I just received word from Rich Johnston that I’m going to be one of the presenters at the Bleeding Cool FAN AWARDS at Phoenix Comicon!
They’ll be held on Friday, at 6pm, in room 132.
The awards are sponsored by BOOM! Studios, who will be handing out an exclusive Adventure Time comic book at the event.
Vote here: http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/05/06/phoenix-comicon-2013-bleeding-cool-fan-awards/
BLACKEST TERRA is a character created wholly by the BLACKEST TERROR fanbase. She’s a gender-swapped incarnation of the ultraviolent champion of social justice previously seen in BLACKEST TERROR #1, THOR: UNKILLABLE THUNDER CHRIST #1, and the strip BLACKEST TERROR VS. CHICK-FIL-A.
Blackest Terra was first drawn by Mariah Wall. This awesome image comes from Christopher Eric Petersen (Grindhouse)
Blackest Terror #1 is available here: http://www.comixology.com/Moonstones-Modern-Myths-Blackest-Terror/comics-series/6862
We are the Blackest Terror that exists in the hearts of evil-doers. We are Unkillable Thunder Christs who refuse to yield to a world which rewards weakness. We are Freelancers, masters of our own destiny who refuse to work for anyone’s dream but our own. And there are more of us than you might think.
Hannah Nance Partlow and I have started doin’ a comic strip in The Tucson Weekly. There’s a new one EVERY WEDNESDAY.
http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/smell-ya-later/Category?oid=3733336
1.) I was invited.
2.) Boom Studios sat me in between Paul Jenkins (Wolverine Origins, The Amazing Spider-Man, Batman: The Dark Knight) and Steven Grant (Punisher: Circle of Blood, Avengers, 2 Guns) for the duration of the convention. LIKE WE WERE THE SAME SPECIES, or something.
3.) I landed two paying gigs while at the show (my first with each company. Details soon), ensuring that I won’t be homeless for another year. Thank Rao.
4.) The entirety of the Boom Studios crew (writers, artists, editors, operations folks, marketing, and so on) crammed into a Tardis-like 2” by 2”, non-air-conditioned room at some creepy Korean karaoke bar and sang and danced in unision for three hours straight.
Best song: R-Kelly’s “Gotham City”.
5.) Devon and Bryce Carlson free-style rapped. It was gangster.
6.) The Calgary Expo talent liaison folks knew I was vegan, and brought me vegan pizza, vegan sushi, fresh fruit, and Canadian root beer all throughout the day. Every day. On purpose. For free.
7.) Fans were excited to see me, and brought stuff for me to sign—which isn’t super uncommon (and I’m incredibly grateful for that)—but these people live IN A DIFFERENT COUNTRY than I do, so that was pretty cool.
One dude begrudgingly brought me his teenage daughters’ copies of Freelancers, and asked me to personalize them.
8.) Paul Jenkins, Zack Sterling (Adventure Time) and I hung out in the airport, swapping story pitches that producers—thus far—have been too lame to give us millions of dollars for.
Paul looked me in the eye after I finished my first spiel and said “Hey…That’s really good”, thus affirming my entire existence on Earth.
9.) Calgary asked Paul Jenkins, Michael Alan Nelson (28 Days Later, Day Men, Supergirl) and I to speak on a “How To Break Into Comics” panel.
I’m typing that again. Just to make sure you read it.
Calgary asked Paul Jenkins, Michael Alan Nelson and I to speak on a “How To Break Into Comics” panel.
I have spent my ENTIRE LIFE trying to get into comics. I lay awake at night, terrified that someday somebody is going to pull the rug out from under me and I’ll have to go back to working a soul-obliterating retail gig…and a bunch of people who live on the other side of the continent asked me to give advice regarding how to break in.
I guess I can calm down just a little bit?
10.) I felt like I belonged.
That might not sound like much, but this weekend is probably the second time that has ever happened to me (the first being the last night of Emerald City, at dinner with Dean Trippe and Hannah Partlow).
I eat like a weirdo, I don’t love the way people say I ought to, I don’t speak the same language as 99% of the people who I share a last name with, my biological family and I aren’t on the greatest terms, I don’t drink or smoke…there are a lot of barriers between me and the average Joe.
Boom makes me feel like I’ve found the place where I was always meant to be. I’ll never be able to thank them enough for that.
We are Boom. And you are too.
I wrote the premiere chapter in SpazDog Press‘ Nothing Can Stop Me Now, an anthology inspired by the songs of Nine Inch Nails.
Dig that creepy cover by the even creepier Daniel Bradford (Disappointing Monsters).
IN CROWD #2 (OF 4)
Hey, Kids! Comics!
I illustrated a li’l Captain Marvel, Hannah Nance Partlow, Artist and Letterer inked & colored it, and Calamity Jon Morris published it on his slick “Cornered” blog. Dig it!
http://corneredblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/eric-m-esquivel-and-hannah-nance.html
I’m staying up all night writing a young adult book (prose) for a publishing company run by the guy who designed the Spider-Man Unlimited television show.
(He’s accomplished a lot of other stuff too, but that one makes me smile the widest)
It’s essentially “what if Ed Roth designed Ghost Rider—and then tried to sell it as a cartoon pitch to Circle of Confusion?”.
I haven’t been behind the steering wheel of an automobile in something close to 3 years (long story, better told elsewhere), but I know what it’s like to be young and in love with momentum. I know what it’s like to court death, and move faster than the speed of regret. I know how it feels to not be sure about anything in life except the direction you’re going: FORWARD. At all costs
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Hey, lovely people of the internet!
My name is Eric M. Esquivel, and I’m an author.
My work has inspired a record by UK Hip Hop artist Akira The Don:
…And a music video by “The World’s Greatest Horror Rock Band”, Calabrese:
You can read more about me here (including a complete-ish bibliography), on my Wikipedia Page.
I have a Facebook Page, a Twitter, a tumblr.
I quit my day job about a month ago, and I have been freaking out about it ever since.
Having to make make up stories about magic pumpkin cowboys in order to pay for groceries is the weirdest feeling in the entire world. I’m not complaining–it’s a fantastic lifestyle…I’m just constantly terrified that the other shoe is gonna drop–like, maybe I’ll run out of stories, or people will stop wanting to hear them.
…Which is why I need your help.
I promise that I’ll hold up my end of the bargain (whippin’ up modern day myths that entertain, inspire, and enlighten), as long as you keep pickin’ ‘em up.
Deal?
Here’s what’s comin’ down the pipeline in the coming weeks:
THE LEGEND OF OZ: THE WICKED WEST (ONGOING) #6
RELEASE DATE: 4/10/2013
PRICE: $3.50
Technically, it’s an adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s The Marvelous Land of OZ–but with steampunky pumpkin cowboys.
It’s exactly as cool as it sounds. You should probably order one.
FREELANCERS #5
RELEASE DATE: 4/24/2013
PRICE: $3.99
It’s basically Spring Breakers, but with ninjas.
THE LEGEND OF OZ: THE WICKED WEST (ONGOING) #7
RELEASE DATE: 4/24/2013
PRICE: $3.50
The super secret origins of Jack Pumpkinhead, Tip, and some surprise characters who you’re gonna freak out about after you read it.
AMERICAN HISTORY Z
RELEASE DATE: 5/1/2013
PRICE: $16.95
American History Z is the third installment in the New York Times Best-Selling Fubar series. Ander Sarabia (Blackest Terror, Thor: Unkillable Thunder Christ) and I teamed up to tell a Thanksgiving story…with zombies.
Yeah, dude.
THE LEGEND OF OZ: THE WICKED WEST (ONGOING) #8
RELEASE DATE: 5/29/2013
PRICE: $3.50
The epic conclusion to my three part saga! Folks die! Others come back from the dead! Stuff gets real!
ZOMBIES VS. CHEERLEADERS VOLUME 2
RELEASE DATE: 5/29/2013
PRICE: $19.95
It’s an anthology series (like a saucy Tales From The Crypt) Featuring three stories by me, one of which was drawn by David Cutler (Robyn Hood vs. Red Riding Hood)–with whom I’ve got a creator-owned thing in the works…
FREELANCERS #6
RELEASE DATE: 5/29/2013
PRICE: $3.99
The final issue, AND THE BEST VARIANT COVER OF ALL TIME.
IN CROWD #1
RELEASE DATE: 6/19/2013
PRICE: $3.50
A teenage super-team book, featuring Barnacle and Poseidon– an Aqualad and Aquaman analog created specifically for this series.
You know how I constantly complain about terrible the New 52 Aquaman is? This is me putting my money where my mouth is about that.
FREELANCERS VOLUME ONE
RELEASE DATE: 6/26/2013
PRICE: $19.99
This tpb collects the entire series.
BOO!
RELEASE DATE: October 2013
PRICE: Who knows?
I don’t know how much I’m allowed to say about this…Um…it’s an all-ages horror anthology, edited by Jon Morris & published by the biggest Digital-only publisher in the game, with a possible printed edition by IDW.
VIC BOONE: BOURBON AND BUCKSHOT
RELEASE DATE: Late 2013
PRICE: Money
Alex Diotto and I have a piece in the next Vic Boone anthology!
It’s my love letter to Andy Warhol and Arthur Fonzarelli.
Here’s where you can find me next:
APRIL 20th 3pm-3:45pm – RECORD STORE DAY
Record Store Day is kind of like FCBD for vinyl nerds–It’s a community-generated holiday designed to draw attention to brick-and-mortar record stores, before they’re rendered extinct by myopic, torrenting turds.
I’ll be at Zia Record Exchange (@ the Speedway Road location, in Tucson) location from 3pm-3:45pm, autographing copies of UNITE AND TAKE OVER: STORIES INSPIRED BY THE SONGS OF THE SMITHS VOL II.
It’s going to rule. You should come.
Click here to read more about Record Store Day: http://www.recordstoreday.com/CustomPage/614
April 26th-28th – Calgary Comics And Entertainment Expo
Boom! Studios is flyin’ me out to friggin’ Canada.
MAY 4TH – Arizona Comics Mini Expo @ Samurai comics in Mesa, Arizona
Other guests include: Eric Larsen, Eric Canate, Brian Augustyn, Scott Godlewski, Ernie Najera, Armand Villavert, Ben Glendenning, Val Hochberg, Cory Walker, Tony Parker, John Derrick West, and more!
May 23rd-26th - Phoenix Comicon!
I’m goin’ to bounce back-and-forth between my guest table (which will be run mostly by Hannah Nance Partlow, and feature my Moonstone, BDI, Spookshow Records, Spazdog Press, and Modern Mythology Press stuff), and the Boom! Studios booth.
Other guests include: J. Michael Straczynski, Mike Mignola, and Neal Adams!
June 19th – The In Crowd #1 Signing @ Charlie’s Comics in Tucson, Arizona
Be there, or be square!
July 18-21st San Diego Comic Con International
Courtesy of Boom! Studios!
So, yeah…that’s my life right now. This is all new ground, and I’m just starting to get the hang of it. For the most part, I look like one of those videos of the baby giraffes, covered in afterbirth, taking its first awkard steps:
Emphasis on the afterbirth.
