So…I’ve always got a lot going on. Part of the trouble of being an adjunct professor, apart from the inherent uncertainty of chasing contracts from semester to semester are those gaps between semesters, those rough weeks, sometimes months, where the paychecks cease and one is left to, well…Figure it out. Figuring it out, in my case, has meant taking on more projects than would otherwise be considered advisable, at least by any sane person who places value on their time, spare or otherwise. The plus side of being overburdened with work is that there are almost zero dull moments. What follows is a look at some of the current projects. Those things either in active production, or soon to be pending desired crowdfunding outcomes, and marathon late night drawing sessions. Without further ado, I present to you, my Summer 2023 lineup:
Hush Ronin #2
First and foremost, the production on Hush Ronin #2 continues apace, and we are nearing the finish. The final book weighs in at a whopping 58 pages1 , eight pages longer than the inaugural issue that dropped this past January, and has just been rereleased in an extended trade paperback form, which contains an additional three page short comic, and production artwork not found in the original floppy. Parties interested in the original retail release of Hush Ronin #1 can still pick it up in both standard and gold foil covers from the Band of Bards site. Additionally, issue 2 is officially available for preorder this month. The Diamond Previews World preorder code is JUN231655, and will be available in shops on August 30, 2023. It is also available for preorder in standard and foil stamp covers through the selfsame Bardshop mentioned above.
Work on this issue has been intense. The incomparable Leland Bjerg has returned to letter this second issue, and I’ve additionally brought on the editorial expertise of Harrison Stewart, a long time friend and collaborator who was around back when Hush Ronin was in its first phase of pitches, and still a completely different version of the story. My dear friend, Christian DeMatteo, is also lending editorial assistance as the book speeds along toward print/production.
I suppose it’s a consequence of working the way I do, but trying to write and illustrate a 200+ page graphic novel, even in serialized form like this, feels a bit like trying to parallel park a triple trailer semi truck on a street lined with fine pottery shops and nitroglycerine vendors. The book is really two comics rolled into one, as the first half of the issue will clue readers in to the origins of the Mugendai Blade (if they cared to know) and precisely why it is so dangerous, and what that danger looks like when visited upon the people of ancient Uruk. The second half is more to the original tone, but both parts contain lots action, intrigue and no small amount of magic.
In other news on this front—and this is very early—I am beginning preliminary work on a book of “folktales” related to or inspired by Hush Ronin. These are stories I concocted or, I’ll admit it, bastardized along the way to add a sense of depth, of verisimilitude to the comics. While the stories themselves will be in prose format (for now), they will be accompanied by various spot illustrations.
Revolutionary Spaces
In April this year—or, last month, if you want to look at it that way—I was hired by Revolutionary Spaces of Boston to illustrate a forthcoming exhibit. My contribution consists of fifteen pieces of illustrative work featuring historical instances of property damage, including the infamous Boston Tea Party, the Stamp Act, and even the less historically well known (at least to a lifelong West Coaster like myself) Reading Railroad Riots/Massacre and the 1974 bombing of the Gulf Tower in Pittsburgh.
While all of the pieces are done in my usual comic book style, this change in venue was both challenging and refreshing. To anyone who may be in the Boston area, or visiting in the second half of 2023, be sure to check it out while you’re there! You can find out more about the Revolutionary Spaces here. Details of the exhibit are still forthcoming, and as I’m not sure how much I’m allowed to share, I’ll leave it at that.
Depths
I probably should have mentioned this one first. After all, as of this writing, it has fewer than six days left on its thirty day Kickstarter run, and still has to close a little under $9k to fund. Not the worst I’ve ever seen, but still, if ever we could have used a miracle, right about now would be great.
Depths is a 112 page graphic novel, written by Wells Thompson and Dalton K. Shannon. The story is basically Jules Verne meets F. Scott Fitzgerald, set in the 1930s. Main character, Emil Parker, has developed a diving suit that enables the wearer to remain underwater pretty much indefinitely. While on a short trial run, Emil gets in some trouble and it will be years before anyone sees him again. At once an allegory for grief and depression, Depths is also an exciting adventure story in the grandest of traditions. You can read more about it on the book’s official Kickstarter page. I was introduced to the project in 2022 and immediately fell in love with the idea. This past January, I completed five pages of the first chapter, and, assuming the book reaches its funding goal, will launch into full production in the near future.
Also on the team is the incredible Rajesh Kumar, who is one of the best colorists I have ever worked with. Speaking personally now, Rajesh has a very intuitive grasp of my line work, the implied light sources I put throughout my work, and he weaves his hues and tones around it as expertly as a mature boa constrictor ensnaring a wide eyed, juicy rat. Maybe that sounds bad. Rajesh just gets me. Let’s put it like that. And, after several years since our last collaboration, I am very excited to be working with him again.
Depths is a very worthy project from two very talented writers. If you can, please consider backing it while that is still an option. Packages start at $10 for a digital copy of the first chapter, or $20 for the full book. Physical copies start at $40, and hardcover versions also include alternate covers from the likes of Heather Vaughan and Serg Acuna. Backers with deeper pockets can also have themselves written/drawn into the book as minor characters (male or female). In my experience, the most important stages of a Kickstarter campaign are the first 72 hours and the last. As we near the latter, we look to you, Constant Reader, as the source and benefactor for miracles. Please and most especially, thank you.
Again, you can read more about it, and/or back it here.
One True Love
As the campaign for Depths closes, yet another shall spring to life: The long anticipated One True Love, a crime/noir graphic novel written by Mario Candelaria and arted by yours truly. Set in 1968, One True Love is a classic heist story. It follows our antiheroes, Peter and Paul (robbing Peter to pay Paul, heh? HEH?), after they’ve heisted the cash from a larger heist they had just participated in. On the run, with a Vegas phantom known as Bialystok on their trail, the pair hide out with a childhood chum who has made good as a B list movie star in Hollywood.
The finished book is 90 pages long, with toned black and white artwork, and formatted in landscape orientation, so it’s more like a coffee table book than a comic book. It is also worth noting that those who back the Kickstarter in the first 36 hours will receive, for free, a special zine that Mario and I have prepared, featuring a collection of other short material we have worked on together, including one never before seen or published story in full color. You definitely don’t want to sleep on this one! Sign up for notification on the prelaunch page now, and be one of the first to secure your copy of One True Love!
Publicity for this project being managed by Blake of Blake’s Buzz.
Thistle (2023)
In late 2020, I began working with writer J.L. Collins of Canada on a proposed high fantasy comic with a bit of a dark twist. Whereas much of modern fantasy tends to follow the very Tolkienian/D&D quest narrative, Thistle is the story of what comes after the quest. Moreover, Thistle follows what happens after a failed quest. A war lost. A world shattered.
The initial six page pitch package, which led to a few other carefully curated pages for a proposed Kickstarter campaign came to an unexpected screeching halt in early 2022, but J.L. is back, and so am I, and we’re working together to make something very special for fans of epic fantasy. More information on the Kickstarter campaign is forthcoming, so check back as this one is going LIVE this summer, 2023.
IDW/Breath of Shadows
I have a tradition going of creating pinup art for the IDW Publishing trade releases of horror mini series by Rich Douek and Alex Cormack. Beginning with Road of Bones in 2019, I made a pinup piece that was later selected for inclusion in the back material when the collected four issue mini series went to a single edition trade paperback. Then, in 2021, when their second book, Sea of Sorrows was in similar state, I managed to squeeze in two pieces of pinup art.
Recently, Rich reached out to me via social media and asked if I “want to go for the trifecta.” With everything going on, I wasn’t sure if I could pull it off, but as of today, things are looking pretty good for an included pinup from yours truly in the forthcoming trade paperback for Breath of Shadows.
So, I got that going for me. Which is nice.
CKNMSTWFFN
No, that is not a typo. I don’t know if it’s an acronym, either, but it stands for Christopher, Kubrick, Nebraska & Mathilda Save The World from F*ckin’ Nazis, the second series I currently have going on over at Band of Bards. I joined up with Chuck Satterlee (Of Bitter Souls, Claims Adjuster) and Jason Michalski (Northern Blood) this past August to discuss my drawing their then five issue mini series of the above title. CKNMSTWFFN—let’s call it CK for short—is an alternate history yarn where the Nazis have effectively won World War II before it rightly begins. Our story follows the resistance, a ragtag group of infighting freedom lovers comprised of an older, and emotionally compromised sheriff type, a trained female assassin, a super intelligent gorilla with a cybernetic arm, and a robot child who once played Pinocchio to Alan Turing’s Geppetto. It sounded like way too much fun. I couldn’t not say yes.
Well, the first issue for this series is pretty much in the bag, the second issue well on its way to finish with three more scripts to go before we wrap on this tongue in cheek epic of hyper-violent alternative history. If the cover image doesn’t give you an idea of what you’re in store for, suffice to say it’s the wholesale slaughter of Nazis at a level the Indiana Jones franchise could only ever dream of. First issue is slated for release in late Summer, early Fall (September, I believe) with the preorder code dropping in next month’s Diamond Previews World. Stay tuned, folks. This one is gonna be a fuggin’ blast!
TL;DR
So, wrapping this puppy up, here are the key takeaways:
-Hush Ronin #2 coming in August 2023 (Diamond preorder code JUN231655). You can preorder it, as well as issue 1 here.
-I illustrated a museum exhibit for Revolutionary Spaces in Boston.
-You can and should back the Depths Kickstarter campaign, which ends in less than a week.
-You can and should sign up for the One True Love Kickstarter prelaunch and back it in the first 36 hours so you get that free zine featuring never before seen comics by Mario Candelaria and myself.
-Thistle from J.L. Collins, Leland Bjerg and myself, coming soon to Kickstarter.
-New pinup to appear in trade paperback edition of Breath of Shadows by Rich Douek & Alex Cormack, published by IDW Publishing.
-CKNMSTWFFN preorder code dropping in Diamond Previews World next month!
Happy day, y’all. Thanks for hearing me out! I’m going to try to make a regular thing of this. Hard hitting comics journalism seems a bit out of reach for me (if it ever was within my reach), but a bit of news every few days is certainly within my current capacity.
Until next time,
Excel’s Eeyore!
Tentatively. I am still awaiting an email from Tim or Chris over at Band of Bards informing me that I am way out of line and need to trim the fat by 20% or more.