The Soddyssey, And Other Tales of Supernatural Law

Introduction by F. Paul Wilson
192 pages, $17.95
ISBN: 978-0-9815519-0-6

At last, the "missing" volume from the Supernatural Law series of trade paperbacks. This book collects issues 9-16 of the original Wolff & Byrd comic book series. Chronologically, it falls after Tales of Supernatural Law and before Sonovawitch! As with Tales, the stories in this collection have been "remastered," including complete relettering and retoning. The stories include: "The * Files" (parodying, of course, The X Files), "I'm Carrying Satan's Baby," "Strange Bedfellows," "I Married a Sniveling Blob of Jelly," "The Man Who Had His Own Personal Laugh Track," "Personal Injuries and Guardian Angels" (with Jack Benny as the guardian angel), "Triskaidekaphobia" (in which perennial client Sodd finally goes on trial), "Bad Blood" (a takeoff on Anne Rice), "The Statue of Limitations," "The Returns of Roger Rizzolli," "The Littlest Loup Garou," and the whole conclusion to the Sodd story, "Sodd, We Hardly Knew Ye." To view a free pdf of one of the stories in the book ("Triskaidekaphobia"), use the control below and click to enlarge, or just click here.

Here's what people have been saying...

"A kind of novel-in-stories that Lash's broad and punny humor and Archie-meets-Tales from the Crypt art keeps consistently light and frothy, a little like whipped slime perhaps. Ludicrous fun in the key of the old Addams Family TV show."

"This book is amusing and clever ... These level-headed and calm lawyers play straight men to a parade of hapless monsters and other supernatural types as they are guided through their often pathetic legal complaints. The collected stories reinforce each other and further flesh out this off-kilter world."
"In [the story] "Sodd, We Hardly Knew Ye," our lawyering twosome defend a Swamp Thing-like creature from both a band of self-proclaimed 'eco terra-ists' and a paramilitary survivalist group. Utterly convinced of their rightness, both groups think nothing of tromping on poor Sodd in the name of individual freedom. In both cases, it's the ideologues who turn out to be less humane than any of Supernatural Law's monsters." (read the full review)

2009 Benjamin Franklin Award Winner!

The Soddyssey has been named the winner in the graphic novel category of the 2009 Benjamin Franklin Awards. Named in honor of America's most cherished publisher/printer, the Benjamin Franklin Awards recognize excellence in independent publishing. These awards are presented under the auspices of the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA; formerly known as PMA), now celebrating its 25th year of supporting independent publishers.

Publications, grouped by genre, are judged on editorial and design merit by top practitioners in each field. The trophies were presented during a gala awards ceremony at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City on May 28 as part of Book Expo America.

Buy The Soddyssey Now! Only $17.95 Quantity:  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Get your own - Open publication

Supernatural Law #45:
"The People v. Toxic Avenger"

Wolff and Byrd have a change of venue when they travel to Tromaville to defend none other than the Toxic Avenger! But can they prevail in a courtroom presided over by Judge Lloyd Kaufman? Plus: pinups, letters, and maybe even a word or two from Lloyd Kaufman himself!

July 2008, 32 pages, $3.50

Click here to Order!

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Comic-Con International: San Diego, July 23-26: For the 16th straight year Exhibit A Press will have a booth in the Independent Publishers' Pavilion at this greatest of all pop culture events in the U.S.

Alternative Press Expo (APE), October 17-18: Batton will be a special guest at APE 2009, held at the Concourse Exhibition Center in San Francisco. Batton and Jackie have been attending APE of and on since its beginnings back in 1994 and the founding of Exhibit A Press. Others 2009 guests include Jeff Smith (Bone), Dash Shaw (Bottomless Bellybutton), and Dean Haspiel (Billy Dogma).

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Monsterpalooza, Burbank, CA, May 29-31: Batton and Jackie had fun at the first ever Monsterpalooza. The Exhibit A booth was situated between actor Sid Haig (he's a pussycat!) and the legendary Jim Warren (Warren Publications: Famous Monsters of Filmland, Creepy, Eerie, Vampirella, and The Spirit Magazine, to name a few). Check out the photos!



WonderCon, San Francisco, February 27 through March 1: Batton and Jackie had their best WonderCon ever. People were looking for bargains, and Exhibit A had them. Plus Batton was selling one-of-a-kind original mini-paintings of monsters that turned out to be very popular. The show was packed, especially on Saturday, and had plenty of cosplayers on hand. Check out our photos from the weekend!

SPX (Small Press Expo), Bethesda, MD., October 4-5: Jackie and Batton had a fantastic time at this year's event. The energy level was high all weekend, and Exhibit A sold out of many of the books brought for the show. This was also the debut of The Soddyssey, And Other Tales of Supernatural Law. Batton was able to present a copy to Mitch Berger, to whom the book is dedicated. Mitch is the longtime legal consultant for Supernatural Law. Jackie was asked to be a presenter at the Ignatz Awards on Saturday night. The awards ceremony went at a brisk pace, as MC Heidi MacDonald and the rest of the crew wanted to get to the fountain of chocolate waiting for everyone at the after-awards party. For highlights of the show, see the Flickr set below.

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What Say You? Join the Supernatural Law Online Forum! Now you can talk about Wolff & Byrd, Supernatural Law, the online stories and more in the brand-new Supernatural Law forum! Have a question for Batton? Ask away! Want to share your insights? This is the place to do it! What say you?

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The New Hopeville Comics Batton had the opportunity to do the poster and postcard for a new limited-engagement Off-Broadway musical, The New Hopeville Comics. This rock opera has a premise that comics fans will find intriguing: What happens to a town dependent on a superhero to take care of all their problems when he suddenly dies? The original book is by Nate Weida and Sara Donnell, with music and direction by Weida. Click here for their production blog.

Batton on Archie: Freshman Year In fall of 2008 Batton wrote a five-issue miniseries for Archie Comics that ran in the ongoing Archie title (issues #587-#591). That miniseries has now been collected into a trade paperback: The High School Chronicles: Archie Freshman Year. In this series Batton reveals what happened with Archie and gang back in the first year in high school. The art is by Bill Galvan, who also came up with the idea for the miniseries. Order directly from Exhibit A for the cover price of $10.95! Get The High School Chronicles: Archie Freshman Year Today! Quantity:  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Batton & Jackie Interview

Jackie and Batton were interviewed by Ned Cato for a special program on Will Eisner at GeekRoundtable.com. Listen to this podcast to learn about Will as Batton's teacher at the School of Visual Arts and how Jackie came to be the Eisner Awards administrator.

Still available from TwoMorrows:

I Have to Live with This Guy by Blake Bell.

Blake has interviewed the wives or significant others of 15 comics creators about what it's like to share a life with a creative person. The chapter on Jackie and Batton is one of the longest in the book and includes lots of photos and art. The original interview with Jackie, which had to be abridged quite a bit for the book, can be found here, along with some rare art pieces. Among the other couples featured are Will and Ann Eisner, Joe and Muriel Kubert, Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie, Dan and Josie DeCarlo, Stan and Joan Lee, and Dave Sim and Deni Loubert. Check it out!

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32 pages, $3.50 Click here to Order!

Mavis #5: "Weird Eye for the Normal Guy" It's about time! This is the first new Mavis issue in a while, and it's a goodun'! Mavis gets to leave work early for once and plans to spend the evening with her main squeeze, Taylor Christopher. But she has forgotten a prior promise to an old high school friend to attend a birthday party for the friend's "problem child" brother. Mavis and Taylor decide to drop in on the party just to put in an appearance -- but the evening takes a weird turn that nobody could have expected! Special appearance by regular Wolff & Byrd clients The Creeps. This issue's cover is an homage to a classic John Stanley Little Lulu cover; the cover was designed by Batton, with art by Archie artist Bill Galvan.

Supernatural Law: "Wolff & Byrd: The Movie" While they're in Hollywood on behalf of their vampire client (see Supernatural Law #1 at the Box Office), Alanna Wolff and Jeff Byrd find out that a movie is being made based on their law firm. Who's behind it? What's got them frightened? You'll need to read the issue to find out! Plus: guest pinups, letters page, recommendations, and more! 32 pages, $3.50 Click here to Order!

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Yes, at last a Mavis T-shirt in women's sizes! This is a white shirt that comes in S, M, L, and XL. They're Hanes shirts from Graphitti, so you know they're good quality! Yours for only $17.95! Click here to Order!

"You're Going to Hear from My Lawyers!" Also from Graphitti is the new Supernatural Law T: "You're Going to Hear from My Lawyers!" On Navy blue, the S, M, L, and XL shirts are $17.95; XXL shirts are $20.95. Click here to Order!

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Tales of Supernatural Law

Here it is–the long-awaited first volume in the Tales of Supernatural Law trade paperback series. This book collects issues 1 through 8 of the comic book series. All of the stories have been relettered and retoned, and Batton has redrawn a number of panels throughout. This book features the introduction of such regular characters as Toby Bascoe, Dawn DeVine, and Chase Hawkins, and Sodd, The Thing That's an It. Stories include "The Curse of the Werehouse," "The Zombies Strike at Midnight," "The Man Who Broke the Laws of Gravity," "A Host of Horrors," "The Model Client," "It Stalks the Public Domain," "I, Sodd," "I Turned a Dream Date into a Nightmare," and "BarCon."

"Supernatural Law serves as a refreshing respite from the pretentiousness that's found in mainstream comics these days. Like the best humor comics, Lash's collection proves to be more about fun - whether in the shape of a sultry supermodel or a ghoulish television host - than serious commentary. And that's far from criminal."
--Publisher's Weekly

"This is delicious stuff. ... Wordplay that just won't stop, Lash's Archie- meets-the-Addams-Family drawing style, and a continuing cast of recurrent clients, fellow lawyers, and others ensure a steady stream of groans, shrieks, moans, and roars –– of laughter."
--Ray Olson, Booklist

"This is substantial and entertaining book that's bound to entertain legal eagles and general readers alike."
--Tom McLean, Bags & Boards, Variety.com

"Cleverly written and with a cartoony, yet polished style of art, Tales of Supernatural is a blast to read, filled with monsters, innuendo and inside jokes. A true hit in the field of small press comics!"
--Tim Janson, Amazon.com

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Bongo Comics Featuring Radioactive Man

The Great, Extreme, Ultimate and Totally Awesome Radioactive Man Event

Batton has been the writer of Radioactive Man stories for Bongo Comics (publishers of The Simpsons) since 2000. Original a standalone title, "Radioactive Man" has now been folded into Bongo's Simpsons Super Spectacular anthology. Now comes the biggest Radioactive Man story yet, spanning three titles to be published over three weeks in June 2009. With art by Tone Rodriguez, the story crosses over from Simpsons Comics #155 to Bart Simpson #48 to Simpsons Super Spectacular #9, with a triptych of Bill Morrison covers. Don't miss this big summer event! And check out the interview Batton did with Diamond Comics' Previews.

Simpsons Super Spectacular #5 In this issue Batton collaborated with Silver Age Great Ramona Fradon for a parody of her classic series Metamorpho. Turn to page 17 for "Mufelatto: The Aliment Man"! Simpsons Super Spectacular #1 cover featuring Radioactive Man

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