Avatar Press comics snagged two of the top spots in the Best of 2007 article by ComiXtreme’s Editor-in-Chief Andrea Speed. Garth Ennis’ Chronicles of Wormwood was in a tie for the year’s best Horror Comedy series, and Warren Ellis’ Black Summer #0 was noted as the best Story Set Up for a single issue (and yes, Warren did take this category with a half-sized issue.) Continue Reading »

These two books hit stores this week, discuss Gravel #0 and Doktor Sleepless #4 in the Warren Ellis community, Whitechapel.

Newsarama has a pair of new interviews this week covering Jamie Delano’s NARCOPOLIS — first with Delano himself, who also tips his upcoming Avatar series RAWBONE, and then with series artist Jeremy Rock. You can also get more art and info on NARCOPOLIS right here.

A woman who can cloud men’s minds, unerringly fire twin automatic pistols in the most insane conditions, and disappear in a crowded room, according to rumor in the recent Lying in the Gutters column from Rich Johnston at CBR. Oh… and she’s the lead in an upcoming title from Warren Ellis. What else is known about her? Find out what Rich has seen and heard, including some cover art by FreakAngels artist Paul Duffield.

As for further details on this mysterious little story, keep your eyes open in the usual places, you never know where something might come up if you stay in contact.

Welcome to the new avatarpress.com, our first original design since moving to wordpress back in January — and the first non-darkdesign for the site since 2000! Thanks to our chief mechanic Ariana Osborne for bringing the site back into the light with csstigiditation and other science.

You might have noticed Avatar has become involved in quite a few online endeavors lately — there are some incredible things going on at the Doktor Sleepless datashadow, FreakAngels will launch soon, and Whitechapel has already become an active community. Not to mention all the ways you can keep up with the latest Avatar doings at twitter, myspace, comicspace, and flickr. 2008 promises to be an even more active year for Avatar’s involvement on the web (and elsewhere!), with a couple as-yet unannounced projects set to launch over the next few weeks, and more to follow.

As for avatarpress.com, it’s going to start getting easier to find a lot more info on Avatar Press titles here, beginning with the Narcopolis and Gravel sections.

Of course, if you have other information or interview requests for your blog or press site, you can also contact marketing director David Marks, or talk to boss William Christensen for most other questions you may have about current or upcoming projects. You can also find William and myself regularly at Warren’s Whitechapel community.

We’ve got a new Narcopolis section up, which includes a gallery of Jeremy Rock’s artwork (colored by Greg Waller) and an excerpt of Jamie Delano’s script from issue #1.

• Jamie Delano’s NARCOPOLIS section
• NARCOPOLIS Gallery
• NARCOPOLIS #1 script excerpt

NARCOPOLIS, a brand new series by Hellblazer scribe Jamie Delano, will begin in February 2008 from Avatar Press. Within the isolating cliffs of Narcopolis, citizen Gray Neighbor lives a routine of building missiles for the fight against the ever present threat of foreign evil. But a few chance events uncover a deep and unnerving rabbit hole, and Narcopolis’ operation begins to reveal its true nature. Any fan of George Orwell or Grant Morrison’s The Filth can’t miss this 4-issue series by one of the most innovative writers in comics. This visionary new mini-series by creator Jamie Delano features the art of Jeremy Rock and color by Greg Waller, and NARCOPOLIS will ship monthly beginning with issue #1 in February 2008.

Welcome to the city of Narcopolis. Entrusting their welfare to the state, citizens here are repaid for aiding the war effort against the ever looming BadEvil with leisure time, sexual pleasures, and the intoxicating “juice” that is issued by the city. Most citizens are content with these rewards, but not Gray Neighbor.

“Most of the population appears content to exist, incurious and unquestioning of the status quo,” notes Narcopolis creator Jamie Delano, “But the odd one or two are disturbed by the rhythm of a different drum… unsettled by the vaguely conscious suspicion that the state — represented by a sickly ‘maternal’ philosophy/brand known as Mama Dream — may not be as benevolent as commonly perceived.”

Consequently city TRUST agents are watching Neighbor closely, and Agent Azure Love is commissioned to quell the threat of his curiosity. What lies beyond Narcopolis’ borders? Is the unquestioned constitution of the state more frightening than its enemies from without? Gray Neighbor is compelled to find out what lies at the heart of Mama Dream, and in the process Agent Love is going to discover answers to questions which the sheep never dared to contemplate.

Delano broke into the comic book industry in the early 1980’s at Marvel UK, but it was his inventive work in launching DC series Hellblazer later that decade that brought him to the attention of a worldwide audience. He subsequently wrote several series for DC/Vertigo, including 2020 Visions, Outlaw Nation, and The Horrorist. “I felt that it might be a good time for me to diversify,” says Delano of his upcoming Avatar work. “Move a little away from the mainstream, both in terms of outlets for my work and its nature. William Christensen at Avatar supported this aim by giving me a free rein to have fun.” NARCOPOLIS will be Delano’s first creator-owned work published by Avatar Press.

“Jeremy Rock is the excellent artist on the work,” notes Delano. “All I can say is that Jeremy Rock has done a fantastic job in visually realising my crazed imaginings.” Rock has worked on covers for Avatar’s Lady Death and Living Dead series as well as other previous titles with the publisher.

NARCOPOLIS #1 will arrive at local comic retailers in February, 2008, and the 4-issue series will arrive monthly in standard-size comic book format. The brainchild of legendary DC/Vertigo trailblazer Jamie Delano, NARCOPOLIS features the artwork of Jeremy Rock and color by Greg Waller. This must read miniseries will be priced at $3.99 an issue.

Avatar Press is a comic book publisher that continues to push the boundaries between mainstream and independent with current and upcoming work from creators such as Alan Moore, Frank Miller, Warren Ellis, Garth Ennis, Brian Pulido, George A. Romero, George R.R. Martin, Joe R. Lansdale, John Russo, Mike Wolfer, Juan Jose Ryp, Jacen Burrows, and numerous others. The company has published a wide range of comic books including creator-owned titles like Garth Ennis’ 303 and Brian Pulido’s Lady Death, company-owned comics such as Pandora and The Ravening, licensed hits like Frank Miller’s Robocop and George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, and numerous other titles. A publisher that has established itself as one of the cornerstones of the American indy comic book scene over the past decade, Avatar has published some 500 comic books since 1997.

For additional information, graphics, or general press requests, please contact David Marks or visit www.avatarpress.com .

If you haven’t checked out the data shadow for the Warren Ellis regular series Doktor Sleepless yet, now’s a good time to take a look. Doktorsleepless.com has been completely redesigned, and it still contains all of the reader contributions documenting the facts, science, and mysteries of the series. Check the site out for a glimpse behind the scenes of a comic book unlike any other on the stands today. Special thanks to Ariana Osborne for site design.

Black Summer’s John Horus is featured on the cover of the current issue of U.S. political magazine The American Prospect. On stands now, I believe. Speaking of, you can catch up on one of the most talked-about comic series of the year and get the entire Black Summer saga to date at your local comic shop. Story by Warren Ellis, art by Juan Jose Ryp, color by Mark Sweeney.

The Avatar Press comics and other items listed below are available in comic shops worldwide beginning this week, according to our distributor. Most retailers in the U.S. display new shipments for the week beginning on Wednesday. Ask your local stores about these items. If you can’t find them locally, the links below will take you to those items in the store, which includes graphics and descriptions of those items.

• BLACK SUMMER HORUS T/S LG
• BLACK SUMMER HORUS T/S XL
• BLACK SUMMER HORUS T/S XXL
• DOKTOR SLEEPLESS GRINDERS T/S LG
• DOKTOR SLEEPLESS GRINDERS T/S XL
• DOKTOR SLEEPLESS GRINDERS T/S XXL
• LADY DEATH ABANDON ALL HOPE #1/2 LITHO
• LADY DEATH MASTERWORKS CANVAS ART PRINT #1

Local comic retailers are now compiling their orders for Avatar’s January 2008 releases. When you go into your shop this week, please let your retailer know about the Avatar Press items you want for January.

We also have a handy checklist you can print out and take into your local shop.