VLE Comics Recent Press Releases
VLE Comics Hires Sean Taylor to Write Fantasy Graphic Novel
VLE Comics Hires Sean Taylor to Write Fantasy Graphic Novel
Sean Taylor To Write a Graphic Novel Entitled SHAN: BE MY HERO
June 21, 2007 — VLE Comics will be expanding its line of titles with a new graphic novel called SHAN: BE MY HERO, and has contracted with up-and-coming ace writer Sean Taylor to handle scripting chores on the project.
Taylor, who is writing GENE SIMMONS DOMINATRIX and the quarterly GENE SIMMONS HOUSE OF HORRORS comic by another publisher, and is also the creator of the FISHNET ANGEL: JANE DOE comic book miniseries, was tapped by VLE Comics CEO Stephen L. Antczak to write the graphic novel after Antczak read some of Taylor's earlier work. The graphic novel is based on the short story entitled “Be My Hero” by Antczak, which is available in his short story collection DAYDREAMS UNDERTAKEN from small press Marietta Publishing.
“Sean is a comic fan's comic book writer,” said Antczak, “and I'm a comic fan, so there you go. I've read his stuff before and always knew he had the potential to develop into a superb comic book writer, and I believe he has arrived.”
SHAN: BE MY HERO is a fantasy in the sword & sorcery tradition, featuring the character of Shan Lyera, a warrior woman whose people breed heroes — male or female, they make no distinction — to travel the world and fight monstrous evils on behalf of weaker folk.
“Shan is a great character,” said Antczak. “She may not be as strong as a lot of men, but she makes use of the great equalizers: intelligence and skill. She is therefore more than a match for anyone, or anything, she encounters.”
Said Sean Taylor, “I'm a huge fan of larger-than-life, mythic characters, particularly those with strong female leads, and SHAN: BE MY HERO certainly fits the bill in that respect. But it's not just a story of archetypes, and that's what drew me to the story in the first place. Stephen is a writer who understand layers, and I hope to be able to use the graphic novel format to delve even deeper into the layers of character he already has established in the prose tale to make this a must-read book for any fantasy fan. I'm honored to have the opportunity to help Stephen and VLE Comics bring this terrific tale into a new format for new readers.”
SHAN: BE MY HERO will be available in 2008.
About VLE Comics: VLE Comics is the comic book, graphic novel and manga publishing unit of Visible Light Entertainment, Inc., a multi-media entertainment company. VLE Comics' logo is “New Legends, No Tights.”
For more information, please contact VLE Comics or visit the website at www.VLEComics.com.
Free Web Comic Adaptation of the Bram Stoker Short Story “Dracula's Guest” Available at VLEComics.com
May 15, 2007 — VLE Comics is proud to present a free, full-length comic book on its web site, VLEComics.com. This one-shot comic in black and white is an adaptation of the controversial Bram Stoker short story, “Dracula's Guest.” The story is controversial because there are many who believe the story wasn't even written by Bram Stoker, but by his wife when she needed money!
Art for this project is by Steven Sanders; it was written by Stephen L. Antczak and James C. Bassett of VLE Comics, both of whom are also published authors and members of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association
“I've seen other versions of this story adapted to comic book format,” said Antczak. “I wasn't impressed. I felt the story could be both beautifully drawn and dynamic. I hope we achieved that."
The “Dracula's Guest” one-shot comic is accessible by clicking on the cover image on the VLE Comics web page VLEComics.com). VLE Comics plans to offer more free comics on its web site in the future.
About VLE Comics: VLE Comics is the comic book, graphic novel and manga publishing unit of Visible Light Entertainment, Inc., a multi-media entertainment company. VLE Comics' logo is “New Legends, No Tights."
For more information, please contact VLE Comics or visit the website at www.VLEComics.com.
Independent comic book publisher VLE Comics teams up with award-winning architectural firm Studio Gang to design a fictional city!
For the first time in the history of comic books and architecture a fictional city will be master-planned by professional architects and urban planners.
May 14, 2007 — VLE Comics' flagship character, Nightwolf, is set in the fictional metropolis of Quad City, where hope struggles against the dark and forbidding forces of the supernatural, corporate greed and political intrigue.
Nightwolf currently appears in a 5-issue limited run series, called Nightwolf: the Price, which VLE Comics is publishing in conjunction with Chicago-based Devil's Due Publishing. The limited-run series has garnered critical acclaim with reviews calling it “amazing work” and comparing it to Crime and Punishment.
VLE Comics takes over publishing a regular Nightwolf series after the fifth and final of issue of The Price hits stands this summer.
Nightwolf creator and VLE Comics CEO Stephen L. Antczak got the idea of having Quad City designed by Studio Gang after seeing some of the innovative projects on their website.
“Studio Gang's designs were being featured in an exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago entitled 'Chicago: 10 Visions' in 2004,” says Antczak, “and I was impressed! I went to their web site and thought, wow, I can imagine an entire city made up of these buildings! That's when the light bulb that hovers over my head lit up.”
Antczak got in touch with Studio Gang principal Mark Schendel — himself a comics fan, as it turned out.
“I'm fascinated by comic book environments, the fictional spaces evoked and sustained from one panel to the next. At Studio Gang, we take part in a wide range of design practice, from the very concrete to the very conceptual. I was intrigued by the idea of planning an entire, integrated virtual city, as real as any to the reader absorbed in the story,” says Schendel.
“Ultimately, we hope not only to have an awesome city for Nightwolf,” says Antczak, “but also a work of art in and of itself. We hope that Quad City will take on a life of its own, not just in the comic, but also through other media — both print and digital — which will blur the line between the virtual and the real and reflect the tagline for the Nightwolf character: ‘It's not as simple as good vs. evil.’ The collaboration between a comic book publisher and an architectural firm will take both fields into uncharted territory, and I look forward to seeing how far we can take it.”
“Quad City sounds like Roman city planning, however it's anything but! I expect to face an entirely new set of problems, and to find an entirely new set of solutions” adds Schendel.
About VLE Comics: VLE Comics is the comic book, graphic novel and manga publishing unit of Visible Light Entertainment, Inc., a multi-media entertainment company. VLE Comics' logo is “New Legends, No Tights.”
For more information, please contact VLE Comics or visit the website at www.VLEComics.com.
About Studio Gang: Studio Gang Architects is an architectural practice whose work has defined a new creative territory combining material research, technology, and sustainability. They have received multiple awards and been published widely.