In the Beginning…

It’s funny, last Saturday I showed up at the doorstep of a couple of friends’ home for a party they had invited me to.  Unfortunately, it turned out that I was a full day late — the party was the night before.  I can’t begin to tell you how embarrassed I was, yet my hosts were kind enough to invite me in for dinner.  In the end we all had a really wonderful time.

That’s kinda how I feel right now.  The Papercutz blog has already been up and running for a few days, and I’m nowhere to be found!  Which is also very embarrassing because I’m the Editor-in-Chief of Papercutz, the graphic novel and comics publishing company started by publisher Terry Nantier and me.

But, I hope I can make up for lost time and bring you up-to-date on Papercutz and help get this party started!

As I said, Terry and I started Papercutz, and it’s been one of the greatest experiences of my life! I mean, what comicbook fan wouldn’t be thrilled to start up an all-new comicbook company?  I’ve loved comicbooks as far back as I can remember, and I’ve been lucky enough to, believe it or not, to be working in the amazing world of comics since I was 15 years old. 

But a lot has changed since I started working at Marvel Comics back in 1972.  For one thing, there are far more comics being produced exclusively for adults, and a lot less being created for readers of all-ages.  Back then, almost all comics were suitable and fun for all ages, and kids and adults could enjoy many of the very same comicbooks.  Well, a big part of Papercutz’s mission is to produce comics in that great all-ages tradition – in other words, everyone’s invited to the Papercutz party!

So, as your host, allow me to introduce you to just a few of the Papercutz people that help create these incredible comics and graphic novels…

In no particular order, there’s Sarah Kinney and Stefan Petrucha, the husband and wife writing team responsible for keeping Nancy Drew, Girl Detective supplied with fresh new mysteries.  There are sixteen NANCY DREW graphic novels out now, and each one captures the spirit of the mystery-obsessed teen sleuth perfectly.  I’ve been fortunate enough to know Stefan since we were both kids living in the Bronx, in New York City.  We dreamed about creating comics, and now we get to do just that!  Stefan’s also busy writing all sorts of great Young Adult fiction series as well.  I strongly recommend Timetripper.  It’s the tale a teenage boy who can sort of travel between time.  But, honestly, any book with Stefan’s name is sure to be brilliantly written.

Bringing Nancy to graphic novel life is artist Sho Murase, working with 3D CG and color artist Carlos Jose Guzman.  Sho’s background is in animation, but she’s evolved into a top comics artist blending American and Japanese styles into something totally new and exciting.  Together they’ve brought a style and look to Nancy Drew that has helped make this one of our top-selling, and most critically acclaimed series.  Although beloved by female fans of all ages, not so surprisingly, Nancy has a large following of loyal male readers, also of all ages, as well.

Scott Lobdell, is the well-known comics writer that took over Marvel’s top-selling UNCANNY X-MEN title after Chris Claremont originally left the series.  Talk about having big shoes to fill! Scott has already done a great job introducing himself on his blog, that there’s little left for me to say, except that Scott has always been a real true friend.  We first met when he was breaking in at Marvel Comics, and I’ve always known he was destined for greatness.  Scott has done it all, everything from movie screenplays to creating TV series, and we’re so lucky that he still manages to find time to chronicle the all-new continuing adventures of the Hardy Boys for us.  With Paulo Henrique drawing the Undercover Brother’s exploits, the series is looking more exciting than ever.  And I can say with total confidence, the best is yet to come from this talented team!

Greg Farshtey, BIONICLE author and expert, also does a great job of introducing himself, and although we haven’t known each other very long and we’ve only worked together on his terror-tale “Murder M.A.I.D.” for TALES FROM THE CRYPT #6, I have tremendous respect for him.  He’s created a universe for the BIONICLE series that’s as fantastic as it is impressive.  Collecting his BIONICLE stories, beautifully illustrated by Carlos D’Anda, Randy Elliot and, Stuart Sayger, as a Papercutz graphic novel series has turned out to be one of our best decisions ever, as BIONICLE is currently our best-selling title.  Our heartfelt thanks to the many loyal BIONICLE fans.

Well, there’s still many more folks to introduce you to, such as the creators responsible for our TALES FROM THE CRYPT and CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED titles, but I’ll wait till next time, and hope that many of them will simply pop up here and introduce themselves.

In the meantime, I better get back to work, for as much fun as creating these titles may be, there’s also such a thing as deadlines, a few are demanding my attention right now, so I gotta go.  But please, enjoy this opportunity to interact with us at Papercutz.  Tell us what you like, and what you don’t like.  We’re here to listen.  We want this to be a party that you’ll want to come back to over and over again!