This just in!

About every month or so I take a couple minutes to search the internet for new mention of our comics to see if any of the hundreds of hours I've spent trying to get someone to notice what I'm doing has paid off. Usually it results in the same old hits but this morning I found a new review of Red Flags #1. I don't see a date for when this was posted so I don't know how long it's been up. It sorts of echoes what most people have said so far, that Jim Hitchcock's stories are compelling little yarns exploring dark terrain with twist(ed) endings in the vein of "a sort of modern Tales From the Crypt" but the art is lacking in backgrounds/depth/polish. I wish I could muster more disagreement but I agree with all my bad reviews- in fact, I would probably judge the results more harshly (if you doubt this, ask my wife or Jim). Unlike some artists, I can take a hit and hopefully people can see an improvement with my newest story, The Copy Editors.

And so it Moves

At our WebComicsNation page I've just added a story by Slovenian artist Matjaz Bertoncelj. Bertoncelj is a former editor of the Stripburger comic anthology and has published numerous comics in Europe. Not too many people in North America have been lucky to read his work... until now. We proudly present to you- Malleus Maleficarum ("The Witch Hammer").

In the story, the inquisitor Lupus is schooling his rabbit apprentice on the finer points of torturing young women to extract their confessions of witchcraft. Lupus is a sadistic pervert convinced of his righteousness. I think Matjaz does an amazing job of walking the tightrope of being absurd yet brutally real, wry yet over the top, alternatively touching and wince-inducing.

I had hoped for a long time to publish a book of Bertoncelj's work through the Red Flag label and still hope to, but the market for small indy publishers is dead without first having created a reliable online audience or by having the dedication to attend every convention for a couple of years (perhaps both, actually). Deciding to first attempt the former strategy, we hope you check out this free story (maybe not even the best one to start with for various other reasons but it seemed the best introduction to the characters and the world) and hopefully somebody at Fantagraphics stumbles upon it and puts him in Mome or commissions an Ignatz book from him because I want to see more work from this guy!

We're back with MORE FREE COMICS!

After an unfortunate delay, I've finally returned to posting stories that will appear in the comics anthology Red Flags at our page on Web Comics Nation. This time up it's a gruesome little tale called POV. With a twisted and troubling script from James Hitchcock and some graphic and gruesome art by James Tingley, we think our fans will enjoy this next offering.

Sometimes the difference between life and death depends on your point of view...

And stay tuned for more cool comics coming soon!