Summer Reading with Batgirl and Spider-Man...

I've got two new books on shelves for your summer reading needs. What? Your summer is too jam-packed to get around to reading two whole books? That's okay. I've been told they'll keep until you can get to them. You should probably buy them anyway, though. Just to be on the safe side.

Batgirl: New Hero of the Night is my second book for Scholastic, as well as my second entry in their Backstories collection. This chapter book is perfect for younger readers, and tells Barbara Gordon's recently revised history, beginning with her New 52 adventures and heading into the current day. Everything you need to know about Babs is collected within these covers, so make sure you nab a copy or two for the heroic kids in your house.

The first book I ever worked on was an updated guide for Spider-Man for DK Publishing. That particular book was written by Tom DeFalco, and was in need of 16 new pages to keep the text up to date with Spidey's more recent adventures. I jumped at the opportunity, and have been lucky enough to write several books a year ever since.

After I wrote Wolverine: Inside the World of the Living Weapon and Iron Man: The Ultimate Guide to the Armored Super Hero, I got the chance to rework our entire Spidey guide to match the format of those DK books. The result was Spider-Man: Inside the World of Your Friendly Neighborhood Hero. 

Recently, I was able to rework my first book even further with the latest edition of Spider-Man: Inside the World of Your Friendly Neighborhood Hero. This updated version features new entries on the latest Spidey happenings, and updates our older spreads. We also get a chance to talk about some of the best new characters in the Wall-Crawler's life, including Spider-Gwen and Silk. It's on bookshelves now, so make sure you add it to your collection. Or you can wait another six to ten years when we update this one. But I wouldn't recommend it. Your Spidey Sense will be tingling long before then.

To be continued...

Wonder Woman Weekend...

So you just saw the Wonder Woman movie and you're looking to find out more about everyone's favorite Amazing Amazon. Or maybe you want to beef up on Amazonian history before you get to the theater. Or perhaps you've stumbled onto my website because you were looking up the Matthew Manning who is a spiritual healer, and you're really confused about why he's going on and on about Wonder Woman.

No matter which one of the above categories you fall into (and let's be honest, most of you are from the last one), I've got plenty of Wonder Woman books and comics to get you up to date on the legendary Diana of Themyscira.

For those interested in the modern New 52 version of Wonder Woman, be sure to check out The World According to Wonder Woman, my book for Insight Editions. Illustrated by Paul Bulman, the book gives a little insight (pun very much intended) into Wonder Woman's thoughts on everything from working with partners to how to throw a good left hook.

And if it's advice you're after, you might want to read The Wonder Woman Way, a tiny little book I wrote that accompanies a talking bust in this great set. The Wonder Woman figurine says real quotes from the comics, while the book gives you the kind of sage advice that only an Amazon could give (or a 38-year-old man doing his best impression of an Amazon. Same thing.).

Now that you brought up gift book sets (thanks for that, by the way), I also wrote Wonder Woman: The Amazing Amazon, another tiny little book in a boxed set. This one tells a bit of the character's history and an overview of her world, the book packaged with a Wonder Woman Tiara Bracelet.

If it's history you're looking for, I also ghost wrote the first chapter about the life of Wonder Woman's creator, William Moulton Marston in the nice fat coffee table book entitled Wonder Woman: Amazon Hero Icon, otherwise written by fellow comic book historian Robert Greenberger.

If you have young Wonder Woman fans in the house, be sure to snag my chapter book Wonder Woman Wrestles Circe's Sorcery.

Saved for last is my favorite work starring Diana, a comic book collaboration with artist Georges Jeanty from Sensation Comics. In it, Wonder Woman squares off with a monstrous threat thanks to the machinations of her friend and fellow Justice Leaguer, Batman. You can download the digital version of the comic here. It'll only set you back a buck.

Happy reading, and enjoy your Wonder Woman weekend! I can already hear the bracelets clanging from here.

To be continued...

The Wonder Woman Way...

Need a little friendly advice from Wonder Woman? Are you in the market for a talking bust of everyone's favorite Amazing Amazon? Or maybe you just like little toys that make you feel like a giant when you hold them in the palm of your hand. Well I can solve all three of those totally real, not-at-all-made-up problems.

Introducing The Wonder Woman Talking Figure and Illustrated Book set from Running Press. Inside this little box is not just a Wonder Woman half-figure that actually quotes from the comics, but this kit also contains my newest (albeit tiny) book, The Wonder Woman Way. Find out Princess Diana's thoughts on everything from marriage to wearing fierce red boots. It's advice you never knew you needed, available now in bookstores.

To be continued...

Batman/TMNT Adventures # 6...

This week marks the release of the sixth and final issue of Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures. While the main story was resolved last issue, this issue serves as an epilogue special, a self-contained story that sees the Turtles partner with not the original Batman: The Animated Series version of Batman, but the later New Batman Adventures version. In a story set months after the first five issue arc, the TMNT join forces with Batman, a new young Robin (Tim Drake), the grown up original Robin now called Nightwing, and a more seasoned and efficient Batgirl all to fight an alien invasion on a galactic scale. Plus, there's a cameo by nearly every single TMNT character who has appeared on the Nick cartoon.

Artist Jon Sommariva delivers another awesome pencil job this issue, and Sean Parson once again brings it all together with his inks. This issue also features the color art of Matt Herms, whose style is the closest we've gotten to the amazing painted art deco backgrounds of Bruce Timm's Gotham City since that cartoon went off the air. The result is one of the best looking issues to date, and makes me wish I was typing away at a sequel already. (Feel free to bug DC and IDW about that, by the way. We might just be able to make it happen!)

Jon Sommariva's original promotional art was turned into not just the IDW Convention Exclusive edition, but also a black and white retailer summit exclusive variant!

Now that we're all wrapped up, I want to be sure to thank everyone at DC, IDW, and Nickelodeon for giving me the opportunity to pour my toy box on the floor and bang my favorite action figures together. Editor Bobby Curnow at IDW, Joan Hilty at Nickelodeon, and Jim Chadwick at DC were great partners, and I really appreciate the level of encouragement they threw my way while we were working on this book.

Artist extraordinaire Jon Sommariva knocked it out of the park each and every issue, and his dedication to this project matched, if not exceeded, my own. I couldn't have been partnered with a better collaborator, and his ideas were key in making this book stronger with every issue. Likewise, Sean Parsons delivered crisp inks that made Jon's bold art even bolder, while retaining the art's lively qualities. There were several time crunches on this book, and Sean came through with flying colors. And speaking of tremendous colors, a big thanks to the aforementioned Matt Hern, and the colorist for the first five issues, Leonardo Ito. And last but not least, a heartfelt thanks to Shawn Lee, whose lettering was clear and precise, no matter how many changes we tossed his way.

And man, did we have some amazing covers on this book or what? Aside from Jon's great work, we saw the likes of Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird and Steve Lavigne, Jeff Matsuda, Ciro Nieli, Hilary Barta, J. Bone, Dario Brizuela, Derek Fridolfs, Rick Burchett, Billy Martin, Chad Thomas, and dozens more talented artists who helped bring way too much notice to our little all-ages story. It was the work of these guys that helped issue # 1 sell out before it hit stores, and draw enough attention to our series to see us nominated for Comic Book of the Year by the Diamond Gem Awards. For issue # 6 alone, we have variant covers by Sean Galloway, Ty Templeton, Valerio Schiti, and comic book icon Neal Adams. Not too shabby...

Neal Adams and Ty Templeton comic convention exclusives! High School Matt just saw his head explode.

And of  course, a huge thanks to you, the readers. You went from being a bit wary of another Batman/TMNT crossover so soon after the first comic book version, to becoming amazingly supportive of our different direction, tone, and approach to these classic characters. I've done a half dozen signings since issue # 1 was released, and I never get tired of hearing how this comic resonated with both you and your kids.

Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles # 6 hits stands Wednesday, May 10th. And look for the trade paperback in July!

To be continued...

Free Comic Book Day 2017...

Saturday, May 6th, is Free Comic Book Day, a day when comic book shops nationwide offer a selection of brand new free comics for both kids and adults. To celebrate the event, I'll be signing at Comic Envy starting at 11 a.m. Be sure to come in, grab your free issues, and check out my table out front. I'll have all my Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures issues as well as plenty of books for sale. Also at the shop will be Batgirl writer Hope Larson, and several other special guests.

That night, I'll also be appearing at The Magnetic Theatre in Asheville for Jeff Messer's show, Maintaining An Election. I'll be a special guest of the show to celebrate Free Comic Book Day with an interview during the proceedings. Also scheduled to appear is comedian Jason Scholder. The show starts at 10:30 p.m. and costs $8 at the door.

Hope to see you at both!

To be continued...

Batman/TMNT Adventures # 5...

Main cover by Jon Sommariva.

Out this week is Part 5 of Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures miniseries. This is the big climax to our story now that the Turtles have finally discovered who's the big bad behind the Kraang portals. Can a Michelangelo/Robin team-up save the day? Maybe not, but it'll prove entertaining nonetheless.

Variant cover by Gabriel Rodriguez.

Catch all the action at your local comic shop, or buy it here digitally.

And if you're in the South Carolina area, be sure to stop by my table at this weekend's SC Comicon to let me know what you thought of the issue.

Variant cover by Jeff Matsuda.

To be continued...

March Conventions...

Comic Con season is in full swing, and I'll be a guest at two shows during the month of March. The first is the Oak City Comic Con in Raleigh, North Carolina on March 18th and 19th. Not only will I have many of my books and comics on hand at my table, I'll also be speaking at a panel with another of the show's guests, my collaborator on Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures, Jon Sommariva. Details of the panel are below, and be sure to visit us at our tables to get your copies signed.

The following weekend (March 25th-26th), I'll be appearing at the SC Comic Con in Greenville, South Carolina. There will be lots of great talent on hand for that show as well, including legendary comic book creators Denny O'Neil, Neal Adams, and Mark Waid. I'll have plenty of Batman/TMNT issues available, as well as several of my new books, including The Batman Files and The Marvel Vault.

Hope to see you at one (or both) of the shows!

To be continued...