As if that weren’t big enough news, I’ve been spending my free time preparing for the announcement that my new book, Code of the Wild: North American Wolverine Vs. Timber Wolf is heading to shelves next spring. So, I decided to go ahead and set up http://www.codeofthewild.com to give the book a home on the web… and to showcase some of the amazing artwork that Jason Maranto’s been turning in.

Here’s a peak, this time with fully lettered captions!

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You can head over to the Code of the Wild website for all the glorious details. It’s exciting stuff!

-SJJ

But why, you might wonder, has news about this company been so slow to come out?

First of all, it’s because I’ve been quietly working on the website for the company, which will have a lot of information about my upcoming books. It’s not live yet, and I have a fairly low-tech stand-in at http://armyant.seanjjordan.com. Eventually, http://www.armyantpublishing.com will take over as the site’s URL, and we’ll also have seperate sites for each of our books. Expect to see the site up by the end of July.

Second, it’s because I haven’t formally announced the company yet to the world at large. My reasoning behind that is simple; I want to announce the company when I’ve got work to show. And up until recently, I haven’t had anything more than a lengthy business plan and some ideas. Fortunately, I’ve got the cover and some preview pages in hand for our first book, and as soon as they’re completed and approved, I’ll have a reason to talk about this company. (You’ll see why after the jump…)

And that brings me to my third reason for holding on to information about Army Ant: up until this month, I didn’t have an artist assigned to the first book we’re producing. But after an exhaustive search across several freelance art communities, I was fortunate to find a fine artist named Jason Maranto who is as passionate about the subject matter of this book as I am. Jason’s an incredible painter, with a real eye for detail and a great sense of style. He’s also a comic book industry veteran who’s worked as an inker, colorist, letterer and art director. And though I met a lot of really great artists when I embarked on my talent search, Jason was able to provide exactly what I was looking for for this project.

But you know… pictures speak louder than words, so instead of talking about how what a great painter Jason is, I think I’ll let you take a sneak peak at the cover I’ll be including in the company announcement in a few weeks. See if your jaw drops as much as mine did…

As you might have guessed, this is not a comic book per se; it’s a new style of graphic storytelling that’s meant to educate as well as entertain. The premise of the book is that two predators – the Timber Wolf and the North American Wolverine – are introduced through parallel stories which eventually lead up to a battle for survival and dominance! Though the book is being developed with the educational market in mind, I have a feeling that you’ll be seeing it in bookstores and comic book stores as well — it’s got an incredible amount of crossover appeal, and the interiors, like the cover, are all hand-painted and stunningly beautiful.

I’ve probably said enough for now about this first product… I don’t want to spoil the other surprises I’m planning to announce in July. Hopefully, this has been enough to whet your appetite.

I’ll mirror any Army Ant news here on this site (which will also be getting a slight redesign to go along with the launch of the Army Ant site). So keep your eyes open — you won’t want to miss what we’ve got to show you!

-SJJ