Tales of the Corpse

Baltimore Comicon

2006-09-03T13:33:00.000-04:00

This weekend (Sept. 9th and 10th) is the Baltimore Comicon! This is always a nice laid back show with lots of great guests and comics. The Corpse crew will be in the artist alley--- table #3. www.comicon.com/Baltimore
We're going to have some new stuff at the con, including brand new 11X17 high quality prints of Corpse artwork!

And we'll also have prints of some of the covers that you've already seen!

Need directions? Here ya go!

The Making of a Comic

2006-08-06T12:28:00.000-04:00

We get a lot of questions on exactly how the Corpse comic is made. It's a little different than most comics because Ken and Buz take turns with the artistic duties. The ongoing series sees the artists swap pencil and ink duties on every other issue. For example, Ken does the pencils for issue #1 and then Buz inks them, then for issue #2 Buz does the pencils and Ken inks them. It keeps us both fresh and since our styles are so similar, the style change is almost unnoticable.
With that in mind, here is the progress we went through for an 8 page story of the Corpse vs. The Bat Creature. (you should see this in print very soon!)

The Layouts
Ken and Buz get together and talk about the story. Together we sit and work on the layouts, passing them back and forth until we get the best layout for the page. Here is where most of the work is done and where we work with each other's strengths--- Buz's dynamics and Ken storytelling.

The Pencils
Then the layouts go to whoever is doing the penciling on that particular story. In this case it's Buz doing the pencils.

The Inks
Then the pencils go to Ken who inks them up. In the case of these pages he spotted a lot of solid blacks for contrast and cleaned up the line work.

The Colors
For the colors on this story the artwork didn't have to go very far. Ken scanned the pages into Photoshop and colored the hell out of them. Since the artwork for the Corpse is very cartoony in style, we went for an animation look to the colors with the bold shades on the figures and realistic looking backgrounds. Unfortunately the we won't be able to color the pages for the ongoing series ourselves, (the coloring is the most time consuming part!) so we will have to find someone who can color like this.
http://www.uploadfile.info/uploads/913e5f5d10.jpg

Covers, covers and more covers!

2006-07-12T17:30:00.000-04:00

Been busting out the finished covers for the first 4 issues of the Corpse. We tried to do something a little different with each cover.

#0 Before we decided on doing the sketch cover, this was the original. We liked it so we put it on the back of the zero issue. Anyone who has picked up the Eyes of Asia mini-series will recal the black bar "widescreen" look to the cover.
Pencils/colors by Kenpencil tones by Buz

#1 One of the first pieces of artwork done for the Corpse. We also used this as a banner for the cons. I experimented with real life textures on this piece with the coloring. That's real grass, real moon and clouds and even real rust on the fence. Also experimented with the logo placement.
Pencils by BuzInks/colors by Ken

#2 Has got be my favorite so far. Worked really hard to make it look like a really old Tales from the crypt comic right down to the tape on the spine, the yellowing of the paper and the little rips.
Pencils by BuzInks/colors bt Ken

#3 Was done the same way as the zero issue cover were Buz takes my dinky little pencils and pencil renders the shit out of it. When I sat down to color it I realized it didn't need it. The Corpse fights the Wendigo in the snowy north so it makes sense.

Hopefully these things will pop out at you when they are on the comic stands.

Update on the Corpse ongoing series.

2006-07-04T14:41:00.000-04:00

All is quiet here at Corpse central. We decided to opt out of many of the big summer cons this year like San Diego and WizardWorld Chicago to be able to put more time into the book itself.
But you can bet your ass that we'll be everywhere next year.

We get the question all the time:
"When is the first issue coming out!?!"
We are busting our asses to get at least 4 issues in the can before we release the book. We want to be far enough ahead so that when we put out the book, you won't have to wait forever for the next issue. Issue #1 has been done for a little while and as we speak, Buz is almost done the pencils for #2 (check out the Corpse #0 for a preview!) and Ken is halfway done the inks. Ken is about halfway through the pencils for #3. So don't worry--- we are cruising along. The first issue will be out before next summer's con season. Until then, enjoy the #0 issue.

Speaking of the Corpse #3, here's a spread that Ken just busted out this morning featuring the Corpse vs. The Wendigo.

Corpse Review at Paperback Reader

2006-06-24T15:38:00.000-04:00

Just got in a new review of the Corpse #0.
Its brought to you from Dan Head at www.paperbackreader.com

"The Corpse was another of my favorites from Philly. Created and illustrated by artists Ken Haeser and Buzz Hasson, The Corpse is the story of a zombie whose undead purpose in life is to keep the rest of the walking dead in their graves. Issue #0 features the main character’s origin story as well as a half dozen or so pages from the forthcoming first issue and slew of extras as well as a sketch cover by the creators. It was one of the Con’s great deals, and I sincerely hope that I’m not the only one who discovered it.
After reading so many screen-plays-turned-comics, I relished the indie feel of this book. Done in a well-executed black-and-white tongue-in-cheek style, this book was at once gory and funny and oddly touching. Both Ken and Buzz can draw supremely well with the result being that their characters are expressive, their jokes work, and their timing is excellent. I found myself genuinely sympathizing with their undead protagonist, and that’s in a book that doesn’t for a second take itself seriously! In addition to the solid one-shot #0 story, I also really dug the Corpse #1 preview pages and extras in the back of the book, so that now I literally can’t wait to see the start of this series.
Overall, this is a terrific book. Nice job guys. This one’s going on my Pull List.
Grade: A "

From http://www.paperbackreader.com/newcolumn2.php?ColumnID=136

The Corpse takes WWPhilly by storm!

2006-06-05T10:23:00.000-04:00

After the disappointing turnout and sales at the Pittsburgh comicon a few weeks ago, the Corpse team redeemed themselves with a phenomenal showing at this years Wizard World Philadelphia! The #0 issue was flying off the table as fast as we could do a sketch on the cover. People thought the idea of doing a sketch right on the comic cover was one of the cooler ideas that they have seen (look and see how many people are doing it this time next year!).
We got nothing but raves and great reviews from the people who had picked it up. Many read it that night they got it and came back the next day to say how much they enjoyed it and are looking forward to the series when it comes out.

Friday started out slow but soon the place was filled and a nice crowd was gathered around our table in artist alley. The table that day was manned by Ken, his wife Tabitha and their son Kalel who spent most of his time sketching, giving out stickers and being in awe of the Stormtroopers right down the alley from us.

Saturday Buz and Ken were in full force, selling even more comics than Friday and doing free sketches like crazy. As far as we knew we where the only ones in the alley doing free sketches. Yea, it pisses off a lot of the other artists in the alley who are trying to charge $25 for a pencil head shot, but the fans love it and that's what we are there for.

Sunday is usually the slowest day at the con. I like that 'cause we can make the rounds around the alley and say hey to friends and buy other people comics. Not this Sunday. It was our best day all weekend. The Corpse was flying off the table and we sold out of our previous comic series, The Eyes of Asia.

Thanks to everyone who came out to see us. Not only was it a busy show but we met a lot of new cool people and the people at the con where some of the nicest you could ask for.

I'll post up some more pix from the show soon.

This weekend is WizardWorld Philly

2006-05-28T14:16:00.000-04:00

Coming up this weekend is Wizard World Philadelphia at the Pennsylvannia Convention Center. We will be in Artist Alley, table #1224.

We always have a great time in Philly, especially since the convention center is less than a half an hour away. Last year we got to sit next to Pat Ollife (Spider-girl, Last Planet Standing) who was the coolest guy you could meet. We traded Spider-girl sketches with him and really seamed to dig our stuff.

Once again we'll have The Corpse #0, The Eyes of Asia, T-shirts, posters, stickers and free sketches galore! Stop by and say hi!

Directions? Here you go!
Need a map of the con floor so you can find us right away? Here you go!

Now you have no reason whatsover to not come out and see us.

First review of the Corpse #0

2006-05-11T18:20:00.000-04:00

Just got in the first review of The Corpse #0.
It comes to us courtesy of the guys over at www.bastardsofhorror.com who snagged the issue at this past Pittsburgh Comicon.

"I picked up the #0 issue which wasn’t your usual first issue, it was an issue that has Buz draw you a cover with him signing it which impressed me with the idea of just coming up with this. But anyhow #0 is a full issue with part of issue #1 and a preview of #2 to give you a glimpse at what is coming in the future, which in my opinion is great for when you looking for stuff like this at a comic book convention! ‘The Corpse’ is a story about a zombie “John R. Romero” who like all zombies who rise up from their graves is hungry, hungry for brains… So of course the zombie like all zombies rampages into a house where a family lives and begins to rip them to shreds and eats their brains until he comes to the little boy who screams for his “daddy” and suddenly the zombie remembers he was once a family man also in his past life. Hating what he becomes he runs out of the house in anger and decides it is up to him fight evil like the zombie fiend that he is. The artwork is in black and white but is beautiful and only adds to the story of “The Corpse”! I consider this zombie comic book a gem that must be read all zombie movie lovers as it some overtones of George Romero’s ‘Day of the Dead’s’ character “BUB”! I give it 4 stars and hope to see more of the title “The Corpse”!"

The Corpse zero on sale!

2006-05-07T10:15:00.000-04:00

We are still working on building the online store at www.CorpseComic.com. There you will be able to use Paypal, credit cards, checks, ect.
Until then if you want to order the comic and other merchandise, you can print out the sales order form to the left, fill it out and mail it to us along with a check or money order for the items.

Here's a list of what we are offering:
1) The Corpse #0- 44 page comic that includes an exclusive 22 page origin story, an 11 page preview of the Corpse #1, a preview of the Corpse #2 and a sketchbook section of upcoming characters and stories. And the personalized sketch cover.
2) The Corpse t-shirt- Comes in large and xtra large. Corpse face on the front and logo on the back. Click here to check out what the shirts look like!
3) The Eyes of Asia- Our previous book. It's a 4 issue mini series, each issue is 40 pages. You can get the whole mini for $10 or individual issues for #3.50. Check out a review of the book by clicking here!

We only accept checks or mony orders at this time.
Free shipping within the continental United States. For outside the US email us at TheCorpse@CorpseComic.com for your rates.
Any special requests can be written on the bottom of the Sales Order.
Questions or comments please email us!

Free Comic Book Day!

2006-05-01T18:06:00.000-04:00

The Corpse crew will be at Beav's Comics for Free Comic Book Day this Saturday May 6th. Beav's Comics is located at:

124 W Main Street
Middletown DE 19709
(302)449-5581
www.beavs-comics.com
beavs_comics@comcast.net

If you're going to be in the lovely state of Deleware this weekend, stop by for free sketches, Corpse #0 and free comics from the biggest publishers.

Map and Directions!

Hope to see ya there!

The Corpse Hits Pittsburgh

2006-04-24T18:18:00.000-04:00

Back from Pittsburgh comicon this weekend and we had a great time!
First off--- the show was really slow. Not much in the way of sales and defiantly not as much stuff sold as we would have liked. It wasn't just us as most people in the small press section were feeling the pinch of the lack of activity. As far as I could see hardly anyone was selling much of anything in the middle sections and many of the small press guys packed up early on Sunday or didn't even bother showing up. It's weird cause this is usually a good show. I blame the weather or the price of gas or the coming apocalypse.
We shared a table with Mike "Fist of Justice" Imboden and had a pretty packed table with all of our stuff. We reserved out table for next year--- a corner booth right down near the steady flow of traffic. It's a better spot with twice as much room so we won't be as packed in as this year.
We got to meet a lot of cool new people like Kryptic and others from Comicmonsters.com and got to hang out with really nice comic guys like Angel Medina and Pat Olliffe. Best line of the night was when we were hanging out in the hotel bar with Angel and I tried to buy a round of drinks and Angel goes, "I got this round--- I draw Spider-man."
Can't argue with that.
Angel was cool enough to do a Corpse sketch of one of the zero issues. I'll post that up soon.
How 'bout some pics from the con?

And here's a couple of pics of some sketches we where knocking out like crazy!

To be continued...

Pittsburgh Comicon this weekend.

2006-04-17T19:48:00.000-04:00

For those of you that are going to be in the Pittsburgh area this weekend, stop on by the Pittsburgh Comicon April 21, 22 and 23.
We will be in the small press section ---click on the diagram below and print it out to find us easily or look for the huge Corpse banners.
Pittsburgh is the first show of the convention season so it will be your first chance to pick up the brand new Corpse #0. We'll also have t-shirts, posters, stickers and massive amounts of original artwork. And in case you haven't picked it up yet, we'll also have all four issues of The Eyes of Asia--- our previous mini-series.
Hope to see you there!
Need directions? Here ya go!

Interview at comicmonsters.com

2006-04-13T18:09:00.000-04:00

The Corpse crew just did an interview with the guys over at ComicMonsters.com
Check it out here!
Getting to know The CorpseKen Haeser and Buz Hasson interview

Are you a fan of The Goon? Are you looking for the next intreaguing comic character and series? Look no further than The Corpse.
We sat down with The Corpse creator's Ken Haeser and Buz Hasson to talk about the soon to be rookie of the year, The Corpse.

TheBigBadWolf: Ken Haeser and Buz Hasson, how did you guys meet up?
Ken Haeser: I was working on a project called The Eyes of Asia and I brought Buz in to pick up the slack for a lazy inker I had so I could meet my deadline.
Buz Hasson: Lazy, yeah he was that and a few other things we won’t say, but he did bring Ken to my apartment so comics karma forgives him.
Ken Haeser: We were going to see Kill Bill, I think, and I remember Buz had sketches everywhere.
Buz Hasson: And Ken’s T-shirt said, “Comic Book Penciler”. I recall being like, this guy’s my role model.

TheBigBadWolf: How did you get your start in the comics field?
Ken Haeser: I’ve been making my own comics since I was a kid and knew that that was all I wanted to do. After I graduated high school I went to the Kubert School. I started out drawing all kinds of stuff for all kinds of people, doing people’s dinky little independent comics but that got thankless and I decided to do my own books.
Buz Hasson: I was doing free pinups for independent horror comics (Fleshrot) for…years. Just emailing my artwork to anyone who would take it.

TheBigBadWolf: How did you come up with the idea for The Corpse comic? Did you guys draw any inspiration from any other comics or movies? When I first laid eyes on the book it reminded me slightly of Eric Powell’s Goon, which is great. I think fans of The Goon would really be into what you guys are doing here with this book.
Ken Haeser: It’s definitely in the vein of The Goon and Hellboy and stuff like that. We enjoy playing out the doom of an anti-hero. But really, we’re excited about doing a zombie book, but also a zombie book unlike all the others.
Buz Hasson: I’ve been drawing zombies like everyday whenever I could forever. Just for fun. When Ken said to me let’s make the zombie the main character, I was all about it.
Ken Haeser: I was watching that scene in Return of the Living dead where they had that zombie chick strapped to the table and they are asking her why she eats brains. I was like, “Screw all those other characters--- I want to know more about what’s going on in the zombie’s head.”

TheBigBadWolf: How do you guys handle the writing and art chores on this book, since you are both artists?
Buz Hasson: How do you want to handle that one…you want to go first or…
Ken Haeser: Well it’s obvious that Buz doesn’t do anything.
Buz Hasson: Oh, ouch! (laughter)
Ken Haeser: No really, we both sit around and talk about what kind of cool things we want to do. Sometimes it starts with a quick sketch and other times its like “Hey, you know what I’ve never seen before? A zombie werewolf!”
Buz Hasson: We’re both into the horror mythology and there are enough cool stories that we’ve come up with or want to tackle that we could keep this book going for a long time!

TheBigBadWolf: Tell us about the main character of the book, The Corpse.
Buz Hasson: He’s a self-loathing zombie with a bad attitude that’s drafted by a fallen angel. He grits his way through his own hell on earth. He fights all the creeping creatures that should not be on our world.
Ken Haeser: He also does what he does for redemption. He has done something so horrible, that he is trying to make up for that. And in his heart he knows he never will.

TheBigBadWolf: Will the Corpse have any weapons or is it strictly biting and fisticuffs?
Buz Hasson: He’ll make regular use of a shovel as well as other things, including more wit than you’re used to from a zombie.

TheBigBadWolf: What can people expect in the Corpse #0, give us the lowdown of the issue.
Ken Haeser: It’s a 22 page origin story for the Corpse, it’s also got an 11 page preview of issue #1, a preview of issue 2, a sketch gallery in the back, and each one gets a unique sketch cover.
Buz Hasson: It’s a loaded book and issue #0 shakes The Corpse up like salty cannon fodder.

TheBigBadWolf: In the back of The Corpse #0 there are some sketches of other characters we will see in this book. I can’t wait to see them in action, the characters look every bit as intriguing as The Corpse. Can you tell us a little about each of the following characters that were listed in the book?
Voodoo King
Ken Haeser: He represents a real challenge, The Voodoo King can control the legions of the dead. So what happens when the Corpse goes up against him?
Frankenstein’s Monster
Buz Hasson: What if Frankenstein’s Monster continued the good Doctors’ work?
The Wendigo
Ken Haeser: Lot’s of great fight scene’s Everyone’s eating brains and crazy role reversals. The Wendigo is going to bring a lot of surprises. He is scheduled for issue #3.
The Bat Creature
Buz Hasson: An 8 page story for something we can’t talk about yet. But check out www.corpsecomic.com to find out soon.
Nosferatu
Ken Haeser: A clash with the classic original vampire and within the Corpse when Nosferatu gains control over someone close the Corpse.

TheBigBadWolf: Any other characters that you would like to mention as well that we will see in the series?
Ken Haeser: Asteroth is the fallen angel who looks after the Corpse. And yea--- it’s a little weird having a fallen angel as your guardian angel, but there is a reason for this that will be revealed down the line. And for fans of The Eyes of Asia, they will be happy to see him back and whole again.
Buz Hasson: And Lilith is a hot little goth chick who becomes infatuated with the Corpse.
Ken Haeser: Asteroth and Lilith are going to be staples in the Corpses’ life, unfortunately so will the field officers of a certain government agency.

TheBigBadWolf: You guys have an incentive going on for The Corpse #0 where fans can get the cover of the book sketched on by one of you two. Tell us more about that, and how it works.
Buz Hasson: Basically, the comic cover is a blank cover already set up with the Corpse logo, leaving the space available for each book to get a personalized cover.
Ken Haeser: So every book will be unique. And if you’d rather have a Wendigo or Lilith sketch on the cover, that would be cool too.

TheBigBadWolf: Is The Corpse going to be an ongoing series, what is the frequency of time between issues?
Ken Haeser: If it takes off and does well, then we’d love to do it as an ongoing.Buz Hasson: We’re not running out of stories anytime soon.
Ken Haeser: And we’re shooting for a bi-monthly schedule.TheBigBadWolf: You are self publishing this book now correct? Do you plan on shopping this book around to publishers or would you rather keep doing it yourself?
Buz Hasson: We’re going to be shopping the book around to publishers this year. Hopefully it’ll be picked up by someone like Image or Dark Horse.
Ken Haeser: Dark Horse would be perfect. The Corpse is definitely in the vein of many of the books they put out now.
Buz Hasson: Except better! (laughter)
Ken Haeser: We are putting out the zero issue ourselves just to get it out there and to have something cool and different at the cons. There was such a positive reaction to the pages that we had at the cons last year, that we really wanted to have something for the fans this year until it gets picked up.

TheBigBadWolf: Where can people get The Corpse comic?
Buz Hasson: We’ll have it at the conventions and soon you’ll be able to buy it right from our site.
Ken Haeser: We’re working on making it available to whoever cannot make it to the conventions. As for our convention schedule:April 21-23 Pittsburgh Comicon June 2-4 Wizard World Philadelphia Sept 9-10 Baltimore ComiconBuz: And there will be more announced soon.

TheBigBadWolf: Favorite horror movie?
Ken Haeser: Night of the living Dead.
Buz Hasson: Dusk till Dawn.

TheBigBadWolf: Thanks for taking the time to do an interview guys. Good luck with the book!

Corpse #0 on its way!

2006-04-05T17:52:00.000-04:00

Just got an email from the printer for the Corpse #0, saying that the book is on it's way to my grubby little mits as we speak. We went with a very new printer---- www.ka-blam.com. If you are looking to get a comic printed up with a low print run (under a 1000 copies) then they are good guys to check out. Prices are great and they are fast!
They are also opening up an online store to sell the comics for the people they print on line. That means that for those who can't make it out to the cons, you will be able to order the book right from them.
Stay tuned for that info very soon!

Preview

2006-03-17T17:01:00.000-05:00

It's Friday--- how bout a little preview?

The Corpse #0

2006-03-13T17:06:00.000-05:00

Some of you might be wondering what's coming up for the Corpse team. Well, we've got the Corpse #0 coming up that we'll have at the con tables this year. It's a 44 pager that contains an original 22 page origin of the Corpse, an 11 page preview of The Corpse #1, a preview of artwork from #2 and a whole big sketch section of upcoming characters. It's all wrapping in a "sketch cover"--- that is that it has a big blank spot on the front where you will get a personalized sketch right on the cover when you buy the book. All that for only $10!
And don't worry... if your not going to be able to make it to any of the cons we'll be at, we'll have a way for you to get it too!

Welcome

2006-03-10T11:44:00.000-05:00

Just started up this blog 'cause I found out that there are a few free seconds in my day that have yet to be taken up.
Anyway, welcome to the official Corpse blog!
Here you'll find the behind the scenes looks at the making of the Corpse comic by Ken Haeser and Buz Hasson. Release dates, preview artwork and all kinds of undead goodness!
Until then check out www.CorpseComic.com
Stay tuned...