Ain't The Mighty Cool?

Tomasi and I recently did an interview with the comic people over at Ain't It Cool News to promote The Mighty. Here's the linkage, enjoy!

http://www.aintitcoolnews.com/node/39547

Ramping up to begin blogging again. DC Comics released their solicits today for books shipping in March 09. Hard to believe a new year is almost upon us already. I won't be sad to see 08 end, I'm looking forward to a symbolic fresh start.

So here's what we've got in March...

THE MIGHTY #2
Written by Peter J. Tomasi & Keith Champagne
Art by Peter Snejbjerg
Cover by Dave Johnson
Section Omega is in chaos, and Lt. Cole and the hero known as Alpha One must work side by side for the first time! But in his quest to bring murderers to justice, Cole is in way over his head! When the two locate the villains responsible for the recent trouble, the fight doesn’t go as planned, and Cole finds that being partnered with the world’s greatest Super Hero isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. The consequences of their first battle together will leave even the great Alpha One shaken!
On sale March 4 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US


SUPERGIRL #39
Written by Sterling Gates
Art by Jamal Igle & Keith Champagne
Cover by Joshua Middleton

“Who is Superwoman?” part 3! Supergirl continues her manhunt for Reactron, determined to bring him to justice for the heinous crimes he committed in “New Krypton”!
Meanwhile, Lois Lane and Inspector Mike Henderson investigate the appearance of a dead body in Metropolis Harbor. Whose body is it and what could it have to do with the new Woman of Steel? Find out as the big mystery of 2009 continues!
On sale March 18 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Nevermore

The Dean Koontz project I'm currently writing was officially announced. Here's the link to my interview with Vaneta.

Don't worry, Pat. I'll be returning to semi-regular blogging in another week or two.

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/110826-Nevermore.html

Introducing...THE MIGHTY.

We interrupt this break in blogging to direct your attention to the Newsarama interview Tomasi and I did to introduce THE MIGHTY to the world.

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/110817-The-Mighty.html

The question is...have I driven everyone reading my blog off until early next year?

Logging off

Hey guys,

I've got a lot on my plate in the foreseeable future so I'm going to be taking a little hiatus from this blog. Not sure for how long, I'll probably get back to it on a semi-regular basis early in the new year, maybe a little sooner. Right now, it just feels like one more thing and I'm at a point where I need a few less things to worry about. Aside from email, I'm more or less going offline for a bit to refocus and get my legs underneath me again.

Aside from the Ghostbusters at IDW and Supergirl with Jamal, I have a few new projects that will come to light between now and the new year: The Mighty at DC, a Dean Koontz property that I'm writing for the Dabel Brothers, and a creator-owned book I'm producing with Shawn Moll for Desperado. As they're announced, please keep an eye out for the requisite interviews, etc. If I have a chance, I'll pop up to talk about each of them a bit here.

Enjoy the break from my semi-regular postings, be well, and thanks for reading.

Keith

Thoughts?

So...anyone have any thoughts about Ghostbusters #1?

I've been tagged...

OK, before I get into this tag stuff, let me just say that I was wrong about the release date of the Ghostbusters last week. It comes out this Wednesday, the 15th. Newsarama had posted the wrong info last week and, being the dullest knife in the drawer that I am, I bought it hook, line, and sinker.

Anyway...tag.

It's come to my attention that I've been tagged in a blog game by my beloved Pat Gleason's wife, Emily. I'll be honest; normally, I would feign ignorance and move on with my life. But I'll be a sport and play along because I hold the entire clan Gleason in the absolute highest regard possible. So here you go, Emily...

1.Post the rules on your blog
2.Write 6 random things about yourself
3.Tag 6 people at the end of your post
4.If you are tagged, just do it, and pass the tag along!

1- The very last thing I do when I go to bed every night, after brushing and flossing and taking out my contact lenses, is check on Jack, give him a kiss on the forehead, and whisper "daddy loves you" in his sleeping ear.

2- Speaking of sleeping, while some people count sheep when they can't fall asleep at night, I often visualize myself punching a heavy bag and counting the punches/combinations until I doze off. I'm pretty sure that means I have ridiculous amounts of anger shoved down deep into my soul.

3- When writing, I check my email compulsively, every 10-15 minutes. I find the quick mental distraction actually helps me maintain my creative focus over the longer haul of a day's work. When inking, I check my email every 3 hours or so.

4- I've been training in jiu jitsu for about five years now. In that time, I've torn the ligaments in my left ankle, separated my rib cartilage three times, broken my left ring finger, have slightly cauliflowered my left ear, have been flash KO'd once by a wayward knee to the temple, and have sustained countless bruises and scrapes. And I love every minute of it!

5- When I see pictures of myself, especially as I'm getting older, I honestly feel I look like Frankenstein.

6- I will die with no regrets unless I severely mess this whole father thing up and scar my boy for life.

So there you have it. Six random things about me.

Now, according to the game, I get to tag six people. So...I choose Tom, Jamal, Karin Yamigawa-Madan, Chris Yeoman, The Gerb, and Malinda. Dawn, you're lucky you don't have a blog or I would have tagged you.

Over and out!

Some Fallcon pics

A couple of pics from the wilds of Fallcon...

Myself and Lewis (in his signature hat) in the one pic ever where a little red eye actually works pretty well, and Alisha and Raeanne, two of my biggest fans.

They actually parked outside at midnight the night before the show and slept in their car to make sure they were first in line at my table when the convention started. Just to mess with them, I refused to sign any of the books they brought, claiming I had severe carpal tunnel and couldn't hold a pen. Alisha actually started to cry! I couldn't help but laugh. To make it up to them, I agreed to let them get their picture with me. You would have thought they died and went to Heaven.

True story, scout's honor!

I ain't afraid of no ghosts!

I was going to write up my Fallcon recap (great to see the Minnesota Wrecking Crew but I was sick as a dog the whole time) but when I went online this morning, I was greeted by a bunch of emails letting me know there was a five-page preview of Ghostbusters #1 posted on Newsarama. So here's the linky dinky (isn't that a Teletubbie?)...

http://www.newsarama.com/php/multimedia/album.php?aid=23126

I was under the impression the first issue was due to arrive in stores on October 15th but, as usual, I'm wrong. It's actually out tomorrow. So be sure to go out and buy multiple copies of the greatest Ghostbuster comic to arrive in stores this entire year! OK, it's the only one to arrive in stores so far this year but I still think it's pretty decent.

Ironically, if one were to survey the pop culture landscape, they'd see quite a bit of Ghostbuster stuff popping up. We're first out of the gate with the new comic, followed by the video game, and there's a lot of talk that a third movie is being written. Kind of cool!

Hope you enjoy the preview and GB #1. Let me know what you think.

Fallcon or bust!

While I've got a few minutes, it seems like a good time to mention that I'll be appearing this coming weekend, Saturday and Sunday, at FALLCON in Minnesota. For those keeping score at home, this is my third year in a row attending. I've had a great time the first two years so it makes me wonder what kind of charm the third will be.

This is Fallcon's big 20th anniversary show and it seems like they're blowing the roof off in terms of their guest list. Even Tomasi is making a rare convention appearance for the show which--I believe--has been moved to a bigger venue to accomodate (sp?) the larger crowds they're expecting. And of course, my beloved Minnesota Wrecking Crew will be out in full force and I'm looking forward to catching up with the boys.

Last year, I remember the show being ridiculously hot and humid which seemed ironic, seeing as it's Minnesota in October. I remember Moira showed me the coolest letter ever, a reply she got from Julie Schwartz when she was younger. And how can I forget Lewis (and his hat), who I enjoyed chatting with off and on over the course of the weekend. Who knows what kind of memories this year will bring? Prince Valiant (he better be there)? Mud wrestling (my money is on Mahnke!)? A wedding ceremony (I believe a couple is actually being married after the show on Saturday). I guess you'll have to be there to find out with me!

Seriously, Nick Post puts on a great show. Hope to see you there. I'll update next week with pics and maybe an announcement or two.

Thanks for reading,
Keith

What a trip!

My twenty year high school reunion has come and gone and I had a great time mingling with old friends and learning what many of the faces and names of my childhood have gone on to accomplish in their lives. It's heartening to see so many doing well and aging gracefully. I was initially reluctant to attend the reunion because I wasn't sure what I would really have in common with anyone anymore. But like a bad Disney movie (thanks, Matt Damon), at the end of the day I learned an important lesson. Old friends are the best kind. We're all the same, cut from the same cloth, and there's an instinctive comraderie among those who went through puberty together.

So in the spirit of high school, here's a few official MHS class of 88 awards. And while these names won't mean anything to the comic book readers of my blog, I learned that more than a few of my old friends read this stupid thing. So this one's for them.

Best Orange Pants (and full back tattoo): Stephan Dobiejko.
Person I would never have recognized walking down the street (female): Marisol Montalvo.
Person I would never have recognized walking down the street (male): Brett Chism.
Person who looks exactly the same (male): TIE! Lance Baier and Joe Calash.
Person who looks exactly the same (female): Jen Ramos.
Lowest percentage of body fat: Heather Stevens.
Person I didn't get to catch up with but really wanted to: Lou Rollins.
Person with the most obscure shared childhood memory: Liz Nagengast (who remembers how my brother Kenny was bumped from our farm system team to little league because he was way better than we were.)
Joker: Year One: The mysterious prestige format project Doug Mahnke and I have been working on for DC (Still paying attention, comic readers?).

And in closing, in a nice bit of symmetry, the pic on this entry is my friend Dawn and I, all grown up from the earlier pic of us going to our freshman homecoming dance. My haircut is a little better this time around. By next time, I probably won't have any hair at all.

Good times. Thanks, guys.

Some new links...

I've been meaning to add a couple of new links below to noteworthy blogs that I think are worth the time. But I'm a busy, forgetful little fella who really only thinks about himself so I haven't done it yet.

First up is www.warrenmartineck.blogspot.com. Warren is a friend of mine and one of my former roommates at the Kubert School. He's one of America's leading sketch card artists, I'm always amazed at how much detail he can cram into one of those little image areas. He's also branching back into comics so I say keep on eye on his blog and watch where he ends up in a couple of years.

Secondly is www.Chrissamnee.com. I haven't met him personally but I'll be working with Chris on a project for DC in a few months time. I've gotten to know his work through his blog. Don't know how he finds time for the daily sketches but they're all sweet and I admire his dedication to posting one every day. So check that one out, too.

Over and out for now. Don't worry, I'll go back to talking all about myself next time.

Mighty good news

I've known about this for a while so, feeling guilty that I've barely blogged in the past few weeks, let me spill some more beans about THE MIGHTY.

First, you may ask yourself "what in the wide world of sports is The Mighty?"

Well, The Mighty is a new, ongoing series at DC. It's co-written by myself and Pete Tomasi, or as he likes to be called in the credit box, "Peter J. Tomasi," with some great art by Peter Snejberg. Trust me, it's cool stuff.

Anyway, we've been plugging away in the shadows on The Mighty for about a year now so I'm happy to report that we're far enough ahead that we're the book is now on the schedule. The first issue will be solicited in October and published in January. I'm excited to get it out there, I feel like I've had a really cool secret I've been dying to share for too long.

So keep an eye out! There will be plenty more details coming soon as we begin to promote the book. Tomasi and I own this one so we're both very committed to getting the word out and building some buzz.

So, yeah...

So, yeah...not much to blog about lately. Anyone got any topics of interest worth discussing?

Coming soon...

I'm super excited to announce that the collected edition of ARMOR X will finally see print as part of Chimaera Studios "Signature Line."

Details to come.

I'm planning on taking a "Director's Cut" approach to the collection. Aside from some odds and ends at DC, ARMOR X (trivia: The X is actually the roman numeral for ten) was my first real writing work I had published in comics. It's hard to look at it now and not see a lot of warts. So I'm going to fresh it up a bit and make it shine.

Hopefully, if the trade performs we'll finally get to produce the next series (of three that I originally intended on).

the NEW greatest picture ever!

Jack drew me a picture of a really scary monster a couple of days ago. To me, it's better than looking at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. I'm particularly proud of the bellybutton, eyebrows, and five fingers on each claw.

The kid is a GENIUS!!

The best picture ever!

As the 20 year high school reunion for my class gets closer, a networking website has sprung up where former classmates can say hi, post pictures, that kind of thing. So here's a doozy that made me laugh out loud when I saw it.

This is my friend Dawn and I shortly before going to our freshman year homecoming dance. All I can say is WOW!! Fourteen year old Keith Champagne was not only quite a ladies man, he was also an icon of style! I don't know what's up with my hair, I remember it used to flip up quite a bit as it got longer but man...that's something special.

Tom, if we see Prince Valiant at Fallcon this year, he and I will have something to bond over. Turns out I was rocking that haircut 20 years before he was!

For all the Ghostbuster fans out there...

Because my blog has been overrun by Ghostbuster fans, here's a little something to keep you all fed. I'm not going to leave it up here indefinitely, just for a day or two, maybe less if IDW asks me to take it down. So consider it an easter egg and enjoy it while you can.

Nice work by Tom, isn't it?

A quick reminder

Just a quick reminder that SPIDER-MAN FAMILY #1 comes out today, with an eleven page Aunt May story written (and inked) by me and pencilled by Shawn Moll. I've yet to read it all put together so I hope it worked out OK. Let me know what you think.

Also, I believe the collected edition of Countdown Arena arrives in stores today. Everyone loves to shit on Countdown these days so I'm proud that Arena was one of the more popular of the offshoot series. Can't win 'em all but more people seemed to enjoy it than not.

That's all for now...

Two Birds With One Stone

I noticed on the comicbloc message boards that there was a thread about what questions/topics readers wish had been addressed at the DC panels in San Diego last weekend. Since a couple of them concern me, I instantly had the idea I would steal the topic and give myself something to blog about over here. So thanks to "oddballUK," the one who started the thread.

The first question/statement was:

Keith Champagne has mentioned on his blog an upcoming DC project with Doug Mahnke that has yet to be announced.

Yeah, tell me about it! This project is completely written and, to date, Doug has drawn about a third of it. The work he's done so far has been absolutely STUNNING, the best of his career. The problem here is that Doug was needed more urgently for a couple of Final Crisis books and he's then been booked onto some Green Lantern stuff. The hope is when those obligations are finished, he'll have the time to finish our project. It's going to eventually be published in the prestige format, it's related to Gotham City, and even if I wrote a shitty book, Doug's art will make it well worth the wait.

And although this next one doesn't seem to be related to me, it actually very much is...

I was hoping for more info on Peter Tomasi's creator owned book for DC and something more concrete on the fate of the Nightwing book post-#150.

I can't speak for the fate of Nightwing post-150 but that ol' grizzly bear Tomasi has already named the creator-owned book in interviews. It's called THE MIGHTY. It's a twelve-issue series, not set in the DCU, co-created, co-written, (and co-owned) by Peter and myself, which is why I feel comfortable covering it here. Tomasi and I have written a few things together outside of comics, this is our first time doing it for DC. Peter Snejberg is about halfway done with the art for the fourth issue at this point and that's all I should say for now.

Over and out!