Black Salt #2 update and Black Salt #3

Owen Ratliff, creator of Black Salt, asked me yesterday to get started on Black Salt #3! The production on Black Salt #2 has progressed according to plan. Blackline Comics (the publisher) and Owen wanted Black Salt #2 completed in 5 – 6 weeks. The whole team is proud to say Black Salt #2 is almost complete, with a digital version of the comic scheduled for release in early December.

Black Salt #1 now available for mobile devices

Black Salt #1 is now available for mobile devices. Published by Blackline Comics and offered online via ComicsXP, Black Salt #1 was written by me (working from a movie script by Owen Ratliff), drawn by J.C. Grande, colored by Santosh Kumar Rath and lettered by Ed Brisson.

I have absolutely no idea how these comics for mobile devices work but if you do then you can check it out at ComicsXP.

A print version of Black Salt #1 is due out later this Fall.

It is unfortunate that the creators and all the other people involved in the making of this comic are scattered across the globe– Canada, America, Central America and India. I would love to be sitting in a pub with these folks right now, raising a glass in celebration. Instead, I am drinking a Moosehead by myself and thinking fondly of my fellow creators and the creative process that brought us to this point.

No rest for the wicked though. J.C. Grande is currently working on character sketches for Black Salt #2, and the rest of us are on hand to offer guidance. We will also all be playing our part in the promotion of Black Salt #1.

Black Salt #2 has begun

A rough sketch of the cover for Black Salt #2. Art by J.C. Grande.

I heard from Owen Ratliff a couple weeks ago that Black Salt #1 had gone to pre-press. That means the artwork, colors and lettering had been completed and the book was being prepared for printing. Blackline Comics is still marketing Black Salt #1 as a Fall 2009 release though I heard recently they weren’t going to release issue #1 until issue #2 was halfway complete. That way there isn’t a long wait between issues.

I can’t argue against that logic if that is indeed the case. I’d like to see Black Salt issues published on a regular schedule– a new issue each month or every second month. Blackline feels the same way. They have outlined a schedule for the production of Black Salt #2. If all goes according to plan, Black Salt #2 will be completed in six weeks!

The first steps in that process have already taken place. Artist J.C. Grande worked on and finalized the cover art for issue #2 while the colorist and letterer were wrapping up issue #1. I started the script for issue #2 before I went on holidays in August. Once I returned and was settled I picked it up again. I turned in my third draft this evening. The latest set of revisions was a small one. I wouldn’t be surprised if the script was approved.

I suspect later this week or early next week, J.C. Grande will start working on character sketches and rough pages for issue #2. As always, keep an eye on my blog for production updates.

The Blackline Interview

The good folks at Blackline Comics are interviewing the Black Salt creative team. First up, little ole me! This is my first comics related interview. Another first!

Blackline Comics is the publisher releasing Black Salt #1 in the Fall of 2009.

Go to the Blackline Comics Web site to read the interview.

Graphic provided by Blackline Comics

Black Salt press release

What a way to start the morning! I opened up my email and there was a message from Owen Ratliff, creator of Black Salt. The message directed me to a Web site where a press release about Black Salt had been posted. The press release is from Blackline Comics, telling the comics reading world it will be publishing Black Salt #1 this fall.

This press release is exciting for a few reasons: First, it means Black Salt does indeed have a home. Second, it tells when Black Salt #1will be published. Third, it reveals one version of the cover art. Fourth and lastly, this is the first professional industry press release in which I am a named participant. Needless to say I was grinning like a loon for the remainder of the morning.

The press release was posted on comicrelated.com and you can read it there, but I have posted it below as well.

BLACK SALT: THE LAST HEROES LEFT
One of our latest acquisitions, Black Salt is a multi-media project in development by Ratti Entertainment Inc. out of Columbus, Ohio. Owen Ratliff, President of Ratti, has created the Black Salt property as an action-packed thriller merging the dark world of modern-day espionage and political intrigue with the even darker world of the ancient, forbidden martial arts of the Shaolin Temple. The Black Salt franchise consists of a motion picture screenplay, a cartoon series, an apparel line, a video game and a comic book series, entitled Black Salt: The Last Heroes Left, currently all in development. Through exclusive arrangement, Blackline Comics will be publishing the Black Salt comic beginning in the fall, as created by writer Chad Boudreau (adapting Owen Ratliff’s screenplay), with artwork by J.C. Grande and colors by Santosh Kumar Rath. For more information about the Black Salt franchise, please visit www.blacksaltfilm.com.