As noted in today’s New York Times feature, Joe Kubert, author and artist of the award-winning original graphic novel Yossel and founder of The Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art, will be publishing DONG XOAI, VIETNAM 1965 to be released by The Joe Kubert Library in May 2010.

DONG XOAI, VIETNAM 1965 tells the story of a team of Special Forces soldiers who were on what was to be a simple assistance and observation mission in the village of Dong Xoai that suddenly turned deadly. Written as an original graphic novel with text and illustrations, DONG XOAI, VIETNAM 1965 is based on extensive first hand information from the surviving members of the Special Forces group involved.

“When I learned of this occurrence from one of the principles involved, I could not keep my mind (or my pencil) from putting it into a graphic form. An incredible story of bravery and camaraderie that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.” –Joe Kubert

Stay tuned for more info in 2010!

Modern Warfare’s all over this week - between a hit game and a new comic book series hitting shelves, you really can’t miss it. The game kicks ass in two mediums.

Check out CBR’s interview with comic writer David Lapham about Modern Warfare 2: Ghost. I’ll be counting down the hours til I can get home and try Special Ops mode.

More news on the zombie front: Resident Evil is back! Take a look at IGN’s preview of issue #3 to check out the chops on the new artist, Jheremy Raapack.

This guy is *good*, but you don’t need me to tell you that.

Half the fun of working on Victorian Undead has been watching all of the coverage the book’s been getting from the zombie blogosphere - it’s really amazing how many blogs there are dedicated solely to the walking dead.

I’m seeing news items pop up from sites like The Inevitable Zombie Apocalypse… The Dead Walk…. A World On Fire…  Send More Cops (named after a great gag from Return of the Living Dead)… and BuyZombie.com. Needless to say, my RSS reader has grown in the last couple months. I thought I was a pretty hardcore zombie buff, but I really have to take my hat off to these guys.

And, be sure to check out CBR’s interview with writer Ian Edginton, in case you haven’t already.

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We’ve speculated quite a bit here recently, wondering how artists like Al Barrionuevo and Tim Seeley are able to draw so many heroes and villains in a single comic (and often, a single page.)

Another question, however - how does one prepare themselves to WRITE that many characters into a story? There are several fans out there with an encyclopedic knowledge of the WSU (at least a few of you are regulars in our comments section) - but I know at least I’d need to go back and do a LOT of reading just to make sure I’m able to keep everyone straight.

Over at Broken Frontier, upcoming WildCats writer Adam Beechen explains how he was able to prep himself to write a comic story that includes hundreds of the WSU’s characters. Check out his column here.

Ok, I know it’s not normal to post here on a weekend, but this isn’t any normal old Saturday. What better way to prep for trick or treating than flipping through Trick ‘r Treat (which I borrowed the fun Fiona Staples art from) or one of WildStorm’s other gruesome offerings?

Have a nice weekend, and please, try not to eat all your candy at once.

We’ve got a pretty eclectic group of characters hitting the shelves from WildStorm lately - from immortal, machete-wielding serial killers and super-powered teenagers to elves and super soldiers. In the mood to try something a bit more rooted in (our) reality? Chuck Dixon’s gritty WWII alternate history, Storming Paradise, just hit shelves. The book reads great in one volume - chronicling the invasion of Japan at the end of a World War II where the Manhattan Project had never come to be.

The long-running horror magazine Fangoria (I read my first issue in 1994 - wow) has published a glowing review of the first four issues of North 40. There’s an overabundance of blurbable quotes in this review alone - check it:

“NORTH 40 is one of the top horror books of 2009.”

“NORTH 40 brings together an intriguing cast of characters one might find in a TWIN PEAKS episode.”

“Williams writes with an unbound passion, dipping into so many tasty sauces at once that it doesn’t bother the reader so much that the overall story itself is crawling along. It’s kind of like watching an episode of LOST”

“It’s real. It’s raw. And it’s intriguing to read.”

“Aaron Williams and Fiona Staples have a hit on their hands”

How’s THAT for praise?

I know I’m far from the only one looking forward to Modern Warfare 2 landing next month. (A friend of mine has already requested time off work in advance to dive into the game - for the sake of his livelihood, I won’t name names.) Both the game and the comic land in a few weeks. You want a sneak peek? IGN.com has an exclusive first look inside the first of Modern Warfare 2: Ghost #1. Check it out!

I could say nice things on here about North 40 all day - but, thanks to the great love it’s been receiving all over the web, I don’t have to do it all myself. Ready for more? USA Today has a great interview up with Aaron and Fiona over on their website. Wanna know which characters resemble their creators? This story has the scoop.

And, did I mention they’ve got an exclusive preview of issue #5? Now hurry on over there.