#203: Thunder-ends

THOR #800, Dec Recs, commissions for Avilés and more...

Aug 18, 2026

Welcome to DECLARATIONS a bi-weekly newsletter by artist/writer Declan Shalvey.

This is a regular workblog featuring exclusive peeks at upcoming projects with advance releases of original art/merchandise.

ALL THE LATEST

Welcome back to this ‘bi-weekly’ Declarations, aside from posts like this that are a week late. Apologies, I didn’t have time to put this together ahead of Dublin Comic Con, a show I did not attend to but floated around in order to catch up with old friends. More on that below but first, my Worklog:

Layouts, PROJECT WHITEOUT
Lettering notes, MUMM-RA #5
Inked/coloured PROJECT AXIS #1 cover
Inked/coloured Marvel cover
Pencilled/inked/coloured A QUIET PLACE #4 cover
Pencilled/inked/coloured DC Comics cover
Pencilled PROJECT WHITEOUT pages
Development work, PROJECT AXIS #1
New roughs, A QUIET PLACE #5 cover
Writing A QUIET PLACE script

-Dublin Comic Con was just over a week ago and while I didn’t attend the show this year, I did take the opportunity to take a break and catch up with all the Irish comics crowd. By the time I was back home, my whole body hurt from laughing, what a great time.

Stephen Mooney, TV’s Will Sliney, Nate Stockman and myself

I also got the chance to see Lorenzo Re who made it over from Italy. I met him briefly at Lucca a few years ago years ago and after following his work for a while, asked to get him on issues of TERMINATOR. Loved working with him, so it was great to get to know him properly after having done some great [in my humble opinion] work together. He’s currently tearing it up on the upcoming FIREFLY series from Dynamite. I’ve seen some pages and they’re absolutely fantastic, don’t sleep on that, people.

Gary Moloney, an unidentified male, myself, Stephen Thompson, Rickey Purdin, Nate Stockman and Stephen Mooney

Of huge note, my old pal Rickey Purdin [Talent Relations Director, Marvel Comics] was a guest at the Dublin show. He seemed very impressed with what he saw at the show and everyone I talked to who met him had a great experience. I’ve been bullying Rickey to visit to Ireland for years so I took some time off to see him and show him a good a time as possible. Brought him and his partner Sam out Wesht with the Mooneys after the show and they seemed to have a blast.

Also; this…

-I’m about halfway through pencilling PROJECT WHITEOUT. Can’t say more about it yet, but it’s a holiday-themed one-shot issue. Here’s a peek…

-I’ve gotten pretty busy with PROJECT WHITEOUT so I’ve stalled a bit on PROJECT LAZARUS. I’m geared up to jump into it asap though, I’ve been a bit scared/intimidated of late, and talking to peers while in Dublin helped me shake off those nerves. It’s good to get out and talk with people, to push out out of your head-cage.

-To be fair to myself though, I’ve been spending a lot of time trying to get PROJECT AXIS [an upcoming Image Comics series] off the ground, bouncing stuff off the artist and designer. I have a couple of covers in the bag and the artist has their first main cover done and we’ve worked with the colourist to nail down that final image. I’m very very happy with how the pieces are forming together. There’s some more prep work to be done, but I need to get this first script worked out soon.

-THOR #800 is out tomorrow and I’ve drawn/coloured a story in it, written by Kieron Gillen. It’s great to have another Marvel story out, especially a great character piece like this where I get to draw all the hits on a Marvel icon with an excellent writer. Getting to colour some sequential pages was a real treat too, I love colouring my covers, but he storytelling work in sequential pages is a whole other skillset that I really enjoy. Above is the first page. I also provided a foil variant for the issue [see OUT SOON section].

-I’m heading to Spain! I was recently invited to the Aviles, a festival I've always wanted to attend. From what I understand it's a very unique show, a week long as opposed to a weekend with a much more relaxed feel. Really looking forward to it, just about three weeks away[!]

-I saw this old John Cassaday piece [below] online a few days ago. Ever since he passed away in 2024, anytime I see a piece of his I am dramatially reminded just how much of the DNA of his work is in my own. Something that wasn’t obvious to me before his death. Some influences on you are obvious, some are forced, but some just seep in slowly and surely. I’m not saying I could do as good a job on this piece below [I definitely couldn’t], but by god it sure looks like it’s something I’d try do do now.

I got to meet him once, spent a whole evening with him at a show in Birmingham many years ago. I was just starting out, only a couple of published works under my belt yet he was very gracious and a lot of fun.

RIP, John.

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ART DECO

Speaking of Avilés, I’m opening a small commission list for the show. A4, full figure for those wanting a more detailed piece. Depending on the amount ordered, I’ll try do a couple ahead of time but may end up finishing some at the show itself. As always, you Decloytes have first chance at getting one, I’ll open the list publicly tomorrow.

Avilés commission list

DEC RECS

I was fortunate enough to get an advance read of the brand new TEEN TITANS #1 by Kyle Higgins, Daniele Di Nicuolo and Marcelo Costa. Part of DC Comics’ Next Level line, its a fresh new take on the title. Higgins brings a very contemporary approach to fledgling DC superheroes under the [bad?] influence of the Red Hood with some wonderfully stylish storytelling by Di Nicuolo and brilliant colour design by Costa. Any fans of Higgins & co’s Black Market Narrative output will already understand the approach of this book, and it’s exciting to se it channeled into the DC Universe.

THUNDERCATS

The final issue of THUNDERCATS X SILVERHAWKS came out last week, here are the preview pages by series artist Drew Moss and colourist Igor Monti.

PHEW, It’s all done! It is of course a little bittersweet to see my last issue of the THUNDERCATS team come out. Been quite the ride. I guess I’ll be retiring this segment from the newsletter going forward, which after over two years will feel very weird.

MUMM-RA

And of course, tomorrow sees my last issue of MUMM-RA: THE EVER-LIVING hits the stands. This being the last official ThunderVerse book I’ve written.

Heres the first page, I don’t want to show any more than that, as the last issue ended on quite the cliffhanger/revelation, that I don’t want to spoil for anyone who hasn’t read it yet. I am incredibly happy with what I got to do with this book and my thanks to editor Nate Cosby for not only approving the swing, but encouraging me to swing even harder.

Artist Rapha Lobosco did some phenomenal work on this. The series gave me the room to really showcase Rapha; period-specific locations, mixed with lots of moody scenarios, some horrific events, contemporary environments and even a superhero/monster clash. On the main book, it being monthly and ongoing, we would need standalone stories and fill-ins to keep the train moving on time. With MUMM-RA, it’s been great to just expand that world and have it fully realised by one sole artist. Hats off also to colourist Roshan Kurichiyanil, who really upped his game to make this book feel truly epic.

A final thanks fo Jeff Eckleberry, who lettered this and all my THUNDERCATS work. I threw some weird stuff at him and he hit the mark every time

A QUIET PLACE

I’m waiting on approval to draw the last cover as I wrap up my last script for A QUIET PLACE: RISING TIDES. It’s so strange to be so far ahead on a book, that it’s all written before the first issue is even published! I’m sure there’s some notes I’ll have to deal with, feedback on art and lettering as the book is produced, etc, but feels great to have this all mostly squared away so far ahead of publication.