Christopher Sebela

The curiously-odd-but-surprisingly-obvious franchise crossover is all the rage in comics right now, but Dynamite Entertainment might have just set the bar at a new level. This June, Chris Sebela teams with Annapaola Martello for KISS/Vampirella, which sees the iconic vampire hunter teaming up with the legendary rock band for an adventure set slap-bang in the middle of the '70s LA rock 'n' roll scene.

While DC Comics has had a great 2016 largely thanks to its DC Rebirth initiative, the success of its updated Hanna-Barbera titles such as Future Quest and The Flintstones has been one of the most surprising hits of the year. Next year, DC is doubling down on its classic cartoon characters by teaming them up with some of the most iconic heroes in the DC Universe in a number of special annuals set for release in March.

The weekend is here! Take a look back at what’s happened in the past seven days. New comics, new stories, new podcasts, new art being made — it’s all part of the ComicsAlliance Weekender!

Yesterday, Fabian Rangel Jr and Javier Caba launched a Kickstarter for their upcoming original graphic novel Blood Brothers (Los Hermanos Sangre); today we learn that the comic is just the first part of a much larger plan, as a number of popular independent creators have come together to launch self-publishing imprint Two-Headed Press, or 2HP.

Robert Kirkman's concepts seem to be doing fairly okay for themselves right now, with The Walking Dead leading the way to two of the most popular shows in the world, and the small-screen debut of Outcast just around the corner. His latest project for his Image imprint Skybound is a new miniseries developed alongside Marc Silvestri that will be written and drawn by two of comics fastest rising stars. Demonic is about a New York City police officer who is an upstanding family man, great colleague, and stellar employee, who also happens to house a demon within his body that, if given its way, would break free and slaughter everyone in New York City. Written by Christopher Sebela with art by Niko Walter and Dan Brown, Demonic is set for release via Skybound later this year.

Ibrahim Moustafa burst onto the scene in 2013 with his collaboration with Christopher Sebela on High Crimes, a critically-acclaimed murder mystery that takes place atop Mount Everest. His covers for High Crimes were highlighted on ComicsAlliance as some of the best of 2013, and since then Moustafa has gone on to do cover work for a number of different series --- including the first three issues of Doctor Fate. Since working on those Fate covers, Moustafa was tapped for guest interiors for issue #8 of the series, which hit stores earlier this year, and he'll return to the book for issue #13 this summer. ComicsAlliance sat down with Moustafa to hear more about that experience, his process, and what we should expect from him next.

Next year will see a new ongoing series over at Oni Press, with the creative team of Christopher Sebela, Robert Wilson IV and Nick Filardi combining for the off-kilter romance series Heartthrob. The story is about a terminally ill woman called Callie who is offered a last-chance heart transplant that saves her life --- but then turns out to have a few unexpected side-effects. After fully expecting her life to be over, Callie struggles to get used to her return to a normal working life... until she comes into contact with Mercer, an enigmatic (and handsome!) man who turns her newfound life upside down. Heartthrob is a strange, funny comic, one that forges a deep connection between the characters and readers --- and it's clearly is a personal work for Sebela in particular. To explore the story further, we spoke to him about how he first developed the concept, what motivates and drives Callie as she experiences the strangest romance imaginable, and what readers can expect from the story as it moves forward.

After pinch-hitting with a four page contribution to the second issue of Welcome Back, Claire Roe takes over as full-time series artist for the third issue of the hit series about reincarnated assassins in a multi-generational cat-and-mouse game. She joins writer Christopher Sebela and replaces co-creator Jonathan Brandon Sawyer, who sadly had to step down for personal reasons, but will continue as cover artist. Originally launched as a four-issue series, Welcome Back has been extended to open ended status after the first issue went to a third printing (and the second issue to a second). That's great news for relative newcomer Roe, whose previous credits include Saltire at Diamondsteel Comics and a short story for Vertigo's SFX anthology, and great news for the readers who get to discover her crisp, kinetic artwork!

You may already know Christopher Sebela from his work on comics like We(l)come Back or Captain Marvel, but soon, you will know him as "the comic book writer who went to go live in a terrifying clown motel for a month to write a book about it," a phrase that I am almost positive will end up having "and was never seen again" added to it after this October. That's right, everybody: In one of the most ill-advised decisions of all time, Sebela has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund a month-long stay in Tonopah, Nevada's Clown Motel. And the best part? After being launched on Monday, the campaign is already fully funded --- so now he has to do it.

Next month Boom Studios releases the first issue of Escape From New York, the latest title from the publisher to present a sequel to one of John Carpenter's cult-classic '80s movies -- following on the heels of the popular Big Trouble In Little China series. The publisher has hand-picked an excellent creative team to follow in the film's footsteps and put Snake Plissken through his post-apocalyptic paces, in the form of Eisner-nominated High Crimes writer Christopher Sebela and acclaimed Irredeemable artist Diego Barreto. ComicsAlliance spoke to Sebela about his plans for the book, his affinity for the source material, and the experience of adapting such a well-loved property to the comics medium.