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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. 10/22/21 @ 9:57 am EST
Fan-favorite heroine Pantha claws into her own series again this January for the first time in 10 years, courtesy of beloved franchise writer Tom Sniegoski, alongside Jeannine Acheson, and artist Igor Lima.
  
 
The woman known as Pantha was once the ancient Egyptian queen Samira. Due to her cruelty, the goddess Sekhmet beset a curse on her, to live for eternity. Yet she also gained the ability to transform into a savage beast. For millennia she has endured her punishment, hiding from the world and humanity. But now someone or something is striking down the gods, and it falls upon the antiheroine to save the pantheon in exchange for redemption and freedom.
"I was psyched to learn that Pantha’s history includes ancient Egyptian lore, as this is right up my alley!," said writer Jeannine Acheson. "Tom and I have done a lot of reimagining of Egyptian gods, goddesses, and mythologies, and we really hope that readers will enjoy the bizarre and horrific take on her story that we’ve come up with."
Tom added, "Jeannine’s take was really crazy and exciting and I knew after working with her on Vampiverse that she would be the perfect collaborator for this series."
The creative team is rounded out by artist Igor Lima (Green Lantern, Mighty Mouse). As well as colorist Adriano Augusto and letterer Carlos Mangual. To celebrate the return of Pantha to fans of the Vampirella mythos' reading stacks, Dynamite has called up a crop of talented artists to tackle memorable covers. Recent ... 10/21/21 @ 3:03 pm EST
Vampirella's 50th anniversary series goes out with a bang, with smashing sales for its issue #25 finale and the Daughter of Drakulon's hotly anticipated wedding to Dracula! Plus, the solo series debut of Vampi's nemesis Nyx kicks off strong! Thanks to all of the creators involved, the support of fans, and confidence of retailers, Vampirella #25 jumped from the 20,000 copies mark up to 60,000 following FOC, aka "Final Order Cutoff." While Nyx saw similar leaps from the 11,000 range up to 30,000.
  Dynamite is confident in the continued success of Vampirella story after it hits the stands, especially in anticipation of its continuation in the new title Vampirella/Dracula: Unholy this winter, and fans tracing backward after trying that title. In light of this, the final print run for the issue has been decided on 75,000 to make sure every existing fan of the character and newcomers won't miss out on this historic release.
It's not a fake out, not an imaginary story, the iconic vampiress is tying the knot following all the critically acclaimed storytelling crafted by writer Christopher Priest and a crew of artists including Ergün Gündüz, Giovanni Timpano, Julius Ohta, Willie Schubert, and a who's who of killer cover artists.
Fans of the Vampirella mythos have been tuning into the tales of Nyx for over 25 years as well. Born from Chaos - literally - she's been a thorn in Vampirella's side ever since. Nyx even killed Vampirella in the iconic Death & Destruction in 1996! Now for the first time, she's breaking out into her own title like many other beloved antiheroes in comics' past. Written by Christos Gage, this new series is going to reveal so much about the character, making ... 10/21/21 @ 3:01 pm EST
Chicago's resident professional wizard is back and ready for action in an all-new graphic novel set in the official Dresden Files continuity and exclusive to Dynamite, releasing in February.
Dresden Files creator Jim Butcher is back with his sixth original graphic novel, co-written by Mark Powers. They're joined by returning artist Joe Cooper (Bloodshot) and fan-favorite cover artist of the prose novel series, Chris McGrath.
Harry Dresden finds himself now working for the one and only Bigfoot. Three hard to find short stories are reimagined and interwoven with additional wholly new material to come together into a thrilling new tale. Readers of the saga of Dresden will not want to miss this essential chapter in the character's ongoing saga.
"Bigfoot hasn't gotten nearly enough attention since we stopped trying to find him every season on Animal Planet, and I feel that needs correcting post haste," said writer Jim Butcher. "As I've often said before, I mostly see the Dresden Files in my head as drawn animation, and I deeply enjoy seeing my often-ridiculous imagination coalesce into imagery that other people can enjoy too!"
Jim Butcher is the New York Times bestselling author and creator of the Dresden Files franchise. The Dresden books have sold millions of copies combined, as well as translated to graphic novels, roleplaying games, and a 2007 television series. To date there are 17 novels in the universe, plus assorted short stories.
Dresden Files: Bigfoot features 120 pages of full color graphic novel storytelling for $24.99 in hardcover format. Collectors can also opt for a limited edition signed by Jim Butcher himself.
  
Read More Here
10/21/21 @ 10:54 am EST
Welcome to Hell... Sonja. The fan-favorite breakout star of the mythos boundary-blasting Sonjaversal is breaking out in a fiery hot new title ready to warm up fans this winter!
She's the Queen of Damnation, lording over the fire-scorched pits of eternal hunger and suffering. But Hell Sonja has had enough of all this boring evil. She's binding together lost souls, other Red Sonja's of the multiverse, and will scour time and space to find the most wicked to feed to her endless realm's churning maw. For those desperate enough and beset by evil, when no one else can help, perhaps Hell Sonja will be their surprising savior!
Writer Christopher Hastings (Unbelievable Gwenpool, Deadpool) and artist Pasquale Qualano (Dejah Thoris) reunite to chronicle the tales of the latest breakout star in the Red Sonja mythos. She's now set up a multiversal bounty hunting operation, assembling teams of Sonja's to accost the most dangerous villains across the multiverse. Each issue will feature a new world and villain to be taken on. In addition to the title-star, the series also includes Blue Sonja, Moon Sonja, Gold Sonja, and of course the beloved classic Red Sonja.
"It's the A-Team meets Hellraiser across a span of wildly different fantasy and sci-fi worlds, care of an elite squad of multiversal Red Sonja alternates," said writer Christopher Hastings. "Easily the most metal thing I've ever worked on."
Beyond the beautiful, action-packed interiors by Qualano, colorist Kike J. Diaz, the series is fronted by a talented team of cover artists. Dynamite depictions of demons would be incomplete without the incomparable Lucio Parrillo. Other fan-favorites answering Hell Sonja's call include Jae Lee, Junggeun Yoon, and Joseph Michael Linsner. Last but certainly not least, fan-favorite Gracie the Cosplay ... 10/21/21 @ 10:24 am EST
The hotly anticipated series Vampirella/Dracula: Unholy is set to continue Christopher Priest's acclaimed tenure on the Drakulonian antiheroine. With January's issue #2, the world-renowned artist Stanley "Artgerm" Lau returns to contribute a breathtaking cover for this steamy couple!
Artgerm returns to the character of Vampirella and this run by Christopher Priest following a trio of sold-out scorching covers he contributed close to the character's 50th anniversary celebration. Each even numbered issue of #2, 4, and 6 on the 2019 relaunch of Vampirella featured one of Artgerm's masterpieces. The first was a scintillating unique take on depicting the character's iconic costume, which has since been brought to the third dimension as a collectible statue bust. The second finally brought a fan-favorite piece originally made in conjunction with Sideshow to the collections of comic book fans. While the final one tapped into Artgerm's rare charcoal abilities and blew everyone away with a memorable blood-soaked acetate cover.
Now he's back with another novel twist on Vampirella's costume in the form of a dress, as well as her dashing new husband, the one and only king of the vampires - Dracula. The variant cover is also available in logo-free "virgin" editions and more.
Artgerm is joined by a squad of superstars for the other covers on this exciting second issue. The others include Shannon Maer, Rose Besch, Lucio Parrillo, and a cosplay cover.
  
VAMPIRELLA/DRACULA: UNHOLY #2 is solicited in Diamond Comic Distributors’ November 2021 Previews catalog, the premier source of merchandise for the comic book specialty market, and slated for release in January 2022. Comic book fans are encouraged to ...
09/27/21 @ 3:51 pm EST
Bond, James Bond's much-anticipated next mission comes to theaters shortly. For those hungry for more action-packed 007 adventures, Dynamite and Humble Bundle are teaming up to offer the ultimate package of James Bond comics as a digital bundle sale. The bundle will only run for a limited time, so fans should jump on it! - Dynamite JAMES BOND Bundle
The shaken, not stirred digital bundle is available in multiple tiers to fit every reader's budget and preferences. Featured within is a cornucopia of practically every Bond comic ever published by Dynamite, and even spinoffs starring iconic allies Moneypenny, Felix Leiter, and more. For something close to the Ian Fleming written classics, one can kick back with the acclaimed graphic novel adaptations of the first two novels, Casino Royale and Live and Let Die. Bond's rarely covered young days in the Navy are portrayed in the fan-favorite Origin series by Jeff Parker. Truly original and innovative yarns of the world's most famous secret agent have been written by top tier talent in the industry including Andy Diggle, Greg Pak, Warren Ellis, Christos Gage, and others.
To match the 007 flavor, Dynamite has even selected a curated crop of additional comics in the crime and espionage range that will complement the package, many of which are written by Bond contributors such as Andy Diggle's Control and Weaver and James Robinson's Grand Passion. Also making an appearance is the beloved antihero assassin Jennifer Blood, created by Garth Ennis (The Boys), alongside just a little taste of superheroics courtesy of Peter Cannon Thunderbolt. You only live once (or is it twice?), so all this great reading is a perfect way to spend precious time.
Altogether, at the highest, most comprehensive tier of the bungle, fans will get over 4,700 pages of ... 09/24/21 @ 10:27 am EST
Vampirella is bringing the heat to the NFT collectibles sphere today, with a hotly anticipated launch of digital comics, graphic novels and more on Terra Virtua. Featuring the work of critically acclaimed industry legend Christopher Priest (Black Panther, Deathstroke), Ergün Gündüz, and superstar J. Scott Campbell (Gen13, Amazing Spider-Man), there is something for every kind of collector.
Front and center for this drop is the 50th anniversary prestige comic series of Vampirella. Written by Christopher Priest, drawn by Ergün Gündüz, and lettered by Willie Schubert, its historic first issue will be available now as a non-fungible digital collectible. Upon its initial release in comic book stores, it quickly became the highest selling full priced periodical in Dynamite's history. Terra Virtua will also be offering the Seduction of the Innocent graphic novel, compiling the first six full issues of the series, plus the #0 issue originally released for Free Comic Book Day 2019. A deluxe Director's Cut edition will also be available, with a more limited run and additional extra features only capable in the NFT space.
 Both of the two previous Director's Cut deluxe NFT graphic novels, for The Boys by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, and Red Sonja: Queen of Plagues by Gail Simone and Walter Geovani have already completely sold out. While collectors are already selling and seeing incredible returns on the secondary market, with a Dynamite record of $5,000 for one of these resales. Writer Christopher Priest will also be conducting an AMA, "Ask Me Anything" on Reddit for fans looking to learn more about his work on Vampirella, his broader career, the NFT collectibles space, and much more. Read More Here 09/23/21 @ 4:34 pm EST
Dynamite is excited to announce some of the early success and surprises in the NFT collectibles collaboration with partner Terra Virtua. With sell-outs and impressive secondary market sales, this is a growing exciting space for comics and artwork. Beyond the initial lithographs rollout, the first major NFT comics release through the partnership was a unique digital edition of hit The Boys by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. The more limited Director's Cut versions of the NFT comic have completely sold out, though additional versions remain available for collectors to purchase.
One week later, the same happened with the release of the fan-favorite Red Sonja run by Gail Simone and Walter Geovani. The 100 Director's Cuts sold out almost immediately. With other iterations still available.
The secondary market is heating up too, as fans sell and trade from their NFT collections. A copy of The Boys Director's Cut sold on the market for $5,000, a record for Dynamite's NFT comics.
With more exciting releases coming from the partnership with Terra Virtua, Dynamite encourages fans to check out the current offerings and stay tuned for the latest news on what is coming next in this exciting arena!
The limited edition digital collections are available to purchase on Terra Virtua here: https://terravirtua.io/marketplace?page=1&nft_type_code=COMICS&brand_code=DYNAMITE 09/16/21 @ 4:08 pm EST
Dynamite celebrates 30 years of Chaos! this December with an exciting new take on Evil Ernie courtesy of writer Scott Lobdell (Uncanny X-Men, Red Hood) and artist Ariel Medel (Xena)!
 
Ernest Gleckman is a good kid, coming up on his college graduation. The only asterisk is the rock band he leads each weekend. He may have a bit of a bad boy streak, but nothing like where life is about to take him! One night Ernest is mortally wounded, but barely scrapes by alive. Only now he must pay back his new "lease" on life as an avatar for a mysterious death cult. He must assume the role of... Evil Ernie! "What happens when you take the most evil entity in all of creation....and bond him with the nicest guy in the world?," Scott Lobdell wanted to know. "I saw this EVIL ERNIE series as a way to explore not only the effect of Ernie's unadulterated evil on an innocent college student... but would Ernie react to having to reside in a vessel of pure innocence in order to achieve his goal. We've all come to accept that power corrupts and absolutely power corrupts absolutely. Is it possible absolute goodness can eradicate evil once and for all?" "Also, I have to say, I am so excited about working with Ariel on EVIL ERNIE. I've gotten to work with a lot of superstars over the years... and I'm telling you he's destined to become one!" Ernest and Ernie are polar opposites, as the young man learns as his new alter ego leans into cruelty and sadism as he tortures and murders his targets. As he balances the already ... 09/16/21 @ 11:30 am EST
Christopher Priest's Vampirella saga continues this holiday season with the now married Daughter of Drakulon traveling to Dracula's castle to cheat fate in a new event limited series, Vampirella/Dracula: Unholy. But can love conquer evil?
Fans who check out Vampirella #25 will get to witness the biggest comic book wedding of the year. The story is directly picked up in the pages of this new series, but the backstory behind these monumental events goes back much longer. At the same time, the new series will be perfectly approachable for readers who haven't read a page of Vampirella in their lives.
Legendary writer Christopher Priest (Black Panther, Deathstroke) is joined in this series by bloodthirsty up and coming artist Donny Hadiwidjaja (Barbarella), colorist Mohan, and letterer Willie Schubert.
“We’ve kept Dracula off the board, from day one, because I’d planned to do this,” Priest laughed. “One of my first requests to Dynamite - ‘No Drac for the first year, please.’ When we bring Dracula into our series, we need that to be an event. I realize how over-used a claim it is but, trust me, you’re in for the trippiest love triangle/murder mystery in Dracula history, as well as an all-new vision for the classic character. It’s really tough to hype this book without blowing major plot twists. Donny and I are having a real blast with this.”
This is a Dracula story like no other. Defeated at the hands of a jealous lover, the genetic code of the Lord of Evil has been preserved within a deadly virus and passed on through generations to a young boy hunted by zealots ...
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