Page in the Execution [Secret Cross]

I was going to wait until Monday to show this off... but goddammit, it's so damned good we feel the need the world should see it now.

Below is a page (just pencils and inks) by primary Secret Cross artist Dominic Vivona. It's the opening page for the first Secret Cross short, Humanity in the Execution. It should be also noted that this is where the primary Secret Cross story kicks off.


As always, be sure to click on the image to see it in all of its beautiful glory.

While there are quite a few stories being worked on, here are the shorts which are already at the art stages:

Humanity in the Execution
Höllenhaus
Tank Eaters
Frohe Weinachten

Have no fear, other stories are being written up as I type this. And hopefully we can get art to all of them!

For more on this project that Stephen Lindsay, Dominic Vivona, me, and our guest-artist friends are hard at work on, just visit this last post and follow the links.


And remember:

WE ALL HAVE A SECRET CROSS TO BEAR.

(more information and previews can now be found here)

We all have a Secret Page to bear... [Secret Cross]

Here's some of what I posted in my Livejournal earlier...

Like I've said a couple times already, Stephen Lindsay and I are writing up comic shorts under the banner TALES OF THE SECRET CROSS to be put up on the Secret Cross website very soon. Already, the artists we're working with are churning out superior work straight from their dark and twisted hearts, helping us chronicle this covert German outfit and spanning from 1869 to 1925.

One story that is being written by Stephen (or Steve-L as only I like to call him!) is Höllenhaus, which has the remarkable Breno Tamura on art duties. And guess what I have for you? The first pencilled and inked page!


Go ahead and give that image a click to make it bigger, ja!


And here are the links to the previous SECRET CROSS posts:
Eddy, Black Hans and Willi designs and a group shot.
Roy and Zhel.
Jup and Rudi.
Captain Füller and a Soldat.
Original teaser/cover image and some information on the Secret Cross.

More to come soon!

Three new character designs and a group shot! [Secret Cross]

Hola, folks!

Today I would like to introduce you to the following...

The primary sergeant and senior NCO Eddy Rosin of the Secret Cross unit we focus on in the main story. He likes using the shotgun as his preferred means of "negotiation":


Then we have Black Hans, a native of Kamerun (Cameroon)-- he's the history, occult studies and demonology expert:


And last, but certainly not least, we have Willi, who is Moravian and acts as the unit's medic and fortifications specialist:


It should be known he's holding that rifle for someone else. Willi doesn't like guns all that much.


And here's a group shot that Stephen Lindsay whipped up of Dominic Vivona's amazing character designs:


Remember, you can always click on the images to make them bigger!

Right now we are working on the Official Secret Cross website so that it's not just that killer placeholder image you'll see.



In case you missed anything: Information and original teaser cover image here, Captain Füller and a Soldat here, Jup and Rudi here, Roy and Zhel here.


The pages of the first story, "Humanity in the Execution", are underway now.


See you soon!

Two new Secret Cross characters! [Secret Cross]

Below are a couple more character designs for THE SECRET CROSS, as done by the massively talented Dominic Vivona.

Also, www.secretcross.com is in our hands now. Expect a site there soon.

Also, also, a Secret Cross anthology? One where it has the very first mission of the Allmacht's Secret Cross in 1870, MORE WWI madness, and maybe even a tale set in 1905 Colonial German Africa? You betcha. There is already a new tale as done by another very talented artist that we should reveal soon.

Until then, enjoy these characters!

First up we have Jäger Roy Kaplan, a man of Jewish heritage who is fiercely dedicated to his Reich and Kaiser. Roy is an infiltration and suppression expert and is utterly, utterly fearless.



Next up is Serzhant (Sgt.) Zhel, a serious bad-ass from Bulgaria. If you need someone to butcher a path through the enemy with his bare hands, this is your man. Mess with Zhel at your own peril, lest you become the mess yourself.



And there you go! More character designs should be landing soon. In the meantime, try to keep those smokes lit and socks dry.

Be sure to check out the char-designs for Jup and Rudi, then Captain Füller and a Soldat, as well as the excellent cover/teaser images Dom did (and more info on the SC can be found there too)!

Secret Cross Armistice Day teasers and interview [Secret Cross]

Happy Armistice/Remembrance/Veteran's day to everyone, and I would like to thank all the vets out there for their outstanding service to their respective countries. A great big Thank You goes out to my father as well, who not only served in the Marines in the 50's and then later in the Air Force in Thailand during the Vietnam War but was also a Cold Warrior and was there to be the top Radar Tech guy for E-3A NATO AWACS during the 80's (read here for cool NATO AWACS info).

In the spirit of the day, I have two more of Dom's character designs to show you:


Go ahead and click on them to make 'em bigger. Who you're seeing is Jup, a jack-of-all-trades scout-sniper, mechanic and pilot (actually based on a real WWII vet I knew while growing up in Germany); and Rudi, the heavy weapons, axe-swinging driver of the unit. Don't worry, there are more guys coming, and then there are, of course, all of the "expendables" (not that these "name" guys are sacred or anything!).

The other treat I have for you is the interview Stephen Lindsay (my writing/creation partner) did for Comic Monsters. READ IT HERE!

And just in case you're showing up for the first time, check out the first two character designs here, and the SECRET CROSS teaser/cover image here. All art by the masterful Dominic Vivona!

Alrighty, stay tuned for more madness to come, troops.

Teaser for THE SECRET CROSS comic!! [Pimpin'!]

I posted this over in my LJ earlier, but I thought I'd put it up here, too:




Click on the image to make it bigger AND sexier!


And here's some copy (which is a way to say I'm lazy and just copied-- HA!-- my lj text, with a couple changes):

THE SECRET CROSS
The Secret Cross is an organisation formed under Otto von Bismarck (as a part of the Allmacht Projekt) in 1869 in order to defend the future German Empire and Europe from supernatural threats and the like. Flash-forward to 1914, World War One. The Secret Cross is there, whether on the battlefields or behind the lines, fighting some of the nastiest horrors you will ever see with rifles, Lugers, flamethrowers, bayonets, swords and trench-knives. Most of the story focuses on one of the Secret Cross units and their travails, as well as a new sketch artist draft-dodger who has been assigned to them as a form of punishment. The Secret Cross is the journey of how the terrors of war and the nightmarish beyond bring men closer together and is the first chapter of a greater story which explores the nature of evil.

WE ALL HAVE OUR SECRET CROSS TO BEAR.

And Dracula shows up. Have I mentioned that? Oh, yes. Dracula.
But not as you know him.

You'll see.

An upcoming comic book written by Steven G. Saunders (that's ME) and Stephen Lindsay (Jesus Hates Zombies) and illustrated by the masterful Dominic Vivona (Gunplay).

Neat, eh?

Stay tuned for more!