Bat Force Radio

Our favourite spooky artist Kelley Jones returns for our 7th annual Halloween chat. This year we talk about the recently released Dracula Volume 1 : The Impaler, and Kelley explains why his depictions of Vlad's impalements are so horrifically accurate. We also get into Dracula Volume 2 : The Brides, which is currently on Kickstarter here: http://kck.st/3zPYbAG As always, we pick Kelley's brain for some Halloween horror movie recommendations, and learn what movie scared him the most, as well as lots of talk about comics and art.

Kieron Gillen joins us as we go full spoilers on the second issue of The Power Fantasy, including an explanation of each of the main characters and their abilities. Kieron takes us through the development of the story and characters, along with his co-creator, Caspar Wijngaard, finding the core idea of The Power Fantasy during his run on Immortal X-Men. We also go through Kieron's origin as a video game journalist and making his way to comics. We gush about Caspar Wijngaard, Absolute Batman, and go over loads of other topics, including what one thing Kieron would choose to change about the comic industry. The Power Fantasy # 2 is available now.

Blake Northcott returns to talk about her upcoming Barbarella series with artist Anna Morozova. Barbarella # 1 is in stores October 2nd from Dynamite Entertainment.

This week we are talking about your next favorite comic, The Power Fantasy, with series co-creator Caspar Wijngaard. Caspar shares about building the characters, world, and story, along with series author and co-creator Kieron Gillen. We also hear about the roots and dynamics of their collaboration, choosing the art style for a decades-spanning story of super-powered beings with the ability to level the entire planet, depicting real world locations during different eras, drawing pizza in a character's hands without it looking weird, Caspar's own origin story in comics and art, video games, movies, and more. The Power Fantasy is in stores August 7th

Alvaro Martinez joins us and lets me pick his brain about the upcoming The Nice House By The Sea, the follow-up story to the multi-Eisner-winning The Nice House On The Lake. We talk about Alvaro's start in comics from his very first work, to his first work with James Tynion, leading up to the hugely successful Nice House. We get into how their creative partnership works, along with colorist Jordie Bellaire, how far the Nice House universe may or may not go, Alvaro's dream superhero comic to draw and his one and only choice of who the author would be, his childhood comic influences, and lots more. The Nice House By The Sea has a final order cutoff date of Monday July 1st, so tell your comic shop immediately that you need a copy so you don't miss out when issue one hits stores July 24th.

Jason Fabok returns to talk about the new series Rook: Exodus from himself, Geoff Johns, Brad Anderson, and Rob Leigh, as well as the birth of Ghost Machine, the new imprint at Image Comics, founded by themselves along with other A list creators like Brad Meltzer, Gary Frank, Peter Tomasi, Francis Manapul, and others. Jason discusses how Ghost Machine came together, some of the differences between steering their own Ghost Machine ship versus working with other publishers, and some of the other current and upcoming titles from other Ghost Machine creators. We also go a little bit into the upcoming 3 Jokers related story included in Joker: The World, coming in September. Beware spoilers for issue 3 of Rook: Exodus, in stores today! Check out ghostmachinepro.com for more info

"Batman: One Dark Night is a fan film, written by Tim Leftwich and Nathan Trucks, seeking to recapture the magic of the 1989 Batman films in a new, 8-10 minute action-packed short film. They are currently fundraising to reach their budget of $15k, which will allow them to bring their vision to life. And their stretch goals would allow them to do that job even better: adding better equipment, pay for our crew members, and practical effects (fire, smoke, ice, and so on)." Support today! https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/batman-one-dark-night#/

Bat Force Radio Ep # 320 - Clay McCormack and Ricardo Lopez Ortiz join us to talk about their new ComiXology Original series Hard Style Juice (available April 16th) and it's story of a family-owned professional wrestling organization, with a twist of murder mystery. Beware spoilers for issue one, along with the story of how they linked up with ComiXology for the project, and a little wrasslin talk. Read issue 1 at www.hardstylejuice.com today!

Juan Gedeon joins us to talk about creating The Jurassic League (which is soon to be adapted into an animated feature), relocating from Argentina to America to make comics, the books that made him want to make comics, music, and lots more.

Aaron Campbell joins us for a chat about John Constantine Hellblazer : Dead In America. The new chapter in John's story from Aaron and author Si Spurrier, that sees him on a road trip across America that features Swamp Thing and Dream of The Endless. *Episode contains spoilers for issue 1.* We also discuss matters like the proper pronunciation of Constantine (which is "teen"), on-screen iterations of the character, AI, and lots of other fun stuff.

Our annual Christmas gathering to discuss comics, movies, collectibles, and listen to SOME of us get more than a little drunk.

Kelley Jones returns for our annual Halloween chat and, this year, we're talking about Dracula Volume 1 : The Impaler. The new comic written by Matt Wagner, drawn by Kelley, with colours by Jose Villarrubia, and if you visit their Kickstarter page before November 16th, you can be a part of it. We also chat about horror movies and some of the usual Halloween time stuff. Check out the Kickstarter here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/draculatheimpaler/dracula-volume-1-the-impaler-by-matt-wagner-and-kelley-jones The story begins with this volume, DRACULA—BOOK 1: THE IMPALER, which explores Dracula’s bloody history and his tenure at Satan’s legendary seminary of the dark arts, the Scholomance. “The first graphic novel explores what led Dracula to seek out Satan’s tutelage and how he became the lord of the undead,” explains writer Matt Wagner, who adds that the book is finished and just awaiting printing.

Eisner winning comic creator Becky Cloonan joins us for a spoiler-free talk about her upcoming series Somna, (co-written and co-illustrated with Tula Lotay with colors by Lee Loughridge) for DSTLRY Media. We get into the origins and inspirations of the erotic folk horror story, creating a new story with Tula for the first time, and getting involved with DSTLRY. We also get into her own origin story in comics, having Ralph Bakshi as a professor, the inspirations for her art style, a couple of her non-comics art projects, and a bunch of other stuff. Somna issue one is in stores November 22.

Christian Ward returns as we go full spoilers on the first issue of his new cosmic horror epic. Where Morrison and McKean meet Lovecraft and Cthulhu, Christian Ward begins Batman : City of Madness. Be sure to pick up issue one before listening to this episode, because we get into all the details of everything that goes down within it's pages.

Where Grant Morrison and Dave McKean meet H.P Lovecraft and Cthulhu, Christian Ward begins Batman : City of Madness. Come along as Christian discusses his new three issue cosmic horror epic on DC's Black Label, the inspirations behind it, the years he has waited to tell the story, and how it came to be. We also get into Christian's upcoming work on Spectregraph with James Tynion for DSTLRY, his own origin story in comics, Batman 89, his past as a teacher and the gamble he took to become a successful comic creator, and lots more. Batman City of Madness # 1 is in stores October 10th but the Final Order Cutoff date for comic shops is September 9th so be sure to let your comic shop know that you want a copy!

This week we are joined by both Clay and Seth Mann as they take us way behind the curtain to talk about what they have been quietly working on together, from a pitch stage to a greenlit project, complete with contract negotiations, editorial compromises, etc. We also coax them into telling us about growing up as comic fans with some childhood photos that we dug up online, plus stories of fumbled promotions on Seth Meyers, collaborations and general brotherly bickering. This is a fun one.

Kelly Thompson joins us to talk about her new Image Comics horror series The Cull, as well as her upcoming Birds of Prey series (her first at DC). We also chat about her origin in comics and writing, her first comic as a child, tv and movies, Rage Against The Machine, the origin of her internet handle, the detail that you may miss in the final pages of The Cull, and loads more. Find Kelly online at 1979semifinalist.com The Cull # 1 is on Sale August 16 from Image Comics Eisner-winning writer KELLY THOMPSON (BLACK CLOAK) and superstar artist MATTIA DE IULIS (Captain America) team up for their first creator-owned work together Something is Killing the Children horror vibes mix with The Goonies-style adventure as five friends set off to shoot a short film on a forbidden rock near their home the summer before they all go their separate ways. But that's not really why they're there. One of them has lied. And that lie will change their lives forever. Birds of Prey # 1 is on sale September 5 from DC Comics BREAKI

Mattson Tomlin (on a writer's strike-imposed hiatus from writing The Batman 2) and Lee Bermejo (en route to SDCC) join us for a SPOILER-FILLED chat about their BOOM! Studios comic A Vicious Circle. The pair explain how their creative partnership began, the development of the story, influences, "Just doing Frazetta", the writer's and actor's strikes (and the importance of supporting them), The Batman 2, Batman The Imposter, and probably some other things that I'm forgetting because its 4am. Book two is in stores today (July 19th) so get your copy and read it, before getting into this episode.

Travis Mercer joins us to talk about Batman: Fighting The Frozen; the comic he illustrated for the McFarlane Toys Page Punchers figure series, his upcoming projects, his comics origin story, and lots more.

Sean Murphy returns to go in depth into "Zorro - Man Of The Dead", his upcoming Kickstarter original comic, and beware big SPOILERS as he also takes us through the plot of the next chapter of his Batman White Knight universe for DC Comics. Check out the Kickstarter campaign here: https://tinyurl.com/ZorroKickstarter and listen as Sean takes us through the plot (it's not what you'd think), the process of purchasing the rights to Zorro, his book deal with Massive Publishing, and some of the backer perks that will be available when the Kickstarter project goes live. We also chat about the state of comics for readers, publishers, and retailers during the continuing shift in the distribution chain that puts your comics into your hands, the original comic art market, and some other random topics.