Dr. Park Cooper: Editor-in-Chief of Septagon Studios, Inc. and Editor-in-Chief of www.mangalife.com. Freelance editor with Del Rey Manga, writer of Marvel Comics'/Dabel's/Desperado's HALF DEAD, manga adapter, columnist, and more.

Barbara Lien-Cooper: Writer of GUN STREET GIRL, of Marvel Comics'/Dabel's/Desperado's HALF DEAD, manga adapter (Viz and Tokyopop) and editor (Del Rey Manga), columnist, former Managing Editor of print magazine COMIC BOOK ARTIST, and more.

Ryan Howe: Art Director for Wicker Man Studios, artist on GUN STREET GIRL, and more.

Steven G. Saunders: Co-Creator of SALVUS, creator of THE SECRET CROSS, and more.

Josh Wagner: Novelist who also created FICTION CLEMENS for Ape Entertainment and co-creator of SALVUS.

Dave Baxter: The writer of the column KILLING THE GRIZZLY for Septagon Studios; he's a demiurge so busy he can't get bio info to me to post here. Maybe this'll help you grasp what he's all about: http://www.gilliansheart.com/blog/

Gillian Horvat: Yeah, she hasn't gotten me bio info either. I know she's co-creator of the comics project Gillian's Heart with Dave Baxter...


Wicker Man Studios Press Release: Wicker Man Studios Launches Gun Street Girl on the iPhone App Store

April 17th, 2009
Wicker Man Studios is proud to announce the launch of a new website specifically for flagship title Gun Street Girl, www.gun-street-girl.com, from which WMS is already offering its latest Gun Street Girl story, “The Jealous Dead,” on the iPhone App Store. “The Jealous Dead” will cost 99 cents to download (in the US and Canada–other stores may vary), and can easily be read on the iPhone and the iPod touch with Wicker Man Studios’ own brand-new application, a comics reader which will allow readers using these devices to easily read stories panel-by-panel, simply by touching the screen and dragging the panels from right to left; tapping the screen will show thumbnails of all panels in a story so that one can, for example, easily pick up where one left off during a previous interrupted session.

In addition to the brand-new, never-before-seen story “The Jealous Dead,” WMS also offers another GSG story, “Where It All Began,” for free on the iPhone App Store, for new readers to try out the Gun Street Girl experience free of charge, featuring the secret origin of GSG’s main characters, bodyguard Liz Pendragon and down-on-his-luck magician Eddie Caution. All one needs to do is visit the iPhone App Store and search under “applications” for Wicker Man Studios, and then download the stories– “Where It All Began” is free, and all others are 99 cents.

For those who do not own either of these devices, regular PDFs are also being offered at the new GSG site of each respective story, to be purchased, in the case of “The Jealous Dead,” using PayPal.

Gun Street Girl’s archives will still be mirrored at the main Wicker Man Studios site of www.wickermanstudios.com.

With a high concept that feels like La Femme Nikita meets Grosse Pointe Blank with a little dash of Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Gun Street Girl has won praise from a variety of reviewers, such as Curve Magazine: “Our current rave [for digital graphic novels] has to be Gun Street Girl . . . Sassy, smart, and socially subversive…”

When Gun Street Girl’s Eddie Caution, a heavyset magician and supernatural investigator, meets tough-girl Liz Pendragon while she’s getting herself in trouble defending her girlfriend from the roving hands of some relations of the local mob, he offers her a job as his bodyguard and muscle, and she accepts, having wanted all her life for there to be a way to encounter magic on a regular basis. The two of them investigate ghosts, rescue those kidnapped by monsters, try to stay out of trouble (often difficult), and generally enjoy life.

Barbara Lien-Cooper and Park Cooper, the creators of Gun Street Girl and owners of Wicker Man Studios, have a column on popular culture at the website Comics Bulletin, found at www.comicsbulletin.com/pb. Barbara has written for many websites, and served a one-year stint as Managing Editor of the multiple-Eisner-award-winning print magazine Comic Book Artist. Park is the Editor-in-Chief of indie comics company Septagon Studios, and of the website MangaLife. Together, they also co-wrote the graphic novel Half Dead, published by Dabel Brothers Productions and Marvel Comics, and later picked up again by Desperado Publishing, and the New Media project The Hidden for manga publisher Tokyopop. They both also adapt manga and edit manga and comics for various companies.

Ryan Howe is the illustrator of Gun Street Girl, and the Art Director for Wicker Man Studios. He is also currently drawing the third of his three issues of the political comics project Female Force for BlueWater Productions. The previous two issues he drew both sold out and went to multiple printings.

The new application was created by Dale Zak, a mobile software developer living in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. His website can be found at: http://www.dalezak.ca

For all inquiries write to: Park Cooper at parkgsg@gmail.com

http://www.wickermanstudios.com
http://www.gun-street-girl.com
http://www.itunes.com
http://www.dalezak.ca
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/view
Software?id=307913051&mt=8

Apple, the Apple logo, iPod, and iTunes are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. iPhone is a trademark of Apple Inc.




THE HIDDEN, our entry in Tokyopop's new Pilot Program, has arrived. Please click on it and read it and vote for it by giving it 5 out of 5 robot heads and stuff.

Here's an interview with some people in which we talk about it.



SERIOUSLY, Half Dead, our graphic novel that came out from Marvel Comics/Dabel Brothers, is available through Desperado RIGHT NOW so please go order it.




Gun Street Girl. The story of a husky magician and the girl who's his gun-toting bodyguard. Who's a lesbian. And likes powerpop.

Us.


The Park And Barb Show The column we co-write over at www.comicsbulletin.com




We'd like to make it clear that Wicker Man Studios is very interested in talking to artists about helping us to prepare proposals for publishers for other projects we've written. If you're interested in hearing more, please contact us. We're interested in hearing from manga artists as well as every other type.





About Half Dead:

"It's 24 with vampires."
--Steven G. Saunders, writer of www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com's column ALL THE RAGE

"It's like Tom Clancy meets Wes Craven."
--David Atchison, Writer of "The OCT"

"HALF-DEAD is clever, compelling and personal - with a unique narrative and unbelievable images that will haunt you. If Luc Besson and Stephen King had children, HALF DEAD would be their beautiful, twisted offspring." David Gallaher, writer, VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE, JOHNNY DOLLAR

"This bit of coolness slipped past my radar initially . . . but I'm glad a friend saw fit to let me know what I was missing . . . HALF DEAD is a cool story with dynamic characters. The Coopers use vampires to tell a very modern story about terrorism, betrayal, and fear and hatred overwhelming the rights of the individual . . . It's a good reminder that there isn't always a good and bad guy; sometimes it's a bad and a worse guy." --Dan Grendell, Ain't It Cool News

http://forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/?p=751

"As if the tube wasn't already edgy enough, what with suicide bombers and police execution squads... now we have terrorist vampires to contend with too. But at least the victims of vampire gas attacks are rendered only half dead and get their chance to join in the fun. Intelligently written and well-drawn, this book promises opportunities not only for fast-paced entertainment, but also a darker ironic subtext to the 'long war' of the 21st century."
--Jamie Delano (Animal Man, Hellblazer)

Half Dead was "certified cool" by Diamond's Previews.

"Throughout Previews, you'll find a selection of some of the coolest comics around, but let's face it, some comics are so cool that they deserve to be singled out. So every month, we 'certify' some of the best and brightest. 'Certified Cool' is Previews' way of showing you a comics world that is powerfully unique unto itself. The titles listed below stood out to us as perfect examples of distinct comic stories that will broaden your entertainment experience and the industry."
--Diamond's Previews, January 2007



Some of the praise for Wicker Man Studios’ first creation, GUN STREET GIRL:

"Our current rave [for digital graphic novels] has to be Gun Street Girl . . . Sassy, smart, and socially subversive…"
--Diane Anderson-Minshall, Curve Magazine,
June 2005, Volume 15 #4, page 87

"Packed with sly socio-political observations, designed to subvert all reader expectations, and by turns savvy, sexy, and delightfully strange, Gun Street Girl does more than inject a badly needed dose of fresh blood into the sadly anemic action-adventure genre -- it also heralds the arrival of a writer of real promise, invention and wit who is possessed of an original vision and voice."
--Bill Baker, comics journalist and reviewer

"GSG rules... I have been reading from day 1, and I'm loving every minute of it."
--Maritza Campos, creator of the webcomic _College Roomies from Hell!!!_ http://www.crfh.net

"Dramatic, comedic and action-packed, GSG consistently delivers turbocharged pacing laced with the wittiest dialogue in web comics … a comic that recalls when Vertigo books actually were cutting edge …razor-sharp dialogue, punchy pacing, and airtight plotting, but the book is [also] about so much more. It deftly showcases a love for what the medium can do and how a comic can transcend its genre foundation and tell any kind of story… Fantastic."
--Steve Bryant, artist, 2004 Eisner nominee Athena Voltaire

"When you're running around with a tag line of being named by Mark Millar as one of the three most promising new talents in the next wave of comics writing, you better have a darn good story to tell. After finally getting off my duff and reading Lien-Cooper's Gun Street Girl, I can see what Millar is talking about. At the heart of the story, GSG is a buddy story, focusing on Liz Pendragon, the hired gun of mage-for-hire, Eddie Caution. The two characters have a genuine chemistry, moving beyond the basic brains/brawn concept and refusing to be absolutely defined by any single adjective. Lien-Cooper's dialogue is quick and punchy, while her plots feature a number of intriguing cliffhangers and hooks... It's very difficult to nail down any sort of comparison for this title, but it makes me think of a lighter-toned Hellblazer, featuring elements that will appeal to fans of Fables. Whatever the case, Gun Street Girl is an excellent webcomic with storytelling exceeding many books you'll find in the comic shop. I'd highly recommend it--"
--Fletcher Adams, www.comicskins.com