Avatar Press News & Updates March 25, 2005
In this message: March, April, May, June Solicited Releases, Pulido on Lady Death: Abandon All Hope, War Angel, Creators talk Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Texas Chainsaw Massacre comics, James Anthony on upcoming Stargate comic plans
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SOLICITED FOR MARCH FROM AVATAR
If you haven’t taken a look yet, solicitations for March Releases from Avatar Press are available online and it’s another strong month from Avatar. Here’s a brief rundown:
* Brian Pulido’s War Angel #1 – Pulido, Walter Geovani. A bit of the old ultra-violence from Pulido in this post-apocalyptic nightmare from Brian Pulido.
* Brian Pulido’s Lady Death: Leather & Lace 2005 – Ryp, Adrian, Wolfer, Siqueira, and more. All new artwork from the best artists in the business featuring everybody’s favorite indy icon.
* Stargate SG-1: POW TPB – James Anthony, Renato Guedes. Avatar’s first Stargate SG-1 saga collected at last!
* Robocop: War Party #1 – Steven Grant, Carlos Ferreira. Robo takes on revolutionaries in Detroit as the streets are turned into a killing ground by new high-tech war weapons.
* Alan Moore’s Hypothetical Lizard #4 – Alan Moore, Sebastian Fiumara, Antony Johnston. The critically acclaimed Alan Moore saga concludes.
* Garth Ennis’ 303 #6 – Garth Ennis, Jacen Burrows. The Russian Colonel faces his final test in the conclusion of this Garth Ennis drama.
* Brian Pulido’s Medieval Lady Death #2 – Brian Pulido, Di Amorim. Lady Death and Wolfram are ambushed as the fantasy epic Lady Death continues.
You can get complete information and graphics for these and all our March releases at
www.avatarpress.com/2005solic/03/
These items should be available for order from your local retailer now. Please support your local retailer and Avatar by asking him to order these items for you. If you can’t get these Avatar Press items locally, they are available from our direct sales agent at
www.comiccavalcade.com/2005solic/03/
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SOLICITED FOR APRIL FROM AVATAR
Solicitations for April releases from Avatar Press are also available. Here’s the rundown:
* Stargate: Atlantis Preview – Stuart Moore, Mauricio Melo. Journey to the Pegasus Galaxy with this preview of the new Stargate: Atlantis comic!
* Stargate SG-1 2005 Convention Special – James Anthony, Jorge Correa. The Goa’uld have a new weapon… and the Nox return!
* Brian Pulido’s Medieval Lady Death #3 – Brian Pulido, Di Amorim. Lady Death faces the awesome power of a new foe, and Tvarus returns.
* Brian Pulido’s Lady Death: Abandon All Hope – Brian Pulido, Ron Adrian. The eagerly-awaited return of the original Lady Death!
* Robocop: War Party #2 – Steven Grant, Carlos Ferreira. Robocop faces Bastion’s ultimate war machine.
* Brian Pulido’s War Angel #2 – Brian Pulido, Walter Geovani. The amoral assassin-for-hire on the run in a city controlled by the Warlock clan and sado-science worshipping vampires.
You can get complete information and graphics for these and all our April releases at
www.avatarpress.com/2005solic/04/
These items should be available for preorder from your local retailer now. Please support your local retailer and Avatar by asking him to order these items for you. If you can’t get these Avatar Press items locally, they are available from our direct sales agent at
www.comiccavalcade.com/2005solic/04/
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SOLICITED FOR MAY FROM AVATAR
* Nightmare on Elm Street Special #1 – Brian Pulido, Juan Jose Ryp. The New Line Cinema mayhem unleashed in comics! Freddy is back invading dreams in Springwood with terrifying consequences.
* Friday the 13th Special #1 – Brian Pulido, Mike Wolfer. More New Line Cinema mayhem unleashed in comics! Laura Upland has a plan to stop Jason Voorhees once and for all. But what can stop the unstoppable supernatural killing machine?
* Texas Chainsaw Massacre Special #1 – Brian Pulido, Jacen Burrows. More New Line Cinema mayhem unleashed in comics! Escaped convicts on a robbery spree through rural Texas finally stop to rob the wrong place… the Hewitt family General store.
* Brian Pulido’s Medieval Lady Death #4 – Brian Pulido, Di Amorim. Lady Death in an epic battle against Arch Bishop Vittorio in the conclusion of the first story arc.
* Brian Pulido’s War Angel #3 – Brian Pulido, Walter Geovani. The bload-soaked climax of this epic series with nuns, death-metal vampires, and more.
* Robocop: War Party #3 – Steven Grant, Carlos Ferreira. The fight you’ve been waiting for – Robo vs a legion of Ed209’s!
You can get complete information and graphics for these and all our May releases at
www.avatarpress.com/2005solic/05/
These items should be available for preorder from your local retailer now. Please support your local retailer and Avatar by asking him to order these items for you. If you can’t get these Avatar Press items locally, they are available from our direct sales agent at
www.comiccavalcade.com/2005solic/05/
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SOLICITED FOR JUNE FROM AVATAR
* Brian Pulido’s Lady Death: Abandon All Hope #1 – Brian Pulido, Ron Adrian. The bitch is back as the original Lady Death returns in an all-new epic!
* Brian Pulido’s Medieval Lady Death #5 – Brian Pulido, Di Amorim. As the second story arc begins, Lady Death is attacked by Skold of the assassin’s guild.
* Brian Pulido’s Medieval Lady Death / Belladonna #1/2 – Brian Pulido, Daniel HDR. Pulido’s pair of medieval warrior women meet for the first time!
* Stargate SG-1: Ra Reborn Prequel – Jorge Correa, James Anthony. Has the most feared Goa’uld of all time been reborn from the ashes to terrorize the universe again?
You can get complete information and graphics for these and all our June releases at
www.avatarpress.com/2005solic/06/
These items should be available for preorder from your local retailer now. Please support your local retailer and Avatar by asking him to order these items for you. If you can’t get these Avatar Press items locally, they are available from our direct sales agent at
www.comiccavalcade.com/2005solic/06/
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FREDDY, JASON, LEATHERFACE IN AVATAR’S NEW LINE CINEMA COMIC LINE
Coming Friday, May 13th watch out for a horror explosion with Avatar’s new line based on the neo-classic movie monsters of New Line Cinema! This killer new line – Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre – is being entirely written by the master of mayhem himself, Brian Pulido and drawn by the best artists in indy comics. The cult fan-following for these movie series is legendary and these terrifying stories by the best creators in comics will deliver the goods they have been waiting years to see!
“These stories are blood-soaked love letters to the die-hard fans,” says Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre comic scribe and Lady Death creator Brian Pulido. “I admire and respect these murderers as much as they do. I’ve murdered five or six billion people while writing the top slasher comic of the 90’s, so these books feel just like home.”
“I’m truly a fan of each series, particularly the first movies of each. Honestly, I wanted to keep to the spirit of them and then up the on-screen violence considerably. I’m pleased that Avatar and New Line encouraged me to be as depraved as I wanted to be.’
“In a darkened theater in 1980, I witnessed the beginning of the FRIDAY THE 13TH franchise,” adds Friday the 13th artist Mike Wolfer. “Now, twenty-five years later, it’s overwhelming and an incredible honor for me to actually be able to “touch” Jason! He’s an incredible (and durable) horror icon, both repugnant and strangely sympathetic.”
“I’m very excited to finally work with Brian on a narrative project. I’ve done several LADY DEATH pinups for him in the past, but considering both of our horror indy comic roots it’s surprising that we’ve not collaborated sooner. This is also my first full color work in almost ten years. Most Avatar readers are familiar with my gray-toned art in Warren Ellis’ STRANGE KILLINGS, where we rely on black and white to enforce the disturbing quality of that series. If you thought my work was unsettling before, wait until you see it in color… Particularly the color red. ”
Texas Chainsaw Massacre artist Jacen Burrows (artist of Alan Moore’s The Courtyard, Garth Ennis’ 303) is also a longtime fan of the material that he is helping to unleash onto an unsuspecting comics audience. “I saw the original when I was a kid by sneaking it past a lazy video store clerk and it had a profound effect on me,” he says. “I had heard the stories about it being a true story and I believed every word. I was this terrified child at home alone after just seeing proof that there are people out there who will relentlessly chase you down wearing the skin of another human being with the intent to torture and murder you and I suddenly felt really ALIVE, of all things. Sure, the world was a much scarier place now, but it was also more bizarre and fascinating. That was the power of this kind of visceral, intense horror grounded in a tangible reality. There was no magical curse or monster mythology. Real people could go that insane anywhere in the world. The horror was real. Now flash forward 20 years and I’m getting to apply that love of horror to the character that taught it to me. Circle complete.”
“Everyone involved with this book is determined to do this right from Brian and myself all the way up to New Line. This isn’t action-adventure dressed up as horror like we see a lot these days. This will be the real thing with the characters, continuity and zeal of the remake and the macabre spirit of the original.
“I was meant to do this book,” Burrows concludes. “I doubt you could find another artist in the industry better versed in the films with a greater passion for the genre. I think I have a profound understanding of what the fans of Texas Chainsaw Massacre expect and I won’t let them down.”
Nightmare on Elm Street artist Juan Jose Ryp (artist of Frank Miller’s Robocop, Warren Ellis’ Angel Stomp Future) also has a unique and frightening vision for helping to bring his title to comics. “I think that the original idea, the idea that is captured in the first movie, speaks of a thing that terrifies all people,” Ryp says. “The character of Freddy comes alive with his sadistic irony, combining his cold and blackly comedic vision with these horrific and depraved things. It is a very compelling world to draw — a world that joins the beauty of the dreams of the young with the ugliness and wickedness of Kruger. Both things fit together in a strange and terrifying way in the Nightmare on Elm Street stories.”
“I think that Brian Pulido has captured the whole world of Freddy very well in his script,” Ryp concludes. “Brian has been very faithful to the movies, but has also given his story some updated twists and turns. I’ve fallen in love with the main female character in the story, it’s hard to draw the part where Kruger catches up with her. I know that the fans of the movies won’t be disappointed.”
More info:
www.texaschainsaw.org
www.nightmarecomics.com
www.fridaythe13thcomics.com
These items should be available for order from your local retailer now. Please support your local retailer and Avatar by asking him to order these items for you. If you can’t get these Avatar Press items locally, they are available from our direct sales agent at
www.comiccavalcade.com/newline/
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STARGATE SG-1 MARCH FAN LETTER
As new episodes of Stargate: SG-1 Season 8 continue there is big news flying around on all fronts for Stargate fans. The word broke recently that Ben Browder of Farscape fame will be joining the SG-1 team in Season 9 this summer! That is huge news for everyone as it will likely result in even higher ratings and will add another character to the team to help fill in the void left by Jack (Richard Dean Anderson) O’Neill’s reduced role. I mean think about it, what actor could possibly step into RDA’s shoes and even have a chance at pulling it off? There’s maybe one or two that I can think of, but it is a mighty short and selective list. Back in the day, I would have said Dirk Benedict (of A-Team and Battlestar Galactica fame) might have been able to, but now-a-days, Browder is one of the very few that have the on-screen presence to pull it off. If you watched Farscape, his character, John Crichton, was the glue that held that show together. I’m extremely psyched to see what he can do in the Stargate SG-1 universe!
But there is even bigger news on the comic book front as 2005 ushers in the Stargate Atlantis comics from Avatar Press! Veteran comic and screen writer Stuart Moore picks up the scripting reins and from what I have seen so far knocks the ball out of the park with the first series. Stuart is one of the class acts in the industry and is a guy who loves the science fiction genre with a passion that clearly comes through on the written page. As a fan – I CAN’T WAIT TO READ THEM!!!
The news doesn’t stop there, though. Stargate SG-1: Daniel’s Song is out and it is some of the absolute best work Jorge Correa has done to date! Jorge picked up the reins for the regular Stargate SG-1 series with Fall of Rome (issue #3 should also be in stores) and has been cranking out some really dynamic work on the newest books. I guarantee you will love the introduction to this story – if you use your imagination I’m sure you’ll be able to picture this happening at the beginning of a new episode on television and if you don’t chuckle I’ll wear a Jaffa skull cap at my next signing appearance!
Speaking of the newest comic books, here is a top secret little sneak peek of some projects on the horizon for Stargate SG-1. The 2005 Convention Special features a story bringing back one of the most memorable races to appear on the show to date. We met with fans during the 2004 Creation Stargate SG-1 Conventions and the one thing we heard most was “bring back the Nox!” So…you asked for it – you got it! In Stargate SG-1: Dark Nox we get a look at some of your old favorites (Anteaus, Opher, and Lya) along side some new threats you never thought you’d see!
Our next monster Stargate SG-1 mini-series Ra Reborn is in the works and will be solicited soon as well (there is a Prequel solicited for June). This one is a monster – it brings back the most feared Goa’uld System Lord of all time to wreak his revenge on Jack O’Neill and Daniel Jackson for their roles in destroying his empire during the events of the Stargate movie. But be warned…there are a few twists in this story and if you are a big-time SG-1 fan you may be able to pick up on some of the strategically placed clues to the big picture of just who is really behind the mysterious resurrection of Ra. Bring your conspiracy theories to the local conventions and I may give you a hint if you are moving in the right direction.
That’s about it for the time being – I hope to meet a bunch of Stargate fans on the convention road this year and share a story or two with you about our favorite show. Until next time – be good!
— James Anthony Kuhoric
More info:
www.sg-1.us
www.stargateatlantis.us
Stargate comics should be available on sale or for order from your local retailer now. Please support your local retailer and Avatar by asking him to order these items for you. If you can’t get these Avatar Press items locally, they are available from our direct sales agent at
www.comiccavalcade.com/stargate/
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CLASSIC LADY DEATH RETURNS
Don’t know if you heard, but we are bringing back the “classic” ass-kicking, take-no-prisoners, bitch goddess version of Lady Death, starring in April with Lady Death: Abandon All Hope #1/2.
Lady Death’s look and attitude remain the same, the over-the-top, boobs and blood approach to the book remains the same, the essence of her origin remains the same, but from there I took liberties that I think new and existing fans will dig.
Look at it this way, I did the bulk of my “research” while following Ozzfest this summer with my good buddy Jaymz owner of JC’S Comic Stop in Toldeo Ohio (It’s a great shop people. Well worth traveling to). We saw the finest line up of bands ever on Ozzfest and I let the music influence my direction. It is dark, brutal and unforgiving – unlike Medieval Lady Death which aspires to the heroic ideal.
Our story is set somewhere between 900 – 1000 AD in Europe. Hope renounces her humanity – due to reasons revealed in the book – and is sent to the Labyrinth. The Blacklands is one of many stacked realms in the Labyrinth and that’s where Hope finds herself.
It is a God-awful, dangerous place filled with monsters, creatures, ancient evils, liars, and thieves. If it’s bad, it’s there. Hope is completely unprepared for it.
Sagos, an ancient wizard corrupted by evil, is our villain for this story. I get the sense that he and Lady Death will be tied together for a long time due to tragic circumstances revealed in the first issue.
If you saw the preview we had out in November 2004, you’ll met two characters Lady Death travels with in the Blacklands: Wargoth and Satasha. Wargoth is the new mentor character for LD, but he’s hard to read. He tends to throw LD directly into trouble. Is he shaping her with trials by fire or does he really want her to fail? He’s brutal for sure.
Satasha is an adept spell-caster from the southern coast of the Blacklands. She doesn’t have the raw, natural talent for magic that LD has, but she’s maximized her ability and she’s there to teach LD. She is not as nearly as worldly as Wargoth.
Hey wait a minute, I’m revealing too much. Suffice to say, if you need a shot of tough-as-nails Lady Death in your life, Lady Death: Abandon All Hope #1/2 (available in comic shops world-wide in April 2005) is the ticket. Join me in the next chapter of Lady Death’s “life”.
— Brian Pulido
More info:
www.ladydeathworld.com
Lady Death comics should be available on sale or for order from your local retailer now. Please support your local retailer and Avatar by asking him to order these items for you. If you can’t get these Avatar Press items locally, they are available from our direct sales agent at
www.comiccavalcade.com/ladydeath/
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INTRODUCING WAR ANGEL
If you like your genre’s shaken and stirred, try out my upcoming WAR ANGEL series.
If I had to describe War Angel, I’d call it a post-apocalyptic, action adventure, sci fi, horror, crime story that is a distinct homage/parody/satire of Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo and Walter Hill’s Last Man Standing with some comedy thrown in for good measure. Get all that?
I could simply call it an action adventure with a “Bad girl” lead character who frequents a church-themed brothel where prostitutes are dressed up like nuns (It’s called the Holy Hole). Said Bad girl lives in a world where there few average human beings. Instead supernatural creatures populate the world. Said bad girl has a crummy, anti-authoritarian attitude and tends to get in trouble with anyone who crosses her path. Even this doesn’t quite get to the heart of the matter. But I digress.
Besides being about a bad ass fallen angel named Serenity, this story is a fun, over-the-top mix of all the genres and inspiration I mentioned above. The challenge for you, the reader is to have fun with all the crazy characters, locations, mixing of genres. Somehow, inexplicably, I believe, I’ve told a unique story here.
Give it a shot by letting your comics retailer know that you want a copy.
— Brian Pulido
More info:
www.warangel.us
War Angel comics should be available on sale or for order from your local retailer now. Please support your local retailer and Avatar by asking him to order these items for you. If you can’t get these Avatar Press items locally, they are available from our direct sales agent at
www.comiccavalcade.com/warangel/
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The contents of this release are TM & ©2005 Avatar Press and/or its respective creators, copyright holders, or licensors. Feel free to re-post this information where appropriate. Contact Avatar Press editor in chief William Christensen at william@avatarpress.net for more information.