What's Happening - November 2024
Despite the world and its horrors, the comic books continue.
Welcome to my monthly newsletter, giving you updates on the things I’ve been reading, writing and lettering this month.
What am I writing?
November has been a weird month! I sent out the lastest episode of Hero of Legend on the same day that the United States of America once again elected Donald Trump as president. It's hard to think about the silly little comic books I write and letter when the crushing reality of the world and it's horrors are presented so starkly.
But, despite the horrors, I am continuing to write and letter comics. And I think that the most resent episode of Hero of Legend was pretty cool! I think that Chapter 3 is by far the best issue of this book Niccolò and I have made so far. The pages I have coming in right now... Well, I just really can't wait for y'all to read episodes 2 and 3.
In other news, Felipe Trindade has started working on the art for Below the Depths, the sequel to our underwater sci-fi graphic novel Into the Deep. One of my goals for going into the year of 2025 is to have at least 2 comic projects in active production at all times, and with Hero of Legend and Below the Depths, I don't think I'll have any trouble making that happen. Next month, we should have some very early art from Below the Depths to show off to you!
Last but not least, I've set up the prelaunch page for Hero of Legend #3. You can check it out here, though we won't be launching until February. Still, if you'd like to sign up to be notified, it feels nice when that little number goes up.
What am I lettering?
I've talked about this in previous newsletters, but as the amount of lettering I've done increases, the amount of other design work I've had to do also goes up quite a bit. That's one of the fun things about indie comics, there's always another hat you can put on if you're interested.
Like I've said previously, I think I'm finally coming to terms with what that actually means. I'm still not an expert, but I've gotten pretty damn good at throwing together a good looking credits page. (Maybe a still thing to be excited about, but I'm excited about it nonetheless.) One I'm especially proud of is this credits page from Devil in America #1:
Can't take all the credit for this. Had a great starting point from Jim Campbell's logo for the series. But I just think it turned out neat!
And "I just think it turned out neat!" is about as deep as my thinking is currently going. So that's all you're getting out of me about lettering this month.
Some cool prelaunch comics:
Some fun lettering:
What am I reading?
Marvel Ultimate Comics 2024
Since the Inferno ended Jonathan Hickman's run on the X-Men in 2021, I've basically stopped reading super hero comics. I borrowed a couple of the trades of the X-Men stories that came after, but it was immediately clear that the overarching story that Hickman had been telling was no longer in play. There were new stories being told, stories that played with the pieces Hickman and others had set on the board, but none of them were (at least to me) nearly as interesting as the story Hickman had been telling. And the way that the Krakoan era of X-Men proceed to spiral into meaninglessness until it's underwhelming finale where it all got wiped away was, I thought, the final nail in the coffin for me caring about super hero comics. If Jonathan Hickman, the guy they let blow up the entire marvel universe, can't be allowed to tell a satisfying longform super hero story, who can?
The answer appears to still be Jonathan Hickman, just siloed off into his own little universe.
The new Ultimate comics are, based on my quick browsing of my newly renewed Marvel Unlimited subscription, pretty much the only books marvel is putting out that are actually worth reading (and frankly, only 3 of the 4 books actually meet that criteria.) It's partially got my thinking about how insanely low the bar is for these books. I really like Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate X-Men and Ultimates, but the best thing I can say about them is that their fun super hero stories that actually have actual themes. That's literally all it takes to get me excited about these books. Cool action, interesting themes, consistent story telling. That's it! You'd think this would be a bar that every comic put out by the two biggest comic publishers in America would be able to hit, but you'd be wrong.
Of course it's not just Hickman. Deniz Camp is doing fantastic work writing Ultimates. The artists working with the both of them, Juan Frigiri on Ultimates and Marco Checchetto on Ultimate Spider-Man are doing admirable if somewhat house-style artwork on both of the books. And Peach Momoko is making a comic unlike anything else being put out by the big two with Ultimate X-Men. Ultimate Black Panther is... Fine.
Anyway, last thing I'll say about these books: Ultimates #2 has Captain America in a fist fight with the Midas, the president of the United States wearing a solid gold suit of Iron Man armor, as Midas waxes poetic about how the only true belief of America is the accumulation of capital. If that sounds at all interesting to you, definitely check these out.
That's it?
Yep. Bye!