The Story So Far
Now, in a perfect world, there'd be a bit of traffic coming this way after posting the MURDER MOON trailer. So it occurs to me that I should probably have a bit of an introduction for the folks who are coming around here for the first time.
MURDER MOON, the graphic novel, was originally slated as a traditional monthly series under the name STRANGEWAYS, to be published by Speakeasy Comics back in December, 2005. Nevermind how long I'd been working on it before that. On the eve of the first issue's publication (a publication that had been pushed back numerous times by last-minute publisher-side delays), with the second issue turned in and the third issue in the process of being made press-ready, I pulled the book from Speakeasy's lineup. It was clear that Speakeasy was not going to make it through the winter, despite regular protestations to the contrary. Adam Fortier, the then-head of Speakeasy, let the book go graciously.
As much as I'd wanted to get a finished book out onto the stands, I wanted more for the story to be complete. Had the book stayed, I'd have gotten one issue on the stands before things went sour. One issue does not a story make. Putting out one issue then a trade collection tends to make a lot of readers mad, forcing a format change in order for them to get the whole story. The story remained intact, but unpublished.
So I spent some time getting other publishers lined up. Some were quick about their rejections. Some took their time about it, even after hiring a second artist (that they liked) to redraw pages because they really liked the material, but they just weren't wild about Luis Guaragña's art. Time to get submissions in, time to get artists to redraw pages, interminable time to hear back from them before figuring out that it wasn't gonna happen. Time to move 500 miles and re-settle, buy a house, sell a house, raise two kids (still in the process of doing that) and all the other fun things that make life worth living.
So, STRANGEWAYS is dead as a monthly title, but the name lives on as a series of books. The first one is called MURDER MOON. It's a black and white western horror story, about ex-Union soldier Seth Collins, haunted by his own ghosts and making his way through an increasingly haunted frontier (a region called the Strangeways, where there's things worse than bandits and rustlers waiting in the shadows.) The first book is done, done, done. I'm waiting to hear back from Diamond about whether they'll carry it (somehow this is an issue to me, even though most folks tell me not to worry about it.) Hopefully distribution will be settled shortly so that I can get on with selling the book.
Look for a preview of the first chapter to go online after I have a publication date settled. I like to give folks a chance to look a chance at they're gambling their thirteen bucks on.
Forgot to add: there's a 5-page preview up over at my ComicSpace page. Dig it.