John Rozum's Blog, page 6

THE ABYSS #1 is Here!

Fan favorite, the Abyss makes his ongoing series debut today in The Abyss #1, from InterPop Comics, where he faces off against seven (or is it eight?) villains, including five (or is it six?) brand new ones as he tries to stop a prisonbreak at a supermax Emergent prison. I wrote it, Cliff Richards drew it, Chris Sotomayor colored it, Carlos Mangual provided the lettering, all under the supervision of Rachel Gluckstern and Rylen Sigman. You can find The Abyss #1 here and read the initial 8-page stories that introduced him (and two of the returning villains) here. Read them, and let me know what you think. You can also cast your vote on which villain was your favorite here.

The Grim Gallery - Now in it's 12th Year

My companion blog, The Grim Gallery, is now in it's twelfth year of daily monster imagery from movies, art, comic books, books, magazines, mythology and elsewhere. If you like the monstrous, check it out. There are now over 4000 images to pour through.

Preview for The Abyss #1

Newsarama has an article up covering the launch of The Abyss #1 including a five page preview to give you a taste of what's inside. You can read the article, and the preview here. The Abyss #1 will be available at Interpop Comics on May 25th.

The Abyss - Updates

The latest round of voting has ended, and the readers have determined that the member of the Abyss's old team, the Genesis Squadron, he will reunite with will be Moxie. Moxie appeared briefly in the fourth 8-page The Abyss story, "The Assassin" which appeared in Emergents Presents #7 (which you can read here), and will now be appearing in issue #3 of the regular ongoing The Abyss series, an issue I am currently writing. If you's like to learn more about The Abyss, you can read this interview with me. You can also read the four 8-page stories here.

The Abyss - "The Assassin" is now available to read for FREE

"The Assassin" the fourth story starring THE ABYSS, and the final 8 page story from Emergents Presents before he stars in his own ongoing series, is now available to read for free at InterpopComics.com. You can also read the previous three stories and be fully up to speed when the ongoing series debuts this Summer. All four stories, as well as the upcoming series, are written by me, drawn by Cliff Richards, colored by Chris Sotomayor, lettered by Carlos Mangual, and edited by Rachel Gluckstern and Rylen Sigman.

Emergents Presents #7 Now Available

The Abyss appears in his fourth story in Emergents Presents #7 now available at Interpop Comics, where you can also find his previous three adventures. This will be the final 8-page story starring the Abyss before he is spun off into his own full length ongoing series this Summer. As usual I wrote it, Cliff Richards provided the outstanding art, Chris Sotomayor provided the gorgeous color, Carlos Mangual provided the stellar lettering and Rachel Gluckstern, assisted by Rylen Sygman, kept us all in our places.

Announcing THE ABYSS ongoing series

This past weekend at SXSW, InterPop Comics gave away this free The Abyss issue #0, which contains the first three 8 page stories starring the Abyss from Emergents Presents and cover art by the amazing Juan Doe. Those who received it were also given the opportunity on which of three featured villains will return in THE ABYSS #1. That's right, the Abyss has proven to be popular enough that he's receiving his own ongoing series with the same creative team that's been driving the 8 page stories. Myself, artist Cliff Richards, colorist Chris Sotomayor, letterer Carlos Mangual, editor Rachel Gluckstern and assistnat editor Rylen Sigman will be bringing the Abyss to a new monthly series of 24 page adventures beginning this Summer. Stay tuned for more details to come. In the meantime the Abyss will return to the pages of Emergents Presents with a new 8-page story very soon. You can find previous stories starring the Abyss and many other exciting InterPop characters here.

Milestone Compendium Volume 1 Now Available

The Milestone Compendium volume 1 collects the first year of groundbreaking comics published by Milestone Media in the mid 1990s. It contains its four core launch titles, Hardware, Icon, Static and Blood Syndicate as well as the first year of Xombi, which i wrote with J.J. Birch (Joe Brozowski) drawing it and a roster of talented colorists handling the color. The reason Xombi was contained in this book of the first year, even though it was a phase two title, is that phase two began with a crossover that introduced The Shadow Cabinet(also included), and after that issue #0 crossover tie-in, I decided to jump backwards and start again with Xombi's origin story, which was followed by a second storyline that led directly into issue #0. If you are only familiar with Xombi through the 2011 series that I wrote with Frazer Irving handling the art, then this is a perfect opportunity for you to see what came before. A lot of elements of the original series found their way into the 2011 series. This is the first time this series has ever been collected in a book, and you get the first 11 issues as well as issue #0, along witb soem really excellent comics by some of comics' top talent in a book that tops over 1300 pages. There are a second and third volume planned. you can find a copy at your local comic book shop or through the link below which if you use tips some money in my direction.

The Abyss, Story 3, Is Now Available For Free

The third story starring THE ABYSS, from Emergents Presents #5 is now available to read for free at InterpopComics. While you are there, check out some of the other comics available. In this story the Abyss reveals some new abilities, faces a new villain, and interacts with a guest star. A fourth story starring the Abyss is on the way.

Thank You Once Again!

To everyone who voted for the Abyss at InterPop Comics' poll as to which character you wanted to see return the soonest, I thank you. It's gratifying to the entire creative team to see that our work continues to strike such a chord with you. Expect to see a fourth story soon.