An Instant Collector's Item! (As the Cover Blurbs Say)

Hey, y'all! I know it's been pretty quiet around here lately. Sorry about that. All my irons in the fire got hot at the same time, so I had to put blogging and Twittering and such on the back burner. (I know I just mixed metaphors there, but seeing as they're both heating-related I thought maybe I could get away with it.)

There's news to share today, though, so here I am. The scoop: my kinda-sorta comic book debut is finally available in stores. Some stores, anyway. Comic book stores, for instance. Victoria's Secret, not so much.

I say "kinda-sorta comic book debut" because it's not a full-on comic: It's more of an illustrated short story. And I say "debut" because...geez, you know what a debut is, don't you?

My story, in case you're interested, is called "Hellfire" and it's about this guy called "the Phantom" who likes to beat up pirates. There's a little more to it than that, I suppose, but why bother with a plot synopsis when I've got Scott Brooks' brilliant, brilliant art to tease you with instead?

 

Comments

[Andrew S]

The second image appears broken to me :(

[Evan Lewis]

That sounds like great news for The Ghost Who Walks. I'll be looking for this!

[Richard Prosch]

I'm really looking forward to this, Steve!!!

[Matthew Szewczyk]

The second image is broken. Until Steve gets the image fixed feel free to visit The Big Red Fan Club where we have three additional pages of preview art posted.

[Steve]

Hey, guys! Thanks for the heads up on the problem with the picture. It looked O.K. on my computer. I've since reloaded the image. Fixed?

I'm curious to hear what folks think of my Phantom story. I approached the P-meister a bit like I've approached Holmes: from a distance. I'm not sure if that's the kind of thing loyal Phantom readers are really looking for, but hopefully there's enough slam-bam pirate booty-kickin' to satisfy even hardcore phans.

-Steve

[Richard Prosch]

Hey Steve, Just saw that Kirkus Reviews is outta business. You had insinuated, I believe, that they hadn't been especially kind in their last review of your work. Obviously there's a connection.

[Steve Hockensmith]

Oh, yeah -- they learned their lesson! Don't mess with the Hockster.

I really shouldn't gloat, given that this is one more sign of the ongoing deterioration of the publishing industry, and hard-working editors and writers are now unemployed a week before Christmas. All that sucks. But I can't help rewriting a comment I saw here:

http://bit.ly/5rAd5h

And I quote:
Novelist Colson Whitehead wrote this tribute: "Kirkus, you were always kind to me. Thanks for slightly reducing my prepub anxiety, agony and agita."

My version:
"Kirkus, you were always kind to me, until you were snide and nasty to me. Thanks for slightly reducing, then vastly increasing, my prepub anxiety, agony and agita. Long live Publishers Weekly!"

-Steve