Madness, I say!    Okay, here's the latest from my sorry ass:

- First off, I am a guest of the stellar Calgary Expo this weekend.   If you are up in the great white north for any reason, please swing by and get some crap signed!   I did its sister show last year and was  quite impressed with how well Canadians can put on a comic book show.   Go support these guys.  
[link]

Also, I'll be there with Charles Wilson, and Vic Malhotra.   You should know who these people are, you fools!  Check the show out with the link above.


- Next up is a wonderful article up on USA Today about Wild Blue Yonder.   It was unbelievably refreshing to be interviewed by a real journalist.   I have no clue as to why most of our crap-stupid comic book press sites can't at least even pretend to do what real journalists do.   Enough with the breaking comic news about Wolverine Christmas Specials and Top Ten Aquaman moments, you fucking dolts.   Ask some real questions and get some fucking news.

Click on the link for the USA Today article, and show the mainstream press that comic book fans appreciate true coverage of indie comics!
[link]


- Lastly, go order WBY #1 while you still have a chance.   I'm selling this motherfucker out, so get on board before your friends shun you for not having it.  


Hope to see you soon, and thanks for all of the wonderful support from everyone here on DA!
Love,
Z

It's time, you animals!    Wild Blue Yonder is officially solicited in this month's Previews.   Please follow the link for ordering, and let your local store know.   We have two covers, and one Incentive cover to choose from, and the start of a bad ass story.   I know that most creators say that, but unlike them, I'm not full of shit.  We have a wonderful indie community on DA so I'm hoping people spread the word and make this profitable.

[link]

Fun Facts:
- I drew the first five pages a couple of years ago, and one can see how my skill level went up quite dramatically over the course of this book (I had to Huck Finn it to get it finished while working on other shitty books).   And issue two is easily my best work.  
- You can support a book with a female lead that doesn't have her triple D tits hanging out while she supposedly deftly climbs buildings and fights embarrassing DC characters.  She acts like a human being would act - but in a fantastic setting.  
- Wild Blue Yonder has a dog with goggles.  
- Zach is not feeling funny right now.
- Comic books make you fat.
- I'm hungry.

Thank you to all that are planning on supporting Wild Blue Yonder.   You will not be disappointed.
Love,
Z

Well, my new company, Noble Transmission, will be up and running next week.   Currently we are promoting our flagship book, Wild Blue Yonder.   We have everything pretty much ready to go, and all we have to do is now get people to check out and "Like" our Facebook page.
 
Why, you might ask?  Because we need to make our Facebook page get some traffic before we go live with our agents in the Hollywood arena!   Quit asking questions, you animals!   Noble Transmission is a combination of a NY Times bestselling writer, producer/writer Austin Harrison, and my fat ass – the holy trifecta of awesome, I says.  We have a bad ass book, three properties chambered, better books than most crap out there, a screenplay, and a website – now we just need to start the promotional aspect.  

[link]

I won't be handling any part of that except for trying to get a few of my fans to look at our Facebook page.   Hardcore fans have seen most of the pages up there, but if you have a moment, just check it out and leave a nice message.   That will help us out a shit ton when we go live next week, folks.  

As for the actual first issue of WBY, it comes out the second week of June.   And monthly from there.   Also, the book has a full page solicit in Previews come March.   So let your retailer know!

Thanks for the wonderful support DA community!
Z

Sorry about the lack of updates as of late – very very busy.   But all good news.

- First off, the initial issue of my upcoming series with Mike Raicht and Nelson Daniel [link] is scheduled for a June release from IDW.   It's 27 pages of the start of the best action adventure story I've ever been part of.   We have a ton of guest superstar artists doing alternate covers for each issue (the first being Nick Runge [link] and it's un-fucking-believable).   Wild Blue Yonder is a monthly, five issue series consisting of 24 to 28 pages an issue.   Tons of story, exciting characters and something quite different than most comics you'll see out there.   I've spent an amazing amount of time trying to make this the best book it could possibly be.  Mike and Nelson are easily doing the best work of their careers.   So here's my initial attempt at swaying people out there to give the series a try.  The first issue solicits in March.  I promise not to let you down.  

- Secondly, I've been spending quite a bit of time helping my new business partners to found an entertainment company called Noble Transmission.   Myself, Producer Austin Harrison, and NY Times best-selling author Mike Raicht have made this company to create comic book stories, write the screenplays, and sell the products to the movie/entertainment industry.   Our first book is the above mentioned Wild Bluer Yonder.   However, we have many more titles to come!   I'll be doing a miniseries a year drawn solely by myself.   Alongside that we'll be hiring a couple of fellow artists a year to work with me on drawing separate titles our company is producing.   Within a week we'll be going live with a press announcement and the launch of our website.  This is easily the biggest step of my career, and I hope to produce nothing but quality books for you guys for the rest of my career.  I finally get to see if I'm the storyteller I think I can be.  Exciting times!    

- Next, I wanted to let everyone know my "for now" comic book convention schedule.   I don't have time to write all of the dates down (read that as I'm lazy.  Please look it up if you are interested…), so I'll just give off the names/cities of the cons.   First up is Calgary in April.  Then the mighty Denver ComicCon at the end of May.  Then SDCC to sign for Wild Blue Yonder at the IDW booth (I'll sign any book you want me to sign, though)!  After that I have a break until Ohio Wizard World in September.  Sadly, I don't know if I can make NYCC this year yet.   I may have to go to France around that time.   However, I'll let everyone know one way or another.  I love that darn con!  

That's it for now.   Thanks for reading through this gruel, and I'll have more updates as my new company and first issue launch.   Hope to have a beer with everyone soon!

Z

Well, Nick Runge and I are driving down to be guests at this weekend's Tucson Comic Con.   We'll be selling all of our crap and doing sketches for whoever swings on by.   We'll be with Fantasy Comics all con, so bring on buy your Cape books or buy them there.   I'll be doing sketches on the inside front cover of all the HC Cape books – the last time I'm doing this for free.   So if you are in the area, come to the Con and have some fun!   
[link]

I had a wonderful Edmonton con this last weekend.  Good people up there with good beer.   What a great con and I have a good story I'll write about in a couple weeks about the mighty GWAR and how much fun I had with them.    Rock and Roll never felt so good, you bastards!

Love,
Z

The wonderful people of the inaugural Edmonton Expo have invited me as a special guest October 20th and 21st.   If the con is half as bad ass as the guys that are flying me out, it's going to be an outstandingly good time. So if you live on that side of Canada, come out to the show and swing by my table.   Or make fun of washed up actors.  Or take pictures (for the spank bank) of fat cosplay Wonder Women.   I don't judge…

[link]


Anyhow, the only other con I'm doing the rest of the year is in Tucson in November.   If you buy a copy or bring your own copy of the HC trade of The Cape (to either con), I'll be happy to give you a free sketch on the inside front cover.   Or just get an original page or print.  Or commission.  I'll be your monkey!   Make me your money whore!   

See you there,
Z

I wanted to shout out to everyone that has helped turn our Kickstarter campaign into a success.   Thank you for all the kind words of encouragement, and the support!    I am truly grateful!

However, there are still a few kick ass incentives left in the closing couple of days.  Feel free to check them out before the bell rings.   The more scratch we get, the more I can work on this series fulltime.  
[link]

Regardless, thanks again for everything!  

Z

If there is one certainty that I've found in my professional life, it's that humans will never cease their disappointing natures.   Selfishness, apathy, self-centeredness, and unadulterated spite – the main ingredients in an average Homo Sapien.   Add a flare of a comic book interest into that person and you get your everyday average piece of meat that trolls the internet.   This person (or persons) then might stumble onto my Kickstarter site, and immediately think that I'm trying to take advantage of their weak-wristed asses.   No facts are needed, my friends!  No, no, no.   Only assumptions!   Come on, why would a comic book fan need any factual anything in their life?   Where's the excitement in that?   Nope, just get 10% of the info and start the negative attacks.   You can always retract your statements, right?   
Wrong.   You people can get fucked.   Since I was convinced to join the internet community, I've been attacked, accused of absurdities, and dismissed as a hack.   Hell, one person on this site accused me of tracing and posting artwork from a book that I fucking drew.   They never took the time to notice that the name on my site matched the same one in the book.   That is some righteous stuff right there.  That is a true comic book fan.   
Anyhow, now I've recently upped the ante.  This is my Kickstarter.   When I was approached about doing one, I thought that this site would be a salvation to people like myself that have little interest in anything that the Big Two are doing.   And on a side note, any of you cunts that think I was fired from DC and Marvel, or I'm foolish for not having the same dreams as you, or that I made a huge career mistake in leaving good paying secure jobs can go fuck themselves.  You have no idea what you are talking about – you lack perspective and you are boring.   Die.   I left that career path because I'm a storyteller.  I'm not an artist, and I'm definitely not trying to satiate some inner fucking kid in me.  DC and Marvel are not in the business in telling fulfilling stories.  Yes, sometimes a nugget of wonderfulness rises to the top, but they are mostly in the business in protecting their brands.  Which just means a never-ending parade of retreaded characters.   I want absolutely no part of that.   So I moved on.   It's that simple.   Nothing noble or foolish about the decision.  They have little to offer me besides money and a fan base I would come to resent.   No thanks.
However, let's digress.   My Kickstarter project has slowly become a thorn in my side.  My supposed salvation has become an unexpected burden.   Why?   Because of douchebags like yourselves.   Here's a list of shit I've been force-fed since I've gone live with my book.
- Why do established creators need to take advantage of this site?  You are abusing and polluting it!   TRUTH = Mike and I wanted to create a property with no strings attached.  We didn't want a publisher to get their hands involved with it.   Kickstarter seemed like a perfect fit for us.  Sorry we don't do some horrible fucking web comic.  We make well thought out and executed stories.
- Zach should be ashamed because he doesn't need money.  He's a rich comic book star.  Fuck him.  TRUTH = I live like a god damn monk.  I work about 350 days a year with little rest and no money.   There is ETREMELY little money to go around in the Indie comic book field, and I've never been a lottery winner.   I can guarantee these same accusers buy the mindless schlock that the superhero companies are crapping out for them.   Please die in a house fire, you worthless comic book bovines.   Go support Cyberforce or some equally embarrassing bullshit.
- If Zach has a publisher, why does he need the money?  He's greedy.  TRUTH = IDW is publishing the book because they believe in my work.   I had multiple choices for the publisher and I chose them because they were willing to pay for my colorist (which I could never afford).  However, that is all they are paying for.   The rest I have to produce with no income.   So how in the fuck does that make me greedy?   I'm going to work for 10 goddamned months with about $10,000 in my pocket.  Can you shitheads survive on that?   I think I'm doing a pretty good job here.   And please don't post negative comments about IDW – they are absolutely wonderful people.  I truly hope I go the rest of my career (maybe not that long after this post) working for them.   I can never stress enough how good that company is.   
- Zach's video is too polished and professional.   He obviously doesn't need the money!  TRUTH = I made that video by cashing in favors from people.   Some helped me out solely out of kindness, and I am forever indebted to them.   I'm sorry I didn't just post a video of my fat ass waving to the camera, pleading for money.  Sorry for taking my story seriously and producing the best thing I could.   
So there you go.   This pretty much sums up how I currently feel about the current state of my career and Kickstarter.   Some of you will be offended by this post – if you are, you have always been a problem in my life and I wish to never hear from you again.   However, if you in turn want to attack me or take pot shots, please know that you will in turn receive my full and undivided attention.  I haven't met many people in my life that are ready for that.   So fire at your own risk.   From this day on, I will not pull any punches.  You internet cowards need your egos kicked in.
I want to personally thank all of those out there that have been wonderful to me or other nomads in their causes.  Thank you for promoting my work and my Kickstarter – I am truly grateful and in your debt.   If you need a link to the Kickstarter, here it is.   
Thank you for your time,
Z

[link]

Well, I'm back from the infamous SDCC in one piece.  I haven't been there in five years because I hated the madness of it.   However, I had a wonderful time – far better than expected.   Nothing but smiles and drunkenness all weekend long.  Good to go, I says!   Anyhow, here's a nice little recap of everything you need to know about my dumb ass over the weekend.
- Nick Runge [link] and I drove from Denver to San Diego so he could bring his giant ass paintings (which was a good idea since he sold his most expensive one).   Long drive, but the hours fly by in a car occupied with two people hopped up on coffee and trading barbs in our best Conan voices.   We only stopped for gas and rusty trumpets, so we made outstanding time.
- While we were getting my truck unloaded and valeted, a group of studs walk up and one of them was my all-important boss, Chirs Ryall.  Luckily he was juiced and already to buy artwork from me.  Good shit!   And just so you know, he is the best man working in this industry.   I mean that with all sincerity.   Not to mention that he put me up at the nicest fucking hotel I've ever stayed at.  IDW is such a wonderful company and I hope I work the rest of my career with them.   I'll get into that in a future post…
- The first day of the con was wonderful.   Took pictures with stars from my favorite TV show and then jumped head first into my signing at the IDW booth.  Joe Hill and I got our asses kicked signing and sketching, but the fans were nothing short of delightful.   Joe is much better at interacting (genuinely) with his fans than any writer I've ever met.   People loved our book and the line had to be closed down in under five minutes.
- I spent the rest of the day schmoozing, and doing an Archaia panel with my buddy Mike Kennedy.   Nice, relaxing and entertaining day.     That was a first for me at SDCC.   That night Nick and I got shit housed with my favorite Italian, Matteo Scalera [link] .   And I met an enormously huge fat man that was sweating profusely.
- The next day I had another bad ass signing with Joe Hill.   This time I concentrated on promoting my new series WILD BLUE YONDER.   People seemed genuinely excited; which was a severe relief to me.  please check out our Kickstarter page and either donate or spread the word.   I promise that you won't regret it – this book is going to be the best of my career.   I'm going to break people in half with it. [link]
- I then did the IDW Show panel to do more promoting of my new series through them (still WBY).  I made a few high level dick jokes and closed the show nicely.  Chris Ryall and Dirk Wood did a wonderfully creative job at that panel.   This panel was far from the usual self-indulgent droll.
- After more schmoozing and a lovely dinner, Nick and I decided to relax and just watch prison shows.  We went to bed early to get a good night of sleep.
- Saturday was my "day off".   I spent it doing sketches and whatnots for IDW staff and the passing fans.  Later that day I met up with my producer (and on again, off again lover) Austin Harrison.  He and his lovely girlfriend took me out for some grub at an amazing expensive, but unbelievably tasty grub.  The beer started to flow and Nick and I got a good buzz going for what was coming…
- Now I barely go to functions or parties or any shit like that, but I got invited to the Playboy/TrueBlood party that night.   I'm old and married and was going to pass, but I forgot that my buddy Nick is young and single and was bursting at the seams to go.  So we went, and I'm very happy we did.  Mostly just so I can say I experienced it.   It was the most Hollywood experience I've ever had.  Absolute insanity.  Beautiful half naked dancers giving us top shelf tequila all night long.  Music, booze, and even the nicest fucking porto-poti (I have no clue how to spell that) I've ever used.  Hell, it was nicer than the bathroom in my own house.   Anyhow, Nick and I got super juiced and went home to throw up for a bit before crashing.  Nothing but smiles pasted on our faces.   When in Rome, I suppose…  
- Next day I have a Level 4 hangover.   We stumbled to the con so Nick could sell his painting the morning, but I felt so unbelievably horrible, I slept on the concrete next to his table.   When I woke up I felt like a new man.   
- So I made my way back to IDW and did sketches for everyone.  The Cape HC sold out and they gave me the fucking huge vinyl poster advertisement of my Judge Dredd cover.  Coolest shit I've ever seen.   I spent the rest of the day schmoozing, pack up the truck and headed home.   
- My only regret the entire weekend was that my buddy Sean Murphy and I didn't get to hang much.  We seldom get to see each other now of days it seems.   We both work for different camps and get pulled in different directions at night.  However, we did get to chat a couple times which was good to go.   If for some odd reason you don't know, check out his new series PUNK ROCK JESUS.   It's finally out and it's fucking great!   If he isn't your favorite illustrator, you suck and should be destroyed.
That about wraps it up.   Thanks to IDW, I had a wonderful trip, signed a ton of books, and promoted my new series WILD BLUE YONDER.   I hope you guys had a great weekend with whatever you found yourselves doing.  Unless it involved putting on skinny jeans.  In that case, get fucked!   

Out,
Z

Well, it's official – WILD BLUE YONDER is in the IDW schedule, and we have a Kickstarter to help us pay for me to work on it full time.   By going the Kickstarter route we retain the vast majority of the ownership of the book.  So it's truly a creator owned property and if that means anything to you, please donate something.  Or at least pass the word along.  

[link]

We have some very neat and interesting incentives that I think will fit all types of interests.   Even if you are a destitute hobo!   I actually assume most of you yokels on this site are hobos that check their email at the library.  So yes, we considered your free-spirited toothless soul also!

I can honestly say that this is the most bad ass book I've worked on and if you like shit like Miyazaki films, you'll dig it, too.  And if you are into other crap, well then you are probably a hipster-douche-nozzle.  If so, please never stop punching yourself in the junk.   It's my only request.   

Second, I'll be signing at the IDW booth all weekend at SDCC.   Please swing by and get some books signed or buy some prints or covers or something.   It'll be fun to shoot the beans!

Regardless, thank you everyone in advance for the help!
Out,
Z

I will be teaching a college level course on making a professional level sequential portfolio for the comic book industry this spring.  If you live in the Denver area and are aspiring comic book artist, feel free to sign up and join us.   It's a five week course (with an additional five weeks after that for advanced work), where I teach you storytelling, pencils and inks.   You will complete at least four finished pages for your portfolio to show off to editors.  The second course will be another five weeks and will give you three to four finished pages along with a nice cover image.  

The course is titled, COMIC BOOK ARTIST BOOK CAMP and it starts Saturday April 21st.   The DEAD Academy is a brand new art school here in Denver, and all classes are taught by actual working professionals.   If you want to learn how to become a professional comic book illustrator, follow the address below and sign up.  If you sign up before April 1st you get 10% off.  The limit is 15 students so sign up before all of the slots are filled.  Hope to see you there!

www.deadacademy.com

Hola!  This Saturday I'll be doing a store signing at Fanatasy Comics in Tucson, AZ.   If you are in the area, come by and see my dumb ass.  As extra incentive to attend, the illustrious Sean Murphy will be there, too!   Come and get us to do a sketch before we get far to drunk, and start referring to you as "Fatty Fatty Droop Tits".

Good times, I say!

Out,
z

Here is a fun interview I wrapped up recently.  I think it is well done – even though the interviewer posted artwork from my very first comic book.  So when you get to the Heaven's Devils image, please stab your eyes out for me.  

Hope you enjoy it!

[link]

The final installment of The Cape is out today.   It wraps up quite nicely, and everyone involved is pretty darn proud of it.   In fact, two of my three dogs consider it to be the best comic ever made.   That's a household majority, folks!
  
So go buy the book!   And if you are a lazy turd (like myself), buy the trade this summer.  It'll have some nice goodies in it.


Things we have learned:
1 – The Cape is better than the shit you are currently reading.
2 – Being a fan of The Cape will make you a more likeable person (And let's be frank, no one currently likes you.  You need all of the help you can get).
3 – Everyone should buy Zach beer and spaghetti.

Love,
Z

The latest issue of The Cape is out today.  Go buy it.   It's better than what some cunty comic news site rates it.  88 different comics are not better than it this year.  Trust me - this issue will fucking wreck you.  

Nothing but sunshine. z

Well, I'm starting to really fucking hate myself.   I joined Facebook.   Next thing you know I might get a cellphone and start wearing underwear.   

I think that this is the first sign of the Apocalypse…


Anyhow, the third issue of The Cape comes out the 21st – along with a reprint of the second issue.  I'm currently wrapping up the final issue that'll be out in a couple of months.  Then the hardcover comes out in April.   That will collect all five issues, and have some extra filler bullshit, too!  Good times.  

Just a quick note to let everyone know that I'm a guest at WW Austin November 11th – 13th.   I'll be at a table in Artist Alley selling my crap.   If you are missing any issues of The Cape, I'll have a handful with me that I'd be happy to hook you up with.   

I'll be doing about 2 commissions a day – so if you want one, hit me up early.  I'm not taking any requests before the con, though.   Sorry about that.   

Lastly, I'm going to do a quick little contest.   The first person who comes up to me at the con and lets me know the album and band name of the logo on Eric's shirt in the first scene of Issue #2 (that just came out), will get a free Cape page from me.   So if you have taste, you will own a free piece of comic art.  Then you can put it on eBay and get 10 bucks for it.   Lucky you!   

Later,
Z

-You will never see me self-publish a sketchbook.    I'm a storyteller.   Fuck you and your sketches.
  
-The chances of (the 5 to 9 fans who follow my work) actually ever seeing me work on a monthly comic book are somewhere below remote.   I like stories that end, and I am very slow.  Very very slow.  And by "slow" I mean that I am retarded.  I actually draw very fast, but my severe retardation continually confuses me.
  
-Holy shit do I love spaghetti.

-There will never be a time in my life that I refer to myself as an Artist.   I find the overuse of that specific label (as a noun or adjective) obtuse, and delusional.   Time will sort out the Artists.  I've never met a lone person qualified enough to accurately determine the Artists from the chumps.
   
-People that don't care what type of music that they listen to can go choke on a dick.  Have an opinion you fucking coward.  It'll put hair on your chest.

-I'm pretty certain that I'll only be doing creator owned books from here on out.   The industry is damn near completely down the drain.  All we are doing is rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic at this point.  I'm doing only what I want from here on out.  If I draw one more mainstream book that reads like it was written by a fucking teenager, I'm going to put a gun in my mouth and see how many times I can pull the trigger before I lose consciousness.

-I absolutely fucking hate hippies.   No, I don't want to buy a fucking hemp necklace.  Take a shower and go do something, you stick-armed pussy.

-I will never trust a person that has never had suicidal thoughts at some point in their life.  We could never hang.

-If you have never been in a fist fight, we could never hang.   People that have never been punched in the head for something they said or did have no clue how the world works.  When you boil the fat off the bones of life, all that's left are a society full of animals wearing pants.  And when a person has felt pain due to a direct response to their actions, they will forever think differently towards how they interact with people.
  
-Never place your ego above other sentient life.   Nothing good can ever come from it.

-Buy your friends beer, and never ask for anything in return.   Smiling and laughing with a friend is more valuable than all the money in the world.  …however, they better not try and take my spaghetti.  I'll knife a motherfucker for just eyeballing it.  Mine.

Love,
Z

Every so often, an event takes place in life, or better yet, all that is valued and true in the universe, that absolutely and permanently changes the fabric of society and how it will be employed by future generations.   Take for instance the invention of the wheel, or Ron Lim's run on the Silver Surfer, etc.   Truly world-shaking events.   

Well, today is one of those significant events.  Why? Because I have convinced the great (and virile) Chris Ryall of IDW to post his youthful artist endeavors on our wonderful communal site of DA.   He was kind enough to post drawings he did when he was but a teenager filled with nothing but dreams of one day drawing Rom.   

Click the link and make the best editor in the history of comics feel welcome.

[link]


excelsior!
Z

Holy shit am I late on the next issue of The Cape.  Please bear (pun) with me while I finish this bastard.  I've had an odd couple of months and I'm quite a bit behind.   Please stick with the series – the next issue is the best script I've ever gotten and I'm trying to bring it to life in a worthy manner.  That and I hate to draw.  Fucking Christmas, I hate to draw.  It's painful.  

I should have stayed a potter…

out,
z