Black House Comics is pleased to announce ParaHuman, a new full-colour superhero anthology.

To be launched in June 2012, ParaHuman will be available in newsagents and comic stores throughout Australia as well as online via BlackBoox.net for $4rrp.

Each issue will feature three 8 page stories focusing on meta-humans from Australian artists and writers.

Be prepared!

Want to see your work in ParaHuman? See this note about submissions to the book.

Black House Comics has teamed up with Gestalt Comics to put out Australia's only print catalogue for local comic publishers.

Macq will come out seversal times a year and will be a showcase for comics from Black House, Gestalt and other local publishers.

All the books listed are available for sale to retailers via www.blackboox.net at wholesale rates.

The aim of Macq is to arm retailers with free information about Australian comics that they can give to their clients over the counter or with their mailed orders.

Retailers wishing to order copies or publishers wanting to participate can email us here info@blackhousecomics.com. 

Click the image to download issue 1, which will be in shops from 19th December 2011.

You can see here that the show won the ratings for the night - and so it should!

Here's the preamble:

 

And here's the actual judging with Baden Kirgan, Nicola Scott and Jim from Kings.

As part of our continuing campaign to take over the world, Black House Comics publisher Baden Kirgan is appearing on Beauty & The Geek this Thursday night as a judge.

Along with Nicola Scott (Birds of Prey, Teen Titans) and comics retailer Jim Papagrigoriou from Kings Comics, Baden is a guest judge for a superhero challenge.

Tune in on Thursday and come back here to make as much fun of Baden as you can!

Press Release here.

A poignant comic book scene of a young soldier throwing himself on a live grenade to save his mates has provided inspiration for the new Youi Insurance “Comic Shop Guy” series of commercials going to air in Australia in October 2011. 

Indeed, Youi was so impressed with the Australian comic book series, The Soldier Legacy, created by Brisbane writer /artist Paul Mason, that the commercial centred around the enthusiastic and dramatic reenactment of the critical scene, which helped serve the advertising message.

The Soldier Legacy tells the story of a World World II digger who sees action in the dense and dangerous jungles of New Guinea during the 1940s and becomes a changed man when he witnesses an act of supreme courage and ultimate sacrifice. In the first issue “Lest I Forget” the Soldier chides a young private for reading comic books instead of cleaning his gun. The recruit explains that his favourite comic book hero “…doesn’t have powers like other comic heroes… he’s just a bloke like you and me, who just felt he needed to act…” Later on when the troop comes under heavy attack by the enemy, this recruit becomes the most unlikeliest of heroes when he chooses “to act” like his fiction hero and throws himself on a live grenade to save his fellow soldiers. To honour his fallen companion’s legacy, the nameless lead character dons a mask and takes on the superhero persona of “The Soldier” who over the course of the war with his fierce fighting spirit saves countless of soldiers from annihilation on the battlefront.

Many years later, The Soldier’s grandson is also inspired to take up the superhero mantle, albeit in a modern suburban landscape where crime is widespread and injustice is rife.

The Youi commercial was filmed in Kings Comics in Sydney, which was outfitted with other Black House comic book and graphic novel titles, posters, paraphernalia and props. A maquette (action figure) of The Solider, specially created for the commercial, was later presented as a gift to Paul Mason.

Says Black House Comics publisher Baden Kirgan: “The best thing about The Soldier Legacy is the way it blends the superhero genre with the true Australian hero, the Anzac, and Youi has done a great job of honouring both with this ad.”

Comic book readers can find The Soldier Legacy at their local comics store, or by going online at Black Boox: http://blackboox.net/

Always a thrill to see our books on the shelves. This one is in the Box Hill newsagency in Victoria.

It's back! And it's bigger and better than ever - literally!

It's been over a year since we left Tamsyn in After the World: Gravesend and things aren't getting any better for anyone. Fewer people and more zombies isn't really going to make anyone happy.

In Pack Rules, Jason Franks (Kagemono, The Sixsmiths, McBlack) takes a completely new cast and tells a chilling story about the end of the world in the arts end of the world - Melbourne. It wasn't like this for Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner and Fred Astaire (look it up people!). 

And in a massive change to the format of the books, After the World has gone from a single story book to an anthology of some of the best horror and sci-fi this side of...that thing over there. 

More - we've doubled the size which means we've got more room for more works from more new and established writers working in speculative fiction. More I tell you!

Heading up matters is B. Michael Radburn (The Crossing) with Indian Summer, a tale of a bike that likes to be ridden; The Rule of Three by Pete Kempshall, a story about a man alone in space, driven to desperate acts; Nothing Goes to Waste by Raymond Gates, a chilling story about how far you would go for your family; Thirty Seconds by Eugene Gramelis, a tale of science and revenge for all the right reasons; The Hobart Town Whisperer by Clinton Green, about  the way a town can be haunted; and shortie A Clockwork Arthur by Black House favourite Jason Fischer and I can't even tell you what that one's about - I think it's something to do with elephants.

With brand new cover art from Jason Paulos and a pinup from... Jason Paulos, it's one good looking book. The back cover is by Jason too.

And let's not forget it took three Jasons to get this much awesome together so it has to be rockin'.

After the World Issue 3 is out now in Australian newsagents and from www.blackboox.net 

Terra Magazine is a new triannual comics magazine featuring work from more than a dozen of Australia’s best writers and artists, including: Tom Bonin, Ben Michael Byrne, Michal Dutkiewicz, Jason Franks, Jason Fischer, Greg Gates, Nicholas Hunter, Leigh Kuilboer, Bruce Mutard, Luke Pickett, Jason Paulos, Harry Purnell, Jan Scherpenhuizen, Christopher Sequeira and Yuriko Sekine. 

Terra will feature serialized stories in a variety of genres: science fiction, crime, fantasy, horror and historical drama. The opening line-up includes: 

Kensuke, a samurai fantasy drama.

Gourmand Go, a twisted space opera.

Tusk, an illustrated prose feature about a world dominated by a race of telepathic elephants.

The Catamorph, in which two police detectives run afoul of ancient Egyptian magic.

Shadowmancy, the story of the son of a bad seed sorceror’s quest for power.

Gun Smoke Bud, a yakuza crime/suspense story.

Ben Byrne’s Tales, a humorous and gruesome look at a dystopian future populated by cyborg lunatics and run by an out-of-control military complex. 

Terra Magazine will be distributed to newsstands throughout Australia by Gordon and Gotch. The magazine is published by Black House comics and edited by Jason Franks. 

For more information about Terra Magazine please go to: www.terramagazine.com.au

I have just returned from a trip to the San Diego Comic Con and thought I would jot down some thoughts on the whole awesome shebang. I had planned on going last year but for various commercial printing related reasons had to abandon the trip at the l...