Hi Everyone,

Editorial Assistant Michael Petranek here, and I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted. Things have been a little bit crazy at the Papercutz offices the last month with lots of new books and some exciting new developments in the works. Of course, I can’t reveal anything just yet! But we think you’ll be excited once you hear what we have in store for the rest of 2010. I’ll be posting a big blog this week with lots of links to articles about Papercutz graphic novels. In the meantime, enjoy this interview with Papercutz very own Editor-In-Chief Jim Salicrup from Comics Bulletin. I think you’ll find it quite entertaining and you’ll get some hints as to what’s in store for the future! Until next time, Watch out for Papercutz!

-Mike

Hi everyone!

I know school has started for almost all of you, and you may be looking for some new reading material aside from what your teachers are assigning you. Feeling tired of Algebra, Grammar studies, or Chemistry? I can’t blame you. These things are all good, and you should absolutely read everything your teacher assigns you, but sometimes you just need a break from school, sports and videogames! That’s where Papercutz comes in.

Today I thought I would share with you two very different titles from Papercutz that have both received a great review recently. The first is CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED DELUXE #2 “Tales from the Brothers Grimm.”

What I’ve always loved about this volume is that while most of us know the story of “Hansel and Gretel,” many have never experienced “The Valiant Tailor,” “Learning to Shutter,” or “The Devil and the Three Golden Hairs.” These are great stories, and if you take a look at the following excerpt, I think you’ll see why Scripps News called this collection “beautiful” and “rewarding for kids, adults”.

How’s that for a cliffhanger! CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED DELUXE “Tales from the Brothers Grimm” is great reading whether your on the bus on your way to school, on the train going to work, or just relaxing. Just make sure you don’t read it while you’re driving. Sorry Bus Drivers, you’ll have to wait until your shift is over before you can enjoy this book.

I first began working for Jim Salicrup when Papercutz started publishing BIONICLE, and I’ve seen that title grow and grow! As some of you now know, we’re approaching the 8th volume with ALL-NEW stories and art! It should be exciting. Meanwhile, the BIONICLE Juggernaut continues to prosper. Just recently, WIRED magazine ran an article about BIONICLE that I think you’ll like. The author mentions the new story we published in volume 6 (Hydraxon’s Tale),  and seemed to really enjoy it. Here’s a panel wonderfully drawn by Christian Zanier for “Hydraxon’s Tale”

All I can say is, more to come soon! BIONICLE 7 “Realm of Fear” is out in stores in November, and next Spring will see the release of BIONICLE 8 “Legends of Bara Magna”: the first Papercutz BIONICLE graphic novel featuring all-new stories and art. If you haven’t become acquainted with BIONICLE yet, there’s never been a better time to start!

In closing, now that Fall is upon us soon it will be Winter, when sometimes the best thing one can do is curl up with a good story and relax indoors to escape the bitter cold. What better way to do so than with a Papercutz graphic novel? I can’t think of one! Thanks for reading!

-Mike

GREG FARSHTEY to appear at the Papercutz booth (#2046) and at the Papercutz Panel

Ever wanted to meet the man capable of creating characters such as this?

If you’re going to be in San Diego for this year’s Comic Con, now’s your chance! BIONICLE scribe Greg Farshtey will be appearing at the Papercutz booth (#2046) the following dates:

Thursday, July 23rd - 4:00 to 5:30pm

Friday, July 24th - 2:30 to 4:00pm

Saturday, July 25th - 10:30am to 12:00pm

Greg will be signing BIONICLE graphic novels and saying hello to fans! If you are a follower of BIONICLE, this is not to be missed. Greg is super-talented, very smart and a great guy. We can’t wait to have him at our booth.

Not only will Greg Farshtey be at the Papercutz booth, but on Sunday July 26th at 3pm in room 2 at the San Diego Convention Center, he will join Scott Lobdell (The HARDY BOYS writer) and Sho Murase (NANCY DREW artist) as well as Editor-in-Chief Jim Salicrup and publisher Terry Nantier at the Papercutz Panel! It’s rare you get a chance to have so many living comics legends in the same place at the same time, ready to answer your questions! You even get a FREE TALES FROM THE CRYPT comicbook just for attending! What a deal! We hope to see you there.

-Mike the Editorial Assistant

PAPERCUTZ at the San Diego Comic Con

July 22-26, 2009

Papercutz will be at booth 2046 at this year’s San Diego Comic Con, where fans can meet authors and artists, purchase Papercutz graphic novels, see exclusive previews of new titles, and chat with Papercutz staff! It should be a great time, and we urge our fans to come out and say hello. Appearing for book signings at the Papercutz booth at this year’s Comic Con:

Greg Farshtey, BIONICLE author

Thursday, July 23rd - 4:o0 to 5:30pm

Friday, July 24th - 2:30 to 4:00pm

Saturday, July 25th - 10:30am to 12:00pm

Scott Lobdell, HARDY BOYS author

Thursday, July 23rd - 1:00pm to 2:30pm

Friday, July 24th - 5:30pm to 7:00pm

Saturday, July 25th - 2:30pm to 4:00pm

Sunday, July 26th - 10:30am to 12:00pm

Sho Murase, NANCY DREW artist

Thursday, July 23rd - 11:00am to 12:00pm

Friday, July 24th - 11:00am to 12:00pm

Also, come join us at out PAPERCUTZ PANEL on Sunday July 26th at 3pm in room #2 with BIONCILE’s Greg Farshtey, NANCY DREW’s Sho Murase, The HARDY BOYS’ Scott Lobdell, as well as Editor-in-Chief Jim Salicrup and publisher Terry Nantier. Get a FREE TALES FROM THE CRYPT comicbook! We hope to see you there!

NOW BEING SOLICITED IN COMICBOOK STORES AND GENERAL BOOK STORES SEPTEMBER 2009…

CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED # 6: “The Scarlet Letter”

By Nathaniel Hawthorne, adapted by P. Craig Russell

Jill Thompson, artist

D. H. Lawrence said that there could be no more perfect work of the American imagination than The Scarlet Letter, which makes it ideal material for CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED. In addition to his incredible graphic adaptations of operas, the fairy tales of Oscar Wilde, and Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, P. Craig Russell is known for both his collaborations with best-selling author Neil Gaiman (The Sandman story “Ramadan”) and adaptations of Gaiman’s works, such as “Coraline” and “Sandman: The Endless,” all of which makes Russell an inspired choice to adapt The Scarlet Letter. Russell broke down the novel into comicbook script form as well as page layouts, providing artist Jill Thompson, also a well-know Neil Gaiman collaborator (“Sandman: Brief Lives”), the foundation for her beautifully painted comics pages

6½ x 9, 56 pages, full-color, hardcover, $9.95. ISBN: 978-1-59707-162-8

THE HARDY BOYS #18: “D.A.N.G.E.R. Spells the Hangman!”

By Scott Lobdell

Paulo Henrique, Artist

Frank and Joe go undercover at a national spelling bee where a mysterious madman known as the Hangman is determined to erase the competition!  Teens from across the globe have been invited to attend, and A.T.A.C. and the Hardy Boys have to do everything they can to keep the Hangman from spelling disaster!

5 x 7½, 96 pages, full-color, paperback, $7.95.

ISBN: 978-1-59707-160-4

Also in hardcover: $12.95, ISBN: 978-1-59707-161-1

THE HARDY BOYS #13-16 Boxed Set

By Scott Lobdell

Paulo Henrique, Artist

Volumes 13 through 16 collected into one boxed set with close to 400 pages of reading! Value priced at under 30 dollars.

5 x 7½, 384 pages, full-color, paperback, $29.95. ISBN: 978-1-59707-173-4

BIONICLE #1-4 Boxed Set

By Greg Farhstey

Carlos D’Anda and Randy Elliot, Artists

Collecting the first four volumes of the hit Papercutz BIONICLE graphic novels with 400 pages of reading! Value priced at under 30 dollars.

5 x 7½, 400 pages, full-color, paperback, $29.95.

ISBN: 978-1-59707-176-5

Hi Everyone!

Editorial Assistant Mike Petranek here, very pleased to see that our blog readers have reacted with such excitement to the latest posts by Editor-In-Chief Jim Salicrup and PAPERCUTZ contributors Scott Lobdell, Greg Farshtey and Sho Murase. We love to hear your thoughts, and the upcoming HARDY BOYS, BIONICLE, and NANCY DREW volumes are very exciting. We’ll keep you posted on any news in the future! And if you have become accustomed to just hopping over to the blog page and skipping the PAPERCUTZ homepage, check it out! We’ve got new previews and flash animation from everyone’ s favorite Editor-in-Cheese: GERONIMO STILTON!

Now that Summer has finally arrived, many of you will probably be going to the beach or sitting poolside under the sun. A great way to soak up some rays is with a PAPERCUTZ graphic novel by your side. Not only that, but this past week 3 new graphic novels hit stores at the same time, giving you an abundance of books to take with you to the beach, on road trips, or wherever your  Summer adventures may take you!

First up is THE HARDY BOYS #17 “Word Up!”, which coincidentally begins when Joe and Frank take a trip to the beach, expecting a nice day off from A.T.A.C. and the stress of everyday life. Too bad their vacation must be put on hold when they find out that someone is out to silence controversial local D.J. John Pryde…permanently! The boys may not like his bombastic style or aggressive personality, but they’ll risk life and limb to keep him on the air!

Next we have CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED #5 “Hamlet”. This exciting tale of murder, madness, and revenge still rivets me every time I pick it up. I’ve read Hamlet countless times and have  performed the role of Horatio (Hamlet’s best buddy) on stage. This dark adaptation by Steven Grant and Tom Mandrake really captures the heart and soul of the play, one of my personal favorites. If  you’ve never experienced Hamlet on stage or on the page, now’s a great time to start!

Lastly, BIONICLE 5 “The Battle of Voya Nui” has also hit stores, with a brand new look brought by the art of Stuart Sayger. This is an action-packed BIONICLE graphic novel that begins a darker turn for the BIONICLE Universe. Just look at this sample of the artwork!

Those two Piraka are not guys I would invite over for dinner any time soon! And that’s just the start of it. Greg Farshtey and Stuart Sayger take us onto an island where nothing is as it appears and danger lurks around every corner in “The Battle of Voya Nui”.

Now that I’ve shared our newest titles with you, I’ve got to get back to helping our Editor-in-Chief Jim Salicrup with the mountain of papers on his desk. Before I go, do any of you know the origin of the story of Hamlet, and the original Danish Prince Shakespeare based him on? Shakespeare often used real historical figures as the source of his plays, and the story of Hamlet goes back over 1,000 years! I’d love to hear what you have to say about that. I’ll be back soon with news on upcoming titles including GERONIMO STILTON, CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED, and NANCY DREW! Until then, have a great Summer, keep reading, and watch out for PAPERCUTZ!

-Mike

Working on an exciting project I thought I would share with you — BIONICLE Graphic Novel #8 is going to feature ALL-NEW stories set on Bara Magna! The 75 page book will feature three new tales written by me — the first deals with the Skrall and why they moved south to the Bara Magna desert, and features the amazing menace of the baterra; the second is the story of Malum’s exile from Vulcanus; and the third looks back at the history of the planet Spherus Magna, the disastrous Shattering that destroyed it, and how Bara Magna came to be what is today. I am having great fun writing these stories, and I think you will really enjoy the book!

NOW BEING SOLICITED IN COMICBOOK STORES FOR JULY 2009; IN GENERAL BOOK STORES AUGUST 2009…

BIONICLE
Graphic Novel #6 “The Underwater City”
By Greg Farshtey, writer

Mike here with BIONICLE news! Coming in August…Undersea adventures and the battle for the Mask of Light!  After the events of “The Battle of Voya Nui,” the powerful Mask of Light has sunk beneath the sea where it turns up in the underwater city of Mahri Nui. The Matoran of this city must constantly plan their defense against a barrage of Pirraka predators that continue to circle the city, striking again and again. After its discovery by the Toa Defilak, the Mask of Light begins to reveal a deadly secret that becomes apparent to those who witness its effects on the user. For while its power gives the wearer great strength that could be used for good, the Mask of Light or “Ignika” as it comes to be called, brings paranoia, jealousy, and madness to anyone who wears it. Not only that, but this graphic novel presents the all-new, never before seen prequel “Hydraxon’s Tale” written by Greg Farshtey that takes place right before the events of this epic battle! Plus, an exclusive LEGO®.com cheat code inside for the upcoming August 2009 online BIONICLE video game. A must-have for any BIONICLE fan!

5 x 7 1/2, 96pp. full color trade pb., $7.95,
ISBN 978-1-59707-156-7
Also in collector’s hardcover: $12.95,
ISBN 978-1-59707-157-7

BIONICLE got its start in 1999-2000, when an international team of people employed by the LEGO Company were tasked with coming up with a storyline-based LEGO line. The early working title was, believe it or not, “Bone-Heads of Voodoo Island.” The first story bible (a summary of the year’s story) for 2001 actually ended with Mata Nui awakening! No one could be sure if BIONICLE would be a big enough hit to last for more than one year …

The BIONICLE line was introduced with a comic book, truck tours, a “build your own website” contest, and, of course, the first six Toa canister sets. The six villager sets (who would later come to be called “Matoran”) were available only through a McDonald’s promotion.

As the Toa were originally planned, they were all different ages and they would all sound sort of “godlike” when they spoke. I had a long conversation with story team head Bob Thompson as I worked on the first comic, and suggested that the characters might be easier to relate to if they had different personalities, and spoke differently from each other, rather than all sounding like Thor or Superman. He agreed, and that was how the initial characters were born in print.

We did three issues of the comic in 2001 in the US and Canada (only one in Europe, I believe). The original plan was to have issue #3 lead into a BIONICLE PC game, which would deal with the fight between the Toa and Makuta. But when the game was cancelled (when it was decided it did not measure up to LEGO standards), the battle ended up being reflected only on BIONICLE.com, and the first issue of the next year started the Bohrok storyline.

More to come!

Hi folks,

For those  of you who don’t know me, my name is Greg Farshtey, and I am the long-time author of the LEGO BIONICLE comics, as well as the BIONICLE novels. I have been writing for BIONICLE since 2001, when it first began. The BIONCLE comic is actually the most widely circulated comic in the world, with more than 1.7 million copies going out every other month!

I have been reading comics since I was about 5 years old, but didn’t know I would ever get the chance to write one. When LEGO Company decided to do the comic back in ‘01, I was not slated to write it. But I did a few pages just for fun, to see if I could do it, and showed them to  my boss. She said that they needed an approved script right away, so that was how I got the job — and I have been doing it ever since.

In future posts, I’ll share some of the inside stories of the making of the comic that fans don’t know, and let you know how work on the newest issue is going.

Until then, take care,

Greg F.