Thankfully, the freelance assignments seem to keep coming.
While I'm still knee deep in working on the Star Wars Encyclopedia for Random House/Del Rey and The Life of Reilly, I've just taken on a very cool assignment with DC Comics and their licensing/marketing department.
Even more than the Reilly or Star Wars projects, the work with DC will allow me to stretch my writing muscles even more since it's exclusively writing. It will also give me the opportunity to familiarize myself even more with the various characters and worlds of the DC Universe. The first character that I'm going to be writing about is one of my favorite villains in comics, so that was a pleasant surprise. When it comes down to it, I get to participate in the comic company that's home to Batman and Superman so how can I not be excited about that?
The Star Wars Encyclopedia is almost finished (at least my involvement in it). It really is just a massive collection (3 book set at over 1200 pages on sale 11/18/08) that will contain more information than any Star Wars fan could possibly hope for.
As comic con season winds down after this week's San Diego con, the creative types will be free once again to partake in interviews and I'll be able to offer more information on how The Life of Reilly is doing. I've been able to do a lot of grunt work behind the scenes as I wait for the interviews to start up again so I think I'm still on track with my original publishing estimates.
I am just thrilled to be able to say that I've now done freelance for the two biggest comic companies with Marvel and DC and the biggest publishing company with Random House. I've waited years to have opportunities like this. Now I just have to make sure I don't blow it.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Friday, June 20, 2008
The Life of....Skywalker!?!
I mentioned a freelance project that I was juggling in between working on The Life of Reilly book and now I can finally reveal what that project is.
The Star Wars Encyclopedia
Yep, the Star Wars Encyclopedia. Like the first edition of the SWE, this one is also being written by the great Steve Sansweet but will feature a hell of a lot more content...about 1000 pages worth covering everything from the Old Republic to Star Wars: Legacy. There will be detailed entries for all of your favorites from the films, along with characters from the Marvel comics series through the Dark Horse comics and up to and including the new animated Clone Wars movie and television series.
This is going to be the most complete source for information on Star Wars that exists and I am honored to be a part of it. My role in this project has been to assist the production department with the art for this massive set. In a nutshell, I'm looking through the archives to select the pretty pictures that will be going along with the entries.
I thought that detailing the behind the scenes events of the Spider-Man Clone Saga was tough, but it's a cakewalk compared to searching through tens of thousands of images to select the best ones for the thousands of entries that will be contained in this definitive set. I am in awe of the work being put into this book from Steve and the other writers to the editors and production department, all of whom are determined to give Star Wars fans something that is absolutely spectacular. After having seen some of the finished pages, I was completely blown away with how amazing this looks already, and there are still several months to go to fine tune things even more.
This is a book for anyone who has ever been touched by the magic of Star Wars. For fans who remember as far back as Jaxxon and those who have just discovered Darth Caedus along with those who only care about the six films. This book will cover everything from the A-1 Deluxe Floater (catch it if you can in Mos Eisley during Episode IV) to Zzzanmxl of the Zanibar mercinaries.
The book should be hitting stores on Black Friday just in time for you to pick one up as a Christmas gift for yourself or any geek you care about. I'll have more information on the project as I learn it.
Oh, and things are still looking good for The Life of Reilly, too. I just finished up the new Tom DeFalco segments and Tom Lyle and I have started to get things ready for the big segment with him.
The Star Wars Encyclopedia
Yep, the Star Wars Encyclopedia. Like the first edition of the SWE, this one is also being written by the great Steve Sansweet but will feature a hell of a lot more content...about 1000 pages worth covering everything from the Old Republic to Star Wars: Legacy. There will be detailed entries for all of your favorites from the films, along with characters from the Marvel comics series through the Dark Horse comics and up to and including the new animated Clone Wars movie and television series.
This is going to be the most complete source for information on Star Wars that exists and I am honored to be a part of it. My role in this project has been to assist the production department with the art for this massive set. In a nutshell, I'm looking through the archives to select the pretty pictures that will be going along with the entries.
I thought that detailing the behind the scenes events of the Spider-Man Clone Saga was tough, but it's a cakewalk compared to searching through tens of thousands of images to select the best ones for the thousands of entries that will be contained in this definitive set. I am in awe of the work being put into this book from Steve and the other writers to the editors and production department, all of whom are determined to give Star Wars fans something that is absolutely spectacular. After having seen some of the finished pages, I was completely blown away with how amazing this looks already, and there are still several months to go to fine tune things even more.
This is a book for anyone who has ever been touched by the magic of Star Wars. For fans who remember as far back as Jaxxon and those who have just discovered Darth Caedus along with those who only care about the six films. This book will cover everything from the A-1 Deluxe Floater (catch it if you can in Mos Eisley during Episode IV) to Zzzanmxl of the Zanibar mercinaries.
The book should be hitting stores on Black Friday just in time for you to pick one up as a Christmas gift for yourself or any geek you care about. I'll have more information on the project as I learn it.
Oh, and things are still looking good for The Life of Reilly, too. I just finished up the new Tom DeFalco segments and Tom Lyle and I have started to get things ready for the big segment with him.
Monday, May 19, 2008
The Hype of Reilly 10.5
It's been awhile, but I wanted to offer a brief update just so no one forgets about this little project of mine.
There may have been a lack of updates, but that's not because things haven't been happening. Just the opposite. I'm currently working on a dream freelance gig that has kept me pretty busy. It's a great opportunity that's very challenging and a heck of a lot of fun. Unfortunately, I can't talk about any of the details at this time, but it is something that I'm very proud to be a part of and I can't wait to start promoting it near the end of this year. I'm also trying to finalize another very cool freelancing job that I hope will get settled within the next couple of weeks. It's another project that's pretty different from what I've done in the past so I am pretty excited to make it happen. Hopefully I'll have more to say about that one soon.
None of these projects have taken away my concentration from The Life of Reilly, though. I've been working non stop on making changes to the original columns and getting things just right for how I want the book to read. Now that this part of the process is almost finished, it'll make adding the new interviews and commentary that much easier when I get it.
No news on any new additions to the cast. I'm in the stages of finishing up the segments with Eric Fein and Tom DeFalco and in the next few weeks I will probably do the long anticipated Bob Harras, Howard Mackie and Terry Kavanagh interviews. The interviews themselves tend to be the easiest part of writing the book since things tend to work themselves out, which is why I've been working on the old material and creating bridges for the new stuff. I'm not sure if there's anyone else on the wish list of creators that's left for me to talk to, although I would love to try and reach John Romita Jr. He's the definitive Spider-Man artist, for me, and I think his work on the Clone Saga finale was especially good.
After talking it over with a few fans, I have also decided to include a checklist somewhere in the book which will include every issue relating to the Spider-Man Clone Saga, which will include appearances by Ben Reilly and Kaine in books other than the main titles and assorted minis, etc. I just think it will be a great tool for people who want to track down these issues for themselves.
I am also going to be doing some sort of section where readers and retailers discuss their memories of the story. I'm not looking to have anyone review the series or particular moments, just offer their recollections on what they were thinking at the time the stories were coming out. That sort of thing. So if you worked in a comic shop or were reading the Spider-Man books during the Clone Saga and want to send in some of your memories and maybe get into the book you can email them at
grayhaven05@hotmail.com with the subject: Clone Saga memories.
That's pretty much it, right now. Back to Life of Reilly and the mystery project(s).
There may have been a lack of updates, but that's not because things haven't been happening. Just the opposite. I'm currently working on a dream freelance gig that has kept me pretty busy. It's a great opportunity that's very challenging and a heck of a lot of fun. Unfortunately, I can't talk about any of the details at this time, but it is something that I'm very proud to be a part of and I can't wait to start promoting it near the end of this year. I'm also trying to finalize another very cool freelancing job that I hope will get settled within the next couple of weeks. It's another project that's pretty different from what I've done in the past so I am pretty excited to make it happen. Hopefully I'll have more to say about that one soon.
None of these projects have taken away my concentration from The Life of Reilly, though. I've been working non stop on making changes to the original columns and getting things just right for how I want the book to read. Now that this part of the process is almost finished, it'll make adding the new interviews and commentary that much easier when I get it.
No news on any new additions to the cast. I'm in the stages of finishing up the segments with Eric Fein and Tom DeFalco and in the next few weeks I will probably do the long anticipated Bob Harras, Howard Mackie and Terry Kavanagh interviews. The interviews themselves tend to be the easiest part of writing the book since things tend to work themselves out, which is why I've been working on the old material and creating bridges for the new stuff. I'm not sure if there's anyone else on the wish list of creators that's left for me to talk to, although I would love to try and reach John Romita Jr. He's the definitive Spider-Man artist, for me, and I think his work on the Clone Saga finale was especially good.
After talking it over with a few fans, I have also decided to include a checklist somewhere in the book which will include every issue relating to the Spider-Man Clone Saga, which will include appearances by Ben Reilly and Kaine in books other than the main titles and assorted minis, etc. I just think it will be a great tool for people who want to track down these issues for themselves.
I am also going to be doing some sort of section where readers and retailers discuss their memories of the story. I'm not looking to have anyone review the series or particular moments, just offer their recollections on what they were thinking at the time the stories were coming out. That sort of thing. So if you worked in a comic shop or were reading the Spider-Man books during the Clone Saga and want to send in some of your memories and maybe get into the book you can email them at
grayhaven05@hotmail.com with the subject: Clone Saga memories.
That's pretty much it, right now. Back to Life of Reilly and the mystery project(s).
Monday, April 21, 2008
NYCC 08 Sketches
Anakin Skywalker by Tommy Lee Edwards
Obi Wan Kenobi by Tommy Lee Edwards
Scarlet Spider by Shawn Alleyne
Jeff Hardy by Chris Vince
The Undertaker by Chris Vince
Obi Wan Kenobi by Tommy Lee Edwards
Scarlet Spider by Shawn Alleyne
Jeff Hardy by Chris Vince
The Undertaker by Chris Vince
Thursday, March 27, 2008
The Hype of Reilly: Part X
I have a shorter update this week as I’m knee deep in putting the finishing touches on Phase One of the Life of Reilly book.
The process to convert and condense the old columns and weave them in with the new content is almost complete. My cutting down of the review pieces of each issue has almost been completed and soon I’ll have Glenn’s re-workings of his commentary. Don’t worry about losing commentary, though. Glenn (and I) thought it’d be good to go back and trim some of the moments that may have come off as inflammatory regarding other creators, but we’re making up for some cuts with a lot of new information from Glenn, too.
Tom Brevoort graciously offered to have his brain picked on his recollection of the story. While Tom wasn’t as knee deep into the story as some of the other people he is a human encyclopedia when it comes to all things Marvel Comics. I’ve said many times before that the editorial point of view on this story seems to be the crown jewel since there are some things that happened that even the writers were unaware of. Usually what ends up happening when I talk to one of the editors is that I get so much new information that I have to go back to an interview with someone else that I thought was wrapped up and follow up some more.
I was able to touch base with former EIC and current Spider-Girl writer, Tom DeFalco, as well. Tom helped out a great deal when Glenn and I were doing the series of columns years ago so it will be nice to have him back to comment on some of the newer material/revelations. A bit of an aside here: if you aren’t reading The Amazing Spider-Girl, you’re missing out on one of the true gems of the comic industry. The Spider-Girl book has the same feel as one of those classic books from the 70s and 80s but deals with a future Peter Parker and more specifically, his offspring May(day), who now wears the webs. For those of you who may be a bit ticked off at the un-marrying of Peter and MJ in the main books, The Amazing Spider-Girl is the book for you. There’s a reason it’s still going strong after more than ten years. It’s a perfect, all ages book that will appeal to both kids and adults who want to read comics the way they used to be written.
We have another artist coming on board for the discussion. Tom Lyle is going to be discussing his time as both an artist and a writer during the Clone Saga. Not only did Tom do a lot of the early design work on some of the major characters (including the Scarlet Spider), but he was one of the first artists to bring Ben Reilly and his alter ego to life on the pages of Spider-Man. I think his work (both on Spider-Man, as well as Robin and a few other series) went highly under-rated.
The biggest news of this week was that former Marvel EIC, Bob Harras has agreed to participate. The responsibility for ending the Clone Saga, tying up the loose ends and moving Spider-Man forward fell on Bob’s shoulders. For awhile it looked like we weren’t going to be able to get him, and I was being a bit vague when people have been asking about his involvement. I guess at this point I should stop being surprised when people agree to work on the book since it’s been happening so much, but it always gives me a smile when I can get one more person to relate their experiences on this story, especially someone who had a role to play like Harras’.
I’m still waiting on the Mackie/Kavanagh interview, which should happen within the next week or two. It’s always difficult to try and organize a get together with a bunch of different people, but we all agreed that it would be more fun and interesting to do this one in person and give off a vibe similar to the old group meetings during the actual storyline.
The delay has been a bit of a blessing because it’s enabled me to fine tune the work in progress and gather enough information so that I could ask them some interesting questions. These were two of the most requested creators from the old columns so I want to give the fans a segment that will live up to the hype. Based on some small chats with Howard, I think you’re all going to be quite pleased with what he and Terry have to say. I’ve said it before, but it will be worth the wait.
I hope to have Harras’ interview done within the week, be well underway with Lyle and Eric Fein and likely finished with Mackie and Kavanagh in the next two weeks or so. From there, I’ll be finishing up things with DeFalco and Dezago and Glenn and I will work on putting the thing together in a more seamless fashion. Then it will be Danny Fingeroth’s turn to take a look, work on the introduction and help bring it all together. At this rate, I’m looking to be finished writing and editing the book by the end of May. Then again, I’m still working on trying to get one or two more participants for the book (someone let John Romita Jr know to email me, please) so that may delay things a bit.
And since people have been asking, yes, I will be at the New York Comic Con, but I won’t have a table. You may see some sort of LoR propaganda floating around, but I don’t have all that much to show off at this point. Maybe I’ll have a LoR t-shirt to make it easier to spot me?
I’ll also be attending Wizard World Philly and it looks like I will have a table, or at least be sharing one. By that point I should have a lot more information about the books progress and scheduling and maybe I’ll be able to show off some new material to anyone who’s interested.
So if you’re going to the New York or Philly cons, find me and say ‘hi’…or give me a smack.
Oh well, that wasn't as short of an update as I thought it'd be.
The process to convert and condense the old columns and weave them in with the new content is almost complete. My cutting down of the review pieces of each issue has almost been completed and soon I’ll have Glenn’s re-workings of his commentary. Don’t worry about losing commentary, though. Glenn (and I) thought it’d be good to go back and trim some of the moments that may have come off as inflammatory regarding other creators, but we’re making up for some cuts with a lot of new information from Glenn, too.
Tom Brevoort graciously offered to have his brain picked on his recollection of the story. While Tom wasn’t as knee deep into the story as some of the other people he is a human encyclopedia when it comes to all things Marvel Comics. I’ve said many times before that the editorial point of view on this story seems to be the crown jewel since there are some things that happened that even the writers were unaware of. Usually what ends up happening when I talk to one of the editors is that I get so much new information that I have to go back to an interview with someone else that I thought was wrapped up and follow up some more.
I was able to touch base with former EIC and current Spider-Girl writer, Tom DeFalco, as well. Tom helped out a great deal when Glenn and I were doing the series of columns years ago so it will be nice to have him back to comment on some of the newer material/revelations. A bit of an aside here: if you aren’t reading The Amazing Spider-Girl, you’re missing out on one of the true gems of the comic industry. The Spider-Girl book has the same feel as one of those classic books from the 70s and 80s but deals with a future Peter Parker and more specifically, his offspring May(day), who now wears the webs. For those of you who may be a bit ticked off at the un-marrying of Peter and MJ in the main books, The Amazing Spider-Girl is the book for you. There’s a reason it’s still going strong after more than ten years. It’s a perfect, all ages book that will appeal to both kids and adults who want to read comics the way they used to be written.
We have another artist coming on board for the discussion. Tom Lyle is going to be discussing his time as both an artist and a writer during the Clone Saga. Not only did Tom do a lot of the early design work on some of the major characters (including the Scarlet Spider), but he was one of the first artists to bring Ben Reilly and his alter ego to life on the pages of Spider-Man. I think his work (both on Spider-Man, as well as Robin and a few other series) went highly under-rated.
The biggest news of this week was that former Marvel EIC, Bob Harras has agreed to participate. The responsibility for ending the Clone Saga, tying up the loose ends and moving Spider-Man forward fell on Bob’s shoulders. For awhile it looked like we weren’t going to be able to get him, and I was being a bit vague when people have been asking about his involvement. I guess at this point I should stop being surprised when people agree to work on the book since it’s been happening so much, but it always gives me a smile when I can get one more person to relate their experiences on this story, especially someone who had a role to play like Harras’.
I’m still waiting on the Mackie/Kavanagh interview, which should happen within the next week or two. It’s always difficult to try and organize a get together with a bunch of different people, but we all agreed that it would be more fun and interesting to do this one in person and give off a vibe similar to the old group meetings during the actual storyline.
The delay has been a bit of a blessing because it’s enabled me to fine tune the work in progress and gather enough information so that I could ask them some interesting questions. These were two of the most requested creators from the old columns so I want to give the fans a segment that will live up to the hype. Based on some small chats with Howard, I think you’re all going to be quite pleased with what he and Terry have to say. I’ve said it before, but it will be worth the wait.
I hope to have Harras’ interview done within the week, be well underway with Lyle and Eric Fein and likely finished with Mackie and Kavanagh in the next two weeks or so. From there, I’ll be finishing up things with DeFalco and Dezago and Glenn and I will work on putting the thing together in a more seamless fashion. Then it will be Danny Fingeroth’s turn to take a look, work on the introduction and help bring it all together. At this rate, I’m looking to be finished writing and editing the book by the end of May. Then again, I’m still working on trying to get one or two more participants for the book (someone let John Romita Jr know to email me, please) so that may delay things a bit.
And since people have been asking, yes, I will be at the New York Comic Con, but I won’t have a table. You may see some sort of LoR propaganda floating around, but I don’t have all that much to show off at this point. Maybe I’ll have a LoR t-shirt to make it easier to spot me?
I’ll also be attending Wizard World Philly and it looks like I will have a table, or at least be sharing one. By that point I should have a lot more information about the books progress and scheduling and maybe I’ll be able to show off some new material to anyone who’s interested.
So if you’re going to the New York or Philly cons, find me and say ‘hi’…or give me a smack.
Oh well, that wasn't as short of an update as I thought it'd be.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
The Life of Reilly Archives are Up
Here's something to keep everyone busy until the book comes out.
In looking over the old columns as I posted them one thing stood out even more than the spelling mistakes...the book is going to have a hell of a lot more content.
Time to start trimming my review segments to make room for all the new Q&As and commentary.
Relive the magic here: http://lifeofreillyarchives.blogspot.com/
In looking over the old columns as I posted them one thing stood out even more than the spelling mistakes...the book is going to have a hell of a lot more content.
Time to start trimming my review segments to make room for all the new Q&As and commentary.
Relive the magic here: http://lifeofreillyarchives.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
The Hype of Reilly: Part IX
This installment of ‘Hype’ is a little later than the bi-weekly schedule that I’ve tried to keep, but I’ve been a lot busier with the book lately so…
In the past couple of weeks I was able to get Fabian Nicieza to do a short interview for the book and got it completed, as well. Fabian had a small but pretty crucial role to play in the Clone Saga with The Final Adventure. Glenn Greenberg had previously written about how that mini-series almost didn’t come to pass with all of the revisions involved and I wanted to get Fabian’s take on the situation. His interview is a nice addition to the book.
I also touched base with former Spider-Man Editor, Eric Fein. Eric was working on the books with Danny Fingeroth before the Clone Saga even began and continued on Spider-Man well into the storyline. We’ve just started things rolling, but I really do enjoy getting editors on this storyline involved with the book. They have a perspective that reaches beyond the creation of the stories and are fleshing out these behind the scenes details even more.
Fans of the original columns were really interested in hearing what some of their favorite writers had to say about their time on this story and I think I’ve done a good job of capturing that, but the real behind the scenes stuff seems to come from the editorial side. Bob and Eric have had some interesting information that even surprised me and I anticipate more details when Danny Fingeroth gets his say.
The JM DeMatteis interview was also completed this past week. Currently the JMD segment is around 18 pages and just shy of 9000 words. It’s the longest interview I’ve ever done, but DeMatteis is a wealth of information and it’s fascinating to pick his brains on just about everything. In terms of the Life of Reilly, the DeMatteis segment is second only to Glenn’s in terms of content. We’ll see how things stand once everything’s wrapped up, though.
It looks like the big Howard Mackie/Terry Kavanagh mini-summit will occur in the next week or so. Coordinating schedules between people is difficult, but it’s going to be well worth the wait. Terry and Howard are two of the people that were most requested by fans of the original columns to be interviewed and I’m ecstatic to have them both on board.
New York Comic Convention is nearly here and that’s where the Life of Reilly hype machine will officially start. Due to my frequenting of a lot of Spider-Man related websites, as well as a few other mainstream comic sites, a lot of people are aware of the book, but the NYCC is where I will unleash to information to all. It’s actually part of a long term goal of getting out to a bunch of cons this season to promote the book and by this time next year there should actually be a book to show off/sell. I would like nothing more than to usher in a Clone Saga panel at the ’09 New York Con as a wrap up to the whole thing. We’ll see.
That’s it for now. Gotta go finalize the Budiansky piece.
In the past couple of weeks I was able to get Fabian Nicieza to do a short interview for the book and got it completed, as well. Fabian had a small but pretty crucial role to play in the Clone Saga with The Final Adventure. Glenn Greenberg had previously written about how that mini-series almost didn’t come to pass with all of the revisions involved and I wanted to get Fabian’s take on the situation. His interview is a nice addition to the book.
I also touched base with former Spider-Man Editor, Eric Fein. Eric was working on the books with Danny Fingeroth before the Clone Saga even began and continued on Spider-Man well into the storyline. We’ve just started things rolling, but I really do enjoy getting editors on this storyline involved with the book. They have a perspective that reaches beyond the creation of the stories and are fleshing out these behind the scenes details even more.
Fans of the original columns were really interested in hearing what some of their favorite writers had to say about their time on this story and I think I’ve done a good job of capturing that, but the real behind the scenes stuff seems to come from the editorial side. Bob and Eric have had some interesting information that even surprised me and I anticipate more details when Danny Fingeroth gets his say.
The JM DeMatteis interview was also completed this past week. Currently the JMD segment is around 18 pages and just shy of 9000 words. It’s the longest interview I’ve ever done, but DeMatteis is a wealth of information and it’s fascinating to pick his brains on just about everything. In terms of the Life of Reilly, the DeMatteis segment is second only to Glenn’s in terms of content. We’ll see how things stand once everything’s wrapped up, though.
It looks like the big Howard Mackie/Terry Kavanagh mini-summit will occur in the next week or so. Coordinating schedules between people is difficult, but it’s going to be well worth the wait. Terry and Howard are two of the people that were most requested by fans of the original columns to be interviewed and I’m ecstatic to have them both on board.
New York Comic Convention is nearly here and that’s where the Life of Reilly hype machine will officially start. Due to my frequenting of a lot of Spider-Man related websites, as well as a few other mainstream comic sites, a lot of people are aware of the book, but the NYCC is where I will unleash to information to all. It’s actually part of a long term goal of getting out to a bunch of cons this season to promote the book and by this time next year there should actually be a book to show off/sell. I would like nothing more than to usher in a Clone Saga panel at the ’09 New York Con as a wrap up to the whole thing. We’ll see.
That’s it for now. Gotta go finalize the Budiansky piece.
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