Producing the End - Part 2
Hey, everyone! Happy Monday! I am fully not ready to start the week, but maybe writing a newsletter will help with that. I wanted to start with a little more about the Producing the End of the World anthology which is barreling along at full steam over on Kickstarter.
The story of this anthology began a couple of years ago when the submission window was open. I wrote my story, submitted it, and was shocked and thrilled it was chosen. We get to the point last year when all the stories that were to be published were finally completed. All the artwork, that is. Which took a bit of time, as art always does, but some folks had to step away from the project due to other deadlines, responsibilities, life. Some starts and stops delayed things a bit. My story had an artist assigned and they had to step out, so a different artist was ultimately tagged and he was able to see it through. So everything was finally done and the full anthology was compiled. A Kickstarter campaign was launched … and unfortunately the goal wasn’t reached. We couldn’t quite get it over the finish line. That was a bit of a drag.
Our editor and curator, Anthony Pollock at Soda & Telepaths, decided to reassess and relaunch by splitting the anthology into two issues with the aspiration that if the Kickstarter for the first issue — with a more modest budgetary goal — was successful then the second issue campaign would be launched subsequently.
And that’s what we find ourselves in the midst of right now.
One aspect of the relaunch that didn’t exist the first time around are the four variant covers!
The primary cover was already created for the submission call so it’s been with us the entire time.
But there are now four variant covers inspired by some of the stories in the anthology. I shared this one earlier based on the story “Penny & the Mechanical Mr. Strawberry”:
Love that cover!
Here’s the full rundown of the stores in issue #1 of the anthology:
Penny & the Mechanical Mr Strawberry – Long ago there was the war between humans and the robotic invaders from space. Neither side won, and in the ruins that remain we follow the story of Penny and her friend, the Mechanical Mr Strawberry.
Written by Louis Southard and Art by Domenico Pagano
The Opal Idol – The gods left behind the Opal Idol with a dire warning that no person should ever move it. Bartholomew the Dread is like no other person, he knows that the gods lied!
Written by Gary Proudley and Art by Rob Gaughran
Down With Something – Lt. Jason Lutz becomes a reluctant special guest at a blowhard president's gaudy campaign event as a “stowaway” from outside Earth's orbit unveils its own, gruesome ideas on how to make the entire planet great again…
Written by Rob Pilkington and Art by Elodie Chen
And the Meek Shall Inherit the Earth – Years after the world was devastated by wars and climate disasters, a vulnerable woman enters a sanctuary, seeking safety. But not everything is what it seems.
Written by Aubrey Jeppson and Art by Jeremiah Schiek
The Very End – Humanity is already dead when its alien annihilators arrive to destroy it. So, what do they do now?
Written by Scott Dunn and Art by Paul Gori
Dark Storm – In a world that has been destroyed by a never-ending storm, two women search for a solution, but are they just chasing false hope?
Written by Adam Burt and Art by Richard Kemp
The Last Song Played Will Not Be Freebird – As a meteor is hurtling toward the Earth, music fans at the last concert discuss what the final song played will be.
Written by Alex Dandino and Art by Chris Maiurro
I’m very excited we’re making another go at crowdfunding the anthology. I think I’ve mentioned before that this will be my first published short comic so it’s a singular milestone for me. Hopefully the first of many published comics in my career.
We just crested the 60% mark over the weekend!!! We’re all very happy with the response we’ve seen so far in these few short days and we’re very grateful to everyone who’s backed the project thus far. THANK YOU!!!
Okay, on to other things …
I read the first issue of THE CLOSET from Image Comics. I read it in the comics shop and it gave me chills as I was standing there. I keep saying I really don’t vibe with horror in any medium, but James Tynion is almost single-handedly responsible for helping me break that rule. It’s only three issues long and I’ve pre-ordered the rest. It’s beautifully illustrated and paced. The coloring is pitch perfect and the creators do a wonderful job using shadow and darkness. I’m interested to see how the story unfolds and I’m sure I’ll be terrified along the way.
THE CLOSET #1
Writer: James Tynion IV
Artist: Gavin Fullerton
Colorist: Chris O’Halloran
Letters: Tom Napolitano
Editor: Greg Lockard
Designer: Dylan Todd
And this past week was the finale of STEP BY BLOODY STEP, which has been an epically beautiful miniseries by an incredible team of creators.
STEP BY BLOODY STEP #4
Story: Si Spurrier
Art: Matias Bergara
Colors: Matheus Lopes
Graphic Design: Emma Price
Glyphology: Jim Campbell
Cover A: Matias Bergara & Matheus Lopes
Cover B: Tula Lotay
I can hardly ever say no to a Tula Lotay cover, and I think you can see why.
I can also hardly ever say no to a Peach Momoko cover and such was the case with STRANGE #3 …
We finished watching Slow Horses on Apple+ which was very satisfying. The teaser for next season looked intriguing.
I haven’t been diligent about watching some of the recent Marvel series on Disney+. We stalled halfway through on Hawkeye and haven’t started Moon Knight yet at all. But I am very excited about the upcoming premiere of MS. MARVEL.
I read the entirety of the series - what constituted the entirety at the time - when I was working at Powell’s Books in Portland a few years ago and we could borrow books from the shelves for a couple weeks at a time. I can’t remember what drew me to the series initially. I’d been devouring graphic novels while I worked at the store so it may have simply been something about the cover art, or flipping through that first series might have been enough to peak my interest, but I borrowed it, read it and loved it. G. Willow Wilson wrote a clever, heartfelt, exciting, hilarious series. Kamala was distinct in the long tradition of Marvel teenage superheroes who get new powers and have to discover what to do with them and who they are now. The streaming series looks fun so I can’t wait to watch it.
That’s all I have in me this Monday.
Writing this week … I’m going to continue on with the short play I started writing after the Uvalde shooting, and I have a series bible I’m building for an OGN that I’ll develop a pitch for later this year.
Hope everyone has a great week ahead.
See you next time,
Scott