#144:TRI STATE DEC

Virginia, Maryland & New York all signified

ALL THE LATEST

-It’s been 2 weeks since the lady at Dunkin Donuts in Boston airport scoffed at me when I asked her to leave some room in my tea for a bit of milk and I’m still annoyed about it.

Anyway, I should really get over it, as this is currently my view.

Not bad eh? Except there’s two thing I don’t like; the sun and the sand, which is very much in abundance on Grand Cayman. Ah, it’s quite nice actually, especially as the weather back home has been particularly dull and wet for a while. I think I’m reconsidering my previous stance.

-Later today, I’ll be swimming with stingrays but I’m about to leave this paradise for the said nippy weather of home, will be back by the weekend and will have to jump back into the fire. More subjective heat than the current literal heat. Have a few covers I was able to postpone to the other side of my trip that I will have to make good on.

-Marvel have solicited my cover for BLOOD HUNTERS Issue Two. Not sure why Issue One isn’t out there yet, but all my variants for this series keep the above cover treatment across all the issues. This was an unusual assignment, but I enjoyed getting to try something different.

-Running up to this current trip, I inked/coloured eight TMNT pages, a script for a new series, an outline for THUNDERCATS Vol 2, eight covers and two all-nighters in order to get it all done. It was too much. I have a good sense of what I can/can’t do and I think am reasonably prolific despite having slowed down in recent years, but I too can over-commit. Always got to keep an eye on that, but was needed to clear all that time away from the drawing board.

-I believe Popverse are running a preview of my TMNT story on friday [someone just bought the whole story, which is a nice bonus] but here’s a peek at the first page for you Decolytes, just don’t share publicly.

-I was offered a new writing gig, currently mulling it over as I’m conscious of my workload. I need to made some real headway on PROJECT ARCA and this offer would make me busier, but I think if I could move ARCA along first, I could make it work.

-I’ve been having some back-and-forth on notes for my first PROJECT RAVEN script. Getting notes back is always frustrating… you want the thing to be DONE. But, you also want it to be GOOD and notes can help you with that. In this case, I do think the notes are fair, they don’t conflict with the elements I think are most important and I suspect will raise the quality of the issue. So I’m working on that today, incorporating the notes given and tightening up what I have to make it better.

-I have to share some very good news, my good friend Stephen Mooney just announced that his HALF PAST DANGER comic series is being developed by innovative Irish upstart Studio Meala as an animated feature. This is tremendous news, I can’t wait to see what comes of it. More Mooney news below…

TOUR DIARY

Skim past this if you’re not interested in all my socialising…

Sleep deprived, I landed in at Raleigh just ahead of GalaxyCon. I had a day to recover before all the fun began. I got to meet up and catch up with a lot of great creators. First day of the con was much like the rest: kept busy. Not so much with sketches/art, but predominantly signing copies of THUNDERCATS. Of course, my main objective was to meet THUNDERCATS artist Drew Moss! In a weekend of highlights, this was the best.

[ThunderBoyz]

It was so great to spend some time with Drew, finally. What a sweet fella. First night of the con was dinner with Drew and Chris Bachalo… I absolutely nerded out at the start, Bachalo is a total hero of mine. He was nothing but sweet and kind, it was brilliant to get a chance to know him. Afterwards, I got to have drinks that night [and over the weekend] with Kyle Higgins, Joelle Jones, Megan Hutchison, Esad Ribic, Andrew Christman [who is working with me on the new ART DECO Store project] and got to spend some time with other co-collaborators like TIME BEFORE TIME artist Ron Salas and DEADPOOL pals Reilly Brown and Mike Hawthorne.

[DeadpoolBros]

Was especially brilliant to hang out with Mike, who I’ve known since my Comic Twart days, but finally met for the first time in person at this show. Was really great to share stories and laughs with all these guys though. GalaxyCons are really great for the group evening hangs, I must say.

Post-con on Monday I was mainly writing the new draft of PROJECT RAVEN, ending the day with a lovely dinner with Paulina Ganucheau and Kendall Goode and a nightcap with Esad.

GalaxyCon Richmond headsketches

On Tuesday I got an early train up to Washington DC where I did more writing and met an old friend for some drinks. On Wednesday I had a little time before my first signing at Third Eye Comics, so I went to visit the International Spy Museum. I’ve actually listened to many of their YouTube videos over the years due to my obvious interest in espionage stories so it was great to go to the actual building. I had a great time, I was expecting a pretty dry experience but was VERY impressed with how fun and engaging it all was. I was given a cover [Alex Brown, from Sydney Australia] but unfortunately wasn’t given an opportunity to bust out my Aussie accent.

I also went to visit the George Washington Monument and the World War II memorial. You yanks sure know how to build monuments, I’ll give ye that.

That evening was the signing at Third Eye Comics in Annapolis and OH BOY, did it go well. Line out the door, I was told, and was forced to believe after seeing the below pic. Ended up going an extra hour in order to take care of everyone. Had a great chat with owner Steve Anderson too, whose enthusiasm got me really pumped for the next couple of years in comics.

Next stop: Philadelphia, where it was indeed Sunny. Though I had a side-stop to New Jersey [which I guess would make this a four state trip, not a ‘tri-state’ trip], where I visited the Dynamite offices. There, I did a very pleasant livestream interview with publisher Nick Barrucci and signed some stock for them. Then, back to Philly where I signed for the good folks at Brave New Worlds. THe crew took me out after on a VERY fun night along with HOUSE ON FIRE writer/artist Matt Battaglia. Philly knows how to have a good time.

I woke the next morning with a …significant hangover. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the option to sleep it off, I had to get up and head to the train station to catch a train to New York…

I arrived to NYC and immediately went to a lunch meeting with my editor on PROJECT RAVEN, to go over the first script. Hangover was gone by then.

Right after that I hoofed it across town to Midtown Comics Grand Central where Mario Conte and the crew looked after me while I signed 1,500 copies of THUNDERCATS, outside of the copies I signed during the specific signing itself. Had a great time, everyone was lovely, though after that week, I’m very tired of writing my own name.

Had some drinks after with old friends and at the end of the night, made my way out to JFK to catch a 6AM flight to the Cayman Islands to visit family. As I said above, the sun/sand/sea isn’t generally my ideal holiday destination, but I actually have enjoyed myself. It’s VERY rare I properly ‘switch off’ and these past couple of days are doing me the world of good. I didn’t realise how tense I’d been until all that tension was wiped away.

Not a bad way to end an intense signing tour.

Thanks so much to everyone who came to any of the events, was great to see you all. Tomorrow I make my way home by way of NYC again. Have a STAR TREK cover waiting for me once I get home…

THUNDERCATS

I’ve said this in interviews but it’s worth ruminating on here. THUNDERCATS was a job I accepted in a drunken stooper, with no regret I should add. In fact my then-drunkeness allowed me to tap into enthusiasm around the idea of writing it. It was clear to everyone around me that the book would do well. Even I was sure it would do reasonably well… as well as a popular licensed book could do. Creator owned was where my head for the last couple of years but after a year of very much enjoying writing ALIEN at Marvel, I was looking for a similar writing challenge, taking a property and finding my own approach to it and then out of nowhere… it dropped right into my lap!

After the experience of the GalaxyCon show, the signings and talking to readers and retailers, myself and Drew have clearly stumbled into something very special here and I fully intend to enjoy the ride. Thanks to everyone who had kind and enthusiastic words for me at the various appearances, it’s been quite overwhelming, in a very positive way.

Okay, enough sincerity for one post, here’s some amazing preview pages for THUNDERCATS #3!

THUNDERCATS Issue 3 preview pages.

Just in case you haven’t seen it online, I won’t spoil the big surprise in this issue. But it was fun to get to this moment.

Recently revealed in solicitations; my cover to THUNDERCATS #5.

Which I’m really happy with and also, a bit of a surprise if you see the new Dynamite solicits…

THUNDERCATS #5

(W) Stephen Mooney (A) Stephen Mooney (CA) David Nakayama
Although Lion-0 has the body of an adult, his accelerated growth means that his physical strength has outpaced his emotions, and he still has a lot of growing up to do before he can achieve the kind of maturity that every leader needs. Luckily, a seasoned warrior is ready to help him master his temper with some painful combat lessons!
In the aftermath of the Third-Earth-shaking events in the first story arc, Cheetara takes center stage for "Training Day," a special standalone issue written and drawn by guest author STEPHEN MOONEY (The Rocketeer: The Great Race, Half Past Danger), who also contributes a cover for the issue together with series stalwarts DAVID NAKAYAMA, LUCIO PARRILLO, DECLAN SHALVEY, JAE LEE & JUNE CHUNG, and IVAN TAO!
In Shops: Jun 12, 2024

So yes, we have a guest creator on this issue, the fore-mentioned HALF PAST DANGER creator; Stephen Mooney! The turnaround of this book was pretty fast from Diamond’s licencing deal with Warner Brothers and the release of the series, so myself and Drew have been slugging it hard on the book. Drew could do with a bit of breathing room going into the next arc and with all the promo… honestly so could I. To be clear, there’s no change in the creative team… Stephen has come in as a guest to help us get ahead on the next arc. The issue is written and drawn by Stephen, overseen by myself and editor Nate Cosby. It’s a great issue and also very cool to see someone come in and play with the world we’ve now established. We may be doing that here and there in future, I think, while keeping Drew as the series artist long term.

While at the Dynamite offices last week, I did a livestream interview about THUNDERCATS with publisher Nick Barrucci that you can watch here.

One more thing… my original cover art for THUNDERCATS from Issue One through Issue Four has been sold- including the first appearance Calica variant! New pieces are coming VERY soon and you Decolytes will get priority notice. 

OLD DOG

I’ve received DOSSIER proofs from the printer just before I left but there was something off we needed to get fixed. Progress has stalled while I’m away but I’ll get it sorted once I’m back later this week. I expect that the book will be printing by the next Declarations post.

Further recruits for the OPERATIONS project have been established, above is a peek at the latest. I’ve written another installment since. It’s been great to get back to Lynch.

DEC RECS: Substack Edition

I’ve gotten some follows on this platform from other Substack recommendations, so I wanted to name a few comic-related Substacks that I follow/ support. Check them out!

Three Worlds / Three Moons, Ashcan Press/ Matt Rosenberg, Kyle T Webster, Chip Zdarsky, Jason Latour, Ed Brisson, Scott Snyder, Renton Hawkey, Maura McHugh, Joe Quesada, Tom Brevoort, Tradecraft, Gerry Duggan,Kyle Higgins/Black Market, Jason Aaron, Daniel Warren Johnson, Gustaffo Vargas, Wes Craig, Jeff Lemire James Tynion IV, Skottie Young

OUT SOON

April 10th

THUNDERCATS #3 [W,VC]

WHEN THE BLOOD HAS DRIED #1 [VC]

April 17th

DISPLACED #3 [VC]

April 24th

BLADE #10 [VC]

May 08th

TMNT BLACK WHITE & GREEN #1 [W/A/C]

May 15th

WEAPON X-MEN #4 [VC]