At the San Diego Comicon this past summer, DMZ/Northlanders writer Brian Wood graciously agreed to join us as a guest blogger this fall. Barring any technical difficulties, the plan is for Brian to start blogging with us this week from Italy, where he’s attending the Lucca Comics Festival.
Recently Brian spoke with Zack Smith over at the main Newsarama site about several of his upcoming projects, most notably Northlanders, so I’ll simply link to his interview instead of rehashing what Zack asked. I did have a few questions of my own, though …
JK: First off, thanks for agreeing to join the blog for a few weeks. Typically when someone joins the team, I make them write up a brief biography that we put up on our contributor’s page … usually they write them in the third person, which I guess is standard for these types of bios. What would your bio say?
Brian: Brian Wood released his first series, Channel Zero, in 1997 to considerable critical acclaim and has continued to produce comics and graphic novels at a brisk pace ever since. Focusing almost entirely on creator-owned works, he’s become one of the most important indie creators of the last decade. Standout works include his The Couriers and Channel Zero series, Demo, Local and Supermarket. He has earned multiple Eisner Award nominations and editions of his work have been published in close to a dozen foreign markets. Currently under an exclusive contract for DC/Vertigo, Wood continues to write his unique brand of iconoclastic creator-owned work with DMZ, Northlanders and The New York Four.
(Editor’s note: Brian’s bio was written by his wife, “lest you think my ego is THAT big,” he joked.)
JK: Where can we find you online these days?
Brian: My website, www.brianwood.com, will tell you that. I have a very basic blog, a network/message board thing that generally gets all the previews and announcements early since it’s a small, quiet place that not a lot of people pay attention to. And like most people I am on the flickr/twitter/facebook/myspace, etc…
JK: You’ve got a really full slate on the writing front — DMZ, Northlanders, The New York Four, Local and Dog’s Day End. Are you finding any time for design work as well?
Brian: Thankfully a few of those are already complete: The New York Four is written, as is Dog’s Day End. I’m writing the final Local right now. So I have a relative moment of peace and calm with just DMZ and Northlanders. But there’s something new coming up which has been rumored but not made official yet.
But design work? Not really, not beyond what I do for myself and my own projects. That keeps me satisfied.
JK: What do you have planned for our readers this month?
Brian: Assuming I can find a wireless network, I’ll start off with a report from the Lucca Con in Italy, and then a series of posts about some of the projects I have going on, behind the scenes stuff, hopefully some exclusive looks at future books. I’ll probably talk about books I read and enjoy that I don’t think enough people know about. I’m sure something at some point will set me off and I’ll feel the need to talk on industry issues, like downloading comics illegally or those sales chart analysis again… you know, the stuff that people like Heidi Mac and Brian Hibbs love to give me shit for. 
Brian will blog with us on Fridays through November, so be sure to stop by to see what he has to share.
November 1st, 2007 at 1:55 pm
Anybody know what “something new coming up which has been rumored but not made official yet” could be?
November 1st, 2007 at 2:20 pm
The Demo ongoing which has been rumored perhaps?
November 1st, 2007 at 2:37 pm
I love all of Brian’s stuff, DMZ rocks, looking for more Couriers, and can’t wait for Northlanders.
Brian keep up the good work.
November 1st, 2007 at 2:50 pm
Can not wait for Northlanders! I love that he is doing his creator-owned thing, but I think it would be cool if he did a mini or an ongoing with a mainstream hero; I think he could really give someone like Aquaman or Hawkman a shot in the arm. Feel free to criticize me now…
November 1st, 2007 at 3:23 pm
I almost missed DMZ, but it was literally a godsend. everything I’ve read of his has been great.
November 1st, 2007 at 6:20 pm
Love DMZ. Easily my favourite current Vertigo title.
November 1st, 2007 at 6:49 pm
No, dear Lord, keep Wood away from things like Aquaman. We need all the good Vertigo titles we can get, don’t have him wasting time on some other shit that may be slightly interesting compared to what you’d normally expect from hero titles but that takes him away from doing more creator owned work.
November 2nd, 2007 at 5:59 pm
Is this the same Brian Wood that used to work for Fantasy Flight Games?