Independent Comics Thread

Topic

This is the thread to talk about comics that aren’t DC or Marvel Comics.

Replies

[njerry]

I read the first arc of TWO MOONS and really enjoyed it. It’s a horror story that takes place during the American Civil War. The two main characters are a Native American raised by a white family and now fighting for the North in the Civil War, and an Irish immigrant working as a nurse for wounded Union soldiers. The first arc sets up the story and has a significant good-vs-evil battle that points the way to how the series will progress in the immediate future.

I’ve been a fan of John Arcudi’s writing as Mike Mignola’s primary co-writer in the early days of the various Hellboy Universe titles, so I expected something interesting here; but I was really blown away by the artwork of Valerio Giangiordano, whose previous work I’m not familiar with. If you’re thinking about buying the first TPB next week, you’ve got my recommendation.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by njerry.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Ben, Vikram

Todd wrote:

But today, it feels dated.

It does really, the newsletter kind of predates message boards like this which are now considered dated.

I suppose they have found a way to monetise that and maybe the target audience is very small and they don’t necessarily mind. Similarly to Patreon, Kickstarter or Only Fans the audiences are generally very small but the payment is direct and they pay higher than normal.

I listen to a podcast and they’ve now hidden the number but I worked out that at an average sub of 6 pounds a month just around 4,000 subs were bringing them in over $250,000 a year. So depending on the model 4000 customers for a comic would struggle to break even, 4000 paying $7 directly is a lot of money.

I just googled a random Kickstarter and only 625 backers brought the guy in $35,000

1 user thanked author for this post.

Todd

Chip Zdarsky seems to be another sub-stacker. And his work may migrate there. Unless his newsletter was a big joke, its hard to tell with Chip, er?

However, as a digital comic buyer, the emerging pricing does not feel good or right. I’m assuming they are looking to eat the digital comic market; but charging the price of 2 digital comics but honestly likely to be delivering less I’m not seeing the value. I’m not really interested in paying for marketing, nor zoom chats with creators, or variant covers. Or newsletters…

Newsletters: I like Chip’s newsletter, but like Brubaker’s and Gillen, it’s mostly a way for them to sell me things –  Ellis’s was far more interesting and well-rounded (even if he was not), Gillen used to share a lot on tumblr, and Paul Cornell’s has a personal touch I scroll down to every week.

SO who would I pay for? I do have people in Patreon: Finder creator Carla Speed McNeil has been creating pretty unique work for a long time – I really want that to continue. Brandon Graham experiments with form and operational models and he so should have a substack where he can share and curate – he seems good at that.

Hopping back to pricing. They posture to sell goods for cash but there seems no guarentees that they will produce much for the cash, what my cash does is sponsor them to develop as a business person and find an operating model to tell stories. Without a real stake, I don’t think I’m game

 

2 users thanked author for this post.

Dave, Todd

The newsletter model seems pretty well suited, to be fair, to the Hickman style of storytelling. Brief pages of comic book work, interspersed with pages of text, and diagrams, and schematics.

Dan wrote:

Chip Zdarsky seems to be another sub-stacker. And his work may migrate there. Unless his newsletter was a big joke, its hard to tell with Chip, er?

He’s said he’s using it to bring back Kaptara, his creator-owned series with Kagan McLeod. I like Chip, but wasn’t into that series much, so I’m fine ignoring it.

Dan wrote:

Hopping back to pricing. They posture to sell goods for cash but there seems no guarentees that they will produce much for the cash, what my cash does is sponsor them to develop as a business person and find an operating model to tell stories. Without a real stake, I don’t think I’m game

It should be pointed out for the people taking the deals with Substack, for the first year, very little of your money goes to the creators. They get paid by Substack and Substack takes most of the subscriber income. For the next year, the creators will make pretty much the same amount whether people subscribe or not.

[Rocket]

Have anyone seen anything about Substack’s history? before they went after the comics market they were working with racists and Transphobes. I am not sure that the money they are throwing at creators is all that clean. I don’t want to pile on because I have made my opinion known but i think the more you know the better decisions you can make. I have done no research and my source(twitter) is probably biased.
I surprised that people like Tynion IV who is out and proud would be ok with taking $ probably gained from trans/homophobes but I do not know the whole story.

Also, would you be ok giving $ to an organization built on the money of transphobes.

https://twitter.com/alexdecampi/status/1425872496637538309?s=20 Author Alex de Campi discusses what she knows about Substack.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by Rocket.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Todd

Dan wrote:

However, as a digital comic buyer, the emerging pricing does not feel good or right. I’m assuming they are looking to eat the digital comic market; but charging the price of 2 digital comics but honestly likely to be delivering less I’m not seeing the value. I’m not really interested in paying for marketing, nor zoom chats with creators, or variant covers.

It’ll be interesting how it pans out. It could be it’s a place for ardent fans to get first access.

They have already said they retain print rights so I expect a lot of this stuff to end up at Image eventually. Digital is a bit more sketchy, would it end up on a Comixology or Panel Syndicate down the line? A lot of Kickstarters have also ended up eventually at publishing houses in a standard model.

After all digital comics now have a price tiering by time. For indie comics it is usually half price after a month or two or for Marvel and DC after 3 months you can get it all on a subscription service. Effectively I can read every single comic Marvel puts out in the next year, probably around 1000 comics, for the same price as the Tynion newsletter.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Dan, Todd

I saw Russel tweeting about sub-stack and them being anti-trans the other day, so I asked him about it. He sent me the below link.

https://gen.medium.com/substack-is-not-a-neutral-platform-8fc5bdf8e5f2

1 user thanked author for this post.

Rocket

paul f wrote:

Dan wrote:

Chip Zdarsky seems to be another sub-stacker. And his work may migrate there. Unless his newsletter was a big joke, its hard to tell with Chip, er?

He’s said he’s using it to bring back Kaptara, his creator-owned series with Kagan McLeod. I like Chip, but wasn’t into that series much, so I’m fine ignoring it.

Here’s Chip’s email from yesterday:

I’M GOING PRO!

Yep, that’s right! You may have heard of some other comic creators doing this in The New York Times this week. You didn’t read my name in that article because the quote I gave them was “Substack makes The New York Times look like The New York Time To Pack It In! And you can quote me on that! Legally you have to!”

So what am I even talking about? Well, I’m creating a branch of my newsletter that’ll be SUBSCRIBERS ONLY! It’s a way to create stuff directly for the people in my life that mean more to me than my family or friends: you, the reader!

I’ll talk about the bigger picture stuff at the end of this post (will I stay on Batman or not), but for now, let me tell you what’s on offer!

COMICS!

So, last year I finished illustrating SEX CRIMINALS. It was bittersweet. The bitter was that I loved creating it and was sad to see it go. The sweet was that my hand was a mashed mess of mincemeat from drawing and colouring 31 issues of a book and it was nice to kick back and relax and instead write thirteen books for Marvel and DC.

But then I had an idea. And now, like an absolute moron, I’m destroying my hand again.

Introducing … PUBLIC DOMAIN!

My new series that I’m writing and illustrating! PUBLIC DOMAIN is about a family of comic creators wrestling with their greatest creation and the people who lay claim to it. It’s a look at the industry through a fractured family and will feature a comic book artist nemesis named Brian Stegman.

I’ll be posting everything here along the way: the process, the scenes, the final books. It’s a chance to breathe life into the monthly comics grind by showing you all what goes into a comic. It’s mostly tracing photos of hands, but still!

And that’s not ALL!

Everywhere I go people ask me about whether or not I’ll be quitting Batman. And then they ask me about KAPTARA, my Image series with Kagan McLeod. We put out our first volume several years ago and it’s one of my favourite things I’ve ever been associated with. But, life gets in the way and volume two stalled.

UNTIL NOW.

That’s right! We’re back! KAPTARA, our grand, sci-fi, muscley adventure continues right here on Substack! Kagan has been producing gorgeous pages and I’ve been writing “interesting” words and we’ll be posting the results here for you, along with a handy catch-up guide for the uninitiated!

Beyond that, we’re making bite-size KAPTARA CHUCKLES installments with up-and-coming creators and old-and-grizzled creators! So many comics!

I’m sure a lot of you are wondering: will these also be in print? Probably! At some point! Do you have any leads on publishers??

Look, comics are all well and good, but what ELSE is on offer?

THE NEW COMIC CONVENTION!

Look, I don’t like saying it, but I’m done with comic conventions. I loved doing them, but I really don’t see the world returning to normal any time soon. I got bad lungs, old parents, and I can’t participate in events that bring together thousands of people.

Am I a loser? Sure. Am I being overly cautious? Maybe. Am I a loser? I already fucking said so, just back off, okay?

So what this means is, zdarsky.substack.com is going to be my home for all the things you used to get at conventions, beside twenty dollar hot dogs (for now).

SIGNINGS!

I’ve teamed up with Comic Sketch Art to do mail-in signings! These opportunities will be for my annual subscribers with limits of 10 regular copies and 10 CGC copies a year. If you don’t know what CGC is then god bless you I wish I were you

PANELS!

I’ll be doing ZOOM PANELS to better connect with human beings! Human beings like … YOU? These will be open to 100 people, first-come, first-serve, and I’ll gladly answer questions and talk about all of my various projects, except for whether or not I’m quitting Batman.

SKETCHES!

One of my favourite things to do at shows were my brush and ink character head sketches. Since I stopped doing shows I find myself wandering the streets and asking people if they’d like an “Iron Man head” and getting no positive response.

So I’m doing them for YOU! I’ll be periodically drawing these medium-quality sketches and then randomly giving them out to my annual subscribers!

So, yeah! Just like a comic convention! Except you won’t accidentally run into Mark Waid and have to listen to his Justcie Society theories! Nice!

So … what ELSE?

VARIANTS!

That’s right! I’m a real entrepreneur now! I’ll be offering Annual and Chipnuts (I’ll explain later) subscribers the chance to purchase EXCLUSIVE variants of my upcoming books! The first one will be real soon for a new ongoing Image book I’m launching! I can’t say anything about it just yet, but the logo is … below!

What are CHIPNUTS variants? I TOLD you I’ll tell you in a bit. Calm down.

I’m planning to do several of these over the next year, all illustrated and designed by me! They’ll look nice, I promise!

So, what else??

VIDEOS!

I’ll be posting a BUNCH of videos, with tips and tricks and chuckles! They’ll be professionally made, not like my usual garbage, and they’ll be just for you! Yes, you!

Wow, what a hunk!!!

So, what ELSE????

STUFF FOR YOU TO STEAL

Look, a large reason for me doing this is to take a nice, loooong break from Twitter. I know, I know, I’m very good at it. But it’s destroying my brain! So this will be the only spot online where you can read my “jokes.” But not only that, I’ll be posting tweets here EXCLUSIVELY for you to claim as your own on twitter.com! Here’s an example:

Is Superman the mask or is Clark Kent the mask? Um, neither, they’re both human faces, you freak

Is it mine? Nope! It’s yours! Enjoy!

What else?

COMMUNITY!

Like I said, I’m taking time off from twitter. So this will be the place to comment on things, get answers from me, tell me you like me but just as a friend. I want the comments section to feel robust and safe and fun! Until I yell at you for putting a hyphen in Spiderman!

SPECIAL THANKS!

Everyone who signs up for an Annual or Chipnuts subscription on Day One will get a personal thank you video from me whether you want it or not tbh

Okay, so that’s what’s happening! I’ll still be posting my public newsletters, letting you know what’s on sale, etc. But the BIG STUFF is going to be for the subscribers! Below are the various levels of support!

MONTHLY LEVEL—US$7/month: You get all the posts! Full of comics and fun and videos and big zoomz and all that jazz!
ANNUAL LEVEL—US$70/year: All of the above plus signing and variant opportunities!
CHIPNUTS LEVEL—US$250/year: You’re a CHIPNUT! You get everything! All of the above plus exclusive zoom hangouts and TWO copies of the super rare CHIPNUT IMAGE VARIANT that will only be available through here! Plus, REMARKS (li’l sketches on variants! Plus future SEEEECRET things!
And that’s that!

Look, I’ve never done a Kickstarter. Or a Patreon. This is my big leap into crowdfunding and direct reader-supported work. I’m excited to do this and show you what we’re working on. If you support me at any level I swear I won’t let you down again, Janice. Ah! Sorry, reflex. I swear I won’t let you down, reader.

Also, I’d like to announce that I’m quitting Batman (Batman: Urban Legends, final issue of my storyline in stores this week! No, they didn’t ask me to do more.)

Finally, I noticed fellow Substack Professional Molly Ostertag is donating her subscriber money to charity and I think that’s a swell idea. So I’m going to do the same. Because this year has been generously funded by a Substack grant, I’m going to donate my portion of the year’s subscription money to Rainbow Railroad, a great non-profit that works to help LGBTQI+ people who face persecution globally find safety. It’s a great organization.

One of the times I donated to them was after I co-wrote a Hulking book for Marvel with Anthony Oliveira. I donated my writing fee because, really, Anthony wrote the damned thing, while I just cheer-led and gave bad notes. I donated in his name since he refused to take the money and the fine folks at Rainbow Railroad thought he died. I’M SO SORRY ANTHONY.

Okay! Let’s do this!

Bye!

This is what he sent out today:

Wow, yesterday was WILD. It brought a tear to my admittedly usually-moist eye seeing how many people are in for this ride. Next week is going to be full of fun and comics and announcements and I’m thrilled you’ll be a part of it.

And to those who opted to not sign up for the paid subscription: I get it. I’m not worth it. You’re just agreeing with me on a fundamental level. And, really, times are tough and money’s tight. $70 a year is a lot! I mean, when you think about it it’s $5.83 a month, but still. Though when you really break it down it’s $1.46 a week. Which isn’t nothing! But I guess when you break THAT down to twenty cents a day it seems almost fine. Kind of crazy to think that’s .008 cents a day…

GOD I’M JUST KIDDING CALM DOWN!! I’m still excited you’re still up for the free newsletter which will still be hitting your inbox weekly, though maybe with 10% less zip!

I love all of you. Yeah, even you.

LET’S DO THIS!

Love,
Chip!

Looking at Chip’s pricing:

MONTHLY LEVEL—US$7/month: You get all the posts! Full of comics and fun and videos and big zoomz and all that jazz!

ANNUAL LEVEL—US$70/year: All of the above plus signing and variant opportunities!

CHIPNUTS LEVEL—US$250/year: You’re a CHIPNUT! You get everything! All of the above plus exclusive zoom hangouts and TWO copies of the super rare CHIPNUT IMAGE VARIANT that will only be available through here! Plus, REMARKS (li’l sketches on variants! Plus future SEEEECRET things!
And that’s that!

“Signing and variant opportunities” sounds like someone would have to pay for those, above the regular payments. I could be mistaken though.

I guess if you’re a Chip fan, those are some great incentives. I assume the other talents that were signed may offer similar tiers and benefits. Opportunities to directly interact with your favorite creators is a cool thing.

Dan mentioned price point. If creators are also offering various incentives along with comics, I think we could see changes in what is offered (or not) as time goes on if people start dropping out. It also means they will have to dedicate chunks of their time to what is essentially PR.

This whole thing sounds like Patreon but the main product (the comic book) is delivered in a potentially unsatisfying format. The creators may be better off doing a Patreon in the long run.

I truly wish everyone success and hope I’m wrong but I’m just not convinced this is a “game changer” for the comics industry.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Dave, njerry

@anders that is the same link that is in de Campi’s tweet. thanks for putting the actual link .

1 user thanked author for this post.

Tynion addresses the Substack issue in his latest newsletter, FYI.

https://jamestynioniv.substack.com/p/goodbye-twitter?r=37dmg&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email&utm_source=copy

3 users thanked author for this post.

Todd, Ben

I detest social media — facebook, instagram, twitter, and the rest — but I can’t say I’m particularly enamored with these pay-to-play subscription models like Substack, Patreon, and OnlyFans.

If this takes off, you’re potentially paying hundreds of dollars a month to get the occasional e-mail or message from your favorite creator. And, since everyone is pre-paying, it gives the creators every incentive to slack off, and suddenly those twenty-two pages a month for $8 become ten pages a month for $8. And then there’s going to be a month where you get nothing but apologies that this month’s installment is late and assurances that it will be worth the wait when it comes out next month.

 

2 users thanked author for this post.

Rocket, Todd

Vikram wrote:

Tynion addresses the Substack issue in his latest newsletter, FYI.

https://jamestynioniv.substack.com/p/goodbye-twitter?r=37dmg&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email&utm_source=copy

I don’t quite buy his arguments here. Saying Substack is better than Twitter because you don’t have to read all the awful stuff on there if you don’t want to ignores that Substack is giving these people money, and the opportunity to make more money. Just because you’re not looking at it doesn’t mean it’s not there.

Twitter’s a bad app, but nobody’s getting rich on there.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Todd

I agree. It seems a bit of a weak argument. But, it’s the one he’s given to justify taking their money and as he’s in one of the affected minorities I’m sure that this is something he has thought a lot about, and must be comfortable with.

Vikram wrote:

I agree. It seems a bit of a weak argument. But, it’s the one he’s given to justify taking their money and as he’s in one of the affected minorities I’m sure that this is something he has thought a lot about, and must be comfortable with.

People will be comfortable with a lot of things if you offer them a six-figure sum.

3 users thanked author for this post.

Rocket, Todd, Sean Robinson

2 users thanked author for this post.

Todd, Sean Robinson

Jason wrote:

I detest social media — facebook, instagram, twitter, and the rest — but I can’t say I’m particularly enamored with these pay-to-play subscription models like Substack, Patreon, and OnlyFans.

If this takes off, you’re potentially paying hundreds of dollars a month to get the occasional e-mail or message from your favorite creator. And, since everyone is pre-paying, it gives the creators every incentive to slack off, and suddenly those twenty-two pages a month for $8 become ten pages a month for $8. And then there’s going to be a month where you get nothing but apologies that this month’s installment is late and assurances that it will be worth the wait when it comes out next month.

 

I think the big draw with this, Patreon, and the like are the incentives and exclusive content. You get your comic book each month plus special behind the scenes content, private Zoom gatherings, special newsletters, and the like.

Here’s me being the grumpy old man: Instead of one comic with all kinds of extra content for $7 per month, why not just do two comics per month and drop all of the incentives?

But here’s the really big elephant in the room: What if you simply don’t care for the comic book? No creator bats 1000 and even your favorite ones put out material you just don’t connect with. All of the incentives and bonus products aren’t going to save a book you don’t care for. Whether hard copy or digital, I can try the first issue and if you don’t like it, your commitment to the title ends right there. With Substack and Partreon, yeah you can go the monthly payment route but that’s almost always an automatic recurring charge. I’m not sure if you can freeze your account until some new comes along that may interest you. And what if the premise of the book just doesn’t grab you from the outset? I’ve passed on many a title by talent I really like simply because the story didn’t appeal to me. And don’t titles typically lose readers the longer they go? What these creators are doing are basically subscriptions that may not be easy to get out of.

Additionally, with creator-owned series, they usually take a break between arcs. Typically, it’s to give the artist a break then get a head start on the next arc. I would think with the Substack deal, the creators will rotate or stagger titles so there’s always new content each month. That means the writers will not just have to be writing books, but also providing extra content every month. That’s in addition to managing press and scheduling artists and other services necessary for the production of a comic book. I think it was mentioned that they wouldn’t have editors so they are doing everything themselves. That is a whole lot to manage. This isn’t writers writing solely text (columns, articles, and essays) like I’m guessing most Substack content providers do.

Yeah, this is going to be an interesting experiment.

As I said though I’m not sure this is designed to appeal to anyone other than hardcore fans of that creator.

They’ve already said down the line they’ll have print rights so you can read a review and the decide to buy a trade.

 

1 user thanked author for this post.

Todd

Pretty much, which is where a story might get my interest.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Sean Robinson, garjones

Taking all this money and becoming much more exclusive makes me wonder what the experience these writers will get when they go to their next convention?  protests against Substack’s history? backlash against creators for taking the money and running? VIP treatment for subscribers and isolating fans who can’t or won’t pay for a subscription?

Rocket wrote:

Hopefully Tynion learned from Thrillbent but I am reminded of Santayana’s quote.

Speaking of this the other man involved in that panel is coming back to DC

https://www.cbr.com/dc-mark-waid-returns-2022/

I hope Tynion has a good investment strategy because if Substack crashes and burns, he may be the face people place on the disaster.

Rocket wrote:

Taking all this money and becoming much more exclusive makes me wonder what the experience these writers will get when they go to their next convention?  protests against Substack’s history? backlash against creators for taking the money and running? VIP treatment for subscribers and isolating fans who can’t or won’t pay for a subscription?

If they want my money, they issue a trade.

If they don’t do that, someone else will and they’ll get my money instead.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Dave, Rocket

Brian Michael Bendis Moves His Jinxworld Line to Dark Horse

Among the centerpieces of the deal is Bendis’ upcoming new series Joy Operations, due out in November. Created with Wonder Twins artist Stephen Byrne, Joy Operations takes place 55 years in the future. It centers on Joy, who is EN.VOI — special agent of one of the Jonado Trust. In this world, trusts are corporate-owned cities for whom she rights its wrongs. She is a legendary figure in some parts due to her job, until one day she hears a voice in her head urging her to betray here everything she has ever believed.

“I am so happy to be working with Brian, Alisa [Bendis, Jinxworld publisher], and their roster of insanely talented co-creators on these upcoming Jinxworld stories,” said Dark Horse’s Jinxworld editor, Daniel Chabon. “We have some really amazing books in the works right now and I can’t wait for folks to see what we have in store from them and Dark Horse’s expanding creator-owned universe.”

Other creators expected to team with Bendis in the Jinxworld playground include Alex Maleev and Jacob Edgar. Joy Operations No. 1 of five hits Nov. 17. The Pearl Vol. 1 trade paperback will be in stores in March 2022, with Vol. hitting a month later. Meanwhile, Powers: The Best Ever trade paperback arrive Jan. 26, 2022.

The last issue of Powers came out in May 2017. That was the eighth issue in 2.5 years (which isn’t awful, compared to other series).

2 users thanked author for this post.

Todd, Ben

The proof will be in the books or lack of.  I’d love it for Bendis to pull it off – finishing Scarlet, Powers then doing some new stuff.

He’s not focused on his creator owned work for years, but it could be great if he did.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Todd

Dark Horse are really making moves to strengthen their portfolio after losing the bulk of their licensed product over the last few years. Between this and the Snyder books they have some marque talent on their slate.

3 users thanked author for this post.

Todd, njerry, Ben

Rocket wrote:

Rocket wrote:

Hopefully Tynion learned from Thrillbent but I am reminded of Santayana’s quote.

Speaking of this the other man involved in that panel is coming back to DC

https://www.cbr.com/dc-mark-waid-returns-2022/

I hope Tynion has a good investment strategy because if Substack crashes and burns, he may be the face people place on the disaster.

Isn’t the Waid example exactly why Tynion doesn’t need to worry? Despite failed ventures like Thrillbent and going further and being publicly critical of Marvel and DC they still rehire him because he’s a very good comics writer.

If fans are getting angry that unless they pay the $7 they’ll have to read it in trade later then I think they need to get their life priorities in order. If they really don’t like it that much there are other things to read.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Rocket

paul f wrote:

The last issue of Powers came out in May 2017. That was the eighth issue in 2.5 years (which isn’t awful, compared to other series).

The hardback of The best Ever had a pile of new pages / story – about half? that came out in 2019/2020 – but it has to be said that the magic has long gone from Powers.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Todd

Dan wrote:

paul f wrote:

The last issue of Powers came out in May 2017. That was the eighth issue in 2.5 years (which isn’t awful, compared to other series).

The hardback of The best Ever had a pile of new pages / story – about half? that came out in 2019/2020 – but it has to be said that the magic has long gone from Powers.

The quality on Powers began going down when Bendis signed an exclusive with Marvel. The constant delays just destroyed an momentum he would build. And the stories were just not as good. I think the last one I read which was a take on 1990s comics just felt phoned in.

The exclusive contracts at Marvel and DC negatively impacted his creator-owned work as (rightly) his company work had to come first.

I have said for years that I think Bendis would benefit from leaving the Big Two and focus on his own creations with no corporate distractions. I hope signing with Dark Horse will reinvigorate him and he produces some great comics.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Vikram

The November 2021 Solicitation thread is up and running with:

Archie and Dark Horse

Lots more soon!

1 user thanked author for this post.

njerry

Todd wrote:

I have said for years that I think Bendis would benefit from leaving the Big Two and focus on his own creations with no corporate distractions. I hope signing with Dark Horse will reinvigorate him and he produces some great comics.

Yep. Hell, I may even get back into Powers. I stopped reading sometime around… uh… I don’t… well, at some point. Some stuff happened. I think Walker was a Green Lantern or something. And, like, other stuff was going on. Deena was, like falling apart and shit? Or maybe that was before the other thing?

…it’s been a while.

3 users thanked author for this post.

Sean Robinson, Todd, Ben

Image is up

1 user thanked author for this post.

njerry

Hickman and del Mundo have put out the first five comic pages of 3W3M: https://3w3m.substack.com/p/comic-001a-fable

As predicted, the format is not great for reading. A lot of the comments from people who’ve paid seem to be complaining about the quality/presentation, presumably varying by device.

Also, there’s several typos in there, such as “closet” instead of “closest” and “Fortranta base” and “Foriranta Base” (not sure which is correct).

paul f wrote:

Hickman and del Mundo have put out the first five comic pages of 3W3M: https://3w3m.substack.com/p/comic-001a-fable

As predicted, the format is not great for reading. A lot of the comments from people who’ve paid seem to be complaining about the quality/presentation, presumably varying by device.

Also, there’s several typos in there, such as “closet” instead of “closest” and “Fortranta base” and “Foriranta Base” (not sure which is correct).

I read it on my phone and that wasn’t a satisfying experience.

A strange effect I’ve found is that of online art preview imagery versus the actual printed product.  More often than not the latter looks far better than the online preview art suggests – see Bog Bodies.

Cult horror classic Fright Night resurrected with an official sequel – in comics

Todd wrote:

I read it on my phone and that wasn’t a satisfying experience.

Yes and essentially web based comics and pdf are things we really have moved on from. Applications like Comixology and cbr/cbz readers have the function of auto-fitting to the size of your device (with Comixology the guided view can make stuff readable on smaller devices).

This looks like early attempts like Freakangels 13 years ago.

 

 

1 user thanked author for this post.

Todd

garjones wrote:

This looks like early attempts like Freakangels 13 years ago.

Damn, where does the time go?

1 user thanked author for this post.

njerry

New Mignola:

https://www.cbr.com/dark-horse-mike-mignola-sir-edward-grey-acheron/

This December, Dark Horse Comics publishes Sir Edward Grey: Acheron, the first full-length comic book to be both written and illustrated by Hellboy creator Mike Mignola in five years.

“For the first time in five years, legendary Hellboy creator Mike Mignola is both writing and illustrating a full length comic book, one which provides the next chapter in the fabled Hellboy Universe,” Dark Horse said in an official press release. A one-shot story set after the events of B.P.R.D.: The Devil You Know, Sir Edward Grey: Acheron is scheduled for release this December. The book marks Mignola’s first full-length comic since 2016’s Hellboy in Hell.

3 users thanked author for this post.

Ben, njerry, Sean Robinson

The December Solicitation thread is up and running with Dark Horse and more.

1 user thanked author for this post.

njerry

INDIE COMIC SPOTLIGHT: THE FATE OF THE WORLD RESTS IN THE MIND OF BLUE FLAME’S BLUE COLLAR HERO

SERIES REVEAL: MEET THE TEEN VAMPIRE SUPERHEROES OF MARK MILLAR’S NEXT NETFLIX PROJECT ‘NIGHT CLUB’

His concept that nobody’s ever heard about before seems to have been thought of before in Blade. 😂

To be fair making it a teen superhero book is a newer twist but using vampire powers for heroism is something Blade and Angel fans will be familiar with.

3 users thanked author for this post.

Todd, DavidM

The best thing about this pitch is the title, which is actually pretty clever.

DavidM wrote:

The best thing about this pitch is the title, which is actually pretty clever.

It immediately reminded me of this.

6 users thanked author for this post.

Christian, Rocket, Sean Robinson, Todd, DavidM

Yeah, becoming a vampire and using the powers for good, is hardly an original idea. And announcing it with a bunch of variant covers rather than an actual artist, kind of rubs me the wrong way for some reason.

It’s not necessarily unfair if he hasn’t nailed down the penciller yet but it does seem rather premature to have promo material and no pages drawn yet.

That Mark Miller, he used to be the future you know.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Rocket, Todd

Evil Ernie Slashes Through the Snow This December!Scott Lobdell Leads New Title for 30th Anniversary

I always forget about Evil Ernie from that period of comically ultraviolent comics. He was kinda a combination of Johnny The Homicidal Maniac and The Crow. Suprised they never made a movie out of him.

My favorite whacked out weird hero from that period, though, is probably The Psycho from James Hudnall and Dan Brereton. Feels a lot like The Boys, but if the hero of the story was The Mask.

Ian Smith wrote:

Yeah, becoming a vampire and using the powers for good, is hardly an original idea

Or a werewolf. I remember Humberto Ramos’ CRIMSON was all over the place back in the day, but don’t hear much about it anymore. Essentially, it took Spider-Man, Angel and Spawn, and threw it into a blender with a lot of Catholic theology.

Of course, Morbius The Living Vampire was possibly the first vampire superhero I can recall.

3 users thanked author for this post.

Todd, njerry, Vikram

SERIES REVEAL: MECHS VS. KAIJU VS. FAMILY DRAMA IN TRES DEAN’S NEW VAULT COMICS SERIES ‘WE RIDE TITANS’

Anonymous wrote:

Of course, Morbius The Living Vampire was possibly the first vampire superhero I can recall.

I’m not sure if Vampirella counts as a superhero, but pre-dates Morbius by a few years.

3 users thanked author for this post.

Rocket, Todd

10 Greatest Non-DC/Marvel superhero universes

1 user thanked author for this post.

njerry

#8 will amaze you!

4 users thanked author for this post.

DavidM, garjones, JRCarter, Dave

Sean Robinson wrote:

#8 will amaze you!

Should be MUCH higher

1 user thanked author for this post.

Sean Robinson

Image Solicitations for January 2022 – Image.com link

JUPITER’S LEGACY is Netflix’s latest global sensation, with season one launching higher than any superhero series in history and remaining the world’s number one most-watched show every day for the entire launch week

It was cancelled! Everyone knows it was cancelled!

3 users thanked author for this post.

Todd, Rocket, JRCarter

paul f wrote:

JUPITER’S LEGACY is Netflix’s latest global sensation, with season one launching higher than any superhero series in history and remaining the world’s number one most-watched show every day for the entire launch week

It was cancelled! Everyone knows it was cancelled!

This time, cancel culture has gone too far.

3 users thanked author for this post.

Todd, Dave, garjones

lorcan_nagle wrote:

paul f wrote:

JUPITER’S LEGACY is Netflix’s latest global sensation, with season one launching higher than any superhero series in history and remaining the world’s number one most-watched show every day for the entire launch week

It was cancelled! Everyone knows it was cancelled!

This time, cancel culture has gone too far.

Off-topic, but a TV critic I follow on Twitter often gets cited as the creator of the phrase “cancel culture” because he has the earliest-ever tweet using that phrase, talking about networks cancelling TV shows, and it really annoys him:

https://slate.com/human-interest/2021/03/cancel-culture-history-term-not-me-really.html

2 users thanked author for this post.

Todd, lorcan_nagle

He’s successfully cancelled that rumour.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Todd

paul f wrote:

It was cancelled! Everyone knows it was cancelled!

company flack: “Forgive us. That copy was written after the 1st weekend and no one got around to amending it. Our Bad!”

1 user thanked author for this post.

Todd

To be fair it can be two things, it did do all they said, then was cancelled anyway. 😂

It’s the Superman Returns paradigm, a film that didn’t actually do that badly, people went to see it as much as Thor or Captain America but the business maths was bad.

They should do a reverse one for something like a Blumhouse movie. 78th most watched film of the year! Number 9 in the UK box office behind a Bollywood film you’ve never heard of! Made us all a sweet $150m profit and there are 3 sequels on the go.  😂

1 user thanked author for this post.

Todd

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Image Comics (@imagecomics)

1 user thanked author for this post.

Todd

I know very little about manga. Is this worth getting?

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/lone-wolf-cub-koike-from-dark-horse-books?utm_content=cta_button&mcID=102:618c16b02e0a4a2a5f67973b:ot:5801fbf744c8ddeb34e46007:1&linkID=618c57ce897f20313233e2ac&utm_campaign=2021_11_11_lonewolfcubkoikefromdarkhorse_bookbundle&utm_source=Humble+Bundle+Newsletter&utm_medium=email

Lone Wolf & Cub is absolutely epic, very much lives up to its stellar reputation.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Vikram

Vikram wrote:

I know very little about manga. Is this worth getting?

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/lone-wolf-cub-koike-from-dark-horse-books?utm_content=cta_button&mcID=102:618c16b02e0a4a2a5f67973b:ot:5801fbf744c8ddeb34e46007:1&linkID=618c57ce897f20313233e2ac&utm_campaign=2021_11_11_lonewolfcubkoikefromdarkhorse_bookbundle&utm_source=Humble+Bundle+Newsletter&utm_medium=email

Very much so.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Ben, Vikram

GI Joe takes aim at ’80s cartoon nostalgia with Saturday Morning Adventures comic

The Solicitations for 2022 thread has been updated with February solicits, including:

Dark Horse, Boom! Studios, Image, and more

’90s sci-fi superteam Cyberforce is coming back for 30th anniversary – Newsarama/GamesRadar link

Image Comics and Top Cow are reprinting the original Cyberforce comics after 27 years

As part of Image Comics’ 30th anniversary in 2022, company co-founder Marc Silvestri’s earliest Cyberforce stories will be collected into a massive 664-page hardcover. Cyberforce was one of Image’s six original launch titles.

The series was created by Silvestri (and his brother, Eric) as a superhero version of the resistance from the Terminator movies. These resistance fighters weren’t just humans, however, but cyborgs experimented on by the company they’re fighting against (Cyberdata). Taking cues from Silvestri’s ultra-successful work on the Uncanny X-Men and Wolverine titles in the late ’80s and early ’90s, Cyberforce blended sci-fi, high-tech, with lavishly illustrated art to be one of the standouts of comics of the time.

Scheduled to debut in the fall of 2022, Cyberforce Complete Collection Vol. 1 will collect the original four-issue limited series from 1992, Cyberforce #0, the first thirteen issues of the ongoing series launched in 1993, as well as the one-shots Cyberforce Origins: Cyblade, Cyberforce Origins: Stryker, and Cyberforce Annual #1.

(And yes, this will also include Cyberforce’s half of the ‘Killer Instinct’ crossover with Jim Lee and Brandon Choi’s WildCATS, now owned by DC).

“It’s wonderful, surreal, and a bit crazy that we’re celebrating 30 years since Cyberforce first burst on the comic scene!” says Silvestri in the announcement. “The Cyberforce Complete Collection is a love letter to the ’90s and to all the talented creators and amazing fans that made the whole Cyberforce adventure possible.”

Following a string of Kickstarter-first projects, Top Cow (Silvestri’s imprint at Image Comics) will also be offering Cyberforce Complete Collection Vol. 1 as a Kickstarter-first book. With the crowdfunding campaign already exceeding its $30,000 goal, the hardcover is expected to be delivered to the Kickstarter supporters in August 2022.

“The 664 page hardcover is a nostalgic masterpiece in itself, but the Todd McFarlane and Stjepan Sejic prints, the 30th anniversary commemorative edition…along with all the other rewards make this one a HUGE celebration!” says Top Cow president (and former Cyberforce writer) Matt Hawkins. “30 years is a milestone for any project or company and we look forward to 30 more.”

This will be the first time that the original Cyberforce limited series has been reprinted since 1994 (we triple-checked and confirmed that), and the first time the material is being prepared to be sold as digital comics.

Top Cow plans to announce more “unprecedented and revolutionary” projects in 2022 as part of Image Comics’ (and Top Cow’s) 30th anniversary. That would presumably include the announced-but-delayed new series for Witchblade and the Darkness.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Rocket, JRCarter

I don’t use Comixology much any more, but Boom’s current sale is worth checking out. You can get three Once & Future collections for $5, Ryan North and Albert Monteys’s Slaughter-House Five adaptation for $1, and all sixteen Giant Days collections for ~$30.

https://www.comixology.com/comics-sale?list_id=39508

1 user thanked author for this post.

garjones

Wow, that’s great. Slaughterhouse Five is well worth a look.

There’s some good sales on in there. Interestingly I noticed almost every single Valiant trade on today’s sale is on Comixology Unlimited, unlike most other publishers that put up a couple of volumes and then you have to buy the rest.

So if we get a lockdown again take out the month’s free trial and read their entire back catalogue for nothing.

 

Anyone read Geoff Johns and Gary Frank’s indy book GEIGER? I wonder how well he writes outside the established DC universe.

Anonymous wrote:

Anyone read Geoff Johns and Gary Frank’s indy book GEIGER? I wonder how well he writes outside the established DC universe.

Yes, I picked up the first trade recently. I thought it was ok but mainly for the appeal of Gary Frank’s art, which is excellent. The story itself felt a bit generic – a lot of superhero and post-apocalyptic tropes we’ve seen many times before.

It had a couple of nice moments but wasn’t anything special or memorable.

1 user thanked author for this post.

The radioactive hero and the art was the main element that caught my attention, but the post-apocalyptic element never really appeals to me in any story anymore.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Dave

I think if those elements are the appeal for you then it’s worth a look. The art is pretty superb throughout.

1 user thanked author for this post.

This title was mooted right before Covid hit and then scuppered. A Best of 2000ad book aimed at the US market. It’s now being redone as a series of trade length volumes I believe with a primer for Free Comic Book Day. Looks a sensible option, I know economies of scale and the weekly frequency have always made it hard and expensive for them to distribute issues to the US. As long as it is edited well this means the readers will get the best stuff and the not so good filtered out as the previous solicits had it picking stuff from several eras.

2 users thanked author for this post.

njerry, Bruce

Jeff Lemire signs “exclusive deal” with Image Comics, with some exceptions – Newsarama/GamesRadar

Eisner Winner Jeff Lemire Signs Exclusive Deal With Image Comics – ComicBook.com

Eisner Award winning writer and artist Jeff Lemire, best known for comics like Sweet Tooth, The Underwater Welder, and Black Hammer, has signed an exclusive deal with Image Comics. The publisher made the announcement in a press release today, calling Image “his home publisher for all forthcoming projects launching in 2022 and beyond.” Much of Lemire’s recent creator-owned work has already been published by Image including Descender and Ascender with Dustin Nguyen and Gideon Falls and Primordial with Andrea Sorrentino. Lemire is set to work with both of these artists on two upcoming Image titles, Little Monsters with Nugyen in March and The Bone Orchard Mythos with Sorrentino at a later date.

“Having worked with Image on so many projects over the last decade, I’ve come to appreciate the complete creative freedom and support that they’ve provided me,” Lemire said in a statement. “I’m excited to make Image the exclusive home for all my projects in the years to come, both solo projects that I will draw myself, and my various collaborations. Bone Orchard and Little Monsters are just the start of what I have planned this year and beyond.”

Lemire previously won the Eisner Award for Best New Series for Black Hammer in 2017 and again in 2019 for Gideon Falls.

For those curious how this might impact Lemire’s Black Hammer titles over at Dark Horse, the creator took to his newsletter after the announcement was made to clarify that these will continue. He writes:

“I have an exemption in my Image deal to finish the last few Black Hammer series as planned. So Black Hammer Reborn, Madame Dragonfly (with Dean), and the Black Hammer: The End will continue as planned and come out through Dark Horse across 2022-2023. And all the new Black Hammer comics that I have planned for this Substack will also continue as planned. So, rest east Black Hammer fans, this new deal doesn’t effect my plans for the BH Universe at all.”

Lemire also clarified that his deal with Image is for “print comics only” so comics that he’s publishing on in Substack newsletter will continue. What his exclusive deal does mean though is that he has no time for work-for-hire anymore, meaning we shouldn’t expect anymore Marvel or DC work from Lemire in the foreseeable future.

Much of Lemire’s comics have been optioned for or made the journey to live-action adaptation in recent years. Netflix debuted the first season of Sweet Tooth last year and have already renewed it for a second. Essex County is also in the works for CBC with Lemire himself developing the scripts for the series. Others from Lemire that are being worked on include The Underwater Welder by Waypoint Entertainment (Ryan Gosling is also attached as a producer), Snow Angels at AMC, Gideon Falls with Hivemind, Descender at Lark and NBC Universal, and Family Tree with Orion.

It’s interesting to read that he’s hoping to wrap up the Black Hammer universe over the next couple of years. That’s encouraging. I think it was in danger of getting too unwieldy with all the various mini-series that have been published/ are scheduled.

I’ll be honest, I already fell off Black Hammer for that reason. I liked it a lot, but spreading it across all the various miniseries and one-shots made it impossible to keep up with, and ultimately I stopped trying.

I’m way behind on Black Hammer as well (I’ve been picking it up on the cheap in ComiXology sales), but I do think I’ll put in the effort to finish it off; now that I know it’s not going to drag on indefinitely.

2 users thanked author for this post.

njerry

Comicon.com have put up the first issue of Millar and Scalera’s King of Spies for free if anyone wants to try it out.

https://www.comicon.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/King-of-Spies-1.pdf

1 user thanked author for this post.

njerry

Matrix concept artist Geof Darrow returns with a new Shaolin Cowboy comic – Newsarama/GamesRadar link

Geof Darrow saddles up for another Shaolin Cowboy series – and here’s already drawn all seven issues!

Shaolin Cowboy: Cruel to be Kin #2 cover

Writer/artist Geof Darrow is working on a new Shaolin Cowboy series to debut later this year from Dark Horse Comics – and according to Darrow, he’s already completed all seven issues.

“I have finished my next comic book series. It will be announced soon. A seven-issue series beginning in April,” Darrow tweets. “My end is finished. It is up to Dark Horse now. Shaolin C in ‘Cruel to be Kin.’ 205 pages of not world-changing stuff.”

Darrow says that this will be more “action-packed” than the previous Shaolin Cowboy series, and Dave Stewart is currently coloring it.

Darrow’s creator-owned Shaolin Cowboy series follows a former Shaolin monk who makes a quixotic journey across a psychedelic version of Earth populated with giant mutant sharks, robots, ninja, and more. The unnamed monk isn’t much of a talker though, but is prone to fighting, and not just with his hands – with guns, knives, and swords in his arsenal as well.

The interest in Shaolin Cowboy, however, is just as much for the character as it is the highly-detailed artwork of Geof Darrow. Darrow, who drew concept art for all four Matrix films, became a popular comics artists with works such as Hard Boiled and Big Guy and Rusty the Robot.

In 2021, Dark Horse republished all three Shaolin Cowboy series to date – Shemp Buffett, Who’ll Stop The Reign?, and Start Trek – and are still available through your local comic shop or bookstore.

Shaolin Cowboy: Cruel to be Kin #1 (of 7) is anticipated in April.

Guaranteed HC purchase for me! Looking forward to it.

3 users thanked author for this post.

njerry, Ben, Dave

Sean Robinson wrote:

Guaranteed HC purchase for me!

Same for me! I love the Shaolin Cowboy comics and didn’t realise there were more on the way.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Sean Robinson

Sean Robinson wrote:

Matrix concept artist Geof Darrow returns with a new Shaolin Cowboy comic – Newsarama/GamesRadar link

I read these news just next to a tweet where Geof Darrow is saying he is going to get into the business of NFTs. The responses were (at least at the time) a deluge of people politely asking him not to.

It has been a while since i tweeted. It could be a blessing . Was convinced i should tip my toe in the NFT market. Fortunately a friend is doing it for me!

— Geof Darrow (@DarrowGeof) January 10, 2022

3 users thanked author for this post.

Sean Robinson, Ben, Todd

garjones wrote:

Comicon.com have put up the first issue of Millar and Scalera’s King of Spies for free if anyone wants to try it out.

https://www.comicon.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/King-of-Spies-1.pdf

That was ok. Felt very “issue 1 of a Millar series”. I didnt notice Netflix mention anywhere in those opening pages? Is this separate from that deal?

It’s less conspicuous than before but if you delve into the legal statement it is copyright Netflix. They maybe don’t see much value from flashing the logo on comics, which is understandable, it is small fry for a company with a $2bn production budget.

From what Millar has said as long as he is an employee there, which was a side deal to them buying the properties apart from Kick-Ass and Kingsman, then they own whatever he comes up with. He can retain his exec producer credit on stuff like the latest Kingsman film but he’s not allowed to work on it actively.

I guess it is pretty win/win for him, he’s pocketed approximately $15m dollars from the sale. Will almost certainly have at least a 6 figure salary for his job and if they ever fire him can just go back to what he was doing making creator owned comics.

garjones wrote:

It’s less conspicuous than before but if you delve into the legal statement it is copyright Netflix. They maybe don’t see much value from flashing the logo on comics, which is understandable, it is small fry for a company with a $2bn production budget.

The trades do have the Netflix logo on the spine where the Millarworld logo used to be.

Bruce wrote:

Felt very “issue 1 of a Millar series”.

It did but I have to admit some admiration that his high concept always has that slight twist that has never been done before, even though it seems really obvious.

Old secret agent has, guy with death sentence and nothing to lose has but probably not both. Even back to Kick-Ass we had seen realistic superheroes, Jim Shooter had Star Brand using a torch/flashlight to read a map at night and following a highway to know which direction he was flying but it is surprising really nobody had a guy emulating it all just get his arse kicked and then get better at what he was doing.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Todd

Check out the credits on this Bloodshot story from Valiant. Our old pal Deniz.

10 users thanked author for this post.

Bruce, JRCarter, lorcan_nagle, Ben, Rocket, DavidM, Ian Smith, njerry, Todd

Not bad getting JDH to draw your story

2 users thanked author for this post.

JRCarter, njerry

Rocket wrote:

Not bad getting JDH to draw your story

Yeah, Davis-Hunt was the artist for the Warren Ellis series THE WILDSTORM a decade or so back, and I quite enjoyed his work.

3 users thanked author for this post.

JRCarter, Sean Robinson, Ben

A decade back? It ran 2017-19.

Don’t age us that rapidly Jerry, it’s bad enough as it is.  😂

8 users thanked author for this post.

JRCarter, njerry, Todd, Ben, Sean Robinson, Rocket, Dave

garjones wrote:

A decade back? It ran 2017-19.

Don’t age us that rapidly Jerry, it’s bad enough as it is.  😂

Fuck, yeah, for a minute I really paniced!

3 users thanked author for this post.

JRCarter, garjones, Sean Robinson

garjones wrote:

A decade back? It ran 2017-19.

Don’t age us that rapidly Jerry, it’s bad enough as it is. 😂

Obviously a lot has happened since 2019; the last couple years feel like a decade.

8 users thanked author for this post.

Rocket, DavidM, JRCarter, Dave, Todd, Sean Robinson, garjones

And it is confirmed:

IDW to Lose ‘G.I. Joe,’ ‘Transformers’ License at End of 2022 

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/idw-losing-g-i-joe-transformers-license-1235078466/

4 users thanked author for this post.

Todd, lorcan_nagle, JRCarter

Eduardo wrote:

And it is confirmed:

IDW to Lose ‘G.I. Joe,’ ‘Transformers’ License at End of 2022 

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/idw-losing-g-i-joe-transformers-license-1235078466/

The reboot Transformers comics have been largely great after a rocky start, I’m gonna miss them, and whoever takes up the license next is gonna have damn big shoes to fill.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Todd