Author: ben

"The Black Coat" was created by Ben Lichius and Francesco Francavilla. Copyright 2005-2009. "The Black Coat" is published by Ape Entertainment.

And there was much moaning and gnashing of teeth…

Posted on August 7, 2007 by ben

 For those of you waiting to get back on the Black Coat forums, my sincere apologies. I’m working to get them back up and running as soon as possible. The bad news is that, in the server switch, a great deal of the old forums have been lost. It’s partly my fault but could be remedied if not for an unresponsive web hosting service that shall remain nameless. Anyway, it looks like the posting process will be starting over from scratch – sorry about that. I’m working right now to rescue the user names. Hopefully that will go a little more smoothly and be done in the next day or two. Either way, we’ll forge ahead.

I’ll keep everyone posted – thanks for your patience!
-ben  

Colonial sub replica causes scare in New York Harbor

Posted on August 4, 2007 by ben

This bit of news was brought to our attention by our good friend, Brian Matus. Thanks, Brian!

From USAToday:
A replica of a Revolutionary War submarine spooked New York City police and the U.S. Coast Guard today when the egg-shaped vessel was seen bobbing near the Queen Mary 2 luxury liner docked off Brooklyn.
But the handmade wood-and-fiberglass submersible — a replica of David Bushnell’s one-man American Turtle, the first submarine used in combat — was the work of artists, not terrorists.
“It was a strange sight,” Coast Guard Petty Officer Angelia Rorison told the New York Post. 
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly described it as “the creative craft of three adventuresome individuals. It does not pose any terrorist threat. … We can best summarize today’s incident as marine mischief.”
Artist Philip “Duke” Riley, 35, and two Rhode Island men were detained and questioned. One Rhode Island man said he was descendant of Bushnell.

To read more, go to: http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2007/08/colonial-era-su.html

Comic-Con wrapup!

Posted on July 31, 2007 by ben

Ape’s booth at SDCC ‘07Well, it’s come and gone. Five days of hectic, crazy, costume-wearing, book-signing, cell-phone-losing (yes, I lost my cell phone…) comic book goodness are now behind us. It was really a great show (except for the cell phone) and I’d like to thank everyone that stopped by the booth, checked us out, and said ‘hello.’ It was nice to meet up with some old friends, make some new ones and introduce people to The Black Coat. If you’re one of those people that saw us for the first time and decided to pick up a book or pay us a visit, then Welcome! Run around the site and look us over. We’d love to hear what you think. 

The forums will be back up shortly, so please be patient. We’re almost there. 🙂

SDCC07 – Black Coat signing schedule

Posted on July 23, 2007 by ben


The Ape Booth (2105) is going to be rocking this year. LOTS of creators will be in and out of there so there will be plenty going on. Ben will be at the booth signing books and doing sketches but only for a limited time. You might catch him around the booth during the day, but to be sure everyone gets a chance to have their BC books signed, here’s Ben’s signing schedule for the weekend:

Thursday:
12PM – 2PM
 4PM – 5PM

Friday:
11AM – 1:30PM
5PM – 6PM

Saturday:
10AM – 11AM
4PM – 5PM
6PM – 7PM

Sunday:
11AM – 1PM
4PM – 5PM

Stop by and say “Hello!” We’re looking forward to meeting and talking with everyone! It should be a great show!

Getting Ready for Comic-Con!

Posted on July 20, 2007 by ben

SDCC07Comic Con is less than a week away and we’re gearing up for a great show! This will be my (Ben’s) second Comic-Con but my first at a booth and I’m pretty excited. I’ll be hanging out with tons of other Ape creators at Ape’s booth (# 2105). There should be lots for all of you BC fans to see and do at the booth. We’ll have trade Paperbacks and the latest issue of “…Or Give Me Death” on sale (sorry , no issue 2 yet…), I’ll be signing books and doing sketches as well.  Just look for the Black Coat standup and the Ape banner! More updates coming soon!