Launching yesterday, the first chapter of Varney the Vampire was made available through Mark Waid and John Roger’s Thrillbent.com, with a Kickstarter campaign kicking off on the same day. A far departure from the typical Vampire story, Varney the Vampire sees the “original” vampire teaming up with a struggling screenwriter to publish his story and stick it to the “pretender” Bram Stoker. And, as you can see from these images, the tone pretty much speaks for itself;
And, to discuss more about the project, here’s an interview with Mark Waid, Scott Massino and Scott Kolins as they discuss just what sets this particular Vampire story apart from the rest of the (admittedly over-saturated) genre.
Here’s the official press release;
LOS ANGELES, Ca. — February 25, 2014 — Yesterday, Mark Waid and John Rogers’ Thrillbent.com launched the entire premiere chapter of an original, free-to-read, online comic, VARNEY THE VAMPIRE, as part of an independent creator’s thirty-day Kickstarter campaign, also launched yesterday, to fund and print the initial arc of the series in digital and print which will proudly bear the Thrillbent label.
“As I’ve been saying, in my mind, it’s not ‘Digital versus Print,’ it’s Digital AND Print. It’s about maximizing outreach, which this does,’” said Thrillbent publisher Mark Waid. “I’ve had my eye on VARNEY for a while now. It’s clever, it’s really well done, and Thrillbent is happy to promote it. Writer Scott Massino and seasoned comics artist Scott Kolins, with whom I’ve collaborated in the past, have cooked up a tale about the most terrifying blood-suckers known to man: vampires, family and Hollywood.” In addition to Waid, VARNEY has already garnered praise from such acclaimed authors as: Mike Carey, Dan Abnett, Bruce Jones, Victor Gischler, Michael Avon Oeming, Stuart Moore, and Joshua Hale Fialkov.
SYNOPSIS: His exploits stolen by Bram Stoker in “Dracula” and later made a Hollywood legend, the world’s first vampire hires his present-day screenwriter kin to reclaim his rightful reputation.
The book was created to revive the vampire genre, and to fill a gap in the current Horror-Comedy comic book market. “Right now, ‘Hellboy’ and ‘The Goon’ are all we’ve got. Sure, they both do what they do very well, but Teen or Teen+ content only goes so far with some fans. Now, thanks to Thrillbent and Kickstarter, Scott Kolins and I can bring a Rated M book to the table. VARNEY is ‘South Park’ in its laughs, but also smart and scary. It asks some startling questions that we may not like the answers to.”
Conceived with an eye toward Hollywood, VARNEY THE VAMPIRE the movie is a big part of the book’s storyline. To that end, eighteen comic book artists – many of them industry legends — have each created a VARNEY movie poster to be reproduced for a full-color, limited run of Kickstarter-exclusive, 11×17 lobby cards — each signed by its artist and slabbed by CGC, the Comics Guarantee Corporation. These artists are: Darick Robertson, Glenn Fabry, Kelley Jones, Kyle Hotz, Frank Brunner, Mike Ploog, Herb Trimpe, Val Mayerik, Bret Blevins, Fred Hembeck, Jamal Igle, Janet Lee, Stephen Segovia, Bob McLeod, Esteban Maroto, Marcio Takara, Scott Kolins, and Andrew Robinson. Each artist has also generously donated their original piece to be put up for pledge to help fund the remaining production.
Fans and dealers can pledge for digital, print, or lobby card combo packages, while aspiring comic book artists can pledge to have their work reviewed by professional artists, inkers and colorists. Names like: Jamal Igle, Stephen Segovia, Michael Oeming, Dan Panosian, Jeff Johnson, Tim Townsend, Marcio Takara, Mico Suayan, Sean Galloway, Scott Kolins, David Baron, Romulo Fajardo, and Adam Brown.
ABOUT THRILLBENT: Thrillbent Comics, founded by Mark Waid and John Rogers in 2012, is a showcase for unique creator-owned digital comics by a number of established and up-and-coming talents, all eager to work in a wide and eclectic variety of genres.
ABOUT MARK WAID: Mark Waid, a New York Times bestselling author, has written thousands of comicbooks and graphic novels in his 28-year career. His award-winning graphic novel with artist Alex Ross, KINGDOM COME, is one of the most popular and influential comics collections of all time. Currently, he writes DAREDEVIL for Marvel Comics, IRREDEEMABLE for BOOM! Studios, and ROCKETEER: CARGO OF DOOM for IDW.
ABOUT SCOTT MASSINO: Scott Massino is a lifelong comic book fan, die-hard literati and cinephile. He has written sketch comedy and done voiceover work for popular radio morning shows in Illinois. His scripting skills were honed by author Kay Johnson, former P.A. to legendary director Stanley Kubrick.
ABOUT SCOTT KOLINS: Scott Kolins is a lifelong fan of comic books and has been a professional comics artist for many years. He is best known for his critically acclaimed work on THE FLASH, as well as THE AVENGERS, GREEN LANTERN, MARVEL TEAM –UP, ROGUES’ REVENGE, BEYOND, SUPERMAN-BATMAN, OMEGA FLIGHT, THE JSA, THOR, WONDER WOMAN and HAWKEYE.
And if you’re still not convinced, check out the Red Band trailer for Varney the Vampire below.
The writer of this piece was: 
Craig Neilson (aka Ceej)
Article Archive: Ceej Says
BIG COMIC PAGE 
Leave a Reply