Haven’t read the first issue of the ongoing series?  Check out these reviews from fellow fans and bloggers. 

• AComicADay.blogspot
• ComicPants.com
• AdventurousInk.blogspot
• Comic News Insider podcast GRAVEL #0 is the first of the reviews, featured about 22 minutes into the podcast.

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Gravel #0 should hit comic stores next week.

Here’s Mike with more details:

William Gravel was originally the lead character in a one-shot mini-series, STRANGE KISS. To tell the horrific tale of a bizarre Elder God and its intended domination of the Earth, the story’s “villain” needed a worthy foil, thus, the Combat Magician, William Gravel was born. It was a tale of irony, hidden agendas and paranoia, a quick-and-dirty little shocker. But Gravel himself became a lightning rod of fan interest; he was far too intriguing to be disposed of after only three issues. Over the course of five years, Gravel continued to sporadically appear on store shelves, each time bringing with him new and disturbing adventures, but even so, we still know very little about the man. I suppose that is part of his allure, so we won’t be exposing everything about him in the GRAVEL ongoing series, just providing tantalizing new details and new mysteries on a more consistent shipping schedule.

It seemed like a natural evolution, launching an ongoing monthly GRAVEL series, based on the incredible response the character’s previous tales generated with both fans and critical reviewers. Maybe it was all about timing, a proper alignment of the stars, or available breathing room in all of our schedules… Or maybe it was Garth Ennis’ suggestion. Whatever the impetus, everything fell into place with surprising ease. William Gravel has been around for years, and has generated quite a following of die-hard fans, who have eagerly awaited the next disturbing chapter in the STRANGE KISS/KISSES/KILLINGS series. They have been loyal, and quite vocal and at last Warren Ellis, Raulo Caceres and I are able to deliver what the fans have asked for, for the first time in full color and with no punches pulled. This is the Gravel we all know, the same lovable bastard, only delivered in monthly installments.

I’m thrilled to once again be working with Warren Ellis, to assist with the refinement of Gravel’s tales. As co-writer, I take Warren’s 7 to 8-page, detailed plot breakdowns that include key passages of dialog and expand upon that, fleshing it out for artist Raulo Caceres. It’s an exhilarating experience, to receive these incredible story pitches and add my own artistic sense of visual pacing, to take what Warren has provided and polish it into a finished product with Raulo’s help. It’s a unique co-mingling of creative energies that results in stories that take the best of what each of us can provide; we build on each other’s strengths to produce a unique comic that, in my opinion, stands apart from everything else on the shelves.

I don’t think we could have chosen a better replacement for me than Raulo Caceres. His attention to detail is extraordinary and it is that sort of immersive environment that I tried to instill in my art when I was working on the previous series. I have to admit: I’m a bit protective of William Gravel when it comes to his visual representation, as until now I have been the only artist to draw him on covers or interiors. But Raulo’s got the goods and he draws an excellent Gravel, full of the same grimness that is his trademark and the heaviness of Raulo’s inking provides the perfect, dark mood that has pervaded Gravel’s adventures through all of the various mini-series.

In the past, we’ve concentrated on showing how William Gravel interacts with the world around him, utilizing his Combat Magic to bring about desired results that, at the end of the day, usually only benefits himself. In the GRAVEL ongoing monthly, we’re going to more closely examine that world of magic of which we’ve only seen glimpses in previous mini-series. We know what Gravel can do, but we don’t necessarily know why or how he does it. Although GRAVEL #0 is not the beginning of some drawn-out origin story, it is the starting point of a new perspective, a side of Gravel that has remained hidden since his first appearance in STRANGE KISS.

For more information about Strange Kiss and other collections featuring William Gravel, the new ongoing series, and the creative team behind GRAVEL follow the links below:

A talk with series artist Raulo Caceres.

GRAVEL Gallery.

GRAVEL Press Release.

Original Strange Killings epic (6 TPBs.)

Local comic retailers are now preparing their orders for GRAVEL #0 and Avatar’s January 2008 releases. When visiting your store this week please use our handy checklist to let your retailer know of what Avatar comics you are interested in purchasing.

“Black ops, blacker magic, cold-blooded slaughter and ruthless betrayal: the ongoing adventures of Warren Ellis’ biggest bastard to date,” says fellow creator Garth Ennis, who has been a fan of Gravel’s early saga in the Strange Kiss/Kisses/Killings series. “It’s like someone made a comic just for me.”

“Every time the weird bastard steps into the daylight, people come out to see what he’s up to for some reason,” says GRAVEL creator Warren Ellis. “It’s funny how a character created for a single story, STRANGE KISS, has hung around. I’m creating a whole new mythology and Occult Cosmology for GRAVEL, the series. And also having some fun with The Sigsand Manuscript, the preferred Ancient Occult Text of Thomas Carnacki, the supernatural detective created by William Hope Hodgson (who was a great influence on Lovecraft — go on, google them all).”

“William Gravel has generated quite a following of die-hard fans, who have eagerly awaited the next disturbing chapter in the STRANGE KISS/KISSES/KILLINGS series,” notes series co-writer Mike Wolfer, “They have been loyal and quite vocal, and at last Warren Ellis, Raulo Caceres and I are able to deliver what the fans have asked for, for the first time in full color and with no punches pulled.” Sgt. Major Gravel first appeared in Ellis’ mini-series Strange Kiss in late 1999, and the combat magician working deniable-op’s would later be the focus of six collected editions. Gravel’s missions, and the occasional cash-in-hand work, bring him to toe-to-toe with the most profane and brutal depths of the criminal world. Thank Britain this military trained sorcerer is ready to blast the hell out of the blokes. All 6 original TPB’s are in print, they are: Strange Kiss, Stranger Kisses, Strange Killings, Strange Killings: Body Orchard, Strange Killings: Strong Medicine, and Strange Killings: Necromancer. Wolfer promises readers, “This is the Gravel we all know, the same lovable bastard, only (now) delivered in monthly installments.”

Creator Warren Ellis launched the first Gravel saga, Strange Kiss, at Avatar almost a decade ago as his first project with the publisher. Since then, Avatar has published several other of his properties including Black Summer, Doktor Sleepless, and multiple titles under his Apparat imprint. Now back by popular demand, this landmark creator-owned character is making his return in a full-color, ongoing series.

Artist and collaborator from the original run Mike Wolfer will be assisting Ellis in co-writing this ongoing monthly, relinquishing the artistic responsibilities to a revolving art team. “Mike Wolfer is a great professional,” says artist Raulo Caceres. “He is one of those designers that know that to make comics is more than to just draw well… I value his perspective, the collaboration of the minds, and their (Ellis and Wolfer’s) talented visual language.”

Wolfer admits, “I’m a bit protective of William Gravel when it comes to his visual representation, as until now I have been the only artist to draw him on covers or interiors. But Raulo’s got the goods and he draws an excellent Gravel, full of the same grimness that is his trademark, and the heaviness of Raulo’s inking provides the perfect, dark mood that has pervaded Gravel’s adventures through all of the various mini-series.” Artist Raulo Caceres will draw #0 and the start of the full-size regular series. Caceres is best known for his work on Ellis’ immensely popular Apparat graphic novel, Crecy, and his wraparound covers for the ongoing series Doktor Sleepless.

GRAVEL launches its full-color ongoing run with #0 in January, specially priced at only $1.99. The full-size monthly begins in March and will be available for $3.99. Written by creator Warren Ellis and co-writer Mike Wolfer, GRAVEL revives a must-read indy character, and will be drawn by Crecy artist Raulo Caceres.

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 Warren Ellis Black Summer, 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, any interview requests or general press requests, please contact David Marks. For Gravel artwork, check out www.avatarpress.net/v/gravel/.

Spanish artist Raulo Caceres might not have had much exposure to the US market a year ago, but his work on such projects as CRECY and DOKTOR SLEEPLESS has turned the spotlight on this up and coming artist. And with his rising popularity comes his biggest project to date from Avatar Press, an ongoing series by creator Warren Ellis. GRAVEL features the lead character from Ellis’ original Strange Killings epic, in which Sgt Major William Gravel has appeared in 6 TPBs.

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HOW AVATAR PRESS SAVED MY LIFE, Part 5: Strange Killings On Friday The 13th

By Mike Wolfer
And so it began, in the summer of 1999, my long and memorable collaboration with Warren Ellis at Avatar Press. The incredibly high-concept character of Combat Magician William Gravel and his bizarre, and often times perverse adventures afforded me the opportunity to grow incredibly as a storyteller. No matter what Warren threw at me in the script, I was prepared to make him proud, transforming his written words into a gray-toned, two-dimensional reality.

STRANGE KISS begat STRANGER KISSES, then a string of STRANGE KILLINGS assaulted readers’ sensibilities, always pushing the boundaries of what is the acceptable behavior of a hero. But despite the horrific violence, the ritualistic mutilations, and the sexually-depraved zombies, Warren never let us forget that it’s all about Gravel. As Garth Ennis professes, “No matter what, you can always depend on Gravel to be a cunt.”

It came as a surprise and an incredible compliment when I learned that Warren and William Christensen would allow me to assist with the scripting of STRANGE KILLINGS. Warren’s confidence with my ability as a writer was something that had never even crossed my mind, nor would it have been something that I would ever have contemplated. After all, he made the characters speak; all I did was draw pretty pictures. But in reviewing my work, Warren felt that I could flex my creative muscles in a way that would not conflict with his own vision and somehow, the experiment flowed seamlessly. Again, William Christensen opened a door for me, helping me to widen the scope of my resume and strengthen my talent in ways that I had never thought possible.

Always on the lookout, William had a new offer for me as Warren and I wrapped up the finale of the six-issue STRANGE KILLINGS epic, NECROMANCER. Avatar had secured the licensing rights to several New Line Cinema properties and seeing as I was an “old school” horror film fan, the FRIDAY THE 13TH comic series seemed like a natural choice for me to illustrate. It didn’t hurt that Brian Pulido would be writing, since he and I go way back to the “Indy” days when I contributed to several of his Chaos! Comics LADY DEATH pin-up books.

Chronicling the undying rampage of Jason Voorhees was a blast for me, as I had always been a huge fan of the franchise, so when the opportunity arose for me to take over the writing of the series, I was already prepared to finally make sense out of 10 movies-worth of continuity and thematic errors. Oh, the plans that I had, the characters that would return from the films, the situations and locales that we would revisit. I had a grand scheme that would extend over at least two mini-series and even tie-in to the JASON X comic, which I would also be scripting.

My first crack at the property was the “they said it couldn’t be done” JASON VS. JASON X, which I also illustrated. That one turned out to be an incredible crowd-pleaser, with its unexpectedly poignant ending taking quite a few reviewers by surprise. But that’s always been my tactic as a horror writer: Give them what they want, and just when they become comfortable, give them something that hits them emotionally.

I couldn’t wait to get my hands dirty on the regular FRIDAY series, on which I could cut loose with everything I had. My first issue was the FRIDAY THE 13TH FEARBOOK, wherein I tidied-up the carnage created in Brian Pulido’s four-issue run… And then New Line pulled the plug, shifting the book over to Wildstorm to keep it “in house”. The less said here, the better. Let’s just say, I was supremely pissed.

But right around the corner, the zombies were lurking in the form of the screenplay for John Russo’s yet-to-be-produced ESCAPE OF THE LIVING DEAD. John had co-written the original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD with George Romero and had written this direct sequel that falls somewhere between NIGHT and DAWN OF THE DEAD. Once again, William had put a project into my hands that I could not believe and it was my pleasurable duty to transcribe the screenplay into a five-issue comic book series, juggling scenes, tweaking dialogue and reworking it into a format that held four cliffhanger endings. Not an easy job, to be sure, but a complete joy. It was only a matter of time before George Romero, noting the success we had with ESCAPE decided to officially license NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD to Avatar as well. To keep a consistent feel between the series, I was asked by William to be the writer of NIGHT as well, and had the supreme honor of serving as scripter of the official prequel to the first film, the three-issue NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD: THE BEGINNING. An ESCAPE spin-off, PLAGUE OF THE LIVING DEAD is now also in my hands. It’s true, I am surrounded by zombies and that’s a heavy burden that could easily burn out any writer if a little diversity isn’t thrown into the mix once in a while.

As if on cue, in rides Garth Ennis, the orange sun sinking below the horizon behind him. And in his hands, a script that reads, STREETS OF GLORY.
To be continued…

HOW AVATAR PRESS SAVED MY LIFE, Part 2: The Execution

By Mike Wolfer

It was in January, 1987 that I received the advance sales figures for my first self-published effort, DAIKAZU #1. After months of preparation, setting up Ground Zero Comics, lining-up distributors and generally working myself to death, I had hoped that I would sell enough books to at least cover my start-up and advertising expenses and hopefully pay for the printing of that first issue.

I was shocked that, when tallying the orders from my various distributors, my sales reached nearly 4,000.

I did the math, over and over. I was still shocked by the profit that I would be making. And I began to realize that perhaps my aspiration of one day working for Marvel Comics might not be as fulfilling as I had originally envisioned. At least, it couldn’t be as profitable as self-publishing. All I had to do now was get the thing printed, shipped and onto the store shelves. (more…)

HOW AVATAR PRESS SAVED MY LIFE, Part 1: The Start-Up
By Mike Wolfer

Okay, so that’s an exaggeration, to be sure, but my life as a comic book creator sure has changed radically since my beginnings as a self-publisher way back in 1987.

Aspiring artists and writers often ask how to break into the business, how do you publish your own comic book and what does it take to “make it”? I suppose there’s someone out there who walked up to a submissions editor at a convention and was hired on the spot; I’d like to meet that person, if only to ask them how THEY did it.

I was fresh out of the Joe Kubert School (a time which was chock-full of interesting and sordid stories, but those are tales for another blog) when I decided to enter the burgeoning independent comic book publishing business. It was the late 1980’s, Eastman and Laird were blazing, Brian Pulido was shocking mainstream readers and the floodgates were opened by Diamond, Capital City, Friendly Frank’s, Heroes World and a slew of other American and Canadian comic book distributors who all realized that there was money to be made from all of those little, “indy” publishers who were clawing their way into the market.

Mirage, Eclipse, Chaos and so many other publishers proved that it could be done, that success could be achieved without the might of a giant, corporate entity behind them, and more importantly, they exposed the little-known reality that there were tens of thousands of comic book readers out there who were not superhero comic book readers. Therein lay the strength of the independent comic book publisher: Diversity.

Knowing that my own creative proficiency was not up to par with the standards of the “majors”, self-publishing was the perfect outlet for me to begin building a fan-base and make some cash on the side, all the while honing my abilities in the hopes of achieving my childhood dream of one day working for one of the “Big Two”. It would be simple: Draw comic, publish comic, show comic to large company editor, sign contract to draw Marvel Team-Up. It could happen, right?

By the Fall of 1986, my first comic, DAIKAZU, was ready to roll and after a nerve-wracking, sit-down meeting with Diamond in Baltimore, I was accepted for distribution. With the world’s largest comic book distributor behind me, others soon followed suit in agreeing to carry my book. Acceptance itself did not mean that I had a run-away hit on my hands; the public hadn’t even seen the book yet, but a green light from distributors was enough to give me the confidence that I might be the next “big thing.” You’re right. I was young and idealistic.

I was ready… Or so I thought.

Forget for a moment the roughly 200 hours I spent actually writing and drawing that first book; the business aspect of self-publishing was a whole other animal that had to be tamed. The real work then began, as time, money and effort began to wing its way out the window and my “To Do” list began to grow exponentially. I needed to set up a Post Office box, design a Ground Zero Comics company logo and get stationary, envelopes and business cards printed. I found the most inexpensive, local printer that I could (who had never printed a comic book, but assured me that they could). I researched and gathered names, addresses and phone numbers of every comic convention organizer in the Tri-State area so that I could promote the book on the road. I scraped-up every cent I could to run ads in the distributor catalogs and the Comics Buyer’s Guide. I did direct mailings to the largest comics retail outlets around the country to alert them to the impending release of DAIKAZU #1. And on and on and on. Have I mentioned that I did all of this by myself, with no assistants or business partners? Right. That’s why it’s called “self-publishing.” Oh, yeah, by the way, I was also working a full-time job at a printing company. And gigging about 8 times a month in the band Crash Tokyo.

Drive and the ambition can go a long way, but I still don’t know how I did it all.

After a lot of sweating and months of anticipation, the distributor “numbers” came in, publisher’s slang for the total number of copies of DAIKAZU #1 advance ordered from comic book retailers around the globe. It was the moment of truth, when I would find out if my year or so of dreams and hard labor would bear fruit, and if anyone out there gave a damn about me, my work or a giant, Japanese monster.

If I thought that I had worked my ass off up to that point as an up-and-coming indy publisher, I hadn’t seen anything yet…

To be continued…