James Leary & Mitch Byrd @ IndieGoGo

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, DC Comics, Independent,

Mitch Byrd is one of my favorite artists. We worked together for many issues of my comic book, Dinosaurs For Hire and he also illustrated a comic I edited, Planet of the Apes: Sins of the Father, that was written by a friend of mine, Mike Valerio.

Later on, he moved over to DC and worked with Beau Smith on the very manly Green Lantern spin-off, Guy Gardner: Warrior series.

Now, in conjuction with writer and actor James Leary (he played Clem on Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Mitch is working on a new title called James Leary’s House Of Screams.

James and Mitch, along with cover artist Steve Scott, are working through IndieGoGo  to try to raise the necessary money to make it all happen.

Take a look and see if you’d like to help. I love Mitch’s work (I was a fan long before we worked together) and I can’t wait to see his new work in print. So go make it happen.

[Artwork: James Leary's House Of Screams #1, cover pencils by Steve Scott, © Alarm Comics]

Weekend Reading: Dr. Who, Dinosaurs, Rob Hanes and Thor

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Interviews, Movies, Reviews, Television, Image Comics, Independent,

I was saddened by the recent death of Elisabeth Sladen who played Sarah Jane in Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane Adventures. Of all the reminiscences online, the one I thought the most touching was by her co-star, Tom Baker.

Dinosaurs: Topless Robot looks at the “10 Most Badass Dinosaurs In Comics.” Something I created made the list, so naturally, I’m linking to it! Thanks to author Jesse Thompson for the shout out.

Royalty: Evan Lewis at Davy Crockett’s Almanack likes Prince Valiant Vol. 2: 1939-1940 from Fantgraphics. “Amazing as the artwork in Volume 1 was, it just keeps getting better.”

Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Dr. Who, Dinosaurs, Rob Hanes and Thor

Let’s Rebuild LEN WEIN’S Comic Book Collection!

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials,

I have a tiny Len Wein story which is almost inconsequential, but it gets me to my eventual point. Years ago, I had created a comic book property called Dinosaurs For Hire that was published by Malibu Comics. It attracted some media attention and a couple of deals were put into place. One of those deals was an option by 20th Century Fox to turn my characters into an animated television series.

There was no way Fox was going to let me be involved in the project – I was at the time just a comic book writer, after all, who had merely created the characters – but they invited me down to attend a courtesy meeting with the writer assigned to the project.

So I headed down to the Fox studio one afternoon. Imagine my surprise when I walked into the conference room and was introduced to Mr. Wein.

Click to continue reading Let’s Rebuild LEN WEIN’S Comic Book Collection!

Starlog Logs Off

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials,

The magazine Starlog came along when fans of sci-fi movies and TV shows were split into two camps: those still trying to figure out whether or not Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey was actually any good, and Star Trek fans still waiting for Paramount to revive what was not yet “the franchise.” Star Wars was just about to hit and bust open the genre’s wallet.

If you’ve been living on Io for the past few days, you might not have heard that the print version of Starlog is no more. Like so many other magazines, it has ceased to be and is moving to the internets, temporarily they say, though permanently is more like it. It’s a tough climate for print, though I hear trees have never been happier.

I have long-standing connections to the Starlog Universe and I’ll miss it mightily. Editor Dave McDonnell and I have been acquainted with one another since college –

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