Arcana Charity Campaign
The new year has already provided many joys, many difficulties and many opportunities for all of us. Arcana is proud to announce it has recently donated hundreds of all age books to Camp Can-Do (ACS) including The Gwaii, Howard Lovecraft and the Frozen Kingdom and the Art of ReBoot. Kelli Rivera, the assistant director for sibling week, has been with the organization for 10 years said “I used to watch ReBoot all the time and we love the books you sent. Thank you so much for your donation and please spread the word about the camp”.
Camp Can-Do is an excellent organization that really makes a difference and allows a kid to be a kid. Provided free of charge by the American Cancer Society, Camp Can-Do is a week-long camp for children with cancer, and Camp Can-Do II is a week-long camp for siblings of children with cancer.
Haitian artist Rene Dittmer and Arcana raised almost $1000 selling sketch various covers with all proceeds going to directly to Haitian relief. Rene and his family were lucky to be alive after the devastating 7.0 earthquake struck on January 12th, but his hometown of Port-au-Prince was left in ruins. He is sending updates when he can and we are all hoping for the best for him and his family. Rene has worked on storyboards and concept designs for Arcana’s upcoming project, Kleo.
Arcana has also recently participated in Maple Creek Middle’s Literacy Conference giving away numerous comics, including The Clockwork Girl and A Cat Named Haiku, and also presented work shops for middle school students on developing comics and graphic novels. As well, Arcana has donated books for the Comic Slop at the Hayward Leadership Public School in California to support their comic book club.
Arcana has many more plans for charity events in 2010, and if you have a charity or event, please do not hesitate to contact us to see if we can help.
GearHead TPBOn a mission to find her brother and in search of the destiny she never knew she had, Shelby’s life is about to get interesting. Join her on a road trip that leads from the drag strip all the way to the White House. Like her father before her, she is GearHead.
Created by Dennis Hopeless and Kevin Mellon, the comic in currently optioned by Gale Anne Hurd’s Valhalla Motion Pictures. Collecting the first four issues, along with never before seen pinups and commentary, GearHead is here to stay.
Buy the book now: http://www.arcana.com/store.php
In Previews
In Previews, for items shipping in March and April, Arcana will be publishing Arcana Presents 2010 (JAN10 0717), Anywhere #5 (JAN10 0718), Don Bluth’s Space Ace TPB (JAN10 0719), Grunts War Stories TPB (JAN10 0720), Paradox GN (JAN10 0721), Anywhere #6 (FEB10 0660), Fafnir The Dragon GN (FEB10 0661), and Gauze TPB (FEB10 0662).
Shipping This Month
Arcana kicks off the New Year this January and February with the release of Arcana Magazine #1 (NOV09 0599), Anywhere #3 (NOV09 0600), Avengelyne vs Koni Waves Oneshot (NOV09 0601), Cat Named Haiku (NOV09 0602), Miracle GN (NOV09 0603), and Anywhere #4 (DEC09 0661) .
Interview with Steven Prouse
This month, Arcana’s Vice President of Marketing, Jimmy DaSilva interviews Steven Prouse, writer of the original graphic novel, Coin Operated Boy.JD: Steven, can you give a synopsis of what Coin Operated Boy is about for those not familiar with it?
SP: Coin Operated Boy is the story of a girl named Genesis and her bedroom, in general, with men. She blows through them pretty steadily, but is increasingly tired of the emotional baggage they seem to bring to the table. Her solution: create a robot boy to fulfill her fun times while dumping nothing heavy on her. Things go wrong when the boy becomes self aware and tries to protect his creator from everything, including her friends.
JD: How did you come up with the idea for the story?
SP: I had this close friend in college who was really the big bang for Genesis. Our conversations revolved around how complicated relationships are and how we just wished we could get a little action without all that baggage. She seemed to be every man’s (and a few women’s) wet dream. She was absolutely brilliant, but her down time was beyond exciting.
I wanted to tell a story about our friendship, but in a way that showed the pure comfort we had with each other and didn’t want to do just another sappy, slice-of-life sort of story. I had this story in skeletal form when I heard the Dresden Dolls’ “Coin Operated Boy.” I absolutely loved it, but the general empty love message I saw in the song made me want to tell a story where that sort of connection is only fleeting (as is, in my opinion, the general concept of love). What Genie finds in her friend at the end is far more secure and important than a romance.
JD: What inspires you as a writer?
SP: The human condition; people, relationships, philosphy, theology, politics… how people interact and define their world. Random conversations, smells, other things I read… all of these can ignite a spark in the back of my head.
JD: How did you decide on bringing Coin Operated Boy to Arcana?
SP: I’ve been familiar with Arcana since the early Kade days and wanted to work with a comic publisher with a proven track record for producing high quality books, but small enough that Coin Operated wouldn’t get lost in the monthly melee.
JD: Are there any other projects you are working on?
SP: Always… I am currently working on a mini-series titled “Stink Fist” about a futuristic world where the corporate reanimation of corpses as slave labor won out over robotics. I have a few other things in the works on various other comics, film, and television projects – nothing developed enough to talk about now – and am currently writing an erotica novel (the first chapter is in my notes on my facebook page).
JD: Before we go, is there anything else you would like to say to fans?
SP: Don’t buy the hype… take candy from as many strangers as would offer.
Kris Bather