Avatar Ezine

As I write this, Comic-Con International in San Diego is just a couple weeks behind us now and I think it was one of Avatar’s best shows ever.  It’s always great to get feedback from fans at the show and talk to a huge number of fellow professionals, and we’ll be talking about Avatar projects that began to take shape at this year’s San Diego for months to come.

In the more immediate future, September and October 2006 will see a veritable onslaught of horror releases from Avatar and many of those are covered in this newsletter.  Blackgas2 from Warren Ellis and Max Fiumara, Mischief Night from Brian Pulido and Juan Jose Ryp, Bad Moon Rising by Pulido and Wellington Alves, Escape of the Living Dead: Airborne by John Russo and Dheeraj Verma, Witchman from Mike Wolfer, and George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead by Russo and Sebastian Fiumara have all caused quite a stir at recent horror and comic shows we have attended, so if you haven’t heard about these projects yet you can find out more below.

Thanks for reading.

William A. Christensen
Avatar Press

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GEORGE A. ROMERO’S NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD

Avatar Press is pleased to present the first fully-authorized Night of the Living Dead comics from both original creators George A. Romero and John Russo, the men who defined modern zombie horror.  September brings us NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD: BACK FROM THE GRAVE, a full color comic which includes a new Night of the Living Dead story that takes place in 1968, just before the movie, and also includes a look at the upcoming series.  NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD: THE BEGINNING is an October solicited release, and is the first issue of the official prequel to the Night of the Living Dead film.

Stay tuned in the months ahead for more info on the Night of the Living Dead comic, and news on Avatar’s line of official Night of the Living Dead merchandise.

For more information, artwork, and ordering:
www.nightofthelivingdead.ws

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CREATING HORROR ICONS (Part I) – Bad Moon Rising
By Dan Wickline

Brian Pulido has made a career out of scaring people. From Evil Ernie and Lady Death to the New Line horror properties, Pulido has been crafting tales of fright that has grown an amazing fan following. And now he’s firing up the creative kiln once more for two new horror series from Avatar Press. I got a chance to talk with Brian about his work with Avatar and his approach to the new series.

Dan Wickline: In most of your writing career you’ve been able to focus on your own creations with a great deal of success; but you took on the New Line properties of Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the Thirteenth and Texas Chainsaw Massacre each having their own built-in fan base. What excited you about taking on these characters and what reservations did you have?

Brian Pulido: I have loved and adored each of these iconic horror franchises as a fan first, particularly their early stories, but I must admit that it was intimidating at first.  When Avatar publisher William Christensen pitched me the opportunity to write the books, I said yes, almost as a gut reflex, of course I was excited, then paranoia set in. Could I do these characters justice? Could I inhabit their psyches? Could I spin stories that excited their rabid fan bases? After all, up to then I’ve only had a bit of experience doing licensed books. These guys are major players.

Thankfully, my fears didn’t last long. I was just psyched to start. As soon as I outlined the stories, it felt natural. I believe I was born to do “Freddy speak”.

DW: In another interview you spoke of the characters having their own areas of horror that they cover. What do you see those areas being and how important was that knowledge in your approach to writing them?

BP: Freddy is the trickster character. His type of character appears in all mythologies through out the world. He tricks people into something horrible.

Jason is the unstoppable, undead monster. He makes us confront all our fears of body horror, mutilation and death itself.

The Hewitt family is the most terrifying of all. With Jason and Freddy, you can at least say they are supernatural and get a bit of relief from that, but the Hewitts are REAL. They’re us at our worst and most depraved.

DW: Over the years we have seen many attempts at new horror creatures but only a handful have ever achieved the iconic status of Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Leatherface and a small handful of others. What do you think it takes to make a successful horror icon?

BP: They must tap into a fear of the time. The fear in the zeitgeist of the moment. Freddy taps into the missing children phenomenon that was becoming national news when he came into being. That’s when you saw the kids on the side of the milk cartons. The news was going front page with the epidemic of missing kids. Freddy put a face to it.

The Hewitt family and to a degree Jason taps into the notion of our neighbors being murderers. If you think back on the first Texas Chainsaw, the news and media were grappling with the serial killer concept. The Ed Gein case was being ruminated on and the Manson family / Tate LaBianca murders were front-page news. Our neighbors, seemingly mild mannered, were capable of murder.

Jason in his purest form is also an expression of adolescent guilt. If you have sex, you’re gonna die.

DW: In both Bad Moon Rising and Mischief Night, the ‘hero’ of the story appears to be a heroine. What is it about female characters that make them better leads for horror stories?

BP: What’s cool about horror is that there are all kinds of stories. Just look at Masters of Horror and you get a sense of how far reaching it can be.

In these particular stories, slasher stories, female leads are both vulnerable and sympathetic. Both men and women can feel vulnerability as they watch Jessica Biel run away from Leatherface. A lot of these stories are about women gaining power in the face of insurmountable odds. They’re going from mousy or weak to empowered and enabled. For me, it is natural to tell that story. My character Lady Death went from a girl named Hope to a ravishing bitch goddess that men fear.

Also many of the fans of horror are women, so it is natural to have female leads.

DW: What is your long-term objective with these two new titles? Would you like to see them move on into other mediums?

BP: Absolutely. We’d like them to be movies. While the comics stand on their own, we can easily see these stories playing on the big screen.

DW: Bad Moon Rising is set in the fictional town of Hope, Arizona. As a resident of the state, what unique elements do you think the setting brings to a horror story that we haven’t seen before?

BP: The land itself is a character. It is isolating. In the desert, it is tough going. It is life or death out there. Whether it is the elements or some desert dwelling creature, you could easily die in three days or less.

I’m modeling Hope, Arizona on an existing town called Jerome. It is a bizarre town, set on the side of a mountain. It has had several citywide fires, its copper mines have gone bankrupt a number of times and today it is populated by locals and artists. The entire town is said to be haunted.

Arizona has a bunch of Ghost towns. These were town that sprang up around a commodity, commonly copper. The towns went bust after the mine dried up or the price on copper went down. As a result, the town’s are just plain creepy.  They were built for a population of say, ten thousand people, now three hundred live there. They are decrepit, run down and charming.

DW: Black Jack Hatchet is from a time similar to what we see on Deadwood or Tombstone. Since he was a murdering bastard before the mystical nature of his creation came into play, do you feel that western background is a driving force for his killing sprees?

BP: I do. Exactly. I live in a state where Tombstone played out. There are legends of absolutely reprehensible characters killing people for little or nothing. There was a time where the land was lawless and Black Jack came from that time. He has no respect for authority. He wants what he wants and he’ll stop at nothing to get it.

DW: When creating Black Jack, there must have been a time when you made the decision to have him speak. What advantages do you find in giving him a voice like Freddy over making him a silent killing machine like Jason?

BP: He’ll be a man of few words, but yeah, he does speak. Black Jack, though an unstoppable killing machine with a penchant for horrific violence, is a man of passion. He’s searching for a lost love the way, say Candyman was looking for his lost love. That needs to be communicated in what he says.

DW: Your working with artist Wellington Alves on this project; was he attached to the project in the beginning or did he come aboard as the project moved forward and how much has his art style influence your choices in writing?

BP: In this case, Wellington came on board after the script was written. William Christensen “cast” Wellington after he read the script. Not knowing who was assigned, I threw in all the detail I thought necessary to get the point across.

I was pretty lucky, though. As the script was being written, we had Juan Jose Ryp doing character designs based on my drawings. We got to do several rounds back and forth to develop Black Jack’s look and weapon – his trusty ax, Mabel. By the time Wellington came on, Black Jack’s look was established.

DW: For fans of your work on the New Line properties, what elements of Bad Moon Rising do you think would most appeal to them and what elements do you feel are completely unique to this new title?

BP: My stuff is hyper-violent. I’m always after a high body count and inventive way to kill people off. It’s a gift, I’m sure of it, but I can come up with some horrific stuff. At the heart of it, I think I know what makes me afraid or grossed out, and can reproduce it.

Now the killing element is not the sum total of the experience. It is the icing on the cake. You need a good story with characters you care about. The monster is only as good as the heroes/survivors in the story and it’s important to me that these characters read “real”. I can’t stand stupid characters in horror flicks. You know what I mean, the overtly curious characters that head TOWARD the creepy noise, not away from it. I avoid those characters like the plague.

I like writing rebel characters or outsiders and they show up in many of my stories.

DW: You’re coming up to your fifteenth anniversary of your first published work. How much has your writing changed in that time? What do you know now that you wish you knew back then?

BP: The last three years have been real productive for me. I’ve written close to one hundred comics, several screenplays, an eighteen-part podcast, some award-winning short films and more, so I think I’ve really honed my skills to sit down and craft stories.

I know that if I persist, the story will come and if I don’t force the issue, the story tells itself to me. It’s like meditation. The story is there. I just have to be open to it. It doesn’t always work that way. Sometimes writing is just brutal work.

I start the day at the gym and ponder a given story as I’m working out or doing cardio, just zenning out. Details come to me and after the gym and a shower, I’m in my office, writing down what I’ve discovered. I suppose I’m more at peace with the process.

I’m much more disciplined and systematic. I allow time for research, outlining and writing the story. I have several stories cooking at once. I’m going all the time with stories.

To be honest with you, I’m always out to learn more too. I constantly educate myself on writing. I’m always looking for a new wrinkle to add to my arsenal.

For more information, artwork, and ordering:
www.badmoonrising.ws

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LADY DEATH vs WAR ANGEL #1

Previously available only at the San Diego Comic-Con, this full-color one-shot is now available for order while supplies last.  If you’ve been following Brian Pulido’s Lady Death saga lately you knew the volatile chemistry between these two was going to blow up sooner or later, and even if you haven’t been following it now’s a good time to check in on the drama of this rivalry in the making (and for old school Avatar fans, don’t miss the cameo by Pandora).

Preview:
www.avatarpress.net/v/ladydeath/warangel/
Order:
www.comiccavalcade.com/ladydeath-warangel-offer

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CREATING HORROR ICONS (Part II) – Mischief Night
By Dan Wickline

I continue my conversation with Horror Master Brian Pulido as his two new Avatar Press horror series are set to debut.

Dan Wickline: When you sit down to create stories for licensed properties like Nightmare on Elm Street, how does it differ from your approach to your own creations? Do you find the restrictions frustrating or challenging?

Brian Pulido: Actually, I find it very liberating. These characters and their story designs are so good and so pure; it’s almost easy to come up with fresh angles on them. Keep in mind I’m not a revisionist. I don’t see anything wrong with the basic franchises of the characters. I’m not out to re-write them. I’m out to give readers the monsters they love in stories with fresh twists and takes on them.

Freddy is fun. Find the current teenage maladies or weaknesses of the time and have him play with them.  There wasn’t gastric bypass surgery when Freddy was first introduced, same with Attention deficient stress disorder or a bunch of new disorders. Freddy is a real mirror of our societal anxieties.

Jason is a supernatural version of the Terminator, what’s not to love. The game with Jason is to craft a story that occurs around him that he can run head on into.

I’ve had great fun writing these murderers.

DW: You are now working with Avatar Press to create a new line of horror titles and hopefully a new set of horror icons. What elements do you think are necessary to create a character that will not only resonate with fans but will also have the desired longevity?

BP: Overall, the story needs to be fresh, entertaining, scary. You have to root for the main characters and the monster has to tap into one of today’s fears. But honestly, all that said, it is not a formula. These stories need to come from the heart. A dark heart, to be sure, but they need heart and soul.

DW: With Mischief Night you’ve gone to your home state of New Jersey and the ‘creation event’ takes place around a girl of eleven. What does that area of New Jersey bring to the story and how much of your own childhood experiences influence the events in the story?

BP: I grew up in a town called Long Branch, New Jersey. To this day, I still have dreams and nightmares set in Long Branch, so it’s easy and appropriate for me to set Mischief Night there. It is a real place.

As a kid, there were so many creepy places in Long Branch and the run down mansion that the “creation event” you mentioned was a real place down the street from where I lived. We were sure it was haunted and were convinced vagrants squatted there.

For this story, I am using Long Branch as I remembered it, down to the details of the High School. The fall in Long Branch was especially creepy. The autumn leaves were falling. It got dark out right after school let out and there was a whole “Lord of The Flies” mentality among the kids. Our parents never knew it, but we played out wars and conflicts throughout the streets. Cedar Avenue was not just a street. It was where the local bully Tiger Turkinton lived. You knew to avoid it if you didn’t want your ass kicked.

Still, Long Branch was quaint by today’s standards. Tiger may have been a bully, but he never carried a gun. We didn’t have metal detectors in the high school.  To bring the story up to date, I’ve made adjustments.

DW: On the East Coast, Mischief Night might be common, but it was something I had never heard of here on the West Coast. What is Mischief Night and how did it play into the creation of the story?

BP:  Back in New Jersey when I was a kid, the night before Halloween was Mischief Night. This was the night of the year when “bad kids” would roam through the streets doing mischief.  Not just light weight, toilet-paper-your-friend’s-house kind of stuff or flaming bag of dog crap on your neighbor’s front porch. Instead, it became an excuse for brick-through-your-windshield kind of mayhem.

Why was this night singled out for trouble? Perhaps it was an outgrowth of the original trick or treat idea: On Halloween, if not rewarded with a treat, costumed pranksters were entitled to play a trick on the resident of the house.

It works for this story, because the lead characters are out on a dare, they know they should not be out and in a sense, they are punished for it when they encounter Jack & Jill.

Also, in a nod to slasher flicks, I noticed that many of the classics are named after a holiday. Hence, Mischief Night was born!

DW: To the best of my knowledge, Jack and Jill is the first ever tandem killers. What made you decide to create the Dreadful Duo instead of the standard solo slayer?

BP: It just popped into my head. What would be different? In a twisted way, I was thinking of Bonnie and Clyde or Mickey and Mallory from Natural Born Killers. Then I said to myself “Supernatural born killers” and the idea took off from there.

I’ve always been interested in sick couples in love. It seems people will do anything in the name of love or for love. So to exclude it, you have empty killers. Look at Jason. He seems to be killing for revenge, but I believe he kills to appease his mother. Freddy kills because this is how he sees love. He kills kids because he loves them. I don’t condone this stuff. It is fiction, after all. It just occurs to me when you subtract love from the equation, you’re left with nothing and I find it hard to believe that people kill for no reason at all.

Also, I created Jack and Jill to present a fresh take on slashers.

DW: In Mischief Night we find the Jack and Jill already planned on mass murder at their high school. I take it that these two are far more disturbed than just two kids that got picked on in class? Will you be exploring the relationship between the two or are the stories more focused on those fighting against their evil?

BP: The stories wind up being about both: surviving against evil and what is the nature of this evil? How could two teens start out so poisoned? I love origin stories. They’re my favorite. But you have to be very careful with them. You don’t want to diminish the power of the monster.

Typically, you don’t get so much “screen time” for the slasher’s origin or back-story, but we will here. It is as much their story as Jenny’s. You look at slashers like Michael Myers or Freddy Krueger. They were evil long before they came back from the grave. I’ll provide some insight into Jack & Jill’s tortured past.

As far as seeing Jack and Jill in action, we will see a bit of their MO in the Special, but it will truly unfold in the main story arc. It’ll surprise readers.

DW: You’re working with Juan Jose Ryp on this project as you have on other books in the past. Did you design this story with him in mind and how much does his incredible attention to detail play into your story choices?

BP: Ryp is a dream artist to write for. He WANTS you to throw in all the detail. Many artists do not want to draw so much detail, but here’s the deal: Ryp’s detail reveals a lot about the characters. Ryp has a great eye for what is going on in pop culture and he crams it into each panel.

Ryp loves to draw challenging angles, so I throw everything I got at him and he knocks it out of the park. In the best of circumstances, there is a unique “music” being played between the writer and artist on a comic and when it is good, or in the case of working with Ryp, it is great, it is the single most satisfying aspect of writing comics. That an artist can take a few choice words as a starting point and perfectly capture the writer’s intent, or go beyond, is super cool.

It’s very important that this story looks current, that the characters dress current, look and behave like people today and Ryp captures that. He’s also an emotional artist, so you can really feel what the characters are going through. Since my stories tend to be very, very emotionally charged, very life or death, it is blessing to have Ryp draw them.

DW: For fans of your work on the New Line properties, what elements of Mischief Night do you think would most appeal to them and what elements do you feel are completely unique to this new title?

BP: Like with Bad Moon Rising, I tend to go for hyper-violent killings but with characters that read ‘real’ and it’s no different here. I seem to be able to inhabit the minds of these famous slashers. I can get inside their desires, their needs. I do this with Mischief Night. I’ve created two new slashers – Jack & Jill – and I can honestly say, they are a fresh take on the genre. They’ll take readers to a new, dark place.

I dare the readers NOT to fall in love with Jill. She’s the ultimate Goth goddess, but she’s a ruthless, diabolical killer. I dare readers not to feel sympathy for Jack, but again he appears to be a heartless killer.

Readers will care about Jenny and he plight. How could you not?

It’s fun to play with the reader’s sympathy.

DW: You’re one of the few writers who has stuck to the horror genre for your entire career. What is it about horror that has kept you so enraptured for so long?

BP: You know, I enjoy all sorts of genres and could probably kick ass writing them. I love action and crime stories for instance, but early on my mother introduced me to horror. I must have been about five. It was a way that she and I could hang out and communicate. I saw some really strong stuff at that age (at least I thought it was strong. The Hideous Sun Demon has lost its punch on recent viewings) and as the years rolled on, I saw movies like Night of The Living Dead within the first few weeks after it came out. Those times shaped my response to the genre. I like dark things.

Horror films scared me, but excited me too and I think that’s true to this day. It is a very honest, moral genre. It’s deals very head on with death, and I won’t lie to you, I fear death. Writing this stuff helps deal with the inevitable.

For more information, artwork, and ordering:
www.mischiefnight.ws

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VOTE AVATAR

This recently hit the Avatar inbox from Francisca Pulido:

Hello Folks,

As you all know my husband, Brian Pulido, is a writer. He has been nominated in two categories for Spike TV’s  SCREAM AWARDS 2006.  I would love if you could take a moment and vote for Brian. I’ve added the link to vote, also below are the categories he is under and the projects he wrote.

If I could also request that you forward this to any people on your lists that would vote.  Make sure to watch the awards show on October 10th at 10pm

Thanks for voting!!!

Category –  BEST RACK ON THE RACK
Vote for   *  LADY DEATH

Category – BEST SCREEN-TO-COMIC ADAPTATION

Vote for   * TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE

http://www.screamawards.spiketv.com/

Regards,
Francisca Pulido

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STARGATE SG-1, ATLANTIS COMICS HIT THE STREETS

A pair of new Stargate comics have hit stores recently, The Stargate SG-1 2006 Convention Special, and Stargate Atlantis: Wraithfall #1.

STARGATE ATLANTIS: WRAITHFALL #1: Far from Earth, an intrepid team of explorers charts the secrets of the Pegasus Galaxy and the lost city of Atlantis. But Major John Sheppard blames himself for the re-emergence of the Wraith, a deadly race of energy-vampires plaguing the entire Pegasus Galaxy. Now, a backwater planet’s bizarre deal with the Wraith may offer Sheppard a chance at redemption…or lead to the utter destruction of the Atlantis team.

STARGATE SG-1 2006 CONVENTION SPECIAL:  Pinned down by invisible attackers the SG-1 team discovers that the Goa’uld have uncovered the secrets to the Nox invisibility technology. They appear on the verge of being overrun when Anteaus and his Nox companions appear among them and help dispatch the attacking Jaffa. Anteaus reveals that one of their own has turned from the peaceful life journey to embrace the Goa’uld philosophy. The team is forced to find a way to stop the traitor before she can make the already powerful Goa’uld invincible!

Preview Stargate Atlantis: Wraithfall #1:
www.avatarpress.net/v/stargate/atlantis/wraithfall/

These items should be available from your local retailer now. Please support your local retailer and Avatar by asking him about these comics. 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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SEPTEMBER 2006 SOLICITED RELEASES
* George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead: Back from the Grave – John Russo, Sebastan Fiumara
* Warren Ellis’ Blackgas2 #1 – Warren Ellis, Max Fiumara
* Escape of the Living Dead: Airborne #1 – John Russo, Dheeraj Verma
* Escape of the Living Dead TPB – John Russo, Dheeraj Verma
* Mischief Night Special #1 – Brian Pulido, Juan Jose Ryp
* Witchman Special #1 – Mike Wolfer
* Bad Moon Rising Special #1 – Brian Pulido, Wellington Alves
And much more. You can get complete information and graphics for these and all our April releases at
www.avatarpress.com/2006solic/09/

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/2006solic/09/

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OCTOBER 2006 SOLICITED RELEASES
* George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead: The Beginning #1- John Russo, Sebastan Fiumara
* Warren Ellis’ Blackgas2 #2 – Warren Ellis, Max Fiumara
* Escape of the Living Dead: Airborne #2 – John Russo, Dheeraj Verma
* Lady Death: Blacklands #1 – Brian Pulido, Gabriel Guzman
* Lady Death: Dark Horizons- Brian Pulido, Wellington Alves
* Stargate Atlantis: Wraithfall #2 – Stuart Moore, Mauricio Melo
And much more. You can get complete information and graphics for these and all our April releases at
www.avatarpress.com/2006solic/10/

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/2006solic/10/

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links of note:
main site: www.avatarpress.com
gallery site: www.avatarpress.net

Please support your local comic shop and Avatar by asking for or preordeirng Avatar Press comics at your local retailer.  If you can’t find them locally, you can order them from our direct sales agent at
www.avatarstore.net