It Hatched and It Died -- read it at the Fanzine!

I'm in the midst of a cross-country move these days (L.A. to Burlington, VT), but even as I'm out and about the fine folks at Fanzine have put up a chapter from my novel-in-progress Brand New Berto on their website.  It's accompanied with an illustration from my pal & bearded brother Ben Costa, whose Xeric Award-winning comic you can enjoy at Shi Long Pang.  Or go to your local comic shop and request the first volume, on sale now!

But before you leave your computer -- read It Hatched and It Died.  It's like totally good dudes.

What we talk about when we talk about comics

I spiffed up Sequential Heart and posted some comics reviews there -- the idea is to run a group-blog where a few folks will post short reviews of comics a few times a week. I started things off with recent issues of SHAOLIN COWBOY, ALL-STAR BATMAN & ROBIN and SPIDER-MAN. I'm working up some more graphic novel-y fare right now, and Amy plans on contributing some mini-comic reviews in the near future. I'd also like to write about some of the Bay Area folks we know -- I have BEOWOLF by the Two Fine Chaps sitting on the bookshelf, and Ben Costa's webcomic SHI LONG PANG that might just out-Usagi USAGI YOJIMBO.

Anyway -- I wanted to post about SH while I was thinking about it. Check it out, comment on 'em if you agree or disagree, and if anyone wants to join the conversation, just give a shout.

Sequential Heart!

The Devil in Shaun's Woods

Here's a thing that happened to me once:

"Every weekend until the winter came we went to Shaun's house on Saturday nights. We stayed all night and crept down to the woods after dark. The Man would be there in the trees, or sometimes he'd already be in the yard crawling behind us. He was always lower than us to the ground, quieter and better hid. Close to Halloween he wore a white skull mask instead of the red devil, and that was the night Milford had had enough and took his gun outside, a pistol. He told the rest of us to stay inside and we crowded around a small living room window, watching outside as Milford appeared in the dark, holding his gun out in front of him, walking slow and looking from side to side. Ten feet behind him crept the Man in the Woods, wearing his white skull mask, exaggerating his steps, knees up high, arms held out before him like Dracula. We yelled from the window for Milford to turn around. Milford didn't respond or react, but the Man in the Woods stopped his creep, turned his head to face us at the window, and held a finger to his lips, shhhh."

If you're in Chicago, track down a copy of No Touching #3 to read the rest - for the rest of the globe, visit their website and download the whole issue for free. The other stories are good too, but I can't promise they're this ACTION PACKED.