SamKieth.com has been registered and is now under construction. Keep a look out for it, being that it is soon to be the NEW OFFICIAL Sam Kieth website.

TOP SECRET News at SamKieth.com:

It's not really Top Secret, I just want you to go to the new site for the information. Quick, go check it out now by clicking here.

-Shaughn

Wow. Another update within a week? Does this mean the end of the world?

Sam Inteview:

In:developement, an e-zine, recently Interviewed Sam. Go check out the interview here.

-Shaughn

I'll let Sam start this update off: "Sorry for the looooong delay everybody!" Sam just sent me a few goodies for me to post here! So here we go.

NEW COMIC, Zero Girl:

Sam says, "I'm half way through the second Issue of my 5 Issue mini series, but it's more through wildstorm, than Image, but It's still basically me. Me and Jim that is. It was the alls furr thing, but now it's called Zero Girl, which sounds better, doesn't it? It's a LOT more realistic (lotta photo ref) than my usual stuff. Everybody says it looks like 'I care' about these books, which pisses me off, since I DID care about legs too! You've been beyond loyal, and my best way of making it up to you, (since you'll all have balding hairlines and kids before I make it into the movies) is to get these Issues finished. I really want to do something good again."

Don't Let Go, name change, etc.:

"Burton and Gilliam have nothing to fear, believe me," says Sam with a grin. The film is now called "Take It To The Limit," and should be released in a couple of months.

Sam also brings us a look at "Take It"'s cover. "...or the current one. Roger is working on a new cover that he said he wants to look more like Mission Impossible posters!" sam adds.

-Shaughn

March 28, 1999 - Not much of an update at all. 

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December 10, 1999 - Legs Shipping Wednesday! 

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Cheap and short update today, just got some stuff from Wizard and a very pathetic mention in Comic Shop News.

Wizard Report:

A bunch of tiny mentions in this months Wizard. (#100)

Page 84 - 88:

Here's all the good Mentions in THE IMAGE TIMELINE (a look at Image Comics' most memorable moments):

1993:
JANUARY - Darker Image #1
MARCH - Image's "next generation" begins: The Maxx, Bloodstrike, Trencher and Tribe; ...
AUGUST - Image drops all non-founder books (Tribe, Trencher, Shaman's Tears, etc.) except The Maxx and Pitt, claiming low sales, lateness and not fitting into the company's superhero vision.
DECEMBER - ... Darker Image #2 still hasn't shipped.

1994:
DECEMBER - ... still no Darker Image #2.

1995:
APRIL - "The Maxx" cartoon debuts on MTV.
OCTOBER - No Darker Image #2 sightings yet.

1996:
DECEMBER - ... forget about Darker Image #2.

1997:
DECEMBER - ... Darker Image #2 still hasn't shipped.

1998:
DECEMBER - Nope, still no Darker Image #2.

1999:
DECEMBER - Darker Image #2 looking hopeless.

2000:
DECEMBER - Darker Image #2? Ha.

(There is a picture of Darker Image #1 on page 86)

Page 153:

newreleases

SAM STORIES: LEGS (Image)
Sam "Foot Fetish" Kieth's story about a boy and his alien pet. And he will be cleaning up after it. $2.50 (late Dec.)

Page 187:

WIZARDFACTS
MAJOR MOMENTS IN WIZARD HISTORY

GIVIN' IT AWAY
Looking to expand its source of income, Wizard Press (later to become Wizard Entertainment) strikes a deal with Sam Kieth to produce an original comic on his new Image character The Maxx and offer it exclusive through Wizard. Fans had to cut out the coupon in Wiz, send it our way along with some dough and BANG!, instant collectible funnybook. The venture was so successful that it continues to this day along with exclusive action figures through Wizard's sister magazine ToyFare.

(This piece is accompanied by a picture of a Captian Picard and Stone Cold Steve Austin action figures standing on top of a copy of The Maxx 1/2)

CSN's in depth coverage:

Here is all Comic Shop News had to say about Legs.

Issue #650, page 6:

FIRST FAVES
(THE BEST FIRST ISSUES DECEMBER HAD TO OFFER!)

[] SAM STORIES: LEGS Image OCT990883 $2.50
New story by Sam Kieth

(Yipes, maybe I should have put a spoiler message up there, I think they give away too much detail as to what this comic is about. feh.)

Sorry folks, for the lack of updates. Thankfully Sam popped in with an e-mail to me, so I have to get off my ass and get this update up today.

Legs Update:

Sam has brought us a little preview of things to come. Sam had this to say:

"Here's a peek at Legs."

(click on image for very large version)

"I know Legs may seem like a let-down after waiting so long for a book from me, but I had fun drawing it. It's not as deep as some character driven stuff I've done, but it's still cool to just draw goofy shit again!"

Doesn't appear to be a let down to me, at all.

"Don't Let Go," that Roger Corman flick:

"I'm (finally) done with the Corman movie," says Sam. "It's more of a family pic then his usual horror fair. It's called 'Don't Let Go,' and it stars this Leo Fitzpatrick dude, who was in the movie, 'Kids.' The rest of the cast is unknowns. I'm not knocking the rest of the crew, all of whom worked very hard under EXTREMELY low budget conditions, but don't expect Citizen Cane here. ;-)"

"It'll be a loooooong time till I figure out what the hell I'm doing in film, believe me. But I'm grateful to Corman for giving me the chance to learn on his dime."

Soccer Queen Update:

"The Soccer Queen is being kicked around independent film circles, but is otherwise in development hell," says Sam. Which is a damn shame.

Broadminded starring Tom Sizemore?:

"Tom Sizemore has the Broadminded script (or actually the comic)," says Sam "and his agent say he's interested in producing projects he would star in, but I'm probably dreaming. He's pretty much beyond my league. When I saw him in 'Bringing out the Dead,' I knew he'd make a killer Charlie..."

Let's all cross our fingers, for Sam.

Fred Flower and Uncle Italian Moose, the animated series:

Looks like I might be getting one of my wishes. Warner Brothers has commisioned an animated pilot for Fred Flower and Uncle Italian Moose. Looks like there will be more to watch than Cow and Chicken anymore. :) Sam had this to say, "[it's] kinda cool --beats a kick in the head." Let's hope Sam has another successful cartoon here.

Belated Wizard Updates:

Sorry, because of time problems combined with ISP problems I'm just getting to these:

Wizard #99 - Page 32 and 33:

FIRST LOOK2
LEGS
'Maxx' creator Sam Kieth struts back to comics after years of film work with an Image one-shot
BY JIM McLAUCHLIN

He didn't need the money. He didn't need the creative control. So why did former Maxx creator Sam Kieth come home to comics after a self-imposed two-year exile?

"I just missed them," says the writer/artist, who returns to comics in December with his new Image Comics one-shot Legs, a book about a boy and his living machine creature. "He's part animal, part machine, and just so cool to draw."

Feeling "burned out" with The Maxx and MTV's successful "Maxx" cartoon, Kieth left comics to pursue a film career in Europe. But the idea of Legs kept strutting through his mind. It tells the story ofa teenage boy who putts around on a motorized skateboard. One day, the boy--who Kieth says will remain unnamed to help the reader imagine themselves in the story--uncovers a box in an old garage. In the box: Legs, a giant, living engine-creature capable of great speeds. "Legs is last in the line of his race," Kieth explains. "It's amazing how much an engine runs like the human body. If an engine were alive, what would it look like? This is my answer."

The boy treats Legs "like a cross between pet and project," according to Kieth. "He loves it like a dog, but he's also a kind of grease-monkey kid, so he wants to take it apart and tinker with it."

Trouble hits when a group of older teenagers steal Legs. After the boy fights to get Legs back, he has to decide if he should keep Legs. "The kid has always dreamed of speed," Kieth notes. "but this may be too much power."

Since announcing his return, Kieth has already been approached by DC to do a Batman project. "I feel like I should do my own characters," Kieth says. "But I may try it. Why shouldn't I do Batman if I have a good idea?"

Either way, he's proven he has the legs to make things happen

SPEED FREAK The hero of Sam Kieth's new one-shot loves to go fast, but Legs could be more speed then he can handle.

START YOUR ENGINES

THE DILLY-O
After a self-imposed two-year exile, Sam Kieth is back in comics with Legs, the tale of a young boy and the engine pet that he loves.

WHY YOU CARE
Kieth's a graduate of the second Image Comics class of 1992 and fans take to his quirky, dynamic storytelling style.

DID YOU KNOW?
Kieth's brief fling with film came courtesy of producer Roger Corman, master of the B-movie. After an aborted attempt directing a horror movie that turned into a kickboxing movie (Really!), Kieth finally fulfilled his contract by directing "Don't Let Go," a rock-climbing movie available on videoin January 2000.

COULD'VE HAD A V-8 Legs is a giant engine come to life. But we dont wanna ever check his oil.

Wizard #2000 - Page 76:

Under a section entitled "Whatever Happened to...?" we find the following:

THE MAXX This quirky Image comic spawned its own MTV cartoon and with issue #35 in 1998, then it vanished. "I didn't have any more story to tell," creator Sam Kieth says. "I really needed to stop doing the book; I was more interested in telling stories that had nothing to do with the Maxx." Kieth, working on a Legs one-shot for Image, says, "If I do go back to the Maxx, it'll be 10 years later. It'll be when I have something to say."

Oooo, more Legs :):

Okay, one last Legs pic before we go. This one comes from previews:

-Shaughn

Hey, got some quick updates for ya people.

First off, you guys deserve an apology. It was Alex and I's intent to keep you guys updated on everything going on in Sam Kieth's wiggly world. We failed at that. Now is when that changes. Welcome to the NEW and (slightly) IMPROVED I.D.A. Today marks the start of several changes of look, and of intent. First of all, you'll notice it's now IDA: The Official Sam Kieth Webpage, and no longer the Official Maxx Webpage. The idea now is that this page is about Sam Kieth, no matter what project he is doing at the time. And now, on with catching you up:

 

-Shaughn