046: The Coming, Seeing, Conquering?
Hullo.
Hmm. Let's keep this hyper short. I still want to write some of the prose sections for WicDiv 1923 that I've been avoiding, as I'm scared. People say if you're afraid of something creative it's a good sign. I distrust these people. I'm sure these people are trying to hurt me. I will have my revenge on these people.
Contents!
Imperial Phases End
Enter the Spurrier And The Emlio
Various Media
Recompressed
Byeeeeeeeeeee!
****
It's the end of a WicDiv year, which as those who remember 11 and 22 will know, means big things. WicDiv 33 is definitely one I'd recommend trying to read without spoilers. Trade-waiters – don't annoy your friends who are reading in singles, in case they let it slip. And if they slip to hurt you, find new friends. Those people sound mean.
(The 11, 22, 33 does make me smile. Issue 44 is of a similar scale, by the way. Writing is fun.)
No preview, as we wanted people to jump in clean on this. Hell, we even asked for Image not to send out press copies in advance of publication. It's available on Comixology and directly via Image, as well as your fine comic shop, with both the above NONE MORE BLACK cover from Jamie and Russell Dauterman maximalist formats. I suspect the Writer notes on this one will be considerable. I have a surfeit of thoughts and emotions.
(“A surfeit of thoughts and emotions” could work as my epitaph, I suspect. Note I don't say anything about the quality of the thoughts or emotions.)
The Christmas special follows in December, the trade in January and the 1923 special in February. Here's Aud's cover...
I'll write more about this further along the line. It's not really like anything else.
And then we're back in March, with issue 34, which starts the final year of The Wicked + the Divine. That should be twelve issues, plus specials.
And then we can sleep.
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Meanwhile, over in a galaxy far, far away, we start the second year of Aphra with issue 14. As said before, I sort of think of Aphra as having a TV/novel model, with each year being a singular statement that leads towards a new status quo which builds on what we've done before.
Suffice to say, this is a fun one. You can jump aboard clean here as well.
Beautiful Si Spurrier is joining me co-writing this arc, with Emilio Laiso doing amazing clean-line sci-fi organic art. I'm extremely happy with this issue.
In short, Aphra up to no good, and crossing paths with her old – er – friend, Captain Tolvan. Disaster ensues.
****
I finally read Emily Carroll's Through The Woods. It wasn't the first Carroll I've read – I think Frontier #6 was my first, which I was also humbled by, which makes me wonder why on Earth it took me until now to actually pick it up. She's just a master of the short form horror comic. I can't think of a horror creator who has immediately moved me as much since I first discovered Junji Ito. Horror is a nightmarishly hard genre to make work in comics. Most horror comics fascinate me (if they are the classier kind) or disgust me (if they're the less classy kind) but work rather less as Horror than I suspect they're intended. They're primarily read as Dark Fantasy featuring Horror Tropes. Which isn't a problem – I do like them – but seems to be missing something. This doesn't. This gets under the skin and lives there, and immediately made me want to look at how I use captions. I suspect the Emily Carroll influence in Spangly New Thing may be noticeable at certain points.
I've been reading a bunch of books (including another rush through some Christie in prep for the aforementioned 1923 special text stuff) but I wanted to plug podcaster's Mike Duncan's non-fiction book, Storm Before The Storm. You know any Roman history? The Coming, Seeing, Conquering? The Die Is Cast? That stuff? This is about the period which precipitated those events. In other words, you probably know WW2. This is why there was a WW2. This is why a long standing Republic faltered when a series of ambitious men just started breaking it. Suffice to say, this is not comforting reading in 2017, but thrilling and accessible. It will be useful to you.
Also, in a note to self, I really need to get the collection of Eric Kostiuk Williams' short work.
*****
I just downloaded the recording of the interview I did with Chip Zdarsky at GOSH, so will hopefully be finding a few minutes tomorrow to edit it and upload to Decompressed. Should be up then, but I plug now.
Have I ever actually mentioned that here? It's my hyper-sporadic craft podcast. I do it rarely, but I'm told it's interesting stuff. It's very much me talking over hard craft issues with creators. There's a bunch in the archives, including some of the biggest names in comics, and soon also Chip. It was actually Decompressed which made Andy of Comics Experience thing that it may be fun to do a Master Seminar with me.
I'm still prepping what I want to talk about in that – it's more of a craft conversation than a business conversation, I suspect. It should be interesting. It better be interesting. People are paying me.
****
Work continues. Clearly, with WicDiv 33 coming out, I've been somewhat distracted, but I still managed to hand in the first issue of Spangly New Thing, tidy up the first draft of WicDiv 34 and now have progressed to Spangly New Thing's second issue.
Also Spangly's Artist passed me some of the polished up character designs. I purr appreciatively, and you will too. Can't wait to drop this one.
Byyyyeeeee!
Kieron Gillen
London
9.15.2017