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07/27/16 @ 6:07 pm EST
A Writer’s Commentary: David Avallone talks Twilight Zone/The Shadow #4, on sale today from Dynamite. Cover by Francesco Francavilla, interiors by Dave Acosta. The cover.When Francesco Francavilla was doing the cover for issue#3, he tweeted that he was listening to Bernard Herrmann’s soundtrack from Vertigo. (The movie, not the comic book imprint.) When issue #4 came around and they asked if I had any ideas for a cover, I said, “Why not a pastiche of Saul Bass’ famous Vertigo cover?” Francesco ran with it, and the result is a beautiful cover. The Twilight Zone spiral gets us already halfway there.  Page one.A little Serling-esque voice-over, and we’re off. Dave Acosta found that authentic Nazi propaganda poster online, and added it to this scene. We collaborated with a private Pinterest page, swapping photo references and ideas back and forth. After this commentary is published, I’ll make the Pinterest board public so people can see a little more of the process. Check my Twitter to see it. (@DAvallone)  Page two.I spent enough time researching the uniforms and rank-systems of American Nazis/Bund that I probably got on some NSA watchlist. I promise, guys, it was all for the comic. I hate these guys. “Kreisleiter” means “regional commander”, sort of. The name Penzler might be familiar to some old mystery fans.  Page three.The Shadow makes a snide reference to talented Nazi filmmaker/stooge Leni Riefenstahl. Penzler calls the Shadow a vigilante, and not qualified to invoke the law. I always think it’s a good idea to give the villain a valid point every now and again.  Page four.“Dallenbach’s” was the name of a popular swimming hole in my home town of East Brunswick, NJ. I’ve always wanted to use the name in something.  Pages six and seven.In the fourth issue, we finally see the Shadow use one of his “powers”. In this case, hypnosis… which reveals what evil that lurks in the hearts of men… or Hitlerjugend. These kids were real. They weren’t monsters. They were people who behaved as monsters. I gave this one, for our purposes, perhaps too simple a motivation… but it’s hard to get at a topic as big and nuanced as anti-Semitism in a 20-page comic book. Pages ten through thirteen.In prepping to write this book, I ran through the synopses of all the original TZ episodes, looking for common threads, tropes, themes, etc. At the beginning, I wasn’t sure what I’d do for issue #4 … but as the story came together I realized that all the elements pointed towards this scene. The Shadow shows mercy to a Nazi youth, and introduces him to some new ideas… and the embodiment of those ideas in his long friendship with Moses Shrevnitz. I feel confident Serling would have approved of this scene. To me, this is what The Twilight Zone is all about: an arrogant man learns to apologize, and a young man consumed with hatred is shown another way. Page twelve.“…but my old friend Moses Shrevnitz is a son of Abraham.” I thought long and hard about that sentence. “Jew” is thrown around with such hatred by the Nazi characters in this issue that it seemed wrong for the Shadow to use it, even benignly. In the period, he might have said “Hebrew”, but I had a feeling that would also read awkwardly to a modern audience. “Son of Abraham” seemed appropriately poetic and Old Testament for the Shadow’s particular manner of speaking. As a Son of Abraham myself, I felt it worked best, for the period and for today’s reader. Page fifteen.Guns are loud. I love Moe putting his fingers in his ears as Margo bangs away with the .45 right over his head. Pages seventeen and eighteen.There’s a pretentious writer cliché: that the characters take over the story. Originally, this scene ended with Peter’s sacrifice and the Shadow and company making good their escape. It was supposed to be the shocker that ends the sequence. I really wanted three pages for the final scene. But I swear… the Shadow wouldn’t let me do it. He would not run away after seeing Peter Dallenbach gunned down. I was prepared to move on to the next scene, the epilogue… and then the Shadow said, “Shrevvy, stop the car!” And machine-gunned a bunch of Nazis. This story was supposed to be about the Shadow learning mercy… and this final action muddies and complicates that. But people are muddy and complicated: even having just learned a lesson about mercy, there was no way the Shadow wouldn’t avenge Peter Dallenbach, and he insisted I give him another page to do it. And who am I to say no to the Shadow? Pages nineteen and twenty.Epilogue at the Cobalt Club. The Shadow tries to understand the journey he’s just taken, and finds a little proof that it all was real. I considered making the “twist” more clear by including a little flashback inset of “Justice” slashing Allard’s hand, but decided to have a little more faith in the audience. As a Twilight Zone trope, it’s borrowed from episodes like “King Nine Will Not Return”: the dream/hallucination leaves physical evidence that it really happened. I’ve said before that my favorite part of this series was the chance to write in the “voice” of Rod Serling. I rewrote this final narration quite a few times trying to wrap it all up, to get the voice right, and to suggest that this experience will maybe have a lasting effect on the Shadow, as he continues his war on crime. I’d like to thank Dynamite, and Executive Editor Joe Rybandt in particular, for the unique opportunity to combine two of my favorite things, and tell this story. 08/22/19 @ 2:35 pm EST
Dynamite announces the second entry in Pierce Brown's Red Rising: Sons of Ares graphic novel trilogy - Volume 2: Wrath!
Creator Pierce Brown returns for this entry, alongside co-writer Rik Hoskin (Brandon Sanderson's White Sand) and artist Eli Powell (Yakuza Demon Killers). Toby Cypress (Omega Men, The White Suits) contributes another beautiful cover. Rounding out the team are colorist Dee Cunniffe (The Wicked + The Divine, Paper Girls) and letterer Tom Napolitano (Justice League, Aquaman, Red Sonja). Brown's cosmic tapestry expands further in this chapter continuing the prequel to the New York Times bestselling novel series. Fitchner's quest for revenge continues as he and the Sons of Ares seek out the Golds who have wronged his family. Though their actions will come with repercussions and a back and forth will evolve into battles and the seeds of revolution.  The Red Rising saga depicts a future wherein mankind has explored and expanded across the cosmos. The ruling class has established a rigid caste system based on colors to stratify society, with "Golds" at the top. The eponymous first novel follows the tribulations of a Red joining a resistance movement and infiltrating Gold society to dismantle the entire system. The Sons of Ares graphic novels build the foundation for those threads by depicting the beginnings of their titular rebel organization. "I’m excited to reunite with Rik to further expand the world of Red Rising, and to see Eli render the seething cities and mythical violence of the Society with his savage inks," said creator and writer Pierce Brown. "This is a tale of madmen and romantics. Fortunately, I’ve got two of the best to help me tell it."
"It's been a pleasure to return to the Red Rising world, with Pierce once again steering the ...
08/22/19 @ 2:12 pm EST
Dynamite announces the next epic chapter in the comic book chronicles of the legendary rock band, KISS: Zombies!
 After all, what can possibly happen after "The End" than a full-blown zombie apocalypse? That is the screwed up status quo that writer Ethan Sacks (Old Man Hawkeye, Star Wars) and artist Rodney Buchemi (Death of Hawkman) will tackle in this new limited series. Assisted on colors and letters by Dijjo Lima (Assassin's Creed, Doc Savage) and Troy Peteri (Amazing Spider-Man, Witchblade). Picking up decades after the fall of civilization, humans are now an endangered species isolated to strongholds such as the central New Detroit. These undead are attracted to sound, so music and all related iconography have been banned. Especially that of the greatest band in history. However, a group of teenagers are not going to live this way and set out on a quest to track down KISS! Who may ultimately be the ultimate weapon to turn the tide against the zombies! Sacks has described the series as a cocktail of Land of the Dead, A Quiet Place, Seven Samurai and even Footloose! This marks the first comic book work for Sacks outside of Marvel, where he's expanded the "Old Man" franchise to Hawkeye and Star-Lord to much critical and fan acclaim. He's got history with the band though, through his previous career as a journalist. "In my two and a half decades as an entertainment journalist, one of my most proud achievements was interviewing Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley for a 40th anniversary retrospective of KISS," said writer Ethan Sacks. "After all, this was a band that had provided the soundtrack for much of my life, and their eerie black and white makeup aesthetic seared itself in my brain during my childhood when ... 08/16/19 @ 9:35 pm EST
The Vampirella #1 exclusive cover by Billy Tucci is now funded on Indiegogo! Dynamite thanks all the supporters! You still have time to join the party! CLICK HERE!
Fans of Vampirella and Shi showed up and blasted away the goal in less than 24 hours! This ensures that everyone will get their limited edition covers and prints. In fact, they will be shipped out to backers within 10 days of the campaign ending!
Billy Tucci created his first cover for Vampirella back in 1995, just a year after the first issue of his independent title Shi released. Over the years, he's made more contributions to the Vampirella tapestry, through crossovers with Shi and as recently as beautiful variant covers for Joseph Michael Linsner's Vampirella: Roses for the Dead. For Vampi's 50th anniversary, Tucci knew he had to do something special. Shi is also celebrating her 25th anniversary, so it was natural for the two to appear together again on an original cover!
The exclusive Vampirella/Shi anniversary cover is available in multiple editions. Starting with the "standard" cover in full glorious color by Wes Hartman. Also available are "virgin covers," dressed "black and white," "black and white virgin," and even a premium "pure line art" edition! There are also bundles with all covers included, or signatures from Tucci himself! Also available separately or as an add-on is a high quality lithograph print of this historic crossover cover!
DON'T MISS YOUR CHANCE! LIMITED TIME, LIMITED QUANITY - ONLY ON INDIEGOGO!    
08/14/19 @ 11:23 pm EST
Dynamite announces a special creator exclusive cover for Vampirella #1 by Billy Tucci on Indiegogo! Celebrating the dual celebration of Vampi's 50th anniversary and the 25th anniversary of Tucci's Shi!
Live on Indiegogo right now (CLICK HERE!)! The Daughter of Drakulon and Billy Tucci's Shi share a beautiful cover being offered only on Indiegogo for a limited time. This critically acclaimed and explosive debut of the new ongoing series by Christopher Priest and Ergun Gunduz has already sold a Dynamite 130,000 units both through the Direct Market and outside it with retailer and creator exclusives like this one!
"I've had the honor to be associated with Vampirella many times since I first broke into comics 25 years ago," said Billy Tucci. "This cover not only celebrates Vampirella's 50th anniversary, but also the 25th anniversary of my own creation, Shi."
Multiple options are available for those with differing budgets and tastes as well as the ultimate Vampi/Shi collectors out there, but all copies have already been printed and made available to fans in extremely limited quantities on a first-come-first-serve basis. At the base is the original cover by Billy Tucci, with logos and full gorgeous colors by Wes Hartman. Variations include a logo-less "virgin" cover, dressed "black and white," "black and white virgin" and even a premium "Pure Line Art" edition reproducing Tucci's flawless original pencil art. Only 300 copies of this cover have been produced! Fans can also get a combo pack with the four base covers, a pack with all four signed or the signed line art cover.
   
In addition to the comic, Dynamite and Billy Tucci have also ... 08/13/19 @ 12:13 pm EST
Dynamite Entertainment is exceptionally pleased with the success of Vampirella #1! The hard work and enthusiasm of the creative team of Christopher Priest & Ergün Gündüz, Dynamite's staff, fans and most importantly retailers, led to quite the gift for Vampi's 50th birthday bash!
Vampirella #1 landed in the top 10 for dollars and #11 in units! Diamond Comics Distributors has released their public rankings for the best-selling comic books and graphic novels for July 2019. In a competitive month with every publisher releasing heavy hitters, relaunched titles and historical milestone issues, this is a real accomplishment! Just aboveanother famous comic book character that hangs out with bats!
This healthy debut for Vampirella makes it the best selling full priced Dynamite comic book of all time! Which works perfectly with 2019 also as Dynamite's 15th anniversary of publishing. While keeping in mind that many copies of Vampirella #1 were not directly distributed through Diamond, accounting for some retailer and creator exclusives yet to be revealed. All accounting for the whopping 130,000+ print run! 
Dynamite has been blown away by the reactions from fans, critics and retailers surrounding the launch. Many fans reported that their Local Comic Shops quickly sold out of the issue or other 50th anniversary Vampirella items such as the replica edition of her first appearance. Stores across the country and even overseas were sharing photos of their life-size Vampi standees stuffed to the brim with comics and graphic novels in anticipation of New Comic Book Day. Many fans were able to chat with Priest at San Diego Comic Con and then signings at historic comic book stores Midtown Comics in New York, Fat Jack's Comicrypt in Philadelphia and Dr. No's Comics & Games in Marietta, Georgia.
While the debut was ...
07/30/19 @ 4:57 pm EST
07/29/19 @ 5:15 pm EST
07/26/19 @ 4:09 pm EST
The classic Dynamite series Queen Sonja will be recollected in a set of two paperback omnibus volumes, with the first out in October 2019.  Queen Sonja Omnibus Volume 1 reprints the first 15 issues of that series. The 396-page paperback volume allows fans new and old to collect these stories affordably and binge them in a great format. In this volume, writers Joshua Ortega (Gears of War), Arvid Nelson (Rex Mundi, Warlord of Mars) and current Birth of the She-Devil scribe Luke Lieberman craft arcs depicting the unique challenges that face Sonja at this stage in her life. They're joined by all-star She-Devil with a Sword artist Mel Rubi and Jackson Herbert. As well as a cover gallery, including a dozen paintings from superstar Lucio Parrillo. Pick up this terrific tome to read these tales of a mature battle-hardened Sonja atop the throne, dealing with threats from the outside and within.
“Know also, O prince, that in the selfsame days that the Cimmerian did stalk the Hyborian Kingdoms, one of the few swords worthy to cross with his was that of Red Sonja, warrior-woman out of majestic Hyrkania. Forced to flee her homeland because she spurned the advances of a king and slew him instead, she rode west across the Turanian steppes and into the shadowed mists of legendary.” — The Nemedian Chronicles
  
Queen Sonja Omnibus Volume 1 will be solicited in Diamond Comic Distributors’ August 2019 Previews catalog, the premier source of merchandise for the comic book specialty market, and slated for release in October 2019. Comic book fans are encouraged to preorder copies with their local comic book retailers. It will also be ... 07/26/19 @ 4:06 pm EST
Dynamite announces a fright-filled pair of Halloween themed special one-shots starring Red Sonja and Bettie Page! In Savage Tales: A Red Sonja Halloween Special, writer Mark Russell brings in artist Jacob Edgar (James Bond: Moneypenny) to tell an extra-length spooky story. Dearbhla Kelly and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou also jump over from the regular series for this essential tale for fans of the She-Devil with a Sword. All underneath a striking cover from Erica D'Urso (Xena, Captain Marvel), drawing inspiration from the original Savage Tales #1.
This one-shot perfectly complements issue 9 of the ongoing series, out the same month. While that issue has Sonja returning to the Sorcerers of Wigur-Nomadene, Savage Tales flashes back to their first encounter. At this point, Sonja is not yet a legend, but a brute full of anger and ambition. Savage. Everyone's favorite fiery heroine tries to convince the sorcerers to bring her family and friends back to life. "I saved the darkest chapter of the Red Sonja story for this Halloween Special," said writer Mark Russell. "The main series refers to an earlier visit by Sonja to the Sorcerers of Wigur-Nomadene and this tells the story of that visit and the price she paid to try to bring her dead family back to life. Jacob’s style lends itself really well to this story of dark magic and loss and I think it will make a great entry into the canon as well as a self-contained story."
"This new Sonja series has built a world that feels lived in, covered in dirt and sand and... probably some pretty bad smells. Approaching this issue, especially given that it's a dark Halloween tale, I really want to capture that feeling but also turn up the boldness," said artist Jacob Edgar. "Really push the ... 07/25/19 @ 9:37 am EST
LAST CHANCE On the Garth Ennis/The Boys Humble Bundle! Binge The Boys Before the Show Debuts Friday! The Garth Ennis' The Boys & More Humble Bundle ends tomorrow at 2 PM EST! Jump on it and get 97% off almost 5,000 pages of quality classic comics, primarily written by the master Garth Ennis (Punisher, Preacher). For just $15 you can get every single issue of The Boys! Try and binge it all before the show premieres on Amazon's Prime Video this Friday July 26! You can also check out the $1 tier and still walk away with tons of comics! All benefiting the EveryLibrary Institute too! ENDING TOMORROW, SO CHECK IT OUT NOW! GARTH ENNIS/THE BOYS HUMBLE BUNDLE!   
  
   Don't miss these limited deals! Garth Ennis/The Boys Comics Bundle!
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$15 Tier The Boys #48-72
The Boys: Highland Laddie #1-6The Boys: Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker #1-6Jennifer Blood #1-36
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Battlefields (2012) #1-6 |
