I did an interview with the lovely and talented Tim O’Shea over at Robot 6 about Love and Capes where I got to drop the news: Love and Capes is moving to IDW.

The new series, Love and Capes: Ever After, is a five-issue mini. The plan is to take a break after that last issue, because I’ve been going gangbusters on LNC for the last two years, almost non-stop. And before I sound like one of those whiny cartoonists who feel that publishing a book every three months is really hard, I’m doing it while working for a ton of other clients. If I could work on just Love and Capes, I could knock those issues out a lot easier.

In fact, that’s one of the changes at IDW. The book is going to be monthly. Which is why the first issue doesn’t come out until the end of the year. I need to get some runway behind me.

This is also the Love and Capes project that I’ve been alluding to but not talking about. In my head, it’s kind of issue fourteen, and it’s still how I’m numbering things in my internal files. But it’s pretty cool to have a number one again.

I’m thrilled that IDW is partnering with me on this. And it’s great to be able to keep going with the series. Now, you guys just need to keep reading.

Yup, it’s Love and Capes #13, available in both Free Comic Book Day and Retail flavors. The book will be out in 23 short days, and I will be out in Rancho Cucamonga that day doing Four Color Fantasies’ event. All sorts of fun will be had.

After the first of May, the book will be available on the Love and Capes store as well.

Every month, ace blogger and comics commentator Chris Sims (of The Invincible Super-Blog and Comics Alliance fame) takes on the voluminious Previews catalog. This month, among his non-Batman themed picks, he included:

I’ve come out as a dedicated fan of Love and Capes before, so I won’t go through the whole thing again. But I will say that this trade includes the Wedding issue, which is not only a high point of the series, but ranks up there with Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s "Fantastic Four Annual" #3 as one of the best wedding comics ever. You should read it.

It’s in the Premier section from IDW. Order code APR10 0387. And it’s only $19.99!

I’m partnering with the Lake County Captains once again this year. I’ll be doing three promotions for them.

1. In previous years, I’ve arranged to have my Free Comic Book Day issue of Love and Capes available at Classic Park on FCBD. This year, I’ll be doing an original eight-page Lake County Captains comic.

I’ve already committed to be at Four Color Fantasies in Rancho Cucamonga that day, so I won’t be there for the giveaway. But it’ll be a great time, regardless!

And I’ll be posting some art and the cover soon.

Free Comic Book Day: May 1, 2010.

2. I’ve designed a Skipper "Bobble Belly"with Skipper as a rockin’ guitar player to celebrate Cleveland and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Skipper’s playing a specially designed Fender Stratocaster.

Rock-n-Roll Nght: July 3, 2010.

3. And, to tie in with Cleveland and the A Christmas Story connection, we’re going to be doing a Skipper Leg Lamp. Yup, you read that right. Hot electric baseball action that will look great on your desk. (It’s not full size.)

Christmas in July, July 25 2010.

Click on either to see them embiggenated!

Comics Worth Reading has a nice review of Love and Capes #11-12 up now. Among other things that made my shriveled heart grow three sizes:

Thom Zahler takes the cliches of both the superhero and romance genres, plays jokes with them, and then dives into them to make them something more. It all stays very funny, but with meaningful emotions underneath the jokes.

Read the full review here.

I did a sketch at Mid-Ohio-Con for their annual charity auction. The auction is up now, so if you’d like a large representation of the conflict between Abby and Amazonia, check it out here.

Guess who’s got two thumbs and is the Invincible Super-Blog’s Pick of the week?

Half credit if you said "Bob Kelso".

Love and Capes #13 will be part of the Free Comic Book Day festivities on May 1st, 2010. As in past years, the book will have space for advertising. Wanna be part of it?

All ads are full color, full bleed with a trim size of 6 5/8" x 10 13/16". And ad design services are provided at no cost if you need them.

Download a PDF price sheet here.

Space reservation due by February 5, 2010.
Deadline for ad art is February 12, 2010.

Ads are accepted in PDF, EPS, TIF, JPG or PSD format. 300dpi minimum. Make checks payable to Thom Zahler Art Studios or Maerkle Press. PayPal accepted at tz@thomz.com.

In my Robot 6 interview, I mentioned that I was considering doing a Twitter contest. I’ve decided to do it, and here it is:

1. Read Love and Capes #12. Page 26, panel 1 is a big half-page splash. When I drew it, in my head I heard a song. First person to Twitter me with the song name and artist gets their pick of anything from the Love and Capes store.

2. I’ll post one hint a day, every day. And I’ll add the hints here after they appear on Twitter, so bookmark this page if you need to. This is the permalink.

Hint #1: The song was released in 2007.

Clue #2: I’ve referenced this band in the other romantic comedy I wrote. A ittle something for longtime fans.

AND WE HAVE A WINNER! @mizzelle on Twitter correctly guessed “First Time” by Lifehouse. Specifically, here’s the part that got stuck in my head from when Abby runs to catch Mark to the kiss itself:

Looking at you,holding my breath,
For once in my life, I’m scared to death,
I’m taking a chance,letting you inside.

All right, if DC can let their cat out of the bag, I figure it’s okay to announce my cat, too. Love and Capes #13. Free Comic Book Day. Be there.

Oh, you want more? Well, it’s no secret that Mark and Abby get married in issue twelve (or do they…?) and issue thirteen picks up where that one leaves off. I’m eight pages into working on the book so far, and I have to say, it includes one of the funniest pages I’ve ever done.

After that, we have much to discuss. Diamond minimums and new plans and things like that. But, let’s just say that while issue thirteen isn’t continued, it coulda been if that’s the way we’d wanted it.

And, just to cap it off, here’s a scene that may or may not appear in the new issue.