Back in 2008, I wrote a horror graphic novel called Zombie Cop. It was fully painted by the Polish artist Szymon Kudranski, who killed it (in the positive way), and published by Image Comics/Shadowline (Jim Valentino’s imprint at Image). It didn’t make any bestseller lists that I’m aware of, but I don’t think most mainstream bestseller lists included graphic novels at the time (though many do now). But it got lots of attention, good reviews, and even made a couple of dollars for Szymon and me.
It was covered in a variety of comics-related outlets, such as this Comic Book Resources piece. But then something happened that shoved it into the more mainstream press. Even the New Yorker magazine got into the act! It’s behind a paywall there, but here’s a way around that paywall, if you’d like to see the piece and aren’t lucky enough to have a subscription.
What happened? The book guest-starred on an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, one of the most popular TV shows of its time. Here’s what it looked like in the show’s opening segment.
I’ll quote liberally from a piece that appeared in CSIFiles.com, because otherwise I’d have to write all the same stuff. The material in brackets below is all from there.
<<Mariotte was contacted about having the graphic novel appear in the teaser segment of the CSI episode, which is the part that airs before the opening credits. “In the scene, someone’s reading the graphic novel in a diner, and that serves as the lead-in to a gunfight,” Mariotte explained on his blog. The process began on August 19. “It started on Wednesday, with an email from the publisher, forwarding an email from the show’s property master, seeking permission to use the book on an upcoming episode,” Mariotte said.>>
<<“I responded positively (of course!),” he continued. “By the end of business that day I’d had a conversation with the property master, signed the necessary paperwork, and the publisher had shipped copies of the book over to the production office.” The scene was filmed last Friday.>>
<<Mariotte has existing connections to the franchise. “I used to edit a line of CSI comics,” he explained. “I’ve met Anthony Zuiker, the creator of the hit franchise, been a guest on the set of CSI: Miami, and written graphic novels based on CSI and CSI: Miami. I wrote a CSI: Miami novel called Right to Die that came out last year.”>>
<<Mariotte’s first CSI novel, CSI: Brass in Pocket, was released this week. “I’m just wrapping up the final polish on the next one, CSI: Blood Quantum,” he added. However, these connections had nothing to do with Zombie Cop‘s inclusion in CSI. “[T]he property master who selected the book was unaware of all that until we talked on the phone,” Mariotte said. “He just liked the cover and title and thought it was an appropriate way to lead up to the gunfight.”>>
[It’s slightly off-topic, but I have to say that my friends at CSI were great. In addition to the CSI: Miami novel , I wrote three novels based on the CSI Las Vegas show, as well as a prestige format comic and a DVD game. I was considered part of the CSI family, with an open invitation to visit at any time. I got to sit in on a DVD-commentary recording session with Anthony Zuiker and Gary Dourdan. I went to the CSI: Miami set and met David Caruso, Emily Procter, and Khandi Alexander. David gave me a signed 8X10 photo of himself, and later, had an assistant call me at IDW Publishing, where I was the editor-in-chief, to ask for blow-ups of individual panels, printed on nice paper, which he could give to his cast-mates as Christmas presents. (He didn’t offer to pay for them, but we did it anyway) The occasion for going to the set was the publication of the first prestige-format CSI: Miami comic, which I wrote, and I carried copies to the set to give to cast members while Access Hollywood filmed the whole thing. When the segment aired, I was nowhere to be seen–but the book made it on air, which was the important thing.]
But back to Zombie Cop! Now, all these years later, it’s been reissued digitally by Monster Forge Productions and Global Comix. You can find it here: https://globalcomix.com/a/monster-forge and read it for free! Some other cool Monster Forge properties are available there as well.
Here’s how Fanboy Planet describes Monster Forge (where, full disclosure, I’m an executive consultant). “The Monster Forge Productions model seems to be the way forward for independent imprints. They’re not beholden to any one publisher. They have books published by IDW, Dark Horse Comics, Titan Comics, and probably a couple more I’m not remembering. (It’s Monday.) All bear the Monster Forge Productions seal of approval. Many are written or co-written by Monster Forge founder Shannon Eric Denton. But it’s a vibe, not a one man show.”
Pretty accurate. Daily Dead covered the story as well, and you can see a five-page sequence from the book there. Visit Monster Forge Productions to see what all we’re up to and pick up some monstrously cool merch!
All of it just illustrates what I’ve always said–you can’t keep a good zombie dead!
#Tags: comic books, CSI, CSI Miami, horror, zombie cop, zombies
