I've set up a new page just for the SENTINELS, complete with the short story I wrote for A THOUSAND FACES magazine and all of Chris Kohler's interior art for books 1 and 2.
http://www.whiterocketbooks.com/sentinels/
Beware! This story is set sometime after the events of book 3, so if you haven't read the first trilogy yet, you may want to do so before doing anything more than just looking at Chris's art!
Friday, July 25, 2008
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Best Superhero Movie and TV Show Ever?
SFSignal.com asked me the question: "What was the best Superhero movie and TV show ever?" My answer, along with those of other writers in related genres, can be found here:
http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/006879.html
http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/006879.html
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Mars is back underway
Okay, after having real trouble finding time or energy to work on Mars McCoy, it is now back underway-- in a big way. The book is nearly half-done, but most of the serious plotting work is finished-- now it only remains to write the thing down.
My goal is to have Mars wrapped up by the end of September. We shall see.
My goal is to have Mars wrapped up by the end of September. We shall see.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Comicon PULSE Interview
Jen at Comicon's THE PULSE interviewed me this week about the new SENTINELS editions from Swarm Press:
http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=36;t=007280
http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=36;t=007280
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
More Chris Kohler art from SENTINELS 3: APOCALYPSE RISING!
Here's another preview to whet your appetite for the carnage that is to come in SENTINELS (vol. 3): APOCALYPSE RISING!
And is this not awesome??
I asked Chris to show the "Warlord in Red" and the regular (blue) Warlord locked in fierce battle in an alien desert, while Francisco lurks, awaiting the outcome, his dagger at the ready. In the background is the latest machine created by the Warlord-- which can't be good at all for the Earth!
Chris used Rob Davis's recent sketch of the Warlord and Francisco as models for two of the characters, with the Jiminez design of the original Warlord for the other, so you can tell them apart in black & white. A nice touch!
Monday, June 23, 2008
Quick Thoughts on HeroesCon 2008
Some quick thoughts on HeroesCon 2008:
* The main event: We had a pretty good crowd for the primary thing I flew out there for: the "Avengers Assembled!" panel on Saturday at 3 pm-- especially considering that it started out listed as Friday, then changed to Sunday, and finally ended up on Saturday. The fact that anyone figured out where and when it was held (including me) was a miracle.
I led a general "Avengers" discussion for about a half hour, touching on topics such as Bendis, Iron Man, Secret Invasion, the way almost all of the Marvel line is now one big story, and so on. Then I talked about the ASSEMBLED! book for a few minutes, by which time the HERO Initiative rep had arrived. He talked briefly about what the charity does, and then I presented him with a check for $1,200.00 for the profits the book has earned to date.
Here's a photo of the check presentation: http://plexico.blogspot.com/
FWIW: I ended up stuffing the big check in the trash. After, of course, handing over a real, normal-sized one. :-)
* In other news: The con was okay, but not as good (IMO) as the other two I attended. Seemed like a smaller crowd, and folks didn't much want to spend money (probably trying to save enough to be able to buy gas to drive home!) Guy Davis was right across from me and had a pretty long line all weekend, and indeed it seemed most folks were spending what they had on sketches and art commissions.
* Chuck at ComicsRelated.com interviewed me as part of his daily podcast series from the con.
My episode is here:http://www.comicrelated.com/audio/relatedrecap011.html
I haven't heard it yet, so I'm sure I'll sound ridiculous. Plus, the first take was better, but Chuck discovered halfway through that his high-tech device wasn't recording! So we had to do it over. Oh well!
* I did sell twelve copies of ASSEMBLED!, including eight at my table over the course of the weekend and four more at the panel. Toss in several copies of the other books and it was a decent show-- about a hundred bucks below my last few cons' average, but since this was a comics convention and folks appeared scared off by all the *text* in the books, I guess that's not bad.
Several folks came up to get the copies they already had signed, which was pretty cool. Lavish praise was handed out for all the contributors, so you folks who wrote the chapters should feel... um... lavishly praised! :-)
* I ran into Two Morrows Publishing's Eric Nolen-Weathington, an acquaintance of mine from a few other convention panels over the last few years, and we discussed a couple of interesting ideas I'll keep under wraps for now. We'll see what comes of it.
* Along similar lines-- One guy who came up to my table had a *thick* book he'd done himself-- a comprehensive history of the minor villains of the DC Universe, I think. He gave me a copy. It has tons of illustrations on every page and is like 600 pages long. He wants to publish it but is afraid of getting sued by DC. He was wondering how we managed not to get sued by Marvel. I said: 1) Almost no pics; 2) profits for a comics-related charity, and 3) probably small-beans enough not to attract the wrong kind of notice. Plus it's a general commentary book, and lots of those get published all the time.
I encountered quite a few other folks of both recent and long-time acquaintance, from Chuck at Comics Related to the "Likely Stories" gang to Danielle and a couple of other DragonCon folks, and many more (including a small but growing group of individual folks who seem to run into me at every convention and have read all the Sentinels books so far-- now that is cool!).
My table-neighbors were Kent Archer and his girlfriend; Kent is the inker of DR McNINJA, and he had quite a few fans coming up to get sketches and buy books over the weekend (I picked up a copy myself). They were super-nice-- they'd driven all the way from Boston!-- and it was great having them to talk with.
The one thing I always feel aggravated about at HeroesCon is that I still don't have an actual *comic book* of the Sentinels to sell. Dozens of people came up, looked very excited, flipped open WARLORD, and walked away upon encountering *text*. *sigh* But I'm working on addressing that very situation presently. Yes, a Sentinels comic book may be coming in the next few months. We shall see.
All in all: a decently fun weekend, some okay sales, and lots of friends and acquaintances to chat with. Not too bad a weekend.
* The main event: We had a pretty good crowd for the primary thing I flew out there for: the "Avengers Assembled!" panel on Saturday at 3 pm-- especially considering that it started out listed as Friday, then changed to Sunday, and finally ended up on Saturday. The fact that anyone figured out where and when it was held (including me) was a miracle.
I led a general "Avengers" discussion for about a half hour, touching on topics such as Bendis, Iron Man, Secret Invasion, the way almost all of the Marvel line is now one big story, and so on. Then I talked about the ASSEMBLED! book for a few minutes, by which time the HERO Initiative rep had arrived. He talked briefly about what the charity does, and then I presented him with a check for $1,200.00 for the profits the book has earned to date.
Here's a photo of the check presentation: http://plexico.blogspot.com/
FWIW: I ended up stuffing the big check in the trash. After, of course, handing over a real, normal-sized one. :-)
* In other news: The con was okay, but not as good (IMO) as the other two I attended. Seemed like a smaller crowd, and folks didn't much want to spend money (probably trying to save enough to be able to buy gas to drive home!) Guy Davis was right across from me and had a pretty long line all weekend, and indeed it seemed most folks were spending what they had on sketches and art commissions.
* Chuck at ComicsRelated.com interviewed me as part of his daily podcast series from the con.
My episode is here:http://www.comicrelated.com/audio/relatedrecap011.html
I haven't heard it yet, so I'm sure I'll sound ridiculous. Plus, the first take was better, but Chuck discovered halfway through that his high-tech device wasn't recording! So we had to do it over. Oh well!
* I did sell twelve copies of ASSEMBLED!, including eight at my table over the course of the weekend and four more at the panel. Toss in several copies of the other books and it was a decent show-- about a hundred bucks below my last few cons' average, but since this was a comics convention and folks appeared scared off by all the *text* in the books, I guess that's not bad.
Several folks came up to get the copies they already had signed, which was pretty cool. Lavish praise was handed out for all the contributors, so you folks who wrote the chapters should feel... um... lavishly praised! :-)
* I ran into Two Morrows Publishing's Eric Nolen-Weathington, an acquaintance of mine from a few other convention panels over the last few years, and we discussed a couple of interesting ideas I'll keep under wraps for now. We'll see what comes of it.
* Along similar lines-- One guy who came up to my table had a *thick* book he'd done himself-- a comprehensive history of the minor villains of the DC Universe, I think. He gave me a copy. It has tons of illustrations on every page and is like 600 pages long. He wants to publish it but is afraid of getting sued by DC. He was wondering how we managed not to get sued by Marvel. I said: 1) Almost no pics; 2) profits for a comics-related charity, and 3) probably small-beans enough not to attract the wrong kind of notice. Plus it's a general commentary book, and lots of those get published all the time.
I encountered quite a few other folks of both recent and long-time acquaintance, from Chuck at Comics Related to the "Likely Stories" gang to Danielle and a couple of other DragonCon folks, and many more (including a small but growing group of individual folks who seem to run into me at every convention and have read all the Sentinels books so far-- now that is cool!).
My table-neighbors were Kent Archer and his girlfriend; Kent is the inker of DR McNINJA, and he had quite a few fans coming up to get sketches and buy books over the weekend (I picked up a copy myself). They were super-nice-- they'd driven all the way from Boston!-- and it was great having them to talk with.
The one thing I always feel aggravated about at HeroesCon is that I still don't have an actual *comic book* of the Sentinels to sell. Dozens of people came up, looked very excited, flipped open WARLORD, and walked away upon encountering *text*. *sigh* But I'm working on addressing that very situation presently. Yes, a Sentinels comic book may be coming in the next few months. We shall see.
All in all: a decently fun weekend, some okay sales, and lots of friends and acquaintances to chat with. Not too bad a weekend.
Heroes Con ASSEMBLED! Check Presentation
At HeroesCon on Saturday I presented the HERO Initiative charity with a check for $1,200.00, the profits earned thus far by the ASSEMBLED! book I edited, written by the Jarvis Heads of AvengersAssemble.net.
A nice crowd witnessed the handover of the check and I thank all who attended. We should have another check for them sooner or later, from both more ASSEMBLED! sales and from the upcoming ASSEMBLED! 2.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Off to HeroesCon!
Heading out Thursday afternoon for Charlotte and HeroesCon. Hope to see some of you there!
Friday, June 13, 2008
HeroesCon 2008
Just got word of the location of my table at HeroesCon in Charlotte next weekend: SP-34, otherwise known as table 34 in the Small Press section of "Indie Island." Looks like that's against the wall near the Brevard St. entrance.
If you're coming to HeroesCon, stop by and say hello! I will have copies of the ASSEMBLED! book for sale, along with the new Swarm Press edition of SENTINELS: WHEN STRIKES THE WARLORD (plus James Palmer's VOICES FOR THE CURE and Mark Bousquet's DREAMER'S SYNDROME).
On Saturday at 3 pm, I'll be on an Avengers-themed panel and will present the HERO Initiative with the check from all the money the book has raised in the past year.
Hope to see some of you there!
If you're coming to HeroesCon, stop by and say hello! I will have copies of the ASSEMBLED! book for sale, along with the new Swarm Press edition of SENTINELS: WHEN STRIKES THE WARLORD (plus James Palmer's VOICES FOR THE CURE and Mark Bousquet's DREAMER'S SYNDROME).
On Saturday at 3 pm, I'll be on an Avengers-themed panel and will present the HERO Initiative with the check from all the money the book has raised in the past year.
Hope to see some of you there!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Runnin' with the Chaos Horde
I've been holding off on posting here lately until I regain access to Photoshop, so I could post more of Chris's artwork from the new SENTINELS books. But that still hasn't happened. So I felt I could at least post an update on what I'm working on at the moment.
Right now it's all MARS McCOY AND THE CHAOS HORDE.
I'm hoping to finish the first draft of that one in a couple of months. It's looking like a publisher may be lined up for it, so I really need to knock it out and turn it in. Plus, folks are beginning to clamor for SENTINELS vol 4: THE SHIVA ADVENT. (I don't think "clamor" is too much of an exaggeration, really...)
So: Back here soon with more artwork from the Sentinels books, and then with some preview sections from the Mars book. Stay tuned!!
Right now it's all MARS McCOY AND THE CHAOS HORDE.
I'm hoping to finish the first draft of that one in a couple of months. It's looking like a publisher may be lined up for it, so I really need to knock it out and turn it in. Plus, folks are beginning to clamor for SENTINELS vol 4: THE SHIVA ADVENT. (I don't think "clamor" is too much of an exaggeration, really...)
So: Back here soon with more artwork from the Sentinels books, and then with some preview sections from the Mars book. Stay tuned!!
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Back Soon!
Sorry for the long absence, folks! We're moving into a new house and haven't had an Internet connection for several days. Scary!!! But things are coming together now, and I'll be posting more updates and art previews and the like very soon.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Jameson vs .... ???
Here's Chris Kohler's pencil sketch of what will be the first illustration in SENTINELS (vol. 3): APOCALYPSE RISING.
Jameson, the shadowy US Government official who heads up paranormal agent ops, is confronted at his desk by two exo-skeleton-clad... people...??
Who are they?? How did they get into the Pentagon??
Read APOCALYPSE RISING! Coming in August from Swarm Press!
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Full cover for WARLORD posted!
Swarm Press has posted the full cover to SENTINELS: WHEN STRIKES THE WARLORD on their Message Board:
http://permutedpress.com/smf/index.php?topic=3282.0
http://permutedpress.com/smf/index.php?topic=3282.0
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Francisco (and the Warlord) from the SENTINELS
It's Francisco and his boss (??), the Warlord, from the first SENTINELS story arc, The Grand Design.
This is one of the sketches Rob Davis created for me at Windy City Con in Chicago.
I think he absolutely nailed Francisco. A sort of "Zathras meets the (old-school) Toad" look.
And check out what he's carrying...
Ravenor Reviewed
First in a series of posts/links of my articles and reviews from around the Web--
THE RAVENOR TRILOGY from Dan Abnett, reviewed for RevolutionSF.com:
THE RAVENOR TRILOGY from Dan Abnett, reviewed for RevolutionSF.com:
- Ravenor Rogue finds Inquisitor Gideon Ravenor still hot on the trail of the heretic Zygmund Molotch, who trafficks with demons and aliens and whatever else the kids are doing today. Molotch has escaped Ravenor so many times, one might think him a former member of the A-Team. So now the Empire has ordered Ravenor to pack it in, fold up his tent, and call off the dogs (surely alien, telepathic mutant cyborg dogs, this being the Warhammer 40K universe).
Monday, May 05, 2008
SENTINELS Press Release from Swarm Press
Just saw this for the first time today, so I thought I'd repost it here and elsewhere.
--Van
From: Permuted Press
Date: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 8:07 PM
Subject: SENTINELS superhero novel series now available for pre-order!
Pre-order the exciting small press reissue of Van Allen Plexico's highly praised superhero novels SENTINELS (Vols. 1 - 3)!
Sentinels: When Strikes the Warlord
Ultraa... Pulsar... Vanadium... Esro Brachis... Who are the Sentinels?
From the moment Lyn Li foils an attempt to kidnap her from her own college campus, she is plunged into a new world, and a new life. Working--and battling--alongside a brilliant inventor, a famous super hero, and an enigmatic alien powerhouse, Lyn will confront the monstrous menace of the Warlord and his minions. When at last they clash atop his vast, floating city, can the world itself survive? Equal parts old-fashioned pulp adventure, comics-style super hero action, and science fiction wonderment, SENTINELS: WHEN STRIKES THE WARLORD has something for everyone who enjoys a brisk, fast-paced journey into excitement.
($14.95 - Available June 2008)
Sentinels: A Distant Star
After helping to save the world, all Esro Brachis wanted was a little peace and quiet. Then the giant robot attacked. And the alien warships landed in his back yard. And then things got really crazy. At least he has a beautiful alien warrior woman at his side--if only she didn't want to kill him! SENTINELS: A DISTANT STAR continues the journey and the excitement in a bigger, bolder adventure, with all your favorite heroes and villains back for more... and with many new wonders to encounter!
($14.95 - Available July 2008)
Sentinels: Apocalypse Rising
Menaced by no fewer than three alien invasion forces, the Earth cries out for its heroes. But the Sentinels have vanished! And now Pulsar stands alone, down but not defeated, and determined to rescue her teammates... and her world. APOCALYPSE RISING is a dynamic and gripping novel in its own right--and the climactic chapter in the Sentinels saga!
($14.95 - Available August 2008)
Pre-order all 3 novels with free shipping from Swarm Press now!
==========
About Van Allen Plexico:
Van is a political science professor and a freelance writer/editor. He has lived in Atlanta, Singapore, Alabama, and Washington, DC, and now resides in the St. Louis area. In addition to the SENTINELS series, he created the long-running and popular AvengersAssemble! Web site (located at avengersassemble.net) and edited two volumes of ASSEMBLED!, an Avengers retrospective to benefit the HERO Initiative charity. A member of the Pulp Factory, he also chronicles the adventures of Mars McCoy and other pulp adventure characters. Van can be reached at vplexico@gmail.com for questions, comments, or interviews.
About Swarm Press:
Swarm Press, a newly formed imprint of Permuted Press, is an independent publisher of genre fiction. Swarm is hard at work on an amazing multi-genre lineup for 2008 including several superhero and comic book-ish novels. Please contact Jacob Kier at contact@permutedpress.com with questions or comments.
--Van
From: Permuted Press
Date: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 8:07 PM
Subject: SENTINELS superhero novel series now available for pre-order!
Pre-order the exciting small press reissue of Van Allen Plexico's highly praised superhero novels SENTINELS (Vols. 1 - 3)!
Sentinels: When Strikes the Warlord
Ultraa... Pulsar... Vanadium... Esro Brachis... Who are the Sentinels?
From the moment Lyn Li foils an attempt to kidnap her from her own college campus, she is plunged into a new world, and a new life. Working--and battling--alongside a brilliant inventor, a famous super hero, and an enigmatic alien powerhouse, Lyn will confront the monstrous menace of the Warlord and his minions. When at last they clash atop his vast, floating city, can the world itself survive? Equal parts old-fashioned pulp adventure, comics-style super hero action, and science fiction wonderment, SENTINELS: WHEN STRIKES THE WARLORD has something for everyone who enjoys a brisk, fast-paced journey into excitement.
($14.95 - Available June 2008)
Sentinels: A Distant Star
After helping to save the world, all Esro Brachis wanted was a little peace and quiet. Then the giant robot attacked. And the alien warships landed in his back yard. And then things got really crazy. At least he has a beautiful alien warrior woman at his side--if only she didn't want to kill him! SENTINELS: A DISTANT STAR continues the journey and the excitement in a bigger, bolder adventure, with all your favorite heroes and villains back for more... and with many new wonders to encounter!
($14.95 - Available July 2008)
Sentinels: Apocalypse Rising
Menaced by no fewer than three alien invasion forces, the Earth cries out for its heroes. But the Sentinels have vanished! And now Pulsar stands alone, down but not defeated, and determined to rescue her teammates... and her world. APOCALYPSE RISING is a dynamic and gripping novel in its own right--and the climactic chapter in the Sentinels saga!
($14.95 - Available August 2008)
Pre-order all 3 novels with free shipping from Swarm Press now!
==========
About Van Allen Plexico:
Van is a political science professor and a freelance writer/editor. He has lived in Atlanta, Singapore, Alabama, and Washington, DC, and now resides in the St. Louis area. In addition to the SENTINELS series, he created the long-running and popular AvengersAssemble! Web site (located at avengersassemble.net) and edited two volumes of ASSEMBLED!, an Avengers retrospective to benefit the HERO Initiative charity. A member of the Pulp Factory, he also chronicles the adventures of Mars McCoy and other pulp adventure characters. Van can be reached at vplexico@gmail.com for questions, comments, or interviews.
About Swarm Press:
Swarm Press, a newly formed imprint of Permuted Press, is an independent publisher of genre fiction. Swarm is hard at work on an amazing multi-genre lineup for 2008 including several superhero and comic book-ish novels. Please contact Jacob Kier at contact@permutedpress.com with questions or comments.
Saturday, May 03, 2008
Free Comic Book Day
The four of us hit the comic shop in Belleville, IL, around noon for Free Comic Book Day. They had tons of folks in there, and two local artists doing sketches for the little kids. (I spoke with one briefly about doing some work in the future with me...)
I picked up free issues of HELLBOY, Steve Rude's THE MOTH, and ALL STAR SUPERMAN #1. Maddie got OWLY and TINY TITANS and something else. I tried to convince Ami to get a couple for me (the limit was 3 per person), but she got more for Maddie instead. Oh well! The benefits of being nine!
Later I picked up Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War computer game. Not that I will ever have any time at all to play it, but I love the WH40K universe and this lets you be the Tau! They're an alien race of soldiers who all wear armor that's sort of a cross between Stormtroopers and Iron Man. How could I resist that? Now to see if I ever actually play it...
(The way Dan Abnett portrays the WH40K universe has had a lot of influence on the way I'm writing Mars McCoy. I intend it to read like a vintage pulp revival book, but some of the mood and ideas I'm carrying over from what I've absorbed from Abnett-- whose work I tremendously enjoy and respect.)
I picked up free issues of HELLBOY, Steve Rude's THE MOTH, and ALL STAR SUPERMAN #1. Maddie got OWLY and TINY TITANS and something else. I tried to convince Ami to get a couple for me (the limit was 3 per person), but she got more for Maddie instead. Oh well! The benefits of being nine!
Later I picked up Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War computer game. Not that I will ever have any time at all to play it, but I love the WH40K universe and this lets you be the Tau! They're an alien race of soldiers who all wear armor that's sort of a cross between Stormtroopers and Iron Man. How could I resist that? Now to see if I ever actually play it...
(The way Dan Abnett portrays the WH40K universe has had a lot of influence on the way I'm writing Mars McCoy. I intend it to read like a vintage pulp revival book, but some of the mood and ideas I'm carrying over from what I've absorbed from Abnett-- whose work I tremendously enjoy and respect.)
Sentinels: When Strikes the Warlord cover
Here's the cover to the Swarm Press edition of SENTINELS (vol. 1): When Strikes the Warlord. It should be out sometime in June and can be preordered here with free shipping.
More Mars McCoy today
At some point today, I will be turning my attention to MARS McCOY AND THE CHAOS HORDE.
The book is pretty much plotted out. I've written the first six chapters or so. I understand the main villain and his motivations. Things are rolling right along.
I'm very excited to have created a nemesis for Mars. And I think he's one who works perfectly as Mars's opposite and protagonist, in every way. I hope so!
Here's a hint: His name is Deimos. Except when it's not... Heh.
Gosh, I'd have loved to have this book done and with me at Windy City. Folks there would have eaten it up.
More news soon about the changes we've made in its upcoming publication. Plus news on cover artist, interior artist, etc. Lots to talk about with Mars!
The book is pretty much plotted out. I've written the first six chapters or so. I understand the main villain and his motivations. Things are rolling right along.
I'm very excited to have created a nemesis for Mars. And I think he's one who works perfectly as Mars's opposite and protagonist, in every way. I hope so!
Here's a hint: His name is Deimos. Except when it's not... Heh.
Gosh, I'd have loved to have this book done and with me at Windy City. Folks there would have eaten it up.
More news soon about the changes we've made in its upcoming publication. Plus news on cover artist, interior artist, etc. Lots to talk about with Mars!
The obligatory Iron Man movie post
Amazing, fantastic, etc etc.
I'd love to write a review of this movie, especially considering he's my all-time favorite comics character. But.... I know I could never be anything other than totally subjective about it. I have no perspective on the subject. I am seeing it through red-and-gold-colored lenses, so to speak.
So suffice to say I absolutely adored it and am going to see it again in a few hours, this afternoon.
And I can't wait for #2, when maybe he'll fight a villain that isn't essentially just like him.
I'd love to write a review of this movie, especially considering he's my all-time favorite comics character. But.... I know I could never be anything other than totally subjective about it. I have no perspective on the subject. I am seeing it through red-and-gold-colored lenses, so to speak.
So suffice to say I absolutely adored it and am going to see it again in a few hours, this afternoon.
And I can't wait for #2, when maybe he'll fight a villain that isn't essentially just like him.
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