Your January '09 Nerdery Preview

Somehow, I have four comics... yes, four... appearing in January 2009, and the preview blurbs were just released.

The first two are my usual monthy titles. One's the conclusion of a story arc, the other, the beginning of a new story arc:

CABLE #10
Written by DUANE SWIERCZYNSKI
Pencils & Cover by ARIEL OLIVETTI
“WAITING FOR THE END OF THE WORLD,”CONCLUSION
In the present, Cyclops, Emma and Beast have been ambushed by Bishop and a nasty little surprise he’s smuggled into the X-Men HQ. Meanwhile, hundreds of years in the future, Cable realizes what the former X-Man has done to the planet -- all in an effort to make sure Cable and the four-year-old mutant messiah never, ever return to the present. Once again, the rules of the hunt have been completely rewritten, and the future of mutantkind has never looked more uncertain.
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$2.99

IMMORTAL IRON FIST #22
Written by DUANE SWIERCZYNSKi
Penciled by TRAVEL FOREMAN
Cover by PATRICK ZIRCHER
Iron Fist and the Immortal Weapons kick off another dimension-spanning adventure! Think you know everything there is to know about the Seven Capital Cities of Heaven? Well, maybe you do. But a couple of arcs ago we did tease there being an EIGHTH city...oh that’s right...Duane Swierczynski and Travel Foreman are taking it there!
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$2.99

And the new titles are the first issues of two mini-series... both long in the making, and both under the MAX imprint:

PUNISHER: FRANK CASTLE #66
Written by DUANE SWIERCZYNSKI
Penciled by MICHEL LACOMBE
Cover by DAVE JOHNSON
“SIX HOURS TO KILL," PART 1
The Punisher always knew he’d die on the job. But he didn’t know he’d have an expiration date. After busting up a slave ring in downtown Philadelphia, Frank Castle has been tricked, trapped, gassed, strapped to a table and injected with a serum that will turn him into a 220-pound corpse by dawn -- six hours from now. The people who grabbed him want him to do a simple little job and then they’ll give him the antidote -- simple, right? Guess again. The Punisher is nobody’s errand boy. There’s only one thing he wants to do before he dies: Take as many bastards as he can with him.
32 PGS./Explicit Content ...$3.99

DEAD OF NIGHT FEATURING WEREWOLF BY NIGHT #1 (of 4)
Written by DUANE SWIERCZYNSKI
Pencils and Cover by MICO SUAYAN
For 28 days of the month, Jack Russell leads a normal life. He’s got a beautiful wife and a baby on the way. He’s the picture of happiness. On day 29, however, he turns into an uncontrollable, bloodthirsty monster. But as the saying goes, the best-laid plans of wolves and men...
32 PGS./Cardstock Cover/Parental Advisory ...$3.99

The Punisher series you already know about; I'm one of three crime novelists tackling Frank Castle in the wake of Garth Ennis. Right now Gregg Hurwitz is kicking ass with the title, and after my five issue run (#66-70), Victor Gischler will be donning the black t-shirt with the white skull. My story's called "Six Hours to Kill," and it's set on the mean streets of Philadelphia.

Werewolf By Night, however, is the "secret horror project with Warren Simons" that's had me almost severing my tongue for over a year now as I struggled to keep my mouth shut. This was (I think) the very first character I pitched when Warren approached me to write for Marvel. It's appropriate, because Werewolf By Night (a.k.a. Jack Russell) was the first Marvel character I ever met, in the form of a book-and-record set (at left) I received one Christmas. It scared the living fuck out of me, and probably kick-started my love of horror. One image, in particular, never left my brain: that of the werewolf, leaping over a fence, as a bullet shred his furry bicep. It was the real world smacking into the horror world, and it was the launchig pad for this new story.

I'll blog more about it when we're closer to the pub date, but it's finally nice to be able to talk about it.