New Book News!

First off, Nightcrawlers by Mike Ayers and Will Grant is now available wherever books are sold! It's popped up on Amazon already, more to come.

Second, I just took a bus back from Chicago with a cheapie portfolio full of original art for Ian Bennett's new book! The cheapie portfolio wasn't his doing...he had a load of it in a plastic bag and I just couldn't take it on the bus that way. So we wandered around Hyde Park until happening into an Office Depot. We scoured the binder and presentation portfolio half of the store for a while until we were ready to throw in the towel; everything was just too small. Just for fun, Ian wandered over into the pens and pencils and there it was...a large sheet of vinyl-y plastic folded over and stitched with a die-cut handle that would cut your finders off if you walked far with much. Four bucks, though; can't beat the price.

What, you want to see some of this art? Well, I'm scanning it now, so watch this space for a preview.

Titles For Spring 2008!

As we enter into the warmer months, the thaw reveals much that has been at work under the ice and snow these many months. First up will be a mass-market edition of NIGHTCRAWLERS by Mike Ayers and Will Grant:

It collects and brings closure to the exciting fantasy series. If the water-critter from LOST IN THE WASH is your kind of monster, then you need this tome. Coming May 2008.

Second will be the collected ZOO FORCE. It will include all three stories (Dear Eniko, Bean and Nothingness, BBQ), including the Captain Cat stuff. It will also include an all new 18 page Prairie Dawg solo story, "Dirty Hands". Soon as the cover's done, we'll post it here.

Shorty after that we'll premiere the new all-color CLP direct sales book by Carter Allen, 252Z: Law Of Monsters. Carter going full-tilt in color with a bunch of monsters?

We'll have those for sale on the new website (coming in May) as well as at conventions (MoCCA anyone?).

Ian's hard at work on his follow-up to the acclaimed LEAP YEARS, and it's looking fantastic! It's a story about family and expectations and the things they can drive you to do. It's going to be a big one, two volumes!

Also look for new full-color art books by Will Grant and Carter Allen. Looks to be another busy year for Candle Light Press!

Working On The New Page

We're working on the new candlelightpress.com and part of that involves folding the blog into the main page. That's the reason for the new skinny look. When the new page goes up, all roads will point to the .com -- you'll still be able to see all the .net stuff there, so don't fret! Watch this space...

It's awards time again...

Foreword Magazine just put up their Book Of The Year Awards nominees for 2007 and lo and behold, ZOO FORCE: BBQ is up for Best Graphic Novel! It's a large field this year, for sure. Winners to be announced at the end of May. Watch this space.

Napkins of Note

Recently Will had a gallery show at Arts Iowa City, which was well-attended and a great success. As I was helping him put up hundreds of comics pages on the walls, it occurred to me that there wasn't an artist's statement. I asked Will if he'd mind if I doodled something up on the magnificently sturdy and bright napkins we had left from lunch. I had a couple Micron brush pens which were subsequently completely wrecked by writing on such thirsty fibrous material. Still, the results are plain old neato. They were up on the glass door entrance as people walked in. Here are small ones, linked to big copies. Enjoy!

EH Thomas 1929-2008

Earnest Hugh Thomas passed away today, January 13, 2008 after a long battle with cancer. Memorial details forthcoming. He will be missed, but the end was quick; for that we are grateful. Dad loved to tell stories, and I couldn't help but catch the bug from him. He told me as a boy he read the old Green Lantern comics, but he didn't recognize Hal Jordan; he read "the fella with the tall collar". He also read ZOO FORCE. Proper remembrance later.

In passing

This last Monday, my uncle John passed away. I only mention this on a comic blog because back when I was a kid growing up just outside of Bismarck, my uncle John would show us his Conan comic book collection. Up to this point, I was still reading Spider-man and Star Wars. Not a lot of what was going on in Conan was anywhere in anything I was interested in. I don't remember all of the issues he had, it was a big collection of King Conan, Savage Sword of Conan and of course, Conan the Barbarian, but here is a sample of what I remember: Conan dismembering some multi-limbed monster, saving a damsel in distress (usually a sorceress in disguise) and looking PISSED! People ask me what sort of things influence my creative outlook on creating comics. I'd be a damn liar if this wasn't one of them.

I hadn't seen from him in years, we weren't that close ever since we came to Iowa. Distance, divorce and the like does that sometimes. I just wanted to say "Thanks."