Extra Art Sample for The Apocalypse Plan!

Because we just can't get enough of this damn book, we decided to add two pages of art to the official release version! This is just one panel from those additions...



I'm what you might call a tease...

You may or may not know that we are NOT going through the normal Diamond route. It's going to be an online ordering situation, the details of which can be better told by Raf and Transfuzion. But December is still the release date for the book, and you will be able to order it for yourself veerrrrryyyy soon. Keep checking with us and get ready for the coming Apocalypse....Plan!

Dan

apocalypse plan trailer

Here is the trailer for the Apocalypse Plan graphic novel. If you have sound on your computer, turn it up! 'Cuz this baby's got music!



Order The Apocalypse Plan from your local comic retailer!

GEEK SPEAK INTERVIEW!

Dan Dougherty and Rafael Nieves were interviewed by two of the maniacs at Comic Geek Speak and that interview is now LIVE! You can listen below or go to http://www.comicgeekspeak.com/. Or, lsiten to the interview and then go to the site anyway! It was great fun and we hope to do this again soon! Thanks to Peter and Jamie for their insightful questions and free-wheeling way!

OCT091107

That's the order number in your Diamond Catalog for the December release of THE APOCALYPSE PLAN. Order early, order lots!

Apocalypse Plan is now in Previews for ordering!

The time is upon us to get Apocalypse Plan on the shelves! The Apoocalypse Plan is available in the October edition of Previews for retailers to order. It is listed under it's publisher, Tranzfusion. This is the part where the creators need you to ask your local retailer, be it a comic store, book store, whatever, to order copies of the book. This helps us in several ways:

1. To begin with, we need there to be enough orders to justify printing it.
2. If you order it, your retailer may decide to order more than one copy, meaning that the other copies would go on the shelves because of you.
3. As this is our project and we own this baby, you ordering it helps us earn our living. This is how the more independent comics stay alive.

I thank you for doing your part to help with this, and I hope the reward is an enjoyable read for you and yours.

DAN AND RAF BRING ABOUT THE APOCALYPSE! SEE IT HERE!

At the WizardWorld Chicago Comic Con (or whatever it's called), Dan and I got to pimp out THE PLAN to Eliott Serrano, roving reporter and host of GEEK TO ME, the hottest video blog on pop culture around! It's eleven minutes of mind-blowing revelation! Watch it now! Watch it here!

PLAN FOR THE APOCALYPSE THIS SATURDAY!

I have a very few copies of THE APOCALYPSE PLAN special edition that I'll be selling this Saturday at Windy City Comic Con. This limited run graphic novel was a hit at WizWorld Chicago, so get your copy now before they run out! Well, not NOW, but on Saturday...

Visit the con site at www.windycitycomicon.com. See you there!

THE APOCALYPSE PLAN ON VIDEO!

Well, sort of. On the last day of the Wizard World Chicago Comic Con, a rep from pwndcast.com came by our table to ask if Dan and I would be interested in pimping TAP LIVE on there podcast. We were told to ask for Sara, who turned out to be a lovely, very enthusiastic young lady, indeed. 

Dan and I spoke about the Apocalypse Plan, and Dan also pitched his BEARDO trade. It was a great time. You can watch the video here. We come on at about the 2h:48m mark. 

Apocalypse Goes According to Plan

Yes, YES! The costumed people have spoken, as well as all of the other quirky comic shoppers, and they grabbed up The Apocalypse Plan like it was the antidote to boredom! And it is!

Here's a picture of our booth, complete with Rafael Nieves.



Before I left, we had around a dozen copies left, so I grabbed half of that. I posted a message on facebook asking anyone if they want to buy one, and I got three responses already. So I have three left. Anyone want them? They're numbers 98, 99 and 100, and they come with a signed print and an ashcan of a short story that Raf and I did. Message me here or at dansabigdeal@yahoo.com

Dan

THE PERFECT PLAN!

THE APOCALYPSE PLAN continues to sell in record numbers! Dan and I have almost completely run out of copies of this limited edition Comic Con exclusive! Save for a few issues that we are hoarding for ourselves, this little-book-that-could has proven to be one of the most successful titles we've ever produced!

Today, we were interviewed by Elliot Serrano, of GEEK TO ME, the RedEye online site that covers the world of pop culture in its own inimitable fashion. Elliot was great to speak to, and gave us a proper forum in which to promote our wares. Serrano promises to post the interview, and his review of the book, very soon, and you'll be the first to know when that happens. That's Elliot, to the left in the above piccie, probing Dan and me... with questions! The humble creators pose heroically in front of their banner at table 42o2 in Artist Alley in the bottom photo.

Dan and I want to thank all of you who have purchased THE APOCALYPSE PLAN SPECIAL EDITION this weekend and given us such incredible feedback; this book is a real labor of love for us, and we hope that more of you show up on Sunday to take part in the orgy--- uh, love fest!

Special thanks to MB Sherman, who was on hand to take these very candid photos! 

DAY TWO: MORE SUCCESS!

So, this morning, Dan made it to Con before me, while I made my journey via a long, long bus ride to the Donald E. Stephens Center. As I walked from the train station towards the Con, Dan called to check on my ETA. Five minutes, I said, why?

There's someone here to buy our book, he replied. 

Two minutes later, out of breath, and sweating profusely, I entered the convention center and raced to our table, 4202 in Artist Alley, silver pen in hand to sign yet another copy of our Comic Con Exclusive issue of the The Apocalypse Plan. This was at 9:05 am, a mere five minutes after the doors opened! And the day only got better after that!

The Apocalypse Plan is selling, folks, better and faster than even we could have imagined! Dan and I believe, if the last two days are any indication, that we might sell out of the book before we even get to Sunday's show!

1oo copies, signed and numbered by the creators, with a Comic Con-exclusive cover, priced at a reasonable $20. TAP is selling well, and quickly. Have you gotten your copy yet?

Doors open on Saturday, at 9. I'll be there, ready to sign. So will Dan. Will you?

Day one: success!

Preview night of the Chicago Con has come and gone, and so have several copies of the exclusive edition of The Apocalypse Plan. Thanks to everyone who pre-ordered them, and thanks also to those who made a point of stopping by the table and picking up a copy. Remember, the exclusive edition is limited to only 100 copies, and if we sold a bunch on the night when we're not supposed to sell anything, then we might have the good fortune of selling all of them. So if you want a signed, numbered, exclusive edition of the BEST book to hit the Chicago Con, meet us up at our table this weekend.

Thanks,

Dan

YOU ARE HERE... AND WE ARE THERE!

Below is the map to WizWorld Chicago's Comic-con extravaganza. Dan and I thought we'd make it easy for you to find us, so we made this. Our tables in artist alley are 4200-4202. We'll be sitting next to our friends and cohorts Len Kody and Antonio Maldonado, who will be there shilling their 1968 webcomic (which rocks the house!). This has been a public service message from your friends at The Apocalypse Plan. We'll see you there Thursday, August 6th through Sunday, August 9th!

The Inevitable Apocalypse

So! The Chicago Con is rapidly approaching, and with it comes the Apocalypse! Gary Reed wrote us a really great intro, and Raf is getting it press ready as we speak. I'm amazed that Tranzfusion will be able to turn us out a book in a week, and I'm really excited to see the finished product. I hope you are too, because this is some of our best work all in one tidy little package.

BEHOLD THE APOCALYPSE!

HERE'S A LOW RES PREVIEW OF SELECT PAGES FROM THE APOCALYPSE PLAN. HOPE YOU LIKE 'EM!

Back cover.

As the title suggests, this is the back cover. I think my favorite thing to draw in this book is the city. Much of the page material that I added to Raf's already excellent script was just shots of the buildings as things happened to them. It's been something I've been trying to focus on more, getting the scenery to be as important as the characters. Because in the Apocalypse Plan, the two buildings are meant to represent the stakes that Lamb, Goat, Abaddon, EVERYONE are playing for.

Comic Con exclusive cover!

Raf and I had decided that it wasn't enough to just have the book ready in time for the comic convention. So we created some extra fun just for the occasion. What you're looking at is the Chicago Con Exclusive cover, of which we will have a limited and numbered 100 copies. IF you purchase this jam packed book, we will also GIVE you the Caught in the Trap ashcan for free! Can't be beat!

A toast!

Yesterday I drew the last page of The Apocalypse Plan! I was waiting for the ticker tape and balloons to come shooting out from the ceiling, for the dancers and the clowns to burst from the closet.

When none of this happened, I just drank a beer and smoked a cigar like a manly man. Meg was asleep, it was too late to really call anyone. And all of the dancers and balloons were probably saving themselves for Michael Jackson's memorial today. As they should, I suppose.

But the book is done. Granted, I have to draw a few extra things here and there to tweak it a bit, but it's done. And it is probably some of my best work, if not the best stuff I've drawn. I'm very excited about it coming out, so much so that I am going to be drawing a Chicago convention-exclusive cover for it.

Who knows, maybe the party begins after I finish THAT...

APOCALYPSE UPDATE!

TRANSFUZION PUBLISHING is pleased to announce that principle art and story on the graphic novel THE APOCALYPSE PLAN has been completed. The creative team of Rafael Nieves and Dan Dougherty expect another week of additional work and post production before the book will be ready to go to print.

Said Nieves, "I've waited a long time for TAP to be released, and I couldn't be happier with Dan's work. He is a true artist and professional, and I think this will prove to the world what I already know; he's a force to be reckoned with!"

The world premiere date for the book has been announced as Thursday, August 6th, at Wizard World Chicago Comic-Con.

A preview of the OGN is set for early next week. Stay tuned for more announcements!

THE ROAD TO HELL, PART TWO: THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE DAN

The story of how I met Dan Dougherty is the stuff of legend, and chronicled in the introduction I wrote to his collected BEARDO comic strips. If you've not heard of BEARDO, shame on you! Check the links over to the right there... Go ahead, I'll wait...



You're back? Good. I hope you enjoyed what you read, and will order multitudinous copies of the book, if only to read the intro. You won't be disappointed...

Dan is not only my collaborator on THE APOCALYPSE PLAN, he is a dear friend, and, I hope, a frequent partner in crime on future projects. First, he's lightning fast on the drawing board; he can pencil, ink, and add grey wash on a page in a day, which is pretty impressive by itself, but combined with the fact that he has a wonderful eye for composition, anatomy, architecture, perspective, and all that, makes him formidable, indeed. My master plan is to tie him down to a few more projects before one of the majors snaps him up. Secondarily, and you will know this if you actually took the time to read a BEARDO strip, he's a great storyteller. You'll know that, too, if you pick up CYCLONE BILL AND THE TALL TALES, the graphic novel he wrote and drew, which can still be found, I think, at Moonstone Books

Dan has been proven as asset to TAP not only in terms of the art, but also in massaging some of the finer points in the storytelling. That's why, when you look at all he has and can accomplish, I suffer his horrible atttitude and snarky demeanor.

The first project Dan and I ever worked on was a 10 page horror story called CAUGHT IN THE TRAP, for a horror anthology that will happen sometime before I die. It's stunning, and we will be making it available for purchase as an ashcan at WizardWorld Chicago this August.

I so loved what he did that I asked Dan if he would take on TAP, and the fool agreed!

Dan Dougherty is a multi-talented man, and if you need more reason to buy THE APOCALYPSE PLAN, then buy it for the purty artwork. Yeah, he's just that good. And, I hate him.

Famine

Keeping with the horsemen, let us now take a look at Famine. Surprise, surprise, he's eating a sandwich.


Famine comes in a little later in the story, and I think Raf did this in an attempt to stay true to the order in which the Horsemen come originally. You start with Pestilence, move on to War, complicate things further with Famine, and wrap it up with Death. He never has confirmed that he's that clever, and I didn't ask. Never give the writer an ego boost. It's almost as bad as giving the artist one.



Which reminds me...In Raf's last entry chronicling the long and winding process that has led up to this book being made, he deliberately left out the part where I came in! Blast you, Raf! So I'm hoping that I make the cut next time. Although if you really want to know how Raf and I met, you could read the foreword he did in my Beardo collection, priced modestly at 14.95! Pluggy plug plug!

THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD TO HELL...

Herein lies a brief history of THE APOCALYPSE PLAN for anyone what wants to know...

I wanted to do a story about Revelations, from the Bible. I envisioned it as a western. I pitched it to Gentleman Joe Gentile, publisher of Moonstone comics. He said no. So I repitched it as a corporate thriller. He said yes. My artist was to be Chaz Truog, who has drawn such fine, fine comics as Animal Man, Chiaroscuro, and Geronimo. Chaz did some character sketches. I loved 'em. And then he couldn't do the book.

When I finished the script, which was co-edited by Lori G and Garrett Anderson, it happened to coincide with some other titles that were pitched to Moonstone that had a similar bent. Joe asked me if I would consider throwing TAP into that ring in order to create an 'event', a series of titles that all revolved a similar theme. I passed. Not because I'm all hoity-toity like that, and better than anyone, but I didn't want to have to change one iota of my story to make it fit into the other titles' mythos. I asked if I could shop my script around. Joe gave his blessing, cause he cool like that.

Along the way, I went through a revolving doors of possible artists, all great, all too busy to do anything beyond some character work... sigh...

And then along comes Aaron Kuder.

I found Aaron through the PencilJack forum, which I frequent, and loved his work. I asked him to collaborate with me on the book, and he agreed, silly bugger! His character work was great, and we were off and running. Oh, except I didn't have a publisher yet...

Enter Narwain.

I can't remember how I hooked up with this Italian publishing house, but we seemed to gel right away, and they loved the script. I told them I had an artist attached. Contracts were written and signed, schedules were agreed on, and we were up and running!

And then... and then... and then...

Everything went to hell.

Aaron, phenomenally talented as he is, just couldn't work with the schedule that Narwain demanded; this was to be, as far as I know, his first major project. Of course he wanted it done right. Of course Narwain wanted it done fast. Deadlines were blown, blah blah blah and Aaron was taken off the book, much to my chagrin.

A new artist was chosen, the incredibly talented Roberto Castro, who did a quick tryout page that blew me away.

Off and running again!

And then... and then... and then...

Narwain closed its doors. And the Apocalypse Plan died a quiet death... I didn't speak to anyone involved with the book again.

Until I met Dan Dougherty.

But listen, that's a story for another day. What I really want to do now is pimp out Aaron Kuder (who goes by the nom de pencil and ink Dancing Door Guy). I've kept tabs on his work over the last few years, and he's gotten soooo much better (and was great to begin with!)!

So this is a call out to anyone who wants a gifted artist to do work for them. Aaron is great and to prove it, I submit Exhibit A: http://dancingdoorguy.deviantart.com/gallery/

You will see, among all the other real purty pieces, the original cover to TAP issue 1.

One day, I'd like to work with Aaron again. If he'll have me. He's just that good... You'd better hurry if you want to beat me to the punch!

War.

Here is one of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse Plan, War.



I modeled him after my brother, who is a pretty big dude. Minus the scarring.



Working on page 57 as we speak. Give us some love, Fans of the Apocalypse!

TAP UPDATE

As of... rightnow... Dan has handed in page 56 of TAP, and I've just completed lettering page 33. I'm catching up, I think! Our goal is to have copies of the book available for Wizard World Chicago in August. This may not be the official release, since there will be a number of tweaks necessary to make the book as cool as we want it to be, and that will take time. Even better for you cool-collectible junkies out there, though, is that we will have a 'convention-only' copy for sale! Be the first on your block to get a copy of THE APOCALYPSE PLAN, and watch your friends drool, and your clergy cringe!

And I wanted to mention that Dan's new book, ROTTEN is now available at discerning and classy comic shops everywhere! I didn't write it, but it's still a good book! Run to your local store and pick one up right away!

Theda.

Here we have another one of our main characters, Theda.


Without a shadow of a doubt, she proves to Abaddon quickly that there's a lot more to her than her delicate appearance suggests.




Her presence alongside our hero will push him further towards the truth behind this hostile takeover, but are either of them ready for it?

Mister Goat.

Here is Mister Goat, head honcho at Morningstar. None of this mess would've happened if he hadn't gone on vacation. It always hits the fan when you're soaking up the sun on a nice beach with beautiful ladies and umbrella-laden beverages at your disposal. Still, he is the man, even if his company is being taken apart floor by floor.



Raf had called for Mister Goat to bear a resemblance to Johnny Depp. He was nice enough to let me model him instead off of a certain rock-and-roller. Bragging rights to whoever can figure out who I'm referring to.

UPDATE

As of this writing, Dan has finished page 53 of this 64 page graphic novel, and I have lettered 30 pages. Work proceeds apace, and we hope to have a fairly substantial preview to show in the next few weeks. Very exciting! Also, I'm pleading with any interested parties to spread the word on this project; ask your friends to subscribe, to link to us, to be on the lookout for the preview; you'll be glad you did!

Character profile: Abaddon

Here is our main protagonist, the right hand man to Mister Goat himself; Abaddon. As our story begins, his primary assignment is to watch over Morningstar while the boss is on vacation. He's a very complicated man, but his many layers are slowly revealed, both metaphorically and literally. He goes from businessman to something else entirely, but one thing is certain: he's deadly in any incarnation.

BUY THIS IMAGE!

Many of you (you know who you are!) have asked about getting a poster of this marvelous cover image that Dashing Dan created. I've done you one better and put together a whole cafepress store with THE APOCALYPSE PLAN cover pasted on all kinda stuff! Check it out here.

INTERNATIONAL INTRIGUE!

My good friend Toni Boix, a journalist for the Spanish language comics website Zona Negativa (Negative Zone) is the first reporter to mention the return of TAP. Toni first interviewed me for a Phantom story I did a while back, and we've kept in touch. Check out the really nice blurb he wrote here.

Exploded building, Start to finish.

Raf and I want to introduce you to the characters first, and I thought to myself, "Why not introduce one of the biggest characters of the book: the city itself?" There's a lot of attention paid to the two buildings in the story, and here is one of them. This is the Morningstar building, and the drawing process that created it at this particular point in The Apocalypse Plan.

What we have here is a building that has had two floors BLOWN out of it, and is still standing.

WHAT IT'S ABOUT...

THE APOCALYPSE PLAN is an allegorical study of Good versus Evil, specifically the war between Heaven and Hell. Allegorical in that it favors, in its presentation, style over substance. The story unfolds without preamble; no exposition is made to inform the reader of the tale’s origins. It is simply told.

THE APOCALYPSE PLAN’s high concept conceit is, at its basest, simply this: it is the story of Revelations written as a John Grisham thriller that has been made into a cinema verite film of the late ‘70s and directed by William Friedkin who has shot entirely on location in Italy…

In place of Heaven and Hell, we have The Grace Corporation and Morningstar, Inc., two major companies, each vying for control of the ‘market’ (mankind). And while there are battles, to be sure, the feel of them, for the most part, are more akin to an action/adventure or espionage thriller than to any Judeo-Christian/Greco-Roman, Biblical visualization.

COMING SOON...

Mister Lamb.

Well how about that? The artist beats the writer to the punch! Here is the first of several posts on the Apocalypse Plan blog. And what is The Apocalypse Plan, you ask? It will become abundantly clear as Raf and I divulge more and more, but it has something to do with this guy up here. His name is Mister Lamb, and he wants nothing more than to please his Father. No matter what the cost may be.

Intrigued? Subscribe to this blog, dear reader. We'll be showing behind the scenes artwork, scripts, and so on. You'll be privy to everything and more well before the book's release this year. More to come!