J.C. Vaughn, the co-writer of IDW’s 24 (based on the hit Fox TV show) and Shi from Dark Horse Comics, has his new trade paperback, Crime Scenes: A McCandless & Company Reader, set to debut in February from Century Comics. In addition to writing comics, he’s spent a lot of time in front of the computer writing about comics for The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide and the Scoop email newsletter as Executive Editor of Gemstone Publishing. We present a short piece featuring his newest project: CRIME SCENES: A McCANDLESS & COMPANY READER (#DEC052914), On Sale February 2006, check out more at:  http://www.welldefined.blogspot.com/

WHAT’S THE STORY BEHIND MCCANDLESS & COMPANY?
JCV: It’s the story of two female private investigators, Carey McCandless and Jessica Williams. They’re best friends, but they come from two very different walks of life. Carey comes from a very wealthy family. She’s the only daughter of a self-made billionaire. Jessica comes from the opposite end of the spectrum. They met in college, became friends, and went to work for a large security firm, where they were pretty much the token females on the staff. That’s where the story in Crime Scenes starts.

SO IN YOUR TRADE PAPERBACK, CRIME SCENES, THERE ARE SEVERAL STORIES. DO THEY FORM A BIGGER STORY?
JCV: I hope it’s a little less like a story arc and more like the arc of their lives, but yes, there’s definitely something more there for the person who reads all of the stories compared to the person who reads one of them. I hope there’s plenty there for the people who just read the individual stories, too.

WHAT TYPE OF STORIES ARE THEY?
JCV: It’s crime noir with a slice-of-life injection. There’s some humor and some romance, because I think there’s no pure genre. How can you have life without humor and sorrow? Have can you have one without the other? But basically, crime noir.

STARTING WITH THE COVER BY AMANDA CONNER AND JIMMY PALMIOTTI, YOU HAD A VARIETY OF ARTISTS INVOLVED IN THIS PROJECT, DIDN’T YOU?
JCV: I’d love to say I planned the timing of Amanda being so hot after her great Powergirl story in JSA Classified with Geoff Johns and Jimmy, but it’s just how things happened. Lucky break, I suppose. Over the time that I’ve been putting this together, I’ve been fortunate to have the help of some seriously talented artists, ranging from experienced top guns to exciting newcomers.

WHO ARE SOME OF THEM?
JCV: Matt Busch, who is pretty widely known in Star Wars circles as a conceptual artist and a little less known in comics, illustrated “Dead Razor,” which was the first McCandless story I put out a few years ago. He was assisted by Shawn Sheehan, whose done a bunch of projects with Matt. Gene Gonzales, who did the widely acclaimed indy book Tales of the Cherokee, as well as Mister X, Maze Agency and other books, did two stories for the book, both of them awesome. Chris Chua (Liquid Fury) and Ben Dale (More Fund Comics) are two amazing newcomers. They each did a short story, as did Harry Roland, who has a long track record including some classic Famous Monsters covers.

The all-star component comes in on the pin-ups. In addition to Amanda and Jimmy, we have pin-ups or chapter breaks from Michael Avon Oeming (Powers, Thor), Mark Wheatley (Breathtaker, Frankenstein Mobster), John K. Snyder III (Doctor Mid-Nite, Fashion In Action), Billy Tucci (Shi), Robert Hack (86 Voltz), and others.

WHAT TYPE OF READER WILL LIKE THIS BOOK?
JCV: Crime fans, I hope, and people who want more than just superheroes. People seem to like the characters and the dialogue. The other creators who’ve seen it thus far have been pretty complimentary.

ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO ADD?
JCV: Please ask your retailer to order this book in advance. It’s in the December 2005 Previews. A lot of stores have great owners or managers, but they need to know what you want. This is true for most indy books, but it’s really true with a new company like Century Comics. There are 10 sample pages on my blog, www.welldefined.blogspot.com, too, so check them out! Thanks.

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