Thank you for your interest in FM International, Inc. We are the second largest distributor of comic books and related material in the United States. We are always looking for new product to offer our retailer base, be it comics, books, toys, videos, or something completely new. This letter is to give you a little background on how we do business. Almost everything we discuss here is relevant to comic books so if your product needs special attention please let us know. We will work with you to meet your needs.

The most important information we need from you is a letter stating the terms of sale. This would include what price you will sell to us, which is traditionally 60% off of the cover price. (With you getting 40% of the cover price). Who pays the freight from the printer to us, which is the usually the publisher, and terms of payment. These are normally 30 days from the day of receipt of the books.

We also would like a photocopy of the book or the finished book if it is available. This way we can read it and get a feel for the best way to market your product. We would also like a brief synopsis of the story as you would ideally like to see it listed in our monthly catalog. A piece of black and white art is also very helpful as we will try to use it in the catalog with the description.

Finally, there is the timing. Since we pre-sell everything we offer, we need to offer the books three months in advance of the release date. For example, in August we are working on the November catalog which we mail out the first week of September. So if your book is shipping in November, we need the information by August 10th. If your book were shipping in December we would need the information by September 10th. If it is shipping in January we will need the information by October 10th, etc. We always try to send you our purchase orders for the number of copies that we will need no later than the 15th of the month prior to it’s shipping. For example, if your book is shipping in November, we will try to have a purchase order to you by October 15th.

These are the basic guidelines we work under. We are always willing to work with you if you should have any special needs. If you think you have missed a deadline at any point, please call; we may have time to squeeze in that last product. (But you will be taking a risk since at times we can not fit anymore in).

Thank you very much for your interest in FM International, Inc.

Little Book of Horror: Frankenstein by Steve Niles and Scott Morse is First Volume of Unique Hardcover Horror Series
San Diego, CA (December 30, 2004) The old cliché of good things coming in small packages was never so wrong. It should read: Big, scary things come in small packages. In March, IDW Publishing is going to get spooky with not only their format, but the story as well.

Little Book Of Horror: Frankenstein is the first in a series of specially sized, hardcover collectible classics. In this special re-telling of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, writer Steve Niles (Wake The Dead, 30 Days Of Night) works from the original text of the historic novel, presenting the tale in prose excerpts. To fully breathe new life into this story, each full-page spread will be accompanied by a painting from award-winning illustrator Scott Morse.

The Little Book of Horror series will tackle Bram Stoker’s Dracula next. Subsequent volumes will cover horror properties new and old, melding full-page illustrations with prose into a new form of graphic literature.

“Remember those old Cliff’s Notes from school?” queried IDW Editor-in-Chief Chris Ryall. “Well, consider the Little Book of Horror series beautifully illustrated, well-written, and scary, versions of those old primers. Everything you’ll need to know about classic horror books and movies will be presented on the pages of these little hardcovers.”

Little Book of Horror: Frankenstein, a full-color, 48-page 6” x 9” HC, will be available in March.

IDW PUBLISHING is a division of Idea + Design Works, LLC, a revolutionary creative service company with a wide range of clients including The Upper Deck Company, Electronic Arts, Ultima Online, WizKids, Cartoon Network, Sony Online Entertainment, Nickelodeon, and many more. IDW Publishing focuses on a small number of high-quality titles. Among them are CBS’s CSI: Crime Scene Investigation; Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith’s 30 Days of Night and its sequels, Dark Days and Return to Barrow; Ashley Wood’s Lore; CVO: Covert Vampiric Operations; Beau Smith’s Wynonna Earp; and Steve Niles’ Wake The Dead. Columbia Pictures has optioned the movie rights to 30 Days of Night, with Sam Raimi attached to produce. Konami is producing a video game based on CVO: Covert Vampiric Operations. Dimension Films has optioned the movie rights to Wake The Dead and Hyde. Paramount Pictures has optioned the movie rights to Aleister Arcane.

IDW Publishing and Popbot Offer Fans an Unexpected Gift

Bonus DVD Included With Every Copy of Second Popbot Collection
San Diego, CA (December 17, 2004)—Popbot fans will be treated to a special DVD included inside Popbot Collection Book 2, arriving at comic shops later this month.

Ashley Wood’s Popbot has a rabid following of fans. So rabid, in fact, that last year IDW entered into a partnership with Sideshow Collectibles to develop a Popbot polystone statue. The statue, a prototype of which debuted last summer at Comic-Con International in San Diego, makes its debut in February 2005. But before that, fans can take a close look at the statue through a free DVD included inside the second Popbot collection.

The second Popbot Collection was originally solicited as just containing the second act of Popbot, the wonderfully warped epic from the mind of Ashley Wood. But the early response to Sideshow’s statue—which also features Kitty, too—was so promising that IDW and Sideshow assembled this special DVD for inclusion in the book at no extra cost.

On the DVD is an extended close-up look at the statue, as well as some behind-the-scenes comments from IDW Publishing President, Ted Adams, Sideshow Collectible’s VP of Creative Services, Tom Gilliland, Popbot statue sculptor James Hakola, and, of course, Ash himself. All of the interviews are contained within a special episode of Geee Bob, hosted by none other than Popbot co-star “Andy Warhol.”

The creation of a statue based on the vision of Ash Wood is something that many thought could never be done successfully. Now, people can see not only the successful end result, but also the craft and collaboration that went into creating such a product.

Popbot Collection Book 2, a full-color, 154-page trade paperback with bonus DVD, will be available at the end of December, order # OCT042788.

IDW PUBLISHING is a division of Idea + Design Works, LLC, a revolutionary creative service company with a wide range of clients including The Upper Deck Company, Electronic Arts, Ultima Online, WizKids, Cartoon Network, Sony Online Entertainment, Nickelodeon, and many more. IDW Publishing focuses on a small number of high-quality titles. Among them are CBS’s CSI: Crime Scene Investigation; Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith’s 30 Days of Night and its sequels, Dark Days and Return to Barrow; Ashley Wood’s Lore; CVO: Covert Vampiric Operations; Beau Smith’s Wynonna Earp; and Steve Niles’ Wake The Dead. Columbia Pictures has optioned the movie rights to 30 Days of Night, with Sam Raimi attached to produce. Konami is producing a video game based on CVO: Covert Vampiric Operations. Dimension Films has optioned the movie rights to Wake The Dead and Hyde. Paramount Pictures has optioned the movie rights to Aleister Arcane.

Since its inception in 1994, SIDESHOW COLLECTIBLES has been a specialty manufacturer of licensed and proprietary collectible products that reflect a passion toward creating unique, highly sought after figure collectibles, as well as film prop replicas and fine art collectibles. The Sideshow artisans are renowned sculptors, experienced model makers, painters and costumers, whose collaborative efforts result in intricately detailed likenesses of popular characters, including film and television monsters, villains, heroes and mystical creatures of fantasy, as well as legendary figures from history. Sideshow artisans have regularly distinguished themselves for their ability to achieve a level of authenticity seldom seen in the figure collectible arena.

Sideshow is the premier source for highly collectible figures, statues, busts, framed art, prop replicas and film-study maquettes. Sideshow products are available online at: sideshowcollectibles.com, sideshowfineart.com, as well as through specialty and collectible shops, comic book stores, other specialty retailers and via collectible web sites worldwide.

BUCKAROO BANZAI Has been acquired by Moonstone!

Yes, that wacky 1984 movie starring (Oscar nominees & Emmy winners) Peter Weller, John Lithgow, Ellen Barkin, Christopher Lloyd, and Jeff Goldblum is back!
Buckaroo Banzai is a fiendishly clever action-packed adventure/comedy/drama in an outlandish world you’ll want to visit again and again!

Buckaroo is part neural surgeon, part rock star, and some “pulp hero” tossed in for good measure!

Moonstone’s new book will be a NEW TALE of Buckaroo written by the character’s very own creator (and the movie’s screenwriter) Earl Mac Rauch!

The interior art will be handled by (“Star Wars”) Stephen Thompson. (the cover art is TBA)

With the guidance of the film’s director, W.D. Richter, the Buckaroo Banzai color mini series will continue the bizarre trail blazed by the film.

BUCKAROO BANZAI: a bold, titillating mix of particle physics, rock and roll, super-sonic speed machines, handsome men, beautiful women, and villains beyond redemption.

BUCKAROO BANZAI: if he’s not one thing, he’s another.

Movie reviews:

“Hip! Imaginative! An offbeat sci-fi adventure with humor from every dimension!” –Hollywood Reporter

“Buckaroo doesn’t just think he’s a hero, he really is one, complete with tour bus, numerous sidekicks and his own comic book. He’s a renaissance man for the 20th century, demonstrating supreme confidence in his chosen career—he’s the sort of hero the world could use more of.” –SciFi.com

“…you’ll find Buckaroo Banzai a delicious and funny piece of sci-fi with the same appeal that the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series has long held. From its goofy hero to crazy dialogue…” –FilmCritic.com

“This insanely great little film has carved out a nice little niche for itself due solely to word of mouth by the rabid fans who refuse to let a good movie die.”- DVDreview.com

Jhonen Vasquez and SLG to Amaze You in March

SLG Publishing
PO Box 26427
San Jose, CA 95159-6427
For more information, contact Dan Vado [email protected]

Holy Niblets! What Is That?!
Jhonen Vasquez and SLG to Amaze You in March

Like the mighty grizzly shaking off his wintry torpor and emerging from his lair in spring, or the majestic phoenix rising from the ashes in cliché-like fashion or, in all likelihood, much more like an indomitable army of ghoulish reanimated dead roused from their graves by a mad genius whose insatiable desire for power, or probably just for a harem of short-haired hot girls in black-rimmed glasses, has led him to horrific acts of dark magic, or — well, look, you’re just going to have to make up your own simile for this amazing event, for I am too overcome with emotions that one cannot speak of in polite society. Just take care to ensure that your words are grand enough to convey the pure majesty and glory of this thing that has returned to us and is once again gracing the pages and annals of comics, this thing in the form of a little flesh nugget of stinking open sores, filthy pink fur and endless weeping that “they” call Fillerbunny.

That’s right, children. Critically-reviled master something-or-another Jhonen Vasquez has returned from his trip around the solar system and is once again plotting his evil little designs on the world of comics. And how better to set his nefarious plans in motion than with Fillerbunny, a suffering creature originally created to fill a single page and whose existence was mercilessly extended to fill two sixteen-page comics, each one drawn over the course of one day? That’ll work, right? Oh, you doubt, but this time, my sweetlings, this time, it is Fillerbunny in My Worst Book Yet!, 24 pages of torment and horrible excretions, two of them in mind-blowing FULL COLOR. And Jhonen took more than one day to finish it! You will see Fillerbunny as you’ve never seen him before, quite possibly consistently drawn and with fine details that make him seem so real and make his pain all the more pitiful. “Why?” you will ask. “Sweet lord of corn, WHY?!”

All this can be yours in March 2005, when SLG Publishing will risk the wrath of God by publishing this affront to man and nature. Fillerbunny in My Worst Book Yet! will be all you’ve come to expect from Jhonen Vasquez and more… so much more. So you’ll have no problem paying the measly $2.95 it takes to make it YOURS.

“Truly it is my masterwork.” said Vasquez of his unholy creation. “Let the people rejoice, for I have returned to the realm of comics, much to the dismay of all but ten, maybe twelve people. It is both a joyous, and yet sad time, as I feel much like Peter Jackson must have felt upon completing his Lord of the Rings trilogy…only this is not part of a trilogy, and people hate me.”

“What, you want me to say something else about this horrid little book? But look at all that up there! Did that not convince you of how awesome it is?” SLG’s editor-in-chief Jennifer de Guzman said very wearily and very, very seriously. “All right: it’s vile, and it probably will make you vomit. But because you’re a sick wretch, it’ll make you laugh, too. That’s what you want, right? I know it is because I tell you what you want.”

Fillerbunny in My Worst Book Yet! is available for pre-order now from Diamond Comics and other distributors and will be in stores in March 2005. Get thee to SLG Publishing’s website, www.slavelabor.com, to see a preview.

IDW Publishing Expands Popbot’s World in March

IDW Publishing Expands Popbot’s World in March
Ashley Wood Is Joined By Adam Warren And The Biggest Names In Comics

San Diego, CA (December 29, 2004) Ashley Wood’s Popbot has proven to be one of the most talked-about series amongst discriminating comics fans. Ash Wood’s impressionistic style has inspired many young artists within the industry, and now some of those artists are getting their chance to pay tribute to Woods’ robotic creation and his Kitty, too.

Popbot Reader offers fans a unique treat in this special one shot dedicated to Ash’s wonderfully twisted world. This special edition contains a brand-new Popbot story penned by Adam Warren, with art by Wood himself. It also includes a gallery featuring images of Popbot by some of the biggest names in comic art.

A feature on the upcoming Popbot polystone statue from Sideshow Collectibles is also included in this must-have comic.

“Popbot Reader features awesome pics by Mike Mignola, Kent Williams, Bruce Timm, Duncan Fedgredo, Adam Warren, Jeremy Geddes, Sam Kieth, David Choe, Chris Bachalo, James Daly, and many other top artists,” enthuses mastermind Ashley Wood.

Popbot Reader, a full-color, 48-page comic, will be released in March.

IDW PUBLISHING is a division of Idea + Design Works, LLC, a revolutionary creative service company with a wide range of clients including The Upper Deck Company, Electronic Arts, Ultima Online, WizKids, Cartoon Network, Sony Online Entertainment, Nickelodeon, and many more. IDW Publishing focuses on a small number of high-quality titles. Among them are CBS’s CSI: Crime Scene Investigation; Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith’s 30 Days of Night and its sequels, Dark Days and Return to Barrow; Ashley Wood’s Lore; CVO: Covert Vampiric Operations; Beau Smith’s Wynonna Earp; and Steve Niles’ Wake The Dead. Columbia Pictures has optioned the movie rights to 30 Days of Night, with Sam Raimi

Get Your Supernatural Freak On With Cal McDonald And IDW Publishing

Get Your Supernatural Freak On With Cal McDonald And IDW Publishing The Monster-Hunting Gumshoe Returns to IDW In March
San Diego, CA (December 28, 2004) In March 2005, your favorite hard-drinkin’, hard livin’, monster-hunting private dick, Cal McDonald, brings his pill-popping comic book exploits back to IDW Publishing.

Cal McDonald, the creation/alter ego of writer Steve Niles, previously appeared at IDW in novel form. Niles penned three Cal prose books, Savage Membrane, Guns, Drugs and Monsters, and Dial M for Monster. Now he’s bringing Cal’s comic book exploits home to IDW, too, in the form of the six-part Supernatural Freak Machine: A Cal McDonald Mystery. This time out, Cal and his ghoulish partner Mo’Lock face a prison break that signals the return of Dr. Polynice, last heard from in Savage Membrane. Throughout the course of the story, Cal also gets himself a new ride… or does the ride get its latest victim? That remains to be seen.

Niles once again teams up with artist and master craftsman Kelley Jones to bring the readers back into the twisted world of Cal McDonald, the most addled private eye ever to fill a monster full of holes.

“What I’ve always wanted with Cal was an artist, a partner who gets him,” said Niles. “I have that now with Kelley Jones and I can’t wait to see where Cal McDonald winds up.”

Supernatural Freak Machine: A Cal McDonald Mystery, a full-color, six-part miniseries, debuts in March.

IDW PUBLISHING is a division of Idea + Design Works, LLC, a revolutionary creative service company with a wide range of clients including The Upper Deck Company, Electronic Arts, Ultima Online, WizKids, Cartoon Network, Sony Online Entertainment, Nickelodeon, and many more. IDW Publishing focuses on a small number of high-quality titles. Among them are CBS’s CSI: Crime Scene Investigation; Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith’s 30 Days of Night and its sequels, Dark Days and Return to Barrow; Ashley Wood’s Lore; CVO: Covert Vampiric Operations; Beau Smith’s Wynonna Earp; and Steve Niles’ Wake The Dead. Columbia Pictures has optioned the movie rights to 30 Days of Night, with Sam Raimi attached to produce. Konami is producing a video game based on CVO: Covert Vampiric Operations. Dimension Films has optioned the movie rights to Wake The Dead and Hyde. Paramount Pictures has optioned the movie rights to Aleister

HOLIDAY FACELIFT FOR SUNNYFUNDAYS.COM

Insight Studios Group Website Gets New Strips
Better than Botox! INSIGHT STUDIOS is bringing new strips to all the good little boys and girls who come to SunnyFundays.com for their daily dose of online entertainment. Starting December 20th, the Sunny Fundays will feature new continuing stories, new one-shots, and a host of holiday features, such as the FRANKENSTEIN MOBSTER’S “FRANKENSTEIN SANTA” holiday greeting card and the CRYPTOZOO CREW’S “TWELVE DAYS OF CRYPTIDS”. Feel free to sing along! CRYPTOZOO CREW has been a popular web strip and will be following this up with a bi-monthly comic book from NBM Publishing, with the first issue due out in January.

HOLLYWEIRD is a new ongoing daily strip being premiered on the Sunny Fundays by entertainment executive Mark Simon. It takes a sarcastic and skewed view of the movies from behind the scenes. The comedy is derived directly from true events, either from Simon’s experience, or Hollywood lore. Mark has worked in the entertainment industry for 19 years, with a background in live-action and animation production, directing, designing and effects, so he’s seen it all!

In the holiday spirit, there will also be an exciting adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” done by up and coming “Insighter” Tim Wallace. Tim will tell the story in 4 weeks. If this whets your appetite for the holidays, let filmmaker Robert Tinnell cook up Christmas dinner with his recipes from his delicious FEAST OF THE SEVEN FISHES strip.

Meanwhile, straight from the recently published OUTPATIENT graphic novel, Image Comics’ DOCTOR CYBORG will be running “Time’s Tower”. In this bizarre month-long episode, Malcolm Syberg discovers an invisible boy named “Invisi-billy”, a cult of futuristic scientists who have outlawed ties and a culture where political correctness has gone homicidal.

All this and more this holiday season at the Sunny Fundays. And don’t worry if you’ve missed a few days. The archives provide you with TIVO-like on-demand 24-hour service.

Insight Studios Group, headed by Mark Wheatley, creates comics for other publishers and also publishes books, comic books, and on-line daily and weekly comic strips under its own imprint. In addition to the recent Image Comics hits Hammer of the Gods and Hammer of the Gods: Hammer Hits China, Insight has played home to Naked Brain, Jimgrim and the Devil at Ludd, Titanic Tales, and Al Williamson Adventures. Visit www.insightstudiosgroup.com and http://www.sunnyfundays.com.

IDW Publishing Exposes CSI: Secret Identity In A New Series

IDW Publishing Exposes CSI: Secret Identity In A New Series
Crime Comics Veteran Steven Grant Pens His First CSI Tale

San Diego, CA (December 8, 2004) There is nothing routine about murder and death. Each body leaves its own fingerprint and trail of clues. That’s why the CSI team treats every one like it was the first murder they investigated.

When a tourist is murdered in a cheap off-strip motel, the investigation seems surprisingly routine—but there’s nothing routine about any murder, especially when things get complicated by a missing videotape and an imploded Vegas casino.

The trail of evidence points to a man who died twice and left two different corpses, immersing Gil Grissom and the CSI team in a quagmire of deceit and treachery that stretches back 20 years—and still threatens them today!

This is the first chapter of an all-new five-issue miniseries based on the top-rated CBS crime drama. Noted crime comic book writer Steven Grant (The Punisher) begins his run on this tale of death warmed over. Grant, a Las Vegas resident, is one of the industry’s best at writing mystery/crime with a modern slant. Gabriel Rodriguez and Steven Perkins (CSI: Dominos) once again handle the art on this intense heart-stopping series that offers the same flavor and style that accompanies all of IDW’s CSI comics.

“This is the first chance I’ve had to write about Las Vegas since I moved here, and so much more goes on here than most people realize,” said writer Steven Grant. “It’s the most unique city in the world, a place where dreams and passions collide daily, a place where chance rules, and I really wanted to get that aspect across. Though I’m no stranger to crime fiction, it’s an exciting challenge to measure up to the best crime show on network TV. So I’ve tried to amp things up a notch or two. The story will keep readers guessing, just like it keeps the CSI team guessing.”

CSI: Secret Identity is a full-color, 5-part miniseries on sale in February 2005.

IDW PUBLISHING is a division of Idea + Design Works, LLC, a revolutionary creative service company with a wide range of clients including The Upper Deck Company, Electronic Arts, Ultima Online, WizKids, Cartoon Network, Sony Online Entertainment, Nickelodeon, and many more. IDW Publishing focuses on a small number of high-quality titles. Among them are CBS’s CSI: Crime Scene Investigation; Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith’s 30 Days of Night and its sequels, Dark Days and Return to Barrow; Ashley Wood’s Lore; CVO: Covert Vampiric Operations; Beau Smith’s Wynonna Earp; and Steve Niles’ Wake The Dead. Columbia Pictures has optioned the movie rights to 30 Days of Night, with Sam Raimi attached to produce. Konami is producing a video game based on CVO: Covert Vampiric Operations. Dimension Films has optioned the movie rights to Wake The Dead and Hyde. Paramount Pictures has optioned the movie rights to Aleister Arcane.

CBS Consumer Products, a division of CBS Enterprises, manages the Worldwide licensing, merchandising and video activity for CBS Enterprises and King World Productions, Inc.

For more information about CSI – go to the CBS Website