Satterlee Said What?

NYC KONG Signing

2007-12-10T07:46:00.001-08:00

We had the signing for KONG: KING OF SKULL ISLAND last week. Jim Hanley's Universe and Vito as well as Harry were all very friendly and accomidating.

Things went very well. It was ALL of us together in one place at one time.

Joe DeVito, the creator of K: KOSI, me, Dan O'Connor (interior artist), Tommy Castillo (Cover artist), Kris Johnson (colorist), Sal Cipriano (letterer).

Here are a couple pics:

I quit

2007-12-06T17:10:00.000-08:00

I swear to God...I would be saying that if I didn't have so much invested in comics already. I am at my wits end with people.

If I wasn;t starting to be paid for work like i am for the good folks at Bozell and Platinum and other places...I'd be done and doing a regular job and probably have a house and decent credit and such.

I am just being pissy today.

Sleep...glorious sleep

2007-11-14T13:30:00.000-08:00

This has been a bizarre year for me. I had a heart attack in August and then in October, I was coaching Luke's (my son) flag football team and I got karate chopped in the nuts in just the right place. This reulted in me losing a testicle in emergency surgery. I had an infection after that and spent even more time in.

I am trying like hell to write but it has been hard.

On top of it all, I can not sleep well and I found out (after I almost died on the operating table) that I am suffering from severe sleep apnea. Tonight, I go into the hospital again for a sleep study so I can finally get some sleep. I am told that, after you get the apnea machine, a life can be changed. I am looking forward to it.

On the comic creation front, I am really excited. I may be going into business with Tommy Castillo in a new publishing endeavor. I am also working with my pal, Szymon Kudranski, on a new series called GUN TOTING BIBLE BANGER. Here are a few pics:

Of Bitter Souls to be a cell phone game

2007-11-09T19:12:00.001-08:00

How cool is this...

Kolcom is making an OF BITTER SOULS cell phone video game! It will be out in December. It is very cool and they should be sending me the beta version soon.

You didn't hear it from me but it looks like there is interest in a PLaystation game too!

Here are some screen shots:

Some projects I am working on...

2007-10-15T19:16:00.000-07:00

CLOUD NINE

I am working on this with Brian Augustyn, who is co-writing. The art team consists of South Africans Peter David Douglas and Neil Van Antwerpen.

Here is some of the art, which has just been started:

Platinum Studios

2007-10-15T19:09:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to announce that I am working on a horror OGN as a work for hire for PLATINUM STUDIOS. I am not sure what I can say about it and what I can't so I will be cautious and say nothing. It is cool to be getting paid though. I thought that day would never come.

As far as art:

Here is some from KONG: KING OF SKULL ISLAND #1:

2007-10-15T05:43:00.000-07:00

Well, that whole updating daily thing is a bust.

Anyway, I am back on the blog. I thought I'd update what I've been up to this summer and early fall.

I went to the COMIC GEEK SPEAK 300th Episode celebration last month. Very fun! I was able to visit with some dear friends I have made while being a member of the online community. If you're not listening to Comic Geek Speak, you really should be.

Comic Geek Speak

Here are some pics from the event:

Oh, and I had a heart attack.

It was a minor one. It was a wake-up call. I am on meds now and am trying to lose weight and get healthy.

I'm not going into detail on it.

My series are coming along nicely. THIRTEEN STEPS is getting good reviews. I am excited about KONG: KING OF SKULL ISLAND and I have also been hired by PLATINUM STUDIOS to write as well.

I'll upload some art soon. (I hope :))

Reading some lately:

2007-05-21T13:48:00.000-07:00

I have been reading some lately. I thought I would comment.

ALL STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN THE BOY WONDER #5

I had such very high hopes for this series. I am a big fan of Jim Lee and Frank MIller is a personal hero. Then they started to come out. I wasn't a big fan of issue 1. Then issue 2 arrived and I was less impressed. I was getting nervous. Issue three came and went with even less regard for the series on my part. Issue four was my stopping point. If issue four wasn't great, I was giving up.

Issue four was ok. It ended with a line that made me think that the series was going to be ok.

"Alfred just told me to take a flying leap. This kid is going to ruin everything."

Or something like that.

Then a year passed and issue five fell in my hands last week.

I love being the Goddamn Batman?

I love this goddamn book.

Frank is back and he never left. When this is a trade, it will read so much better. He has been setting us up for this and he delivered. The art is, as usual...Jim Lee awesome. I love this series now.

Kudos to the creative team for bringing a series back from near death.

NO OTHER GODS

2007-05-13T06:18:00.000-07:00

My first series under my new banner next year will be NO OTHER GODS. I am co-writing this one with Brian Augustyn. Alessandro Scacchia was going to handle the art, but unfortunately, his Mother is ill and he needs to spend some time with her. This created a need for a new artist and now fellow Shocktraumanaut, Fredd Gorham is handling the art. He has told me that he has a number of pages ready and I am chomping at the bit to see them! Fredd has a very col style. Here are a couple of character sketches based on Alessandro's designs:

BOB

2007-05-13T06:01:00.000-07:00

I have had this in my head for over twelve years. I created this character with my old pal, Tom McKeon. He is a multi-talented artist and animator. However, he is not able to do a full on book and BOB has therefore been dormant. That is now over. Tom is going to do covers and I am self-publishing BOB in my line-up next year. My fellow Shocktraumanaut, Aaron Guillespie is going to handle the interiors. I'll figure out a colorist soon.

Here is a very preliminary cover for BOB by Tom.

NO OTHER GODS changes next.

And here are some character sketches from Aaron:

2007-05-12T21:47:00.000-07:00

Man...I wanted to do this every day. That's not gonna happen. I have been so busy. I've done some signings, mad plans to self-pulish, wrote about 13 scripts and took on a day job.

Wow...what changes in just a short time...

Anyway, I thought I'd catch up on the projects I am working on.

Firstly, my wife created a story while my little boy was potty training. You see, when a little one is learning to sit on the toilet, a parent has to sit in there for long periods of time. So Chris spent many hours sitting in a bathroom with Luke and consequently, ran out of stories to tell from her arsenal of stories from when she was small. This meant making up some stories.

One of those stories was THE HONCKEYBUM MONSTER. I thought it was fantastic and we teamed up. I punched up the stpry a bit and wrote an outline and then in Chicago last year...I found Nicole Polack. Nicole has a creepy, scary stryle and it fits te story to a tee.

THE HONCKEYBUM MONSTER is a children's book and not really a comic book. We will be shopping it when it is complete.

Like the rest of the titles I am going to talk about here, I am refraining from writing about the storylines as thee may not be out for a while and I do not want to either get ripped off or believe someone ripped me off when in fact they didn't.

Here are preliminary layout pages for some of THE HONCKEYBUM MONSTER, created by Chris Satterlee and me and Cpyright Chris & Chuck Satterlee and Nicole Polack. The pages will ultimately be full color.

Next up is KONG!

Issue zero of KONG: KING OF SKULL ISLAND is pretty much wrapped up.

Here are some inked pages. The scans are a bit rough. I have better ones but I thought, since there is so much time before it is released, (October from Markosia) it is best to leave some room for anticipation.

Dan O'Connor on art. I am so jazzed to be working with Dan. He was certainly born in the wrong decade and I love his style.

Now...onto a project that I am very honored to be a part of. Phil Hester is probably one of my most respected creators in comics. I was blown away when he asked me to co-write a book with him. 13 STEPS is that book and when Kevin Mellon (GEARHEAD from Arcana Studio) came on board, things were quite frankly...perfect. Here are the first couple of pages from this series, debuting in August from Desperado.

Onto Free Comic Book Day...

I signed at COMIC FUSION in Flemington New Jersey. Stacy and Bill, the owners were very cool. Chris Dibari, who is drawing the ongoing STARSHIP TROOPERS series at Markosia, was there as well.

Here are some pics:

This is my son, Luke...doing skecthes! :)

I did a signing at Krypton Comics in Omaha, Nebraska in April with Bruce McCorkindale, the artist of HERETIC. Here are some pics from the signing and some pages. The large, framed covers of #1 are a gift from Bruce's girlfriend, Jen. She's a find! We sold out of 52 copies of HERETIC #1 That day. #2 should be out any day.

I'm gearing up for a new trade this summer (OF BITTER SOULS V.2) and a bunch of books this year but I mostly looking forward to self-publishing next year. More on that next time.

Updates soon.

2007-03-26T05:07:00.001-07:00

Lots of stores, art and stories coming soon...like tonight. Just been busy.

1st Day out selling!

2007-03-21T07:05:00.000-07:00

So I went out selling yesterday. I finally got everything geared up and ready and I went out. The first day had eight stores on the list...none of which I called to let them tell me no on the phone. I know it is taking a chance on wasting some time, and I may change my strategy after too much time lost, but for now...it is my chosen strategy.

I am going to be brutally honest about the stores I visit. I am going to grade them here on a number of criteria. Each will be on a scale of 1-10 and a final tally for a total store scoring from me will be at the bottom of each store description and report.

1) Appearance of store
2) Use of space
3) Cleanliness
4) friendliness (before they meet me)
5) Did they greet me at the door?
6) Willingness to carry indy titles
7) Parking
8) Signage (is it visible?)
9) Salesmanship (does this retailer actually sell?)
10) General feel (what vibe did I get?)

The first store on the list was WILD PIG COMICS in Kenilworth, NJ. They turned out to be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. I was not terribly impressed with the store from the outside. They had a sign on the door that stated that they were sold out of CAP #25. This kind of annoyed me because I would think that any chance to get someone in the door is a good thing. If it were my store, I would verbally tell people and then ask if they want me to see if I can get it...then talk to them about other things. I would ask questions and such. Maybe I could make another sale. Having the sign on the door turned people away before they even came in if the customer was simply looking for that one book. Also, I noticed very sun washed cardboard stand-ups in the window where I could literally see the dust build-up through the not very clean windows. I will go back here, but I wasn't impressed for a first visit. They are probably one of those old stores with a huge pull list. How can I know without talking to someone? No score can be given.

The second place I stopped in was COMIC EXPLOSION in Nutley, NJ. Scott is the owner here. He greeted me at the door, even though he could sense I wanted to sell him something. That was good of him not to judge. The store does seem like it has been around for a while. It is clean though and he uses his space as best as he can. He has a slightly defeatist attitude when he talks about his clientelle. It can be understood, I guess. If you step outside of the store and look down the street, you can literally see the EMPIRE STATE BUILDING...and know that JIM HANLEY'S is right there. His store certainly seems small in such a shadow, but it is a good, well run store, it seems. He has about 200 subscriptions. He did buy from me and I also agreed to come back on April 4th to sell and sign on a Wednesday.

He bought:

(2) OBS trades
(2) OBS V.2 #1
(2) OBS V.2 #2
(2) OBS V.2 #3
(3) HERETIC #1
(2) D2D #1
(2) D2D #2
(2) D2D #3
(2) D2D #4
(2) D2D #5
(1) Project Eon #1
(1) Project Eon #2
(1) Project Eon #3
(1) Scatterbrian #1
(1) Scatterbrain #2
(1) Scatterbrain #3
(1) Scatterbrain #4
(1) Dark Mists #1
(1) Dark Mists #2
(1) Dark Mists #3
(1) Dark Mists #4

Here are the scores for COMIC EXPLOSION:

1) Appearance of store (8)
The store was clean and neat, if not somewhat dated. Still, I didn't feel like it was a dingy old place to shop.

2) Use of space (5)
There is not a lot of room in the store, but I think that the racks are confusing. I saw an issue of an EVENT COMICS Painkiller Jane/Hellboy up there. I would think that should be in the back issue bins. I think Scott is on the right track, just a little more organization could help.

3) Cleanliness (9)
No issues here. It just looks a bit old is all, but is certainly clean and well kept.

4) friendliness (before they meet me) (10)
Again, Scott met me at the door with a greeting and a smile.

5) Did they greet me at the door? (10)
I know this is redundant, but there is a difference between getting greeted at the door and a feeling of friendliness as you shop. Scott was very pleasent.

6) Willingness to carry indy titles (7)
I know this is due to space limitations, but he seemed to have that general feeling that indy comics can't sell because his clients do not buy them. But it is a vicious circle. If they are not available, who can buy them? He did have some up there though. The big small guys like DYNAMITE and IDW. If you haven't guessed by now, I do not count IMAGE or DARK HORSE as indy in my world because they are not bunched in the back with all of us fighting it out in the trenches. This is not a insult to those guys...just a observation. I would rather be IMAGE or DARK HORSE so we could be in the front of the book.

7) Parking (3)
They have a couple spaces out front on the street, but I can see that I would have to park as much as a block away if I were a regular.

8) Signage (is it visible?) (10)
No complaints here. Good signage.

9) Salesmanship (does this retailer actually sell?) (5)
I am not quite sure how to handle this. It seems he does sell to the best of his ability. However, I feel a retailer is best selling when they are utlizing their subscription base. If you have ever heard me on CGS, you know that I believe in selling to your loyal customers, which he doesn't do to the extent that I suggest.

10) General feel (what vibe did I get?) (8)
I got the feeling that Scott is not too far gone. A lot of retailers will not even give a chance to small press. Scott did. I think he is somewhat jaded living in the shadow of the huge stores just across the river like MIDTOWN and JIM HANLEY'S, but he cares for his store and I would certainly not mind calling this my LCS if I lived in town.

Totak score for COMIC EXPLOSION: 72 out of 100

The third store of the day was KRYPTONITE COMICS in North Bergen, NJ. This store seems to be out of business or has moved.

The fourth store on the list was A&S COMICS AND CARDS in North Bergen, NJ. The only person there was a worker and not a manager or owner. I spoke briefly with him and he gave me the name and number of the manager. It turns out they have two stores. I will contact the manager.

Here are the scores:

1) Appearance of store (3)
Apart from some very cool, home made drawer boxes made out of wood, the store was not a store I would say somebody cared for and took the time to arrange. Nothing was marked and it was a mess.

2) Use of space (4)
This is a tiny store, but they must have a better way. Nothing was easy to find at all. Tiny rack also which told me that there was going to be a hard sell ahead of me as their rack does not even have the size to carry all of DC or Marvel's titles in a given week.

3) Cleanliness (1)
Honestly, I don't think this store has been cleaned in a long...long time.

4) friendliness (before they meet me) (10)
I do have to say that the owner and manager picked the right fella to run the store in their absence. They have a very friendly guy working there. He smiles and seems knoweledable about everything but indy comics.

5) Did they greet me at the door? (10)
Very nice greeting.

6) Willingness to carry indy titles (2)
If I can get our books into this store, it very well may be the first indy comics from the back of PREVIEWS in this store.

7) Parking (2)
This is a main street. Hardly any parking at all.

8) Signage (is it visible?) (2)
Unfortunately, the sign does not jump out at all.

9) Salesmanship (does this retailer actually sell?) (2)
While he is konwledgable, the employee didn't seem like a salesman at all. Very friendly, just not sales minded.

10) General feel (what vibe did I get?) (5)
Thanks to the friendliness of the employee, this is not a 1 or 2. I would certainly seek other stores if I lived in this town, however.

I know these reviews seem critical, and they may even hurt feelings if they are viewed by the stores I am reviewing, but it is important I think to treat your comic book store as a actual business because it is and every dirty and poorly run store means less new comic fans in my opinion.

Total score for A&S COMICS & CARDS in North Bergen, NJ: 41 out of 100

I then stopped by LEFT FIELD COLLECTIBLES in North Bergen, NJ. This store also is either out of business or has moved.

Next up? Reality's Edge in North Arlington. This store is also either closed or moved.

I then drove up the road in North Arlington and found PARADOX COMICS. Carol and Scott are the owners. Scott was not in and he does the ordering. I had a great conversation with Carol. She said that they will probably give Markosia a chance and I am supposed to call back to talk to Scott.

Here are the scores:

1) Appearance of store (10)
They had a great stand-up, wooden painted Spiderman out front. The window was not cluttered with out of date posters that have been faded by the sun. Walking in, you knew that they cared and cleaned. The stores was small, but laid out with a lot of tought behind it. Great first impression!

2) Use of space (10)
For a small place, they really do a great job! They have a very unique way of displaying action figures so they do not take up shelf space. (it actually reminded me to start bringing my camera with me.) I was very impressed. Their new arrival racks are big for such a small store.

3) Cleanliness (10)
Clean as a whistle. Well kept!

4) friendliness (before they meet me) (10)
I had a great feeling being in this store. Carol is a sewwtheart.

5) Did they greet me at the door? (10)
Yes. I received a nice hearty hello upon entering.

6) Willingness to carry indy titles (7)
They had a lot of DYNAMITE and VIRGIN and a few IDW and DEVIL'S DUE. They seem open to more.

7 parking: (4)
They are across the street from a huge cemetary. There really only seems to be parking on one side of the street and could be a problem on Wednesdays.

8) Signage (is it visible?) (9)
If it only had lights for nightime...but the sign is huge!

9) Salesmanship (does this retailer actually sell?) (5)
Carol is obviously not someone who grew up hoping that one day, she would marry a man who would then open a comic book store where she would work...but that said, she does her best. She has learned quite a bit. She is also very pleasent. If they sold to their pull lists, it would be even better.

10) General feel (what vibe did I get?) (9)
I really liked this store. I would be happy to call it my LCS if I lived there!

Total score for PARADOX COMICS: 84 out of 100

The eight and final stop of the day was a visit to North Plainfield, NJand a stop at JC COMICS. I met the owner there and I honestly believe he thought I was a mini-comic guy or someone just starting out and making copies of my comics at KINKOS or something. (This is not a insult to those guys because I have been there and it is hard.)

I had to explain who I was because he had never...EVER heard of anything that has to do with Markosia and didn't even know that there was a STARSHIP TROOPERS series. He does not do the ordering and referred me to his partner to call.

Here is how JC Comics scored:

1) Appearance of store (10)
Very nice, modern and clean store in a shopping center.

2) Use of space (7)
While they use every bit of it, a little creativity could go a long way.

3) Cleanliness (10)
Not a spek of dust that I could see.

4) friendliness (before they meet me) (5)
They were not rude, but were not terribly friendly.

5) Did they greet me at the door? (0)
I was there for five minutes before anyone even came out from the back. I noticed no cameras and thought it odd that they would not want to watch me...a stranger. I could have jacked a statue or something.

6) Willingness to carry indy titles (4)
This is going to be a hard sell, I think. They do not carry very many indy titles at all it seems.

7) Parking (10)
Nice sized parking lot.

8) Signage (is it visible?) (7)
This isn't really their fault. They are right next to a blockbuster and they tend to get lost. It is a major busy street and unless you are looking, you will miss it. However, kudos for the placement next to a Blockbuster. They get great foot traffic it seems.

9) Salesmanship (does this retailer actually sell?) (2)
I did not get the feeling that they sell at all.

10) General feel (what vibe did I get?) (5)
Nice looking store but not the most friendly.

Total Score for JC COMICS: 60 out of 100

On the production side, Bruce McCorkindale has been busy. here are a couple more pages from Heretic:

I also sent out 10 copies each of OBS tpb, S&M tpb and THE HUNGER tpb to In Stock Trades, which is a re-order, so they must be doing ok.

The Bethlehem Public Library also bought about 9 trades.

Every one counts!

Research

2007-03-16T10:39:00.000-07:00

I am rocking on this new idea! I was at the library this morning to check out about nine different boks for referance. They are going to help big time. At this point, all I can say is that it deals with a couple of my favorite subjects...theology and spies!

I even started the first page of script. I am sooo diging this!

I gots me an idear!!!!

2007-03-15T20:38:00.000-07:00

Man...

I am so freakin' excited.

I was in the office...and by in the office, I mean in the bathroom. It is where I get my best thinking in, like any red blood man. And it hit me!

I am so ready to do a series like this. I can't say what it is, but it is timely, topical, action packed and features a main character that is unlike anything in comics! I can't believe nobody has thought of this before. I am getting some research in and writing a script for a five issue mini-series immediately and will find an artist as fast as I can!

I love this part of the creation process. This is when I get jazzed!

Good Stuff!

2007-03-13T13:25:00.000-07:00

Bruce McCorkindale sent in a penciled cover for issue four of HERETIC. He is freakin' knocking me out! I am so proud of this series so far and I sure hope Joe Nassise has been as proud. I have to tweak the next script for Bruce by the weekend as he will be done with the issue he is currently working on. Here is the cover.

I am excited to rent CASINO ROYALE tonight. Chris hasn't seen it and I have to say that it is my favorite Bond film.

Speaking of films.

I absolutely loved 300. I am so happy to see it do the numbers it did for a couple of reasons. The first is my "I LOVE FRANK MILLER" reason! He is just about my favorite creator of all time and he inspired me to write comics. I am happy to see his visions hitting the screen with success. The second is my "I LOVE ME" reason. The better comic properties do, the more of a chance OF BITTER SOULS has to make it in TV. One can hope!

Dan O'Connor also is hard at work on pages for KONG: KING OF SKULL ISLAND. Here are a couple pages.

Things are heating up with SMOKE & MIRROR. Daniel Bradford has finished layouts for the entire second issue. (script by Andrew Foley)

I'll have some of that soon.

I am going to be hitting the road soon. I will be going to as many retailers as I can over the next months, stopping in in person, as I had hoped to do last year. I am starting next week on Monday. I will probably be in New Jersey for a few weeks on day trips. The good folks at COMIC GEEK SPEAK have been helping me by telling me about all of their LCS locations.

If you are reading this and you are not a member of the COMIC GEEK SPEAK community, you really should be checking it out. Just go to click here.

I re-read my ABSOLUTE DARK KNIGHT again. Man, do I love that work. DK2 tends to grow on me.

Freddie E. Williams, just before he went exclusive at DC, did a piece for the cover of the OBS V.2 Trade Paperback. My friend, Fiona Staples did one, but I am going to use that for the back cover due to the fact that while, it has grown on me and I love it, I am not sure it works for the cover.

Here is the colored version of Frediie's cover:

And here is Fiona's piece. Man, I love her work! I wish to Hell I could use this for the cover. Markosia thnks it may be better used elsewhere. She also drew DONE 2 DEATH, which I love.

I'll have more soon!

Self Important comic book pro pictures

2007-03-10T08:17:00.000-08:00

Has anybody noticed myspace, comicspace, blogs, Wizard and other sites where comic book pros seem to look like they have posed for the cover of "serious self-important people" instead of just, People?

They kind of remind me of zoolander.

Here is what I mean:

Waiting on reactions...

2007-03-07T19:24:00.000-08:00

I wanted to get to my LCS today, but never got there. I am excited to hear what the reactions are on HERETIC #1. It was a releatively slow day. I cleaned my writing studio though. Dan O'Connor and his wife, Kayla came over to scan the cover to #0, so I didn't want him to think I am as much as a pig as I really am, so I straightened everything up. Since it was a really boring day otherwise, I thought I would take pictures of where I write. Yes, it is that boring of a day from a production standpoint...

This is a shot of my uber geek comic book racks right in my writing studio. BY the way, writing studio in my house stands for poorly lit basement shared with storage and the Markosia stock pile.
The pictures on the right side of the filing cabinent is by Fiona Staples and it is a promo for DONE TO DEATH, by Staples and Andrew Foley. Uhmmm...the gray box above and to the right of the filing cabinent is a fuse box.
That gamecube on the floor is where my son plays video games. The rackon the right is where I keep copies of comic sthat I have written. the comic rack on the left are comics I currently read and collect.

This picture is my collection of PREVIEWS and COMICS BUYER'S GUIDE. I tried to collect Wizard and nothing against it, but I am not really interested in that magazine as a creator. Instead, I read COMICS BUYER'S GUIDE. Ok, I am competely lying. I really don't even read CBG. I swear I don't. I simply read through looking for reviews of my stuff as well as reviews of my friend's stuff. On the rare occasion when one has a review of mine...and one of my friend's projects...I then pay close attention to who got a better review. That is how vain I am.
The OF BITTER SOULS banner is from when I was with Speakeasy. It is the cover to issue three of the first volume.

This is a shot of my "writing studio". The empty space in the forefront is where my 11X17 scanner used to be. Dan borrowed the scanner for the time being so he doesn't have to keep coming over to scan KONG pages.

The poster on the back wall is a cool CBLDF poster. Also, there is an EARTH X poster by Dave Riske up as well. Dave did some covers for SMOKE & MIRROR and he did the variant cover HERETIC #1.

I watched LOST tonight and I really have to say that it is losing me big time. It just doesn't have the same umph that it used to. It has completely "lost" my wife and my brother, who was over for dinner, left to go home when it came on. I am still digging BATTLESTAR though. HEROES is cool, but I am not sure they are going to keep me. It doesn't seem to me to be going anywhere. I don't know. We'll see. The shows I absolutely dig the most are BATTLESTAR, DEXTER, THE DAILY SHOW, COLBERT REPORT and I am absolutely looking forward to THE RICHES on FX.

I'm definitely looking forward to 300. I am going with some friends tomorrow night. My dad works in a theater during his retirement from Mack Trucks and that means, since he is the projectionist, we can go in on Thursday night when they are screening the films to make sure nothing is wrong with them. I am also looking forward to the release of CASINO ROYALE on DVD. I saw it in the theater, but my wife didn't. I think it is absolutely the best of the BOND films I have seen...and I have seen a lot of BOND films.

Lots of writing to do. Got to go.

HERETIC #1 is out today

2007-03-07T09:59:00.000-08:00

Hey all, my new series, HERETIC begins today with #1 as it hits the stands. I hopes ya dig. Please give it a try.

On another note, I forgot to mention that Andrew Foley wrote the script for issue 2 of SMOKE & MIRROR, for which I posted images yesterday. We worked the story together and he helped me out of a scrape. Thanks, Andrew.

KONG Issue Zero Cover is in

2007-03-06T21:30:00.000-08:00

Dan O'Connor delivered the final approved cover to issue zero of KONG: KING OF SKULL ISLAND tonight. That was a treat. He is already hard at work on the eight page teaser story in issue zero.

I am so stoked for this project. It is an icon and I get to write him for his 75th anniversary. Wow!

We are talking to the Empire State Building to have a possible gallery show and party for KONG's 75th! Jim Hanley's Universe (my buddy, Vito) is across the street and will be hosting a signing for issue one the same night. I'll post when I know the date. We are also thinking about drinks at the eatery right inside the ESB, Heartland Brewery.

Bruce is coming along with pages for HERETIC. Here is one. He is kicking ass on this project. He is literally my favorite artist to work with thus far into my fledgling career. He is just a workhorse and we have a ton of similar interests. We have vowed that someday we will earn enough money to quit comics and join the world poker tour.

We had our first review for Heretic today at www.bookgasm.com . It was fairly cool but I think the reviewer may not read too may comics. He liked our version of HERETIC, but I don't think he understands comic book art.

HERETIC #1 comes out tomorrow in NOrth America. I hope people dig it. Bruce and I (especially Bruce) worked hard to bring Joe Nassise's book to life. I hope he is proud of it.

On other fronts, SMOKE & MIRROR is coming out later in the year to finish what we started. Daniel Bradford is back on art and he is looking good. I am so glad we are back on. There really isn't any other artist in my book for the series anymore. It is kind of like Breyfogle with OF BITTER SOULS. I would have a tough time working with anybody else for that series just like I would have a hard time working on SMOKE & MIRROR without Daniel Bradford.

Check these out:

If I haven't shown any art for NO OTHER GODS (which I am co-writin with Brian Augustyn) then here is Alessandro Scacchia:

I started 13 STEPS #2 tonight. I am going to try and do that, finish HERETIC #3 edits, and write KONG #1 all before the end of this weekend.

Monday...ugh

2007-03-05T06:49:00.000-08:00

The weekend is over and I actually got my script for KONG: KING OF SKULL ISLAND #0 turned in. I didn't think it was going to get done. I ended up having to bring my little guy, Luke to a birthda party and Chris had to work yesterday. I really thought I would miss my first deadline and consequently let Joe DeVito, the creator of the book, down.

But I dug in...and finished it.

Dan O'Connor, who is awaiting approval from Joe for the cover, has started some thumbnails for the pages. Here is one:

On the 13 STEPS front, I heard from Phil. Kevin Mellon, who penciled GEARHEAD from ARCANA (which is in PREVIEWS now) is definitely going to be the penciler.

He gave us a couple of character sketches this weekend. I am very excited to work with Kevin and I really believe 13 STEPS is going to do well. I am very proud of the script that Phil and I put together. I think working with Phil brought out the best in me. My dialogue on this book is spot on and there are some very very funny lines. I even got to swipe a line in homage to one of my favorite movies...THE BIG LEBOWSKI!

Below are the character sketches from Kevin:

On the Faragut & Foster front, Sal Cipriano, who co-created the series with me, just lettered Karl Slominski's pages and I have to say...this is one cool looking book.

Check these out:

NO OTHER GODS is going well too. We heard from Alessandro and he says he will be needing the script to issue two right away. He is kicking out some amazing pages. I'll post some of those soon. No word from Dan River on CLOUD 9. I also should probably check in with Daniel Bradford on the SMOKE & MIRROR relaunch.

Dan O'Connor is having fun with his new toy. Joe DeVito gave him a foam rubber KONG of his own design for posing. Here he is with his own little KONG.

KONG CAMP!

2007-03-02T06:25:00.000-08:00

Dan O'Connor (Kong artist) and I are going to the home of Joe Devito, creator of KONG: KING OF SKULL ISLAND. We are getting schooled in KONG so Dan calls it going to Kong Camp. This is actually very cool. Joe is pretty much the world's foremost authority on KONG and it turns out that the three of us live only thirty minutes apart! That is amazing.

I'll take pictures today and show you the studio of the Kong King.

2007-03-01T20:31:00.000-08:00

This has been a somewhat stress free day...thank God! I started KONG in earnest today, working on an eight page adaptation of the two page prologue from the book. We are doing a issue zero that sets up the series. It will also contain series sketches and a preview of issue one. It should be pretty cool.

I think we are coming close to a deal with the artist of the very best book (other than mine... :) ) that I saw at the con, GEARHEAD. Phil Hester and I are co-writing a series called 13 STEPS and this artist, Kevin Mellon (spelling?) is my first choice. I am just waiting on Phil.

I pitched Marvel an idea today. I got fairly close a few weeks ago with something for MARVEL PRESENTS, but it didn't happen. Hopefully this new one will get that long sought-after yes.

Still working on that list of books and trades and ogn's.

I heard from Sal Cipriano today. He is almost done with the letters for the first eight pages of THE UNCREDITED HISTORY OF FARAUT & FOSTER: ADVENTURERS FOR HIRE. We'll be pitching in earnest soon. I am very excited for that series to get pitched. Karl Slominski is doing an amazing job. Here are some of his pages...

More tomorrow.

Podcast Apperances

2007-02-28T08:11:00.001-08:00

I'm going to give this a try...

2007-02-28T07:29:00.000-08:00

I am going to try and read a graphic novel or book a week from here on out. It will be hard with all of the stuff I am writing, but I will give it a go. My first project will be to sort out all of my books and comics. Then I'll make a schedule of books and OGN's and TPB's to read. I'll try to make myself accountible to this blog and post up my thoughts on them every week.

I am shoooting for the list to go up tonight.

Phil and I spoke regarding Kevin Mellon and his art. Phil is going to shoot one more phone call to him to see where he is at from an inking perspective, but after that, hopefully we have an artist for 13 STEPS.

Here are some concept sketches from Wes Wedman, who had to decline to be the regular guy.

Here is a new Kong piece of goodness from Dan O'Connor. KONG Camp is Friday!

I received a page of letters from Sal last night for Faragut & Foster. It looks great. I'll post more when we get enough to show.

I am going to be contacting all of the artists on my various projects later today to find out what is up with our progress on everything. Hopefully, I'll have a bunch of pages to show off at that time.

I am still dealing with a lost voice since the New York Comic Con. Ugh.

Other job and cleaning

2007-02-27T19:14:00.000-08:00

I spent most of today neither writing nor preparing for writing. I cleaned most of the day and am trying to get my work area organised for my other day job, Markosia and for writing.

NYCC Wrap-up

2007-02-27T13:50:00.000-08:00

I am going to try and get through this all in one post.

Wednesday 2 days befoe the con:

All I did today was prepare the books for the van. I also picked up the van and the table and chairs.

Thursday:

I spent a good few hours in the morning moving a ton of boxes fom my basement to my main floor and then to the van. I am in horrible shape. After that, I said goodbye to the family and shot off to New York. ONce through the Lincoln tunnel, it was a fairly easy jaunt to the Javit's Center. I was not looking favorably on the prospoect of moving all of the product from the van to the booth by myself. I was then, therefore relieved at the sight of Harry Markos and partner X as well as his firend, Charlie. They helped immensely as we got the product to the booth. Unfortunately, I had to drive Partner X back to his hotel, then we went to dinner...Harry and I. We ended up eating dinner at the diner at the New Yorker Hotel. After dinner, we hung out in the bar at the right of the lobby to the hotel. Bruce McCorkindale, my friend and collaborator on the HERETIC comic which we are adapting, got a late start due to a delay and finally came in. Tony Fleecs also made it and we had the four people who were staying in the room. Tight fit to be sure! We hung out a bit more and had drinks with Steve Bryant and a few others. Of course, I was the last to hit the sackin the room.

FRIDAY:

On Friday, the con began. For the first half of the day, it was industry folk. Mainly...librarians! We love librarians! Laverne (Redhead Fangirl) was in for the show. I killed her in the first issue of the 2nd volume of OBS. She also runs a comic show which makes her incredibly cool. I dig her. At four o'clock, we switched over to a general admission and that is hwen we did about five times the sales as we did during the first half of the day. It was great to hang with Sal Cipriano who was excited because he could finally talk about Vengeance Of The Vapor, his creation...which Markosia is putting out in a couple months. Chris Dibari was there in all his Starship Trooper glory. He is the new ongoing artist for Troopers. It was good to see Jose Torres as well. Ryan Stegman and his girlfriend, Erin were also in ton for the show and I was glad to hang with them too. I am racking up friends in this biz, I just wish I could see them more often! The OBS TV announcement must have done well because the OBS trade dominated sales of the books at the Markosia table with a close second being Heretic #1. Bruce was a great salesman and that was it. Nobody else really sold at the table. Sal was ok at it. :)

The evening brought a super-secret meeting with Partner X and Harry and me. We discussed the future months for Markosia as well as a name change. Good stuff coming up.

After that, it was mainly staying close to the hotel. Chris Jones from Batman Strikes basically said a gay joke that had to do with comic business and ended with, "so that gives a new meaning to back end deal" and I about died. I am not kidding. Bruce and Sal and Chris JOnes and Mrs. Jones and Ryan Stegman were there as I collapsed backwards and basically must have passed out. I came to and the waitstaff were calling 911. I stopped them and all was good. I was freaked out for a while. I think I just had so much oxygen leave my head so fast due to talking and coughing, that I had no where to go but down. Chris is a very funny guy, though. I basically almost died laughing!

SATURDAY

My buds, Tom and Chris showed up today. I had told them I would get them in. They had a blast. They were able to see Stephen King, Stan Lee and the cheerleader from Heroes among others. They said Gary Coleman looked somewhat mean the whole time. Oh well. They were able to go wherever they wanted due to the badges. Later we went out together. More on that in a bit.

Joe Devito came as well. He is the creator of KONG: KING OF SKULL ISLAND. Markosia is adapting the book as a limited series. I am writing it and it was awesome to see the creator. Dan O'Connor and his wife were there so we had essentially the whole team for KONG, minus the colors and letters. Harry and Joe signed the contracts and Joe invited us to his house in PA (only twenty minutes or so from us) for some Kong schoolin'. We are calling it KONG Camp. Joe is very particular about how he wants his KONG, and Dan has been very patient thus far.

I continued to sell hard as did Bruce. We sold more Heretic #1 than anything else today with OBS the TPB coming in a close second.

In the evening, Harry and Tom and Chris and Bruce and myself went to the Comic Geek Speak dinner. We felt we should go since the CGS listeners were coming in huge numbers and buying books at the show. We certainly appreciated the CGS family this weekend!

After that, we took off for a club for which I can not remember the name. It was the Zenescope, Silent Devil, Arcana party. Harry went home.

We had a great time. We met up with Sal. I wanted to catch the Marvel party, but there are only so many hours in the day. I met up with Dave from War of The Independants and we came up with an idea to do over 50 variuant covers and a super secret variant.

That was the booze talkin'...

All in all, we went to bed around 3:30-4:00 AM.

SUNDAY

Man, this must be boring to read.

We sold more books today. The show ended. We packed up and loaded the truck. Bruce and Harry and I went to Times Square and had pizza atan awesome place called John's.

I really have to go to a con someday and not exhibit.

:)

BEST BOOK OF THE CON:

Of course, other than HERETIC :)

GEARHEAD published by Arcana. It is written by a fella named Hopeless and drawn by a fella named Mellon. Kevin Mellon is amazing! I told Phil Hester he should be drawing 13 Steps. We'll see what happens and if Phil agrees.

2007-02-21T07:26:00.000-08:00

Last post until after NYCC.

Lots to do today! I am picking up the van and the tables and such for the show. I can't wait for that day when I can show up to a con and not have to do a ton of set-up. Will that day ever come? One can dream...

Checked in about badges and to make sure payment for the booth had been received...

What a week!

First the OBS television option, then a nice article about HERETIC on Newsarama, now KONG. I am having a good week for once in this biz!

I am extremely excited to hang out with Bruce (Heretic) McCorkindale and to meet Joe (KONG) Devito and to hang with a bunch of friends. Josh Ortega and Vito and Dibari and Cipriano all come to mind. Steve (Athena Voltaire) Bryant will also be there as well as the Comic Geek Speak crew and Freddie Williams! Good times!

Well, I am off. I'll post pics on Monday or Tuesday.

Kong

2007-02-20T19:13:00.000-08:00

Well, the cat is out of the bag. Or should I say that the big huge monkey is out of the big huge bag? Oh well, Rich Johnston over at Lying In The Gutters at Comic Book Resources reported today that Markosia has aquired the rights to Joe Devito's KONG: KING OF SKULL ISLAND. Markosia will be doing a five issue mini-series. I will be adapting it. My friend and fellow Lehigh Valley PA resident, Dan O'Connor will be penciling/inking. No colorist named as of yet.

Here are some initial sketches from Dan. The ones below are for a special issue zero cover where we will adapt the prologue to the book and set up the rest of the mii-series. I am very excited about this one.

Joe Devito, the creator of this fantastic book, will be in New York for the con this weekend and I'll get to meet him. That is too cool!

Below are some additional character sketches as Dan has been working towards getting Kong just right. These are works in progress so the final KONG may not be what it looks like in these sketches. I am also including the character sketches for some of the other characters. This story is sort of a prequel/sequel as it jumps around in time before and after KONG is captured and killed in NYC on the Empire State Building. It ranges from the late 1800's to the the 1950's.

Dark Horse Books published this story in the first place and I feel very lucky to have the shot at adapting it for comics. I've adapted quite a bit of books lately.

On another note, I am now oficially a member of Shocktrauma Studios. Other members of the studio include the likes of Phil Hester and Ande Parks as well as the artist of HERETIC, Bruce McCorkindale. It is an honor. I am now oficially a "Shocktraumanaut!"

I got an update about OF BITTER SOULS. They have pretty much completed the treatment and are currently searching for a "showrunner". I had no idea what that was until I looked it up. Aparently, a showrunner is someone who...runs the show. In movie terms, he/she would be referred to as an executive producer.

Well, I am off to do more prep for the show this weekend.

Ghost Rider and other things...

2007-02-20T06:22:00.000-08:00

I saw Ghost Rider.

It was sort of like the experience of seeing V For Vendetta for me. Now, I'm not saying GR was as good as V, because I absolutely loved V and felt it was the best comic book movie out in 2006. What I am saying is I went into the Ghost Rider movie thinking that this was going to suck the big one. I had no faith at all that it would be a decent flick...and I get in for free because my Father is a projectionist in his retirement from Mack Trucks.

So, I figured I would be walking out as it is so easy to do so when you don't have to pay.

Nope.

It was pretty darn good. It wasn't great, but I really enjoyed myself. I felt it was certainly better than Daredevil, Elektra and The HUlk and even better than FF. I am not so sure it was on par with Spider or X films, but it was very good. It was certainly no Batman Begins.

I will buy the DVD to be sure and my wife and son liked it. We had to go to Walmart to get a Ghost Rider toy immediately following the movie and he even said that GR was now his favorite super hero. That'll last 'till Spidey 3 comes out.

One funny thing...when GR gets hit by a truck...the whole crowd was silent and then my boy,Luke yells out, "That had to hurt!" It was priceless.

For those of you who may read this that are mad at me for bringing a little kid to the movies...it was a matinee. :)

Now...on to other things...

I have a ton of prep for NYCC left. I have to get the van and the tables and chairs. It costs a ton of money to get tables and chairs for the NYCC. Therefore, we rentthem from a seperate company and bring them with us.

The Markosia booth is #447 and I will be there to introduce Heretic #1 with the artist for the series, Bruce McCorkindale. Here is the cover:

I also received the cover to my upcoming creator owned series with Sal Cipriano...I have to hold my breath whenever I read or type this:

THE UNCREDITED HISTORY OF FARAGUT & FOSTER: ADVENTURERS FOR HIRE

The cover is by Karl Slominski, a Kubert School graduate and he is just kicking some a$$ on this book. Hopefully, Sal and Karl and I will name a publisher soon.

Still other things...

My wife has now read the first four volumes of FABLES. It seems that Bill Willingham has succeeded where all others have failed...including me...

My wife is slowly, after fourteen years...becoming a comic book fan.

It only took my son a few.

See ya next time.

Introduction

2007-02-19T14:10:00.000-08:00

Well, since this is my first post on my new blog...I guess I better introduce myself. I am Chuck Satterlee. I write comic books and I work for a small press publisher called Markosia Enterprises, Ltd. I have a couple of creator-owned titles right now called OF BITTER SOULS and SMOKE & MIRROR. I also write THE LEXIAN CHRONICLES and HERETIC for Markosia.

I have a number of other titles coming out in the next year or so and I'll devote some time to those in future posts.

My series, OF BITTER SOULS, has just been optioned for television development by KICKSTART Productions in Hollywood. Hopefully, we'll see a OBS TV show in the future, but man...those odds are tough!

I live in Bethlehem, PA with my wife and son, two dogs and two cats.

More to come...