About My Eyes

A bunch of people e-mailed me about the eye thing mentioned in the Newsarama interview, so first off, thanks for all the concern.  That interview was actually done nearly three months ago, and although I'd like to say there's been some progress on that front, there hasn't been.  It seems I've developed some sort of opathamalogical neurological problem that gives me persistent double or triple vision and chronic incapacitating migraines.  I'm actually typing this through cloudy eyes with one of the worst migraines I've ever had, so please forgive the typos (although,I think I'm pretty good). As some of you know, I'm also Diabetic, and eye problems for diabeticscan be severely dangerous, so, despite the lack of insurance (until recently), I've been extremely diligent about seeing doctors and treating the problem.  Interestingly, my mom had a disease known as kerakatonis in her twenties which struck her temporarily blind, until she could have a cornea transplant.  The doctors have ruled kerakatonis out as a possibility for my problems.  They had also diagnosed it as Serous Retinopathy, but that also turned out to be wrong.

I've managed to stay more than on top of my freelance, thankfully, and wit the TV movie's first draft wrapping up and about to be turned in, it looks like we'll be okay financially for a little while.  I have some fancy brand new health insurance, finally, as well, and that has started me back with a general practitioner, who's going to aggressively help get to the bottom of the problem.

So, in other words, it sucks, but I'm okay.  I have good and bad days, but, it's being treated, and I'm still able to work as needed, so everything is on schedule.

Except for Three Rivers.  And again, this is why.  It'll be back on track soon, I swear.

Power is out.

Power is out.,
originally uploaded by Joshua Hale Fialkov.

Longform Interview over at Newsarama

ELK'S RUN AND MORE WITH JOSHUA HALE FIALKOV - NEWSARAMA

NRAMA: Random House has been pushing Elk’s Run pretty hard, what is that a result of?JHF: They came to us about the book. It had a varied publishing past when we tried to do the issues. To various degrees of success, we went through two publishers before Random House. They came to us very early on and really expressed their commitment in trying to get the book under their label as a trade paperback.

I talk about my old jobs in TV, my movie, and a bunch of other stuff.

Sick Again

It's been a while since I've been ill. Christina was suffering from a long lasting flu that managed to avoid infecting me, only to have her be mostly well, and me get slammed in the face by it.  Well, hopefully it won't last too too much longer. Early reviews for Postcards have been coming in, and they're VERY good.  I'm really looking forward to you guys checking it out.  I also got comps of Princess Ressurrection Book #1 in, that's in stores pretty soon, and is also lots of fun, despite my marginal involvment, I'm still quite proud of it.

Also, my return to the genre bending western has just been cemented.  Got a new book in the works with an established publisher that's going to be a blast.  I'll keep y'all updated as it goes.

Now, If you'll excuse me, I'm going to lay down.

PUNKS THE COMIC Collectibles Available Now!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Los Angeles, CA - In the grand tradition of crass consumerism defiling established American institutions, FIALKOV & CHAMBERLAIN, the beloved creators of the Five Times Previews Featured Punks The Comic (from Digital Webbing!) are proud to announce the PUNKS THE COMIC FIVE DOLLAR BILLS! What better way to show your love and support for PUNKS THE COMIC and AMERICA than by purchasing, framing, collecting, or making a paper airplane out of this rare item. Each bill is hand signed by PUNKS THE COMIC artist Kody, right next to the striking portrait of PUNKS THE COMIC's star ABRAHAM LINCOLN! That the various institutions involved could be so easily bribed by the likes of FIALKOV and CHAMBERLAIN in order to bring their beloved character to millions of soulless product vacuum consumers is truly a testament to the Good Ol' U.S. of A.

Priced at the exclusive online price of $10, each exclusive bill comes packages with a certificate of authentitcity signed by the artist. Prices for Five Dollar Bills on EBay have been known to soar in to the double even triple digits, and there's nothing to stop this bill from doing the same!

But that's not all, for those with savings on the brain, FIALKOV & CHAMBERLAIN also are proud to introduce the PUNKS THE COMIC PENNY! Featuring a striking portrait of Lincoln on the front, and his Fortress of Solitude on the back, this is truly a portrait of LINCOLN at his finest. This rare one cent collectibles are available with a certificate of authenticity for a mere $5!

Interested parties may Paypal the appropriate amount to: [ enlist@50caliber.com ] and orders will be shipped out immediately. Best of all, if you order within the next few days, SHIPPING WILL BE FREE!

And don't forget, this is the last chance to preorder PUNKS THE COMIC's SUMMER SPECIAL from DIGITAL WEBBING in Previews order number MAY07 3402.

Visit us online at www.punksthecomic.com for more information.

Signatures to help us promote punks…

For message boards and ComicSpace, copy and paste this:

HTML Code:

[url=http://www.punksthecomic.com/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=27&Itemid=][img]http://www.punksthecomic.com/promo/PunksRotatingGraphic.gif[/img][/url]

For websites and MySpace, copy and paste this:

HTML Code:

<a href="http://www.punksthecomic.com/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=27&Itemid="><img src="http://www.punksthecomic.com/promo/PunksRotatingGraphic.gif"></a>

And don't forget to check out the Punks downloads page for Avatars, Desktop Graphics, etc.

Should look like this when it's working properly:

Thrushmetal on Elk’s Run

"Small towns usually make sure their places of doom disappear"* -- Elk's Run, by Joshua Hale Fialkov « The Thrushmetal Review

It’s violent, yet not gratuitously so. Nonetheless, the writing exemplifies realistic, dystopian-horror fiction and suspenseful comic book writing at its finest, most skillful level. Collectors of fine graphic novels will certainly wish to add this to their bookshelves and will certainly read it more than once. This is one of the best graphic novels I have read this year, and another example of how sophisticated the sequential art format can be. “A”-freaking-plus.

Newsarama Q&A on Punks

THOSE PUNK KIDS: FIALKOV & CHAMBERLAIN TALK PUNKS: THE COMIC - NEWSARAMA

NRAMA: That's cold… but.. yeah. Can you give us a rundown of who's who in Punks?JF: Sure. We got Abe Lincoln. He's the 16th President of the United States, liberator of the slaves, and hero of the civil war. He also knows how to party.

Then we have Dog. He's a political radical with a Morrissey fetish. He also knows how to party.

Then there's Skull. He's a Punk Rock superstar who breathes fire. He also knows how to party. And finally, there's Fist. He's got a fist for a head and communicates through a combination of signs and semaphore. Unfortunately, he no longer knows how to party due to an unfortunate accident involving Bell Biv Devoe.

*Embedded in that article is the entire Free Comic Book Day story, btw, so, if you couldn't find it, there's your chance to read it. 

Round Robin

Alright, so, it's been a whirlwind couple of weeks, and I apologize for being off the radar.  Highlight and lowlights below.

• Punks is in Previews, and we're doing all kinds of press and stuff for that.  Keep your eyes open for it.
• Free Comic Book Day was a blast at The Comic Bug, and yet again I forgot to take pictures.  The Punks FCBD issue of Digital Webbing was gone before I could even grab a copy for myself.  It looks GOOOOOD tho.
• Just got hired on a couple of very cool jobs I can't really talk about, one is a big licensed property comic thing, one is a TV movie.  I just sent in an outline for Vampirella 4-6, so, here's hoping that the sales keep up, and that gets to come to fruition.  There's at least one other book that hasn't been announced, but it will be relatively soon, I think.
• Got engaged to the most wonderful girl in the world.
• Been wrestling with some major occular problems, leaving me semi-blind for days at a time.  It's still problematic (I try not to drive unless it's dire circumstances), but it seems to be improving considerably.
• Thanks to that, Three Rivers the webcomic has sort of fallen off schedule.  Yes, I've been having these problems for THAT long.   Noel's about two months ahead of what's posted, so once I get the next script turned into him, I'll probably begin to post them.  The actual submission was sent off to prospective publishers this week, so, here's hoping.
• Got two other creator owned books being developed right now.  Pages are in on the first one, and the second one is being completed as we speak.   One's a 50's Cops and Monsters book, the other is my tribute to gangsters and the 70's.  Hopefully have more on those shortly.  I'm also developing a bunch of comics with Screenwriting partner Mark Wheaton (he of The Messengers, Friday the 13th, etc. fame.) It looks like one of those might see publication relatively soon. We shall see though.

End of update.

Digital Otaku on Princess Resurrection

This is the Manga I did the adaptation of. First volume is on it's way to stores soon. Here it is on Amazon if you're interested. It's really, really good if you're into the whole Buffy/Evil Dead thing. Digital Otaku

Princess Resurrection has an interesting, developing storyline and a couple of strong characters to support it. I’m pretty sure this manga is going to do well and for fans of the genre (like myself), anyone with the slightest interest in all things dark, supernatural and macabre should definitely check out this manga.

Comic Book Bin on Punks

Q&A: Joshua Fialkov Talks Punks the Comic

CBB: If there is a selling point or something about the project that you want to get across to readers, what is it?

FIALKOV: It's funny, it's different, it's smart, it cures cancer*, it has laser blasting alien robots, and more head wound jokes per page than any other book on the stands**,

*Does not in fact cure cancer. **Not including Head Wound Joke Monthly

The Washington Post Express on Elk’s Run

Express: A Publication of The Washington Post

» EXPRESS: Do you see your book as a criticism of small-town America or what it's like to live in the Midwest? » FIALKOV: I really don't think it is. What I tried really hard to do in the book, and I hope I succeeded at, is show nobody's wrong. The methodology is wrong. The situation is wrong. The rationale — why everyone is doing the things they're doing — is not. It's just that sometimes that life becomes a powder keg.

Aint-It-Cool Interviews Me About Elk’s Run

AICN COMICS

How on earth did Random House get involved with comics? Did they call you, or...Random House has been doing comics in a couple different forms for a while. There's the Del Rey Manga line (which has some astonishingly good stuff in it), and then they've done comics here and there in the past. I think the idea of doing an adult graphic novel push (adult meaning mature, not porno, obviously), just suited the business at the time. Graphic Novels have never been as high profile as they are know, and with the success of things like THE END OF VIOLENCE and 300, it's no longer just about superheroes. There's a certain natural connection between pop culture and the sequential narrative form that seems to be cinched into just about everybody's brains.