I’m the best there is at what I do… and what I do is write books well—sometimes in projects involving famous comic book characters!
In case you haven’t heard, today is the U.S. release date for X-Men: Days of Future Past, the fifth movie based on Marvel Comics’ popular mutant superhero team. A sequel to both 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand and 2011’s X-Men: First Class, this time around moviegoers are taken back to the 1970s to learn the origins of Charles Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters—and to an alternate future reality in which mutants are hunted to the verge of extinction! It’s based on a classic X-story written by Chris Claremont and drawn by John Byrne and Terry Austin, and stars Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, James McEvoy, Ellen Page, Jennifer Lawrence, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, and a host of others.
So why, you ask, would we be talking about X-Men movies, of all things, here at The ’Warp? This is a horror and dark-fantasy publishing house, you say, not a superhero comic book company! (Not counting our graphic novel Troubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings, of course.) Well, allow me to explain…
X-MEN: THE CHAOS ENGINE TRILOGY was a set of original novels that I wrote between 2000 and 2002 for publishing house BP Books, with b&w illustrations by Mark Buckingham (Fables, Doctor Who) and cover paintings by Bob Larkin (Doc Savage, Savage Sword of Conan, Tomb of Dracula, and most recently cover artist of my Saga of Pandora Zwieback novels). In the first book, X-Men/Doctor Doom, the team returns to Earth after a cosmic mission to discover everything has changed—and that the Fantastic Four’s archenemy, Doctor Doom, is now the planet’s emperor, courtesy of the Cosmic Cube, a device that allows its possessor to alter reality to fit their personal desires. (Movie fans may know it better as “the Tesseract,” the blue-glowing cube seen in Captain America: The First Avenger, Thor, and Marvel’s The Avengers.) In Books 2 and 3, X-Men/Magneto and X-Men/Red Skull, things only worsen when each of those super-villains get their hands on it.
I wasn’t a major fan of the X-Men when I started the assignment—in fact, I had to read about a decade’s worth of comics to catch up on their continuity—but Marvel’s licensing people (at least those in charge when I began writing) liked my approach to the characters and gave me free rein to tell the story how I wanted to tell it. What I mean by that is that it became a very character-driven, not plot-driven, story; more often than not I referred to the X-Men by their real names, not their superhero code names; and I made Psylocke—the sexy Japanese ninja whose body is home to the soul of a Caucasian, British telepath named Betsy Braddock—the star of all three books. Toss in the multidimensional, superpowered Captain Britain Corps, a few unexpected X-deaths, the multiverse on the brink of destruction, a couple of thinly veiled Doctor Who references, and the concept of Cyclops, leader of the X-Men, as an enthusiastic Nazi(!) and you wound up with an extremely dense (over 300,000 words!) epic. Even better, the X-fans seemed to enjoy it!
“Think Lord of the Rings, but instead of One Ring, it is a small cube where three villains from the Marvel universe can wish to turn our world into what they have dreamed of—namely, world domination! The writer, Steven A. Roman, made the story so well, it was like the greatest movie never made. I doubt if this would ever be adapted, but if it does, it could challenge LoTR as the best movie trilogy.”—The Movie Blog
“Roman excites the reader with wonderful descriptions of the normally drawn comic book characters. The story didn’t read like a typical comic but rather as an action-thriller that left you on the edge of a cliff with its surprise ending. Dr. Doom is certainly portrayed in character, and readers will get a great portrait of Marvel’s elite Mutant stars.”—Bookwatch
“A powerful roller coaster of a novel. This trilogy is not just for Marvel lovers and has something for every reader to enjoy, including romance, action and demise, with a cosmic twist. Roman pulls you right into the action as it unfolds, leaving you gasping from the first book to the last.”—CelebrityCafé.com
“Roman does a great job of bringing the personalities out of the main players. He has plenty of fun with them too without going as far as sending them up. Well written, intelligent and not without wit [X-Men/Magneto] pushes all the right buttons of the genre.”—Goodreads
“Xavier’s confrontation with Magneto [in Book 2] is simply heartbreaking. Instead of the usual slugfests, these two have always warred with words, but this is one time where both want Xavier to win… and the one thing Magneto wants Xavier to concede is the one thing he wishes he could, but can’t. It’s absolutely one of the best moments these two have ever had, and I honestly felt sorry for both of them… One sacrificing ‘The Dream’ for the Multiverse, the other being forced to sacrifice… well, that would be telling.”—Comixfan
You can still find used copies of the novels at online retailers like Amazon—the trilogy was published as trade paperbacks, mass-market paperbacks, a trade paperback omnibus edition, and an oh-so-rare hardcover omnibus exclusive to the Science Fiction Book Club. Pick it up; it’ll give you something to read while you’re waiting on line for the next movie showing.
As Stan Lee would say, “Excelsior!” And as late film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert would say, “I’ll see you…at the movies!”
No, seriously. I’m going this weekend. Save me a seat.
In her quarter century of stealing the souls of evildoers, our resident succubus, Lorelei, has gained quite the following. Some fans come for the good-girl/bad-girl art; some come for the horror; some come for the quality writing (he said modestly); some even…er, come for the sexual element. Among that ever-growing fan base of Lori fans you can count a few celebrity creators I’ve worked up the courage to approach, to ask their opinion of my first leading lady of horror.
As you probably know, StarWarp Concepts (and me, of course), will be attending the inaugural 
In 1982, I decided to try pitching a Vampirella story to Warren Publishing. I’d been a fan of the swimsuited vampire from outer space since for about six years at that point, my horror-fan life forever changed when I stumbled across issue 55 at a mom-and-pop newsstand. That Sanjulian cover certainly got my attention, but it was discovering that legendary comic writer Archie Goodwin had crafted her early adventures that kept me interested—Vampirella 55 was a “Best of Archie Goodwin” collection of stories from the early ’70s. And when Goodwin mentioned in an interview that his Vampirella stories were heavily influenced by the works of H. P. Lovecraft, an author I’d heard of but never read…well, I just had to see what those were about. Thanks for the tip, Mr. Goodwin!
It was 25 years ago that our resident soul-stealing succubus, Lorelei, made her small-press comic debut, in 1989’s Lorelei One-Shot Special (the cover of which you see here). Heavily influenced by comics’ #1 femme fatale, Vampirella, as well as by Marvel Comics’ Satana, the Devil’s Daughter (a succubus) and writer Bill Mantlo’s superhero duo Cloak & Dagger, not to mention the gritty 1980s TV series The Equalizer (whaaaat?), Lori was an avenging angel—a temptress who feasted only on the souls of evildoers. And the dangerous streets of late ’80s New York was the perfect setting for her nightly hunts.
Most recently, Lori starred in the graphic novel 
Lorelei Presents: House Macabre: Coming September 17, it’s Lori’s debut as the hostess of a horror anthology comic (if Vampirella and Elvira can do it, why not Lori?). Available in print and digital formats, it features stories by Steven A. Roman (me again!) and Dwight Jon Zimmerman (Marvel Comics Presents), with art by Uriel Caton & “Chainsaw” Chuck Majewski (Heartstopper: The Legend of La Bella Tenebrosa), Lou Manna (T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents), John Pierard (My Teacher Fried My Brains), and Juan Carlos Abraldes Rendo. Cover art is provided by Louis Small Jr. (Vampirella).
Lorelei: Genesis: Scheduled for October 8 release (just in time for Halloween!), it’s a digital-exclusive collection of Lori’s original small-press appearances, written and drawn by yours truly—a 24-page, one-shot special for just 99¢! Ordering information on this and House Macabre will become available as we get closer to their release dates.
But then came the recent announcement of BookCon.
First off, please welcome our new (and first-ever) production manager, Annie Wilkes!
The first job we’ve tasked her with is straightening out the unfortunate delay with the long-awaited and much demanded Blood Reign, second in our critically acclaimed Saga of Pandora Zwieback young adult novel series. Annie has promised to right this ship so that readers eager to follow Pan’s adventures will finally learn what became of her after the cliffhanger ending of the first novel, Blood Feud.
Blood Reign is just the first ’Warp release scheduled for this year. In September, our dirty-bird succubus returns to host Lorelei Presents: House Macabre, a one-shot special in the tradition of horror anthology comics like Creepy, Eerie, and Bela Lugosi’s Tales From the Grave.
And on sale right now in comic shops is the graphic novel 
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