Click here to see the creative process on the book. From script pages to page layouts, all the way to the coloring stage. Also read further into the Night Commuter phenomenon. All at our web-extra site!
And buy the book!
"Immensely brave, intelligent and ruthless." - Warren Ellis
"A story with teeth, unafraid to confront some horrific truths about the world we live in." - Garth Ennis
"Unknown Soldier keeps popping up as a possible contender for best new series of the year. Keep in mind the series is only debuting its second issue today. For a book to impress me in such a short span of time says something for its quality. Quite a lot, in fact." - IGN
"If they can sustain this energy and impact, Unknown Soldier could be a new Vertigo classic." - The Onion AV Club
"A good, dark read, with the obvious research into Ugandan politics and conflicts not standing in the way of some interesting characters and an intriguing story." - Ain't It Cool News
The trade to the enormously successful BUREAU FOR PARANORMAL RESEARCH AND DEFENSE: 1946 is out in stores now!!
The book is written by Mike Mignola and myself, with wonderfully inky art by Paul Azaceta, colors by Nick Filardi, letters by Clem Robins and is edited by Scott Allie.
This is BPRD year one! Featuring early Cold War Politics, baby Hellboy, Post WW II Berlin, more Trevor Bruttenholm than you can shake a stick at, Nazi occult programs, frozen Vampires, insane ghosts, living severed heads, talking chimps, rockets and good old-fashion American courage and know-how saving the day!
Here's what these kids had to say!
"Ghosts and vampires appear in the realistic setting of an American/Soviet occupied post-war Germany without question. This world is enveloped in darkness, with humanity and undead meeting in the meager light of the moon. Overall, B.P.R.D. 1946 is an expertly executed macabre chronicle that gets darker and darker with each issue.
The trade also features the short story, "BISHOP OLEK'S DEVIL". Which was the free comic book day comic I wrote with Mike and that Paul drew.
So don't drive by it, stop and buy it!!
VIOLENT MESSIAHS
A long, long time ago, while a young man living in Texas I pounded all of my nihilistic angst into my very first comic book. Designed to break into the industry and leave behind day jobs forever, it's a brash, fascinating, spirited yet commercial thing.
I wrote this for a recent press release... it about sums it up...
"It has all the joys that come with a first work," Dysart says. "Written between jobs in restaurants and bookstores, during a period of tumultuous relationships and, quite frankly, a lot of drug use, it seems now, in retrospect, to be the very spirit of my youth, that is, angry, dark, glorious, ambitious, cocky and ultimately, hungry to be about something greater than itself."
Anyway, it was a bit of a cult hit in its time and has been out of print for over six years. Now IDW is reprinting it and including a short story in the back by artist Tone Rodriquez and myself that has never been seen before. Whether it should be seen, I can't say.
They plan on following it up by collecting the never-before traded LAMENTING PAIN, which was the four-issue sequel we did.
So that's it, that's my first work in this industry ever. Pick it up, and check it out!
"If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer..."
Senator Barack Obama casts his vote.
"It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference..."
An Indonesian schoolboy reacts to the announcement that Barack Obama won the US election at Obama's former school in Jakarta, Indonesia. Throngs have packed plazas and pubs around the world to await U.S. elections results. AP Photo/Ed Wray. More photos from all around the world here.
"It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled - Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America..."
Students charge White House, chanting, "Obama!" Even Fox news succumbs to the joy.
"I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it's been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years - block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand." - 44th President Elect of the United States of America, Barack Obama.
Tomorrow, Wed. Oct. 22, Unknown Soldier 1 graces the bookshelf of every awesome comic book store in America (and many, many outside of the good ol' USA - but don't worry, Sarah, I'm still pro-American!)
I'm really, really excited about this book and I'm begging, as I have never begged before, for your support. This is the project that I spent over a month in Uganda's Acholiland (during the now failed peace process) researching. Living and hanging, in part, with the Acholi people, a culture severely impacted by the 22-year long war between an extremist Christian group known as the Lord's Resistance Army and the Ugandan government.
The LRA peace delegation while visiting Kitgum in 2007, just four months after I had been there, dances with the local Acholi leaders, including LC5 chairman of Gulu Norbert Mao (left) and the SPLA commanders. Despite this show of local trust and hope, the peace process has failed, and abductions have begun again.
But this comic is no dry retelling of events that have haunted that beautiful place. You see, that would actually be valuable to society, and god knows I'm anything but valuable. Instead this is a continuation of the Unknown Soldier story first set into motion by comic book greats Joe Kubert and Robert Kanigher in 1966. And it's not some politically correct Bono-approved story of East African conflict, I can assure you.
Kordey's cover to Issue 1 of Unknown Soldier
And check out these celebrity endorsements, bitches!!
"A story with teeth, unafraid to confront some horrific truths about the world we live in, Joshua Dysart's Unknown Soldier is a comic that genuinely matters." - Garth Ennis
"Immensely brave, intelligent and ruthless." - Warren Ellis
That's right! Pulp, African politics and comic books! Does it get any better? With interior art by Alberto Ponticelli, who really gets down and dirty on this book. Illustrating the region, the people and the violence all with a degree of love and energy sorely missing from most mainstream comics.
Ponticelli's interior art. Color by Oscar Celestini. Lettering by Clem Robbins.
And two covers! The regular cover artist, Igor Kordey, makes his north American return (after much begging on the part of yours truly to my editor, Pornsak Pichetshote, to make it happen) and an alternate cover from comics and fantasy art legend, Richard Corben.
A child at Kunyama IDP camp. Photo by me.
So please... and I'm being serious here... please buy this book. I know you think comic book stores are like porn shops, but they're not, really. Despite the mass-proliferation of power fantasy imagery starring buff people wearing skin-tight clothes, these stores are actually a respectible part of our pop-culture landscape.
And this is an on-going series. Which means I keep writing it until the market is sick and tired of the thing. I want this book to succeed. So please, give issue 1 a shot. If the story moves you at all, issue 2 will be out one month later, and so on (don't worry, I'll remind you).
Don't know where a store in your area is? Try the Comic Book Retail Locator Online! It'll help you find your local store in a click.
Simply can't bring yourself to step into a comic book store? Oh, I see, you're too good for us are you... well... I'll still take your money! There are plenty of online stores that'll send the issue right to your home. Heavy Ink claims to have 20% off of all sales and free shipping on all orders. But feel free to shop around.
Okay, so let's try this begging thing one more time...
PLEASE DEAR GOD BUY MY BOOK, PLEASE!!! PLEASE!!
C'mon, baby... I'll suck you off... c'mon... that's right, pull out that three dollars... mmmhmmm... I neeeeed it.
SIGNING IN MANHATTAN BEACH TOMORROW!
Me signing something, somewhere, at some point...
Here's the most fun way to buy the book! You can come hang out with me and get it signed!
I'll be doing duty (no... not doody) at THE COMIC BUG from 6 - 9 pm, come keep me company!! It would be great to see you!
WHAT: A kickoff signing for my new Vertigo book Unknown Soldier, and a free form jazz battle... to the death!
WHERE: The Comic Bug! 1807 (1/2) MAnhattan Blvd. Manhattan Beach, Ca. 90266 (Directions and phone here)
WHEN: From 6 to 9 pm, October 22. Tomorrow!
HOW: Through the grace of every Turk that has ever befriended me.
WHY: Because I need your vote to turn this country around! And also, how will I be able to afford my full season passes to the Opera national de Paris if you don't buy my comic!?
Or eat.
THE STAIN GETS PRESS
Ron Wimberly draws... THE STAIN
The short bio-comic that my secret lover Ronald Wimberly and I did based on our exploration (with Dark Horse editor Scott Allie) of one of the most haunted places in the world - the mostly-abandoned asylum in Athens, Georgia - can still be found here.
Newsarama did a great story with Ron and I. I get to delve a little deeper into my fascination with patient Margaret Wells who left her permanent stain there thirty years ago. They also print two of my photos from the night (but they don't credit me! The bastards!). You can find that all here.
UNKNOWN SOLDIER INTERVIEW IN THE BACK OF HOUSE OF MYSTERY
House of Mystery 7, featuring backup promo material for Unknown Soldier (thanks Shelly!)
A book that will need no begging on the part of its creators to succeed, seeing as how Bill Willingham is attached and all, is the comic House of Mystery. This month it features an interview between my editor and myself concerning my conflicted feelings with doing a commercial war book about real people and a real situation and how I'm bound to fuck it all up somehow! Check it out!
That's in proximal space, folks, sorry... no links. You have to leave your house for that one (or I guess you could buy that online too).
THE MAGAZINE "COMIC SHOP NEWS"...
Should have a relatively decent sized article by Cliff Biggers on the Unknown Soldier this week. Look for it. It's a free handout with your purchase at all fine comic book stores. If they don't drop one on you, ask for it.
No... that's the Unknown Comic...
AND IF THAT'S NOT ENOUGH...
Here's an interview I did about the Unknown Soldier and the upcoming Neil Young project...
Peter Gross (Lucifer, Books of Magic, Chosen) and I, while traveling on Amtrak down to the San Diego Comic Con back in July, brought the funny as Dark Horse Assistant Editor Rachel Edidin, writing for Sequential Tart, flung questions at us like so much poo. For instance...
"If you were a My Little Pony, what would your name be?" & "Peter, do you have any bukkake-related comics anecdotes?"
And onto something completely different, New York Magazine has rounded up some of the recent Sarah Palin humor. Including this hilarious video...
And this bit...
"There was also some breaking news out of Dayton, Ohio, today where this morning Republican presidential candidate John McCain introduced the world to his third wife - actually, no, I'm sorry, that's his running mate Sarah Palin" - Jon Stewart
FBI Charges Blind Phone Phreak With Intimidating a Verizon Security Official
Matthew Weigman, a blind hacker who has been under investigation since he was 15 years-old has been arrested just two months after his 18th birthday.
The article (linked below) is fascinating. However, even more interesting are the two recorded phone calls you can listen to on the sidebar. One is of Weigman making an inter-company call to a Verizon phone operator and posing as a fellow phone employee to fish for data. The other is of Weigman making a 2005 "swatting" call that sent police to the Colorado home of Richard Gasper, a TSA screener whose daughter refused phone sex with Weigman.
Up until now Weigman, who was taking in by FBI already once in December of 2007 (while still a minor) has, up until now, been known only as "Li'l Hacker" by the press. As of turning 18, he's no longer protected by juvenile civility laws.
Josh grabbed writer Josh Dysart off the convention floor in Seattle to talk about his work with Mike Mignola in the early days of the Hellboy universe in BRPD: 1946. Plus, Dysart gives us a taste of what we can expect with the recently announced BPRD: 1947 from Dark Horse Comics.
Shortly after my return from Uganda I did this hour long interview about my trip, my other comics work (Conan, BPRD, Greendale) and a random discussion of the medium in general. The show COMIC BOOK GEEKS is pretty loose and ridiculous, but I always have fun on it and I'm pretty happy with the way it all came off.
Besides all of that you can see me in a full beard!!
***
Also available now is the episode of Comics on Comics I did several months back. Sporting a more lean and clean appearance by yours truly. Several panelists and I rap about comics (Brand New Day, Secret Invasion, Kick Ass) as well as BPRD and in the end they nail me on the Avril Lavigne thing. You'll notice, if you watch the whole hour (and god, why would you), we get a lot more animated in the second half of the video cast. That's after we've gone to the back and done some shots.
Anyone who has gotten drunk or high with me will notice I'm starting to do the gentle, constant head bob there at the end. That's how you know I'm phasing between this dimension and my own.
You can download it for free from Itunes (go to "Comics on Comics"). My episode is called EPISODE 0 (zero).
The conclusion of this epic first adventure for the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense has dropped!
That's right. we went there... cyborg outer space vampire nipples. See if that's in Iron Man, bitch!
To everyone who has kept up with this series from the get go. Thank you so much. I had a wonderful time doing it. For more WWII pulp fun check out my CAPTAIN GRAVITY AND THE POWER OF THE VRIL! The only superhero book I've written to date. It's a blast.
