Skating on Black Ice
Neil Kofsky bets his buddies he can jump his motorcycle over a pile of bikes behind a bar. He clips the last cycle in the bunch, and has to escape from its owner through the alleys. He tries to hide in a coal chute when the bottom vanishes and he finds himself falling onto a floating man of war 15,000 feet in the air.
This is no ordinary floating boat. It’s battling fighter planes.
All this happens in the first three pages of Black Ice, the new graphic novel from the legendary Mike Baron and Nick Runge, a new artist whose first work was Mike Baron’s Detonator (October 2005).
Mike Baron has been one of the most innovative and honored creators in comics since he broke into the field with Nexus fifteen years ago with artist Steve Rude.
Mike has written numerous mainstream comics, including Marvel’s The Punisher and DC’s The Flash and Deadman. He is also the co-creator of Badger, Feud, Spyke and a number of other renowned titles.
He has been nominated for Best Writer in the Kirby, Harvey and Eisner Awards numerous times, and has won several Eisners for his work on Nexus. In his spare time, he writes novels, short stories and screenplays, works out, and rides his motorcycle through the countryside.
Nick Runge is 22 years old. His parents are both artists – his father teaching painting, drawing and design at a local college, and his mother is a graphic designer. He was studying art in Fort Collins, CO in 2004, when he met Baron, who saw Runge’s paintings in a gallery. His other work includes inking Gene Simmons’ House of Horrors for IDW and Fear Agent for Image. He’s also penciling and inking the covers for IDW’s new Badger mini-series.
Here’s what the boys have to say about their new project.
CM: Tell us about Black Ice.
MB: Black Ice is a heroic fantasy about an American teen who falls through a wormhole into an alternate universe. Two civilizations are at war: the sky-dwelling Luftar, and the militaristic Helmut. Young Neil finds himself in the middle of the fight, attracted to the captain’s daughter, and forced to fight to the death against a jealous prince. And that’s just the first issue. The series is really about how alien technology (Neil’s) affects civilization. It’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court for the space age.
The deals are taking their positions by the pole, ready to make “Go, Speed Racer, go,” next year’s biggest catch phrase. 
I received an urgent, earnest e-mail asking me to sign a petition expressing my indignation at how the Democrats went belly-up once more to the White House bullying tactics and passed the Security Bill which limits our freedoms just so they won’t appear weak on security in the next election.
The most quotable things that have been said in public and overheard in private. Onward!
IDW announced at their SDCC panel this morning that they’ll be doing a Doctor Who comic series, featuring the tenth doctor and Martha Jones. It’ll be written by Gary Russell (Doctor Who story editor for the BBC) with art by Nick Roche. Russell T. Davies will be keeping his eye on the series as well. The series will make its bow in December 2007, starting as a 6-issue limited series, with more to follow.
Waiting for a trolley: "I’m so glad, I just found out that Lucy Lawless is going to be here on Sunday. I hope I get to show her my tattoo!" And in case she doesn’t get a chance, everybody else can see it here.
