Back in the day, one of the comic books that I was peripherally involved with was Scarlet In Gaslight, a Sherlock Holmes & Dracula mini-series. And I'll clarify that right away by saying that I had nothing to do with its creation.

It was created and written by Martin Powell, and illustrated by Seppo Makinen and after it was acquired by Malibu Comics for its Eternity imprint, it was edited by Chris Ulm. My role was limited to reading the issues as the original art came in. Ulm would drop it off on my desk and say, "You gotta read this." I was later the art director for the first collected edition.

Malibu was a creator-owned publisher back in those days, and the rights to Scarlet In Gaslight were held by the creators. In the years since its original publication, Martin has done an excellent job of keeping the collected edition in print. Its last edition is sold out, but the good news is that it's coming back, along with other Martin-based projects.

Martin has signed a 4-graphic novel deal with Pulp 2.0 Press CEO Bill Cunningham. The four graphic novels include the Eisner award nominee Scarlet in Gaslight, and two sequels, A Case of Blind Fear (Sherlock Holmes vs. The Invisible Man) and Ghosts of Dracula (Dr. Van Helsing and Harry Houdini vs. You-Know-Who). All three are illustrated by Seppo Makinen. The fourth book is Martin's adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, illustrated by Patrick Olliffe

Powell is a 2010 Moonbeam Gold Award winner for Best Children's Graphic Novel (The Tall Tale of Paul Bunyan) and is currently writing The Spider for Moonstone Books and the upcoming Liberty Unlimited with Jay Piscopo.

Olliffe is currently working for Dark Horse, illustrating Mighty Samson that's being co-written by Jim Shooter and my pal J.C. Vaughn.

Now go check this stuff out and place your order as soon as possible.

[Artwork: Scarlet In Gaslight, © Martin Powell, artwork © Seppo Makinen]