If you live in a big city, you know how dangerous trick-or-treating can sometimes be, with dodging speeding cars and trucks while you’re trying to make the rounds of your favorite candy-giving haunts—even in the daytime!
In 2022, New York City took steps to try and make trick-or-treating a much safer event, by instituting “Trick or Streets,” an expansion of its “Open Streets” initiative that closes certain streets to vehicular traffic so that NYC residents can walk and bike on them without fear of injury. (It’s a popular program that started in May 2021 as a result of the pandemic lockdown, so that people could finally get out of their homes and apartments to enjoy fresh air.)
Continuing the tradition, tomorrow kicks off Year 4’s Trick or Streets 2025: a two-week festival during which a number of streets will be closed off in Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn, allowing you and yours to hit the pavement and celebrate the Spooky Season with “live music, fun activities, interactive performances, and more.” (Keep an eye on local weather forecasts, though, so you can dress accordingly.)
For more information on the city’s Halloween plans and a list of family-friendly events being held, head over to the Trick or Streets website.
It’s true, comic book fans: you really can’t keep a good miniseries down. And there’s no better proof of that than today’s release of The Formidables #1—the superhero series that I was involved with as editor in 2021, which is back on comic shop shelves, courtesy of indie publishing company Advent Comics.
Created and originally published by writer/artist Chris Malgrain (Stan Lee’s Alexa, Sideral: The Last Earthman) through his Oniric Comics company, the Formidables are a quintet of superheroes battling evil and bigotry in 1950s America, with their first challenge coming in the form of a Communist super-villain…who’s disguised as a white supremacist!
It’s a unique take on the genre, with Chris examining topics like race relations and sexual identity in a Cold War setting, with an appropriate amount of punching and explosions mixed in, of course—we are talking superhero comics, after all!
The Formidables’ epic 8-issue storyline involves Commie villains, an alien invasion force vs. an army of superheroes, shocking revelations, and an appearance by…God?! Overall, it’s Chris’s ode to Bronze Age comics, his writing tinged with a hint of classic Stan Lee, and his illustrations a reflection of his two biggest artistic influences: Jack “King” Kirby and John Byrne. Hell, I even got into the action beyond editing, as I stepped in as scripter for issue 5!
The Formidables #1 is on sale right now, so visit your local comic shop and pick up a copy. And then get ready for some Bronze Age–style superhero action!
As Stan the Man used to say, if there’s only one comic you’re going to buy this month, make it this one!
New York Comic Con 2025 may have come and gone, but that doesn’t mean convention season is over. This coming weekend, comic book fans will be gathering at Baltimore Comic Con, being held at the Baltimore Convention Center in downtown Baltimore, Maryland.
Among the creators you’ll find in Artists Alley will be author Richard C. White, the author of a growing list of StarWarp Concepts titles: the swashbuckling adventure novel Harbinger of Darkness; the fantasy-adventure story collection For a Few Gold Pieces More; the writers’ and RPG gamemasters’ aid Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination; the supernatural-superhero graphic novel Troubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings; the noir-fantasy story collection Chasing Danger: The Case Files of Theron Chase; and the pirate-adventure digital comic The Chronicles of the Sea Dragon Special.
You’ll find Rich at Table H5, promoting his latest SWC release: the sci-fi steampunk novel On Wings of Steel: The Darkside Chronicles, Book 1, in which Erica Halgrim, a member of the Angels of Steel courier service, finds herself drawn into a political plot—and possibly murder—at the risk of her own life. And be sure to ask him about his upcoming releases for 2026—he’s got quite a lot in the works!
Baltimore Comic Con runs October 17–19. For more information on the show, visit their website.
Hey, fans of Western comic books! The 2025 iteration of New York Comic Con might be going on right now, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only place you can find cool comic books based on licensed properties.
Available right now from Virtual Comics, the comics imprint of video game publisher Piko Interactive LLC, is The Legend of Calamity Jane: The Devil Herself, a 32-page, full-color comic book by writer Steven A. Roman (that’s me!) and artist/colorist Eliseu Gouveia—the creative team behind the SWC projects The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0, The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1, and Lorelei: Sects and the City.
The Legend of Calamity Jane was an Old West–themed animated series that debuted on Warner Bros.’s Kids WB slate of children’s programming in September 1997. A coproduction of Warner Bros. TV Animation with France-based Gangster Production, Contre-Allée, and Canal+, and set in and around Deadwood, South Dakota, in the 1870s, it presented a heavily fictionalized, heavily stylized take on the life and times of the real-life Martha Jane Canary, a gunslinging, bullwhip-toting cowgirl who was famously known across the United States as “Calamity Jane.”
The series starred Barbara Weber-Scaff (Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets) as the voice of Jane, joined by Frank W. Welker (Transformers, Freddy of Scooby-Doo fame) as Jane’s sidekick, Joe Presto, Clancy Brown (Superman: The Animated Series, SpongeBob SquarePants) as Wild Bill Hickok, Tim Matheson (Jonny Quest, Animal House) as Captain John O’Rourke, and Michael Horse (Twin Peaks, Claws) as Comanche tribe leader Chief Chayna Walker. Supporting roles were performed by such well-known actors as Mark Hamill (Star Wars, Batman: The Animated Series), Robert Patrick (Peacemaker, Terminator 2: Judgment Day), Larry Drake (Darkman), and Luke Perry (Riverdale, Beverly Hills 90210).
The Legend of Calamity Jane: The Devil Herself is a one-shot special set in the present day that finds Jane on the hunt for a stolen relic: a gun that belonged to her old friend Wild Bill Hickok, who in real life was shot and killed in Deadwood in 1876. But more suprising than the identity of the gun’s current owner—a series villain from her past—is the even bigger mystery it sets up: How can Calamity Jane still be alive today, and not looking a day older than she did in the 1870s…?
As pop culture and comic fans know, today is the opening day for New York Comic Con 2025—which, if it runs true to form, will be an absolute madhouse this weekend!
Unfortunately, StarWarp Concepts won’t be part of the festivities (it’s really expensive to exhibit there). But that doesn’t mean you can’t experience a sort of scaled-down SWC version of the big show right here!
You want vendors? Though our webstore is currently down, you can order SWC’s ever-expanding roster of titles from such retail sites as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Bookshop. On the e-book and digital comic front, you can purchase our books, comics, and graphic novels from our publisher pages at DriveThru Fiction, DriveThru Comics, and Smashwords.
Convention giveaways? Our Downloads page has a bunch of free stuff—Pandora Zwieback wallpapers for your smartphone and computer, book samples, and free digital comics:
Lorelei #1: The 30th Anniversary Special Edition is a reprint of the comic that helped launch StarWarp Concepts in 1993. Wriiten and created by Steven A. Roman (that’s me!), and drawn by David C. Matthews (Heartstopper: The Legend of La Bella Tenebrosa), it introduced readers to celebrated professional photographer Laurel Ashley O’Hara, on the day that would change her life forever—a day when a major exhibition of her work was opening at a prestigious New York museum…and the day she unfortunately met the charming but dangerous Arioch—a lord of hell!
Heroines & Heroes is a collection of comic stories and pinups all drawn by Steven A. Roman (that’s me!), dating back to my days in the early 1990s small-press movement—that age of dinosaurs in which creators like me used to make our comics by printing them out on photocopiers and then stapling them by hand. In H&H you’ll find mainstream heroes and small-press heroines, and even a couple of anthropomorphic bikers. Leading off is “V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N (in the Summertime),” a three-page Wonder Woman vs. Harley Quinn story that I wrote and drew in the late ’90s as a sample for a DC Comics editor who thought I’d be a good fit for their Batman: The Animated Series comic (long story short, it didn’t work out). The WW/Harley matchup is followed by an adventure of small-presser Jeff Wood’s rabbit-eared superspy, Snowbuni; three pages from the long-canceled indie comic Motorbike Puppies; and an adventure of the indie superheroine The Blonde Avenger.
The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0is a full-color introduction to the young adult novel series of the same name, hosted by Pan herself. Pan is a 16-year-old New York City Goth who’s not only a horror fangirl but someone with the rare ability to see the for-real monsters that regular humans can’t (she calls it her “monstervision”), and with the help of a 400-year-old, shape-shifting monster hunter named Sebastienne “Annie” Mazarin, she’s learning how to protect her family, her friends, and the world from the supernatural dangers out there—and maybe even have some fun while doing it. This 16-page comic features a seven-page story written by me, with art and color by Eliseu Gouveia (The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1, Carmilla, A Princess of Mars, Lorelei: Sects and the City), and includes two sample chapters from Blood Feud, the first Pan novel.
And then there’sHeartstopper: The Legend of La Bella Tenebrosa #1–3. Before she became Pan’s monster-hunting mentor, Sebastienne “Annie” Mazarin made her debut in this short-lived, 1990s Mature Readers series from Millennium Publications. A nefarious heavy metal band has arrived in New York City, and its lead singer is more than just a sex magnet for his female fans—he’s a soul-stealing incubus! Will Annie put an end to his plans for worldwide chaos, or fall prey to his supernatural charms? Written by me (of course), issue 1 is drawn by Pan and Annie co-creator Uriel Caton (JSA Annual) and inker Alan Larsen (Femforce), and colored by Dan Peters; issue 2 is penciled by Uriel, Holly Golightly (School Bites, Archie Comics), and David C. Matthews (Satin Steele), inked by Larsen, and colored by Zeea Adams; and issue 3 is penciled by Holly, with four pages of inks by “Chainsaw” Chuck Majewski (Harvey Kurtzman’s New Two-Fisted Tales).
As a special bonus, issue 3 includes a brief look at the never-published Heartstopper/Trollords, a crossover special that would have had Annie meet Harry, Larry, and Jerry, the Three Stooges–inspired trolls created by Scott Beaderstadt and Paul Fricke for their popular comic series of the 1980s. H/T was to be written by me with pencils by Holly and Scott and inks by Bill Lavin (Troubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings), but unfortunately it just never got past the starting gate.
(Warning: Heartstopper is designated a “Mature Readers” comic for violent scenes and some sexual innuendo, so younger Panatics should avoid it.)
Artists Alley? Our Gallery area—think of it as an online artists’ alley—features two sections, The 13 Days of Pan-demonium and Visions of Lorelei, both containing original renderings of our two best-known characters by a host of artists from indie and mainstream comics, including such notables as Mike Mignola (Hellboy, Cosmic Odyssey), Elizabeth Watasin (Charm School), Teri S. Wood (Wandering Star), Neil Vokes (Tom Holland’s Fright Night), Frank Thorne (Red Sonja), Louis Small Jr. (Vampirella), Dave Simon (Ghost Rider), Bill Ward (Torchy), and Joseph Michael Linsner (Dawn/Vampirella)!
So the StarWarp Concepts crew might not be hanging out at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center over in Manhattan, but at least you can have a con-like experience from the comfort of your home!
Three more weeks till Halloween…Halloween…Halloween…
(For those in the know, that earwormy jingle is now stuck in your head, isn’t it…?)
That’s right, boils and ghouls, Halloween is only 25 days away, so it’s the perfect time to get in the spooky mood—unless you’re already in it, of course! If you’re not, though, here’s some ways to spark your inner ghoul:
Horror movies! AMC Fearfest, Turner Classic Movies, the SyFy Channel, Movies! TV Network, Freeform, and Svengoolie (on MeTV) are just some of the cable stations chock full of Halloweeny programming during October, and streaming sites like HBO Max, Tubi, and Pluto are constantly adding horror movies to their lineups. There’s a lot to see before All Hallows’ Eve, so as the old saying goes, check your local listings for more information.
Then there’s Countdown to Halloween, an annual collection of blogs (mostly horror-themed) that commit to posting daily entries every day of the month, on a wide range of topics from comic books to toys, classic horror movies to to music, even wanderings through local cemeteries.
There are also the ghoulish deejays spinning tunes over at Halloween Radio and its five channels (Main, Soundtracks, Atmosphere, Oldies, and Kids), which stream year-round—perfect for when you’re looking for background music to play while you’re decorating your home or apartment, carving pumpkins, or working on your costume.
But the true meaning of horror can be found this coming weekend on the Hallmark Channel, which is set to debut Haul Out the Halloween, an actual Halloween-themed romance movie, on Saturday night! First it was Hallmark’s annual “Countdown to Christmas” marathons during October, where it was round-the-clock holly-and-ivy-draped programming in an attempt to distract everyone from the ghoulies and ghosties we enjoy, now they’re horning in on All Hallows’ Eve itself—does their evil know no bounds?!
(Actually, it’s pretty well known that horror and Hallmark have a weird relationship. For all the counter-Halloween programming they do, Hallmark does have a following for their Christmas movies among horror fans, and then there’s the fact that not only have a number of horror writers and directors contributed to the yuletide filmfests (Fred Olen Ray, David DeCoteau, Michael Varrati), but even horror icons like Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead), Natasha Henstridge (Species), and Patricia Velasquez (The Mummy) have starred in them!)
Whatever it is you do to get ready, have a fun time doing it!
Got a favorite book? Well, odds are good there’s someone out there in the United States who’d liked to see it censored, or removed entirely from bookstores and library shelves.
According to a recent American Library Association report, “The 2024 data reported to ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) shows that the majority of book censorship attempts are now originating from organized movements. Pressure groups and government entities that include elected officials, board members and administrators initiated 72% of demands to censor books in school and public libraries.”
That’s where Banned Books Week comes in. Launched in 1982, it’s an annual celebration of literacy in which the spotlight is shone on the problem of censorship in U.S. libraries and bookstores, which is becoming worse every year. The organization PEN America, for instance, has recorded “more than 10,000 book bans affecting more than 4,000 unique titles” in the 2023–2024 school year, with the majority occurring in Florida and Iowa.
(By the way, horror fans, PEN America recently announced that none other than Stephen King is the most banned author in U.S. schools, according to their “Banned in the US” list of books for 2025 that are being blocked in school libraries.)
This year’s BBW theme is “Censorship is So 1984.” To quote the ALA press release:
“Current efforts to ban books and information held in schools, libraries, archives, and bookstores are a truth close to fiction—namely, the depiction of extreme censorship by an oppressive regime in George Orwell’s cautionary and prescient tale 1984. The Banned Books Week 2025 theme reminds us that the right to read belongs to all of us, that censorship has no place in contemporary society, and that we must defend our rights.”
Banned Books Week 2025 runs October 5–11, so visit the BBW website for more information, including a list of the Top Ten Most Challenged Books of 2024 that they’re celebrating this year.
This coming weekend, science fiction and fantasy fans will be gathering at Archon, being held at the Gateway Convention Center in Collinsville, Illinois.
Among the attendees will be author Richard C. White, who’ll be promoting his latest SWC release, the sci-fi steampunk novel On Wings of Steel: The Darkside Chronicles, Book 1, in which Erica Halgrim, a member of the Angels of Steel courier service, finds herself drawn into a political plot—and possibly murder—at the risk of her own life.
Rich is the bestselling author of the licensed novel Gauntlet: Dark Legacy: Paths of Evil, as well as a growing number of titles published by us: the swashbuckling adventure novel Harbinger of Darkness; the fantasy-adventure story collection For a Few Gold Pieces More; the writers’ and RPG gamemasters’ aid Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination; the supernatural-superhero graphic novel Troubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings; the noir-fantasy story collection Chasing Danger: The Case Files of Theron Chase; and the pirate-adventure digital comic The Chronicles of the Sea Dragon Special.
Archon 48 runs October 3–5. For more information on the show, visit their website.
Held the 3rd Saturday in September since 2015, Batman Day is an annual celebration of one of DC Comics’ most iconic superheroes, the Darknight Detective who made his debut in Detective Comics #29 in 1939. Created by Bob Kane with the help of writer Bill Finger, Batman has remained popular with fans throughout the world for over 80 years through comics, novels, TV shows, and movies.
Well, if you’re a fan of the Caped Crusader, then perhaps you’d be interested in checking out a couple of bat-ish projects from your friends at StarWarp Concepts…
In 2012, author Richard C. White interviewed New York Times bestselling author Tracy Hickman (Dragonlance) for Rich’s how-to book for writers and RPG gamemasters, Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination. In addition to the ins and outs of proper world building for fantasy and science fiction projects, they also discussed what was then Hickman’s latest novel: Wayne of Gotham, in which Bruce Wayne traces his family history to discover whether there was more to the murder of his parents when he was a boy—the traumatic event that led to his becoming Batman—than a simple robbery gone wrong.
“When approaching an iconic character like Batman, you walk a really fine line. My first reaction after we proposed this story and they accepted it was, ‘Oh man, I get to write Batman.’ And then the second reaction was, ‘What have I done? I have to write Batman!’ Because everyone has an idea of who Batman is.”
However, since the topic had nothing to do with Terra Incognito’s focus on world building, I cut it from the book during the editing process. But there’s no reason why you can’t read it now, given today’s celebration of all things Batman.
So head on over right now to the Richard C. White blogand celebrate Batman Day by reading all about Tracy Hickman’s Wayne of Gotham!
To read the rest of Rich’s interview with Hickman—which includes a discussion of Hickman’s creative experiences during his time as a designer for gaming company TSR, the original home of Dungeons & Dragons—pick up a copy of Rich’s Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination, which takes you through the step-by-step process of constructing a world for your characters, from societies and governments to currency and religion. In fact, it’s a book that’s become so popular with gamers that it’s currently being used as a textbook in the Interactive Media & Game Development program at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worchester, Massachusetts!
And then there’s Heroines and Heroes, a digital-comic collection of comic stories and pinups written and drawn by Steven A. Roman (that’s me!), dating back to my days in the early 1990s small-press movement—that age of dinosaurs in which creators like me used to make our comics by printing them out on photocopiers and then stapling them by hand. In H&H you’ll find mainstream heroes and small-press heroines, and even a couple of anthropomorphic bikers.
Leading off is “V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N (in the Summertime),” a three-page story starring Wonder Woman and Batman enemy Harley Quinn that I wrote and drew in the late ’90s as a sample for a DC Comics editor who thought I’d be a good fit for their Batman: The Animated Series comic (spoiler warning: it didn’t work out). It’s followed by an adventure of small-presser Jeff Wood’s rabbit-eared superspy, Snowbuni; three pages from the long-canceled indie comic Motorbike Puppies; and an adventure of the indie superheroine The Blonde Avenger.
Yaaarr, mateys! Whether ye be a fan of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise or classic films like Captain Blood, The Crimson Pirate, and The Sea Hawk, it’s time again for International Talk Like a Pirate Day—that special occasion launched in 1995 to celebrate all things swashbuckling.
And speaking of swashbuckling adventures, StarWarp Concepts has its own pirate-fantasy comic for you to enjoy!
The Chronicles of the Sea Dragon Special is a 48-page one-shot comic created and written by Richard C. White, author of the fantasies For a Few Gold Pieces More and Harbinger of Darkness, the noir-fantasy collection Chasing Danger: The Case Files of Theron Chase, and the writer’s guide Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination. It’s drawn by Bill Bryan (artist of Caliber Press’ Dark Oz and DC Comics’ House of Mystery), and sports cover art and color by Eliseu Gouveia (Lorelei: Sects and the City,The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual#1).
“There seems to be a fair amount of deviousness amongst the crew of the Sea Dragon, but I was greatly pleased to see the heroes using their smarts as well as their swords. Lots of high adventure and old-school artwork make this a fun read for those of us that grew up on Sinbad movies.”—Nth DegreeThe Chronicles of the Sea Dragon Special is a digital exclusive, available from DriveThru Comics. Visit its product page for more information, including sample pages.
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