Okay, first off … hopefully this went out to everyone like a good newsletter should. If you’re getting this it’s because either you signed up via the website, or because in that Kickstarter survey for MALICENT BLACK, where we asked if you’d like to keep up to date on future projects and more Malicent news, you clicked ‘yes.’ So … thanks for being here! I’ll do my best to make it worth your while.
And with that in mind … hey, the next MALICENT BLACK campaign is coming up!
One of the next few newsletters should have a link to the prelaunch page. Drew has been done with the script for a long time, but I’ve been playing catch up for awhile now. Between the work for hire gigs (BLADE, GIANT-SIZE X-MEN, PREDATOR vs BLACK PANTHER, FLASH GORDON QUARTERLY) and some other fun stuff (like DREAD THE HALLS, working up pitches, a variant cover or two and writing an unnecessarily long article about ROSS ANDRU that you can find right here: https://ontheflipsidecomics.com/en/featured-artist-ross-andru/ ), time has been at a premium. I’ve also gone from working 100% digitally for the past few years to at the very least penciling everything (and sometimes inking) old school. It’s been nice to get back to that, but it has been a little slower…
And I’m not the only one who’s been busy! Here’s just a bit of what Drew has been up to…
So how about a peek at that next MALICENT BLACK book, anyway? I’ve shared this piece on social media, so maybe you’ve already seen it…
Malicent Black … making friends wherever she goes. I’ll show some more next time. I’m really excited about this book, and I think it’s my favorite story I’ve ever worked on…
Meanwhile, this year I’ll be at https://www.heroesonline.com/heroescon/ for the first time! I’m stupidly excited to make the trip. I’ll be bringing Original Art, Artist’s Proof prints, comics, maybe a few trades, even some of the DC children’s books … if you’re making it to the con, stop by and say hi! I have no idea where our table is. I don’t worry about these things.
I’ll also be taking on some commissions, both preshow and at the con. I’m not sure how many I’ll be doing, though, so if you’re interested, it’d be best to hit me up early!
Anyone who knows me knows I haven’t made many cons the past few years. The reason? I’m extremely antisocial! But I’m going to Heroes anyway and you should too!
In other news … I keep going back to this book Mike Hawthorne did recently:
I love this thing. Not only is it a great comic, but I love the way Mike came at it. It’s sort of an old school ashcan, and it’s Mike getting back to his roots and to the things he loves about comics. It’s inspiring! I mean, this is why we do this, right? We all have something that calls to each and every one of us. A “hey, if you can only make one comic, what would that comic be” sort of thing?
So you should read this. Mike has a brand-new website at https://www.thinktankcomics.com/ where you can find this and a bunch of other stuff that you’re gonna want!
I also saw the news about Peter David’s passing while this newsletter was waiting to get finished off and … man. Like so many others, I am a huge fan of his work. I never got the chance to meet him, much less work with him, but my heart goes out to his family and friends, and to the rest of us, who won’t have any new comics written by Peter to look forward to. I know as a longtime Spider-man fan I’d definitely come across his work before, but I’m pretty sure my brother bringing home this comic from the local shop we’d just discovered is what led me to search out more and more of his stuff…
The thing is, my brother and I used to coordinate which of us would buy a series to avoid doubling up. We’d JUST discovered our first comic shop, and wanted to read as much as we could afford to bring home. He’d buy SHE-HULK and NAMOR, I’d buy AMAZING SPIDER-MAN and NEW WARRIORS, etc. So from this point on, he was the guy who bought the HULK…
But it wasn’t too many months later that I just started buying the HULK, too.
Rest in peace, PAD.
I think that’s all for now … see ya in a couple of weeks, if not sooner…
-LF
LeeFerguson.Art 