Blog | StarWarp Concepts | Publisher of Dark Fantasy and Horror

Archie Review at Comics for Sinners

Posted on July 21, 2015 by Steven

archie01-cvr Over at the news site Comics for Sinners, you’ll find my review of Archie #1, now on sale from Archie Comics. Written by Mark Waid (Star Wars: Princess Leia) and illustrated by Fiona Staples (Saga), it’s the much-talked-about reboot of America’s oldest teenager and his supporting cast of characters. In this real-world take on the students of Riverdale High, Archie Andrews and girlfriend Betty Cooper have broken up—can their friends find a way to reunite the couple known as “Bettchie”? And who’s this rich Lodge girl, waiting in the wings to complicate their lives? Head over to C4S to learn more.

Speaking of teenagers, have you met Pandora Zwieback, star of my StarWarp Concepts novel series The Saga of Pandora Zwieback? Pan is a 16-year-old Goth girl who’s spent the last decade being treated for mental health problems because she can see monsters. It’s only after she meets an immortal shape-shifter named Annie that Pan discovers she’s never been ill—her so-called “monstervision” is actually a supernatural gift that allows her to see into Gothopolis, the not-so-mythical shadow world that exists right alongside the human world. You’ll find Pan in the following titles:

The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0: A free, downloadable comic that serves as an introduction to Pan and Annie—with an 8-page story written by me and illustrated by Eliseu Gouveia—as well as Pan’s first novel, Blood Feud (via a couple of preview chapters).

Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1: This critically acclaimed novel is the beginning of Pan’s story, explaining how she, her parents and friends, and Annie are drawn into a conflict among warring vampire clans searching for the key to an ultimate weapon (or so the legend goes)—a key that just so happens to have been delivered to the horror-themed museum owned by Pan’s father. It’s a character-driven action-fest that leads immediately into the second novel:

Blood Reign: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 2: Pan and Annie face even greater challenges as the vampire clans draw up plans to go to war with humanity. Leading the charge is a fallen angel named Zaqiel, whose previous attempt at subjugating the world was stopped by Annie—who, back in the day, was Zaqiel’s lover!

The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1: A spinoff from the novel series, this 56-page, full-color comic special finds the teenaged Goth adventuress battling vampires and a jealous, man-stealing siren. It features stories by me and Sholly Fisch (Scooby-Doo Team-Up), art by Eliseu Gouveia (The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0), comic-art legend Ernie Colon (Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld), and Elizabeth Watasin (Charm School), and cover art by award-winning artist Henar Torinos (Mala Estrella).

Blood Feud, Blood Reign, and the Pan Annual are available in print and digital formats. Visit their respective product pages for ordering information, as well as sample pages and chapters.

Eccentrix Review at Comics for Sinners

Posted on July 20, 2015 by Steven

Eccentrix-cvr Over at the news site Comics for Sinners, you’ll find my review of Eccentrix, currently available at Comixology, from Broken Icon Comics. Written by James Maddox (The Horror Show) and illustrated by Rob Dumo (Robyn Hood), it’s a one-shot comic about an out-of-control superhero—in the mold of Marvel’s Deadpool and DC’s Rorschach (of Watchmen)—and the steps taken by his team members to rein in his ultraviolent vigilantism. Head over to C4S to learn more.

Speaking of superheroes, are you aware of StarWarp Concepts’ very own team of super-powered crimefighters, known as Troubleshooters, Incorporated? No? Then allow me to fill you in…

troubleshooters_lrg_cover Perfect for superhero fans, the graphic novel Troubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings is about a supernatural team of superfolk-for-hire, consisting of a wizard, a sorceress, a female ninja, a high-tech-armor-wearing rock concert lighting designer, and a werewolf. Not every superhero team has Tony Stark’s billions to play with, you understand, and the Troubleshooters are just looking to earn a living while fighting the monsters that have always lurked in the shadows.

Written by the husband-and-wife team of Richard C. White (The Chronicles of the Sea Dragon Special) and Joni M. White, and illustrated by Reggie Golden and Randy Zimmerman, Night Stalkings presents the TSI members on their first mission: protecting a multimillionaire from a trio of Middle Eastern demons out to raise a little hell!

Troubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings is available in both print and e-book formats, so visit its product page for ordering information, as well as sample pages.

Posted in Comic Books, Reviews | Tagged comic book reviews, comics for sinners, eccentrix, troubleshooters incorporated | Comments Off

Aliens vs. Zombies Review at Comics for Sinners

Posted on July 17, 2015 by Steven

Aliens-Zombies01-cvr Over at the news site Comics for Sinners, you’ll find my review of Aliens vs. Zombies #1, from Zenescope Entertainment. Written by Joe Brusha (Hollywood Zombie Apocalypse) and illustrated by Vincenzo Riccardi (Wonderland), it’s the start of a five-issue miniseries about the crew of an alien spacecraft arriving on Earth shortly after a zombie apocalypse has swept the planet. The aliens are here to reverse the process and save the world, only things don’t quite go the way they’d hoped and they quickly find themselves battling for survival against—and alongside—the humans who probably believe the spacemen (and –women) are responsible for this terrifying situation. Who will survive, and who will become zombie chow? And do aliens taste like chicken? You’ll have to read the series to find out! Head over to C4S to learn more.

ZombieTales2 Speaking of the walking dead, are you aware that I once wrote my own take on the zombie apocalypse, in the form of a short story? “Laundry Day” is the tale of a not-so-loveable guy named Josh Kosinki who, late one night, decides to take his growing pile of dirty clothes over to the local Laundromat—only to become an eyewitness to the start of a zombie uprising. It first appeared in 2007, in the Padwolf Books anthology The Dead Walk Again!, then was reprinted in Books of the Dead Press’s 2010 anthology, Best New Zombie Tales, Vol. 2. It garnered quite a bit of praise from reviewers:

“Laced with a brutal humor and some seriously gory violence, this one is a slaughter-fest crowd pleaser for sure. Action from the get-go, with a surprising twist ending that I really didn’t see coming.”—Paperback Horror

“‘Laundry Day’ puts a nice twist on the ‘folks are the worst of all monsters’ trope.”—Necroscope: The Australian Zombie Review Blog

“I friggin’ love that story!”—James Roy Daley, author of Terror Town and 13 Drops of Blood

Best New Zombie Tales, Vol. 2 is still on sale, so follow the link to its page at Amazon. Along with “Laundry Day,” you’ll find stories by such notable horror writers as Mort Castle, Tim Waggoner, Nate Kenyon, and Cody Goodfellow. Order a copy today!

Posted in Comic Books, Reviews | Tagged aliens vs. zombies, best new zombie tales 2, books of the dead press, comic book reviews, comics for sinners, laundry day, zombie apocalypse | Comments Off

The X-Men’s Psylocke? I Know That Character!

Posted on July 16, 2015 by Steven

ew-apocalypse Today, Entertainment Weekly debuted the cover for its July 24th issue, which spotlights X-Men: Apocalypse, the next installment of the uber-successful movie franchise. This one is set in the 1980s, and presents younger, recast versions of some well-known X-Men (like Storm and Jean Grey)—and also introduces Olivia Munn (Attack of the Show, The Newsroom) as ninja assassin/psychic mutant Psylocke.

And that reminded me of this post from last year (when the previous movie entry, X-Men: Days of Future Past, was being released), in which I talked about X-Men: The Chaos Engine Trilogy, three original novels I wrote that featured Psylocke as the star, and pitted her and the other X-Men against a trio of Marvel’s deadliest villains: the Fantastic Four’s #1 enemy, Doctor Doom; the X-Men’s archnemesis, Magneto; and Captain America’s Nazi counterpart, the Red Skull! Go give it a read. When you’re done, maybe you’ll want to track down copies, so you’ll have something read while you’re queuing up at your local movie theater next year!

Posted in movies, Publishing | Tagged psylocke, steven a. roman, x-men, x-men: apocalypse, x-men: the chaos engine trilogy | Comments Off

SWC Writer Dwight Jon Zimmerman Gets Interviewed

Posted on July 15, 2015 by Steven

SteveMcQueen Here’s something different: Over at Playboy.com, award-winning New York Times bestselling author Dwight Jon Zimmerman (Lincoln’s Last Days) discusses his latest project: the biographical graphic novel Steve McQueen: Full-Throttle Cool, which is now on sale from Motorbooks. Joined by artist Greg Scott (Gotham Central), Dwight examines the life and career of one of Hollywood’s greatest stars. Head over to Hefner HQ to read the interview, and then you can tell your friends that you really do read Playboy for the articles! 😉 (And yes, as you’d expect, some content at that site is NSFW, so proceed at your own risk.)

So, you ask, why am I giving a shout-out to a Playboy interview about a non–StarWarp Concepts book? Because it just so happens that its author contributed a critically acclaimed story to the SWC anthology comic, Lorelei Presents: House Macabre, which was published this year!

Lorelei Presents: House Macabre involves SWC’s resident soul-stealing succubus trying her hand at hosting a horror comic, in the style of old-school horror titles like Tales From the Crypt, House of Mystery, and even the original Vampirella. It contains stories by yours truly, Steven A. Roman (Lorelei: Sects and the City, The Saga of Pandora Zwieback), and Playboy interviewee Dwight Jon Zimmerman (Iron Man, Web of Spider-Man). Art is provided 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 (Graphic Classics: Horror Classics), and Juan Carlos Abraldes Rendo, with cover art from good-girl artist supreme Louis Small Jr. (Vampirella).

The special is available in both print and digital formats, so visit the Lorelei Presents: House Macabre product page for all the ordering information, as well as sample pages.

Posted in Interviews | Tagged dwight jon zimmerman, lorelei presents: house macabre, playboy, steve mcqueen: full-throttle cool | Comments Off

Taliesin Meets More Vampires to Review

Posted on July 13, 2015 by Steven

vampirealmanac02 Over at the vampire-centric site Taliesin Meets the Vampires, reviewer and site owner Andrew Boylan—who gave glowing reviews to both Blood Feud and Blood Reign, my first Pandora Zwieback novels—shares his opinion of the Black Coat Press anthology, The Vampire Almanac, Vol. 2. You can read the review here.

Why am I mentioning another publisher’s book, here at the ’Warp blog? Because the Almanac happens to contain my contribution, “Night’s Children,” which involves Irma Vep (the femme fatale of the 1915–16 French movie serial Les Vampires) crossing paths with Count Graf Orlock (the Dracula surrogate of F. W. Murnau’s 1922 horror movie, Nosferatu). It’s no romantic tale, however—Orlock is a rat-faced, bloodsucking monster, and Irma, an art thief, is his next intended victim. Who comes out the winner? You’ll only find out by reading the story!

“Night’s Children” first appeared in Black Coat’s Tales of the Shadowmen 4: Lords of Terror, published in 2008; in 2014, it was reprinted in Black Coat’s French-language collection L’Almanach des Vampires—and now it’s back in its original English-language form!

The Vampire Almanac, Volume 2 can be ordered from most online bookstores, as well as directly from Black Coat Press. If you’re a fan of vampire fiction, you should definitely check it out.

Posted in Reviews, Vampires | Tagged black coat press, count orlock, irma vep, jean-marc lofficier, les vampires, night's children, nosferatu, reviews, steven a. roman, taliesin meets the vampires, the vampire almanac, vampire fiction | Comments Off

Happy Birthday, Bob Larkin!

Posted on July 10, 2015 by Steven

Today, our friend Bob Larkin—living art legend whose paintings have graced the covers of Marvel Comics, Warren Publishing magazines, and my very own Saga of Pandora Zwieback novels—turns 66, and is still producing incredible images, even as younger generations of horror and comic fans continue to discover his large body of work.

larkin-mars-attacks

These days, Bob is busily working for Topps, painting trading cards for their upcoming Mars Attacks: Occupation set, which is a sequel to the classic card series published in the 1960s. All of us here at ’Warp Central are eagerly awaiting the set’s release—and to see what other projects Bob has in development!

To see more of Bob’s stunning work, pay a visit to his art blog, Bob Larkin: The Illustrated Man.

To enjoy some of his amazing pencil artwork in printed form, order a copy of The Bob Larkin Sketchbook from the StarWarp Concepts webstore.

Happy birthday, Bob!

Posted in Birthdays, Bob Larkin | Tagged bob larkin, bob larkin sketchbook | Comments Off

Will Eisner’s The Spirit Review at Comics for Sinners

Posted on July 9, 2015 by Steven

Spirit01-Cov Over at the news site Comics for Sinners, you’ll find my review of Will Eisner’s The Spirit #1, now on sale from Dynamite Entertainment. Written by Matt Wagner (Mage, Grendel, Sandman Mystery Theatre) and illustrated by Dan Schkade (San Hannibal), it’s a revival of the two-fisted, crime-fighting hero created in the 1940s by comic-art legend Will Eisner. In this relaunch, the Spirit has gone missing for two years, and is presumed dead. But is he really? His cast of supporting characters is determined to find out the truth! Head over to C4S to learn more.

Speaking of crimefighters and pulp heroes, perhaps you’d be interested in a pair of StarWarp Concepts projects:

The Bob Larkin Sketchbook is a collection of spectacular pencil drawings of femme fatales, pulp adventurers, superheroes, and a host of other characters by Bob Larkin, whose cover paintings graced such Marvel Comics titles as Dazzler, The Hulk!, Savage Sword of Conan the Barbarian, Haunt of Horror, and Tomb of Dracula, not to mention his renowned work as a cover painter for Bantam Books’ Doc Savage pulp novel reprints. It’s 24 pages of artistic goodness, filled with costumed crimefighters, space heroes, and two pieces done especially for this collection: a pinup of Doc Savage’s cousin, Pat, and a two-page spread of Doc facing down the Shadow in a Mexican standoff! The sketchbook is available exclusively from the StarWarp Concepts webstore.

Visit each title’s respective product page for ordering information, as well as sample pages.

Posted in Comic Books, Reviews | Tagged bob larkin sketchbook, comic book reviews, comics for sinners, the spirit, troubleshooters incorporated, will eisner, will eisner's the spirit | Comments Off

Vampirella/Army of Darkness Review at Comics for Sinners

Posted on July 7, 2015 by Steven

Vampi-ArmyDarkness01-Cov Over at the news site Comics for Sinners, you’ll find my review of Vampirella/Army of Darkness #1, coming July 8 from Dynamite Entertainment. Written by Mark Rahner (Army of Darkness/Reanimator), and illustrated by Jethro Morales (Dejah of Mars), it’s the first-ever encounter between the queen of the bad girls and Ashley “Ash” Williams, groovy king of the deadite-fighting monster killers, and is set during the events of the 1993 Sam Raimi/Bruce Campbell cult-classic film, Army of Darkness. Head over to C4S to learn more.

Speaking of sexy seductresses and groovy monster fighters, perhaps you’d like to meet Lorelei—StarWarp Concepts’ resident soul-stealing succubus—and Pandora Zwieback, teenaged supernatural adventuress.

Lorelei is SWC’s first leading lady of horror, a succubus who revels in devouring the souls of bad guys. She currently stars in two critically acclaimed projects: the graphic novel Lorelei: Sects and the City, in which she battles a cult of Elder God worshippers to prevent them from unleashing hell on Earth; and the one-shot special Lorelei Presents: House Macabre, in which she tries her hand at hosting an old-style horror anthology comic.

Pandora Zwieback is a 16-year-old Goth girl who’s spent the last decade being treated for mental health problems because she can see monsters. It’s only after she meets a shape-shifting monster hunter named Sebastienne “Annie” Mazarin that Pan discovers she’s never been ill—her so-called “monstervision” is actually a supernatural gift that allows her to see into Gothopolis, the not-so-mythical shadow world that exists right alongside the human world. Pan currently appears in the novels Blood Feud and Blood Reign, as well as the comic book The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1.

All titles are available in print and digital formats, so visit their respective product pages for more information, as well as sample pages and chapters.

Posted in Comic Books, Reviews | Tagged army of darkness, comic book reviews, comics for sinners, lorelei, Pandora Zwieback, vampirella, vampirella/army of darkness | Comments Off

Interviews? Can’t Get Enough of Them!

Posted on July 6, 2015 by Steven

Over at the Pandora Zwieback blog, today’s post is an interview I did for another website a few months ago that was ultimately passed over by their editor (hey, it happens). So, being a firm believer in not letting something that’s been completed go to waste, I decided to run it at the Pan blog. Head over there now and read about my first writing break, working on Spider-Man and X-Men novels, and (of course) promoting my Saga of Pandora Zwieback book series!

Written by Steven A. Roman (that’s me!), Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1 is the critically acclaimed novel that begins Pan’s story, explaining how she, her parents, and her friends, are drawn into a conflict among warring vampire clans searching for the key to an ultimate weapon (or so the legend goes)—a key that just so happens to have been delivered to the horror-themed museum owned by Pan’s father.

It’s a character-driven action-fest that leads immediately into the second novel: Blood Reign: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 2, in which Pan faces even greater challenges as the clans draw up plans to go to war with humanity. Leading the charge is a fallen angel named Zaqiel, whose previous attempt at subjugating the world was stopped by Pan’s monster-hunting mentor, Annie—who, back in the day, was Zaqiel’s lover!

Both titles are available in print and digital formats, so visit their respective product pages for ordering information, as well as sample chapters.

Posted in Interviews | Tagged Interviews, steven a. roman | Comments Off