Beat cops Harrington and Lansdowne collar more than they bargained for in this hilarious noire police comic, The TELL TALE CAT. This story is a parody of events in Edgar Allan Poe’s classic tales, “The Black Cat” and “The Tell Tale Heart.” Original story and art from artist Alex Cormack! Read more about all of the art and stories in The Poe Twisted Anthology right here!

See MORE TITLES you can read for FREE during Red Stylo Media’s Free Comic Book Summer!

Story, Enrica Jang
Pencils, Jhazmine Ruiz
Color/Letters, Andre Frattino

See MORE TITLES you can read for FREE during Red Stylo Media’s Free Comic Book Summer!

From May 1 thru August 1, 2012, AZTECA #1 is FREE. FREE in print. FREE online. FREE for YOU. We’re not kidding. And of course we’ll sign them for you! (and by “we” I mean “I” will sign them. Hi everybody! Enrica here!)

What’s the catch? Shipping is $1. That’s right. Pay for the stamp. Why are we doing this? Some of you may have noticed that 2012 is fast slipping through our fingers. It’s time to hit the gas pedal on the series! We have incredible new artists to debut in Benjamin Frazier doing pencils and Alex Cormack doing color/letters for AZTECA #4, and the series will continue through Cinco de Mayo, 2013. But you don’t get to 4 without starting at 1. So start now!

At MIDNIGHT on May 1, read AZTECA: Ciudad Paradiso #1 for FREE right here! You can also:

“Comic creators and fans alike shipped up to Boston last weekend for the 2012 Boston Comic-Con.

Poe Twisted and Shakespeare Shaken contributors Alex Cormack and Jason Strutz were representing Red Stylo Media’s creative family throughout the weekend. Strutz displayed beautiful art from his series The Order of the Dagonet. Alex let it slip that the police duo from his Poe Twisted piece The Tell Tale Cat will be returning for another romp Shakespeare Shaken. Alex also gets extra points for rocking an AZTECA t-shirt on Sunday!

The Boston Con continues to grow from a sleepy non-event to one of the best comic gatherings in the country. Saturday saw record crowds wrapped around the block outside the Hynes Convention Center. By mid-afternoon, the throngs had gained entry and the con was rocking at full tilt. The refreshing thing about the Boston Con is that it is an event where comics, the people who create them, and the people who read and love them, are still the focus. There’s no Xbox stageshow, no vampire movie heartthrobs, no Hollywood glam—just comics.

Legendary creators Geof Darrow, Bill Sienkiewicz, and Bernie Wrightson could be found setup shoulder-to-shoulder with the next generation of artists like Mouse Guard creator David Petersen, Cursed Pirate Girl’s Jeremy Bastian, and Ben Templesmith of 30 Days of Night fame. The great charm of the Boston con is the ability for fans not only to meet such a wide variety of creative talent, but to be able to do so in a relatively casual, open environment. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles co-creator Kevin Eastman and Heavy Metal partner in crime Simon Bisely drew long lines throughout both days of the con, eventually being moved out into the main hallway to accommodate the fan love.

One of the highlights of the weekend was the strong presence by the Womanthology editorial team and creators. At their panel discussion, the diverse group covered the Twitter origins of the project, the overwhelming success of their Kickstarter fundraising campaign, and the future of the Womanthology brand. One gets the sense that Womanthology could become the Dark Horse Presents of this decade, introducing the comic world to a range of talent that traditionally have not gotten a chance to shine through the established comic channels.

Local Boston artist Ming Doyle made her presence felt both on the Womanthology panel and in Artists Alley, cranking out some stunning looking commissions in between chatting with fans. Fantastic illustrator Karl Stevens, whose comic strip Failure can be found weekly in the Boston Phoenix, was also in attendance, signing his graphic novels and sketching for fans. The local boys from the hilarious Hero Envy web series were also on hand, laughing it up with convention goers while sparing no mercy for Big Two artist with slightly oversized egos.

Overall, the Boston Comic Con continues to evolve into a top-shelf comic convention and pop culture event. This year seem to highlight the best aspects of the Boston event—intimate setting, variety of talent, and a focus on comics, but also brought the limitations of the current setup into view. The venue will most certainly need to expand in coming years, and more staff will be needed to accommodate the crowds and process lines in a better fashion. One hopes that as the Boston Comic Con grows, it will maintain a balance between getting bigger without losing the quality that has made it such a fun con over the past few years.”

Erik Radvon is a comics writer and contributor to Shakespeare Shaken, a new anthology of original comic art inspired by the works of William Shakespeare, edited by Enrica Jang and published by Red Stylo Media. Follow Erik on Twitter @radvonforrealz, or follow all things Red Stylo Media @red_stylo.

Nemo me impune lacessi! E.A. Poe’s “Cask of Amontillado” ends with the villain, Montresor, reminiscing over the murder of his ‘friend’ Fortunado, fifty years after the terrible deed is done. Poe Twisted’s House of Montresor re-imagines the Poe classic with a dramatic dénouement for the killer half a century after he committed the perfect crime.

Story by Enrica Jang; art by Matthew J. Fletcher (see more of his work at www.matthewjfletcher.com) Production on the book will begin later this year, but RSM debuted a new portrait of Poe by Matt Fletcher at C2E2 last week and folks were stopping in the aisles in artist alley to snap up prints! (Want one too? Send a message via our web contact form here!)

The Poe Twisted Anthology is still available thru Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Also see this list of stores and online distributors to pick up/download your own copies, or order thru redstylo.com!

Matthew J. Fletcher is also a contributor in Shakespeare Shaken, an anthology collection of original comic art inspired by the works of William Shakespeare.

“Like” Poe Twisted on Facebook, or follow Enrica Jang and all things Red Stylo Media on Twitter!

Congratulations to Jeremy and the entire Princeless creative team! The nominations are recognition for all your hard work–good luck and we’re pulling for you in San Diego this July!

Jeremy’s work for Shakespeare Shaken will be a little, shall we say, darker, but his older fans need love too. Of the ZOMBIE variety. Stay tuned!

Read more about all of the nominees here: http://www.comic-con.org/cci/cci_eisners_main.php

“Screw your courage to the sticking-place, and we’ll not fail.”–William Shakespeare

The Ides! Today, Red Stylo Media is officially announcing the slate of artists participating in this year’s Shakespeare Shaken comics anthology, a collection of comic art and stories inspired by The Bard! Last year, Shakespeare Shaken‘s sister title, The Poe Twisted Anthology, featured art and writing by thirteen artists. As you’ll see below…we’ve grown! No surprise: to borrow from Marcus Antonius in honor of this day, our ambitions are of sterner stuff. Ha!

The collection will feature original stories and art inspired by the plays and poetic works of William Shakespeare. Rather than merely adapting this great body of work, the artists have taken up the challenge to celebrate the Bard and to be inspired to create something new. These brave shorts and pieces touch on canon, yet tell a new generation of stories in honor and tribute to Shakespeare. (And, secretly, didn’t you always wish there were pictures? Damn, high school comp lit would have been sooo much easier…)

Writer, editor and Newsarama.com Write or Wrong columnist, Dirk Manning (Nightmare World, Farseeker) will write the collection’s Foreword as well as contribute a story.

Eisner Award nominee, writing wonder, and former Poe Twisted contributor Jason Ciaramella (The Cape, Godzilla) will also return with a new story and introduction!

Contributors include:

Alex Cormack*
Richard Douek
Matthew J. Fletcher
Andre Frattino*
Laura Guzzo
Bobby Harps
Mitch Hyman
Andrew Jerz*
Sherezada Kent*
Seva Khibkin
Ashley Lanni
Elizabeth-Amber Love
Kristin McHugh
James McGee
A.I. Miller
Mark Mullaney*
Seth Mullins
Shaun Noel
R. Robert Pollak
Erik Radvon
Kyle Richey*
Jon Santana
Ryan Schrodt
Dirk Strangely*
Jason Strutz*
Marta Tanrikulu*
Jeremy Whitley

Editor: Enrica Jang*

Much luck and many thanks to everyone listed here for contributing their talents and time to this project! More about each of these wonderful individuals as we move forward into production this year. Shakespeare Shaken is slated for release in August 2012. And, who knows, you may even want to check back for new names…

* Returning contributors from The Poe Twisted Anthology

Click here for event location and details, or visit http://www.megaconvention.com!

First time in New Orleans for anything, much less a completely wonderful Wizard World. They do it right: exciting guests, great energy, some truly cool fans. Red Stylo Media had a crazy good table right in the center of the action, next to wonderful artist and zombie master Arthur Suydam and fellow SCAD-ie, artist Ken Meyer. Saturday we introduced a great horde of folks to AZTECA and The Poe Twisted Anthology. By Sunday we’d sold out of Issue 1 and were down to my very last trade! Great feedback on all the books and folks returned the second day to let me know they were ready for more! Wizard World’s film crew even stopped by the table to ask questions about upcoming projects from Red Stylo Media, and we’ll update Facebook and Twitter when that footage is available on Wizard World’s site. Success by every measure, and I could not have asked for more.

Which is why what happened next is so cool.

Why, yes. Yes that is Stan Lee.

Artists may tell you that, when it comes to comic conventions, the show is often only half the show. You’re there to connect with your audience and your industry. Wizard World show organizers are great about providing those opportunities for creators, and special thanks this time round goes to Peter Katz, who very generously arranged for a quick meet with comics legend Stan Lee!

I love comics and so, to a fan like me, Stan Lee is man of accomplishment on a scale at which personality doesn’t matter. The man could be anything and people would still show up over and over again–he’s an icon! And yet you couldn’t imagine a more gracious, warm and funny human being. No clue how many shows he’s attended or fans he’s met, but the guy lights up the room and treats every person he talks to and every question he answers as though he showed up just for you. Someone did ask a question about what he thought of modern-day comic art and Stan offered some cool insight about how the secondary market for comic pages post-publishing has a major influence on panel choices where it used to be more about the best storytelling (something for a writer and editor like me to chew over the next time I see pages). I get tongue-tied in such situations so I didn’t have any questions, though it occurred to me later that what I really wanted to ask was to see the man’s legs: he wears Shape-Ups!

Dear Mom: you and Stan Lee wear the same shoes. I’m never going to make fun of you about them again.

Ok, yeah, that’s a total lie, I’m making fun of you in my head right now.

Ha! Shape-ups!

And then…and then…

Ladies, gentlemen, please… Compose yourselves. It’s JUST the Boondock Saints. =)

It’s kind of fuzzy how the chance to meet The Boondock Saints even happened–though again, Peter Katz has something to do with it. I don’t remember because I was so psyched when I found out it was going to happen, I tripped over myself and I think I hit my head! Concussion notwithstanding, I did have the presence of mind to grab a stack of comics from my table (oh, gosh, at least I hope it was my table!) and waited patiently for my introduction.

This is where it gets bad. Not kill myself bad, but…embarrassing. First, Norman Reedus and Sean Patrick Flanery are extremely good looking men. And they wear sunglasses. Indoors. It’s intimidating. Second, I have had a crush on Sean Patrick Flanery since I was 16 years old (any of you remember The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles?) And Norman Reedus is just so cool (Norman, I loved you in Blade II!) And they’re both such good actors. And…yeah. Introductions were made and I swear to you, I SWEAR TO YOU, they both turned around to look at me, at the same time. In slow motion. With their sunglasses on. And what did I do? I shoved AZTECA floppies into both their faces with a very rushed, “I wrote this!” and I may or may not have tacked a, “…for you,” onto that sentence.

They handled this with grace and style. Norman Reedus is a very sweet guy and I think that, had I the presence of mind to (a) act like I’d been there before and (b) talk like a human being, he would have talked back. And SPF? Last thing I remember he was looking at my books. You know..touching them! MY books! Indy (I mean Sean!) might have talked to me too. Instead, in the moment, all I can think is that I just shoved comic books in the guys’ faces and I should get rid of the incriminating evidence so that maybe they’ll forget I’m a total fan and WANT to talk to me instead of just being charming and polite. And so I frantically lunge sideways to put the rest of the books down–down anywhere! And when I’m back upright again…they’ve both turned back to their signing table and moved on. Doh!

I think I was much more smooth (read less of a wreck) meeting the wonderful Paul McGillion. Not just a fine actor, he’s a fantastic singer and rocked Bourbon Street at karaoke the first night out! Congratulations are in order as well–his family is about to get bigger! (No pic of this one, sadly, but the man is super fun.)

New Orleans was a blast. Super thankful, again, to Mr. Katz and the Wizard World crew for a great weekend. Thanks also to Nathan Edmondson, Saira Ramos, and Brenda Johnson, for charming dinner conversation and hurricanes! As ever, the lovely and talented Sara Richard and Scott Ambruson were there to make the show outstanding. And a thank you and looking forward to hanging with you more to MC Jarrett Crippen and artists Matt Fletcher and Chris Uminga!

See everyone next week at MEGA CON in Orlando, Florida!