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This is going to be a quick one.
February is a bastard. There’s a storm outside. I thought I’d be ahead of work by now. But no, I’m about a week behind where I should be. I’m trying to catch up and I’m constantly tired.
So, in my infinite wisdom, I’ve decided to do even more things to fix this. My remedy to this tiredness isn’t to rest, no. I’ve gone down that route before and it always ends with endless sweatpants, stress eating and watching day-time TV while the work piles up. So, this time, I’m doing the opposite. I’ve found a local gym, got myself a trainer. An hour or two of shutting down the brain so the body can do its thing.
I will report results in time. But for now, everything hurts.
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WORK
Here are a few things that are out soon or were announced recently. These are things I've been working on over a period of time and they're slowly finding their way up the pubication schedule. Thank you if you decide to pick 'em up!
JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #20 is out Feb 26th from DC COMICS. It is the beginning of my run on the book and also the culmination of James Tynion IV’s run on the book. Kyle Hotz did the art. Fco Plasencia on colors and Rob Leigh on Letters.
Dark Horse is publishing an expanded edition of Grafity's Wall which is out March 18th in the US and Canada. It was originally published in the UK through Unbound and went on to have a lot of people say a lot of really nice things about it. Grafity's Wall created with my long-time collaborators Anand Radhakrishnan and Aditya Bidikar.
Kieron Gillen very kindly wrote the intro for it. In it he said,
"There are fundamentally four short stories here, but the telling twists, between moments which work in a traditional narrative mode, and moments which are all about the sense of place. The panels move, from aspect to aspect across the city, and it pulses before your eyes.
I have no idea how it was written. I can only hope that more people write this way.
This is a comics vision of a city, of friends, of life.
There is a line early on where Grafity takes a moment, and talks about the lingering effect of his art, even if it’s been painted over.
“You can’t unsee it.”
That, Grafity. That.
Grafity’s Wall: you can’t unsee it."
Creator Owned things that were floating around in the ether have actual deadlines now. It looks like we’ll have a slew of announcements over the next couple of months, which is always exciting.
Speaking of announcements. I'll be writing a THOR miniseries for Marvel with art by Pascual Ferry. It ties into the EMPYRE summer event which is being written by Al Ewing whose IMMORTAL HULK has been tremendous. My studio mate Alex Paknadel is also writing a tie-in one shot. It's always a joy bouncing ideas back and forth some incredible creators. It's definitely a part of writing for the Superhero publishers that I quite enjoy.
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PLAY
This week!
I'm listening to
I first came across Ikue Asazaki's work on Episode 14 of Watanabe's Samurai Champloo. I am fascinated when I discover vocalists whose use of voice is beyond the norm. Give it a listen, you'll see what I mean.
I'm reading:
Yes, that's my desk. It's been a busy week, which means my reading is all from the "desk-stack".
I have two stacks - one by the bedside and one by the desk. The bedside stack is the stuff I'm reading start to finish, one story all the way through before I move to the next. The desk-stack is less organized. It's stuff i'll pick up and read when I'm at the desk and tired of writing / staring at a screen / breaking story etc. It's useful to read things at such moments. Usually gets the wheels turning when they're stuck.
I also visited the design museum in London. Where I found an endlessly fascinating and equally discomforting exhibit by resident designer Robert Johnson who presents his subject, in this case the re-use of Fat Waste, through fiction created around his concept.
From the Design Museum's Website.
'Fatconomy' explores fat as a new sustainable material through re-thinking waste disposal systems in commercial kitchens across London.
His theatrical display is inspired by a pop-up takeaway shop and includes a wall of petri dishes containing fat samples from restaurants and takeaways across London, as well as objects created from these specific fats – including an apron, a croc shoe, cable ties and packaging materials.
Watch also a short film following the life of a cooper, a traditional craftsman, who in the film develops a new waste collection system that supports local businesses and communities.
I am enamoured with fat, what can I say?
Also at the design museum.
This "future" TV. Which only goes to show us that the future is older than we think.
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And, that's all I've got for you this week.
In a recent interview, I was asked to describe creativity I said, it is humanity’s saving grace. The one thing that keeps us from the abyss.
Make a thing. Tell a story. Use your hands. The darkness is great and seems insurmountable but you can still make a paperboat, set it adrift, stay afloat. The great hopes and joys are to be found in quiet corners where people whose names we will never know are making things, bringing light.
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