A New Book Appears... (Guts N' Gutters #11, August 2025)
TL;DR (Too Long, Don’t (Wanna) Read)
Rise of the Flightless has raised 235!
Cthuhlu Invades Fairytales funded!
Crit One Holiday Songbook Coming Soon!
Letters from the Void In Prelaunch!
A New Story Has Appeared…
Into the Gutters: My Meandering Comics Origin Story
Go support The Pursuit of Shadows, Phenomenova & Singularity on Kickstarter!
WHAT’S THE WORD?
Weave - to form by interlacing strands. to produce by elaborately combining elements. to unite in a coherent whole.
Rise of the Flightless is Live!
It’s been almost two months since Rise of the Flightless was released on Itch and we’ve steadily raised $235 for the Antarctic Science Foundation.
We even reached the top of Itch’s “Top Selling” list for the “comics” tag for a short while.
We’re still working to raise $500, so be sure to pick up your copy and help us out!
Cthulhu Invades Fairytales
Thanks to everyone who supported the campaign!
If you missed the campaign, late pledges are open below:
Letters From The Void Coming In October!
It’s finally here!
I am so incredibly excited to get this book out and I hope you’ll follow the campaign so you can be a supporter on DAY ONE.
And as a subscriber… You get to enjoy a few pages of the art well ahead of everyone else!
Crit One Holiday Songbook In Prelaunch On Backerkit!
Crit One is coming home for the holidays with a small zine of three dark fantasy comics with accompanying songs.
Follow the campaign on BackerKit so you don’t miss gifting yourself this great zine!
Project Spielberg Foundation
Lately, I’ve felt like it’s time to start working on a comic series, and one month ago, I had an idea for a story that gripped me so much that it is already outlined, and the creative team is assembled.
Story by me
Art by KVGIR
Colors by BearClaw
Letters by Tom Lynott
I don’t want to give away too much yet, but know it is a story that I hope will be fascinating, ridiculous, and heartfelt.
The first draft of Issue 1’s script is done, and is undergoing edits, plus we have some first character sketches from KVGIR (be sure to check out more of his stuff here, as it’s fantastic).
INTO THE GUTTERS
Inching Toward a Love of Comics
Last month, a post made the rounds on BlueSky poking fun at everyone recommending Watchmen as someone’s first comic, and it got me thinking about how I came to be a comic creator. In past interviews, I have dreaded the question “What’s your comic origins story?” because, unlike a lot of my peers, I don’t have a long history of reading superheroes or even manga. Sometimes, this seems to stump an interviewer since there’s little to connect with as a follow-up question.
At this point, I’ve come to accept it as I’ve tried to keep up with current Marvel and DC books, and they’re usually not my thing. I’m not a Garth Ennis, despising superheroes, but I feel safe in saying I don’t like them that much.
So, why did I come to comics if I don’t enjoy most people’s starting point into the medium? It’s kind of a meandering story.
Dad’s Old Comics & Trading Card Research
My first experience of comics was reading my dad’s collection. I don’t remember exactly what was in it besides some war comics and a Green Lantern, but it was my introduction. I can’t quite recall if this was in his collection or if he bought it for me after, but this cover below is stuck in my mind and I remember the Beyonder (whose name I didn’t know at the time, despite it being on the cover) being an interesting character.
These books were the spark, but what truly got me enthralled with superheroes was collecting Marvel trading cards and reading the character biographies continuously. I would bring my Pikachu binder of cards on car rides and read them to pass the time. Despite hardly reading any comics at this time, I had a fairly in-depth knowledge of Marvel’s characters.
Middle School Manga
My next venture into comics wouldn’t come until I hit my pre-teens and the general store in my grandparents' small Iowa town had a Shonen Jump with a free Obelisk the Tormenter Yu-Gi-Oh card. I mostly wanted the card, but I perused the comics within and quickly became obsessed. I begged my parents for a subscription, and for about 2 years, I had Shonen Jump come to my doorstep.
Since many of the stories were far from the beginning, I began seeking out the individual volumes so I could catch up. My favorites were everybody’s favorites, like One Piece, YuYu Hakusho, and Naruto, but I was also surprised to enjoy more mellow stuff like Hikaru No Go. My reading slowly expanded from Shonen Jump titles, and I would read Wolve’s Reign, Rurouni Kenshin, and somehow got away with reading Chobits (a very adult manga I had no business reading at this age X_D).
A Big Gap & the Start of a Career
I didn’t read any comics for a long time until 2019, and I’m not truly sure why I picked them back up. There were a couple of interesting videos from the (now former) YouTube channel Wisecrack about Alan Moore that got me thinking, “maybe I should read more of these comics that inspired these movies I like,” and then one day the wheels got turning when I sought out Art Spiegelman’s Maus at a Half Price Books. I remembered enjoying that book in my high school English class, and whether it was nostalgia or curiosity, something compelled me to reread it.
Next came Batman: The Killing Joke followed shortly by Promethea and The Sandman and then the rest is history. Six years later, I’m making my own comics and I look forward to where the rest of this meandering journey leads. It took me a while to get here, but I’m glad it happened the way that it did.
GUTTER BUDS
Shout out to these campaigns by friends and colleagues!
The Pursuit of Shadows #1-3 - Fantasy/Horror Book Series
Fiona and Stanley are torn from their lives and thrust into the center of a conflict beyond their understanding. The afterlife as we know it is a lie. Earth is one of many realms that are all on a collision course as strange beings cross between realms. Can Fiona and Stanley maintain their humanity or will they succumb to the thirst for power?
Phenomenova is a coming-of-age superhero adventure that follows a brand new generation of superheroes 20 years after World War III. In an age of deconstruction and cynicism, Phenomenova is an optimistic reconstruction and reconstitution of the superhero genre with a new flavor.
SINGULARITY –A Horror/Sci-Fi Anthology From VHS Publications
Singularity is our first ongoing series: a seven-story horror/sci-fi anthology packed with one-page shorts, disturbing slow-build tales, and visual experiments that make you squirm in the best way. Everything in it comes straight from our heads — no AI, no creative committee, just two people doing exactly what we want to read.
