Forbeck.com

I just sent off the script for Blood Bowl: Killer Contract #4 to my editor Ian Brill at Boom Studios. I’m having a ball writing these comics, and I can’t wait to see them in print, which I’m told should happen soon. I’m eager to wrap it all up with issue #5, just so I can see what happens.

I mean, I know what happens in the larger sense. I outlined the entire miniseries before I started in on it. But there’s so much distance between an outline and a script, and I invariably come up with all sorts of ideas while actually writing that the two don’t often match up. As with reading, writing is an act of discovery.

Right now, though, I need to write an outline for my next novel for Wizards of the Coast. After that, I can get back to my next computer game project or three.

To celebrate finishing issue #4, though, here’s an image of the cover I found while wandering around the web. I hope you enjoy it.

written by Matt Forbeck

I was up late last night, but I polished off the script to Blood Bowl: Killer Contract #3. To celebrate, here are some shots of some of the artwork slated for that very comic. The one to the left is the main cover, and the one to the right is for a variant cover.

The BOOM! Studios crew gave the series a mention during their panel at the New York Comic-Con last weekend. According to Comic Book Resources:

Boom! has also acquired the rights to produce a comic adaptation of what they call “The REAL Fantasy Football”, “Blood Bowl.” Slated to become a 5-issue miniseries, the game is produced by British company Games Workshop and is a parody of American football, only with far more lethal rules. Author Matt Forbeck, who has also written several “Blood Bowl” novels, will be penning the series.

written by Matt Forbeck

The folks at Cyanide have a site up for the upcoming Blood Bowl computer game. There’s a slew of screen shots there, plus if you dig a little you can find a document that explains how the game works in more depth. I’m especially geeked by the fact you can play the game in two very different ways:

1. A real-time video game.
2. An exacting, turn-based simulation of the board game.

Combine this with the comic-book series I’m working on for BOOM! Studios, and you have a bloody great year for Blood Bowl. Speaking of which, here’s the cover for issue #2.

written by Matt Forbeck

I spent the last week revising things, it seems. This includes the latest draft of the Mutant Chronicles novelization and the final draft of Blood Bowl: Killer Contract #2, both of which I can’t wait to see in print.

While revisions are a necessary evil for writers of all stripes, they’re never as much fun as working on the first draft. That’s mostly because it’s hard to budget time for revisions. They often reach my desk at unexpected times and need to be taken care of as soon as possible. Fortunately, they’re rarely as rough going as I fear, and I can usually wrap them up fairly fast.

Many of my editors don’t bother asking for revisions and just accept the first draft. Other than the occasional typo, my work is fairly clean. I attribute that to the years I spent editing other people’s work. I’ve been trained to spot mistakes, even in my own work.

Of course, that doesn’t mean they don’t still slip by. I just do my best to keep them to a bare minimum and hope my editor catches the rest.

written by Matt Forbeck

My pal Rich Dansky ruined my morning by pointing me to the news that Brett Favre is retiring. As a lifelong Packer fan, I recognize this as the official end of the greatest era in the NFL since the Lombardi years.

As I told Rich, though, I think this is the right thing for Favre to do. He came back last year—after flirting with retirement for months—because he didn’t want to leave his beloved sport on a bad note. This year, he broke all sorts of records and brought the Packers back to the playoffs. He’s not likely to top that again, so now’s the time to go.

Favre might have been erratic at times, but when he was on his game he was truly great. The saying around here has long been, “As Favre goes, so go the Packers.” Here’s hoping they can find their way without him.

If you read my Blood Bowl books, you might recognize Rhett Cavre, star blitzer of the Bad Bay Hackers. He’ll still live on, I think, even after his inspiration retires. I’ll miss the original though, every damn game.

written by Matt Forbeck

Boom! Studios today banged out a press release for my upcoming Blood Bowl comic-book miniseries: Blood Bowl: Killer Contract. See below for the full text.

While we’re at it, here’s the concept art for the one of the three variant covers for issue #1. That’s #7 Dunk Hoffnung sailing over the crowd, with M’Grash and Spinne opening the way. Lads Helloven provided this piece and handles the interiors too.

Continue reading »

written by Matt Forbeck

On a lighter note—and on the day after a crackerjack Super Bowl (I didn’t have a dog in that fight, but what a great 4th quarter)—ICv2.com reports details about the Blood Bowl comic I’m writing for Boom! Studios. As reported:

The Blood Bowl series, scripted by bestselling fantasy author Matt Forbeck, will be based on the Games Workshop fantasy football parody game. Blood Bowl: Killer Contract, like most other Boom! GW titles, will be a five-issue miniseries, which will then be collected into a 128-page trade paperback.

As for the “bestselling,” I don’t know for sure where they got that, but I like it. As far as I know, the only such list my novels have made was when my first Blood Bowl novel cracked Locus’s bestselling tie-ins list, so I suppose that’s it. Either way, I’ll take it.

Now, back to writing the next issue!

written by Matt Forbeck

Rumble in the Jungle, the fourth in my series of Blood Bowl novels, is now on sale not just in the UK but throughout the world! Be sure to put it at the top of your post-Christmas shopping list. If you’re interested in a “first bit’s free” trial, the Black Library has posted a short, free sample to whet your appetite.

Meanwhile, I hope you all had/have happy holidays as we wrap up the year!

written by Matt Forbeck

I’ve written a number of comics over the years, and it always stuns me what a different discipline it is from any other kind of writing. In a film, play, novel, game, or whatever, you have a bit of wiggle room as to the time you can take up or the number of pages. Comics, though, have a far more restrictive form.

Most comics feature 22 pages of story, and the pages are laid out in two-page spreads with any number of panels on them. Most comics have a splash (full-page illustration) or two in them, or even a massive double-page spread, but the average page contains anywhere from four to eight panels.

As a writer, you designate the number of panels on the page and what happens in each of them. You’re restricted to asking your artist to show static images, and they all have to make some kind of sense when strung together. This forces a certain kind of pacing on the story, especially when you consider where to place your cliffhangers, staggering revelations, and plot twists.

These favored tools of any adventurous writer work best at the start or end of a page, not in the middle, and they’re best if they come at the start or end of a spread. This makes the pacing even more rigid.

Compared to a novel, it’s like going from free verse to iambic pentameter. Robert Frost compared free verse to “playing tennis with the net down.” If so, the comic-book form raises a good, solid net over which to try your game.

Fortunately, there are tools to help you get your game on. While writing the first issues of Blood Bowl: Killer Contract for Boom! Studios, I gave a new writing program a shot at the recommendation of John Rogers.

The program (Scrivener) was originally designed to help with writing screenplays or novels, but the latest version comes with a comic-book script template by Antony Johnston that’s nearly perfect. It let me rearrange panels and pages as much as I liked and automatically renumbered them. When working with an editor, an artist, and a licensor, this alone saved me a lot of headaches.

If you’re interested in writing comics—or just writing in general—be sure to check it out.

written by Matt Forbeck

Rumble in the Jungle, the fourth in my series of Blood Bowl novels, is on sale in the UK. Those of us in other parts of the world must wait until Boxing Day for our fix, but the fortunate souls in Old Blighty can get theirs now.

However, the non-British aren’t entirely out of luck. The Black Library has posted a short, free sample to whet your appetite.

In other news, I delivered the script for the first issue of the Blood Bowl comic book to Boom! Studios. It picks up directly after the end of the events of Rumble in the Jungle and continues the adventures of the Bad Bay Hackers as they make their bid to repeat as the Blood Bowl champs!

written by Matt Forbeck

Blood Bowl: The Omnibus is now available outside of the UK. That means those of us in the States can now get our hands on it. This massive tome smashes all of the first three Blood Bowl novels (Blood Bowl, Dead Ball, and Death Match) together under one cover, plus a short foreword I wrote just for this doorstop. That’s 768 pages of hilarious, spike-balled mayhem for the low price of only $11.99 of those Yanqui dollars!

Those lucky sods fortunate enough to live nearer to the Black Library should also be able to pick up the fourth book in the series, Rumble in the Jungle, on Monday! The rest of us have to wait until the end of December, but we can assuage the pain of those dark days of waiting with The Omnibus for now. It’s even colored green with blood-red accents to make for a most suitable holiday gift!

written by Matt Forbeck

The fine folks at Boom! Studios have authorized me to announce that I’ll be writing a five-issue Blood Bowl miniseries for them this winter, based upon the four novels I’ve written for the Black Library. The first issue is projected to hit stores in March. Look for the first solicitation, along with a preview of the a cover, in the issue of Previews that hits stores in late December.

Ow. I’ve been holding that one in for a long time. It feels great to finally be able to talk about it.

I’ve been itching to get back into comics, and I honestly can’t wait to see this one on shelves. I’ve had a wonderful time working with my editor Joe Abraham and our Games Workshop liaison Nelson so far, and I’m thrilled to be associated with the talented crew at Boom!

written by Matt Forbeck

Those fortunate enough to live closer to the Black Library in the UK than I do can now officially get their hands on Blood Bowl: The Omnibus. This no-neck, gold-tusked linebacker of a book smashes all of the first three Blood Bowl novels (Blood Bowl, Dead Ball, and Death Match) together under one cover, plus a short foreword I wrote just for this tome. That’s 768 pages of hilarious, spike-balled mayhem for the low price of only £9.99.

The rest of the world has to wait until November 27. Oh, the humanity.

written by Matt Forbeck

The Black Library, publisher of my Blood Bowl novels, has a new forum up. If you haven’t been there for a while, stop by and check it out. It’s something cool to do while you wait for Blood Bowl: The Omnibus, due out in the UK on November 5 and the US on November 27.

written by Matt Forbeck