013: better existent sources
Hullo.
Contents!
ANDRE-455 IS ALIVE.
EL ACTO FAUSTICO!
This Week
Uber: Invasion 2 is so serious I can't make a joke here
2000AD Is History
Humblegrab
Phonoreads
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After the sort of epic battle which would have everyone studying late antiquity wish they had better existent sources for, I handedover THE WICKED + THE DIVINE 455 to Chrissy. Chrissy wrestled with it and her cold, and then we got it over to André . And André started work on the pages. I'm looking at his first roughs now.
Oh yeah – let me introduce our guest on 455: André Lima Araújo.
I first became aware of André when he was collaborating with the irrepressible Sam Humphries on AVENGERS AI, and I was instantly fascinated with the cyberpunk neon he was bringing to the page. I basically had him filed in that Christian Ward-like space in my mind, in terms of unusual visionaries of Sci-fi.
Anyway, down the line we got talking when he was putting out his own Portugese Otomo MAN-PLUS for Titan, and he showed me some of his own projects he's working on.
And then the wheels started turning. Andre was clearly interested in a lot more things than Cyberpunk. Now, of the many things we wanted this issue to do is to show the readers Rome. André was someone whose Rome I wanted to see.
We asked him. He's deep in his next creator-owned project, written by Ales Kot. He talked to Ales, and they agreed he'd be able to take time off to do this one off issue. Thanks, Ales.
The pages I'm interspersing this are primarily from his own things he's working on. I'll probably show some more next time. He's very exciting, and I think you'll love him and what he does with 455 Lucifer.
Well, that's another tell. 455 will feature Lucifer. What else?
For those who don't know much about the period, 455AD is best known for the Vandals sacking Rome.
There's probably a story there.
It'll be in the next set of solicits, and I'll be making lots of noises nearer the time about pre-ordering. Like all the specials, it's a stand-alone story that won't be collected in the forthcoming IMPERIAL PHASE (I) trade.
Oh – and MAN PLUS is available from Titan in a fine volume if you want to explore him further.
If you want a final example of Andre's suitability for the task, I give you this: when he saw the fourth page of the script called for him to draw a whole Roman triumph, he was excited rather than looking for an excuse to back out of this.
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In other news, in WicDiv's own empire roaming across Europe, the release of the Spanish edition is approaching. It's published by Norma, and here it is..
It'll be out by March 30th.
Twitter: @normaeditorial
Facebook: NormaEditorial
Instagram: norma_editorial
At some point we may get blasé about having editions in other languages, but if so, that day is a long way away.
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This Week: has been hell. I was inspired by everything I saw of the marches, which made me think we may make our way out of it.
More on this when I'm not running out the house.
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Talking about hell, Uber: Invasion 2 is out tomorrow.
The preview is here. NSFW. It's an especially horrible issue, but one I'm intensely proud of. It's one of those rare books that I think may actually be unique for its genre, and the logical end point of the line of thinking that's run through all my work in superheroes. Namely, a disinterest in the people knocking over the buildings in favour of those who have just had a building knocked onto them.
It's also one which you could read entirely by itself, if you wish to dabble in these dark water.
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The reason why I have to run is I'm attending the launch of the 2000AD exhibit at the Cartoon Museum in London.
It's always worth a trip to the Cartoon museum if you're in town. Go!
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Humble Bundle are doing a 25th anniversary Image deal at the moment. Go see.
Frankly, get in at the $20 level and you've got an amazing collection of stuff you will adore.
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An odd pleasure in coming up is seeing people who we first encountered as fresh new humans growing and finding careers in and around the medium. Yay Kieran. We've come a long way.
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And I'm out. Speak soon!
Kieron Gillen
London
24.1.2017