Blog
Tuesday December 27th 2011, 8:26 pm
Finally, after nearly a decade of fans demanding this, we see in shops this Thursday, the complete Chase trade paperback collecting the entire series, plus some extras! The book is mostly illustrated by me, and all of the stories are co-written by D. Curtis Johnson and myself. Some of the short stories have other artists and those were done for various DC Secret Files projects, but I did art on a couple of those as well. We were fortunate to work with some talented folks on those short stories, artists that suited the types of stories being told. Over all its a nice book as far as trades go, it serves as a good archive of the material under one cover for the bookshelf. And its material I’ve been wanting to see collected together for quite some time. I’m proud of the work that we were doing then, looking at it again today, it still feels fresh enough, forward thinking enough, that I think others will find some pleasure in the stories being told. And it gives some looser insights to Cameron Chase and some of her motivations, the origins of her flawed humanistic character on display in the pages of Batwoman. Where she comes from, especially in her mode of thinking on people who put on masks and capes, is explored in this book. Also, you’ll see just how much Agent Cameron Chase has evolved since these stories, in my mind. That she has been heading down a darker road, her evolution as a character is profound. Her past and her flaws have lead her into a deep and paranoid world, where trust isn’t easy for her, you’ll see the roots of this here and also a story that shows a possible far future for the Department of Extra-normal Operations. And all of this has impact that will lead to some profound actions by Agent Chase in the pages of Batwoman, as partly evidenced in the recent issue #4.
Friday December 23rd 2011, 7:23 pm
Friday December 16th 2011, 1:49 am
We’ve had blog problem the last day or so, the comments feature wasn’t working, but it should be working fine now…
Wednesday December 14th 2011, 2:22 am
The final volume of Absolute Promethea (vol. 3) will also be out this week. This Absolute project turned into a three year publishing plan, and I think plenty of Promethea fans will be happy with this final edition. We tried our best to get everything Promethea into these 3 Absolute editions. And for volume 3 we’ve got some cool extras and features, such as the Little Margie stories by Eric Shanower (whose written the introduction this time as well), other Promethea appearances from other America’s Best Comics titles, some art galleries (some of it production materials), an article written by me on some of the process images displayed. And finally, the infamous issue 32 poster version, done as a double sided folded insert that can be removed at your discretion, reproduced at much larger size than the previous trade editions. And in benefit of including the poster, we’ve reprinted the article on the process of creating it written by Todd Klein. Below is the gold color slipcase art for this edition…
Tuesday December 13th 2011, 12:20 pm
Issue 4 is out this week. I find it a bit surreal that we’re already on the fourth chapter of the journey…
Friday December 09th 2011, 9:47 pm
Got a link to some photos from last weekend’s event at the Isotope. Check it out.
Monday December 05th 2011, 12:46 pm
Here is new interview we just did over the weekend at the Isotope event: CBR
Sunday December 04th 2011, 7:01 pm
The next set of pages for Batwoman will be made available for sale Saturday at noon Pacific, December 10th.
On the sale day, you’ll notice that some pages will have slight differences on the original art versus what was printed, due to editorial changes that needed to be done after Flashpoint and the launch of the New 52.
And for your enticement…
Sunday December 04th 2011, 6:45 pm
And a deep thank you to everyone at the Isoptope. It was an amazing event. And thanks to the fans who came to hang out with us, it was great talking and having a party with everyone.
And James, I’m still the bigger Blondie fan! 😉 xoxo
Friday November 18th 2011, 3:16 pm
DC Comics – The New 52 Art Tour
Featuring BATWOMAN @ Isotope
w/ JH Williams III & W. Haden Blackman
Saturday, December 3rd 2011
DC Comics celebrates the incredible creativity behind The New 52 with superstars, artwork and events at a store near you with The New 52 Art Tour!
In honor of this historical event the Isotope in San Francisco and DC Comics proudly present JH Williams III and W. Haden Blackman for a BATWOMAN signing, celebration, and original art installation. Meet the creators behind this gorgeous and critically acclaimed new series for a duo of once-in-a-lifetime events. Take an uncommon look at The New 52 Art Tour Portfolio, including six 11×17 sets of artwork (from script to inks to the final full-color production pages), including a three piece BATWOMAN collection. And on display for the entire month of December in the Isotope’s legendary original art gallery will be twenty pages of JH Williams III’s hand-drawn artwork for BATWOMAN issue #3. These pages will only be displayed together for the public this one time, and nowhere else on the planet.
All-Ages Autographing Session
3pm – 6pm
A signing session with the creative team behind BATWOMAN! Isotope’s personal, intimate signings provide a unique fan experience by eliminating the uncomfortableness of long lines and the awkward moments of meeting your favorite creators. While you wait for your signing reservation, hang out with fellow fans in the Isotope’s posh lounge and indulge your eyes in gorgeous BATWOMAN original artwork hanging in the gallery. For those who want to peek even further behind the wizard’s curtain at the process that goes into actually creating this comic, guests will also get a rare glimpse at Williams and Blackman’s original scriptwork.
In an effort to make this as personal of an experience for everybody (and also we’ve promised Jim and Haden we wouldn’t kill them!) we do ask that you bring no more than 5 items to get signed, please. But don’t forget your camera – the Isotope staff will be on hand to help ensure you get great documentation of your meeting!
Batwoman Afterparty
8pm – Midnight
An after-hours 21+ celebration of BATWOMAN with JH Williams III and W. Haden Blackman. Featuring an exclusive, original JH Williams III pin-up pirate girl highball glass made just for attendees of this event.
Isotope Tickets
The glass
Below is the art designed for the glass, the grey areas are there just to represent where the image is see through on the glass…
Friday November 11th 2011, 8:18 pm
The date for Batwoman #1 art will be Saturday, November 19th, noon Pacific time. And for your enticement…
Wednesday November 09th 2011, 12:51 pm
Can’t believe we’re already on issue 3. I always find it a strange feeling to work on a project that takes awhile to accomplish, but then its release to the public is rapid by comparison to the time it takes to write and draw this stuff. It creates this weird time distortion in my brain. Below is the final print version of this issue’s cover. As you can see, the trade dress is quite different than when I originally posted this cover months ago. After seeing what DC wanted to do for the company logos, my original Batwoman logo colors and placement didn’t work anymore. So I made adjustments, and I think I like this one better…
Music the last couple days…
Monster Magnet- Mastermind
Lordi- Babez For Breakfast
True Blood- Volume 3 deluxe itunes version
Drive-By Truckers- Go Go Boots
Bauhaus- Mask remastered 3 disc omnibus edition
And Friday we’ll be posting the sale date for art to issue 1!
Saturday October 29th 2011, 4:38 pm
Because in the latest Rolling Stone, Batwoman has made the Hot List!
Thursday October 27th 2011, 6:25 pm
While toiling away here, working on Batwoman stuff. This is the eclectic mix of music we’ve been playing in the house lately…
Motorhead- The World Is Yours
Ladytron- Gravity The Seducer
Social Distortion- Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes
Grinderman- 2
Hussey-Regan- Curios
Hank III- Ghost to Ghost / Guttertown
The Kills- Blood Pressures
Orange Goblin- The Big Black
Wednesday 13- Skeletons
Amon Amarth- With Odin On Our Side
Black Box Recorder- The Facts Of Life / England Made Me / Passionoia
Wendy James- Racine 2
Leaves’ Eyes- Lovelorn / Vinland Saga
K.D. Lang and the Siss Boom Bang- Sing It Loud
The March Violets- Love Will Kill You
Miss Li- Dancing The Whole Way Home / Late Night Heartbroken Blues
Patti Smith- Horses
AC/DC- Black Ice
ELO- My own mix
Beck- One Foot In The Grave
And music I’m excited to be arriving at my doorstep shortly…
The Smiths- Remastered Boxset (I’ve been eagerly awaiting the day this stuff would get a sound upgrade. The Smiths are one of the most influential bands, and deserved a sonic improvement long ago)
The Black Belles- full length album is finally on the way (ever since hearing their ep I’ve waited anxiously for a full album, and thanks to Jack White & Third Man Records I’m gonna get one)
Saturday October 15th 2011, 10:57 am
The first bit of art for Batwoman will be made available October 22nd at noon PST.
We’re starting things off with pages from Batwoman: Zero. A couple images from that are below. But I feel I should clarify a few things. This issue was an interesting art experiment, in where I shared art space on almost every page with Amy Reeder (our artist for the second arc). This was done to produce simultaneous threads of story, partial Kate Kane, and partial Batwoman. Amy did the Kate Kane scenes, and I did the Batwoman scenes. This approach was brought on to garner different results on how to tell the story, even across double page spreads. And I was the lead on it so my pages presented in the sale are at full size but with blank areas that would fit Amy’s art in digitally. So when looking at the art pages here you’ll see that they do not feature Amy’s portions but show where those would be placed by the open space allocated, as it was done separately from mine. There are some single pages that are all me, as she has a single page thats all her as well. But in most of these we share top or bottom space as exampled below. So hopefully this answers any questions on what to expect when you see these original pages from Batwoman:Zero. If you’re interested in Amy’s art from the issue, you can contact her at her website.
And now for your enticement…
Wednesday October 12th 2011, 1:28 am
Batwoman #2 released this week. Below is the final trade dress version…
Saturday September 24th 2011, 9:54 pm
Above is the slightly tweaked second print cover to Batwoman #1, due out in a couple weeks I believe. The tweaking was done by Mark Chirarello, altering the logo color, adding red behind Batwoman’s head, changing the steam wisps from green to white-grey.
I will be making a few store appearances for October, 2 of which are next Saturday on the 1st in Las Vegas. At Comic Oasis earlier in the day, and then Alternate Reality Comics in the afternoon, times and locations are listed in the schedule section for this site. Also Alternate Reality is hosting a small gallery of the art to Batwoman # 1 from now till the end of October. If you’re in the Vegas area or feel like getting away from home, come by either store, or both, and say “hi”, hang out and chat with us. In addition to the gallery showing of Batwoman #1 art, I will be bringing plenty of portfolios to sift through at each store, including preview pages of upcoming Batwoman issues.
The next appearance will be on October 8th at Comics Plus in Los Banos, please check for time and location in the schedule. I will have art with me there too, come and hang out for awhile. (No link to a website that I could find)
I won’t be making any other appearances until December, which will be at the Isotope in San Fransisco, this one will have some special stuff going on, details soon.
MUSIC lately, more old school and newer stuff…
Duran Duran – just some b-sides and mixes
The Makers
Enigma
Leaves’ Eyes
The Eden House
Black Box Recorder
Jimmy Destri
Mount Sims
Sons & Daughters
Closed On Account Of Rabies: Poems and Tales of Edgar Allan Poe (a fun and strange mix of music and Poe readings)
Danielle Dax
Wednesday September 14th 2011, 7:34 pm
Well, as everyone can see the new DC initiative is paying off in spades. Everything is selling out it seems and having to go back to press. Yay us!! I’m happy that the response has been so good, and this is with orders that were much higher than everyone anticipated. So its a good time for DC, and it also seems that fans are enjoying most of what they’re trying out too.
I’m hearing that Batwoman has become hard to find in some places depending on where you’re located, but more copies should be ready soon.
I want to say thank you to all of the fans that have supported our efforts all of this time. Your enthusiasm has been humbling. Thank you to Greg Rucka for creating the foundation of Kate Kane with me on Elegy, and then graciously letting us take over the wheel. Thank you to Mike Siglain for getting this whole thing going before leaving DC. I’d also like to thank everyone involved on our team for this first issue of Batwoman’s continuing story, Dave Stewart, Todd Klein, Mike Marts, Janelle Asselin, all of the editorial support team at DC, and most of all my partner in crime, Haden Blackman. Haden and I’ve been friends and creating together for many years before tackling this version of Batwoman. His partnership with me on this has been priceless, and we feel the best is yet to come, or so we hope.
And foremost, I want to thank my wife, Wendy, everything she does makes this possible.
While waiting for new second prints, or for issue 2, please continue to share comments here and also drop Haden a line at the link below. I know he’d love it.
Haden’s site.
Tuesday September 13th 2011, 6:15 pm
Tomorrow and Now…
Well, its finally here. Check it out at your favorite place to buy comics. And I hope you enjoy our efforts, they’re just revving up!
Monday September 12th 2011, 7:57 pm
2 days to go…
Saturday September 10th 2011, 11:12 am
5 days to go…
If you haven’t done so already, read Batwoman: Elegy and Batwoman: Zero issue, the story continues…
In the CD player of late, a good mix of sounds, old school and new…
Duran Duran
Radiohead
Phoenix & The Oracle
Alabama 3
My own mix, rare tracks from individual members of Bauhaus (David J, Peter Murphy, Daniel Ash, Kevin Haskins)
Prince
Milla Jovovich
Devlin Love (of Alabama 3 fame)
HIM
The Makers
Ramones
Blue Oyster Cult
The Damned
Boris
Portishead
The Kills
Tricky
Killing Joke
Tuesday September 06th 2011, 7:52 pm
9 more days to go. Here are pages 2 and 3 without the frills…
And here is another new interview for Frontiers.
Drew part of a venus flytrap yesterday.
Friday September 02nd 2011, 12:24 pm
13 days to go till the launch of Batwoman. It has been a long road, but hopefully worth it to you who are going to pick this up. I know I’m happy with what Haden Blackman and I are building. So as we come closer to the release date, I’m going to feature some art every couple days here. A page or two at a time. The art in raw form, black and white, no lettering, no color. I decided to show some of it in this way because preview pages of the finished work are already online through other venues. So here is page 1…
Monday August 15th 2011, 7:00 pm
At last we get to have a trade collection on the full Chase material that I had any involvement in, available for pre-order now. Its going to be pretty comprehensive, featuring the full prematurely cancelled series and some short stories. This is just in time for people to get caught up in the origins of Cameron Chase and the D.E.O., as these ideas will have relevance to other work. This was early work by me (along with other cohorts), and I’m still proud of it today. This was also my first foray into writing my own series, along with co-writer D. Curtis Johnson, who sorely needs to return. His talents were tremendous and comics could use his mind again.
Chase was one of those series that came out at time when almost everything new from DC was getting the axe within a year due to slow sales. Ironically, as we were getting chopped, a groundswell buzz was happening around what we were doing, but unfortunately not in time to save the series. In all the years since then, Chase The Series had garnered a cult status, becoming almost more popular after it’s death than when it was alive. I still hear from fans today about it, wondering if we’ll ever get to bring the series back. Even though this work never saw its full completion, that doesn’t detract from it’s worthiness to be on people’s bookshelves. It’s still a good read (or at least I hope so).
The stories were inventive and entertaining, and brought some new ideas to DC, that others enjoyed enough to keep Chase and the D.E.O. alive through other means. These ideas managed to have strong impacts on other titles as Cameron Chase (or the organization she works for) was featured in many series to follow, some of it short appearances, while in others as major supporting roles. But here in this new collection you’ll find the original stories that lead to some interesting ideas, viewpoints on what it may be like to live in a world of fantastic super-powered heroes and villains, on where the normal human being may fit into the grandiose drama of the DC Universe. Sure this isn’t anything new, as many series have touched on this over the years. But I can say we were one of earliest titles to do so. These stories allow the reader to see the DCU from a different point of view, one that I feel can still be valid today. And ideas that I would love another chance to explore more fully. If you are going to be reading Batwoman, this will be essential reading, as it gives some insights to how I view things, and where Haden Blackman and myself may be headed. The full solicit is below…
CHASE TP
Written by D. CURTIS JOHNSON and J.H. WILLIAMS III
Art by J.H. WILLIAMS III, MICK GRAY, CHARLIE ADLARD, YANICK PAQUETTE, BOB HALL, ERIC CANETE, EDUARDO BARRETO, RICK BURCHETT, GREG SCOTT and others
Cover by J.H. WILLIAMS III
On sale DECEMBER 21 • 352 pg, FC, $29.99 US
Collecting a cult favorite series from the 1990s spotlighting the amazing artwork of J.H. Williams III, CHASE stars Agent Cameron Chase. On field assignment for the Department of Extranormal Operations, a government agency with jurisdiction over superhuman activity, she’s about to encounter some unexpected surprises, as her own mysterious powers come into play – powers she doesn’t fully understand.
This spectacular collection includes appearances by Batman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Martian Manhunter, Teen Titans, the Justice Society of America and more, in stories from CHASE #1-9 and #1,000,000, BATMAN #550, DC UNIVERSE SECRET FILES #1, SECRET FILES GUIDE TO THE DC UNIVERSE 2000 #31, SUPERMAN: OUR WORLDS AT WAR SECRET FILES #1, JSA SECRET FILES #2, THE FLASH SECRET FILES #3, THE JOKER: LAST LAUGH SECRET FILES #1, BATGIRL SECRET FILES #1 and HAWKMAN SECRET FILES #1.
Monday August 08th 2011, 9:32 pm
One for Multiversity Comics, and they feature a couple articles on me, as well some great ones with other people too, but you can check out the interview here.
Another was done for a french website called ComicsBlog, and here it is in english.