The Foxe Gospel 8/16/22: The Horror, the Horror
YELPS & BARKS
Keeping things short and sweet this week, as Covid really did a number on my work schedule—and who needs a 5,000-word newsletter three weeks in a row? I am thankfully testing negative on rapid tests now, but I’ve got a lingering cough and am still dealing with bouts of feeling tired/worn out. A fantastic way to end the summer, and definitely not a major impediment to hitting all my deadlines in a timely and non-stressful manner!
OUT THIS WEEK [8/17/22]:
X-Men ’92: House of XCII #4 (of 5)
Art by Salva Espin
Colors by Israel Silva
Letters by Joe Sabino
Design Pages by Jay Bowen
Main Cover by David Baldeón & Israel Silva
Variant Cover by Amy Reeder
Edited by Lauren Amaro & Jordan White
Published by Marvel Comics
REIGN OF XCII!
Krakoa has cordially invited friend and foe alike to the Inner Circle Gala...but could that really be a staging ground for something more planet-sized? This '90s-tastic take on the X-Men's Krakoan Era continues as both the mutants and their foes reach for the stars!
When I first pitched this series, the inaugural Hellfire Gala had either just happened or was still ongoing, and I couldn’t wait to do a ‘90s prom version. Salva Espin has been killing it every issue, but this one might take the cake for fun cameo moments, since we got to invite non-mutants to the Inner Circle’s shindig. It’s not all punch and jewel-toned gowns, though—issue #3 ended with Krakoa welcoming a ton of new mutants to Earth, and Orchis isn’t going to be too happy about that…On top of that, what Dark machinations is the newly resurrected Beast up to? Everything accelerates here ahead of our very own (and very different!) Inferno in issue #5!
Also, how great is Amy Reeder’s yearbook variant?! I cracked up when I saw it for the first time. Exactly the kind of fun I tried to evoke on this series.
Razorblades: The Horror Magazine Book One Deluxe HC
Co-Created by James Tynion IV & Steve Foxe
Cover by David Romero
Published by Image Comics
The self-published terror sensation finally arrives in a deluxe hardcover collecting the first year! Co-created by JAMES TYNION IV (DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH, Something is Killing the Children) and STEVE FOXE, RAZORBLADES: THE HORROR MAGAZINE features over 350 pages of horror from some of the most cutting-edge names in the genre. From monsters in the closet to bodies stuffed in washing machines, RAZORBLADES redefines horror comics for the next era. Also includes prose, illustrations, and in-depth interviews with horror icons like SCOTT SNYDER.
Collects RAZORBLADES: THE HORROR MAGAZINE #1-5
I’ll have to dedicate a longer post to Razorblades in the coming weeks when I’m feeling better and can’t feel the distant eyes of editors glaring at me, but the short version is: this might be the project I’m most proud of? That’s no insult to any other book I’ve done, but seeing this go from a pie-in-the-sky text exchange between me and James during the height of “Covid will just be a bad month, right?” to over a year of blood-sweat-and-tears self-publishing to an oversized hardcover published by Image Comics is like birthing a nasty little horror baby, and I can’t wait to see it take its first steps into the world. There’re nearly 400 pages of terror between these covers, from some of the most impressive talents in the industry. Still can’t believe we wrangled all of this.
True Weird #4: The Cinder Woman
Art by John McCrea
Letters by Aditya Bidikar
Design by Dylan Todd
Edited by Greg Lockard
Published by Tiny Onion Studios & Substack
A black-and-white anthology series exploring the strangest "true" stories from the world around us with some of comics most exciting creators, presented by James Tynion IV on the The Empire of the Tiny Onion Substack.
“The Cinder Woman” examines spontaneous human combustion and the sad, strange case of Mary Reeser.
This little baby actually came out last Friday, available to all subscribers of James’s newsletter, The Empire of the Tiny Onion. The True Weird series sprung out of the work James and Michael Avon Oeming are doing in Blue Book, which dramatizes real-world strange happenings. The Cinder Woman explores my lifelong fear of—and fascination with—spontaneous human combustion, centered around one of the most notorious and baffling alleged cases.
I was honored to be asked to contribute, and then blown away when the legendary John McCrea agreed to draw it. I’ve been a fan of John’s work for about 20 years now, and seeing him flex new muscles on this short reminded me why he’s such an enduring presence in the industry. He also added quite a bit of his own dark humor to these pages, like the smoking cows. Having Aditya letter it was a massive cherry on the top. I get the privilege of working with Aditya on The Department of Truth, but this is the first (and hopefully not last!) time we've worked together on something I wrote. (You can also find something Aditya wrote in Razorblades, and I hear you might see his scripting skills put to use in a certain Allium-related newsletter soon.)
Major thanks to editor Greg Lockard for making it all happen, and of course to James for inviting us into his Empire!
ON THE HORIZON:
Now that we’ve caught up a bit from industry-wide delays, we’ve got a full month until X-Men ’92: House of XCII #5 drops on September 14th, concluding our Krakoa-for-the-'90s fever dream. I can’t say enough about what a bucket-list project this series has been…but I’m sure I’ll try in that edition of the newsletter.
In the meantime, though, I’d suggest keeping an eye on Marvel Unlimited. Maybe a few eyes, even, over the course of the coming month. Anyone else feeling a little…green?
INPUT, OUTPUT:
Since I recently showed my partner Piranha, it was only proper that I sat him down for his first-ever viewing of Jaws. For my money, Jaws is in the running for being THE movie. Watching it for the umpteenth time, it remains one of the most flawless examples of celluloid entertainment of all time. And the shark is still damn scary, especially when you see it in the pond and it sinks in just how long it is from the fin to the end of its tail. What more is there to say? It’s Jaws.
I’ve been enjoying a steady diet of borderline trash at night when my productivity peters out, including Humanoids from the Deep and Chopping Mall, both of which have been on my to-watch list forever. They’re both a lot of exploitative fun, although the assault scenes in Humanoids (added late in the production against the director’s and cast’s wishes) give the film a pervy edge it really didn’t need, especially since the suits (by the legendary Rob Bottin) hold up so well. Chopping Mall’s robots hold up less so, but that’s all part of the charm. And seeing it got me even more excited for Clown in a Cornfield author (and Razorblades contributor!) Adam Cesare’s upcoming Dark Horse series Dead Mall with artist David Stoll. (You've still got time to preorder Clown in a Cornfield 2: Friendo Lives while you wait!)
I’ve been immersed in research reading I can’t talk about just yet, but I did finally make time to read 20th Century Men #1, out this week from Image Comics. Written by Bloodshot Unleashed mastermind Deniz Camp, drawn by S. Morian, and lettered by Aditya Bidikar, 20th Century Men is an unflinching reconsideration of the concept of government super-soldiers played against a backdrop of never-ending global conflict. This is a well-covered theme (Dr. Manhattan striding across the Vietnamese landscape), but Deniz and crew find disquieting new angles, and keep a wide berth from oversimplified comparisons to known heroes. This is much more complex and engaging than "What if Captain America and Iron Man were real and also war criminals?" I wasn’t familiar with S. Morian’s work before this, but there’s a Kyle Baker-esque quality that I really enjoyed—a fluctuating approach to anatomy that borders on political cartooning at times, which really works for the series. Eager to see where this one goes, and hope folks will be picking up both this and Bloodshot Unleashed once that launches.
Sonically, I’ve been cycling Queenadreena and early Hole, which Apple Music likes to follow up with Nobody’s Daughter and Courtney Love’s solo album, America’s Sweetheart. I worship at the Church of Courtney but haven’t been able to convince myself to love either record. Maybe if Apple keeps forcing them on me. If you’re a fair-weather Hole fan and have never listened to Queenadreena, though, you’re missing out—Love has cited KatieJane Garside and Crispin Gray’s prior band, Daisy Chainsaw, as a major inspiration for Hole, and Queenadreena feels like an even more unhinged, unstable, and borderline dangerous extension of the sound. It seems like Garside has cleaned up her act—I believe she does folk music now?—but very little from the late ‘90s and early 2000s sounds as razor-sharp as Queenadreena (which is sometimes styled as Queen Adreena, and seems to be only sporadically available on American streaming services).
Fun fact: I only know about Queenadreena thanks to a very patient Kieron Gillen, who gave me an extensive British music lesson when I interviewed him around the launch of The Wicked + The Divine. I tragically can't find the (very long) interview on the Paste website anymore, as I believe they started purging older pieces to free up server space. Probably for the best, as it was my first-ever piece there and I brutally misunderstood the concept of the just-launched series, not quite getting that the gods weren't literally performing music at their shows. Kieron was gracious, patient, and kind, and at least I got a new favorite band out of it.
X’ing Off the Days,
Steve