Havoc 2011!

It's almost two months since the last posting and that pisses me off. We had our updates planned, artwork scheduled but then there was a no show.. The age old problems of being an Indie Comic; artists fail to meet deadlines or just vanish without a trace. Well, I'm well versed in these problems and I took swift action to rectify the issue.
Say hello to the cover of our first American release, Havoc 21 Omnibus; compiled and edited by our diligent Editor George (Amaru - plus one helluva gifted penciler). We took all the work from the first 5 issues, filtered out nearly all the best work.. George read each story then compiled our first Omnibus from them. And yes, I said first, he has a second already in mind but that won't be for sometime. If you check the last posting in November you'll see the cover of Havoc 21 issue #6, hitting the shelves about 3 months after the Omnibus and we'll hopefully have the cover for issue 7 to show off in a not too distant future blog also.
The image chosen for the cover of the Omnibus is a nod to a story that won't be in any of the future collections (of our previous work) because we're currently re-working it for a re-launch with fresh talent taking the lead. With that in mind when an exceptionally gifted artist who provided some astounding imagery for a story called Memory Garden, Havoc 21 #7, emailed this stunning inked image (taken from a script I wrote) I thought was a true attention grabber - perfect cover material! The artist I'm referring to is Emmanuel Ybarrola, from Argentina. I felt he captured the scene exactly as I saw it and what he sent was perfect for colour, I added my own interpretation of the Werewolves head then painted it - Emmanuel was a perfect pro and completely supportive of my collaboration. When you see his interior work you'll see his art is jaw-dropping.
Enjoy,
EJB

Please Note: the Cover image isn't Hi - Res and clear yet, when it is we'll update this image!

Schemes & Plans!!!

It's a sad reality that a new issue of Havoc 21 hasn't hit the shelves since 2007. There are many factors to why this hasn't happened; the most important reason being that captain wasn't at the helm. Well that oversight has been rectified. A new team was formed, new material put out for production. And we are now coming to that time when we want to show off the fruit of our labors. Unlike before we have accumulated a body of work to produce several issues. When we reach issue 10 then we'll decide whether we want to continue Havoc 21 or just go with solo characters. Havoc is my love child but a disturbing child that requires a lot of attention and many bodies to nuture it. I am starting to want a more peaceful life as a creator, and solo character driven comics may be the way to gain such peace. And still be producing material that challenges its reader. With The Grave, Invisible Nation, AVH and The Wraith, plus others yet to showcase, I have a myriad of choices. And as a writer I can plant many seeds. Which will only require one artist (for each project) that is committed to the future and it's fruit. Instead of requiring a gathering of the collective for every issue.

With all that said both George and I felt we needed to introduce (or re-introduce) Havoc 21 to the reading public hence I tasked George with creating an omnibus from the first 5 issues with new text, art and a cover. So, for the past month George has been absorbing Havoc 21 and it's vault of shocks, horrors and surprises. EJB

George on his homework;

So things are coming together and we can finally talk about some of what we have planned. First up on the new publishing schedule is the Havoc 21 “Omnibus”. We'll be featuring some of the best stories from the five released issues of the Havoc 21 Anthology. I've enjoyed reading the stories contained in the these volumes and I'm excited to be helping to show these to American audiences for the first time. This collection is still being assembled, but our plan is to put together five or so stories from the previous issues. These are some great sci-fi, thriller and horror stories and just as these stories may have reminded European audiences of the '2000AD' anthology, they reminded me of some of the classic “Tales from the Crypt” stories that I loved growing up. In addition to great writing, there is some great artwork to go right along with it. You'll be able to see for yourselves quite soon, so keep checking this space for more info.

Until then,

-George

A release date will come the moment we have the Omnibus in our hands. And as we already have the work, it just needs to spicing up, expect good tidings soon! Then the greater news; the in-store date for Havoc 21 issue 6! EJB

Not quite extinct... yet!

It's October 2010,
It's coming up to one of my favourite seasons of the year, Halloween. And here at Wolfman we've planning for the release date for the next issues of Havoc 21 and what we want to produce in the near future.

We haven't reported anything in a very long time and I know many thought that we had gone the way of the Dodo.. Well, you're wrong. Anyone who knows Wolfman, and knows myself, knows that neither would disappear for good. I love comics too much to not produce, and the entity that is Wolfman was created as the brand for the collective talents that work with me. An exclamation mark, you may say, for our combined talents. We've had a rough time with the recession and the expansion into the US but we never let it kill our spirit or interfere with our goals; to produce Havoc 21 and graphic novels.

I just got back from NY Comic con which always re-lights my fire for this field that I love so much. But the biggest reward was having one of Wolfman's strongest and reliable artists stepping into editorial shoes to help guide Wolfman's future; George Amaru. A very gifted and driven individual that it has been a real honour and pleasure to have worked with for well over a year now. George and I have just produced 'The Wraith' which will debut in the coming year. George's artwork will be showcased over the coming month as we update the blog and website. Plus the new covers for Havoc 21.
More from the Wolfman soon!

After the brief interval!

Hey, I know we have been away for a little while. The reason is simple; waiting for fresh samples from new stories. We get a continuous run of art for stories in production but it's been for material already posted. And I don't want to end up posting a whole story online just to keep a blog going. And second reason why I haven't posted anything else onto the blog is because I was job hunting, and I got something.
Now, we're back and with fresh art for another story in the AVH series. This is from 'Dinner on the Run!' and it features the very talented penciler David Hedmark combined with the striking inking ability of Jeff DeMars. Dave has produced quite a bit of work with us so I won't repeat myself, to see my previous remarks checkout 'From The Mountain Tops We Howl!' from May. But to get a bigger picture of Jeff's talents buy a copy of his 'Guilty Conscience' by Albatross Entertainment (which he is also a partner in!) or just link over to Albatross Entertainment itself! His inks are sharp, clear, striking and convey the artworks true meaning. From his own initiative to create I think we'll be seeing a lot more of the gifted soul!
Eug

Eugene J. Byrne
EIC Wolfman Productions International
Wolfman-productions.com

The Sentinels of the Night

It’s been over three weeks since the last blog and I can’t for the life of me tell you why it has passed without a blog. I know there are reasons and good ones but that’s life – a speeding blur. Well, the artwork of this blog is from a story we’re giving the working title of ‘Sentinel’. It’s a Wolfman house character designed by George and myself. I won’t tell you too much for now but it’s our first (non-comedy) super-hero-styled vigilante piece in production. I’m not overly keen on creating super-hero stories unless they’re punisher-esque in nature. Before George (Amaru) started working with us he expressed his wish to work on a superhero but I gave him ‘Family Affair’ to stretch him, make him rely on drama, layout and facial expressions rather than superhero gimmicks and tools. But now he’s in his element and is working hard to bring the ‘WOW’ factor to this tale.

In reviews, well, weeks have passed and I have read a lot but I won’t over do it today. I asked George to write up his opinions of Wolverine, which made me laugh because I asked for a ‘few’ paragraphs but he wrote an essay. But he kindly cut it down

X-Men Origins: Wolverine tells the story of how Marvel’s lovable Canucklehead went from sickly country boy to the ferocious and headstrong X-Men member. It is an enjoyable film that fills in the missing back story of Wolverine’s past that we are teased with in the first two X-Men films. The film focuses on Logan’s path to becoming the bad-boy hero we all know and love and treats us to cameos by some fan favorite, as well as some lesser known Mutants from the Marvel Universe. It is an enjoyable ride filled with lots of action, and plenty of fan-boy eye candy and easter eggs, but falls short of being an viable stand-alone film, and assumes that you are either a comic fan, or have seen at least the first two X films before venturing into the theater. The movie fails to truly give any back story as to who or what Mutants are, why we should particularly care what is happening to them as a race, or why Stryker views them as a threat, other than the very brief mention of Stryker’s son, whom we are to assume in this film is a Mutant, based solely on one conversation.

Despite this, the movie does do a decent job of explaining Logan as the central character and makes us care, or at least causes us to be curious of what happens to him, even if we don’t fully understand the circumstances that he is in. Hugh Jackman once again proves that he is perfect for this role, and Liev Schreiber delivers a great performance as Victor Creed/Sabertooth.

The movie doesn’t deliver any huge emotion, even in the scenes between Logan and his wife Silver Fox, and isn’t nearly as Shakespearian or allegorical as the mainline X-Men films, but is an enjoyable popcorn flick. The fans will love appearances by Blob, Cyclops, Emma Frost, Silver Fox and of course, the long awaited film debut of Gambit. Wade Wilson is an enjoyable character and nicely played by Ryan Reynolds, though I for one was a bit disappointed with the use of the character in his Deadpool persona.

In the end, the film keeps Fox’s X-Men franchise alive, and will hopefully lead to the rumored Magneto origin film. The involvement of characters such as Cyclops and Emma Frost, among others serves the purpose of providing plot details, but is also surely meant to set up X-Men: The First Class, which X-Producer Lauren Shuler Donner seems to very much want to move forward with. It will cause the usual nerd debates about straying from the source material, and how this character or that character was ruined, but overall it provides a nice escape and is good enough to make us forget X3, even if it’s just for a little while.

Review by George Amaru

I decided to review Wonder Woman the animated movie. With Bruce Timm involved I knew this would be cool. And the story is nice in length and detail. The perfect voice actors. The only down side is that when the action of the story hits the States (and it’s big) we don’t get cameo. I know this isn’t usually done but with the action on the scale it is, situated at the countries capital I would have expected the US government to call in some of the ‘heavy-hitter’ it would have on call; such as Superman etc. But if you over-look this detail it is still a cool film. And as I mentioned before it’s good length compared to what we normally get for animated piece. I have the special edition but I feel a little cheated as the extras on the first disc are just trailers for other DC animated releases. The second disc comes with one large and one small documentary. The first is an exploration of the creation of Wonder Woman, the times she was from and the impact she had on those times. The second was something similar but it felt like a real waste. And that was it for the docos, no storyboards or making of. There was two of Bruce Timm’s personal choice of Justice League episodes (which are pretty cool) to finish it. I felt it was a waste of money to buy it. I should have rented the two discs (to see the docos) and just bought the movie below $10 when it hits the bargain bins in about 6 to 8 months from now.

Well, that’s my review for this blog.

I really hope you like the artwork above.

Eug

PS As usual if you have any comments email them to lonewolf@wolfman-productions.com

Wolfman-productions.com

From the mountain tops we howl!

The story of this blog is called ‘Lonely Mountain’ by Sinead Lynch (a TokyoPop ‘Rising Stars Of Manga’ winner) with art provided by David Hedmark. This story was written when the first ‘Invisible Nation’ was completed and I was asked what Wolfman needed. I wanted to see what Sinead would create if she wrote dark tales. Sinead is an amazingly talented prolific writer who proceeded to write two great tales, one about love & lycanthropy and the second about childhood innocence and nosterfatu. Each tale just amazed me. I am big a werewolf fan and this story, which takes the cursed route, is very Romeo & Juliet - when you read it you'll understand! Finding the right artists to produce them has been a job in itself but David’s work for Lonely Mountain was just perfect. The second story called ‘Moloch’ is currently in the preparation stage and I hope to have art to show soon.

You’ll know David’s work from an earlier blog as he’s one of the lead artists on the upcoming AVH.

On the comic review front I got to read The Hulk vol 1 tpb 'Red Hulk' written by Jeph Loeb and art by Ed Mcguinness. From beginning to end this story struck me hard as crap, Jeph Loeb is an amazing writer but whatta hell happened here! This is a dumb story. And I'm not a fan of McGuiness but his art suits this big dumb story as the artist draws big blocks meat! I read the collected six issues about Red Hulk beating up a list of Marvels A & B stars (including the Green Hulk of course). Spoiler Ahead: At the end of issue 6 the Hulk smartens up to a weakness of the Red Hulk (with the done to death use of a Marvel team-up!) he beats his foe. What has happened to Jeph Loeb, is he turning out this crap at a 6-issue story a day to pay off some serious debts?!

If you haven’t read Bruce Jones' Incredible Hulk run (the predecessor that lead from WWH to this shot of piss) you need to get your hands on them and read a real Incredible Hulk story with depth. In vol 1., Return Of The Monster, the art is excellent too, with John Romita, Jr providing stunning visuals. It’s Bruce Jones’ run that made me pick this up to read and ouch is all I can say. What happened Jeph???!!! I’ve feared reading WWH! Maybe I’ll torture myself with that next!

Well, enjoy the art above. See you next week

Eug

Wolfman-productions.com

PS If you have any comments email them to lonewolf@wolfman-productions.com

This week I received a lot of cool art. The goals that are posted on Wolfman’s homepage are really beginning to come to fruition.

The story of this is update is ‘The Only Decent Day Of Wicked Lester King’ by John Carbery visualised by Dante Barreno. John’s story grabbed me from the get-go. It’s a simply layered examination of the character Lester King, who happens to be a killer. It’s a tale told with the right mix of dark humour, drama and a little horror. It was fun to read and when Dan (Dante) handed in the artwork I was blow away. From the moment Dan sent me his link to his deviant I knew this was the tale for this artist. Dan’s visuals are old school illustrator with the right up-todate touches to grab anyone’s attention.

John’s an irish writer that shows great flair in his words. Each tale he sends makes me want to read it – what I mean is that the opening pages pull you in. Dante Barreno is an artist from the Phillipines that was trained under Nestor Malgapo, a very popular Phillipino comic artist - I didn’t know how to insert this info!

I got a chance to read Star Trek ‘Countdown’ this week. Firstly, it’s a little over-priced at $18 (rounded up) for a 4 issue mini-series / prequel to the movie. For a four issue I’d have expected about $14 max. The trailer and the reviews for the new Star Trek movie look impressive. J.J. Abrams looks to have hit the mark for resurrecting this beloved universe whilst opening it up to a whole new audience. But be warned, unless you’re a Star Trek fan or have a good working knowledge of Trek then you won’t get the prequel. The story for the prequel is fun, typical of a Star Trek episode (especially from Next Gen, as it features most of our favourite characters from that time period). Spoiler ahead! How they handle Data’s resurrection is done in typical Star Trek fashion and quickly explained away. But it’s not relevant to the new movie as only Nero and Spock make it past the comic pages. And mores the pity for that! Spoilers over!

I’m curious to see how they explain Nero’s story in the Movie considering it’s the main story of the prequel. The art for Countdown does the job with David Messina having a strong grasp on likenesses (seeing Next Gen crew looking as they should is great). So many artists that have done this type of comic can’t seem to get this right, even with the ton of photo references available to them. But both the art and seeing these great characters return for a new tale (even if it’s not completed in the prequel) is not enough, for me, to hide the lack of strong story telling presented in this collection. Messina looks to have just drawn what he was given on page without investing any real passion for layout or character angles etc.

This comic was fun to read to for a diversion, it’s not essential to the film because by the end about 90% of its story is ejected for the big screen adventure to come. Not worth $17.99 – Oh, I didn’t buy it, I sat down and had a read at Barnes & Nobles (think Eason’s for you Dublin readers!)

Well, enjoy the art. See you next week

Eug

Wolfman-productions.com