Patrick Shand

Hey all. Quick post before I head off to New York Comic Con. Here’s my schedule for the week.

I’ll be at the Zenescope booth 12-5 every day, so you’ll be able to find me there even during my non-signing times.

Here’s when I’ll be officially signing:

FRIDAY

2:30 - 3:30 Robyn Hood signing! I’ll be signing with cover artist Jamie Tyndall and cosplay extraordinaire Jessica Nigri.

4PM Godstorm signing with NYCC exclusive cover artist Elias Chatzoudis. Godstorm #1 debuts here.

SATURDAY

1PM Godstorm signing with NYCC exclusive cover artist Elias Chatzoudis.

4PM Godstorm signing with NYCC exclusive cover artist Elias Chatzoudis.

SUNDAY

12PM Pat Shand signing.

Hope to see you all there! Now, remember, we are debuting… well, basically everything at the booth. Those who come to the booth will be able to purchase NYCC exclusive copies of GODSTORM #1, Giant Size GRIMM FAIRY TALES 2012, and the GRIMM FAIRY TALES Halloween Edition 2012 before the regular comics hit stores.

In one day, Godstorm #0 will be released in comic shops all over the country. To celebrate that, and maybe tease you a little bit, I’ll tell a little tale of how the series came to fruition.

Last April, Ralph Tedesco (editor in chief at Zenescope and co-creator of Grimm Fairy Tales) asked me to write theGrimm Fairy Tales 2012 Annual, which told the stories of Greek and Roman gods in the GFT Universe. Based on Joe Brusha’s outline, I spun a yarn about the gods of old living in modern times. Some of them have adjusted quite well - Zeus is living as a business man named Gregor Brontios, Venus is a fashion icon, and Ares is… well, still loving war, and there is no shortage of that in our world. Others… not so much. Neptune has become a homeless wanderer, and Hades has been locked in the underworld after refusing to join Venus in her plan to reclaim their former glory and take over Earth. And that really was the crux of it - Venus, not content with her fortune and fame, was rallying the troops for a war against humanity… and I was the guy that got to set it up. Very gratifying.

(GFT Annual 2012)

The issue debuted at Wizard World Philly, the first show where I hung out at the Zenescope booth. I was in my glory - the GFT Annual was out, and the day before, Raven Gregory had called me to give me the job writing Robyn Hood. At that point, I knew nothing about the book. The conversation with Raven had gone, “Pat, GUESS WHAT YOU’RE WRITING! Robyn Hood! New flagship title for Zenescope! It’s all you, man!” Annnnd that’s all I knew about that book. It was called Robyn Hood and I was writing it. I was approached by Dave Franchini from Zenescope, and he congratulated me on getting that gig. “Man, I love Robyn Hood. So, you know, don’t fuck it up,” he said (which was the best advice I’d gotten about the book - Ralph and Raven would later repeat that to me). He told me what he knew about the book, which was that Robyn was a lady (I’d assumed, and honestly hoped, because I’d already crafted a voice for the character) and that it was spelled with a “y.” Compared to what I knew about what the book would be, that was a veritable wealth of information. Then, off-handedly, he said, “Yeah, with that and Godstorm, we’re gonna have some cool stuff.” Before he could even explain, I knew what Godstorm had to be. The series that I set up in my annual - Venus going to war with the other gods and humanity to reclaim her former glory. He said he thought Joe Brusha would write it, and all I thought was, “That’s going to be one hell of a story.”

Fast-forward a bit. I’m writing Robyn Hood, and going through a bit of a personal issue. The writing was going well, but I was in a pretty bad place. I was talking to Raven, who had quickly taken on the role of more than an editor but also a personal mentor, and he was giving me advice. He was like, “No matter what goes down, just look in the mirror and be like, ‘I will get over this. There is no one like me. I’m Pat fucking Shand and I’m writing Robyn Hood. And probably Godstorm too. No one else can say that!’ Bam!” After I’d processed the advice, I asked him, a bit nervously, “Wait, what? I’m writing Godstorm?” He laughs. “I think!”

(Godstorm #0)

A week later, I’ve got the gig and I’m crafting a story arc from the ideas that Joe gave me and Raven. I had the freedom to really make this story, which has a giant impact on the GFT Universe, my own. It follows through on the promises we set up in the annual, but it’s also a crime drama; there is the epic battles of supernatural powers you’d expect from such a title, but it’s also about a regretful father and a woman who turns his vengeful son into a weapon; it’s a completely modern story that I was able to lace with everything I love about classical literature; it’s at once the biggest, most action-packed story I’ve ever written and the quietest character piece I’ve done; it’s a strange, weird mix, and I’m pumped to see what people thing. Reviews have been strong so far, and I honestly feel good about the book, and the characters have all forced their way into my heart and brain to the point where… well, just about every day, I think, “What would Zeus (or Hades or Neptune or so on and so on and…) do if I put him in this situation…”

(Godstorm #2)

If anyone enjoys the book nearly as much as I enjoyed writing it, I’ll be very pleased indeed.

Godstorm #0 hits shelves tomorrow. For more information, follow this blog and my twitter, or visit www.zenescope.com

Grimm Fairy Tales 2012 Annual, which I wrote, comes out today. I drove to the comic shop, bought some copies, grabbed the rest of my pulls, and headed home. I just finished reading the book through and, even though I’ve obviously seen the completed comic before, it still felt a bit magical (cheesy as that is) having it in front of me like this. It’s my fifth comic in total and my third time playing in Zenescope’s Grimm universe, but I just can’t get past the sense of excitement. I’ve got comics coming out nearly every month from here on out, and I hope to never lose this sense of joy of getting to participate in the grand, epic, longform story that is Grimm Fairy Tales.

Writing comics really is the best job in the world.

From now on, I think it’ll be cool to write something here every time I put out a comic. Whether it be commentary, a reflection, a story about the comic, or something else entirely, it’ll be a fun way to celebrate.

I actually knew about the GFT annual before I knew I was going to write it. I’d seen Sean Chen’s cover to the issue and Mike Debalfo’s cover to GFT: Angel one-shot (which continues some story threads from my annual) around the time I was finishing up co-writing this year’s GFT: April Fools with Ralph Tedesco. My thought upon seeing those covers and hearing what those books were about was, “Man… it would be awesome if I got to write one of those.” Very shortly after, Ralph reached out to me about scripting the Annual, and I enthusiastically agreed.

For those familiar with the Grimm universe, this issue finally puts the spotlight on Venus (who will go on to co-star with the other devious GFT villains in the BAD GIRLS miniseries, coming next month). Zenescope has been building to a big Greek/Roman god arc for a long time now, since introducing Venus in the back of the ninth Grimm Fairy Tales trade. Raven Gregory built on the mythology of the gods in his recent arc on GFT, and it was an honor to spend this Annual with the diabolical Venus as she puts the final pieces of her plan together.

For newcomers, and I hope there are a few of you, I tried to write the Annual as if it’s the epic first act of badass fantasy movie. At it’s core, it’s a story about rebuilding and feeling out of place - the time of gods is over, so what does that mean for the gods? What is their place? Where do these epic Greek/Roman mythological figures fit in? Do they assimilate or do they destroy?

I was an English major in college, and spent a lot of time studying, reading, and writing about these myths. It’s a dream come true to get to write comics in general, but a special privilege to write a comic with Venus, Zeus, Hades, and more. You really can’t get more iconic than these characters, and I hope I’ve done them (and Joe Brusha’s epic plot) justice. If anyone has as much fun reading it as I had writing it, I’ll be pleased.

So, Zenescope and I got all April Foolsey this week. They leaked two of the pin-ups that I co-created from this week’s Grimm Fairy Tales: April Fools edition 2012.

The first was the announcement of the latest crossover: THE GRIMM 52

This pin-up was written by me and drawn by Sarah ‘Pickles’ Dill, with whom I’m also working on an all ages graphic novel called Thomasina’s Human Zoo. The best part of this joke was how serious some GFT fans took this. A few posters expressed outrage that we were copying DC’s famous New 52 reboot. Personally, I thought the titles were enough to give the “it’s a joke” clue, but I’m glad this one punk’d a few folks.

That said, I really want to write Sela Reading Bedtime Stories in Her Nightie. Sounds like it’ll be a compelling story.

And then, they posted this (all over, which was awesome):

Wonderland writer Raven Gregory and cover artist Eric Basaldua get sucked into a world of their own creation. My Blood Pong collaborators Ian McGinty (line work) and Javier Reyes (coloring) brought this wonky idea of mine to life, and… well, I want this on my wall forever. Raven put it up as his profile picture anyway, so that was pretty cool.

Both of these pin-ups will be featured in tomorrow’s GRIMM FAIRY TALES: APRIL FOOLS EDITION 2012. You can find it in your local comic shop and find it there, or you can order it right here:

DIGITALLY (already available!).

SHIP TO HOME.

Or, you can head to www.zenescope.com tomorrow and buy the exclusive Pinocchio cover by Eric Basaldua.

Hope you guys dig the issue. All of the tales were co-written with Ralph Tedesco, who also wrote the plot for my GFT: Holiday edition. Let me know what you think!