Press Releases
10-11-05:
STORMBOY & JAY at POP IMAGE!
STORMBOY appears in YOUNG BOTTOMS IN LOVE Online Anthology!!!
Camden, NJ, October 11, 2005
The latest from STORMBOY's publisher, Zodiac Comics, makes it appearance as part of Pop Image's YBIL daily online anthology series. Creator Henry Kujawa talks about his latest project...
"As work slowly continues on STORMBOY #2, I've had a number of people asking me, "When is it coming out? When is it gonna be finished?" Following the appearance of my Cave Boy character at the Pop Image site, I realized that with only a few minor alterations, I could take a 5-page sequence from my upcoming book and turn it into a self-contained episode that would double as a "preview". This became "I Don't Want To Own You...", a title I borrowed from the words of one of my favorite singer-songwriters.
As for the book itself, I'm currently up to page 109-- and counting. Yep-- it's gonna be a WHOPPER! Until then, this short excerpt may help fans get thru until it's finished.
5-1-05:
The FUTURE Is COMING-- AGAIN!!!
"GALACTON 2230" reprinted-- Online!!!
Camden, NJ, April 24, 2005
After more than 20 years, STORMBOY's publisher has decided to reissue the rare "2230" #1 FREE at the Zodiac Comics website. Creator Henry Kujawa talks about his latest side-project...
"Back in 1978, I was enthralled by Glen Larson's newest TV project, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA. An interesting premise with expensive production values, likeable characters & terrific actors, it was often let down by hurried writing and continual network interference. This was the era of "Family Viewing Hour", and the anti-violence fanatics had made 99% of what was seen on TV in the late 70's dull as doorknobs. The show somehow managed to rise above that, though... but not before losing enough of an audience to stay on the air. "Inspired" by the success of STAR WARS, BG actually borrowed the format of Japan's SPACE CRUISER YAMOTO (STAR BLAZERS over here) as well as being a sci-fi allegory of-- of all things-- The Book Of Mormon. It was really ahead of its time, in many ways. The storyline advanced over the course of its 24 episodes (more like a 70's Marvel Comic than anything ever seen on US television before), and it had a large ensemble cast (not unlike HILL STREET BLUES or DEEP SPACE NINE later on). Had the show focused more on the characters and less on the expensive special efects, it might have lasted long enough to finish its epic storyline!
"Adding insult to injury was the purported 'Sequel', 10 episodes aired in early 1980. It was awful. It was SO bad it gave me waking nightmares. It was so HORRBILY done on every single level... that it inspired me to do my OWN follow-up to the original instead. To my way of thinking, the TV sequel-- 'NEVER-- HAPPENED'. Instead, "GALACTON 2230" could be seen as the unfilmed '25th episode'!
"A huge fan of MAD magazine, particularly their TV & movie parodies, I figured the best way to go was to change all the names and play it with a lot humor-- one thing notoriously MISSING from all 3 "officially licensed" BG comic-book series to date, AND the current redo on the Sci-Fi Channel. In the course of one story, I surprised myself by actually managing to not only spotlight ALL of the series regulars, but most of the minor supporting cast as well! As someone said-- 'There's no such thing as a bad character.' I think I proved that with my story!
"The story is broken down into short 2-page episodes, and the reason for this is how it got started. I initially had NO intention of doing an entire comic-book based on someone else's existing property. In fact, if you look at the first page, it really all started as a single-panel joke cartoon! Anyone who's seen STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE will know exactly where I'm coming from. The thing is-- I got carried away. One panel led to 2 pages. Then another 2 pages. Before I knew it, I couldn't stop.
In addition to BG, the story also paid tribute to such varied TV shows as STAR TREK, McCLOUD, F TROOP --and THE MONKEES! (You'll have to read it to see how...) It kept growing like a monster, and after awhile, it seemed the only thing to do was put it out as a complete comic-book.
"This was before the B&W explosion of the mid-80's. Had I waited a couple of years, I might have had more of an idea what I was doing, and maybe even made some money at it. While the intention was to put it out purely as a fanzine, I did manage to sell most of the small print run to Capital City Distribution (now long gone). So somewhere out there are about 700 comics-fans who read it way back when.
"In light of the recent BG revival on, I thought this would be the ideal time to drag out 2230 again. Since there's virtually no chance of my ever reprinting the book, posting the entire comic on my website seemed the best way to go. I'm taking pains to completely re-letter the art, to make it easier for people to read it! Funny enough, the "cartoony" art style really "works" for me, and I'm enjoying the story all over again myself. I hope there's a lot of others, most of whom probably never saw it, who will, too.
"I'm posting several pages at a time, whenever I get the chance. Eventually the whole book WILL be online, so I hope fans will check back now and again. The latest TV episode ended on a cliffhanger, anyway-- why should I be any different???
"My plans are that once the entire book is online, I'll begin posting the NEVER-PUBLISHED follow-up, "2230" #2, which is much more soap-opera in format. This will give readers, even those few who MAY have read the original, something to look forward to. Truthfully, the 2nd story became so big, it was looking like it would require 3 whole issues to tell it. Unfortunately, I stopped after the first part of the potential 3-parter. Art school and other things just got in the way. I was also worried about the possible legal problems that might arise if I did more than ONE book essentially based on someone else's property. I figured enough was enough, and I'd be best focusing on my own characters again. It's sad, but then the original BG was left unfinished as well. I guess this just continues the "tradition."
1-14-05:
ZODIAC COMICS debuts updated WEBSITE!!!
STORMBOY's creator presents expanded Online Art Gallery!!!
At long last, STORMBOY's publisher, Zodiac Comics, announces its expanded website. Creator Henry Kujawa talks about his latest project...
"This is something I've been wanting to do for many months now. That's the problem with being a one-man company-- I have to do EVERYTHING myself! On top of designing, writing, pencilling, inking, coloring, lettering, proof-reading, editing, publishing, pre-press work, and promotion, now add setting up a website! Sheesh.
"I've now added several pages to the site, each spotlighting different aspects of what I'm about. First up is a STORMBOY gallery with pages from the book, some carefully "edited" for all-ages viewing. (Hey, BUY the BOOK if you wanna see the unedited version!) A 2nd page contains reviews from a wide variety of sources, including one from overseas (anybody out there speak POLISH? If so, I could use a translation!). All of which can give you reasons to BUY the BOOK! A 3rd page lists stores where STORMBOY is available-- which makes it easier to find where you can BUY THE BOOK! (You saw that one coming, didn't you?)
"In addition, there's a whole section entitled "FANTASY COMIC-BOOK COVERS". Over the last year, I've been supplying fan Nick Simon with covers for his "Silver Age Marvel" website, along the way cleaning up and "restoring" the covers, many of which were in really bad shape! Before long, I got inspired to take certain covers, mostly from the 1970's, which suffered from really BAD "design" problems, and made "improvements". Some of these you really gotta see to believe! The great thing is, all the time used on this "fun" project has already paid off as everything I've been learning by using Photoshop has begun to spill over into my own art.
"Most recently is a section dedicated to KLORDNY, the Amateur Press Association (APA) dedicated to DC Comics' LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES. I've been a member since 1991, and have done quite a bit of art connected with it. Now I have a place to show it off, and for a much wider audience than the group! There's 5 whole gallery pages which contain the entire WHO'S WHO IN KLORDNY '96 book, 60 pieces of art which showcase character designs and, moreso, LOGO designs, something I feel I really have a special knack for. An additional gallery features "miscellaneous" art, including pin-ups of the LEGION from 5 different eras (so far!).
"Finally, there's a gallery with PREVIEWS of the upcoming, in-progress STORMBOY #2!!! People keep asking me, WHEN is it coming? IS it coming? Trust me-- IT'S COMING!!! I don't know WHEN yet, but it's definitely coming. I've got 91 PAGES finished so far-- there's NO WAY I'm gonna stop now! I'll be posting a few pages whenever I find a free moment, so anyone interested may want to check back regularly. In the meantime, I ask my friends, readers and fans-- as Craig Russell once said (as he was about to embark on his RING OF THE NIBELUNG epic)-- "Pray for me!" Take care, all!"
11-10-04:
CAVE BOY DEBUTS AT POP IMAGE SITE!!!
STORMBOY SPIN-OFF appears in YOUNG BOTTOMS IN LOVE Online Anthology!!!
The latest from STORMBOY's publisher, Zodiac Comics, makes it appearance as part of Pop Image's YBIL daily online anthology series. Creator Henry Kujawa talks about his latest project...
"I got the idea for Cave Boy 2 years ago while watching reruns of late-60's Hanna-Barbera cartoons. What I had in mind was a story for one of several upcoming STORMBOY books. Then early this summer, I got an idea to spotlight the character in a solo backup story. 3 days later, TCM ran the first 4 Johnny Weismuller TARZAN films back-to-back. That clinched it for me!
"Cave Boy is sort of a cross between DINO BOY In The Lost Valley (1966) and the son on THE HERCULOIDS (1967). When the anti-violence nuts got going back when, those shows were yanked and I hadn't seen them since the late 60's. Funny-- until recently I never realized HERCULOIDS was a sci-fi take on the Weismuller TARZAN series, set on another planet. (If you swipe from an earlier generation, your audience won't be aware of it. Usually...) In my case, "Stone Valley" is actually in the same future world as Stormboy's Metro City. Although that angle won't be apparent in this short initial episode.
"After working myself to death (figuratively speaking) to get my art more and more "photographically realistic", it was such a pleasure to go more "cartoony" here. Especially with the dinosaur.
"In 2 extremely x-rated books I've worked on so far, one page of this is actually the only instance of excessive violence to appear. And for whatever reason, I was laughing myself silly the whole time I did it...
"Cave Boy even has its own music-- unofficially, for now. For "Dino Rescue", the 2 songs I picked were "Jurassic Beat" by Eddie Angel (EDDIE ANGEL'S GUITAR PARTY), and "Gonna Find A Cave" by The Banana Splits. (Who else?) Eddie's recording claims to feature the sounds of "real" dinosaurs. How'd he get them in the studio?
"I was almost finished with "Dino Rescue" when I discovered YOUNG BOTTOMS IN LOVE, and realized with a bit of "editing" it would be perfect for the anthology. Both editors Randall Kirby & Tim Fish have been very helpful & encouraging.
"I slightly altered the art for this version myself... (censorship!! censorship!!) The full-length 12-page version will be appearing as a back-up in the upcoming STORMBOY #2-- when it finally comes out! Yep, #2 has been in the works-- and this is scary to think about-- since before I bought my computer! The main story is looking to be about 120 pages (I'm up to 91 so far), with a 12-page Jay back-up story-- and now, it looks like, a 12-page Cave Boy story as well! It's gonna be a whopper.
"By the way, if you know anyone you think might be interested in contributing to YBIL, please have them contact Randall Kirby at mummycop@yahoo.com or Tim Fish at timfish@timfishworks.com . Tell 'em I sent ya!"
3-4-04:
STORMBOY SALES CONTINUE!!!
BISEXUAL SUPERHERO FINDS MORE FANS WORLDWIDE!!!
STORMBOY, Zodiac Comics' FULL COLOR X-RATED Superhero book, continues to rack up sales from Bookazine, Alamo Square, Fantagraphics, Amazon.com and A Different Light Bookstore.
According to Ron Handby of Bookazine, "It's selling nicely, and it's selling nicely abroad, also." Bookazine supplies copies to stores in England, The Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland!
At a time when the regular Comic-Book Market often seems to be falling to pieces, and "periodicals" only get one shot to sell or bomb, it's clear that publishing STORMBOY as a graphic novel, aimed at the Book Market, was a wise decision! This was predicted by some back in the early 80's, but it's only recently that the "Big 2" comics publishers have really pursued it.
STORMBOY recently appeared for sale at APE / The Alternative Press Expo 2004 in San Francisco, courtesy of the people at Prism Comics, the premier nonprofit advocacy organization promoting the work of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered creators, as well as LGBT themes in comics in general. The book is now available from the Prism Comics website store at http://www.prismcomics.org/shop.php?&id=233
Interest in follow-up volumes has already begun. Witness the following:
"Henry, we are getting requests for other Zodiac Comics. Please send us info on the new titles ASAP and send a carton of each to us for sale." --Bert Herrman / Alamo Square Distributors
Arnold Drake, creator of DOOM PATROL and DEADMAN, had this to say: "That's the kind of news I want to hear from you! Get your ass back to work. Love&Knishes" (Arnold's recent work can be found in the Jan'03 issue of HEAVY METAL, where he teams with longtime illustrator Luis Dominguez on a gorgeous, fully-painted story, "Tripping Out".)
STORMBOY creator Henry R. Kujawa is hard at work on STORMBOY #2, and recently passed the 80-page mark-- with lots more still to go.
More updates as things happen!
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