Deadpool and Cable, Together Again

Wait... is this Deadpool, the Merc with a Mouth? Or is it Cable, the time-traveling mutant with the pouch-and-oversized-gun fetish? Could it be both? In the same body? You'll find out in February when you buy multiple copies of...

DEADPOOL & CABLE #26
Written by DUANE SWIERCZYNSKI
Penciled by LEO FERNANDEZ
Cover by DAVE WILKINS
 
Cable is dead, and no one’s more devastated than his old friend and partner, Deadpool (a.k.a. Wade Wilson, a.k.a. the Merc With the Mouth, a.k.a. the guy who’s in pretty much every other solicit this month). Sitting by Cable’s grave, Deadpool struggles to find the perfect way to honor his fallen mutant pal. Then… light bulb! Deadpool remembers Rumekistan, the troubled and totally fictional European country that Cable once tried to turn into a Utopia on earth. Deadpool travels there to establish up a Cable museum! A Cable amusement park! A Cable cable TV show! But Rumekistan isn’t quite what it used to be, and Deadpool’s appearance only makes things worse. To set things right, Deadpool will have to do more than just honor his old friend -- he must become him!
 
40 PGS./Parental Advisory …$3.99 

(God, do I love this Dave Wilkins cover.)

Your First Look at Hope...

... all grown up.

CABLE #21
Written by DUANE SWIERCZYNSKI
Penciled by HUMBERTO RAMOS,
LAN MEDINA & PAUL GULACY
Cover by MARKO DJURDEVIC
“HOMECOMING,” PART 1
PRELUDE TO “X-MEN: SECOND COMING” EVENT!

From the moment Cable jumped into the time stream with the infant “mutant messiah,” he's had only one goal: keep Hope alive until she can choose her own destiny. But now, stranded on a planet in its death throes, eating fried rat on a stick for the millionth time, Hope turns to Cable and tells him she's ready to go home. Thus begins “Homecoming,” the penultimate chapter in the X-Men saga that began with “Messiah CompleX.” It's not only zero hour for Cable and Hope, but also for the mutant hunting them, Lucas Bishop, who is rapidly running out of chances to save mutantkind and the world. Because if Hope does make it back to the present, everything changes for the X-Men.

40 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Forthcoming Comicbookery

It's been a while since I've updated you guys on forthcoming comic book stuff.

First, there's Cable, which has just kicked off a new story arc: "Brood." Cable #18 is in shops now; Marvel.com has posted five preview pages of Gabriel Guzman's art from #19.

Speaking of Cable: In November, I'll be writing a series of Cable and Hope backup stories that will appear in four different X-books as a lead-up to the big fat Cable arc, "Homecoming" (which starts in Cable #21). These four stories are collectively called "Long Way Home," and will detail previously unseen moments throughout Cable and Hope's adventures. I've literally just learned the name of the artist who will be doing these stories, and I'm still giddy with fanboy glee. I wish I could tell. God, I really wish I could tell you. But you'll have to wait for the formal announcement.

I've also written a short story for Punisher: Frank Castle #75, an anthology due out this October. My story's called "Ghoul," and the artist is the one and only Tomm Coker, the mad genius who illustrated the cover of my novel, Severance Package. I've been dying to work with Tomm for a long time, and I'm thrilled we were paired up for this. The anthology also features the comics debut of Tom Piccirilli, and stories by Charlie Huston, Peter Milligan and Gregg Hurwitz, with art by Coker, Ken Lashley, Das Pastoras and Laurence Campbell.

Annnd I've written a short Deadpool story called "What Happens in Vegas," which will appear in October's Deadpool #900, with illustrations by the amazing Shawn Crystal. Other writers and artists jumping into the 'Pool: Jason Aaron, Victor Gischler, Mike Benson, Fred Van Lente, Joe Kelly, Charlie Huston, Kyle Baker, Sanford Greene, Damion Scott, Chris Staggs, Dalibor Talajic and the one and only Rob Liefeld.

But wait! that's not all! There are still two installments of my Immortal Iron Fist backup story ("Caretakers,"), which will appear in Immortal Weapons #4 and 5, due out in October and November. IW #4 is my own contribution to this mini-series, a one-shot tale starring the enigmatic Tiger's Beautiful Daughter, with art by Khari Evans.

So yeah. A lot of short stories. A lot of Cable. And there's another mini-series I'm working on that I can't talk about quite yet. (And no, it's not Jiminy Cricket MAX #1.)

An Anniversary Gift So Cool, You'll Wish You Were Married to My Wife

The Bride just handed me the best anniversary present ever: a Limited Edition Cable statue by sculptor Junnosuke Abe, inspired by his appearance in Cable #5 (and the artwork of the amazing Ariel Olivetti). But man, the photo just doesn't do it justice. This Cable is 13 4/5 inches of cold-cast porcelain bad ass-ery, complete with the armored baby carrier and oversized Liefeld-style gun. Plus: Flip a switch on the base and Cable's techno-organic eye lights up.

But wait! That's not all! Remove the top of the baby carrier, and look who's there!

Awwww, it's baby Hope, long before she even had a name!

So now Cable (and the baby) are guarding my comics collection. If you're nice to me, I'll let you look at it next time you visit. It's scary how well The Bride knows me, after all of these years. I feel like a kid at Christmas.

(Special thanks to fellas at Brave New Worlds in Philly, who helped The Bride acquire this glittering, techno-organic prize.)

Sanity Claws

The trade paperback collection of my Werewolf By Night arc (with artist Mico Suayan) is finally available at comic shops everywhere. (You can probably find a copy at certain bookstores and Amazon.com, too, but go on, show your local nerd hangout some love.) Werewolf By Night: In the Blood is part of Marvel's MAX (read: adult) line, so you may not want to hand out copies at your next children's birthday party. I guess it depends on the kid.

What's cool about this edition is that includes a reprint of both Tomb of Dracula #18 (by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan) and Werewolf By Night #15 (Wolfman and Mike Ploog) from the early 1970s, both of which warped my mind as a young lad. I'll never forget the epic battle between Jack Russell and ol' Drac, and I tried to pay homage to their otherworldly fisticuffs in "In the Blood." You'll know it when you see it.

Anyway, I hope you'll check out a copy. This is my first full-on horror story in quite some time, and it makes me want to make good on my long-standing threat of writing a full-on horror novel one of these days...

Crawling Out of the Cave

With a few exceptions, I've spent the past year hunkered down in Secret Dead Blog HQ, writing my Polish ass off. I haven't done many signings, except for last fall's Bouchercon and the most recent NYC Comic-Con. Well, hunker down/Polish ass time is over. I'll be emerging from the basement for three very special, quite possibly beer-soaked events...

First up is a hang-out/signing at McGillin's Ale House in downtown Philly on Tuesday, August 25 at 6 p.m. McGillin's served as the model for a fictional bar called "Interesting Times" in my Punisher MAX arc (with Michel Lacombe), so I'll be there to sign copies of the trade paperback collection, sold by my pals at Brave New Worlds. Standing offer: buy a copy of Punisher MAX: Six Hours to Kill, and I'll buy you a pint of McGillin's 1860 IPA. (1310 Drury Street, 215-735-5562.)

Next up: I've been invited to be a guest on Comic Book Club, a live comic book talk show in NYC, on Tuesday, September 8 at 8 p.m. Past guests have included folks like Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, Joe Quesada, Bill Hader, Brian Michael Bendis, Dan Slott, Seth Meyers, among other luminaries. If you're in NYC, I hope you'll stop by. I won't be able to buy you a beer at the show, but hell, afterwards anything's possible. (The Peoples Improv Theater, 154 West 29th Street, 2nd Floor, NYC. Tickets: $5.)

And finally, I'll be at the Bouchercon 2009 World Mystery Convention in Indianapolis. No word yet on panels or such, but it's good bet you'll find me in the bar with the rest of the crime-writing reprobates.

A Fistful of Cable (Interviews)

In case you missed it, I answered reader questions about Cable in this week's "X-Position" at CBR.com. Plus, you'll find some exclusive art from Gabriel Guzman, who joins the series with issue #18. Also, I talk about Cable #17 with Marc Strom over at Marvel.com, and there you'll find three cool preview pages from current artist Paul Gulacy.

And finally, some readers have mistaken the "Hope Summers" in the X-Men relationship chart (a few posts down) for the other "Hope Summers." I dedicate this 1960s cheeseball classic to those readers.

Get Your Cable On

Newsarama has posted a double-barrel "Messiah War" interview with Chris Yost and yours truly, if you want a sneak peek at what lies ahead. Cable #15, the penultimate installment of "Messiah War," appears next Wednesday; you can find a 5-page preview right here at CBR.com.

Bam! What Happened? Where Am I?

Sorry for the radio silence. It's been crazy busy here in the basement office... but not too crazy to mention that Immortal Iron Fist #26, the conclusion of the "Escape from the Eighth City" arc, hits comic shops everywhere today. CBR has an eight page preview right here; I hope you'll check it out.

The Sunday Afternoon Haul

With the ladies away at a bridal shower, the boy and I passed the afternoon at Harvest Books in Ft. Washington, PA, which just so happened to be having a "$5 per bag" sale. This is exactly what it sounds like: browse the shelves. Fill a paper bag. Pay $5 (plus tax) for it.

The boy scored a few Far Side collections and a Bart Simpson book. Meanwhile, here's what I scooped up:

How to Talk Dirty and Influence People by Lenny Bruce. A Playboy Press paperback, as shown above. I've never read this. It's long overdue.

The Family by Ed Sanders. Don't know why, but I've been in a Manson mood lately.

The Kennedy Wit, Edited by Bill Adler. The coverline is what sold me: "1100,000 Copies in Print at $3.00. Now Only 60c!"

The Way We Lived Then and Justice by Dominick Dunne. I've been on a John Gregory Dunne tear lately, so I thought I might check out some of his brother's work.

Capote, by Gerald Clarke. A bio I've been meaning to read for years.

The Late John Marquand by Stephen Birmingham. Another literary bio. I've never read Marquand. But the jacket copy makes him sound like a real son of a bitch, so in the bag it went.

Damon Runyon: A Life by Jimmy Breslin. You might be sensing a vague theme to my picks this afternoon.

Kiss Hollywood Good-By by Anita Loos. "Her irreverance is the key to her readability." Sold.

Heroes by Joe McGinniss. He's a hometown boy (or was). In the bag it went.

I also picked up The Selected Letters of Raymond Chandler (edited by Frank MacShane) for five bucks, as well as a softcover copy of one of my favorite biographies ever, Cain by Roy Hoopes (for $4). Yes, I already have Cain in hardcover. But I buy copies whenever I run across them, because I usually end up giving extras to friends.

Anybody ever read any of the above?

Sneak Preview: Punisher MAX #70

CBR has posted a seven-page preview of Punisher MAX #70, the final issue of "Six Hours to Kill," my story arc with Michel Lacombe. The trade paperback isn't out until late summer, so if you want to see Frank crackin' skulls all over the City of Brotherly Love, snap up the single issues (#66-70) while you can.

Next month, my buddy Victor "Go-Go" Gischler pulls the skull t-shirt over his manly frame and heads down south for his Punisher MAX arc, "Welcome to the Bayou." I can't wait.

Richard Stark's (and Darwyn Cooke's) Parker

I've been looking forward to Darwyn Cooke's graphic novel adaptation of Richard Stark's The Hunter ever since I heard about it last summer. Now, publisher IDW has just posted 19 sample pages on their website, and I'm pretty much in love with the whole damn thing. Can't wait to read the rest this July.

(Thanks to Robot 6 for the tip.)

New Comics Today: The Next Fist, the Last Bishop

I've got two new comics in shops today: First up is Immortal Iron Fist #25, which is the third installment of the "Escape from the Eighth City" arc. Art is by the stunning Travel Foreman—you really haven't seen Hell until you've seen it through Travel's eyes. Anyway, you can find a bunch of preview pages right here at CBR.com.

And also out is X-Men: The Times and Life of Lucas Bishop #3: "His Name is Bishop, And Nothing Will Ever Be the Same," which will probably go down as the longest title on anything I've ever written. CBR.com also has some preview pages right here.

Mortal Wounds, War and Werewolves

If you've been waiting for an opportunity to jump on Immortal Iron Fist, here it is. My first arc, "The Mortal Iron Fist," is now out in hardcover at comic shops near you, as well as Amazon.com. This includes the first four issues of my run with Travel Foreman and Russ Heath (#17-20), as well as the done-in-one "Orson Randall and the Death Queen of California" (with art by Giuseppe Camuncoli). I'm proud of the whole damn thing, but especially "Death Queen," which was inspired by my trips to L.A. last summer.

And out this week is Cable #13, which is the second installment of the X-Force/Cable crossover series, "Messiah War." You can check out some preview pages over at CBR.com. God, do I love Ariel Olivetti's version of a future, gnarly Deadpool...

Also out this Wednesday: the final installment of Dead of Night: Werewolf By Night. You'll find some preview pages right here. Mico Suayan's art is amazingly freaky and nightmarish in that Creepy/Eerie/Psycho sort of way. Snap it up now; the trade paperback won't be out until late summer.

Peace, Bullets and Deadlines

Sorry for the lack of posts lately; it's been a crazy week for deadlines. And I do have a new Punisher MAX annotation brewing (for #67)... but in the meantime, how about some sneak preview type-stuff?

Comics Bulletin has the first seven pages of Punisher MAX #68, due out next week.

And CBR has the first seven pages of Immortal Iron Fist #23 (also out next week).

Finally, Timothy Stevens at Marvel.com talked to me about the upcoming Immortal Iron Fist #24, a stand alone story featuring the only (as far as we know) pacifist Fist. And there are some amazing black and white preview pages from this issue's guest artist, Kano. Enjoy. Be back soon.

A Punishing Week

I meant to link to Steven Wells' Philadelphia Weekly piece on The Punisher coming to Philly a few days ago (um, when it appeared), but deadlines and a nasty case of Fanboy Flu have been dogging me all week. Anyway, it's a very fun piece, even if it does make me sound a bit like an over-sized lunatic. (Who feeds his kids breakfast every morning.) I've never been described as almost as pretty as a horse before... thanks, Mr. Wells!

And speaking of Frank Castle, the first seven pages of Punisher: Frank Castle MAX #67 are up at CBR.com, featuring some nice finger-popping action by Michel Lacombe, as well as a Russian valet cursing in broken English.

Enter the Javits

Above is the view from my hotel room, just a block and change from the Jacob Javits Center, where New York Comic Con is about to begin. It's actually going to begin for me in about an hour, when I'll be part of a signing at Jim Hanley's Universe (4 West 33rd Street) with C.B. Cebulski, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Gabriele Dell'Otto, Stefano Caselli, Jonathan Hickman and Glen Brunswick. Not sure I'll be doing much posting here, but you can follow late-breaking updates (and pics) over at my Twitter page (twitter.com/swierczy). And if you happen to be here for NYCC, definitely stop me and say hello.

More Comics Than Nature Intended

Through some disturbance in the time-space continuum, there are four Marvel comics out today with the name "Swierczynski" on them. I'd love to say that it's some kind of savvy pre-New York Comic Con marketing blitz... but I'd be lying. It's just one of those scheduling things.

So what've we got? Well, there's...

Immortal Iron Fist #22. This is the opening of the new arc, "Escape from the Eighth City," in which Danny and the other Immortal Weapons find themselves in a never-ending Kung Fu battle in something quite like Hell. Travel Foreman's crew of martial arts monsters will scare the shit out of you.

Cable #11. The first installment of a two-parter, with the amazing Jamie McKelvie as guest artist. Ariel Olivetti provides a kick-ass set of bookends. (Very much looking forward to meeting both Jamie and Ariel this weekend at NYCC.)

X-Men: The Times and Life of Lucas Bishop #1: The first chapter ("Born to Die") in a three-issue mini-series about our favorite mutant anti-hero cop. (Sample art above by Larry Stroman, who blew me away with every page.)

Dead of Night: Werewolf By Night #2: The next installment of Jack Russell's bloody, bloody locked room mystery. You haven't seen gore until you've seen it drawn by Mico Suayan.

All told, that's $13.96 (plus tax) out of your wallet, so I know it's not exactly spare change. So big thanks to everyone who picks up my stuff on a regular basis. My wife and kids thank you, too.

Another Teenage Dream Come True

And that would be my name in the current Fangoria magazine (#280, with Jason Voorhees on the over).

No, seriously, you don't understand. I've been a devoted Fango reader since #80, February 1989 (cover story: I, Madman), which I picked up at the now-closed Marlo Bookshop in Northeast Philly's Roosevelt Mall. I still remember the sell line at the top: "How to be a horror screenwriter." As an aspiring horror writer, this magazine was my Bible. Naturally, I gravitated to the word nerd sections the most: the "Nightmare Library" book reviews, Q&As with Clive Barker and Stephen King, guest features by John Skipp and Craig Spector, and the always-excellent "Raving and Drooling" column by David J. Schow (the latter collected in the highly-recommended Wild Hairs). To this day, Fango is my favorite magazine, along with The New Yorker. I'm not kidding, nor being ironic. Put me on a desert island with active subscriptions to these two magazines and I'd do okay.

So when Werewolf By Night finally had a firm release date, I asked my friend Brian (Castaways, Dead of Night: Devil Slayer) Keene if he knew anyone at Fango, and he was generous enough to put me in touch with the "Comic Screams" columnist, Daniel Dickholtz. No, sir, I'm not too proud to pimp myself to Fango. The result? A nice full-page piece that highlights some supercool Mico Suayan art and some yapping from me. Basically, a teenage dream come true.

And I can't help but note that the piece appears exactly 200 issues after the first one I ever bought. My seventeen-year-old self wouldn't have believed it.

New York Comic Con 2009

Yes! I am attending! Even if the NY Comic Con website doesn't seem to think so.

You'll be able to catch me at two events, the first being an off-campus event at Jim Hanley's Universe on Thursday, February 5 at 6 p.m. I'll be signing with Giuseppe Camuncoli (my collaborator on Immortal Iron Fist: Orson Randall and the Death Queen of California), C.B. Cebulski, Gabriele Dell'Otto, Stefano Caselli, Johnathan Hickman and Glen Brunswick. I had a great time when I signed at the store last year, and I'm looking forward to hanging out again.

And then as part of the official Con programming, I'll be on the X-Men Panel the next day, from 3:15 until 4:15 p.m. And then signing at the Marvel Booth (#1141) from 5 until 6 p.m.

Beyond that, I'm sure I'll be wandering the floor in a daze, recording little snippets for this blog (thanks to the wonders of the HD Flip camera). Be sure to stop me and say hello.