To be quite honest about it, I’ve avoided making references to the comic on this blog because Heartstopper is what’s known in the business as a “mature readers” comic, intended for readers seventeen years of age and up. And since the Pandora Zwieback novels have picked up readers as young as twelve, I previously thought linking to a series that middle-graders shouldn’t be reading wouldn’t be the best decision. (I can say that—I’m not just the writer, I’m the publisher.)

It’s also an example of “bad girl” comics, a politically incorrect category that generated huge sales in the nineties; basically, it meant the comic starred an ass-kicking heroine who was clad in as little clothing as you could get away with. Heartstopper was my blatant attempt to cash in on that popularity.   The three issues have no nudity, sex, or adult language (in other words, four-letter curses), but there’s a bit of bloody violence in the first issue and some sexual tension between characters. But I never mentioned them here when HS 1 became available on last year’s Free Comic Book Day, or that HS 2 became a digital freebie this past Halloween.

Still, the comics are a part of Annie’s creative past (issue 1 and part of issue 2 were penciled by Pan and Annie’s co-creator, Uriel Caton), and HS 3 is the final issue. And in a world where young adult books are becoming more and more adult as publishers scramble to create the YA equivalent of the “pron” trilogy 50 Shades of Grey, Heartstopper by comparison is pretty tame in its sexual playfulness (again, no sex or nudity). On the other hand, it’s not the best thing I’ve ever written, but hey—if you survived Twilight you’ll survive this. 

To mark the occasion of HS 3’s Free Comic Book Day release, I dug out the following interview, which originally appeared in the December 1994 edition of Capital City Distributions’ catalog, Advance Comics, to promote the publication of Heartstopper #1.

So let’s return now to the 1990s, and the height of comics’ “Bad Girl Era,” to see how 1994 Steve Roman explains his latest project’s history. In the process, you’ll get a little more insight into Annie’s personal history, and discover just where the basic idea for Goth adventuress Pandora Zwieback’s “monstervision” got its start…

Interview: Steve Roman

Steven Roman has been producing the bimonthly series from Starwarp Concepts, Lorelei, since 1993. He now teams with Millennium Publications to bring you the latest bad-but-beautiful-babe comic series, Heartstopper.

Advance Comics: Heartstopper is about a beautiful shape-shifter who fights monsters in New York City. What sparked the idea?

Roman: It all started with Louis Small Jr. He left Harris’ Vampirella and was suffering from withdrawal. He wanted a new supernatural character—preferably a beautiful one. I came up with Sebastienne, but Louis’s schedule became tight, so I brought in Uriel Caton to pencil the book. His art is sharp and fast and fluid and more in tune with what I want to do.

AC: What’s the idea behind Heartstopper?

Roman: Sebastienne Mazarin is a 400-year-old shape-shifter whose mother was an Amazonian high priestess and whose father was a French nobleman. Her mother prepared her for the day when an ancient Brazilian deity will come to Earth and kill all of the women. Part of Sebastienne’s training requires her to spend her nights hunting down monsters and ogres in New York City. For reasons that I won’t explain until later, New York City has become a nexus for the world’s supernatural activity. In the day, Sebastienne is a freelance writer. At night she sort of cleans up the town.

AC: A Brazilian deity?

Roman: In Brazilian mythology, there’s a spirit called Jurupari who hates all women.

AC: Can everyone see the New York demons?

Roman: You can’t write and not be influenced by a thousand sources. Heartstopper owes a debt to Nancy A. Collins and her vampire novel, Sunglasses After Dark. It inspired me to create a world where normal people don’t see the darker universe around them. My take on it is that the people in New York can see these monsters—but they’re New Yorkers, and they don’t care. They see weird things all the time. To them, an ogre in Central Park is normal.

AC: The pencils and inks look terrific. Who is the art team?

Roman: Uriel Caton has been working in the industry for several years. He has penciled the Ex-Mutants for Eternity Comics, The Outer Space Babes for Silhouette Studios, and a Cain special for Harris. Alan Larsen, the inker, started in the 1980s boom as the publisher of Belladonna, a book about a 17th-century witch. He has done work for Alpha Productions for their Totem, Sign of the Wardog Annual.

AC: Fans have already gotten a sneak peek at Heartstopper, haven’t they?

Roman: Four pages of the original version by Louis Small Jr. recently appeared in Nightcry. It was supposed to be a preview for a book to be published by Cry For Dawn. That didn’t happen. A few of Uriel’s concept sketches appeared in issue #2 of Lorelei. That got lots of favorable responses from readers and retailers who think Heartstopper is in the same league as Lady Death, Shi, and Vampirella. Another sneak peek will appear in Lorelei #5.

AC: You’re both a writer and publisher?

Roman: In addition to writing Heartstopper for Millennium, I publish Lorelei under the Starwarp Concepts label. I started as a small-press writer and artist and self-published a digest version of Lorelei in 1989. In 1993 I started publishing Lorelei as a regular comic book.

AC: Who will read Heartstopper?

Roman: It’s aimed at fans of Lady Death, Shi, and Vampirella, with a little bit of Image thrown in. Sebastienne is a very loose, fun-loving character. She cracks jokes in a fight. She’s very nonchalant about taking on a group of monsters in Times Square. And because she’s a shape-shifter, she has incredible powers. She can mold her body into anything, which makes for some wild art! Heartstopper has a serious side, but for the most part it’s meant to be a fun read. Sebastienne is a very strong character, very self-assured—and a bit naughty. You’ll love her.

*       *       *

Heartstopper: The Legend of La Bella Tenebrosa #3—written by Steven A. Roman (The Saga of Pandora Zwieback), penciled by Holly Golightly (School Bites) and inked by “Chainsaw” Chuck Majewski (Harvey Kurtzman’s New Two-Fisted Tales)—is available for free download on May 4, 2013 from the StarWarp Concepts web site.

Heartstopper: The Legend of La Bella Tenebrosa #1 and #2 are also available for free download—just follow the links at StarWarp Concepts’ comics page.

However, if you’re one of those under-seventeen readers of Pan’s adventures…maybe you should wait a few years before checking out Annie during her “bad girl” phase. 

The main branch of the New York Public Library (the famous one with the stone lions out front) is currently posting, on the windows of its gift shop, the titles of books people are reading. It’s part of their latest literacy promotion, NYPL Reads 2013—just fill out a card and they’ll put it up for all to see.

So given the opportunity to let more folks know about Blood Feud, the first Pandora Zwieback novel, and considering it cost absolutely nothing to do it, how could I pass up such a chance for free advertising…?

Head on over to the StarWarp Concepts Web site and check out the first six pages of “Song of the Siren,” a story written by me and drawn and colored by Eliseu Gouveia, who provided the art for the free comic The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0 and StarWarp Concepts’ mature-readers graphic novel Lorelei: Sects and the City. It’s about Pan and Javier Maldonado’s first official outing as girlfriend and boyfriend, and the encounter they have with one of Javi’s old girlfriends—who’s not what she appears to be…

Also appearing in the annual is “Shopping Maul,” a short story I wrote that involves Pan, Javi, Pan’s best friend Sheena McCarthy, and and Pan’s monster-hunting mentor Sebastienne butting heads with a trio of Elegant & Gothic Lolita vampires. It sports a great title page illustration by artist Elizabeth Watasin (Charm School, The Dark Victorian). Plus there’s a “Tale of the Paniverse” by DC Comics writer Sholly Fisch (Action Comics, All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold) and comic-art legend Ernie Colon (Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld), about a demon paying a visit to his favorite pub.

The annual is being distributed to the direct market by Diamond Comics Distributor and is currently listed in the March 2013 edition of Diamond Previews. Ask your local comic shop owner to order it today!

“Roman continues to prove his skill with the English language all throughout the pages of this tome by painting vivid pictures with words that you normally would not put together…but once your eyes glance over them, you can’t stop yourself from imagining the image they create at length within your mind…”

Read the entire review by clicking on the logo above.

Therefore, we’ve lowered the price of all digital versions of Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1—PDF, ePub, and .prc (Kindle compatible)—from $3.99 to just $2.99!

You can download the lower-priced Blood Feud from the Kindle store at Amazon.com, the NOOK Book Store at Barnes & Noble, Apple’s iBookstore, the Sony Reader Store, and Kobo, the SWC stores at Smashwords and DriveThru Fiction, or directly from the StarWarp Concepts webstore. Just visit the Blood Feud product page at StarWarp Concepts for all the links.

If you’ve been reluctant to pick up Pan’s first literary appearance, or know someone who’d love to meet our resident Goth adventuress, there’s no better time than right now to do so!

The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1 is Pan’s first foray into comic book adventures, not counting the introductory comic The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0 (still available for free download). Behind some stunning cover art by Henar Torinos (Mala Estrella), you’ll find three tales: “Song of the Siren,” a 26-page comic story about Pan and her boyfriend Javier’s first date, written by Pandora Zwieback author Steven A. Roman, with art by Eliseu Gouveia (Lorelei: Sects and the City, The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0); “After Hours,” an 8-page tale of the Paniverse by writer Sholly Fisch (Action Comics, Batman: The New Brave and the Bold) and artist Ernie Colon (Amethyst—Princess of Gemworld, Damage Control); and “Shopping Maul,” a Pan short story written by Steve, with title page art by Elizabeth Watasin (Charm School, The Dark Victorian).

The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1 has earned a Spotlight Title listing on page 343 of the March 2013 Diamond Previews catalog (currently on sale), and is scheduled to hit stores on May 22, 2013. But right now is the time to order it through your local comic shop!

Don’t know where your local comic book dealer is located? Then visit the Comic Shop Locator and help spread the word!

Anyway, what’s been going on since you last heard from me? Well, there was my December appearance on the Veterans Radio show At Ease, hosted by New York Times bestselling author/historian Dwight Jon Zimmerman, where I talked up Blood Feud, Pan’s character background, and how a guy with no military experience was able to write fairly accurate combat scenes (it’s all in the research).

And in January, Diamond Comics Distributors—the U.S.’s premier comic book and pop culture merchandise distributor—accepted StarWarp Concepts’ solicitation for The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1, a 48-page full-color special that goes on sale May 8, 2013. It’ll be listed in the March edition of the Diamond Previews catalog; I’ll let you know when you can pre-order your copy of the annual.

What’s in it, you ask? How about a story of Pan and her boyfriend Javi on their first date by me and artist Eliseu Gouveia (The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0)? Then there’s a short tale of the Paniverse by writer Sholly Fisch—who’s been providing the backup stories for DC Comics’ Action Comics series (as well as writing the 2012 Action Comics Annual #1)—and comics legend Ernie Colon, co-creator of Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld and artist of characters as varied as Magnus, Robot Fighter and Green Lantern to Casper the Friendly Ghost and Richie Rich. And rounding out the contents is an exclusive Pan short story by me involving Pan and her “Fiend Club” friends clashing with Elegant Gothic Lolita vampires at a shopping mall, with title page art by Elizabeth Watasin, indie comics creator of Charm School and the author of the Dark Victorian series of steapunk adventure novels.

And just take a look at this great cover art by Henar Torinos, the Madrid-based artist/creator of the graphic novel series Mala Estrella (Bad Star):

Have you ever seen a better portrayal of Pan as a happy Goth? On the other hand, her best friend, Sheena McCarthy, doesn’t look too happy—but how would you feel if you had a bunch of monsters with skunk breath crowding you in?

Stay tuned for more exciting news!

The show starts at 9:00 a.m., Eastern Standard Time, and I’m the first scheduled guest. It’s my chance to introduce America’s fighting elite to the adventures of a certain teenaged Goth monster hunter, so let’s hope more than a few veterans listening in will be convinced that the first Pandora Zwieback novel, Blood Feud, is just the book they should be buying for their kids and grandchildren.

Veterans Radio airs every Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern on Ave Marie Radio. 990 AM WDEO, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1440AM WMAX Saginaw, MI and 98.5FM in Naples, Florida. For those of you tuning in via the ’Net, just visit the network’s Programs page and click on the “Listen Live” link.

Those of you who read my report on this year’s New York Comic Con may remember a visit I had at the StarWarp Concepts booth by Dwight Jon Zimmerman, New York Times bestselling co-author (with political pundit Bill O’Reilly) of Lincoln’s Last Days, a nonfiction examination of the events leading up to Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. Dwight and I go back a ways; in fact, he was my editor on the X-Men: The Chaos Engine Trilogy novels that I wrote in 2000 and 2002.

Anyway, at the con Dwight and I swapped books, with me giving him a copy of the first Pandora Zwieback novel, Blood Feud. Dwight e-mailed me a few days later to say he’d finished reading it and enjoyed Pan’s story a lot—so much so that he recently contacted me about appearing on his radio show At Ease, which is broadcast on the Veterans Radio network. Of course I said yes!

So on December 29, I’ll be hawking the adventures of a teenaged Goth chick who fights monsters to America’s warriors. Good thing I included a couple of battle scenes in Blood Feud to get their interest, huh? 

More details to come as the date gets closer.