Mahmud takes the spotlight

Brian Cronin, over at CBR's blog, Comics Should be Good, talks about Dynamo 5's very own Mahmud A. Asrar. Cronin says Mahmud is "definitely one to watch!" I couldn't agree more, of course. Read the full piece here.

Dynamo 5 #0

We're offering a special 12-page, 99 cent #0 issue of Dynamo 5 in January.

“The tagline we're using in ads and on issues #0 through #25 is ‘Change is Coming.’ And what's great is that because this is Image, ‘change’ can mean anything. Since [artist] Mahmud Asrar and I own these characters, we can do whatever we want with them. We can kill one of them off. We can turn one of them evil. We can redirect the entire series if we want to. And because the book is still relatively new, it's not like there's a ‘status quo’ we have to maintain. Truly anything can happen.”

I spoke with Michael Patrick Sullivan at CBR right here.

Runner's High

I had a lot of false starts in trying to get into the habit of running every day. My dad's a runner, and he's been encouraging me for most of my adult life to take up the sport/hobby. I was on the Track team in high school in my Senior year, and I ran occasionally in college and in my 20s, but it wasn't until I moved to Los Angeles in 2001 that I really became a runner. I guess it was the warm weather, which enabled me to run pretty much every day. I averaged about 3 miles a day (and still do), and it quickly got to the point that I'd feel bad if I missed a day of running. Up until that point, it was a chore to make myself run each day.

When I moved back up to the Seattle area in 2003, I still ran, although it required a bit more motivation, what with the cooler weather and all the rain the region gets. But before long, I found a new motivation: working through story points. There's something about the increased blood flow or heart rate or something ... but whatever it is, if I set off on my run with a specific story problem in mind, I almost always work it out on the run. It enables me to see things in a different way, or from a different angle or something. It's really satisfying, and pretty amazing when you think about it -- the way the mind is unlocked through that kind of exercise. I still have a bit of a hard time getting myself out on the road when it's dark and rainy out, though...

Wednesday Previews

It's Wednesday, which I've decided is Preview time! This week, we're gonna take a look at the artwork for some back-up stories we have in the works for Dynamo 5. Some of these stories feature Dynamo 5 characters, others are just bonus stories that are completely separate.

First up is a page from a Captain Dynamo flashback story which was pencilled and inked by Neil Edwards. This will be appearing in Dynamo 5 #17, on sale soon!



Next up is a page from a Dodge's Bullets story story, drawn by Joe Eisma and colored by Paul Little. It's slated to run in Dynamo 5 #18, and is a sort-of sequel to a graphic novella I did a few years ago. It's a straight mystery story -- no superhuman or fantasy elements whatsoever. I was so pleased with how this story turned out that Joe, Paul, and I are working on a new project.



Lastly, we have a page pencilled and inked by Alex Serra (who's worked on some Johnny DC titles). It's from a Slingshot solo story that will probably run in Dynamo 5 #19.

The results are in

Yesterday, Top Cow released the results of the 2008 Pilot Season contest, and Urban Myths unfortunately didn't get enough votes to be continued as a series ... yet. As anyone who followed the voting knows, Urban Myths was consistently in the top two slots, so there is a sizable demand there.

If you want to read more Urban Myths, you need to write to Top Cow at fanmail@topcowent.com and tell them so.

Preview Time!

Time to show off some of the amazing artwork that's coming your way in Dynamo 5 and Noble Causes.

First up are two pages from Noble Causes #37, with art by Yildiray Cinar and colors by new colorist Jacob Baake. And yes, our special guest star is none other than Invincible.



Next up is this double-page spread from Dynamo 5 #17, by Mahmud A. Asrar and Ron Riley.



And lastly, we've got two pages from Dynamo 5 #18, by fill-in artist Marcio Takara and Ron Riley.

Off to see the Wizard

Dynamo 5 #16 is on sale this week, and Wizard ran a feature about it on their website. It's got some preview artwork, and some tidbits about the future of the book.

Listen up!

Ron Richards, of iFanboy, just posted a podcast featuring a lengthy chat between the two of us. We talked mostly about Noble Causes, but also about Dynamo 5, Gemini, and Urban Myths. You listen to it right here.

And speaking of Urban Myths, there's less than a week left in the voting, and at last count, Urban Myths was in the lead! But that's no excuse to slack off. Every vote counts! You can vote every day until September 8th, and I urge you to do so! Vote here.