Lost Souls release dates (SPOILERS)

[Jan]

I finally got around to finding the release dates for the next few issues:

December 21 -- #3 -- When Jonathan encounters a talented runaway artist, he must help her choose between the easy path and the road less traveled.

January 11 -- #4 -- Mob hitman Quint has always leaned farther towards the dark than the light, but when he is pursued by an enemy don he failed to kill, he'll find himself at a crossroads, caught between his past loyalty to the Dark Man and the opportunity for salvation that Jonathan represents.

February 1 -- #5 -- Jonathan has been watching hitman Quint lean so far towards the darkness that now the mobster is plummeting into an abyss of his own sins. Quint's bargain with the Dark Man has also caught Jonathan's attention and led both himself and the killer to the ethereal zone known as the Long Road. Now, Jonathan must stop just observing and finally act, because two lives are in dangerïthat of a prostitute who could be Quint's next victim, and Quint himself, whose soul may already be too tainted to salvage. But if Jonathan intervenes, he risks a confrontation with the demonic Dark Man and a series of consequences that could shatter everything he hopes to accomplish.

Colleen, any chance you might possibly give us the titles of these issues? I've always liked JMS's titles.

Jan

[colleen]

In the embarassing truth department, I rarely notice titles. And to keep the office clutter down, I rarely keep scripts! As I finish pages, I toss them and usually only keep a disc file of the material in case I need it later.


c

[Jan]

Gaahhh!!!! You...throw away scripts???

Sob... sacriledge....

Jan
(ask me about my complete set of B5 scripts )

[colleen]

Well, if I keep it on disc, I can always reprint later!

I only keep original manuscripts, and most of them end up getting donated to charity auctions.

c

[Jan]

I know...after my initial reaction I engaged my brain and realized that the scripts were probably emailed to you anyway, not 'published' the way they are in the TV industry. Sorry...pay no attention to the civilian.

Jan

[colleen]

Yep, almost all my work is transacted by email. I even send in final art via email. My editors rarely ever touch the actual art. I just scan it and either turn it in on disc or send it over the phone line.

My art is created by hand, but all is scanned and submitted via computer.

This past week was the first time any of my editors on Book of Lost Souls actually saw my originals. I was in the office, handed over a few pages for them to scan, and when they were finished, I got them back and went home. I dropped in to say hello and deliver fudge as gifts for Christmas.

I have never met my editors before. I wonder what they thought of me?! I know they were happy to get the fudge!!! And the art, of course.

c

http://17.freebb.com/index.php?freebb=adistantsoilbb

[manwithnoname]

Colleen, how many issues of Zodiac was published?

I was rummaging through the half price bins yesterday and noticed some Zodiac comics you illustrated. I decided against buying them because all I know of Giffen's writing is the JLA comedy stuff. But, I recently bought/read his Drax the Destroyer, and it blew me away. As of this writing I've just decided to buy the Zodiac issues. Any thoughts on the Zodiac series, Colleen?

[colleen]

8.

I did issues 1-6 and 7.

The series was very dense and required close reading. We were handicapped by our first issue. DC really wanted an "introduction" issue to the book. Issue 2 was actually the first issue of the series that we drew. Later we did issue #1.

It was a mistake. It made for a bad introduction and the series never recovered.

Ironically, we sold a good deal more copies than other DC comics at the time, particularly at Vertigo, but I think DC editorial just didn't know what to do with us. So, we got the axe.

c

[manwithnoname]

sounds weird editorial couldn't understand a series they were publishing.

thanks for the reply.

loved BoLS #4. Quint is bad man.

[colleen]

Actually, I think a LOT of publishers have trouble with some of their books, and if editorial isn't behind them, your books gets canned, even if you sell better than other books. Zodiac was selling Vertigo numbers. Had it been a Vertigo book, it would have lasted. As a DC book, it got the axe.

Quint is an extremely bad man. Bad, Bad Quint!


c

[Jan]

Quint is an extremely bad man. Bad, Bad Quint!

Yeah, I'm really not seeing how Quint is salvageable at all. But then I don't see how Jonathan can go red-eyed, either. I guess that means I'll have to keep reading because if I try to ask Colleen she'll just snicker at me.

And Mystery not only talks but reads? What a Cat!

Jan

[colleen]

I am afraid there is simply no cure for it. You must keep right on reading!

If Mystery can use the toilet and not the litterbox, he is the cat for me!


c

https://www.colleendoran.com

[manwithnoname]

Actually, I think a LOT of publishers have trouble with some of their books, and if editorial isn't behind them, your books gets canned, even if you sell better than other books. Zodiac was selling Vertigo numbers. Had it been a Vertigo book, it would have lasted. As a DC book, it got the axe.

This is both ridiculous and scary. Art is subjective as is story. Publishers are always spouting about comics not selling well enough as being the main reason for cancellation.

Old saying: One man's pleasure is another man's pain.

Just because I don't like a story doesn't mean it's not good. I assumed editors knew this.

There are many authors people praise, and when I read those same authors' work, I don't get what everybody else is seeing as spectacular.

It's scary that a story a creator is pitching could potentially be in print for forever due to popularity, but because an editor doesn't "get it" it won't see the light of day. Scary.

Also, I don't see how Quint is salvageable either. Good thing there's another issue to read. I don't why, but I really dig this talking cat. He just works within the framework of the BoLS story/universe. Genius.

[Jan]

With thanks to a sharp-eyed reader over on Colleen's A Distant Soil message board. It looks like the first Trade Paperback for The Book of Lost Souls is available for pre-order on Amazon. According to it, the book should be available May 24.

Jan

[Radhil]

Gracias. I'm there. *poof*