Hey, everyone. Joe Martin here. I've been really busy these
past few months. Those of you who might not know, I left Caliber Comics in late
August in order to pursue my own freelance agenda (part of that, of course, being
writing). I departed on good terms with everyone there and I'm writing the rest of
LegendLore: Wrath of the Dragon (for an early '99 release date). After that, plans
are not concrete on what is going to happen with the LegendLore series, but Gary Reed
(Caliber's publisher) has made mention to me that he is thinking about a color special.
Going color in this current marketplace is an ostentatious task, so we'll just have
to wait and see how that plays out. For now, it's simply something spinning on the
rumor mill.
I've got my Kentucky-based studio pretty much up and running now.
I'm keeping busy doing graphic design, as well as writing, editorial consultation
and property development. Two companies I've been working with of late, trying to
help them streamline their operation, is DreamSmith Studios (publishers of Book) and
Peregrine Entertainment (publishers of Books of Lore, among others). It's fun stuff.
Speaking of fun, today I received pages from Philip Xavier for a story of
ours that will be appearing in Frank Frazetta Fantasy Illustrated #6 (March release).
It's a Celtic fantasy appearing in full color. The colors are being applied (as I
write this) by Richard Isanove, whose colors you can see right now in the pages of
Marvel's X-Men series. I'll be doing the lettering, starting next week.
Since we're on the subject of that Frazetta magazine, you can see some of
Philip's artwork in their current release on store shelves right now. It's a 10-page
story that he originally did for Peregrine Entertainment that never saw print until now
(the fault is not Peregrine's...it lies elsewhere, but I'm not one to malign). It's
beautiful... especially with the vibrant coloring by the notable Paul Mounts.
Getting back to the Horned God! It's a project that I've been culminating
for quite some time and have practically immersed myself in Celtic lore for the past few
years. I have spent countless hours and precious metals researching this fascinating
age of the British Isles. If you've ever heard of Queen Boudicca of the Iceni, then
I think you'll dig what we've done with this story. Let's just say there's Celts,
Romans, Druids and Faeries in this one, and it's the beginning of something epic. Think of
it as a prologue to the upcoming series. We are talking to a few companies about the
project, so I'll keep you updated here as more headway is made in that domain.
And I can honestly say this story for Frazetta #6 features Philip's finest
pencils to date. I'll tell you why! I see no reason to be modest! :-) When we
were laying this story out, I spent 9 days at Philip's home and did the anatomical
breakdowns for nearly every figure in the story. Philip and I both recognize that if
we were to go up against one another in a War of Art, my strength lies in human anatomy...
whereas his is in everything else! In any case, this made for a very strong story
visually, as well as literally, of course!
So check out David Ross' LegendLore Fan Site http://www.pitac.com/space/comics/lore/
in the next few weeks for some preview art to the Horned God stuff for Frank Frazetta
Fantasy Illustrated #6, and I'll try not to be so much of a stranger from now on!
Cheers!
~Joe Martin