Robin Annual #7

Tomorrow, the long awaited (by me, at least) Robin Annual #7 arrives at local comic shops across the country.

I still haven't received my comps so I don't know what the book looks like in color yet but, based on the black and white Jpegs Jason Pearson and Derec Donovan sent along while they were working, I'm pretty confident in saying it's one freakin' beautiful looking comic book. It's always a treat to see Jason Pearson do interior work. Everyone knows how great he is and I feel very lucky that I got to see one of my scripts filtered through his imagination.

The real revelation to me on this book, though, was Derec Donovan. Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed his work for years but I didn't appreciate how good he was until I got a chance to work with him. His black and white pages are STUNNING and I guarantee this won't be the last time I work with him. At least I hope not!

As I mentioned previously (in the interview with Jen Contino), the solicitation info for this issue, which listed three separate stories, was wrong. There are only two, one featuring Damian (Batman's biological son) and the other an adventure starring Tim Drake (Batman's now-adopted son).

The Tim Drake story was originally intended to be my first issue as the regular writer of the monthly Robin comic. Unfortunately, when Tomasi left staff at DC, those plans changed and the book moved to a different writer. That's comics and DC (and Mike Siglain) have taken good care of me, keeping me writing other work. But I had big plans for Robin and hopefully, I'll get another crack at the title at some point or other, or at the least a chance to do another annual to conclude the grim little tale this one started.

I listened to some mood music while writing this annual so, if you want to get in the same frame of mind as I was, I recommend 'Comfortably Numb' by Pink Floyd for the Damian story and 'Gimme Shelter' by the mighty Stones for the Tim Drake tale. I tried to channel the mood of each song for each story.

This Robin Annual is my first writing work released since WORLD WAR III, so I'm glad the wait is over. ARENA is up next, which is basically going to own the month of December, followed by The Atom in January, The ***** in February, and then a much larger project shortly thereafter.

Can you tell I'm bored tonight? I keep writing and writing.

Enjoy the annual, I hope everyone likes it. And Happy Halloween!

Can't stop talking...

...about Countdown: Arena, this time with Jeff Renaud over at Comic Book Resources. Jeff has an interesting approach to the way he edits an interview together. Some points I make are edited together to give a slightly different context, others answers are quoted verbatim. I like what he does.

Here's the linkage:

http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=12191

Halloween Sneak Preview

The second year in a row I've done this so I think it qualifies as a blogging tradition.

Robin annual interview

An interview I did to promote the upcoming ROBIN annual that I wrote is up at The Pulse. Because I can't link directly to the interview (for whatever reason, one can only link to the main Pulse page), I thought I'd just cut and paste it here.

Thanks to Jen Contino for the interview and for about half of the Quintas family for appearing as characters in the annual. Always fun to work my friends in when I can. The annual ships on Halloween, BTW.

BY JENNIFER M. CONTINO

October is horror, so it's the perfect time to add a little scares to the world of Robin. Keith Champagne gave us a treat by telling THE PULSE what it was like writing a handful of tales featuring Tim Drake, Dick Grayson and Damian.


THE PULSE: In the old days, we used to have Christmas and Halloween stories almost every year, but those seem few and far between lately. Whose idea was it to make this Robin Annual with a horror tinge?

KEITH CHAMPAGNE: The blame goes to Pete Tomasi, who originally assigned this issue to me. He told me to come up with a Robin story for the Halloween issue. After he left staff, Mike Marts picked up the pumpkin and now...here we are.

THE PULSE: The Robin Annual seems to be of an October theme with a handful of scary tales featuring Tim Drake, Dick Grayson and Damian. How did you come up with those types of stories? What inspired you to get your spook on?

CHAMPAGNE: The scary thing is that I wrote this right after Christmas, so it was kind of hard to channel the whole Halloween vibe while cleaning up wrapping paper and building toys. But, you know what they say...that's why they pay me the big bucks!

And actually, there's no Dick Grayson story in this annual. That was a mistake in the solicits. Once Jason Pearson came on board, we decided to double the page count of the Damian story to give the world an extra dose of his gorgeous art.

THE PULSE: You really got to work with a variety of characters in this Annual. Which one was the toughest to script?

CHAMPAGNE: I had a hard time finding a voice for Damian. He's a fairly new character and I had only read one issue of Batman in which he appeared. So it took me some trial and error until I felt comfortable with his characterization.

Fun character though, for a testy little brat!

THE PULSE: Which story almost wrote itself?

CHAMPAGNE: Ah, wouldn't it be a beautiful world if that was the way things worked? As far as characters go, I will say that Harvey Bullock, who plays a role in the Robin story, came snarling onto the page and wrote himself.

THE PULSE: What do you personally view as the greatest attributes to Damian, Tim Drake and Dick Grayson?

CHAMPAGNE: With Damian, I sort of feel that deep down, he wants to be a good kid. He's just never had a stable role model to guide him through his young life. But even when he's acting like a little shit, I don't see him as deliberately being a brat. He's just never learned to play nice with others.

As far as Tim goes, he's a pretty well defined character at this point. I'd say his greatest attribute is his brain. He's a really smart, clever kid.

Plus, they both know kung fu.

THE PULSE: What do you view as each's Achilles heals?

CHAMPAGNE: I think they're opposites in that Tim is always hoping for the best from people and Damian is always expecting the worst.

THE PULSE: Who or what influenced you the most when you were coming up with these stories? Which storytellers do you think are masters at doing something like incorporating a holiday into a comic story effortlessly?

CHAMPAGNE: "Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd was a big influence on the Damian story. "Gimme Shelter" by the Stones set the mood nicely for the Robin one. In fact, I'd recommend listening to both of those while you read the annual.

I think holidays like Christmas are very hard to incorporate into a comic story in a non-cheesy manner. The Halloween atmosphere lends itself more easily to that same purpose. It's a lot easier to write creepy than it is to write heartwarming.

Off the top of my head, I can't think of anyone who was a master at this kind of thing. There's so few of them that are done that it's hard to single out one person who has mastered the form. It's an interesting challenge, though.

I do love both the Peanuts Christmas and Halloween specials so maybe Charles Schultz was on to something there.

THE PULSE: What have you enjoyed the most about getting to tell these types of Halloween stories?

CHAMPAGNE: I enjoyed the chance to stretch beyond writing traditional super hero stories and do something a little darker and more atmospheric.

It was fun to use Tim Drake, I like the character and I feel like I have a good voice for him. Based on the Tim Drake story, I was slated to take over writing the monthly Robin book for a while. However, as they often do, those plans changed after Tomasi left staff.


THE PULSE: When you were younger, what was the coolest Halloween costume you ever wore?

CHAMPAGNE: One year, I was the boogeyman, which entailed dressing all in black and covering my face with oatmeal, mixed with something to make it stick to me. I remember that being a really cool costume.

Oh, wait...that might have been for my second grade school play. It's all a haze so I'll just say...SUPERMAN!

THE PULSE: Which artists do you think are the best at drawing horror? Why?

CHAMPAGNE: It's hard to find someone these days who puts as much atmosphere into a book as Tom Mandrake. I think of the current generation of working comic artists, he's our darkest light. Gene Colan might be the all-time great, based on his Dracula stuff.

I'd be an ass if I didn't say that Jason Pearson and Derec Donovan are doing AMAZING work on these stories. Derec's stuff is, in my opinion, the best of his career to date. I love his pages so much I want to marry them.

And I still have to pinch myself, it's hard to believe that Jason Pearson is drawing one of my stories. Mike Marts sent me some pages from each the other day and we both agree that this Robin annual will be, bar none, the best looking book on the stands in the month of October. These guys are bringing their 'A' games!


THE PULSE: What do you personally enjoy the most about Halloween?

CHAMPAGNE: I like handing out the candy to the kids when they come to the door, checking out the different costumes. I live in an area where we get HEAVY traffic on Halloween, we go through like ten bags of candy. It's great to see them all.

Of course, nothing beats taking my son out trick or treating. Especially now that he's older and can say "TRICK OR TREAT!"

THE PULSE: What other projects are you working on?

CHAMPAGNE: Countdown: ARENA is the big one. Four weekly, double-sized issues covering the month of December.

A LOT more to be announced soon.

Scanner test

I'm getting my work computer back up to speed after a system crash and burn. Here I am, testing my scanner. This is a panel from the upcoming All-New Atom #18, my inks over Andy Smith's pencils.

January Solicits

DC Comics released their January solicitation info today and I've got something shipping that month, so here's the scoop...

THE ALL-NEW ATOM #19

Written by Keith Champagne
Art by Jerry Ordway & Trevor Scott
Cover by Ladrönn

When a team of scientists goes missing, it’s up to the Atom to travel far below the depths of Ivy Town for the most dangerous rescue mission of his career! But the underground dwellers of Ivy Town don’t take kindly to strangers of any size!
On sale January 2 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

First, I don't think these are the final cover colors. These look like the flats and I'd expect a more fully rendered job when the book ships.

Interestingly, I was under the impression I was also inking this issue, mainly because it was a chance to work with Jerry Ordway, who's work I admire a great deal. I was planning on starting in another week or two so I guess I should check in and see if this is a solicit error or what.

I had a lot of fun writing this issue, so much so that I've been trying to worm my way back in and write some more Atom since. In fact, I'd say that if I were to take over a monthly writing assignment at DC, the Atom would be one of my top two choices...the other being Aquaman, which I would love to take a spin on.

Over and out for now...

More Hamster-speak

An interview I did a month or so ago to promote the Hamsters has popped up online over at Comic Book Resources. As always, the linkage:

www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=12098

Not only does it feature the colored cover to #1 (by the mighty Moose himself), it also shows Mike Oeming's alternate cover to the first issue. Also the first glimpse at the four reimagined original hamsters, Bruce, Chuck, Jackie, and Clint.

If radioactive, furry, anthropomorphic characters are your cup of tea (and if they're not, what's wrong with you?), check it out.

In other news, keep an eye out for a weekly (or biweekly) behind-the-scenes production column I'll be writing to lead up to the Hamsters relaunch in January. You won't have to look far, I'm sure I'll post a link to the first one here.

Fallcon 2.0 wrap up and more...

There's not too much to report from the floors of Fallcon, except to say that I am now convinced that global warming is the real deal. There's NO WAY it's supposed to be that hot and humid in Minnesota in October.

Unfortunately, while the show wasn't the most profitable one I've ever attended (and as great as it is to meet readers and talk comics, we comic book people also like to make money at these things), I did enjoy the quality time spent with the Minnesota Wrecking Crew. Thanks to Tom, Doug, and Pat for taking such good care of me and Shawn Moll? I admire your dedication to the pages of She Hulk. I also enjoyed talking with Moira, who got an exclusive sneak peek at Arena #1 (Well, not the ending) just because she's so awesome and because, back in the early seventies, Julie Schwartz liked her Batman idea (which is the coolest thing ever).

Of course, thanks once again to Nick Post and the staff of Fallcon for bringing me out for the show. I hope to be back a third time next year.

Prince Valiant was once again there, hawking his KISS posters. He seems quite fond of Tom but, then again, who isn't? Pat, if you email me his picture from your cell phone, I'll be your best friend.

Since I got back, I finished writing an Action Comics script that, at this point, is my favorite story that I've written. Which doesn't mean it's any good, just that it's my favorite. The idea for the story is something I've carried in my head since my teenage years and it was gratifying to write something I've held onto for so long. The script still needs some shaping before I turn it in but writing an issue of Action Comics is literally my oldest professional dream come true.

Next up, I'll be making a miniature return to inking, working over 11 pages of Andy Smith art for an issue of The Atom, then inking a full issue of The Atom (that I also wrote) over an artist I couldn't say no to working over. Similar to when I worked with John Byrne, it's another dream gig come true (and the easiest way to snag some original art from one of the greats.)

After that, or probably sometime during once the ball starts rolling, the plan is to write a two-issue, prestige format series for DC. Plus the third issue of The Hamsters needs to be finished.

Fun times. Speaking of fun, did you vote for ARENA yet?

FALLCON 2.0

I guess before I shut down for the day, this would be a good time to mention that thanks to the fine folks behind the show, I'll be appearing this coming weekend (Oct. 6-7) at FALLCON.

The show is a nice, medium-sized convention held on the Minnesota State Fairgrounds in Saint Paul. This will be my second consecutive year attending; for whatever reason, they liked me enough last year to bring me out again for this year's show.

I'm looking forward to seeing the Minnesota Wrecking Crew of comic book creators again, including but not limited to Tom "Black Belt Hamster" Nguyen, Doug "Black Adam" Mahnke, and that prince among men, Pat "Black Ops Green Lanterns" Gleason...and maybe even that strange little guy with the Prince Valiant haircut who was selling homemade KISS posters last year.

There's a great line up of comic book people at the show so even if you don't give a rat's ass about me, by all means come by anyway. If you're a reader of this blog, come up and tell me and I'll give you a free ARMOR X print.

Hamster powers...activate!

And the other shoe drops on Newsarama today, with the announcement that Tom Nguyen and I are reviving the ADOLESCENT RADIOACTIVE BLACK BELT HAMSTERS for Dynamite. Here's the linkage...

http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=131041

Because I can't seem to be too dumb to make links active in the body of a post (Chris Yeoman, where are you when I need you?), anyone that wants to check it out will have to cut and paste.

Having a lot of fun writing this book. It's a great chance to write something silly, yet with a lot of heart underneath. Tom has been waiting a long time for a chance to really dig in and do the complete art on a project and he's going to open a lot of people's eyes on this one.

Two posts in one day...wow. Look at me go.

Yet another...

The blogging machine that I had become seems to have broken down somewhat when I ran out of things to say. Luckily, Newsarama's Lois Lane, AKA Vaneta, conducted yet ANOTHER interview w/ me about the upcoming ARENA (which I always mistype as AREAN, and then have to backspace and fix). This one covers the fan voting aspect of the project, as well as some thoughts on the characters featured in the four main match ups.

At this rate, I'm going to have to give Vaneta a percentage of any royalties I might make on Arena. She's working harder than me.

The project that Tom Nguyen and I have been secretly working on for Dynamite might be announced today, too, which will give me something else to blog about.

Here's the link...

http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=131034

beauty

I got this picture in my email tonight and I thought it was amazingly beautiful and should be shared with my tiny little community of blog readers, who I know are the sorts who appreciate amazingly beautiful things.

Enjoy.

ARENA solicits

Look at me, I'm a blogging machine lately!

Here's the solicit information for ARENA, arriving in stores the month of December, beginning on Wednesday the 5th. As most writers seem to do these days, I wrote the solicitation copy for the books. Still, I'm surprised to see DC insert (JSA) into my name as an example of a past credit. I guess I'm glad it's still relevant but hopefully, one day I'll be known for more than my work on JSA. Still, I guess it was a more popular choice than World War III.

Just this morning, I got a Fed Ex w/ Scott McDaniel's pencils for #2. I'm really, really happy w/ the work he (and Andy Owens) are doing. I wish these books were out today, I'm really excited that they're coming together so well.

COUNTDOWN: ARENA #1-4
Written by Keith Champagne
Art by Scott McDaniel & Andy Owens
Covers by Andy Kubert
Variant covers by Dale Eaglesham

Get ready for COUNTDOWN: ARENA — a 4-issue weekly event written by Keith Champagne (JSA) with art by Scott McDaniel & Andy Owens (GREEN ARROW) that pits the DCU’s greatest heroes against themselves!

The villainous Monarch begins the last chapter of his campaign against the Monitors, combing the entire Multiverse to enlist the most powerful — or deadly — heroes and villains from throughout existence to join his army. The abducted must battle one another in Monarch's specially constructed Arena, where only the strongest will survive to join his battle against the Monitors.

Carefully selected from worlds throughout all 52 universes, including characters from SUPERMAN: RED SON, DC: THE NEW FRONTIER, BATMAN: GOTHAM BY GASLIGHT, JSA: LIBERTY FILES, JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE NAIL, and TANGENT, among many others, three versions of each hero will walk into the Arena, and only one will walk away. Welcome to THE ARENA, where Monarch’s only rule is to survive at all costs.

Retailers please note: Each issue of COUNTDOWN: ARENA will ship with two covers. For every 10 copies of the Standard Edition ordered, retailers may order one copy of the Variant Edition.

Please see the Previews Order Form for more information.

#1 on sale December 5; #2 on sale December 12; #3 on sale December 19; #4 on sale December 26 • 48 pg, FC, $3.99 US

Gorgeous

C'mon, how sweet is Andy Kubert's cover to ARENA #1?

VOTE!

The voting website for COUNTDOWN: ARENA went live this afternoon and I wanted to throw the link out there for anyone that might not be aware.

http://www.dccomics.com/sites/arena/

I have to admit, I'm absolutely tickled by the existence of the website. It looks cool, it's easy to use, and my name is splashed (well, scrawled at least) on the front page.

While it may be a conflict of interest, I went and voted tonight. My choices will remain my own but there are definite versions I would hope to see win. I will say that Christopher Kent, the bald futuristic Superman is my favorite man of steel. Not too many times in life does someone get to create a brand new Superman, after all, and he's all mine.

So get out there, have some fun, and pick your favorites!

The round up

I dipped my toe back in the inking pool this week, teaming up with one of my fave pencilers and all around nice guy, "Big Papa" Jamal Igle, on a two-page Countdown back up origin. It was good timing, in the back of my mind I've been wanting to do something small just to keep my hand in practice. This little assignment was actually the first time I've inked anything since early July, when I did a Robin cover with another of my fave pencilers (and all around nice guy) Pat Gleason.

I can't say that I miss inking all that much but I have to say, Jamal's pencils are a lot of fun to work over and I do kind of miss working with him on a regular basis. He's the best kind of guy to work with: Talented and so not a pain in the ass. There are definitely worse jobs to have than inking Big Papa.

All in all, I find myself feeling a little disenfranchised with comics this week. I've found over the years that it's kind of a cyclical thing where, for a while, I'll be really happy and excited about the work I'm doing and then I'll go into a phase where I start to wonder what I'm doing with my life.

I think this particular phase is basically down to not nailing down a substantial project to write since I finished Arena about a month ago. I've been floating along, writing an issue here or an issue there of different books for DC, plus a couple of issues of a project Tom Nguyen and I are doing together for Dynamite. So it's not like I'm unemployed, I just feel like I'm...drifting...a bit.

Arena is going to do a lot of business for DC, plus aside from the fact that it should sell handsomely, I feel confident saying that it's turning out really, really well. I'm proud of the story, Scott McDaniel and Andy Owens are chugging along and Andy Kubert's covers are simply STUNNING. Maybe my problem is that I'm never satisfied. It's easier to focus on not knowing what my next DC project might be instead of feeling a sense of accomplishment in the strides I've taken over the last year in terms of my writing career. Between World War III and Arena, I've been lucky to write two HUGE projects this year and not a month has gone by when I haven't written at least one issue of something, even it it all hasn't seen print yet. But there have also been bumps in the road. I've lost a lot of work this year at DC for various reasons, including my first monthly assignment due to an editorial restructuring. But I also had one approved, something I'm cowriting with Pete Tomasi. So...two steps forward, one step back.

I guess it's just human nature to bitch instead of bask. Or maybe I'm just broken? Either way, I have a feeling I'll be a little edgy until I nail down whatever comes next. There's so much cool stuff being put together at DC right now, maybe I'm just afraid I'll slip through the cracks.

Picks

I haven't posted anything about MMA in a while so here are my quick picks for the main fights on tomorrow's UFC card.

Dan Henderson over Rampage.
Cro Cop over Kongo.
Bisping over Matt Hammill.
I also like Houston Alexander over Alessio Sakara.

I'm not going to predict rounds or KO's or anything, just who I think will win. Let's see how I do.

Curious George

I'm going to try a little experiment here, working under the 'Seven Degrees Of Separation" theory.

My son Jack really enjoys Curious George. It seems like not a day goes by when we don't read him a CG book or two. So in the back of my mind lately, I've been thinking about writing a Curious George book for him. Which I could do just for fun, but if I do, I'd like to take a shot at getting it published.

The Houghton Mifflin Company is the organization that currently publishes Curious George. So what I'm hoping to find out there in Blog Reading Internets Land, is somebody from Haughton Mifflin--or who knows somebody from Haughton Mifflin--that I could speak with about submitting a story. I'd like to skip their submission process and talk to someone directly if I could because, frankly, after reading over their submission guidelines tonight, it sort of reminds me of the frustration people must feel trying to break into comics.

So if anyone out there can throw me a bone, I'd be glad to scratch some backs in return. My email address is available on my profile here, or just leave yours in the comment section and I'll touch base soon.

Thanks!

The original

Thanks to Mike Negin for digging this up and emailing it to me, the original Hawkman house ad that I copied all those years ago. It puts my little 15 year old effort to shame but then again, it's kinda supposed to.

As a cryptic aside, when the GL: CORPSE series ends up seeing the light of day, think back to this post. You may find a connection between Mike and the deadliest group of Green (black) Lanterns known (secretly) to exist.

Thanks, Mike!

May 11, 1985

I found this piece recently and thought I'd share it with the world. It should give you a pretty good indication of how I filled my time one afternoon in detention from Biology Class on May 11, 1985. I got a lot of detentions in Biology Class, Mr. Friedmann and I never got along all that well. Probably because I was a wiseass and spent most of my time in Bio either passing notes or drawing in my notebook.

The funny thing is, in spite of the fact that this piece of art is 22 years old, I actually remember laboriously copying this from a DC house ad for the new Hawkman title that was coming out. I'm pretty sure the background was supposed to be all black with eyes peeking out but, even back then, I hated backgrounds.

If anyone out there can find the actual house ad this was drawn from, feel free to email it to me. I'd love to post it up here.