ONI Makes Merch From Cancelled ECCC Available Online

Following the Cancellation of Emerald City Comic Con, Oni Press to Make All Planned Exclusive Merch Available Online PORTLAND, OR–Just under a week before the are set to doors open at Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle, Oni Press launches an exclusive online pop up shop offering all planned exclusives for the show, and books from all creators previously scheduled to sign! "While the decision not to attend was difficult for many reasons, one of our first considerations was supporting the creators and books we had planned to promote there" says Oni Press publisher, James Lucas Jones. "We realize many of our creators depend on convention income, and want to do our part to help where we can through sales of their books and merchandise. Additionally, we want to bring as much of the convention experience to fans as possible, despite our lack of a presence on the show floor." Oni Press unveils multiple exclusive items available now in limited quantities, exclusively through the Oni Press #ECCC2020 Pop Up Store, including the first items in an all-new merchandise partnership with Achewood creator Chris Onstad.  Visit the Oni Press #ECCC2020 Pop Up, open now, for a full range of available items and quantities! Oni will ship all items at no charge, just as if you picked them up at the con, and is offering 10% off all items featured in this special storefront. Additionally, Oni has posted a full list of creators still attending the show, and urge you to stop by and support them directly on the show floor! Aggretsuko #1 Cover E (Limited Print Run) (CA) Dryad Cover C (CA) Fun Fun Fun World (Spring Conventions Edition) Rogue Planet #1 Cover C (Limited to 1,000) Andy MacDonald (CA)

ACHEWOOD Returns To Print In Single Issue Format

ONI PRESS LAUNCHES EXCLUSIVE NEW ACHEWOOD MERCH IN ONLINE POP UP SHOP! Limited Edition Print and Tote Bag Available To Order Now With Free Shipping!

PORTLAND, OR–Oni Press opens an exclusive online pop up shop for planned Emerald City Comic Con exclusives, and debuts the first merchandise produced in a new partnership with Achewood creator, Chris Onstad. Announced last month, Achewood: The Great Outdoor Fight returns to print in a special single issue format on July 15, and is currently available for order now in Diamond's March-dated PREVIEWS catalog. To celebrate, Oni Press has created a special print ($45) and tote bag ($25), available exclusively through the Oni online ECCC Pop Up Shop. "Oni has inspired me to dig deep back into Achewood" says Onstad. "Re-opening the Great Outdoor Fight brought forth a wealth of new material that hints at a new future for Ray, Roast Beef, and the rest of the cast." Three Days! Three Acres! Three Thousand Men! The epic spectacle of violence, virility, and valor that helped name Achewood TIME Magazine's Best Graphic Novel of the Year. Join Ray and Beef on the journey through the complete "fight" storyline, from truck-nuts-for-your-smartphone, right through the recumbent tai-chi fighting style, and riding into the boys' return home. Includes bonus features like the History of the GOF, profiles of past winners, and a brand-new look back on the epic storyline by author Chris Onstad himself. PLUS: A brand new cover by the cartoonist! Editor Christopher Butcher says "This new comic book collection of the GOF has the whole storyline, a ton of bonus material, and even really great new material from Onstad--and the regular edition is just five bucks! I think this is a really unique new look at the series' most famous storyline, and works as a perfect introduction to Achewood for new readers and a fantastic collector's item--and peak at the future--for longterm fans." The Great Outdoor Fight is available to preorder now via your local comic shop in an all new $5 edition with two covers, and an Oni exclusive edition of 1,000 copies, which will be available for preorder on June 15, with a release timed with both in-store editions. Order this exclusive tote and print here, and reserve your copy of The Great Outdoor Fight with your favorite comic book retailer today! The Great Outdoor Fight Cover A The Great Outdoor Fight Cover B The Great Outdoor Fight Cover C (Limited to 1,000)

DEVS: Thought-Provoking New Series On HULU

Recommended March Reading: ARTEMIS AND THE ASSASSIN #1

ARTEMIS AND THE ASSASSIN #1 (Aftershock Comics, March 18 release date) Writer: Stephanie Phillips.  Artist: Meghan Hetrick & Francesca Fantini  Colors: Lauren Affe.  Letters: Troy Peteri. Covers: Phil Hester, Mark Englert & Dave Johnson.

     Historical fiction meets classic pulp action/adventure with a futuristic twist in this new title debuting in March.

     For an introductory issue that needs to cover a lot of ground in order to acquaint readers with the story, ARTEMIS AND THE ASSASSIN sure packs a solid punch.  At it’s core, it compares and contrasts two determined women with superior fighting skills. One is a decorated figure right out of World War Two history books, and a person with an honorable purpose. The other is a purely fictional creation, a time-traveling assassin with money as the main motivation.

  The book opens as assassin Maya goes back to 1916 Russia to intercept the Tsar’s royal carriage and take out her target with brutal efficiency. Despite being the most respected and valued member of the time-jumping assassin organization, Maya is berated by her administrator and then given a challenging task: eliminate Virginia Hall, a highly skilled resistance fighter and spy during World War II. 

    Virginia Hall, code name Artemis, has been efficiently helping to destroy Nazi supply routes in 1944 France. She’s given a new assignment to convey some critical information to the front lines that could change the face of the conflict. She's not going to be an easy mark for Maya, and will most likely fight back.

  World War II is just the starting point of Issue #1, as writer Stephanie Phillips has indicated in interviews that the story will traverse many different periods in history, including The Wild West.  She was also inspired by her love of pulp fiction and early comics, especially Doc Savage and The Shadow.

RATING SYSTEM

 STORY: Despite needing to introduce not just the settings and background but also two dynamic characters, Phillips does a great job of navigating those challenges. The story moves at a fluid, engaging pace. 3 POINTS.

ART:    The fight scenes utilize various sized panels and focus on key elements, keeping the images uncluttered and more powerful because of it. 2.5 POINTS

COVER: Debut titles need covers that provide a hook and cause the browser to pick them off the busy comic shop shelves. This gets the job done. 1.5 POINTS

READ AGAIN?  Yes. You’ll want to re-read in order to fully savor the battle scenes.  1 POINT.

RECOMMEND?  Yes, an interesting premise and two characters deserving of further development to come. I look forward to future issues. 1 POINT

TOTAL RATING: 9 OUT OF A POSSIBLE 10 POINTS. WELL ABOVE THE PACK, AND RECOMMENDED.

Valiant Previews Covers To X-O MANOWAR #1

X-O MANOWAR "SWORD OF SHANHARA" COVERS REVEALED

X-O MANOWAR #1 1:25 Cover by Erica Henderson

New York, NY (March 2nd, 2020) –  X-O MANOWAR features exciting "Sword of Shanhara" 1:25 variant covers by all-star artists!

The debut issue by Harvey Award-winner DENNIS “HOPELESS” HALLUM (Star Wars: Darth Vader - Dark Visions) and breakout star artist EMILIO LAISO (Marvel’s Spider-Man: Velocity) goes on sale in just three weeks (March 25th), and it will feature a jaw-dropping 1:25 variant by ERICA HENDERSON. Issues #2-#4 will have their own special "Sword of Shanhara" variants by DANIEL WARREN JOHNSON, DUSTIN WEAVER, and MICHAEL WALSH!

As if the artwork alone wasn't amazing enough, special treatment will be applied to X-O Manowar's energy sword on each cover to make it pop! Feast your eyes on the stunning artwork below.

 

X-O MANOWAR #2 1:25 Cover by Daniel Warren Johnson

 

X-O MANOWAR #3 1:25 Cover by Dustin Weaver
 

X-O MANOWAR #4 1:25 Cover by Michael Walsh

 
The X-O MANOWAR 1:25 "Sword of Shanhara" Variants are 1:25 covers, meaning comic shops will receive one with every qualifying order of 25 copies of X-O MANOWAR. If you want to add these phenomenal covers to your collection, contact your local comic shop and tell them you want the X-O MANOWAR "Sword of Shanhara" Variant Covers!

The blockbuster adventure begins in X-O MANOWAR #1 on March 25th, 2020, featuring colors by Ruth Redmond and letters by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.

Update From Horror Author JOHN EVERSON

ISSUE 107  ~  February 2020

Cover Reveal: My 12th novel Voodoo Heart is with the publisher... and the cover art is ready! I TURNED IN THE MANUSCRIPT  for my next novel, Voodoo Heart, about six weeks ago, in mid-January. The book is being copy edited now, and my publisher, Flame Tree Press, has posted the cover art! This one is set in New Orleans and (obviously) is about voodoo... and a curse that threatens the whole city. Check it out: Email me and let me know what you think!  This one will be out in October, just in time for Halloween season! Here's the teaser summary: When Detective Lawrence Ribaud wakes alone in a bloody bed with his wife missing, he knows this is more than just a mysterious case of murder. His wife is the latest victim in a string of bizarre disappearances. All across New Orleans, on one night each month, people are vanishing, leaving behind nothing but a pool of blood on the bedsheets… and an abandoned heart. Ribaud doesn’t believe in voodoo, but he soon finds himself moving through the underbelly of a secret society of snakes, sacrifices and obscene rituals in search of the mysterious Black Queen … and the curse of her Voodoo Heart. Leap Sale: Flame Tree Press has put The House By The Cemetery on a 99 Cent Kindle Book Sale this weekend! TODAY, FLAME TREE PRESS IS PROMOTING a big 99 cent Kindle sale of my novel The House By The Cemetery. It's on sale in the U.S. and also promoted internationally on the BookBub ebook newsletter in the UK, Australia and Canada! If you don't have a copy, I hope you'll check it out this weekend: Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/House-Cemetery-Fiction-Without-Frontiers-ebook/dp/B07J2MQ5N8/ Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/House-Cemetery-Fiction-Without-Frontiers-ebook/dp/B07J2MQ5N8/  I can't deny being really happy when I read the most recent Amazon reader review: "Bloody fantastic: 5 stars This is a true horror story, with a fast pace. Everson artfully weaves a tale of blood, and darkness that will remind you why you love horror."   Appearances: Capricon is done... now on to Flashback Weekend! A COUPLE WEEKS AGO,   I returned as an author panelist to Capricon, a Chicago-area SF/F/H fan convention. I went there for the first time last year with my friends W.D. Gagliani, Dave Benton and Brian Pinkerton.  This year, the rest of my gang couldn't make it, but I made some new friends, thanks to the "Beer From The Tropics" panel that I helped with on Valentine's Day. Anyone who knows me knows that I love IPAs, and four of us introduced an audience to samples from some of our favorites. Claire Humphrey brought some down from Toronto, Dan Berger covered the north Chicago area and John Wardale tapped Michigan.  Me? I introduced people to my go-tos:  Revolution Anti-Hero, Two Brothers' Love of Hops and, given the tropics theme, I brought some Stone Brewing Tangerine Express. Later in the weekend, I did a reading of "Preserve" and "The Right Instrument" from Vigilantes of Love, a panel on meeting deadlines and closed the weekend with a pretty lively panel for a Sunday morning on Social Media. It was all great fun! I posted my schedule and a bunch of pictures on my blog. That's all for now... I hope you're enjoying Leap Day! Dark Dreams, John

Beach Bunny - Promises (Official Music Video)

Paste Magazine Com recently shared their 10 Best Albums of February 2020.
HoneyMoon by Beach Bunny was  # 10.