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THE CRITICS ARE GROOVING ON SEARCH FOR SWAMP THING #2

7/29/2011

 
First of all, even though this post is about BRIGHTEST DAY AFTERMATH: THE SEARCH FOR SWAMP THING #2, I just had to jump ahead a bit and share the incredibly beautiful variant cover to issue #3, the conclusion of the series. (And I can't believe it's over so soon...)

The artist of this wonderful painting is David Mack, best known for his long-running series Kabuki, which started in 1994 with the long-since defunct Caliber Press and has most recently been published by Marvel's Icon imprint. David also did Swamp Thing covers for Vertigo back in the early 2000s.

Anyway, I hope you like this painting as much as I do and hopefully, your local comic shop will stock the variant cover edition of #3 (on sale August 24) so you can take home your own copy. It's just a shame that they have to spoil the cover with annoying details like, for example, the title.

And now, on to some of the reviews for Issue #2. It's in stores now, or order it here.

HERETICAL JARGON
9 out of 10 stars. "Vankin is doing one hell of a job of reintroducing both Swamp Thing and John Constantine into the DCU. I’ve always loved Swamp Thing and was worried about how this reintroduction was going to play out. I couldn’t be happier!"

IGN.COM
"Vankin's handling of Constantine suits the character and his interaction with universe icons like Batman and Superman make this series worth the price of admission....witty exchanges between Constantine and Superman never fail to entertain. "

BY ODIN'S BEARD
"This title brings me what I want, John Constantine interacting with both Batman and Superman over the course of two issues and I couldn’t find it more satisfying. …Takeaway here is that if you enjoy Constantine you should be reading this mini."

NERDLOCKER
"Loving this book!" 4 of 5 Nerdskulls. (Go to 4:50 in the video.

Thanks again to everyone who read, reviewed or otherwise supported this book in any way! Stick around for the conclusion which in addition to David Mack's brilliant variant cover, brings us the final confrontation between John Constantine and the forces who would control the Green for their own less-than-benevolent purposes!


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SEARCH FOR SWAMP THING #2 - OUT TODAY

7/26/2011

 
BRIGHTEST DAY AFTERMATH: THE SEARCH FOR SWAMP THING #2 goes on sale today, July 27. The very cool variant cover by Ivan Reis (Brightest Day, Aquaman) and Joe Prado is below. FYI, if you can't find the variant at your local comic shop, you can order it at the link. Meanwhile, here are just a few more nice comments about  #1. The good reviews keep rolling in over time.

BROKEN FRONTIER

"Vankin has done a fine job at crafting a story that rings of the old Hellblazer series so far, without seeming completely hollow or stale…If you are a fan of magic, plants, and superheroes, then you will probably want to give The Search for Swamp Thing a shot."

VAULT OF HORROR

"Certainly lives up to expectations, thanks not only to Vankin's scripting, but also the engaging artwork of former 'Witchblade' penciler Marco Castiello."

BONGO CONGO
(Scroll down the page at the link)

"Vankin structures the story with just the right sense of mystery that makes the reader want to stick with this tale...a definite thumbs-up."

Thanks so much to everyone who took the time to post kind words about the issue. I hope you'll like the second one even better!

And of course, thanks again (and again, and again) to everyone who bought the issue! As mentioned earlier, it was DC's 6th-bestselling comic in June. Let's put #2 up there on the charts as well!
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SEARCH FOR SWAMP THING #2

7/22/2011

 
BRIGHTEST DAY AFTERMATH: THE SEARCH FOR SWAMP THING #2 goes on sale tomorrow, 7/27. "This is a book that should be labeled required reading for the DCnU launch in September," says this pretty nice review of the bestselling Issue #1. "It reintroduces John Constantine and Swamp Thing back into the DCU just in time for the re-launch. It even introduces one of Constantine's long time associates Chas into the universe."

And just in case anyone's wondering, no, Swamp Thing is not "rebooted" with Swamp Thing #1 by Scott Snyder and Yanick Paquette. The "Search" story still "counts."

I got my comps of #2 a few days ago and I gotta say, the issue looks great. Please pick it up if you can, along with Issue #1, if you missed it.

Anyway, what can I say? I had a blast writing this series and I can humbly submit that you will have a lot of fun reading it. John Constantine is a unique character for the DC Universe. He's about as different from Batman and Superman as it's possible to be, yet when he wants to be, he's as powerful as either of them. Watching them all interact was the highlight of this whole experience for me. And yeah, it felt like I was just sitting back and watching, not just writing it myself. I hope you dig it!

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We're Number 6 - With 51,928 Bullets! (UPDATED)

7/15/2011

 
UPDATE (Aug. 1, 2011): From having worked as a comics "insider" for 7 years, I can tell you that these estimated sales figures compiled by the industry news source ICv2.com are "ballpark" at best, but they're all we've got. So with that caveat, I'm extremely thrilled to see that the first issue of SEARCH FOR SWAMP THING did "estimated" sales of 51,928 copies!

The estimates are based on the sales charts released by Diamond (see below) and don't include any reorders or overseas sales, so what the heck, let's just round that number up to 52,000. Just for comparison's sake, Mighty Thor #3 did an "estimated" 48,114, Action Comics #902 did 41,960 and Astonishing X-Men #39 sold 37,127. So take that all for what it's worth, but shoot, it looks like pretty good news to me.

While #2 issues normally see a drop in sales, here's hoping that we at least hold our own in the July charts!

A big thanks to everyone involved on this series! See below for all of their names and all of the same tremendous gratitude applies! In multiples of 51,928!

ORIGINAL POST: So according to the sales charts released today by Diamond Comics Distributors, BRIGHTEST DAY AFTERMATH: THE SEARCH FOR SWAMP THING #1 was DC Comics' 6th-highest selling title in June. I'm not sure how many titles DC published in June, but there were 46 DC books in the top 100, according to Diamond. Out of all comics in June, SEARCH placed 16th. To put it in perspective, only the really heavy hitters sold better: Batman, Spider-Man, X-Men, Avengers, Green Lantern and the Marvel and DC "event books," Fear Itself and Flashpoint.

Neither DC nor Diamond release exact sales figures, but this ranking should put the sales number somewhere in the 50,000 ballpark. Not too shabby, when you think about it.

So, big, big thanks first of all to everyone who bought, read or otherwise supported the book!! Stick around for #2, when the story really gets revved up, in stores July 27.

And next, huge thank yous to penciler Marco Castiello, inker Vincenzo Acunzo, colorist Barb Ciardo, letterer Sal Cipriano and the cover artists Ardian Syaf, Vicente Cifuentes and Ulises Arreola -- and also to variant cover artist J.G. Jones, whose work I'm sure helped a lot with that sales number.

Of course, tremendous gratitude to DC's ace publicity staff who helped get the word out: Pamela Mullin, David Hyde and Austin Trunick.

But most of all thanks to DC's Editor-in-Chief Bob Harras, DCU Executive Editor Eddie Berganza and Editor Rex Ogle. And of course, Co-Publisher Dan DiDio! Amazing work from all!

Though to be honest, I suspect a little John Constantine magic may have had something to do with it as well.



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Harvey Pekar's CLEVELAND, coming soon

7/13/2011

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Just wanted to link to a wonderful tribute to the dearly missed Harvey Pekar, who passed away one year ago yesterday, written by my pal Jeff Newelt. Please read it.

Harvey Pekar was the first writer I brought into Vertigo. With the success of the AMERICAN SPLENDOR movie still fresh, I edited Harvey's graphic novel THE QUITTER, his first full account of his childhood in Cleveland. With art by the award-winning Dean Haspiel, the book was notable for Harvey's surprising depiction of himself as something of a bully, or at least, a habitual street fighter. Sometime, when I have more time, I'll tell the story here of how that book came to be. It was an interesting journey.

Anyway, in the year or so before I left Vertigo, I developed a new graphic novel with Harvey. This was not long after the big economic collapse of 2008 and I thought it would be interesting and important to show a microcosm of the economic downturn through the history of one city. I asked Harvey if he wanted to tell the story of his hometown and how growing up there shaped and affected him. The project became CLEVELAND. In typical Harvey fashion, when I asked for a proposal, Harvey went ahead and wrote a whole script.

Unfortunately, for various reasons, DC/Vertigo ultimately elected not to publish the book. Not long afterward, Jeff, who edits The Pekar Project at the online Smith Magazine, took it up. A new, small publisher, ZIP Comics paid Harvey for the script and brought on an excellent young artist, Joseph Remnant, to draw the graphic novel. Harvey sadly didn't make it far enough to see this book's completion. Harvey Pekar's CLEVELAND comes out from ZIP later this year.
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MEN OF WAR #2 in stores OCT. 5

7/12/2011

 
Here is the solicitation copy for "Men of War" #2, which in addition to the lead story by Ivan Brandon and Tom Derenick, and the haunting Viktor Kalvachev cover, above, features the second act of my three-part Navy SEALs story, drawn by first-rate artist Phil Winslade, in which our heroes Ice and Tracker find their mission becoming both more urgent and more murky and they must make a potentially fateful decision...

MEN OF WAR #2
Written by IVAN BRANDON and JONATHAN VANKIN

Art by TOM DERENICK and PHIL WINSLADE

Cover by VIKTOR KALVACHEV

On sale OCTOBER 5 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T+

In the split second after a heavy-weapons blast the air goes silent and still, just as it does in the ghostly realm of Circe. How will Rock and his team of men – battle-hardened, but still human – survive a villainess who can walk on the very wind?

Plus, Navy Seals: Ice and Tracker go where no boots are on the ground, but when their mission is compromised, how will they tell friend from foe?

MEN OF WAR #1 - IN STORES NOW

7/1/2011

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UPDATE Sept 7, 2011: Just a quick note to mention that MEN OF WAR #1 hit the stands today. This is an oversize comic selling fir $3.99, which means that while the main "Sgt. Rock" story by the outstanding Ivan Brandon with art by Tom Derenick is the main attraction, there's also another story -- by me! Art by Phil Winslade. Read below for details, or just buy the thing.

And now, for the first time, if you don't live near a comic book shop, you can buy a digital copy to read on your computer or mobile device and you can do that right here.

ORIGINAL POST: In real life, like most people, I don't much like war. But war comics are awesome!

So, I'll be writing the back feature in issues 1-3 of DC's new monthly MEN OF WAR. The main story is penned by the estimable Ivan Brandon with art by Tom Derenick and features Joe Rock, grandson of the legendary Sgt. Rock. And it looks mindblowing!

My story is called NAVY SEALS: ICE AND TRACKER. The actual story title is "Human Shields." The Navy SEALs go through an incredibly thorough and brutal training program. Then they undertake some of the most dangerous and important missions our military will ever face, like the Osama Bin Laden mission, for one. But there are some situations not even the SEALs can prepare for. Sometimes they have to reach deep inside, past their training and into their own basic humanity. That's what "Human Shields" is about.

And most exciting for me, the art is by one of my favorites in the biz, Phil Winslade (Howard the Duck, Vertigo's Nevada, etc.).

Twenty-four pages. Three 8-page episodes. The three-fisted first issue of MEN OF WAR hits comic book stores September 7. And thanks to DC's "digital day-and-date" initiative, the comic will also be available for immediate download to your iPad, iPhone or other device on the same day. So you can roll out of bed, buy it and read about war first thing in the morning. Should you choose to do so.

Below is the cover art for MEN OF WAR #1 (by Viktor Kalvachev).

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