Jason Franks's Blog, page 15
July 27, 2015
The Sixsmiths vol.01 #1 on ComiXology
Hey cats and dogs, the Sixsmiths is (finally) being serialized digitally, thanks to new publisher Caliber Comics!
The first issue is now up on ComiXology, with three more issues to follow. Fifty pages of devil worshipping, high school hijinks, ugly people shagging, teen angst and adult problems. Brilliant cover by the one and only Bruce Mutard.
I hope you’ll check it out. Love to hear what you think.
https://www.comixology.com/The-Sixsmiths/digital-comic/255585
I have remastered this book from its original publication and there will very soon be a brand print edition–to be followed swiftly by the long-awaited sequel.
Hang onto your hats and hail Satan!
— JF
The Sixsmiths vol.01 #1 onComiXology
Hey cats and dogs, the Sixsmiths is (finally) being serialized digitally, thanks to new publisher Caliber Comics!
The first issue is now up on ComiXology, with three more issues to follow. Fifty pages of devil worshipping, high school hijinks, ugly people shagging, teen angst and adult problems. Brilliant cover by the one and only Bruce Mutard.
I hope you’ll check it out. Love to hear what you think.
https://www.comixology.com/The-Sixsmiths/digital-comic/255585
I have remastered this book from its original publication and there will very soon be a brand print edition–to be followed swiftly by the long-awaited sequel.
Hang onto your hats and hail Satan!
— JF
June 24, 2015
OZ COMIC CON
Well folks, Oz Comic Con Melbourne is nigh upon us and I WILL BE THERE.
Also, I will be here: table 107, right near the Door 10 entrance, in between Ryan Lindsay and Chris Sequeira:
I will be signing at the table through most of the con and speaking on the Australian Voices panel on Saturday at 3pm (stage 3) with Craig Bruyn, Dean Rankine, Paul Mason and Ryan K Lindsay.
I don’t do sketches, but if you buy a book from me I can be prevailed upon to doodle inside the covers for you.
Speaking of buying stuff–I will be having a sale! I need to clear up some space in the house and that means eliminating stock, so expect to see discounts on most trade paperbacks and some deals if you buy more than one from me. I will in particular be trying to move some of the Bloody Waters ARCs, since we finally have a proper print edition in the works. Tell me you saw this post on my website and I’ll take another 10% off the marked prices on all trades.
Mostly, though, I look forward to chatting with all of you folks. If you have questions about what’s happening with Sixsmiths or McBlack, or when my next novel is out I would be more than happy to talk your goddamn ear off. Don’t be shy!
— JF
June 16, 2015
RETURN OF THE SIXSMITHS
Greetings, my wicked congregation.
I know it’s been a long time coming. I know, I know, I know. The Dark One has relished our suffering, I am certain. But lo, I have news from the abyss:
THE SIXSMITHS are back, with a new publisher.
Lady fiends, and gentle imps, it’s my great pleasure to reveal that the Sixsmiths will now be published by Caliber Comics.
I’m pretty stoked to be a part of the Caliber lineup. My very first comic submission, way back in 1998, was to the Negative Burn anthology, which was then published by Caliber. Caliber is where I first encountered creators like Brian Bendis and David Mack. Where I came to read the stranger, edgier works of creators like Garth Ennis and Warren Ellis. They had an amazing line of horror books like RENFIELD, DEADWORLD and SAINT GERMAINE and… well, now that Caliber has risen once more, they have THE SIXSMITHS, too.
I don’t have any release dates yet but I can tell you that there will be two graphic novels: a remastered volume 1, written by me and illustrated by J. Marc Schmidt, with a brand new cover by Jase Harper; and the long-promised volume 2, written by me and illustrated by a coven of (mostly) Australian artists. They’ll be trade-only in print, but most likely the books will be serialized digitally: 4 big issues for volume 1 and 3 issues for volume 2, available on every platform. If the books do well we may also do a collection of all of the short pieces and ancillary material that appeared in the webcomic, the one shot, and various anthologies and magazines.
That’s all I can tell you right now, but stay tuned! There will be more news to follow. Come and see me at Oz Comic Con if you’re going to be in Melbourne on the weekend of June 27th. I will have some copies of the old edition of volume 1 and I’ll be very happy to talk to you about comics, chewing gum and the Devil till my jaw drops off or I run out of vodka.
In the meantime, feast your eyes Jase Harper’s new cover for volume 1–before the harpies take them for themselves.
June 13, 2015
Continuum Recap
Last week I had a jam-packed weekend participating at Continuum while entertaining my old friends the Marc Karver and Jen Marshall (and their not-so-old son, Kirin) who were visiting from Florida. I didn’t have time to see everyone as much as I would have liked, but it was always a pleasure to see and hang out with the likes of Amanda Bridgeman, Justin Woolley, Amanda Pillar, Alis Franklin, Margo Lanagan, Lindy Cameron, Narrelle Harris, Gillian Polack, Stephen and Ormsby, Russell B. Farr, Liz Grzyb, Jason Nahrung, Kirstyn McDermott, Lyn C, Jane Routley, Kyla Ward, David McDonald, Geoff Brown, Gerry Huntman and all the others I’ve forgotten to mention because, well, I’m a bit of a bastard. Big thanks to the Continuum committee for putting on another awesome, fun, well-run event.
This year I participated in 6 panels, which is a record for me. These days an author expected to be able to speak in public and, since I am not a natural performer, these convention panels are my attempt to improve in this department as well as to make myself known to peers, readers, editors, agents, and any Hollywood producers who happen to be passing through looking to hand out six figure option cheques. (It could happen! Shut up!) This was the first year I didn’t publicly embarrass myself, so I guess I’m improving in this regard.
My first panel, Computer Geeks and Computer-Fail in Visual Media, was a heap of fun. Kathryn Andersen, Alis Franklin and Lisa Sinclair were funny and smart and well informed and I think everyone had a good time ripping apart Alis’ compilation of Computer-Fail clips. IT is so ubiquitous these days, you’d think screenwriters would have started to get it right a bit more often by now. (Hey, Hollywood? We panelists are available for consultation any time.)
Comedy in Genre went off nicely as well. I guess it helped that our moderator, Katherine Phelps, was a comedienne, but together with Jane Routley and me I think we had a pretty good interrogation of how different styles of comedy interact with genre, rather than sitting around quoting Monty Python at each other (always a risk on a topic like this one). I was particularly interested to look at the similarities between horror and comedy, as you might expect.
On the Villains and Anti-Heroes panel Margo Lanagan, Freya Ashman, Kathryn Andersen and I all had different views on what made good a good villain, and how a villain differs from an antihero. There’s a lot of plasticity in the terms as they are currently used, if not in the literary sense, and I think that was a fruitful discussion.
Sunday morning, Anthony Castle and I presented a Comics How To panel. I did not expect much of an audience, given the timeslot, but we got a pretty good sized room full of interested and engaged participants, including some well-known writers, comic fans, and readers. This was the most interactive panel I had. Anthony and I spoke mostly about the discipline of writing comic script, but we also spoke about how to find and collaborate with artists. We could easily have run this as a half-day workshop. I’d love to do some more of these at a future convention.
The Heroine’s Journey, with Amanda Bridgeman, Katherine Phelps, Jason Franks, Amie Kaufman, Lindy Cameron, was perhaps my most lively panel. I’ve been asked many times why I chose to deploy a female protagonist in my first novel and my answer is still the same: if Clarice wasn’t a woman Bloody Waters would have no story. I didn’t set out to write a book about a Strong Female Protagonist–I started writing the book in 2000, before that was really a thing people talked about. The whole conflict comes from the way Clarice is treated because of her gender. This panel in many ways looked at the converse of that: how female characters are so often excluded from the hero’s journey, or parts of it. I guess this is part of my antipathy towards the hero’s journey as a template for plot and character. Now if there was a Villain’s Journey… well, then perhaps I’d be out of business.
May 31, 2015
Continuum XI
I know I’ve been quiet lately. I’ve been head down trying to smash out some projects, some of which should be announced quite soon. But in the meantime, I feel like I should poke my head up and let you folks know that I have two appearances coming up next month. Next month starts tomorrow, so I suppose I’d better get on with it…
First of all, I will be at Melbourne’s annual Continuum speculative fiction convention. I will primarily be around on Saturday and Sunday, when I will be on a series of panels. They are:
Saturday 10am – Computer Geeks and Computer-Fail in Visual Media, in which Kathryn Andersen, Alis Franklin, Lisa Sinclair and I will discuss the ways in which film and TV usually stuffs up its portrayal of anything computer-related. All panelists are professional computerer in real life, so expect some genuine nerdiness.
Saturday 11am – Comedy in Genre Fiction, in which Jane Routley, Katherine Phelps and I discuss the use of comedy in speculative fiction genres. Since the genres I am most commonly associated with are horror and comedy I think it’s fair to say that this will be quie a lively panel.
Saturday 3pm – Villains and Anti-Heroes. Kathryn Andersen, Margo Lanegan, Freya Ashman and I will discuss villains and anti-heroes. Which panelist falls into which cateogry? U Decide!
Sunday 10am – Comics How To, with Anthony Castle. Anthony and I will discuss how to make comics. Bring your questions; this is going to be more of an open-format discussion than a presentation.
Sunday 11 am – Debate: The Heroine’s Journey, with Amanda Bridgeman, Katherine Phelps, Amie Kaufman and Lindy Cameron. The ladies and I will debate whether or not the heroine’s journey is the same as the hero’s, and if not, whether it should be. I guess I’m the token male on the panel, so that should be quite hilarious even before you consider that I have a problem with the Campbellian hero’s journey all by itself.
If you’re at the show stop by, say hi, shake my hand. I’ll be the one int he black t-shirt.
May 7, 2015
Paying for Our Passion
The right honourable David McDonald has been hosting a series of blog posts about writing and its associated costs to the writer–monetary and otherwise.
Plenty of more reputable and writers than I have contributed, but if you are interested, here’s my thruppence:
http://www.davidmcdonaldspage.com/2015/05/paying-for-our-passion-jason-franks/
April 30, 2015
McBlack to be Published by Under Belly Comics
Some of you have already seen the teasers on facebook and twitter, so I guess I can announce it here. Upstart Canadian publisher Under Belly Comics have been picking up Australian properties recently (Bullet Girl by Andrez Bergen; The List by Paul Bedford, Henry Pop and Tom Bonin; Job Dun: the Fat Assassin by Mark Hobby and Ben Byrne) and my own McBlack is the latest addition to their slate. Proud company to be in, I’m sure you’ll agree.
The contract is for McBlack volumes 1 and 2. For those who are late to the party, only the first part of volume 2 is currently available. It was my intention to have volume 2 complete by now, but… stuff happens. The late lamented Black House Comics closed up shop, work on the Sixsmiths sequel blew out by a year, and… well, I’ll spare you the excuses. I’m working to complete volume 2 and Under Belly will be most likely be publishing both volumes in a single edition.
Under Belly represents a terrific opportunity to find a new audience for this work beyond Australia’s shores but I don’t want to gouge my existing readers. I will try to make accommodations for those of you who don’t want to pay for existing work a second time but this may only be in digital editions. I hope you’ll understand.
In the meantime, my stocks of the Black House edition of McBlack volume 1 are low. I expect to make a POD edition available online in the coming days but I’m not going to to order a new print run with the new book on the horizon.
The colour one shots are a different story. My supplies of those are dwindling as well but the rights to these books are still my own and I may re-up on them for con sales. I have vague plans for a third one shot with a slate of new artists, so that may show up at some point, too. Most likely they will stay under my own Black Glass Press banner.
I don’t yet have a schedule for the new book but you can be sure I’ll keep you apprised of the situation, because a/ I like talking about myself, and b/ I don’t want any of you maniacs coming to my house demanding answers.
Until then, please feel free to keep your hat on and your pistols loaded.
Cheers!
— JF
April 17, 2015
The Old Portrait
Howdy,
I have a short comic out. The Old Portrait, an 8-page adaptation of the horror story by Hume Nisbet, illustrated by the cracking good Leigh Kuilboer, is now available in Midnight Echo 11. The magazine is edited by Kaaron Warren, with fiction by Deborah Sheldon, Mark Farrugia, Claire Fitzpatrick and other excellent writers.
Digital format only. Get it here for the horrifying sum of 3 bucks:
http://midnightechomagazine.com/2015/04/15/the-vulture-has-landed/
March 3, 2015
Aurealis Nomination for LEFT HAND PATH
Well, there’s a nice surprise. LEFT HAND PATH, by me and Paul Abstruse, has been short-listed for an Aurealis Award in the Graphic Novel/Illustrated work category.
http://aurealisawards.org/2015/02/27/announcement-2014-aurealis-awards-shortlist/
I admit that, this year, I’ve only read one of the titles (most years I’ve read them all) so far, but I know the work of all the creators and I’m unspeakably pleased to be listed in such company. I blame Paul.
For those who are wondering what all the fuss is about, here are links to purchase each of the shortlisted works. Only one person can win (uh, unless it’s, like, a five way tie) but everyone can benefit from sales.
MR UNPRONOUNCEABLE AND THE SEC OF THE BLEEDING EYE by Tim Molloy
“A Small Wild Magic” by Kathleen Jennings (published in in MONSTROUS AFFECTIONS)
And of course LEFT HAND PATH #1 by me and Paul Abstruse
Plenty of other friends and acquaintances on the list this year, too, across almost every category. I won’t name them all here but I’m proud to be associated with you cats and dogs.
