The Golden Age of Comic Books blog and podcast by Bill Jourdain caught up with me at the Baltimore Comic-Con and here is my brief chat with Bill. The two of us have written material for the Asgard Press vintage comic cover calendars, so it was nice to meet at last.

I’ll be on hand most of the weekend at the museum booth (#2401) on the main convention floor, but there are a few specific times to keep in mind:

Saturday 3pm-4-pm and Sunday 11am-12pm – Both days I’ll be signing copies of Asgard Press’ (#2109) vintage Marvel Comics cover calendar (for which I wrote the intro).

Sunday, 3pm, at Geppi’s – I’ll be signing copies of my exhaustive guide to zombie movies, Zombiemania. We have a limited number of copies back in stock, so shuffle in as fast as your decaying limbs can carry you.

Hope to see a lot of you this weekend, living or otherwise!

Another fan of the book, Andrew Gilmore, has also provided me with a landmark in my writing career to date. I’ve never had someone create their own tribute artwork for one of my books, but Andrew liked Zombiemania so much, he made his own cover! You can see it here, and it’s really cool. Thanks Andrew!

Much more coming soon!

The smell of black leather. The flash of sharpened steel against skin. The deep red of spilled blood. Nights of terror and suspense unfold in a cat-and-mouse game between a lethal killer and a bevy of beautiful, buxom victims, set against a backdrop of picturesque locales, ’70s fashions and copious quantities of J&B. We are now in that shadowy world of stylized sex and death that defines the unique cinematic genre known as…giallo.

Born out of the popularity of Italian paperback thrillers featuring lurid yellow (giallo) covers, giallo cinema was created and refined by film makers like Mario Bava, Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci, and many more. With inventive titles, intense subject matter and innovative techniques, the giallo was not only a distinctive genre in its own right but a stepping stone between the crime thrillers of earlier decades and the modern slasher movies of the ‘80s and beyond.

We hope you’ll want to catch “yellow” fever with us as we explore the world of the Italian gialli in Giallomania, from the widely accepted start of the genre with Mario Bava’s The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963) to the latest homage from Argento himself, Giallo (2009).

And then, further down the road, who knows? It’s important to remember that it’s hard to keep a good zombie down…

[UPDATED] Some pictures from the big night have been added. Click for larger versions of each. The first picture shows Zombiemania‘s target audience giving the book the thumbs-up (actually it’s co-author Andrew Hershberger, but he really is a zombie). The second shows co-author Dr. Arnold T. Blumberg at the signing table. The final picture shows the kind of tasty refreshments on hand for living and undead to enjoy at the event.

Writer J.C. Vaughn (24: Nightfall, Shi) and newcomer artist Vincent Spencer are the creators of Zombie-Proof, and they say they’re trying to go the proverbial extra mile for zombie fans with the series.

“The series has been described as Dawn of the Dead meets Home Improvement and Cheers, and that’s pretty accurate,” Vaughn said. “Vince and I take it seriously, but we also want it to be fun.”

Featuring a hero named Billy Bob Driwahl (say it out loud), the series offers a very different take on the zombie apocalypse. Zombie-Proof #2 also features a unique special appearance by the real world guidebook, Zombiemania: 80 Movies to Die For and unique contributions in the form of news reports and blog entries from writer-director Robert Tinnell (The Wicked West, Terry Sharp), writer-director Todd Livingston (The Black Forest, The Living and The Dead), documentary producer Carey Strelecki (I Have Never Forgotten You: the Life and Legacy of Simon Wiesenthal), and Zombiemania author Dr. Arnold T. Blumberg.

Zombie-Proof #1 debuted as a surprise hit with a limited Baltimore Comic-Con Edition. In fact, it was substantially more limited than intended. With the other copies at least temporarily lost in transit, only 100 copies were available. They sold out immediately, as did the copies of the standard edition.

Zombiemania‘s authors are thrilled to see the book making its comic book debut. You can find Zombie-Proof #2 in the September 2007 Previews from Diamond Comic Distributors, DCD item code SEP073857, Page 327 under “Moonstone.”