Free Comic Book Day preview!

It’s almost that time again!

Yes, this coming Saturday is Free Comic Book Day, and you know what that means—Masks is back!

On Saturday, I’m posting a new story on Pocket Coyote and on this blog. It’s called “Ghost Dance,” and it will introduce at least two heroes you haven’t seen in Masks before, including the man who gave his name to heroes who might be nonpowered but are never powerless—the Black Mask himself! And that’s not even the best part!

Set in 1947, “Ghost Dance” follows Clayton Ross, a.k.a. the Black Mask, as he tracks down an old ally and recruits him for a daring rescue mission. Clay hasn’t seen Ben Wise, a.k.a. Eagle Eye, since the early days of the Second World War, and while he’s heard a few rumors about what happened to the kid behind enemy lines, nothing can prepare him for what he finds. Once a costumed vigilante who relied on a pair of mechanical wings to fight crime, Ben was captured by the Nazis and subjected to horrific experiments as the scientists tried to discover the source of the powers he didn’t actually have. Ben emerged from the ordeal with a set of Pyrrhic superpowers and a growing distance from the people he once loved.

Can Clay remind him of what it means to be human before it’s too late? And can Ben pull it together enough to help save an old friend from a fate worse than death? The answers lie in the southwestern desert, along with a few surprises that will lay the foundation for Volume 2 of Masks …

Did I mention that’s not even the best part?!

I am so excited about this that I am literally vibrating as I type, so pardon the typos, but here it is—I wrote a comic book!

An actual comic book! With pictures and everything! I’m hoping it will be done in time for FCBD, but if it’s not, it’ll be because I was late finishing the script and not because of the artist because the artist is freaking amazing, you guys. No, you don’t have to put up with my art this time around—I’ve got THIS GUY!

 Yeah, the guy who drew, oh, the best Masks art ever. His name is Derrick Fleece, and if you’re not already a fan of his work, you should be. He was the first guy to give Trevor a face that actually made sense—a face I liked so much that I immediately changed the way I drew Trevor just so he’d look more like Derrick’s interpretation. 

 The 8-page story, titled “Pick Your Poison”, should be available on or shortly after Free Comic Book Day, and it picks up where “Ghost Dance” leaves off, with Clay making a decision that will change his life forever—and turn Rae’s and Trevor’s lives upside-down. Derrick wanted to draw some noir, so I gave him all the shadows and muddled morality I could, and the results are unbelievably awesome. And if all goes well, you’ll get all of it this coming Saturday.

If you’ll excuse me, I need to go find a way to speed up time … 

All about "Talisman"

That’s right, I’m shamelessly plugging the new bonus story, which you can buy for only two dollars. It’s twice as long as a regular Masks chapter, too, despite being banged out in 48 hours flat. And as I said before, all proceeds go directly to buy back-to-school supplies for some needy kids pointed out to me by a local teacher. (If you'd rather just donate money, you can do that here.)

So, what’s “Talisman” about, now that I’ve finished writing it?

I thought the story would be mostly a character study for Trevor. I wanted to explore what he was like as a kid sidekick, before Jude disappeared on him and The Bad Thing happened to him. As I’ve said, the story was inspired by a throwaway line where Trevor mentioned spending two weeks in a Buddhist shrine, healing up at the end of something called the “Night Lords’ War.” I was intrigued by the idea of involving a couple of street-level masks like Trevor and Jude in a big supernatural war, as I knew it had to be an all-hands-on-deck kind of situation—the Champions of the Cosmos calling in reserve members, including those without powers and those with no aptitude for magic. This conflict had to be huge, and I love throwing my characters into huge situations because it shows how wonderfully they work the small details.

But to my surprise, “Talisman” turned out to be mostly about family.

This part came from another throwaway line—Trevor mentions in a late chapter of Masks that he doesn’t really have any clear memories of his parents, even though he was six years old when they died in a car accident. I don’t know about you, but I have at least a few solid memories of being six. I mean, I was in kindergarten when I was six, and I remember plenty of that. Yet Trevor’s memories essentially begin with his parents’ funeral. I had already included a scene in Masks where Trevor handles his parents’ wedding rings, and as I wrote “Talisman,” I found Trevor’s attention returning to the question of these people he should remember, but doesn’t.

So while the plot of “Talisman” is about monsters attacking the shrine, and a badly wounded twelve-year-old Trevor limping out to save the day or die trying, the emotional through-line is all about family. Trevor is worried that he’ll be “fired” as Jude’s sidekick because he got hurt—Jude is his only family now, and he’s afraid of being disowned. He’s frustrated that he can’t remember his real family, and fiercely protective of the only artifact he has from them. He finds himself having to be a protective big brother to a boy named Bobby, the four-year-old son of the superhero Behemoth (most of the Champions of the Cosmos left their loved ones at the shrine for safekeeping, protected by the talisman in the story's title).

And the question of why Trevor doesn’t remember his parents becomes central to the resolution of the story. There isn’t an obvious physical cause, even accounting for the terrible medical science found in fiction—he wasn’t in the car when the accident happened, so there’s no convenient head trauma or anything like that. He hasn’t been exposed to any telepaths with a reason to erase his memories. His mom and dad were, by all accounts, nice people who loved their only child and would never abuse him. There’s no reason in the world Trevor shouldn’t have at least a few memories of his biological family. So why doesn’t he remember them?

Well, you’ll have to buy the story to find out, of course. But if it’s any consolation, you’ll also get to see Jude and Trevor kicking serious monster butt, and find out a lot about what Trevor’s world was like back in his sidekick days. And for those of you who have been wondering just what Trevor’s mentor was really like in person … well, your wish is my command. He's here.

I’m still working on getting permission to tell you more about the kids “Talisman” is going to help. I’ll keep you posted on that. Until then—superheroes! Monsters! What could possibly go wrong?

Some fairly awesome news

I’m going on a school visit!

Sharp-eyed readers (and Mr. Olson’s minions, of course) will recall that I made a visit to a junior-high English class in Texas via Skype back in October. Well, this time it’s not Skype. I am getting on a train and chugging my way out to Bullhead City, Arizona, where I will be speaking at Mohave High School (go, Thunderbirds!).

I will do my best to take photos even as I do my best to warp young minds without burning down the building. I will try to post said photos, although I’m bunking at a friend’s house and internet access will be iffy. So the page may be sparsely updated next week.

BUT … the REASON I am trekking to Bullhead City is to lead a writing workshop based on my new short story, which you fine folks will get to see when Free Comic Book Day rolls around on May 7. I’m also working to develop curriculum for it at the high-school level, which I will make available for free on my website whenever I get around to making one. (Don’t hold your breath … I have to read Web Design For Dummies first.) Any teachers in California, Texas, or New York who’d be interested in helping me tailor the curriculum to your respective state education guidelines, hit me up and you’ll get to read the story a few months early, albeit without the illustrations. Plus a Skype visit, unless you’re in southern California, in which case you might get an in-person visit.

Yeah, yeah, I hear you saying, get to the part that matters to ME! Well, all this means that 1) a new short story is in the pipeline, which is ALWAYS good news; 2) Masks is getting a toehold in our lovely educational system, which is good news for both overworked teachers (translation: all teachers) and bored students; and 3) my completely awesome friends and fans have found yet another way to prove the viability of this book from a publishing standpoint.

Bullhead City, here I come!

All the MASKS stories so far, in one convenient place.

Here are the three short stories I’ve published so far in the Masks universe. You can download them through Scribd if you like, or just read them here. While most of the action in Masks obviously takes place in the books, side stories like these give me a chance to develop my characters and world in a shorter format … and they give you a chance to see what those characters and that world are like before the book actually comes out.

Yes, longtime readers, I know that I have technically published four stories—but I’m not counting “The Curtain” as strictly canonical because I’ve changed some stuff in the plot and characters since then. (For one thing, we now have a completely different story on how Trevor first saw Rae …)

And yes, VERY longtime readers, I know that I published about a hundred short stories about these characters between 1998 and 2005. I’m not counting them, either … until I decide I am.

The first story in the cycle, “Motion Capture”, features Rae and Trevor doing their thing in their native habitats. Specifically, Rae gets in trouble with her school’s mean girls and then gets in a supervillain’s face, and Trevor tries to do the right thing and gets duct-taped to a wall and very nearly lobotomized.

Motion Capture

The second story, “Zephyr Street,” takes place after “Motion Capture” and features Rae solving the murder of one of the dozens of masks killed in the superhero purge a decade back. The case takes her to a sunny little neighborhood with a big, dark secret …

Zephyr Street

And the most recent story, “The Buddy System,” features Trevor shortly after he arrives in Los Angeles after the events of “Motion Capture” as he tries to evade his pursuers and protect a little boy who’s wiggled into the wrong place at the wrong time ….

The Buddy System

New short story: "The Buddy System"

The story is here! It's up! And it features previously unreleased art by Nicole Le! (She tells me it's a study for a painting, based on a picture I took of the Olympic Boulevard bridge ... somewhere in there this story developed.)

Remember, you can still enter the fan-art and recruitment contests--they run until September 25!

And now, I'm going to go take the rest of my birthday off. Turning off the cell phone ... NOW!
The Buddy System

New short story: "Zephyr Street"

Zephyr Street

The Big Announcement (for today)

I’ll make it short and sweet:

On August 10, I will post a new FREE short story in the blog. It’ll probably be around 5,000 words, it’ll be called “Zephyr Street”, and it will take place between the events of “Motion Capture” and the beginning of Masks. It’ll be about Rae solving the murder of one of the masks who died during the purge ten years ago.

On September 10, as a birthday gift to myself, I will post a second FREE short story in the blog, also set between “Motion Capture” and Masks, of about the same length as “Zephyr Street.” It doesn’t have a title yet, but it will be about Trevor having a little adventure around the time he first arrives in Los Angeles. There will almost certainly be running and screaming.

These stories will be designed as jumping-on points for the Masks universe—I’m hoping to recruit some more readers as we head into autumn. Oh, and there will be at least one contest coming up before my birthday … haven’t decided what the prize is, though.

Now don’t ever say I never give you anything.

Oh, and there’ll be a regular blog entry sometime tonight … a comic book review …