Knockin' Down Your House This May

 

 

You know that thing I teased about a few days ago, about a comic series involving an "well-known man in a suit"? Well, there was a typo. That should have been, "man in suit." That is, a Godzilla suit. Yep, coming this spring, to finer comic shops everywhere...

Godzilla #1

Duane Swierczynski (w) • Simon Gane (a) • Art Adams, Tony Harris (c)

Godzilla is back... in an all-new ongoing series! Duane Swierczynski and Simon Gane launch this ultimate action-movie blockbuster, ushering in a new era of monster battles. Ex-special forces tough-guy Boxer is a man with a grudge and vows to end the terror of Godzilla, no matter what. He assembles a top notch team to take down monster-sized threats... at $7 billion a bounty. What starts as a vendetta could become a lucrative business for Boxer... if he can live past day one!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

*Variant Covers:Ryan Kelly movie-tribute cover!
Art Adams gatefold cover!

Bullet Points: The new ongoing Godzilla series STARTS HERE!

Bigger, badder and more radioactive... this is the ultimate Godzilla tale!

Every issue contains a random Art Adams monster trading card! 9 different cards available, collect the whole set! Also, look for randomly inserted unique sketch cards from Matt Frank!

As a kid who grew up watching giant monsters beat the crap out of each other on UHF, this is pretty much a dream gig. Hope you'll check it out this May.

Fun with Ivy, Barry, Grabinski and Lexi

Some quick mid-month updates for you:

Birds of Prey #6, the penultimate issue of my first full arc, will be available at finer comic shops (and e-readers) everywhere tomorrow! Usually, the sixth installment of a seven-part story isn't the place to jump on board, but I think you'd do fine in this case. Of course, why skip the joyful mayhem of issues one through five?

There's more comics news to report, but I can't... quite... yet. Some hints, though: One title is about an extremely well-known man in a suit. And the other calls to mind bleeding and drinking. Any guesses? Leave 'em in the comments below.

I'm very proud to report that Fun & Games, the first Charlie Hardie novel, was nominated for a Barry Award in the category of Best Paperback original. The winner will be announced at this year's Bouchercon in Cleveland.

Go watch BenDavid Grabinski's pulpy, splattery short "Cost of Living," especially if you're an 80s action junkie.

Go buy David J. Schow's Upgunned, out today. Here's the first line: "I had just wrapped up having sex with my best friend's ex-wife, after shooting naked pictures of her, when I heard a slight entry noise from the elevator end of the loft, and looked up into the face of a man holding a gun." How can you not buy a novel that opens with this line? You can't!

Go download Adam Cesare's Tribesmen, one of the first installments of an e-book line edited by the legendary John Skipp. It's violent, sick, brilliant and hilarious. Adam had me at "Italian cannibal."

And finally: While I can't tell you everything about my forthcoming collaboration with Lexi Alexander (see previous entry), enough's been spilled on Twitter that I can give you some real skinny. I wrote a short film called "Execution Style," directed by the immortal Ms. Alexander, for a new YouTube Channel that Anthony E. Zuiker is launching in collaboration with BlackBoxTV. The film stars Goran Visnjic, Nicki Aycox, Bill Bellamy and Rene Auberjonois, and was shot over three days in early February. I was lucky enough to hang out on set (and even be useful every once in a while). And I can confirm the film is full of exotic weapons, blood, firearms, punches, kicks, insults and German beer. "Execution" will debut this spring, so stay tuned for more...

Kickin' Out Some Updates

Lexi Alexander sparring with Pat Johnson. (Photo courtesy Ms. Alexander.)

Some random links, likes, rumors, and half-baked truths for you (all three of you who still check this blog, despite the lack of regular posts):

I wrote a short piece for the Amazon Kindle UK site called "Once More, With Feeling," which is all about writing novel sequels, to mark the publication of my first sequel, Hell & Gone.

Speaking of Hell & Gone: Cullen Gallagher at Pulp Serenade called the second Charlie Hardie novel "another homerun for Philadelphia's mad hatter of crime fiction." Which makes me really happy, because I don't even wear hats! (My head is way too large.) And the Geeks of Doom say that H&G is "one hell of a fun ride!"

Last week I talked about Birds of Prey, my monthly DC Comics series, with the fine ladies over at the 3 Chicks Review Comics podcast. (Though only 2 of the chicks were present.)

Also last week: I made my IDW Comics debut with Infestation 2 #1, which kicks off a new Lovecraftian crossover series. The Geeks of Doom encourage you to "GET THIS NOW!!!"

Likes: Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive; Showtime's Shameless; Fun.'s "We Are Young" (and its slo-mo mayhem video); Peter Farris' debut novel Last Call for the Living; Sazeracs at Philly's The Farmer's Cabinet; cashews.

Dislikes: January.

Looking forward to: The Complete Slayers by Paul Cain (Centipede Press): Upgunned by David J. Schow; Dead Harvest by Chris F. Holm.

And some harmless teasing: Over on Twitter, I've been dropping hints about a forthcoming collaboration with director Lexi Alexander (Green Street Hooligans, Punisher War Zone). And Lexi has been dropping some hint-tweets, too. So what is it we're doing, exactly? Well, I can't spill all quite yet. But I can encourage to watch both of our Twitter feeds (@swierczy and @lexialex) in the coming week for more hints.

Retreat to Goodisville: The Slideshow

Fellow David Goodis fan and photographer (and, coincidentally, my RA during my junior year of college) Mark Krajnak put together this moody and noirish slideshow with highlights from our Retreat to Goodisville. Pour yourself a drink, light a smoke, lean back, and enjoy.

Lager, Eyepatches and Rockabilly

Erik Carlson (whose wife Hannah won the Starling lookalike contest last month) makes a podcast called Bibliodiscoteque where he creates soundtracks for the books of his favorite writers. Past installments have featured Steve Niles, Harlan Ellison and Christa Faust, and I'm flattered to report that Erik's gone and compiled a crazy punk, blues and rockabilly soundtrack for my novels Fun & Games and Hell & Gone. Erik emailed me in late October to ask if I had any suggestions, but I'm glad I didn't follow through with any, because I'm freakin' loving what Erik selected. Download the podcast and check it out for yourself, but right now I'm in my basement office writing to Rocket to Memphis' "I'm Bad," Sparkle Moore's "Skull & Crossbones," The Woolly Bandits' "Woman of Mass Destruction," and The Soft Boys' "I Want to Destroy You," just to name a few. Huge thanks, Erik. You've got a little thank-you present on its way to you...

Retreat to Goodisville 2012

Bacall, Goodis and Bogie, on the set of Dark Passage.

It's official; my partner in crime Lou Boxer has booked the bus, and we're finalizing the itinerary. What used to be a humble graveside tribute to Philly noir legend David Goodis has blossomed into a full-on noir adventure on wheels we're calling, "Retreat to Goodisville."

Here's the deal: at 10 a.m., Saturday January 7th, 2012 (the 45th anniversary of Goodis's death) we'll be meeting just outside The Lost Bar of Atlantis, 2442 Frankford Avenue. A coach bus will take 30 of us up to the Goodis grave in nearby Bensalem, PA. Along the way, we'll watch an excerpt of The Burglar, the 1957 shot-in-Philly crime noir, scripted by Goodis from his own novel. Bring your favorite Goodis passage, because at the man's grave we'll be paying tribute to him by reading excerpts from his work. Then it's back on the bus for a tour of prime Goodis locations, including the house where he lived with his parents (and wrote most of his novels), his birthplace, street corners and landmarks mentioned in Down There, Black Friday, Cassidy's Girl, Of Tender Sin, and much, much more. Plus, on the bus we'll have guest speakers, prizes, and beer. (Yes, we're allowed to imbibe on the bus. Lou checked!) Finally, we'll end up back at the Lost Bar for beer and snacks. The first round is on us; the snacks are courtesy the fine folks at the Lost Bar. Plus: just across the street, the Philadelphia Brewing Co. will be offering brief tours.

Want a seat on the bus? We're asking for $25 per person to cover transportation, bus snacks and incidentals. Seating is limited, so drop me a line at duane DOT swier AT verizon DOT net (with the subject line, "Retreat to Goodisville") and I'll send you an address where you can send a check to reserve your seat.

Don't want to enjoy the warmth and camaraderie of the bus? No worries; Goodis's characters were loners, too. Meet us at the grave site and we'll give you a list of our tour stops so you can join in. But trust me: the bus is going to be worth it. Early January in Philadelphia tends to be pretty damn cold.

Lou and I hope to see you many of you guys there. Any questions? Drop me a line. I'll post a follow-up when the bus is full, which based on our early head count, should be fairly soon.

Okay, I Lied

 

I will be making one more appearance before the end of the year, and it's in Jersey! Noon next Saturday (December 3rd) I'll be hanging out with Jeff Marsick and Scott Barnett at Flemington, New Jersey's Comic Fusion (42 Main Street) as they celebrate the launch of their excellent creator-owned title, Dead Man's Party. I'll also be signing copies of Birds of Prey and whatever else you'd like. Then really, I swear this time, this is it. You won't be seeing me again until 2012.

Anyway, if you're anywhere near the greater Flemington, NJ area, which includes ALL OF PHILADELPHIA AND NEW YORK, in my opinion... stop on by! Remember: nothing says "the holidays" like "personalized comics and crime novels."