Results tagged “tony shasteen”

The Talisman: The Road of Trials #0 was released last week in comic books stores!

Lilja’s Library, a haven of information for Stephen King fans, has conducted an interview with artist Tony Shasteen. Tony was chosen by Stephen King and Peter Straub to illustrate the adaptation of The Talisman and from what I have seen so far he is doing a great job.

To read the new interview with Tony, click here!

If you haven’t checked out the The Talisman: The Road of Trials #1 Preview, do so! It really illustrates—no pun intended, honest—the penciling power Tony is bringing to this project.

Got your Issue #0? It’s only $1.00 at comic book stores now!

I am back in the Territories!

The Talisman: The Road of Trials #0 is published today in fine comic book stores for $1.00!

I read and reviewed Issue #0 of the Stephen King / Peter Straub comic book adaptation two months ago. I enjoyed it a great deal. It is a prequel to the novel of the same name, a look at events that helped shape young Jack Sawyer before he took his first step into the Territories. I reviewed the San Diego Comic Con edition of #0, a black and white issue given away for free at the convention.

The #0 released today is in glorious full color.

I received my copy a few days ago and I opened it immediately. I wanted to see if Nei Ruffino, the colorist on the project, could bring Tony Shasteen’s artwork alive similar to how Richard Isanove colors for penciler Jae Lee on the Dark Tower comic book adaptations. In short, she does. Nei brings a vibrancy to Tony’s intricate pencil work, leaving any last apprehensions I had about this project behind.

And today is not only the release of Issue #0 for $1.00, but MTV.com has also posted an exclusive early look at the first six pages of Issue #1!

It is easy to see why Del Rey hired the creative team they did. Those first six pages of The Talisman: The Road of Trials #1 have me even more excited than before.

Accompanying the release of Issue #0 and the posting of the Issue #1 excerpt, plotter and writer Robin Furth has a new interview at Lilja’s Library where she talks about the adaptation of The Talisman in greater detail.

Get out there! Locate the closest comic book store today and buy Issue #0 for $1.00!

M-O-O-N! That spells Issue #0!

We have less than a month and November will be here.

What happens in November? Well, let’s see:

• November 10th: Under the Dome, the new massive horror novel by Stephen King, will be published.
• November 18th: The Talisman #1, the comic book adaptation of the novel written by Stephen King and Peter Straub, hits fine comic bookstores everywhere.
• November 25th: Dark Tower: The Battle of Jericho Hill #1, the story of one of the most important tales hinted at in Stephen King’s opus the Dark Tower, also hits comic book stores.

But do you want to get a jump on November in October? Of course you do!

First, read the new Newsarama interview HERE with comic book adapter and writer Robin Furth! She was once King’s assistant but now she is ensuring his books are adapted correctly at Marvel and Del Rey Books.

Second, on October 20th, Del Rey and the creative team of Furth, Shasteen and Ruffino will publish in comic bookstores The Talisman Issue #0, a full color prequel to the novel of the same name!

Get the jump on, in October!

M-O-O-N! That spells… Halloween?

Happy weekend!

For more than 3 decades Del Rey Books has been bringing the best books to fine bookstores everywhere. So when the sci-fi and fantasy publisher announced they would be adapting the Stephen King and Peter Straub story The Talisman into a monthly comic book series, I knew they would do justice to one of my favorite novels of all time.

And beginning next month, Del Rey will be bringing the best to comic book stores too!

The Talisman #0, a prequel to the beloved novel, will be published next month in full color. That is just a reminder.

But every month that passes we are given glimpses into how Del Rey is handling this, and I must say I am extremely excited!

Click on the cover and its variant to The Talisman #2!

The Talisman #2 Cover

The Talisman #2 Variant

Once again, Massimo Carnevale has done an absolutely brilliant job! His cover art is blowing me away. I thought his cover on Issue #0 was great. Then it got better in Issue #1. And Issue #2 above is by far my favorite, dark and moody!

Today Del Rey announced Tommy Lee Edwards as the variant cover artist for Issue #2 of The Talisman, on sale in December. He is an illustrator whose comics credits include The Question, published by DC Comics, and Marvel 1985, published by Marvel. I think his variant cover is gorgeous. It must be Morgan of Orris. I love the pose, the colors and the look in Morgan’s eyes—confident evil.

This project is truly shaping up to be something special!

More soon.

Newsarama posted the variant cover to The Talisman: The Road of Trials #1!

Here is the press release:

Del Rey, an imprint of Ballantine Books at the Random House Publishing Group, announced today Mike Krahulik, artist and half of the creative duo behind the hit gaming and geek culture-based webcomic Penny Arcade (www.penny-arcade.com) as the variant cover artist for Issue 1 of Stephen King and Peter Straub’s The Talisman, on sale in November.

“Penny Arcade is the online phenomenon which debuted in 1998 whose global readership generate over 50 million pageviews a month. Mike Krahulik is also known as Gabe, his online persona in the Penny Arcade comics. Krahulik has lent his distinctive art style to promotional comics for Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six, Prince of Persia, Fallout 3, and other video games, as well as advertisements for the Entertainment Software Association.

“The epic saga of The Talisman debuts with Issue 0, a never-before-told prequel to the story, to be published by Del Rey Comics in October. The Talisman novel, originally published in 1984, is the story of a teen boy named Jack Sawyer, who can save his dying mother only by retrieving a magical talisman. To find it he must cross back and forth between our world and the frightening and dangerous landscape of its “twinner” counterpart. Issue 0 explores the separate lives of Jack’s father—in our world, and in the mysterious realm known as the Territories—and how evil scheming will forever change Jack’s peaceful life.

“The series is being adapted by Robin Furth and illustrated by Tony Shasteen, with regular cover art by Massimo Carnevale and coloring by Nei Ruffino. The Talisman Issue 0 will be available in comic book stores everywhere on October 21, 2009, and The Talisman Issue 1 will hit comics stands on November 18, 2009.

M-O-O-N! That spells badass adaptation!

It has been a number of years since I read The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub. I first read it when I was fourteen or fifteen and fell in love with the entire story—the premise, its style of writing, its characters and its magic. Semi-considered a part of the Dark Tower saga, The Talisman is one of those foundational pieces to my reading life.

It wasn’t until Black House published in 2001 that I read it for the second time. With adult eyes. And, happily, it held up to wiser eyes.

So when I found out Del Rey Books had snagged the rights to adapt the book into a comic book series, I was ecstatic. I’ve worked with Del Rey on various projects for years and the people there are dedicated to seeing all projects done correctly and with passion. When I learned editor-in-chief Betsy Mitchell would be overseeing the project, I knew it would be in good hands. When I learned that Robin Furth would be involved as adapting writer—Stephen King’s former research assistant and plotter of the Dark Tower comic book series—I grew more excited as she could be utterly trusted with the material. And when I saw the artwork for Tony Shasteen and Nei Ruffino, I could not wait to see the first issue.

Well, now I have! And I am happy to report I enjoyed it immensely.

As readers of Suvudu know, we are proud to launch Del Rey Comics with the adaptation of Stephen King and Peter Straub’s THE TALISMAN. The comic will be adapted from the novel by Robin Furth with pencils and inks by Tony Shasteen, colors by Nei Ruffino, and cover paintings by Massimo Carnevale.

We’re so excited about this book that we have created a special black and white preview edition of issue 0 that we will give away for FREE at San Diego Comic Con. Come by the Del Rey booth, #1129, and ask for your copy.

Not going to comic con? The full color issue 0 will be available in comic shops around the country on October, 21 for $1.00. Find your local comic book shop at comicshoplocator.com.

We also want to know what you think of it. Please email us at delreycomics@randomhouse.com

Robin Furth is one of the more interesting people I have met.

I mean, how could she not be having once been Stephen King’s personal assistant!

I bet she has stories galore!

Being an expert on all things King-related, Robin has been tapped to fulfill some of King’s creative endeavors. She has plotted four Dark Tower comic book series, bridging the time period between Wizard & Glass with The Gunslinger. She has also been hired by Del Rey Books to write the comic book adaptation to the Stephen King and Peter Straub novel The Talisman, which I am really excited about since that is one of my favorite books!

I sent Robin a short interview a few weeks ago, just to get her initial thoughts on the new project and how it was going.

M-O-O-N! That spells interview!

Suvudu: Where are you at in The Talisman project?

Robin Furth: So far I’ve written a prequel, which we call Issue 0, a detailed overview of Talisman Graphic Novel Volume I (that’s issues 1-6 of the comics, and Parts I and II of the novel), as well as the panel by panel breakdown and the script for the first issue. I’m working on the script for the second issue now. I’m really enjoying this adaptation, though I must say I bite my fingernails every time I hand in a script. In some ways Issue 0 was the scariest. As you can imagine, it isn’t every day you’re asked to write the backstory for a novel that you love! And to make the whole thing even scarier, I wrote the script and then—after the editors had gone over it and given their very helpful feedback—it was sent directly to Steve King and Peter Straub to get their approval. They gave it the thumbs up, and I think I nearly passed out with relief. I won’t tell you what happens in Issue 0, except that it takes place while Jack’s dad is still alive. Since in the actual novel Phil Sawyer’s memory is a big influence on Jack, I thought it was really important for new readers to learn a little bit more about him. It was also a great way to bring in all the flashbacks that we’re told about in the book but which we would have a very difficult time fitting into the comic books.

My overview for the first six issues took a LONG time. I think I had the editors a little scared! I can work quickly when I have to (and in comics, your back is often up against the wall since deadlines are all-important) but sometimes I really feel that to do the story justice I have to take my time and think things through. Since in comics the old adage show, don’t tell really holds true, I had to spend a lot of time deciding which scenes were crucial, and then how I could get additional information into those scenes, so that readers of the comics would get the ambiance of the original novel. Then, as the editor Betsy Mitchell can attest, after the dialogue was written, we had to go back through and chop half of it away, since I had the characters talking so much that the letterer would have had a heart attack!

S: What have you liked so far about adapting Steve’s and Peter’s book?

I cannot believe we are already in June! It seems just yesterday when I was at the February NY Comic Con and had the chance to meet, interview and hang out with Stephen King comic book writer Robin Furth and The Talisman artist Tony Shasteen!

Remember the NYCC Suvudu videos?

- Robin Furth
- Tony Shasteen

Well, since February, Robin and Tony have been hard at work on The Talisman, the comic book adaptation to the long-time bestselling novel by Stephen King and Peter Straub!

The Talisman #0 will launch the series on October 21, 2009, but those who are attending the San Diego Comic Con will get the true first look at the comic book series, where Del Rey Books will be giving away FREE black and white copies of Issue #0!

We also now know who will be supplying the comic book adaptation cover artwork and who will be supplying the interior coloring! Thanks to the Official June 16th Press Release, we know Massimo Carnevale (Y: The Last Man) will be supplying the cover artwork! He is an extremely talented artist and makes an excellent and award-winning addition to the creative team. And coloring the black and white artwork supplied by Tony Shasteen will be Nei Ruffino, who is currently working on Supergirl and Green Lantern for DC Comics!

The exclusive Comic Con The Talisman #0 can be found at the Del Rey booth (#1129) this July 22-26! To get it, you will have to attend the convention!

Or know someone who is going!

More to come soon!

As you may have already heard, Del Rey Books has acquired the right from Stephen King and Peter Straub to adapt in a monthly comic book the very successful novel The Talisman, one of the stories loosely tied to the Dark Tower saga.

In an effort to have this project be the best it could be, Del Rey hired Robin Furth, the long time friend and research assistant of Stephen King, to write the series. Robin knows more about the Dark Tower than anyone and she will be bringing the skills she learned on the Dark Tower comic book adaptations into this project.

Del Rey also hired a wonderful artist, Tony Shasteen, whom both Stephen King and Peter Straub have complete confidence in bringing the worlds of The Talisman to life on the page.

Since I am really excited about this project—having been a long time fan of The Talisman and the Dark Tower in general—I thought it would be fun to have those two creators stop by monthly and let us know what is going on with the project as well as answer some questions you all may have.

So write your questions HERE!

It will of course require you to join Suvudu but it is a quick process and wholly free. Post your questions beneath in that thread and from now until Issue #0 hits the San Diego Comic Con between 3 and 7 of them will be chosen at the end of each month—Robin answering the writing/adapting questions, Tony answering the art questions.

Starting on April 1st, I will post the Questions and the Answers in a separate Forum here and add onto it as the rolling interview progresses month to month. That way all questions are gathered in one spot for easy access!

And apparently Del Rey Books will be giving us early looks at the process in the next two months. That should bring the questions rolling in!

If you have any questions about ASK ROBIN/TONY, feel free to write me at shawn@suvudu.com!

As I said in my accompanying article NYCC Interview: Robin Furth, I can’t wait for the Del Rey Books adaptation of Stephen King and Peter Straub’s The Talisman.

Can’t wait. Can’t wait. Can’t wait.

I love revisiting books through adaptations, whether the adaptations are comic books, movies or games. It reminds me of the great reading I’ve done in the past and how it is always fun to view the material through someone else’s eyes in a new medium.

Tony Shasteen, the artist on The Talisman, took a few moments to answer some my questions concerning his new project and what it is to come. The interview is broken into seven video pieces!

Part I of VII: Who is Tony Shasteen?

Continue onward to interview parts II-VII with Tony Shasteen!