146: Nod, nod, noddity nod
Hullo.
A short one this week, as I want to get it to you as soon as possible, but it also includes Fresh Exclusive New Content, so I hope you’ll forgive me.
LudoFOC.
Once & Future Print Collection
Links
Byyyyeeee!!!
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So, Ludocrats final orders cut off is this week. That’s Monday for folks in the Americas and (eeek) Friday for the UK folk (Strictly speaking I’m told it’s Sunday Night, but almost all retailers want it on Friday – and the sooner the better for everyone.)
Which means it’s perfect time to show the alternate cover. And we got a promising new up and comer by the name of Jamie McKelvie to do it. Ready? Here it is.
Coo. Admire Professor Hades Zero-K, and frown at her spilling the red wine. On these carpets? What is she thinking?
The press release will be going out later, with more details and the fine cover dress, but with time pressing, I wanted to show it you as quickly as possible. Speak to your retailer! If they need an order code, it’s JAN208731.
(If you want to order the original cover by Jeff, it’s FEB200052. If you want an explanation of how pre-ordering works, I direct you to a comic I made over five years ago)
We weren’t originally planning on doing alternate covers, but Jeff said how much he’d like to see folk take on his characters, so decided it was worth doing so. This is actually what happened with DIE as well. There’s definitely something in that when an artist gets to have the level of control they do with an Image book, this is a logical place to end up. It’s the only logical thing with the Ludocrats, right?
Oh – Image put up a trailer for the Ludocrats last night, which features music which I’m oddly obsessed by.
Smooth.
If you want more on the Ludocrats, here’s the preview material. We’ve deliberately released relatively little, as we want it to be a surprise and a joy. Underline that joy. Joy. There you go. Sometimes I do a thing, and it’s trying to do to other people what a work of art did for me, at a certain stage of my life. Basically, with Ludocrats, I’m hoping it’s going to be the ray of light Nextwave was for me in the bleak year of 2006. Can’t wait to share it with you.
Onwards, etc.
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Comps for Once & Future arrived last week. Out March 25th.
I meant to mention this last week, but Andy Weatherall’s passing was a genuine shock. He’s someone whose touch enabled some of the greatest music of the period, and the Sabres of Paradise Haunted Dancefloor was (I believe) the first real dance record I ever bought. Here’s a playlist of some of his production work of that period, and it’s just magical.
Panel x Panel have started their kickstarter of One Shots, which are basically stand-alone books on comics – essentially, 33 and a third for comics. There’s four available, and one is actually about our own Young Avengers. Well, not our own. Marvel’s. You know what I mean. Well worth your money.
I laughed when I saw this article about inverting your game controls or not. The first comic Jamie and I did together was about that exact topic.
If this wasn’t a rush one, I’d write a short essay about how good I’ve found Fall of Civilizations. For now, I’ll just provide the link, and tell you to explore. This is the sort of podcast that immediately makes me want to write.
I also wanted to write a short review of Rosewater by Tade Thompson which I finished last week, but I’ll just give the nod, and then give another nod, and continue nod excitably until you get the point. Nod, nod, noddity nod. Nigeria set nearish future sci-fi which brought to mind a singular approach to both the quiet apocalypse of Wyndham and the poet reimagining of an environment with fantastical worldbuilding of Jeff Noon’s Vurt sequence. Strongly recommended.
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Been working. On little ghosts.
I am mainly trying to avoid actually starting an army of these little folk, and my tactic of basically doing one test unit at a time is not exactly helping. By the time we next speak I may have bought 40 chain-ghost-things off Ebay or something.
Oh, real work? Just work. After this I’ve got to dive into polishing up the first script for PROJECT BRIGHTER SHADE OF BLUE, which I’m hoping to get in a state where I can show it to an editor by the end of play. I’ve been trying to find time to basically do some spreadsheets and diagrams for PROJECT COWBOY for two weeks now, and other things have taken priority. Writing the backmatter for Ludocrats 3 with Jim, while the fifth script is now in Chrissy’s hands. I’m ludicrously proud of this mess.
Next? Get the above out the way, and perhaps DIE 13, which is the issue 3 or issue 9 of this arc.
And now, lunch, which is the distinctly dissatisfying vegetarian chili I made to save what I could when I accidentally defrosted the freezer, as I am a fool.
Speak soon.
Kieron Gillen
London
4.3.2020