Awakening Vol. 1 in the April Previews

In an effort to spread the word that Archaia is back and all the quality you had come to expect from them is still there, many of the Archaia talent have banded together to help pimp eachother's books and get the word out. So, I encourage anyone who reads this blog to take a moment to view their copy of the April Previews and check out The Awakening.

Below is a press release from Nick (the writer) discribing the book. And, I must say that as a rule, if I don't like something I won't pimp it. I loved this book. It's more of a dark, psychological mystery than a "zombie" book. Kinda reminds me of the X-Files when it was good.

Anyway, I will now leave you to Nick.
-Kat

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Nick.Tapalansky@gmail.com
http://www.archaiasp.com/awakening.php
For Immediate Release:

Awakening Volume One Now Available for Pre-Order!

March 26th, 2009 – New Paltz, NY. Creators Nick Tapalansky and Alex Eckman-Lawn are thrilled to announce that Awakening Volume One, the first of two volumes of the critically acclaimed Archaia series, is now available for pre-order.

"It’s been a long, strange trip getting here," Tapalansky says, referring to the restructuring Archaia (Mouse Guard, Artesia, The Killer, etc.) underwent throughout the entirety of 2008. "Archaia is a fantastic company and all we can say is the wait was well worth it. These guys came out on the other side as a stronger company with some great initiatives for fans and creators alike. We’re proud to be a part of their line-up and can’t wait for people to see what they’ve got coming, especially Awakening. Not that we’re partial or anything.”

The solicitation for Awakening Volume One reads as follows:

“The once peaceful city of Park Falls has been tainted by a series of gruesome murders and missing persons. Cynthia Ford, well known as the town crazy, comes forward to speak with retired police detective Derrick Peters one January afternoon. She claims to have information about the murders, but does she hold the key to unlocking the mystery or has she truly gone insane?

To Derrick’s disbelief she utters one word:

Zombies.

Unable to ignore Cynthia’s information, though not sharing her beliefs, Derrick and others in the city explore the mystery as weeks turn to months and the death toll rises. Could Cynthia have been right? Follow the first half of Park Falls’s year-long struggle for answers here…”

“We’re really taking a grass roots approach to getting the word out,” Tapalansky explains. “We want to reach out to as many fans and retailers as possible. We’re hitting
MySpace, deviantArt, message boards, you name it. We’re hoping that fans of the floppy issues will jump on board and help spread the word. That’s also why we’ve released our fancy pre-order coupon, which is a huge component of that initiative.”

The coupon Tapalansky refers to can be found ----->. It contains all the information a retailer will need to order a copy of the book from Diamond’s Previews catalog.

“All anybody needs to do is print this sucker out and bring it to their local comic shop. That’s it! Come June they’ll have a tome of existential horror and noir mystery to enjoy. We’re hoping that fans and folks interested in the book will feature the coupon and some links on their blogs, message boards, bathroom stalls - whatever it takes to get the word out.”

“We couldn’t have gotten this far without our rabid fan base,” Tapalansky continues, “We’re hoping they’ll turn their unnatural lust for horror and good comics towards spreading the word.”

Those without local shops needn’t worry – as soon as the book is available for pre-order at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other book retailers, links will be posted to Nick and Alex’s websites, various message boards, and blogs across the internet.

So spread the word and get ready: Awakening is coming.

You’ve been warned.

About Awakening: Chapters 1 – 3 of Awakening were originally serialized and released in 2007 to rave reviews. Fans and critics alike enjoyed the unique take on the zombie genre, focusing on the noir mystery of a city slowly rotting from within rather than the typical mass uprising/fight for survival. Referred to as existential horror by the publisher, critics have said that it’s “The coolest and most original zombie piece since The Walking Dead,” (Broken Frontier), “The next 30 Days of Night,” (The Pullbox), and that main character Derrick Peters is “where Phillip Marlowe meets George Romero,” (Horrorview). Readers can find out more by visiting the MySpace page for Awakening, Nick’s Blog, Truth in Four Colors, or the official Archaia page for Awakening.

Awakening Volume 1 is due in stores this June.

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Takshaka

Finally. After 8+ years of waiting, Takshaka: Black Feather is now available through iTunes. Takshaka is the IDM musical project of Johnathan Sharp (Bio-Tek, New Mind, Barking at Butterflies) and Josh Finney. They began producton on this over eight years ago and finally it is available to the public. From the futuristic sounds and mood of "Macarther Bart (Forma Tadre version)" to the ambiance of "Curious Yellow", to the Ghost in the Shell inspired "Motoko 2501", Takshaka: Black Feather is an audio journey through the future.

Please take a moment to listen to some samples at the following websites:
Official Site - www.glitchwerk.com/takshaka
Myspace - www.myspace.com/takshaka1
Last.fm - www.last.fm/music/Takshaka

If you like what you hear you can go to iTunes and download the album.

Interview: CBRS/Superheros-R-Us

Lorrie Thomas of Comic Book Road Show and Superheros-R-Us sat down with us for a few minutes at the San Francisco Wondercon. You can listen to the interview at the Superheros-R-Us website.

WonderCon 2009 Update: Part 1

With Titanium Rain up and running again, I suppose I should probably start posting here a little more often. So far, aside from the rare post or two from myself, it has been Kat who has been diligently maintaining this site with regular updates. Anyway, with the two of us returning from Wonder Con in San Francisco, I figured I'd share some observations about our journey up north.
Overall I'd have to say it was a success for Titanium Rain. The book was received VERY well by the Bay Area crowd, which was a relief to Kat and I both, considering we weren't sure how the freaky city by the bay would take to a war comic where America isn't pure evil, and the men and women in uniform are portrayed as good people trying to make the best of a bad situation. Judging by our sales, we had nothing to worry about --our entire stock of issue #1 was sold out by Sunday morning.
As for the convention itself, anyone who can get to Wonder Con, I highly recommend it. This was my first visit, and I was impressed. The floor was well organized, the vibe was good, and at no point did I feel the urge to don a chem suit and start zotting costumed freaks with a stun prod. If anything, I'd describe Wonder Con as San Diego light. It has all the perks of the San Diego con without the horde of unwashed masses, Hollywood hype, or aging porn stars begging for work. Even better, Wonder Con is a comics convention that is actually about COMICS. Most of the fans stopping by the booth actually were interested in media that involves READING, which is a nice change of pace.

The good:
-Punk rockers trying to pick a fight with Klingons. This made my day. "Klingons are pussies, yo! C'mon up here and fight me ya space loser!" It would've been better if the Klingons hadn't wimped out and actually threw down. K'Pla!

-Hanging out with fellow Archaia talent Nick Tapalansky (The Awakening) and Patrick McEvoy (Stark Weather) and getting to know them better.

-The guy who'd built a damn near perfect Tom Servo replica. Hell yeah.

-Meeting the creator of Marsh Rocket, and finding out she lives only a few minutes away from Kat and I.

-Meeting DA artist, Ram Star and purchasing a rather nice piece of art from the man.

-Meeting up with a number of the Geek Speak crowd. Always good to touch base with the geek army!

-Scoring an incredible deal on a 1:24 scale Tachikoma.

The bad:
-Not having enough copies of Titanium Rain to sell. By Sunday morning we were out, and people were still asking for it.

The ugly:
-Seeing 300 sweaty pounds of flab pushed into a size 2 leather fetish one-piece. Please, people, if you've got Jaba's body and Tree Beard's face, you really SHOULDN'T be dressing like Xena Warrior Princess.

-The kid who talked like Truman Capote and smelled like Cheetos who came by the booth to tell us how much he luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuved Jesus and how he was a virgin. And I mean, this kid loved Jesus. Really really loved him. In a Biblical sense. I have a feeling this boy took that bit in Leviticus literally about having to be "in the closet" to pray properly.

-Getting utterly hammered on ONE, yes, ONE white Russian (it reacted bad with the Zoloft) and then telling a very matronly middle-aged Chinese barmaid how attractive I thought she was. Ack.

More soon,
-Josh