Sneak previews at a big year ahead

Comics, my first novel and more!

As we start the year, I wanted to share with you all a quick overview of the things I have going on. And since you’re all such lovely people for subscribing, I’ll pass along some stuff that’s still secret—including a sneak peek at my debut novel.

Additionally, I’ll be going to a lot more book events and comic conventions this year. I’ll share more of that schedule at my site and on Twitter.

FEBRUARY

I’ve been working over the past year to start up a new video game company called Eon Rift. One of the co-founders is Leri Greer, who is a concept artist and designer for films including the Avatar franchise and Mad Max: Fury Road.

He had created some animal cyberpunk characters, and together we’ve built out a world and some initial games. In February we’re launching the company, opening it up for fans to buy custom characters and a comic book set in this world. Here’s the cover, with art by Jonboy Meyers:

It’s a totally new type of writing for me, and I’m truly not tech savvy, but it’s been fun to push myself and jump into a very different challenge.

MAY

I have had this long fascination with the weirdo superhero work of Fletcher Hanks, who created Stardust the Super Wizard and Fantomah in the late 1930s and then disappeared from the industry. Just check this out:

Turns out I’m not alone! A big group of comic creator friends and I are producing an anthology of stories featuring the public domain characters of Fletcher Hanks, including a story from Fletcher’s grandson. Other creators include: Mike Allred, Zander Cannon, Jesse Lonergan, Jeff Parker, Ron Marz and many more!

This will be crowdfunded at Zoop, which is essentially a Kickstarter-type site but only for comic books. I’ll send out a special email when the campaign is live.

JULY

Just in time for Comic-Con, IDW Publishing will release ARCA, my graphic novel with the phenomenal artist Jesse Lonergan. It imagines a future in which the world has been destroyed, and the richest and most powerful people survive aboard a vessel called the Arca. They’re served by children and teenagers who toil for the promise of a better life in a new world.

But one girl suspects that not all is well on the Arca, and as she starts to pull at that thread, she discovers that the billionaires aren’t nearly so compassionate as they claim.

Want to see what all 160 pages of the book look like at once?

There you go!

Okay, how about a sneak peek that you can actually see? Jesse is so damned good because he uses design in a way that few others do. His art is structured in an incredible way. See for yourself:

You can let your comic shop/bookstore/library know that you’re interested, or you can even pre-order it here!

SEPTEMBER

One month, and two new comic book series from me!

First up is Tear Us Apart, cowritten with Jay Baruchel (yes, that Jay Baruchel) and illustrated by Alessandro Micelli. It will be published by Dark Horse Comics. It is set in the 1990s and follows two teenagers who are raised in a murder cult that trains children to be assassins. When they fall in love, they’re forced to go on the run. They just want a peaceful life, but they’re going to have to drop a hell of a lot of bodies to do so.

It’s a romance! The bloodiest romance you’ll ever see.

Next up is SECRET PROJECT!

Sorry, I can’t spill the beans on this one yet. It’s an ongoing series from IDW that combines horror and action and is super big and weird. More soon!

I can share, just between us, that it’ll be drawn by Justin Mason, of Star Wars and Spider Punk fame! Here’s a Mandalorian piece from Justin to whet your whistles:

NOVEMBER

Lastly, this year will see the publication of my first novel, Godfall. It is a murder mystery with a big sci-fi hook. A giant alien has crash-landed on Earth, next to a small town in Western Nebraska. It is unmoving, seemingly dead. And the locals have to cope with not just this massive corpse, but with the soldiers, scientists, bureaucrats, cultists and tourists who flood their town. The story follows the town’s sheriff, who is overwhelmed in trying to manage all this chaos even before bodies start to turn up.

I know. I know. November is a long time to wait. But I’m feeling generous, so here are the first few paragraphs of chapter one. A special preview just for you!

And that is the year ahead! I hope that all of you are having a great start to 2023, and I’ll be back in a few weeks with some more writing/storytelling thoughts.