Books & Comics – Page 25

Werewolf Concept Art for I, Frankenstein

Have another helping of Tatopoulos werewolf character design! Earlier today it was the Lycan costume from Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, and now I’m pleased to share a concept illustration of the Werewolf character from the forthcoming film version of Kevin Grevioux’s I, Frankenstein comic. This artwork was originally sent to Bloody Disgusting, so props to them for posting it!

The film is to be directed by Patrick Tatopoulos, who designed the werewolves in the first two Underworld films, then went on to direct Rise of the Lycans. Grevioux and Tatopoulus have worked together before: Grevioux developed the story for the first Underworld and was heavily involved in script-writing and co-producing throughout the series. Oh yeah, and he played the lycan Raze. So basically these guys know werewolves.

Angela Quinton Aug. 19th 2009

McGinty & Hughes: Amateur Thespians

My favourite web comic, Scary Go Round, is coming to an end. Its creator John Allison intends to begin a new comic in its stead this September. He won’t divulge the new comic’s title or subject, and has been teasing his readers about it via his blog. Yesterday he posted this, along with the message “Without further ado, here for the first time I reveal: THE NEW COMIC. Oh hang on that isn’t it. Not at ALL.”

John, why you got to play me like that?

Angela Quinton Aug. 18th 2009

Lycanthrope Library Review: Dreadful Skin

There’s a new review up at Lycanthrope Library for Cherie Priest’s novel Dreadful Skin.

Here’s an excerpt:

Synopsis: A gun-toting, lycanthropic nun from Ireland is on the hunt for a murderous werewolf named Jack. She follows him across the American West where he eventually teams up with a traveling werewolf preacher looking to form a pack.

…Dreadful Skin is an interesting and bloody addition to the werewolf genre. There’s plenty of ethos and pathos to appeal to the reader, along with a good dose of violence and gore…

As always, I’m still looking for more reviews to be submitted, especially since my own seem to be on the short side.

Penn Aug. 17th 2009

Murder Moon Writer Breaks Down Another Page

Strangeways: Murder Moon writer Matt Maxwell posts full pages from his werewolves & cowboys comic on CBR‘s Robot 6 blog, then provides a “director’s commentary” on the writing and Luis Guaragna‘s art. If you still haven’t read Murder Moon, seeing it one page at a time with insight from the creator is a great way to take it in. Matt posted page 16 yesterday– check it out.

Angela Quinton Aug. 4th 2009

“Astounding Wolf-Man #25 Cover” by Jason Howard

[click for full version]

Jason Howard does the killer artwork for The Astounding Wolf-Man, which you need to be reading if you’re not already doing so. I’m not going to talk about why this picture is awesome, or why dragoniaKMP submitted it as a suggested Weekly Werewolf image. I mean, just look at it. Jason Howard knows how to draw bad-ass werewolves, and if you need further proof, check out his DeviantArt gallery or pick up a copy of the lastest Astounding Wolf-Man.

Angela Quinton Aug. 1st 2009

12 Short Stories About Werewolves, Cowboys and Silver Bullets

SOScotland sent me a note on Twitter, kindly informing me that there are 12 short stories about werewolves available to read in their entirety (or listen to via podcast) on Jeffery Hite‘s web site. Jeffery does a weekly thing where authors are invited to write between 100 and 3,000 words on a designated topic, and the topic this time around is “Silver bullets, the real reason that some cowboys carried them.”

The titles and authors are:

Silver Bullets; the real reason that some cowboys carried them by Eric Moseman
Skinwalker by Travis Nelson
High Moon by Zach Ricks
Waltzing with Werewolves by Mick Bordet
Bad Medicine by Scott Roche
Letters by Danny Machal
Silver Solves The Dilemma by Mick Bordet
Suspicions and Silver Bullets by Eldon KR
Silver Bullets by Val Griswold-Ford
Other kind of Vampire by Patrick and Jeff Hite
Changing Times by Jeffrey Hite
To be a man, part II by Norval Joe

There’s some great reading material there, and you can vote for your favourite, so go check them out!

Angela Quinton Jul. 29th 2009

He’s Small, He’s Pink, He’s Groomed, But He’s 100% Wolf

Children’s author Jayne Lyons recently contacted me to tell me about her book, 100% Wolf.

Freddy Lupin is no ordinary boy. He is from a noble family of werewolves. But his first Transwolfation is a disaster when instead of turning into a noble and fearsome wolf, he turns into a totally tiny, utterly ridiculous and perfectly pathetic poodle. Terrifying Uncle Hotspur throws him out of the wolfpack in disgrace. At least he’s met Batty the mongrel, the most faithful friend a poodle could find. And he needs friends, as the evil wolf-hunter Dr. Foxwell Cripp has just shown up in town.

Can Freddy prove that though he’s a pink poodle, he’s still 100% wolf and save the werewolf pack from disaster?

Jayne has made the first chapter available for free as an MP3. I listened and enjoyed myself immensely, both as a fan of werewolves and children’s books (hey, they’re fun). Jayne has also gone to great lengths to provide kid-friendly werewolf information on her site, which is wonderful to see.

100% Wolf comes out in August, and is available for pre-order on Amazon. Thanks for sharing, Jayne!

Angela Quinton Jul. 22nd 2009

Ultra Super Lycanthropic Travesty II: Werewolf Book Covers of Stupid X: The Reckoning

The art of making a good werewolf book cover must be tough shit. For reasons that modern Roukasian science has yet to discover, most monster-fans shun lycanthropes in favor of books featuring thin pale guys who sip blood, sparkle, and languish in a dark existential tardzone. Of course, this may prompt me to smoothly remove my box-frame emo glasses as I lounge in my Panera booth-seat and say something like: “Well then what, dear reader, constitutes a monster to begin with? Perhaps his multifacetedness is all too eager to transgress our subjective demarcations of criticism and culture?”

While that’s a legitimate question, fuck it for now. There are tons, tons of werewolf book covers out there that suck royal truckloads of ass, and I have some ideas why. Perhaps it’s because the awesomeness of snarly animal-humans is just too hard for people to capture. Perhaps it’s because the human mind, when it gets its hands on the demonic cauldron of Photoshop, goes 100% more bat-shit crazy than it already is. Perhaps because, dear reader, a populace that exalts its own divorce from Thoreauvian nature will, by implication, fail to capture the energy of predation, especially if it fails to even remember that the Grande Columbian Dark-Roast Almond Latte always comes with soy, not SKIM milk.

Anyway, here are some more shitty werewolf book covers. A while ago, Werewolf News ran a feature of mine called “The Top Five Worst Werewolf Book Covers Ever,” and now I’m back to do it again.
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Mike Roukas Jul. 17th 2009

July is Werewolf Month at Monster Librarian

It’s been a good week for werewolf literature at Werewolf News! Monster Librarian just wrote in to let me know that July is Werewolf Month at MonsterLibrarian.com.

This is our second annual appreciation for all things lycanthropic and whether it is horror, urban fantasy, or paranormal romance. We will be bringing you a list of new werewolf titles coming out, reviews, and this year we will be featuring the werewolf artwork of Jerrod Brown.

Fantastic! Get your reading glasses on, werewolf fans.

Angela Quinton Jul. 2nd 2009

Five Great Werewolf Stories – Alternatives to “Twilight” and The Anita Blake Series

Most people, if they read, get off on books that incarnate into movies, video games, Fruit Roll-Ups, and toothpaste. Of course, the little demon of intellectual affirmative action sits on my shoulder and says “Don’t over-generalize; they’re not all as bad as you’re implying!” Sure, I want to let my South Park conservativism kick into gear by shoving his pitchfork up his ass. However, I really can’t help the camera from dramatically zooming up to my eyes as I whisper, “Such is true. Touche, my dear man.” After all, the bad-assity of Indiana Jones will never be tainted by all the cereal toys they’ve made of him. But in spite of this, I’m still pretty pissed off at humanity’s tendency to read cheap things and then cheapen them further. And to me, “At least they’re reading” has lost its power as an excuse.

Don’t worry; I have indeed chilled out and have gotten off my literary high horse. However, I’m not going any lower than the pony I’m on now. While I’ll always be an Indy fan, I’m also a fan of D.H. Lawrence and Jorge Luis Borges. And although those two gentlemen cannot steal Sankara Stones and liberate all the children of an entire third world country, they also have produced great writing that is booby-trapped against being incarnated into Saturday morning cartoons or granola bars. This is commendable, although I can’t help but ask, “Why can’t there be some kind of balance between Indiana Jones and John mother-fucking Milton? Between Teen Wolf and… you know… something that’s kind of not stupid?”

Well, you’re in luck if you’re reading this, because I’m going to introduce you to some werewolf / monster stories that have not only achieved this balance, but have done so while avoiding anything remotely Twilight-esque in nature. This means that the protagonists won’t sparkle inexplicably, faint or fall down when aroused, or generally act like Hot Topic employees.

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Mike Roukas Jul. 1st 2009