NYCC, Exclusive covers and More!!


Hey Gang! It’s coming… The 3rd Annual New York Comic Con is this weekend in (where else?) New York City! I missed last year’s party, but The Black Coat will be well represented this time around. For one thing, it will be your first chance to pick up the brand new, hot-off-the-presses Black Coat/Athena Voltaire one shot! It’s action packed, full color, and has two great stories for only $2! Click HERE for a preview.

If you’re not going to be at the show, you should be able to pick it up at your local comic shop next week.

I’ll be on hand signing books and doing free sketches. Gabriel Hardman (HEATHENTOWN, THE WIND RAIDER), artist on last summer’s BC 52 page special, will also be there. We’ll have one other special guest there as well, but we’ll save that announcement for the show. 😉 We’ll be hanging out at Booth #2261, so be sure to swing by.

Lastly, my local comic shop, Ultimate Comics, will have an EXCLUSIVE cover for the BC/AV one shot available at the show. Yes, that’s right. This will be your one chance to pick up both of the Steve Bryant variant cover editions as well as the Ultimate Comics Exclusive cover variant (drawn by yours truly) all in one place! For a sneak peek at the cover, here’s a link.

See you at the show!!

Black Coat & Athena Voltaire One-shot coming in February!!

THE BLACK COAT & ATHENA VOLTAIRE ONE-SHOT
by Ben Lichius & Steve Bryant

Two Pulp-tastic Heroes. Two Complete Stories. Two Centuries. Two Dollars! Find out what a Revolutionary-era Crusader and 1930’s Aviatrix have in common, besides their status as two of Ape’s most exciting heroes! An adventure spanning two centuries: from The Black Coat facing down a pirate attack to Athena Voltaire encountering the horrifying consequences of the treasure they sought. The two variant covers by Eisner-award nominee Steve Bryant combine to form a poster image! It’s  an action-packed crossover 150 years in the making!

BLACK COAT COVER—32 pages, Full Color, $2.00
ATHENA VOLTAIRE COVER—32 pages, Full Color, $2.00

The Diamond Item Code is DEC083747 (Black Coat cover).
The Diamond Item Code is DEC083748 (Athena Voltaire cover).

The Black Coat, Athena Voltaire, and Pirates – for $2!!

There’s more news to come soon – including news about the rest of “…Or Give Me Death” – but it’s time to start letting people know that we’re going to kick 2009 off with a bang! First up is a brand new one-shot from Ape Entertainment, featuring a two-part Black Coat/Athena Voltaire story (part one is written and drawn by yours truly, part two by Eisner nominee Steve Bryant!) that carries through the ages and gives both heroes an adventure you won’t forget! The best part is that you’ll get two great stories for just $2!!

I’ll post all of the solicitation info and some more artwork as soon as the Dec. issue of Previews is available.  In the meantime, here’s an early look at a partially pencilled page from my part of the book (click on the thumbnail to see the whole page). The BC story is called “Blood for Water.” (And, yes, that’s everybody’s favorite pirate, Blithe, swashing buckles with the Black Coat!)

The Black Coat invades Comic-Con

The Black Coat will be set up in the Small Press Pavilion at this year’s San Diego Comic Con International July 23rd – 27th. We’ll be at booth L12 with lots going on. Black Coat artists and writers will be signing books and doing sketches all weekend.  The brand new 52 page special will also be on sale!
If you miss us in Small Press, be sure to stop by Ape Entertainment’s booth in the IP Pavilion (#2203). Besides more BC books, Ape has all kinds of coolness going on. Books like “Femme Noir”, “Bizarre New World”, and “Athena Voltaire” are all available in one form or another with lots of other great titles just waiting to be discovered — by you! Swing over to their website for a preview!

See you in San Diego!