Via Vertigo

Celebrated short story writer Scott Snyder and artist Rafael Albuquerque will launch a new monthly comic book series from Vertigo in March 2010 with a unique contribution from New York Times bestselling novelist Stephen King.

The new ongoing series, American Vampire, will introduce readers to a new breed of vampire—a more muscular and vicious species of vampire with distinctly American characteristics. The series’ first story arc, to be told over the course of five issues, will feature two different stories, one written by Snyder, the other by King.

Snyder’s storyline is one of decadence and deception and Jazz Age glamour. Pearl is an ambitious modern woman with starlet dreams. She frequents Hollywood’s speakeasies and dance-halls searching for her first big break, only to find something far more sinister waiting for her.

King’s story provides the origin of the very first American vampire: Skinner Sweet, a bank robbing, murdering cowboy of the 1880s. Skinner is stronger and faster than previous vampires; he has rattlesnake fangs and is powered by…. the sun?

Following the conclusion of the first story arc, Snyder and Albuquerque will trace Skinner’s bloodline through various decades of American history.

“Getting the chance to re-imagine a classic monster—to invent a whole new mythology and secret history—nothing could be more exciting for me . . . except getting the chance to do it with Stephen King at Vertigo. I honestly can’t think of any influences more crucial or enduring for me than Vertigo and Stephen King. To have them both involved in AMERICAN VAMPIRE, along with the amazing Rafael Albuquerque—this all a dream come true for me!” —Scott Snyder

“I love vampire stories, and the idea of following the dark exploits of a uniquely American vampire really lit up my imagination. The chance to do the origin story—to be “present at the creation” —was a thrill. I owe big thanks to Scott Snyder for letting me share his vision, and sip from his bucket of blood.” —Stephen King

“In a time where vampires are everywhere, Scott and Stephen seem to have done the impossible: An original, inventive and detailed new series. It’s a challenging and exciting project I’m proud to be working on.” —Rafael Albuquerque

“Publishing a series with a fresh take on the vampire mythos would be incredible enough, but adding the talents of Scott Snyder, an exciting new voice in fiction, and Stephen King, the master of horror himself, is beyond awesome. We are thrilled that Vertigo is the home for this special new work, which we’re certain will be a major addition to the timeless and popular appeal of vampire lore everywhere.” —Karen Berger

About the creators:

Scott Snyder is best known for his first collection of stories, Voodoo Heart (Dial Press). Stephen King picked two of the included stories—“Wreck” and “Dumpster Tuesday”—for the 2007 Best American Short Stories anthology shortlist. Snyder teaches writing at Columbia University, NYU and Sarah Lawrence College and is working on a novel called The Goodbye Suit, to be published by Dial in 2011. He lives in New York City. This is his first comic book series.

Stephen King is the bestselling author of The Stand, The Shining, The Dark Tower books and multitudes of other works, most recently Under the Dome. American Vampire marks Stephen King’s debut with Vertigo/DC Comics; it is the first comic book writing he’s done, based on original material, as opposed to existing characters.

Rafael Albuquerque is best known for his work on Superman/Batman and Crimeland.
——

Want to know when the first issue is up for grabs at TFAW.com? Sign up for the Product Announcements Newsletter and we’ll let you know when you can pre-order it!

A new series from a new publisher is coming down the pike: The Untamed: A Sinner’s Prayer, from Stranger Comics! Written by Sebastian Jones with lush, painted art by Peter Bergting, it’s a cross between a horror comic and a Clint Eastwood spaghetti Western. A killer who was betrayed an killed a decade ago has made a deal with the devil: he has a week to return to his hometown and claim the souls of the seven men who slaughtered him and his family. In return, he can leave Hell forever.

Not only do we have a five-page First Look for this exciting new comic, we’ve received some issues of The Untamed signed by the writer and the artist! Here’s the deal: three random people who pre-order The Untamed #1 by November 30, 2009 will win a special prize package: both the regular and variant issues of #1, plus #2–all signed by Sebastian Jones and Peter Bergting! You can read all of the details here.

As of this month’s issue, Amanda Conner became the first woman EVER to crack Wizards’ Top 10 Hot Artist list. Accordingly, why not start the week with some rockin Amanda Conner artwork on your desktop? Congrats to Amanda!

I realize that my conservative collecting habits mean that I pretty much review the same few books over and over. I try to mix it up every once in a while with impulse buys, but, generally, you’re going to get a few thoughts on books like The Walking Dead, Green Lantern, and the batch of books in my pull this week: Amazing Spider-Man, Invincible, The Invincible Iron Man, and The (Dark) Avengers. No impulse buys or oddities in the pull this week, but two of  these books did include potential game-changer endings that could lead us into the next big Marvel-wide storyline.

From time to time, we’ll be showcasing some of the more kick ass collectibles in the world of comic and toy culture. If you’re already into the collectible scene, you’ve probably already heard of Jin Saotome’s custom-crafted figures, but recently a batch of new online custom craftsmen have made toy shopping online a buyer’s paradise. Most notable among them is Lone Wolf Arts.

Alex & Pete review Green Lantern Corps #41, Incredible Hercules #136 & Gravel #14

Marvel released their cover images for January books this week, so that’ll surely be fueling our daily wallpaper updates for a while. And what other way to kick things off than some Merc With A Mouth?

Via Image

On the verge of the Cowboy Ninja Viking debut, Image Comics announced yesterday that writer AJ Lieberman and artist Riley Rossmo’s highly anticipated action-packed mini-series with a multiple personality twist will expand to regular ongoing series!

“Even before its release, Cowboy Ninja Viking has seen a reception much like Chew’s explosive launch, making it evident writer AJ Lieberman and artist Riley Rossmo shouldn’t be contained to a mere four issues,” Image Comics Vice President Jim Valentino said. “In a time where it’s very hard to launch an all-new title, the pre-release buzz for this book has been massive. We’re extremely excited to keep it going for a long time coming. Considering we’ve had to already double our print run to meet demand, we think the fans will highly enjoy the now ongoing series.”

Cowboy Ninja Viking is the birth child of Doctor Sebastian Ghislain, a psychotherapist who recruits Multiple Personality Disorder patients to create a unit of counter-intelligence agents called the Triplets. But what happens when those guys become out of control assassins? That’s when the deadliest Triplet of them all, Cowboy Ninja Viking, is called in to take down his own brethren. In order to ensure the timely schedule, the series will ship in monthly arcs with two-month gaps in between each storyline.

Cowboy Ninja Viking #1 just became available as an in-stock product and you can still pick up your copy…but they’re going fast.

Remember the free Black Lantern rings that came with the first printing of Blackest Night #1? Now DC is continuing that promotion, offering different colored Lantern Corps rings with select Blackest Night tie-in books starting the first week of November. Check the release schedule and complete your set!

Over at the Vertigo blog, editor Pamela Mullin shares a cool little item: Vertigo blog: “If you happened to be watching BBC America last night, chances are pretty good that you caught the debut of our first-ever TV commercial for VERTIGO CRIME…” Personally I think this is the first-ever comic book commercial I remember seeing — then again, I just asked someone if that GI Joe movie ever came out. (Maybe a case of selective memory). Regardless, it’s a cool little spot, spotlighting DARK ENTRIES by Ian Rankin and Werther Dell’Edera and FILTHY RICH by Brian Azzarello and Victor Santos. Check it out.