Sorry to paraphrase your line Silas (that would be Barnaby from March of the Wooden Soldiers, naturallY), but there's a method to my madness.
Turns out the good folks at Archie Comics are planning to release a paperback collection of some of the stories I wrote for the "Archie's Weird Mysteries" comic book series a few years back.
For the uninitiated, "Archie's Weird Mysteries" was an animated series based on the long-running comic book series about small-town high school teens... except with the added overlay of weird phenomena like ghosts, monsters and aliens being thrown into the mix!
Of course, flip-about is fair play, so it wasn't long before the TV cartoon show based on the comic book series spun off a comic book series based on the TV cartoon show based on the comic book series! While I wasn't the only writer (artist Fernando Ruiz contributed a few scripts of his own), I'm proud to say I wrote stories that appeared in all 24 issues (plus the additional 10 that followed when the series dropped the "Weird" to become simply "Archie's Mysteries"). You can learn more about the comic series by reading a 2009 interview intrepid reporter Billie Rae Bates did with me by clicking here.
Writing the "Archie's Weird Mysteries" comics was one of the highlights of my career, not just because I got to combine horror and comedy in ways that paid tribute to everything from "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein" to "Kolchak the Night Stalker" to "Night of the Creeps;" (which I still say is the closest anyone's ever come to capturing Archie in live-action) but also because the amazing array of artistic talent contributing to the series included such top-notch folks as the aforementioned Fernando Ruiz plus Bill Golliher, Rich Koslowski, Stephanie Vozzo, Rick Taylor and Vicki Williams (hopefully I haven't forgotten anyone).
The series was unfairly compared to "Scooby Doo" but as I've always pointed out to anyone who'd listen, in "Archie's Weird Mysteries" the ghosts and ghoulies are all real... not crooked landlords looking to scare folks out of their inheritances with cheap Halloween masks! Although I did take the opportunity to spoof the 'ol pooch in one issue (see the image above -- I just couldn't resist)...
Anyhoo... I wanted to give all "Scared Silly" fans a head's up on this book's release. It's not scheduled to come out until August, 2011 but Amazon is taking pre-orders now and you can also order it in advance from your local comic shop (to find the comic shop nearest you use the Comic Shop Locator Service). So to tie this all back in to the Barnaby quote, the "Archie's Weird Mysteries" paperback makes a great gift for the holidays or any occasion!
Like anything else, it all comes down to the bottom line - if enough folks order this first collection of "Archie's Weird Mysteries" tales, then a second volume becomes more of a possibility... so if you have any interest in "Archie's Weird Mysteries" at all I'd truly appreciate you placing an order. Feel free to use the handy link below... and thanks!
No comments:
Post a Comment