The Very Latest
I thought I would take a few minutes to type up a quick update on current and future projects, and possibly justify the fact that this blog exists in the first place. Here's the rundown on recent news related to my work: 1. Superman / Wonder Woman - My final issue on this title will be #12, which will hit in October 2014. I'll be followed on the book by Pete Tomasi and Doug Mahnke, who are wonderful talents - it's in good hands. I LOVED working on S/WW - handling two of pop culture's biggest icons from a perspective that hadn't been seen all that much before was a challenge, but I know it made me a better writer. It also taught me a great deal about how to handle online skepticism - in a nutshell, I'll listen to anything anyone has to say once they've read something I've done, but focusing on opinions (good or bad) before the work is out in the world doesn't help me at all. (For those who don't follow the comics world religiously, there was some negativity about the concept when S/WW was announced, the expectation from some camps being that it would just be silly pandering, or that Wonder Woman wouldn't have a significant role, or or or. Hearing those complaints largely die away as the book's run continued was a pretty wonderful thing.)
Man, what a great book this was to work on - let's see:
--Superman and Wonder Woman (just by themselves that's great)
--Superman and Wonder Woman romantically linked
--Getting to work on the Doomed crossover event with Greg Pak (and Scott Lobdell at the start) - telling a new Doomsday story and then going even bigger... it was intense sometimes (lots of pages in this event), but never in a particularly negative way
--Working with Tony Daniel and the other amazing artists on the book - I was still brand new (basically) when I got this book, and Tony was a 20-year veteran of Big 2 comics work. I learned a lot about how to build and navigate a relationship with an artist on S/WW, and I think it's some of Tony's best work (I think the stuff in Issue 6 IS his best work, but I'm also very biased.)
12 regular issues, an annual, my part of the two Doomed specials, plus the Wonder Woman and Superman / Wonder Woman Five Years Later issues - that's roughly 18 issues worth of material in the S/WW galaxy. Not a bad little run. Someday I'd love to come back, but we'll see which way the wind blows.
P.S. on this one - the last three issues (the WW - S/WW 5YL issues and then #12 are some of my favorite things I've done on the series. The 5YL issues are basically a two-part elseworlds dealing with Diana as the God of War, and #12 has a huge callback to something innocuous from #1 that I think regular readers will love. It's hard to end a series run, especially this one, but I think you'll like how it goes out.)
2. Death of Wolverine - First issue out NEXT WEDNESDAY. I've mentioned before that I'm considering a social media holiday for September, and I'm still thinking about it. Not because I'm afraid of negative reactions - I'm confident in the book - but just because I think there will be a lot of discussion and speculation, and since it's all been written for months, it's sort of silly for me to participate in it. A few things that are worth mentioning, I think:
--It's a real ending for Logan. It's not a fakeout, or a trick. The title is what happens. It's about how we get there, and how it happens.
--He won't be back in a month or two. I guarantee it.
--It looks absolutely incredible. Steve McNiven (pencils), Jay Leisten (inks) and Justin Ponsor (colors) (along with Chris Eliopolous [letters] and Mike Marts/Katie Kubert/Xander Jarowey [editorial]) are doing A+++ work. It's incredible to see how well-realized these scenes are.
For the rest... well, you'll find out next month.
3. Swamp Thing - we're about to enter the Machine Queen arc, which will run through Issue 40. The first trade of my run (starting with Issue 19) is out now, and if you haven't had a chance to check it out, I would love it if you did. If you're a longtime reader, it's probably closest in tone to my 27 series from Image, but more plant-y and less rock & roll-y. In this next arc, we'll see our boy Alec Holland fighting a bunch of evil robots - and there's nothing wrong with that at all.
4. Inhuman - Issue 3 came out week before last, and Issue 4 will be out tomorrow. Then two more in September, all with art from Ryan Stegman. I'm aware that we need to build a bit of momentum, but we're all aware of that, which is why we're making sure to put out a bunch of issues quickly. By the end of September, you'll have gotten the same number of issues on the shelves as you would have if the books had hit monthly from April. Give it a spin - it's a book that is designed in part to add cool new characters and scenarios to the Marvel U, which will become increasingly intertwined with big events as things go on. Plus, it's just cool superhero action with a sort of "royal intrigue" theme, which isn't something you can really get anywhere else in the MU at the moment.
5. Letter 44 - going strong. The first trade seems to be going gangbusters - get it here - and the second arc is almost completely drawn and will hit shelves monthly through December (Issue 13). I believe we'll take our customary skip month and then come back swinging with Issue 14 in February 2015, with the second trade to follow not too long after that, probably March or April. Thank you for supporting this book - fun high-concept or not, creator-owned is always a risk. It's looking like we'll be completing the series as originally planned, around Issue 35, and that's an amazing prospect for a comics writer - to know that I'll actually get to end a series the way I want to is a rare thing. Actually, I've been lucky with that - I got to end my Thunderbolts run as planned, S/WW is going out the way I want it to... could be worse.
6. She-Hulk - oh man, She-Hulk. I hear more about this series than almost any other. Again, sort of a risky, weird book considering the overall landscape, and I'm glad Marvel's willing to put it out. I'm even more pleased you guys are reading it. The first trade hits in October, collecting issues 1-6. I just finished the end of Issues 8-10, which is the arc in which She-Hulk and Daredevil go up against each other in court. Man, that one was challenging, and I'm glad it's done - but I can't wait for you to read it, either.
7. Red Lanterns - moving into the big Godhead crossover with my fellow Lantern writers Rob Venditti, Van Jensen, Justin Jordan and Cullen Bunn - amazing Kirbyfied cosmic action, which will send Guy Gardner in a cool new direction. I'm also very proud of the Red Lanterns 5YL script, which sees Mr. Hothead as a blissed-out Blue Lantern. I love all those 5YLs, honestly. Swamp Thing is sort of a like a weird, creepy fairy tale, and as I mentioned, the WW- S/WW stories are a big two-part Elseworlds. Read 'em all!
8. Other stuff - so much! I'm finishing work on my first video game script. I've got the post-Death of Wolverine stories (Logan Legacy and Weapon X Project, which link together as one 12-issue maxiseries sequel to DoW that will hit between October and November). Two very big new, unannounced series that will probably be discussed at NYCC. Fan Expo in Toronto this coming weekend, Baltimore the weekend after that, and then NYCC in October. Something else for the late spring (dream project for little-kid Charles). Some amazing stuff for summer and fall 2015, including two new creator-owned things with artists I adore.
Another very big, game-changing announcement (for me) will probably hit in the next week, at which point I'll probably be doing another blog post... but that's Next Week Charles' problem.