http://www.blackhousecomics.com/articles/books-we-sent-to-print-today.html

Stay tuned for photos and general excitement.

All personnel not found at their battle stations will be subject to executive reprimand.

Big Arse Comic Book Launch #2 To Be Held in March

Melbourne, Australia - Following the success of 2011’s Big Arse Comic Book Launch the Melbourne comics community in hosting a second, even bigger event to launch of fifteen (15) new works created by authors from the fast-growing local scene.

These books are published by a diverse array of publishers, from the small press to national publishers, with reach into the newsstands and the global comics market.

Presented by the inimitable, indomitable, inglorious and invincible Bernard Caleo.

Saturday, March 3rd from 2:00pm

Sentido Funf

243 - 245 Gertrude Street

Fitzroy

Victoria, Australia

Big Arse 2 is proudly sponsored by All Star Comics.

ALL YOU BASTARDS CAN GO JUMP OFF A BRIDGE (Milk Shadow Books)

From the creator of Egg Story and Eating Steve, and the co-creator of The Sixsmiths, J Marc Schmidt furiously rains down comic stories covering art, romance, religion, anger, pop culture parodies, sex and death.  This book that explores human behaviour and why it can sometimes be so hard to just get along with each other. Features a foreword by Tango‘s Bernard Caleo.

BALLANTYNE WHERE HIDDEN RIVERS FLOW (Pikitia Press)
Ballantyne Where Hidden Rivers Flow reprints Peter Foster’s collaboration with writer James H. Kemsley, which was featured in the Sydney Sunday Sun-Herald for several years in the 1990s. Based on Kemsley’s vivid memories of working as a patrol officer in post World War Two New Guinea, Ballantyne is a classic adventure strip in the fine tradition of The Phantom, X-9 Secret Agent, and others of the genre. This first volume of Ballantyne is 64 pages of lavish colour.
BLOOD ACROSS BROADWAY (FrankenComics)

Blood Across Broadway is a 70 page comic homage to Nosferatu, The Jazz Singer, and the most prominent Broadway musicals. Set in the Golden Age of Hollywood and Theatre, the story features an old, crippled vampire known as Morlook, who fosters a tremendous love of jazz, theatre and dancing, much to the disapproval of his overbearing son Cartorius. But with the help of a certain legendary dancer, Morlook learns the art of dancing and showmanship, all the while dreaming of being among the

bright lights of Broadway, an unlikely setting for an undead creature of the night. Written and illustrated by Frank Candiloro.

CRIMINAL ELEMENT (Black House Comics)

Ten stories about crimes and the criminals who commit them. Gangsters, demons, burglars, nurses, hitmen, saboteurs, slavers, bounty hunters, and furniture salesmen. The mean streets, a post-apocalyptic plague world, a tram depot and war torn Vietnam. The past, the present, and the future. Edited by Jason Franks. Stories by Russell Lissau, mpMann, Jason Copland, Jason Franks, Brendan Halyday, Dave Gutierrez, Dino Caruso, Jae Korim, Vic Malhotra, Jan Scherpenhuizen, Leigh Kuilboer, Bernard Caleo, Alexis Fischler and Bruce Mutard.

DIGESTED #5 (Gestalt Comics)

The fifth issue of Bobby.N’s series reaches a turning point in the ongoing story OXYGEN, where nothing will ever be the same again for the main character. And for dessert, there’s also a short personal story at the end of this issue.

IT SHINES AND SHAKES AND LAUGHS (Milk Shadow Books)

If you have never set off on a voyage with cult artist Tim Molloy then get ready to leave this universe… forever. It Shines and Shakes and Laughs is packed to the gills with four years worth of silent and surreal comics. Contains the Impy strips, complete reprints of the long ago disappeared books, Under the Bed and Saturn Returns, and lots more. Features a foreword by Hicksville‘s Dylan Horrocks.

KILLEROO: GANGWAR (Ozone Studios)

Killeroo returns in an all-action story from the past, when he was the leader of a motorcycle gang in the early 80′s. This story shows a more savage side to the character than we’ve seen in the past, in a no-holds-barred, good old-fashioned slugfest. Written and inked by Darren Close and pencilled by the amazingly talented Paul Abstruse (Witch King).

KRANBURN #2 (FEC Comics)

Second issue of the brutal Australian post-apocalyptic series by Ben Michael Byrne. Now that you have met our lead character, Brand, it is time to see how much further these urban tribe wars have spread. And what will lead Brand into even more dangerous situations with the ‘Nongs’.

NO MAP, BUT NOT LOST (Milk Shadow Books)

A thick book that collects all of Bobby.N’s previous self-published work and short stories, from the early days where he is finding his voice, up until today. From amateur scribbling to a more refined line. A chronological record of one ordinary guy getting better on paper, by following his heart. Features a foreword by Larry Boxshall from the NonCanonical comics podcast.

PAY THROUGH THE SOUL #2 (Black House Comics)

Pay Through The Soul follows on from Blackhouse Comics 2011 collection of Matt Emery’s The Guzumo Show. Published in an ongoing single issue format that was popular with Indy comics of the ’90′s, Pay Through The Soul is a finely crafted one-man humour anthology for adult readers. Utilising gag strips and lengthier stories Matt Emery’s comics touch on themes of sexism, racism, homophobia, politics, sex, and religion all served with a dose of the absurd.

THE RETURN OF THE NIGHT EAGLE  (Pikitia Press)
Now retired, Peter Foster had a distinguished career illustrating thousands of pages of comics for DC Thomson in England as well numerous comics and newspaper strips in Australia. In the 1980s it was not uncommon to find a DC Thomson comic with two if not three of Foster’s stories in it. The Return of the Night Eagle is Foster’s re-invention of Carl Lyon’s Australian superhero of the ’40s, The Eagle, as a legacy hero. Night Eagle includes a back up feature of Orion the Hunter and is packed full of adventure and intrigue with 40 pages of vibrant colour.

SAWBONES: THE TIME BEING

The Time Being sees the thrilling conclusion to the globe and time spanning epic as the gang rush to stop the Time Being from tearing the universe apart. Bones, Sawyer, Daisy, Emelia and Martin face off against vikings, ninjas, Nazis, centurions, cavemen and Ghengis Kahn in a fight to the finish. But who’s Finish? Adventure Zomedy at its best.  Written by Jen Breach. Illustrated by Trev Wood.

STRIPSHOW (Milk Shadow Books)

Forget the sweeping saga of The Sacrifice, or arty The Silence: Aussie comic master Bruce Mutard began his comic life in the slime, evolving slowly through the lizard and ape phases to become the ‘artiste’ he is today. Stripshow showcases these early phases where no holes– sorry, holds– were barred, and humour was the order of the day. This collection of short strips, gags, illustrations and ads are either unpublished, or long, long, out of print in their original publications. Comes with a mea culpa  from the author. For pubescents over 18.

TERRA MAGAZINE #1 (Black House Comics)

Debut of the much-anticipated tri-annual genre fiction comics magazine. TERRA MAGAZINE brings together a diverse range of continuing science fiction, fantasy, horror and crime stories by some of Australia’s best talents. Samurai and spaceships; elephants and yakuza; mummies and magicians; cops and cyborgs: if there isn’t something you like in here, you’re on the wrong planet. Edited by Jason Franks

YOU STINK AND I DON’T #10 (Milk Shadow Books)

The tenth issue of Ben Hutchings’ cult comic, You Stink and I Don’t is now officially ready to hit the streets! Following up from the critical success of his cult newspaper comic Walking to Japan, Ben has created lots of comics about funny cats, silly sports, superheros in people’s bottoms and more.

ZOMBOLETTE (Milk Shadow Books)

A beautifully decaying, giant-sized collection of Scarlette Baccini’s strips and stories featuring a girl zombie and her best friend/roommate/hamster, Cameron. So is the book cute? Maybe. Or filled with gutz and gore? Sort of. Will you get lolz? Yes… yes you will. Meet Zombolette (and Cameron too!).

http://jasonfischer.com.au/?p=724

A number of Terra Magazine creators, including Chris Sequeira and Jason Franks, will be at Supanova in Brisbane this weekend at the Black House Comics. We will be giving away Terra postcards and we’d love it if you came by to tell us what you think.

RNA Showgrounds, Gregory Terrace, Brisbane.

Opening Night Ceremony, November 4th (7pm to 10pm – doors open 6.30pm)

Saturday November 5th and Sunday November 6th, 10am to 6pm.

If you’d like a preview of some of the stories that are coming in the first issue, come check out the Black House panel at 12:30pm on Saturday in the seminar room. Program details are here:

http://www.supanova.com.au/news/brisbane-event-guide/

See you at the shindig!

Check it out:

Shot in King’s Comics in Sydney, Paul Mason’s Soldier Legacy characters will be front and center, with other Black House titles including Sherlock Holmes: The Dark Detective, After The world, The Twilight Age and the upcoming Terra Magazine are also featured.

More information available via the Queensland College of Art:

http://www.qcagriffith.com/2011/09/paul-masons-the-soldier-legacy/

When I did the 12 pages issue 0 for Small Press Idol way back in 07 I knew there was a bigger story there but if it hadn’t been for Jason Franks Kensuke may well have become one of those projects that sits on a shelf gathering dust. We’ve actually been talking about it since 07 but it wasn’t until a new anthology, published by Black House Comics, started to rear its head that Kensuke got the reboot. Kensuke is looking to be a long story so while many of the stories in this anthology are only go over 3 or so issues Ken will be there for long haul.

The anthology is called Terra and should be appearing in the late year or early next year. Terra has been in the pipeline for quite a while but I’ve been so busy with other projects that I’ve not yet been able to get onto  Kensuke. That is, until today. Well, I’ve been naughty and instead of working on what I should be I thought I’d give Kensuke a little go with a couple of quick sketches.

Sometimes, the best anecdotes involve those things that didn’t quite work out. In writing circles, we’ve all got that project that crashed and burned, the one that got away, the thing that for whatever reason lost its mojo, usually after a lot of effort, time, and heartache.

One of my favourite failure anecdotes was to talk about Tusk. This was a novel I wrote in 2004, the product of the Colin Thiele Literature Scholarship that I received from the SA Youth Arts Board. I was fortunate enough to be mentored by local fantasy author Tony Shillitoe, and over the course of 18 months or so I wrote this novel to the best of my abilities.

The tagline for Tusk is this: telepathic elephants enslave mankind. Planet of the Elephants, or as Tony called it “Gladiator in Grey”. So I spent a large chunk of time/money writing this book, sent it to one place, got a rejection, buried it in a drawer and it physically pained me to look at this MS forever afterwards. Again, we’re talking the journeyman stage of my career, where the sting of rejection is a brutal thing.

This was 2005 me. 2011 me is much older, much wiser, and much more ruthless. Especially when it comes to editing. So, after many years of fermenting, Tusk has once more seen the light of day, and has been polished to within an inch of its life. Even better than that, it’s already found a really awesome home.

Which brings me to the next part of this announcement. Black Glass Press have teamed up with the folks at Black House Comics to come up with a new regular anthology comic, called Terra Magazine. There are some brilliant (nay, award-winning) folks from comic circles involved with this project, and there’s a bit of everything in this book. It’s a bit like 2000AD, in that there are ongoing serial stories, you will soon find it on the shelves in your local newsagent, and there’s never a dull moment.

This book has got samurai, detectives, freaks in space, sorcery, yakuza, and cyborg lunatics. Terra Magazine is also the new home for Tusk, which will now be released as a serial story, illustrated prose much like Gaiman’s original stardust. It’s the only non-comic instalment, and will appear in each issue.

Terra Magazine is a new triannual comics magazine featuring work from more than a dozen of Australia’s best writers and artists, including: Tom Bonin, Ben Michael Byrne, Michal Dutkiewicz, Jason Franks, Jason Fischer, Greg Gates, Nicholas Hunter, Leigh Kuilboer, Bruce Mutard, Luke Pickett, Jason Paulos, Harry Purnell, Jan Scherpenhuizen, Christopher Sequeira and Yuriko Sekine.

Terra will feature serialized stories in a variety of genres: science fiction, crime, fantasy, horror and historical drama. The opening line-up includes:

Kensuke, a samurai fantasy drama.
Gourmand Go, a twisted space opera.
Tusk, an illustrated prose feature about a world dominated by a race of telepathic elephants.
The Catamorph, in which two police detectives run afoul of ancient Egyptian magic.
Shadowmancy, the story of the son of a bad seed sorceror’s quest for power.
Gun Smoke Bud, a yakuza crime/suspense story.
Ben Byrne’s Tales, a humorous and gruesome look at a dystopian future populated by cyborg lunatics and run by an out-of-control military complex.

Terra Magazine will be distributed to newsstands throughout Australia by Gordon and Gotch. The magazine is published by Black House comics and edited by Jason Franks.

Science fiction, crime, horror, fantasy; grim, slapstick, action-packed and thought-provoking. Terra Magazine is gonna rock your world.