In a remarkable move, Archaia Studio Press has made almost all the issues of its flagship title, Artesia, available for free at Wowio. This includes all three initial series of six issues, through Artesia Afire. The on-going Artesia Besieged, however, is not included, nor are the annuals Smylie created.

Artesia is, hands down, the best epic fantasy being produced in American comics. There is now absolutely no excuse to give these a try.

There’s a veritable perfect storm of announcements coming from Dabel Brothers Productions regarding upcoming series they’ll be publishing. A fan of romantic fantasy? Check out the forthcoming adaption of Kinley MacGregor’s Lord of Avalon: Sword of Darkness. Or perhaps you’re a big fan of Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake? Feast your eyes on this original comic story written by Hamilton, Anita Blake: The First Death. Or perhaps you’ve a yen for the work of George R.R. Martin? Try The Hedge Knight II: The Sworn Sword.

Dabel Brothers Productions and have published the Red Prophet hardcover, collecting the six issues of the mini-series as well as an adaption of an original, never before published “Enderverse” story by Orson Scott Card.

The Fantasy Book Critic has posted an extensive interview with Ernst and Les Dabel of Dabel Brothers Productions. Topics cover past, current, and future publications.

The nominees for the 2007 Eisner Awards have been announced. There are a number of excellent nominated works, including All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely, , Jack of Fables by Bill Willingham, Matthew Sturges, Tony Atkins, and Andrew Pepopy, and Absolute DC: The New Frontier by Darwyn Cooke.

The Dabel Brothers are continuing their teasing when it comes to their planned comic book adaption of Steven Erikson’s acclaimed Malazan Book of the Fallen epic fantasy series. First, they gave us Whiskeyjack and now some friends have joined him. The new sketches feature Sorry, Tattersail, and Topper.

Daniel Abraham has given the Fantasy Book Critic an informative interview covering a wide range of topics. He discusses his start in publishing (including how he became an colleague and friend of George R.R. Martin) to his current projects, including the forthcoming A Betrayal in Winter, the sequel to the critically-acclaimed A Shadow in Summer.

Also discusses is his work on the latest Wild Cards book, Inside Straight (due from Tor at the start of 2007), and a new, all-original Wild Cards comic series from Dabel Brothers Productions and Marvel Comics.

Over at Comic Book Resources, Howard Chaykin spends some time discussing his work on adapting Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser to comic form. 

Tad Williams, author of such books as The Dragonbone Chair and Shadowmarch, has given an interview at Broken Frontier where he discusses his upcoming work on Aquaman from DC Comics.

and Marvel Comics have solicited the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Guilty Pleasures Vol. 1 HC for a July release. There’ll be two editions, probably featuring different covers, with one meant for retail booksellers and the other for the direct market (i.e., comic shops). Get more information here (original URL).

After a long, loooong absence, Mike Baron and the incomparable Steve Rude return on Nexus, one of the best and most famous science fiction-flavored superhero comics out there, picking up where they left off with issue #99. Publisher’s Weekly has posted the cover for the issue, which kicks off the “Space Opera” arc. Steve Rude has posted five pages from the comic at his ComicSpace site, which you can see here.

Some truly handsome collections have been made from the original comics, starting with Nexus Archives Volume 1. If sweeping galactic SF heroism, in the vein of Star Wars or Lensmen is of interest to you, give it a shot.

Greg Rucka’s excellent and rather unique crime thriller set in a scientific research station in Antarctica following a murder, Whiteout seems to be full-speed ahead for a movie adaption. 

One of the hippest comics Marvel Comics been publishing of late is it’s teen romance comic, Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane. Written by Sean McKeever with Takeshi Miyazawa on the art, this is a perfect comic to give to the young reader who’s interested in comic books but is finding the usual superheroics too off-putting or uninteresting. A rich cast and a lot of humor makes this the perfect antidote to the inane teen melodramas of yesteryear. Marvel Digital has gone ahead and put the first issue on-line as a sample of what they have to offer, in preparation for the forthcoming release of the Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane deluxe hardcover, featuring the first twelve issues of the series.

This press release reveals that exciting news that after a long pause Matt Wagner is revisiting Grendel, a masterful example of what sequential art can do when married to a thoughtful, well-constructed story.

The Dabel Brothers are it again, this time with news from Laurel K. Hamilton that Marvel Comics will be publishing a new comic of theirs titled “The First Death” whic his an original prequel to Guilty Pleasures. Featuring Anita’s first meeting with Jean-Claude and an appearance by Edward, Hamilton will be scripting the two 40-page comics along with Jonathon Green, with art provided by Joe Phillips.

Hamilton discusses the genesis of the comic and why she can finally write one of the stories fans have been demanding in a separate post on her blog.