I might even have a sneak preview of the finished cover, with inks by Walter Simonson tomorrow. I plan to approach a couple of professional colorists I know to color the cover for us. Keep your fingers-crossed as I will be doing this at Comic-Con Intl. in 2 weeks and I hope that one of them has the time for it.

Well, I have the cover setup to finish, an ad to create, and the setup of the inside covers of the book and the book will be all done. This has been quite the journey. We, Hassan and myself, started working in this project (in this form; Hassan's been working on this story in one form or another for almost 10 years!) over a year ago, and we've seen many deadlines we created for ourselves come and go. This isn't anyone's fault, things just took longer than we planned. Now, we have a better, more solid plan and have been picking up a more consistent pace on page production and we hope to maintain some competent form of release schedule.

While we our printing this book ourselves and will continue to do so as long as humanly possible, we will be shopping the book around to established comic companies in the hopes that someone may actually pay us to create it. Geez, wouldn't that be nice, huh?

It just ain't in the cards...

I'm sad to report that we are not going to be able get our first issue out in time for SDCC. There just isn't enough time to do everything we have to do and for me to learn what I have to learn in time to get the whole package together. So... we have re-adjusted our schedule and will be printing the book for release at the 1st Long Beach Comic-Con in California the weekend of Oct2-4th. It will still have the cover inked by Walter Simonson, in fact we may end up having that cover be an exclusive for that convention. Seeing as we will be doing our best to have Walter there in person to sign copies for Square 1 Press. If things don't work out the way we like, then we will definitely have them the following weekend at the Baltimore Comic-con as well, where Walter will absolutely be attending.

As Square 1 Press, we are learning this business as quickly as we can and there are just some things that we can't rush.

This actually works out better for us as a whole. This allows a couple things to happen, seeing as S1P had planned on setting up at the con, we will be able to have the "Valkkadia" writer/artist Hassan Godwin at the show as well. I will be working for the convention itself, S1P will need to have some extra help on hand so this goes great leaps to this end. Hopefully we will have more products available for sale at Long Beach as well. There are several other sketchbook opportunities and a possible limited lithograph run as well. More to come on that front as it develops.

I do have the finished "Valkkadia" logo to show off, courtesy of the awesome Brian Jouan. A link to his website is available at the upper right of this blog. And it looks a little like this...

There may be some small tweaks to the finish and such, but the core is there and we really dig it. Brian, we can't thank you enough. We really appreciate the help.

Tuesday, I'll be having dinner with a couple of guys who are bringing me a story they want adapted visually. More on that next week.

So, there it is. We still have the Howard Chaykin and Walter Simonson sketchbooks available at the webstore here.

Thanks for everyone's continued support, we truly appreciate it.

Script is in my hand!

OK, I got the finalized script for Valkkadia#1 tonite. which means...

I need to get my ass movin...I have 6 panels to finish inking and the whole book to letter and balloon. I may be up for awhile.

Also, above is the latest version of the "Valkkadia" logo as being developed by my good friend, Brian Jouan. There is more to be done, I'll try and keep everybody up to speed. But now, back to the drawing board, literally.

A quick apology to a friend...

Just this morning I was checking out the comment threads on some of the stories posted about this past weekend and I ran across one posted by Joe Rybandt from Dynamite Entertainment at the ComicsWorthReading.com post.

I quote Joe "It was always our intention to have Howard upfront with us and any confusion comes down to miscommunication between us at Dynamite and Howard, but no fault to Wizard on this one."

Joe, this was not how it was explained to me on Friday, so I only got part of the story. No offense was intended to you or Nick, you guys have always been very good to me and extremely supportive. Clearly, I assumed the part I heard to be true and the source was also not completely clear on the details. However, I'm the one who put it out there, so I'm the ass here.

Sorry , guys, I sincerely apologize.

--Steve

Aftermath and Thanks

Wow. It has been a strange 48 hours.
After the events at the WizardWorld Philadelphia gate and my posting of the events here, I went out to dinner with my lovely girlfriend and enjoyed a delicious Thai meal. Upon arriving back at the Philadelphia Marriott, I was besieged by disbelieving well-wishers and friends wanting to know the whole story. I won't name names here, because honestly, this was never about publicity (at least, not the way it turned out) or anything like it. All I wanted to do was sit in artist alley this weekend and sell some sketchbooks, talk to some friends and enjoy the world of comics that I truly love.

Apparently this was not meant to be. If you haven't heard the story already, then just read the previous blog entry or check out any of these links:

BleedingCool.Com
The Beat
ComicsWorthReading.com

A lot of good folks have sent emails, twittered, and called me. All of us here at Square 1 Press have been honored at the outpouring of positive sentiment. Thanks so much, and we appreciate it all.

I think one of the things that Wizard has lost sight of in the last couple years is the fact that, in this constantly changing and evolving industry, a successful convention or product line isn't just good for the company, it's good for the whole industry. It seems like they've become so focused on becoming the ONLY convention business in town, they've slowly, but surely continued to alienate SO many people in this industry, that soon no one will want to come to their shows, creator-wise. The comics industry is a pretty small world, alot of these folks see each other every few weeks at shows all over the country and word travels fast, especially the stuff that's too sensitive to ever make into the blogs and online articles. The "rumors" that fly around cons have always had a toe anchored in the truth.

So, barring (pun intended, sorry) any unforseen difficulties, the 1st issue of "Valkkadia" will be ready for Comic-Con International in San Diego in July. The sketchbooks are both available at the website store here.

A special shout out to my new friends at Enigma Works, for offering to make me an editor for the day on Sunday to get me back into the show. Thanks guys, the gesture was truly appreciated.

So, all I can say is stay tuned for more product announcements, appearances and what shows we will be setting up at and where our products can be found.

Again, a huge thanks to all who have continued to support us

BARRED! Wizard World denies entry to Square 1 Press

Well, interestingly enough, I am not as upset about this as you would think.
Wizard Entertainment, in their infinite wisdom, (are you catching the sarcasm? I hope so, I'm laying it on pretty thick) have decided to bar my entry back into the Philly Wizard World con today. I attended the show all day on Friday, was setup in Artist Alley and generally had a decent time. Peter Katz, #3 idiot in charge over there at Wizard even walked past our setup in AA not once, but twice and never said a word to us. I can only guess that he was so involved with whatever he was doing ( i.e. nothing) that he didn't stoop low enough from his perch-on-high to notice us down in the depths of AA. We even saw Gareb Shamus, #1 idiot-in-charge, 1 row over and we were sure he saw us, but apparently not. Or maybe they didn't want to make a scene on the show's 1st day to the several hundred fans in attendance. Who knows.

I approached the entry gate this morning bright and early ready to go, offering up S1P's sketchbooks to the masses. Howard Chaykin, after having been tricked by Wizard, had to sign all day at the Dynamite Entertainment booth, apparently as some sort of deal setup to lure Dynamite to the show, as they were not going to setup there, or at least not as big a setup as they had this weekend. He had fixed the gitch tho, and was all set to sign in AA the rest of the show with Walter Simonson, our other attending artist.

I was asked my identity as I approached by a rather average-looking gentleman claiming to be Wizard's "head of security" I told him my name, and at this point he informed me that I was barred from entry to the show by mgmt. I asked to speak to someone over his head, he said re-iterated to me that he was the "Head of security". I informed him that I used to hold that distinction myself, and that he needed to contact either Peter or Stephen (Shamus:#2 idiot-in-charge and driving force behind the fall of Wizard Ent.) He then called Peter. Peter appeared moments later and approached us slowly shaking his head. I asked what the problem was, explained my attendance on Friday and that I was there representing my 2 artists and selling sketchbooks for them. He then, said to "hold on for a minute" and hurried off, I assume to double check with Stephen, to reinforce my barring. He then called the security guard to inform him that yes, I was indeed barred. He didn't even have the guts to return and tell me himself.

I was able to contact my artists before they entered the show and inform them as to what had taken place were both dumbfounded at Wizard's incredibly childish behavior.

They have yet to give me reason as to why I was asked to leave.

More as it transpires.

Either way, I apologize to anyone looking for the sketchbooks this weekend, they will be available at the Square 1 Press website for sale here as of right now. Walter Simonson sketchbooks are also available.

at this last minute...

So, I thought you might like this shot. I had just picked up the Howard Chaykin sketchbooks from the printer and I needed to count them to make sure they had printed the correct number. They did, even made a couple extra copies. Anyway , I thought you might like to see a shot of all the sketchbooks. The last time these little fellas will be all together ever again.

Well, I finished making some flyers to hand out at the show with website and facebook info. I made table signs showing prices for the sketchbooks. With the help of my wonderful girlfriend, we even got all 300 copies of the sketchbook numbered and re-boxed, ready to pack up and hit the road tomorrow. If all goes as planned tomorrow morning, we will hit the road about 9am and get down to the show in Philly right around start time. So, if yer waiting for us, relax, look around, we'll be there shortly.

Also, if yer coming to the show I'll have copies of the pages for Valkkadia #1 with me to show off.
Also, seeing as the artist, my good friend Hassan, got laid off last week, he should be ready to turn around some pages like you would na' believe, cap'n.

I look forward to meeting some new friends and contacts this weekend and to re-connecting with some old friends who I know will be there. Make sure and mention if you happen to read this blog, when you stop by the table this weekend, not that you'll get anything, but it would be nice to know I'm not just writing this thing to hear myself ramble.

Remember, we are in Artist Alley with Walter Simonson and Howard Chaykin, stop by and say "whats up?"

Hope to seee you all there.

Hey there...

Well, hello there. I was at the Big Apple Con's free 1-day show today with Walter and we had a pretty good time. A small show by any measure, but still a lot of quality packed into a small space. Essentially split into 2 rooms, Artist's Alley and a dealer room, the show, held at the Pennsylvania Hotel in Manhattan, was abuzz with folks when we arrived about noon. We quickly ran down one of the organizers and were shown to a good table spot in the artist's room. I set up the sales area for Square 1 Press items, which only consists of the Walter Simonson sketchbook right now, but nonetheless. I also had the print proof of the new Howard Chaykin sketchbook there on display and got a lot of good feedback on it. I think Philly should go well, possibly selling out of the Simonson sketchbooks. So, if yer there, or you haven't go yours yet, then you bettter grab one while you can, either online here or at the show in Philly next week. We also had a flyer I made last night to handout that looked like this:
We met alot of great fans of Walter's and even though he wasn't planning in sketching at all, of course, he relented and began sketching for some fans.
In the afternoon he had a 45-min panel with Gene Colan and spent the time relating great stories to the small roomull of fans alongside Gene. Afterwords, Walter introduced me to Gene and his delightful wife, Adrienne. I have to say this was a great honor for me, along with Walter, Gene Colan's artwork was another of the great influences on early comics education and it was real treat for me to meet this legend. In addition, I also got to meet the great British artist Kevin O'Neill, creator of "Nemesis:the Warlock" and "Marshall Law" and artist on the "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" graphic novels.

I also met a young artist trying to break in to the comics biz. His name is Dominic Orologio and here is small sample of his work. More can be seen at his web gallery here. Some fun stuff there, check it out. If you want even MORE, then go here. Click on the "Illustrations" tab on the lower right of his homepage.

All in all, a good day. I sent the Chaykin sketchbooks off to print yesterday, should be picking them up mid-week.

One bit of sad news, albeit one with a small upside. Hassan Godwin, the creator/writer/artist for the "Valkkadia" project was let go from his job this past week. The latest in a long line of good folks from this particular company. The upside? He has lots of free time to draw now, and we're gonna get a lot of stuff done in the next couple months.

Anyways, I'm out, enjoy your weekend, talk to ya soon!

Friday-rain day-good for stayin' in

OK, I said yesterday that I had gotten the replacement page for the 1st issue of Valkkadia. Well, I spent today inking it and now it's done. I'm gonna post both the original page and then the new replacement version so you can see the changes more obviously.

In the original page, with the amount of dialogue and the way it was laid out, (reading all the way down the left side before going back up to the top) it just wasn't gonna work out properly.
That and the panel with the heads in the lower right column became unnecessary. So, the decision was made (no prompt from me) to just redraw the page and the new page is the 2nd image.
I'm supposed to get the last of the replacement artwork tonite. Which consists only of a few panel replacements. Quick re-inks and photoshop edits and the book is as good as done, artwise. PHEW!

By next week, I should have the final edit of the script and I can balloon this bad boy and have it ready to print by next weekend. If I'm lucky, I might have the finished cover as well. Then all I have to do is get it colored and setup the intro/credit pages and get one ad page squared away.

It's been a fairly long road to get this 1st issue finished, but we're almost there. It only gets easier, right?

Right?

been a few days...

OK, it's been a few days since I had anything new to update, with the WWPhilly sketchbooks ready, and Valkkadia #1 waiting for some revisions, I'm kind of at a stand still. I have some new ideas for projects, an outline/script from a new writing duo that will cross my path in a couple weeks (so I'm told) and the possible rebirth/reinvigoration of one of my original project ideas when I first started Square 1. (Thanks, Bob)
Additionally, I have fleshed-out some ideas I had about another of my original project ideas that had been sort of frozen until I can make contact with the original rights holder. Now, after some thought, I have realized that I may be better off getting some material together and moving ahead on the project without approval or licence so I have something substantial to present as compared with just presenting a concept. Especially to this particular individual.
Last night I did get the replacement page for Valkkadia #1. When I finish inking it, I will post up a shot of the 2 pages, old and new, so you can see the differences.
Our pencil/inking style has solidified so much from the first pages of the 1st issue, I hope that this replacement page doesn't stick out too much when inserted among the older ones.

I think that's all, I have one other original story idea I'm working on as well. I just need to do a little research to get the setup correct. As it's historical in nature, I need to make sure my facts are straight. Otherwise, I'll get a boot to the ass from Simonson, and as great as that may sound, it's still a boot to the ass.

Friday-just another day or...

Valkkadia #1 cover

So I thought I'd drop a little more tease action on ya. Here's the cover pencils for "Valkkadia" issue #1. Pencils by series creator/writer/penciller, Hassan Godwin.

Oh yeah, one other small thing, the cover will be inked by Walter Simonson. Yeah, that's right, THAT Walter Simonson. We are unbelieveably lucky to have gotten the chance to work with Walter over the last few years and he has given us the priviledge of letting him ink the cover of our first issue.

Other update news is light today. We have almost half of issue #2 penciled and a third of that inked and finished.

I heard back from Mr. Chaykin today, having sent him a .pdf of his sketchbook yesterday. His response? A short, but sweet, "Looks swell!". That was the sum total extent of the email. If you've ever met or talked to Howard, you'll get why this is so fitting and so appreciated.

So, we're all set for the Wizard World Philadelphia convention, altho...there may be a "small" announcement of one more item that may be produced for sale at the convention. It was brought up today during my day at Walter's house, and we will discuss putting it into motion after the weekend. Cross your fingers, Simonson fans. this could turn out to be very cool.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Thursday update 2

Valkkadia
So, glance to the left for a little tease from "Valkkadia" #1, the start of a fight sequence between our intrepid heroes and the warrior race know as the Mondo Vas'Gann, which resemble giant cyborg sharks.

Howard Chaykin sketchbook
I have finished replacing the font in the Howard Chaykin sketchbook as well and have sent of a PDF proof to him for approval and/or thoughts. I heard from him briefly last night and have some new info about the sketchbook.
It will be an edition of 300 numbered copies and will be available on website store here after the Wizard World Philadelphia convention on June 19-21.
Still ironing out details for a signed/sketched edition for the website. I'll have info here first, whenever I get it squared away.

Walter Simonson sketchbook
The Walter Simonson v.1 numbered sketchbooks are still available at the website store for $10 as well, but we are running out. There will be some available at the Wizard Philly show, but I think that will be their final convention appearance.

Convention update
No word as of yet on our location at SDCC in July. I'm hoping I can pair up with a friend and sell our books at their table. Info will be forthcoming as I make arrangements. I will be in San Diego for the week of the show and will be working the convention for one of the show's larger exhibitors.
We also plan on making an appearance at the Baltimore Comicon in September and will definitely be setting up at the Long Beach Comicon in October. It's gonna be a busy autumn for us, and we hope you'll come by when you can and check out our stuff.

quick update

I spent the majority of the day setting up the pages for the Howard Chaykin sketchbook. I printed out a proof on my own printer to see if I liked the finished product. Not loving the font I picked for the captions, so I'll spend the morning redoing the captions in a new font. The heavy lifting is done, though, and I'm happy that with my recently acquired laser printer, I can print out fast copies of these to check them out before going to press.

Opening Salvo

On our way to our second project being published for the Wizard World Philadelphia convention June 19-21. An artist's sketchbook for comic's legend Howard Chaykin. Similar in layout and design to our first artist sketchbook for Walter Simonson, this volume will feature sketches for many of Howard's painted paperback covers, layout designs and preliminary works that have never seen print before.

The Walter Simonson sketchbook is still available at the Square 1 Press webstore here for $10.

The Howard Chaykin sketchbook will be available first at the convention and then following the convention at the website. Numbers will be limited. No word on a signed/sketched edition, as of yet.

The 1st issue of "Valkkadia" our 1st comic series, has seen a small hiccup and will, unfortunately, not be available at the Wizard show in June. We do hope to have it available for Comic-con International in San Diego in July. More info to come about this.

With this new blog we hope to be able to keep people in the loop about upcoming projects that Square 1 Press has a part in and will be putting together in the coming months, we have some great ideas and hope a bunch of them will come to fruition.