William Harms

Top Cow has launched a teaser site for Impaler. Not much there right now besides a promo for SDCC, but eventually it’ll be packed with lots of great stuff. Check it out: http://www.topcow.com/impaler/.

I’ll be signing at the Top Cow booth at the following times. Be sure to stop by, say hello, and pick up the special Impaler preview book.

• Thursday (7/24): 6-7pm
• Friday (7/25): 3:30-4:30pm
• Saturday (7/26): 10-11am

I’ll also be attending the Top Cow panel on Saturday, which is from 3-4pm.

All of the programming for San Diego Comic-con has been announced, and I will be taking part in the Top Cow panel. It’ll be held on Saturday, July 26 from 3 to 4 p.m. Room 2, Hall H. Be sure to swing by and say hello. Here’s the full announcement for the panel:

“3:00-4:00 Top Cow: Herd It Through the Bo-Vine— Members of the Top Cow Editorial staff and special guests will be on hand to discuss Pilot Season 2008, Broken Trinity, the Witchblade movie, The Darkness, and other exciting, upcoming projects. Panelists include Marc Silvestri (Cyberforce); Seth Green and Hugh Sterbakov  (Freshmen); Ron Marz and Stjepan Sejic (Witchblade); Phil Hester and Michael Broussard (The Darkness); William Harms (Bad Mojo), who will discuss his new Top Cow book, Impaler; and Randy Queen (Darkchylde), who will talk about his new series, Starfall. All attendees will receive a ticket for a special Freshmen signing with Seth Green and Hugh Sterbakov at the Top Cow Booth (#2329) after this program. Room 2″

Top Cow announced at WW Chicago yesterday that they will be relaunching Impaler later this year. The trade will be released in October and the new series starts in December. I believe that Top Cow will have a special Impaler preview flipbook at SDCC, and I’ll be at the show to help them promote the relaunch.

There’s a short interview with me over at All the Rage on silverbulletcomicbooks.com. Included are two preview pages from issue # 4.

This certainly made my day: Impaler has been nominated for the International Horror Guild Award in the Illustrated Narrative category. The winners will be announced November 1 at the World Fantasy Convention. These awards are a pretty big deal, so I spent the better part of the day bouncing off the walls.  

If you’d like to know more about the IHG, head over to the official site.

One of the things that fascinates me about writing is where it all comes from. Not ideas–those are easy to come up with, at least for me–but the actual words. Last night I was working on a future issue of Impaler, and there’s a scene where Victor is talking to another cop named Albert. They’re just shooting the breeze, waiting for the vampires to show up, and the two of them start talking about why they became cops. It wasn’t at all what I intended for the scene, but I figured what the hell, I’ll ride it out and see where it goes.

Next thing I know, Albert is talking about how this drugged out loser killed his dad. Shot him 10 times. But when the killer fled the scene, he tripped on the curb and was hit by a car. The accident broke the guy’s back in three places and paralyzed him from the chest down, which means no electric chair. And that didn’t sit right with Albert, so he calls in some favors, goes to where the guy is being held, throws a plastic bag over his head and that’s that.

As I’m writing this all out, part of me is wondering why Albert is telling this to Victor. And I start to think that Victor is going to be horrified by what he has just heard. After all, he’s a lifelong cop and believes in truth and justice. So I get to Victor’s dialogue, and I start to write that. But then Victor speaks up and says, “Hold on there, buddy.”

Victor isn’t horrified by what he has just heard. Instead of what I thought he was going to say, this came out:

PANEL 3: Tight on Albert.

ALBERT: Got him alone in one of the day rooms. Wrapped a plastic bag around his head and that was that. Official report said it was an aneurism.

ALBERT: He had a long history of health problems. No one gave a shit.

PANEL 4: Tight on Victor. He’s gesturing his agreement.

VICTOR: My wife died awhile back from cancer. Before she got sick, this job meant everything to me. You know, the idea that I was doing right by the world. Helping people, making a difference.

VICTOR: Then after she passed away, I realized that we’re nothing but shovels, and it’s our job is to scoop up the shit and toss it in a hole. 

One minute none of that was there, and the next it was. And to me, that’s the real joy of writing. When things come out of the blue and push their way into your story, whether you like it or not.

I recently had the good fortune of speaking with Miguel Rodrigues of Indie Comic News. (He even managed to dig up some info on my earliest comic book work, which for good reason shall remain buried away for all time.)

 To listen, simply follow this link.

Wizard recently ran a feature called “The 40 Things You Need to Know About Indy Comics”, and Impaler was listed at # 5. They’ve posted the full story on the Wizard site, so head over and see what they have to say.