Hi Everyone!

Editorial Assitant Mike Petranek here to share some great reviews that CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED has garnered recently, and write about one of my favorite authors, Robert Louis Stevenson. Right now, the newest volumes of CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED and CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED DELUXE are both adaptations of very different books he wrote!

CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED #7 “Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde” is a horror story that has been used as the inspiration for Alan Moore’s “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and one of my favorite cartoons of all time. You can read a review of this book, featuring John K. Snyder III’s wonderfully scary work, from booklist here.

On the “Deluxe” side of things, “Treasure Island” was one of my favorite books growing up, and I was very happy when I first learned it would be one of our CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED DELUXE volumes. If you like great art, pirates and adventure, look no further! Just look at what Publisher’s Weekly had to say:

“The classic pirate novel is even more fun to read accompanied by well-done pictures. By Capturing the feel of another time and place, readers are easily transpoted into the long-ago seafaring adventure.”

“The art also helps readers become more comfortable with the old-fashioned language and phrasing…The story is full of all the elements expected: mysterious omens, frightening strangers, a treasure map, seafaring adventure, murderous mutiny, and a boy’s first journey to becoming a man. ”

Not only that, but comicsworthreading.com also has a great review of the graphic novel, which you can read here. Check it out!

We hope you have as much fun with these graphic novels as we did putting them together. Until next time, keep checking us out here on the blog, and watch out for Papercutz!

-Mike

Thanks to all who’ve wished me a happy birthday today – it’s been nice to hear from so many friends and fellow travelers across the virtual world.

A special nod to ol’ pal Jim Salicrup for his birthday blog cleverly disguised as a plug for all my work.  Mucho obligado, Jim!

I’ve really got to get around to redesigning this web page and posting about all the exciting projects I have coming up, but I’ve been too busy writing (and occasionally playing Stubbs the Zombie…)!

Importantly, though, the first reviews are out for my upcoming book from Walker, Split, which hits bookstores March 16.

From Publisher’s Weekly:  "Petrucha offers a reality-bending take on the idea of split personalities.  [His] story should leave readers considering the power of fate versus choice and the internal urges and desires that regularly jostle for control.

From Booklist:  The shifting action keeps the fast-paced dual plots moving, and teens will be entertained by the two Wades’ embodiment of the tension between being success oriented and following your whims.

That cover again is:

Pax!

One of the questions comicbook editors are asked most often is “What exactly does a comicbook editor do?” Comicbook editing is such a mysterious profession, that you might be better off asking Nancy Drew for the answer. Some of the answer is fairly obvious—assigning writers and artists to create comicbooks or graphic novels on an agreed upon schedule. And one of the things that makes any editors’ job incredibly easier is to be lucky enough to assign a writer who just happens to be brilliantly talented, incredibly reliable, and always a pleasure to work with. Such a writer is Stefan Petrucha.

Stefan Petrucha is all those things and more. As writer or co-writer (with Sarah Kinney) of the NANCY DREW graphic novels he has kept our favorite Girl Detective hopping in one amazing mystery after another:

In “The Demon of River Heights,” Nancy exposes the true demon and the dangers of cigarette smoking. And this premiere Nancy Drew graphic novel wins the Benjamin Franklin Award.

“Writ In Stone” questions who really discovered America.

“The Haunted Dollhouse” celebrates and namedrops many of the classic Carolyn Keene Nancy Drew Mysteries.

“The Girl Who Wasn’t There” brings Nancy, George, and Bess to India to help a friend Nancy meant when call tech support.

“The Fake Heir” shows that even when Nancy has a bad day, which included a spider bite on her nose, she can still solve a mystery.

In “Mr. Cheeters is Missing” Nancy must find a kidnapped chimp, without making a monkey of herself.

Nancy also discovers “The Charmed Bracelet” is actually cursed.

“Global Warning” is not only an ecological thriller, it actually ties-in with one of the great Her Interactive Nancy Drew computer games.

Then there’s the “High Miles Mystery,” a Nancy Drew trilogy, that includes “Ghost in the Machinery,” “The Disoriented Express,” and “Monkey Wrench Blues.” See what happens when a new fuel is invented that could change the world.

After such a awesome adventures, Nancy is brought back down to Earth with “Dress Reversal” – a tale that actually sees her trapped in a van with Deirdre Shannon.

After finding various missing persons—including a chimp—Nancy is challenged to find and entire missing community in “Doggone Town.” She also finds Togo, her new dog.

Sometimes finding a missing person, or in this case, a missing tiger can be dangerous as Nancy learns in “Tiger Counter.” This one is a Distinguished iParenting Media Award Winner!

With nothing up her sleeves, Nancy matches wits with a popular professional magician in “Sleight of Dan.”

Balloon rides can be fun, but not when you’re dangling from one like Nancy does in “What Goes Up…”

Nancy travels to Turkey with her dad, and after surviving a “Night of the Living Chatchke” winds up trapped in the “City Under the Basement.”

Nancy spends most of “Ciffhanger” literally hanging from a ledge, but that doesn’t impede her powers of deduction.

And coming soon, in time to celebrate Nancy’s 80^th Anniversary, “High School Musical Mystery Part One,” featuring the very first encounter between Nancy Drew and Carolyn Keene’s sister sleuths, the Dana Girls!

And that’s just what Stefan’s been dreaming up for Nancy Drew! Somehow he’s not only found time to write such novels as The Timetripper series, The Shadow of Frankenstein, The Wicked Dead series (with Thomas Pendleton), Teen Inc., The Rule of Won, and coming in March, Split, but he’s also written comics such as Mickey Mouse, Duckman, The X-Files, Spider-Man, Squalor, Meta-4, and for Papercutz, several stories for TALES FROM THE CRYPT, including the super-popular parody “Diary of a Stinky Dead Kid.”

As you can probably guess, I’m not only Stefan’s editor at Papercutz, I’m also a big fan of his work, which I’m sure you will be too if you check out any Petrucha-penned publication! So, Happy Birthday, Stefan!  And keep those scripts coming!

Hello There!

I’m very excited that so many people have contacted Papercutz to tell us how much you’ve enjoyed my first two graphic novels, full of rat-tastic adventures!  Oh, Excuse me, I haven’t introduced myself yet! My name is Stilton, Geronimo Stilton! And I edit the Rodent’s Gazette, the most famous paper on Mouse Island. I’ve also been asked by Papercutz to write about my adventures - in graphic novel form. I write graphic novels for Papercutz about stopping the Pirate Cats from changing the future for their own benefit. Time-travel is fun, but I always need a nap when I come back!

My latest graphic novel is called “The Coliseum Con” and I can’t wait to share with you this mouseriffic adventure! I traveled to Ancient Rome with my sister Thea, my nephew Benjamin, Benjamin’s friend Pandora and my friend Nosymouse Squeak. For those of you who don’t know Nosymouse, we grew up together on Mouse Island and he runs the Squeak Detective Agency. Nosymouse is good at sniffing out clues, but he loves to play tricks on me and is a banana-maniac! We heard from Professor Volt that the Pirate Cats were up to no good and had to go stop them! I won’t give away any of the secrets, but we got to meet Emperor Titus and made some great friends. Of course, there were some bumps along the way…

Moldy Mozarella! Riding a chariot isn’t as easy as it looks in the movies! I won’t spoil it by letting you know what happens; you’ll have to pick up a copy of “The Coliseum Con” for yourself! Those nice people at Papercutz have all the information on my latest graphic novel here. You can even see some more previews from our adventure! Well, my dear friends, farewell until the next tale…another whiskerful of an adventure written by Stilton…Geronimo Stilton!

HI EVERYONE!

It sure has been a long time since I’ve written, but I will try to make it up to you with a lot of links to some neat stuff going on in the world of Papercutz. 2010 is the 80th anniversary of NANCY DREW and we plan on celebrating in style! If you are a NANCY DREW fan and you have a facebook account, make it official! Go to this page, log in, and join! I’ll be posting previews and other cool stuff there.

If you haven’t yet noticed, TALES FROM THE CRYPT #8 “Diary of a Stinky Dead Kid” was a smash hit for Papercutz. We couldn’t be happier! On that note, if you are still not sure about this book and want more info you can ask Publisher’s Weekly what they thought, or perhaps Booklist. It seems like Glugg (the stinky dead kid) can be found here, there and everywhere! The same can be said for our good friend Geronimo Stilton. He’s popping up everywhere! Have fun surfing the web!

Speaking of young troublemakers like Glugg, if you haven’t checked out CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED #5 “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” read this review:

“Tom Sawyer, that original American bad boy, returns in graphic-novel format. The manga-influenced, full-color illustrations bring a new level of dynamism to a text that is already quite dramatic, what with its murder, buried treasure, youthful romance, and presumed deaths. (Tom himself is thought dead twice.) This version doesn’t shy away from the culture of the time; Injun Joe is still Injun Joe and Tom’s bare backside still has many run-ins with Aunt Polly’s slipper. In regard to the latter, there is brief, occasional nudity as a result of the skinny-dipping and spankings, but nothing gratuitous. While the overall work is of a generally high quality, it is not perfect. Visually, it is often difficult to distinguish among the supporting characters. In addition, the speech balloons are occasionally confusing, leaving readers unsure of who is speaking. Despite those minor flaws, this volume serves as a fine introduction to the story, the author, and his time and place.”

–Douglas P. Davey, Halton Hills Public Library, Ontario, Canada

Wow! Thanks Mr. Davey! That’s all I have time for today but make sure you watch out for Papercutz! There should be a new blog contributor here soon that I think will surprise you!

-Michael

From all of us at Papercutz, we wish you a happy and healthy Holiday, and a really wonderful New Year!

Hi everyone,

Editorial assistant Michael here to share with all of our Papercutz fans the brand new TALES FROM THE CRYPT “Diary of a Stinky Dead Kid” video!

Let us know what you think, and share the video with your friends! That’s me playing the bass guitar near the end of the video. Enjoy!

-Michael

Hi Everyone,

Mike the editorial assistant here with some great news: TALES FROM THE CRYPT “Diary of a Stinky Dead Kid” is going back to press AGAIN! This will be the fourth printing! The graphic novel is in such high demand that hardcovers, which booksellers everywhere are sold out of, are going for $90 a pop on Ebay! I suggest you wait two weeks when more hardcovers will be available. 90 dollars is a lot for a graphic novel! We’re doing our best to keep up with the high demand this great graphic novel has generated.

Recently, Peggy Tibbets wrote a review of “Diary of a Stinky Dead Kid” that was so positive I had to post it, even though it may seem like I’ve shared positive review upon positive review of this book here on the blog. You can find Peggy’s review on her myspace page and her blog “Advice From a Caterpillar“. Peggy has  a lot to say about all the stories from “Diary of a Stinky Dead Kid”:

” ‘Diary of a Stinky Dead Kid’ is a zany parody of ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’. Follow the adventures of Glugg as he is accidentally killed by his brother [Rock] then returns as a zombie to haunt those who tormented him in life. The story layout is unique and the artwork is comical.
” ‘Dielite’ is a hilarious send up of Twilight’. Dedward is a pathetic vampire with a hopeless crush Lou Anne Lugosi who wishes he would just drop dead. The artwork here is detailed and extraordinary.
” ‘Carrier’ is the wacky story about Dan Warren, a truck driving, reluctant werewolf and his murderous friends. The style is classic comic book and the artwork is action-packed.

“Fans of ‘Mad Magazine’ will love this book. Once they read it, middle school age boys will be hooked on the Tales from the Crypt series. Caution: You could die laughing.”

Wow! Thanks Peggy. I’d like to take the chance to open up the floodgates to the fans of TALES FROM THE CRYPT. We’ve posted so much from reviewers about this book, but nothing from YOU, the fans! The fans are the most important part of Papercutz; we wouldn’t exist without you. Let us know here on the blog: have you read “Diary of a Stinky Dead Kid”? What did you like or not like about the graphic novel? What would you like to see parodied in TALES FROM THE CRYPT in the future? We’d love to hear from you! Until next time, thanks for picking up our graphic novels and reading this blog, and WATCH OUT FOR PAPERCUTZ!

-Michael

Two great new bits about Diary of a Stinky Dead Kid, which is now already in it’s third printing.  First, from the local Maplewood section of the New York Times:

Rick Parker’s Macabre (But Funny) Mind

And this great write-up in the esteemed Publisher’s Weekly:

Wimpy Kid Becomes Hit Zombie Parody for Papercutz!

Couldn’t be more tickled!

Hi Everyone,

Well it looks like we’re going to have to go back to ANOTHER printing of TALES FROM THE CRYPT #8 “Diary of a Stinky Dead Kid”! It seems that people can’t get enough of Glugg, the crew from “DieLite,” and our “Carrier” werewolves! We couldn’t be happier.

You may find that a lot of online sites are out of stock until December. You can still get Crypt #8 and Crypt #’s 5-7 in the TALES FROM THE CRYPT Boxed Set available from Amazon.com and BarnesandNobles.com. Of course, we like anyone who sells are books just the same and you can find these boxed sets at wonderful comicbook stores all around. If they don’t have it, ask them to order it for you!

Recently, Editor-In-Chief Jim Salicrup along with “Stinky Dead Kid” artist Rick Parker took over a bookstore in Maplewood, NJ to promote our favorite living dead kid, Glugg! You can check out a neat article with some great pictures here. Way to go! Still not convinced that this Crypt is right for you? Well, check out this review at horrornews.net. Also, the folks at Broken Frontier urge you to forger swine flu, CRYPT fever is here! If you’re not convinced, I’m still gonna keep trying!

While the Stinky Dead Kid Glugg has been getting a lot of attention, our Twilight spoof “DieLite” has also turned a few heads as it was written by the father-daughter team of Stefan Petrucha and Maia Kinney-Petrucha! If you haven’t seen the links from Stefan’s blog post below, you can read a little bit about the collaboration here.  Also, don’t forget that Maia and Stefan will be interviewed on Mix 94.1 in Canton, OH Monday November 16th on their morning show! A link to the interview will be available as soon as we get it.

As for Maia, let me just say “WOW!” When I was 14 I was still trying to figure out how to get Oreo cookies out of my teeth and what to do about the monster under my bed. What can I say? I was  a late bloomer. Great job Maia! We’ll keep you updated on CRYPT news and everything Papercutz here at the blog. Keep checking in, as I have a feeling you’re going to start seeing some more entries from your favorite Papercutz contributors.

Thanks,

-Michael