Matt Yocum Comics

Devolution ends! And new Marvel work!

matt.yocum — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 13:09:38 +0000

Hi everyone. This is long, long overdue. I wanted to catch everyone up to date on what’s going on with my latest comics work. So, after a long time, the 4-issue Devolution series is finally complete. The entire series can now be viewed at www.ComicCritique.com. And it looks great thanks to penciler Jake Bilbao, inkers Ignacio Calero, Howard Simpson, and Christian N. St. Pierre, and the perfect, precise lettering of Chris Studabaker. I also want to thank the ComicCritique.com owner/managing editor, Louis Vitela, for his efforst to get the series out there. I learned a tremendous amount from writing and editing Devolution, and now my hope is to work on a screenplay and/or novel version of the story. It’s perfect as a low-budget horror movie, so I’ll have to get to work on that.

As for Marvel Comics, work continues on. My second story to be released from Marvel has just hit the shelves. I have a story featuring Israeli superhero Sabra in a title called Astonishing Tales #6, and it hit the shelves on Wednesday, 1 July. I couldn’t be more excited. And now I find myself working on another story, to be announced later. That story has landed artist Jake Bilbao, my Devolution partner, as the penciler, which gives Jake his first Marvel work. I couldn’t be more excited for the exposure he’s about to get. He completely deserves it.

That’s the latest in my comics work. I continue to pitch work to Marvel, and I’m soon to start another independent project, adapting a novel I wrote many years ago titled The Calling. It’s a great science fiction adventure that will have a lot great visuals. For now, the plan is to have it illustrated from my Devolution inker Christian N. St. Pierre. We’re in the early stages of working out the details. More to come on that.

Thanks for reading, and see you in the comics.

Matt

Amazing Spider-Man Family #3

matt.yocum — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 13:42:13 +0000

I mentioned last time that I had some new work from Marvel Comics. Well, one of those has now been announced. I’ve written a story for Amazing Spider-Man Family that will come out December 3^rd. You can read the catalogue description at Marvel’s website . Most people know that Peter Parker (a.k.a. Spider-Man) was raised by his Uncle Ben and Aunt May. What most people don’t know, and will read in my story, is a little about Peter’s parents, Richard and Mary Parker, and the adventures they had while Peter was a baby. It’s a fun story that I had a blast writing. And in the same issue you’ve got more stories from Tom DeFalco and J.M. DeMatteis, so it promises to have some great writing (I’m humbled to even be in the same comic as these two veterans of the industry). For art you’ll find Ramon Bachs (who’s also doing the upcoming Marvel Apes miniseries), Todd Nauck (who recently did Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man with writer Peter David), and Patrick Olliffe on the cover.

I found myself working with Marvel editors Steve Wacker and Tom Brennan on this story – both great guys to work with who handle a ton of titles for Marvel and are putting out some tremendous comics (check out Amazing Spider-Man if you want to read a Spider-Man that will bring you back to your childhood Spidey).

I’ve got one other story cooking for Marvel, but I’ll wait until things are further along on that one to say anything.

Thanks for reading. Remember to check out my webcomic, Devolution, over at www.ComicCritique.com, and if you have comments, feel free to write and let me know what you think at DevolutionComic@gmail.com.

Comics Update

matt.yocum — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 12:32:39 +0000

I’m back. I know, finally. It’s been far, far too long, but I will try and do a better job providing updates on all the latest comics endeavors. There’s a lot of reasons for the long delay, not the least of which includes a horrible accident to my former co-worker’s wife earlier this year and their reassignment to Washington, DC for her long-term care. That’s left me alone at my day job, trying to keep up with a load that’s normally handled by 2 people.
All that aside, here’s where the comics stand now. My first comic from Marvel, a 10-page story in Giant-Size Avengers Special #1, came out just before the end of 2008. It did great in sales, coming in 57^th for that month and outselling Ultimate Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Punisher War Journal, and Iron Fist! Not bad considering it was a giant-size $5 comic. I was able to do a lot of interviews and spoke at a couple of great comic conventions in Israel (thanks to everyone who helped arrange those).
For my webcomic, Devolution, things continue to move along. As of today, we have the 5^th installment of issue 3 posted, with 2 installments left to go before moving on to the 4^th and final issue. It’s a great last issue, so I hope everyone will check out what we’re doing at www.ComicCritique.com. Once Devolution is wrapped up, I know what will be the next two projects to appear at ComicCritique.com, both featuring art from Devolution team members.
And finally, I’m hard at work on two more short projects for Marvel. I won’t go into any more just yet, but I can’t wait to share what these are. I truly believe I was a perfect fit for both these stories, and I’m having a blast working with editors Steve Wacker and Tom Brennan on one and John Barber and Michael Horwitz on the other. More news on this to come.
Thanks to all for reading. Remember if you have comments on Devolution, feel free to write and let me know what you think at DevolutionComic@gmail.com.

Military Media Interviews

matt.yocum — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 19:00:06 +0000

I’m woefully behind on blog entries right now, but one thing I need to mention is that I’ve had a couple more recent interviews come out, and I want everyone to know where to find these.

The first was a great interview from fellow comic lover SSgt Joe Buzanowski, and you can find the interview at the Offical Website of the US Air Force – the interview is posted now at http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123080122. Joe was able to cover some of how my military background paved the way for my entrance into Marvel Comics.

The second interview was done by Bryant Jordan and it can be found in the last issue of 2007 of any copy of the Military Times newspapers (Air Force Times, Army Times, etc). I recently read it in the 31 December 2007 copy of the Air Force Times, and Bryant did an incredible job on the interview, showcasing how I was able to use my military background for an intimate story in the life of Spider-Man and the New Avengers.

I hope you all stop by the link to check out the former and, if possible, are able to find a copy of the latter interview. They both did a great job. Let’s hope there’s more of that in the future.

Matt

another great newsarama interview

matt.yocum — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 21:09:08 +0000

Thanks to newsarama.com, I’ve had the chance to do another great interview. Now you can hear from me and all the writers involved in Giant-Size Avengers Special #1 (to be released on 19 December) by going to http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=137189. And if you want to hear from our editor, John Barber, he’s done a separate interview found at http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=135449. From him you’ll learn more about the origins of the stories that will comprise the Avengers Special.

After you’ve had a chance to read these, I think you’ll find how diverse the stories will be within the pages of the one-shot special. It’ll well be worth the price of admission to hear several new and incredible voices within the Marvel universe. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts when the book is released.

Matt

A Hero in Somone’s Life

matt.yocum — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 21:03:16 +0000

This whole journey with Marvel Comics began after winning an auction from The Hero Initiative (then called ACTOR, A Commitment to Our Roots) to have lunch with Joe Quesada, Marvel Editor-in-Chief. This was explained in depth in a newsarama.com interview I gave, and some on the forum questioned this choice to spend money in order to meet Joe Q.

For those who questioned giving money to The Hero Initiative, they only need to check out this post (http://heroinitiative.blogspot.com/2007/11/giving-thanks-indeed.html) regarding the work Hero is doing. I would say any money given to The Hero Initiative is money well spent.

I wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving.

Matt

A fantastic interview at newsarama.com

matt.yocum — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 21:40:07 +0000

I can’t thank the owner of newsarama.com, Matt Brady, enough for a fantastic interview the other day. It was posted today and you can find it at http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=131543. It’s well worth reading, and the responses posted to the review have been incredible. I’ve never seen a comics message board so positive before.

I hope this enthusiasm leads to more work with Marvel. For now I’ll keep coming up with ideas and seeing what they think.

Matt

Interview at IGN.com

matt.yocum — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 04:26:10 +0000

Over the weekend I finished my first interview for the Giant-Size Avengers Special #1, this one for IGN.com. It was a lot of fun to chat with them and share the latest on the “Memorial Day” story and talk about comics in general.

To read the full interview, check out http://comics.ign.com/articles/823/823852p1.html.

I’ll be sure to update any more interviews as they happen. I had one other interview over the weekend, a phone interview with the Military Times newspapers (Air Forces Times, Army Times, etc). Not sure when that will be released, but I’ll keep everyone up to date as I find out. Stay tuned here at www.MattYocumComics.com.

Giant-Size Avengers Special #1 preview art

matt.yocum — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 04:21:27 +0000

I thought everyone might like to see a little preview art. I’m honored to say that after working with Marvel Comics since the 1980s, this story is the first time Paul Neary has both penciled and inked his own work for them. The pages have come out absolutley incredible, and this is but one example of how it looks.

The destroyed Avengers mansion, Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, and is that Doctor Strange? This story really does have it all. It’s a fast moving journey through Avengers history, all compacted into 10 pages. Don’t forget – December 19th. Giant-Size Avengers Special #1 will be a great read for Christmas.

Cover to Giant-Size Avengers Special #1

matt.yocum — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 14:26:16 +0000

Shown here is Bryan Hitch’s cover to my first published Marvel work, Giant-Size Avengers Special #1. This marks Hitch’s return to the mainstream Marvel Universe after a long time in the Ultimate Universe. Soon he’ll be working with writer Mark Millar and inker Paul Neary (the artist for my Avengers story) on Fantastic Four, coming out in 2008.