Halloween is officially here, so let’s celebrate by reading all 12 pages of the story that grabs you and pulls you down into the dark, filthy, fear-saturated trench that is THE SECRET CROSS: Humanity in the Execution!!

Click on the above image to get right into the action! Los gehts!

“These men, these ambassadors of virtue and sanity, they shall be our only candles in the darkness. Bloody candles at that.” – Otto von Bismarck

And if you would like to support us a bit (pretty please?), as well as supporting one of the best new comic anthologies around, you can buy electronic versions of FTL #1, FTL #2, and FTL #3 for only one US greenback. Just click and buy our love!

While you’re at it, go check out SORGON in FTL #3! It’s ten brutal pages starring the historical legend Hruodland– aka Roland!! Written by myself and with kick-ass art by Rolf Lejdegård. Look! A tasty preview can be found here.

Don’t worry, you can get print versions of FTL, too. Either through Indyplanet or demand your local shop order some copies through Comics Monkey.

Until next time, friends, have a fantastic Halloween. Don’t do anything I would– well, nevermind, as that would leave the llamas, rockets and toaster pastries as a possible option and we just can have that, right?

Tricks, Treats and Cheers,
Steve

Hey, troops! It’s been awhile, eh? Things have been ever so busy. However, what kind of Halloween weekend would it be without some Secret Cross to read? Horrible, just horrible, I’d wager.

So, for your reading pleasure, here is the first half of Humanity in the Execution, which first appeared in the UK anthology FTL #2. Tomorrow the next six eye-blasting pages will go up and you’ll have all of first twelve pages that violently throw you into the hair-raising, action-soaked world of The Secret Cross:

HUMANITY IN THE EXECUTION Part One

Click on ze above image– mach schnell!

And if you would like to support us a bit, as well as supporting one of the best new comic anthologies around, you can buy electronic versions of FTL #1, FTL #2, and FTL #3 for only one US greenback!

(And check out SORGON in FTL #3! It’s ten brutal pages starring the historical legend Hruodland– aka Roland!! Written by myself and with kick-ass art by Rolf Lejdegård.)

Don’t worry, you can get print versions of FTL, too. Either through Indyplanet or demand your local shop order some copies through Comics Monkey.

Thanks for reading, and we hope you enjoy this first part to Humanity in the Execution! See you tomorrow for the rest.’

Tricks, Treats and Cheers,
Steve Saunders

Many thanks to Stephen Lindsay, Dominic Vivona, Ian Sharman, Jeff Balke and Ryan Speck!

First off, sorry for the absence, troops. We’ve all been really busy!

Now it pays off. For a mere 99 cents you can own the first appearance of THE SECRET CROSS in comics as it appears in UK anthology FTL #2!! That’s right, Humanity in the Execution’s 12 pages will be split into two 6-page parts in FTL 2 and FTL 3.

Get your electronic copy of FTL #2 HERE.

And for you folks out there that want a hardcopy, but in black & white, you can get it here at IndyPlanet!

Here’s the copy on the latest FTL:

“FTL is Orang Utan Comics’ flagship anthology series! Expect the very best quick fire stories in these pages, from some of the most exciting creators working in comics today. This is the comics anthology where anything goes! Vampires! Dragons! Robots! Ninjas! Knights! Vikings! Cheerleaders! You name it, you’ll find it in the pages of FTL!

The second stunning installment of FTL brings you a heady mix of post-apocalyptic visions, super heroics, werewolves and creepy ancient myths as we continue in our quest to bring you the best mix of comic book short story goodness available. Hmmm…or should that be “badness”? Anyway, this issue we’ve also teamed up with the fine people at Nightmaera to bring you the first part of their period horror tale, Secret Cross!”

Stay tuned for FTL #3 in coming weeks, which won’t only have part 2 of the Secret Cross story, but a full 10 page SORGON story, as written by Steve Saunders!

Until next time, keep those matches dry.

Hey troops! You may or may not know I work for Studio 407, a great new indie comics company, and we have something at our site that you lot just might really enjoy.

A “noir” version of the critically praised Night Projectionist comic by Bob Heske and Diego Yapura, this title should appeal to most of you who enjoy a good horror yarn. To read more on Night Projectionist, check out the overview here. Now, that explains the print version. But have no fear! The Noir version is simply the print version released as a black & white webcomic at the rate of one page a week. And honestly, I really like how the Noir version looks! It adds a nice chilling and foreboding tone to the book.

The best part about it is that it’s free, once a week… and there’s already 25 pages available for you to read.

First, though, here’s how writer Bob Heske summed up Night Projectionst in his Comic Monsters.com interview:
“The short pitch: ‘30 Days of Night’ meets ‘Scream’. The protagonist, Dragos, is the night projectionist at a condemned single-screen theater who holds his audience captive on Halloween eve during an all-night Draculathon. Unbeknownst to the elderly theater owners and unsuspecting audience, the projectionist is a bonafide vampire whose coven is descending upon this sleepy New England town with a bloody vengeance.”

Sound good? Go here to start the fun. Enjoy!

And here are a few pages just for good measure…

Convinced yet? I hope so! be sure to investigate Studio 407’s other titles, which are mostly science fiction and horror– which if you’re reading this blog, if right up your alley. Or should I say trench?

Hmmm… “Right up your trench” sounds more like an insult, though, doesn’t it?

Normally I wouldn’t post anything showing the first Secret Cross story, Humanity in the Execution, past Page 6… but when I saw this freshily colored page I said “Aw, the hell with it!” and now here you are, taking a look at it in its unlettered form. This is what Page 9  will look like:

Art by Dominic Vivona and colors by Jeff Balke.

Howdy, troops! Finally, we have some complete Secret Cross pages to show off. Huzzah! These are from the upcoming first chapter in the Secret Cross saga named “HUMANITY IN THE EXECUTION”, which will be appearing in two 6-page parts in UK anthology FTL. Here’s pages 2-4.

Credits:
Story by Steven G. Saunders and Stephen Lindsay
Art by Dominic Vivona
Colors by Jeff Balke
Lettering by Stephen Lindsay

Now, I have to say, this project gives me goosebumps. The story has fallen in place nicely, Dominic totally kicks ass on the art, Jeff has the coloring down cold and even the lettering is straight up awesome— nice work, Mr. Steve-L.

You’ve seen these pages… so let us know what you think in the comments!

And if you would like a free read of FTL #1, containing some fantastic work by some serious talent, including Dwight L. MacPherson and Ian Sharman (who’s also the head FTL honcho, bless his black heart). Well, here, see for yourself below!

We’ll keep you posted when Secret Cross is available to read (both in segments and from Nightmaera Comics as full issues)!! Until then, keep your head low and your socks dry.

Since it’s nice to always have content in this here blog, I thought it would also be nice to give you folks some looks and other things pertaining to the projects that me (Steve Saunders), Stephen Lindsay, Dominic Vivona and our buddies are working on.

One of these things is Sorgon, a comic which will be showing up in the new UK anthology FTL very soon. Written by myself and illustrated by the incredibly gifted Rolf Lejdegård, Sorgon tells the story of Hruodland and his long and hard quest to find answers to what troubles him and his countrymen. Sorgon represents our interpretation of the legendary Roland, the Frankish hero who has been talked of for centuries. But don’t expect the Song of Roland or anything like that– Sorgon is dark fantasy with some borrowed elements for the time-honored and mighty epic, ageless tale. However, Sorgon is an original take, trying diligently to blend history and low fantasy.

The plan right now is to show Sorgon in short chapters and to have them later collected as one volume by the most excellent Chimaera Studios.

Feel free to take a look at the project Rolf has going on with Stephen Lindsay, Grim North, here and here!
Yes, we love Rolf very, very much. It all has to do with brainfaxing, you see…

Now, please indulge in these unlettered, black & white pre-colored first few pages of the first chapter (be sure to click on them for Ze Bigger Versions!), entitled Līthan.

Read more »

Here are some items as designed and created by Julian DiMarco in his most glorious Able Workshop. I figured most folks interested in Secret Cross would be interested in looking at these wondrous things.

For those interested in purchase, please visit Julian’s Etsy page.

Howdy, troops! It’s been too long. I’ll try to update this more frequently again…

For now, I would like to welcome a new member to the Secret Cross team, colorist Jeff Balke! As you can no doubt see by this fine creature right here, Jeff is having no problem fitting in to the unit. Feast your eyes on this before it feasts on you!!

Yes, it’s small… but you’ll see the bigger size soon. I promise.

In other news, The first 12 pages are almost ready for you to finally see! Until then, keep your socks dry and your knives sharp.

Cheers,
Steve

I hate lying… so I am not going to tell you we aren’t into the undead here. We would also be totally engaged in deceit if we said we hate zombies. Oh, no. We leave that to folks like Jesus. Or our pals in the Secret Cross, of course!

As a major advocate of gaming and miniatures, I was very pleased to see Wargames Factory is offering a ZOMBIE HORDE for the ghoulishly low price of $17.95 (USD). That’s 24 very hungry zed-words for 18 bucks! And there’s enough sprues and parts for 936 unique combinations!! How great is that?

So, what are you minis gamers and undead fans waiting for? Go get some!

Remember: “Always aim for the head… and face… and the body. Well, just shoot the hell out of them, set them on fire and piss on the ashes– that should do, okay?” – Feldwebel Eddy Rosin, somewhere in France, 1915

Be seeing you.