Summer 2023 update! Projects I'm working on!
Behind the scenes info on everything I'm writing alongside some new never before seen art! This is a MASSIVE post!
Hello! I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying this the start of summer! I know it’s been a while since I did a big update like this. Aside from the usual release and FOC update I’ve been quiet on here with the more personal detailed posts. Thank you to everyone who has kept reading the last few months and reached out privately about what you read in these newsletters.
2023 has been BUSY. 2022 was busy, but 2023 has been more so. This post was intended to be our spring update but instead it’s turned into the early summer update.
Lately, the top question I’ve been asked by multiple people has been “Do you ever sleep?” And the answer is yes. And I take weekends off. Which is hard to do sometimes, but for my family I need to maintain that boundary with work. Now with the sleep…I do sleep. Just not a lot. I usually work 12-hour days 5 days a week in my office. Just get as much done as I can in the window.
But I do know I’m doing a LOT. I’m writing a LOT. Maybe too much.
All I’ve wanted to do since I was a little kid was to write comic books and I have this opportunity to do more than I ever thought was possible, so I’m running with the ball as much as I can. Working with DC on DAWN OF DC, my DC titles, developing creator-owned books, and doing the GI JOE books have been a LOT of fun. But when you look at the list of titles that I’m doing this year you can see it’s a lot. Not complaining as I recognize how damn lucky I am. It’s a blessing that I appreciate every day. I work my ass off because I recognize how great this gig is!
I try to keep a pretty solid schedule. Write one script a week (sometimes more.). Robert Kirkman once said “It takes me 3 days or 3 weeks to write a script.” And boy do I feel that. Sometimes I just KNOW it. And then sometimes it takes me a bit. Usually what I do is two days of just THINKING about the script. This is a lot of me working out of notebooks and on white boards. It’s time spent away from the computer. Then I take 2 days to type it all up. All of the real work is done on those white boards as I map out the structure of the issue. What actually happens in the story along with some of the dialogue notes. Dialogue is actually the thing that takes me the longest. It’s the area where I’ve always struggled so I keep a close eye on it and that alone can take a day or more. Once I get it all together I start typing. It’s often a mad dash but still rolling. In an ideal world I would take a few days off from a script and then revisit it with fresh eyes, but that’s just not the world we live in. These books gotta MOVE. Comics is a weekly business and so that train has to keep running.
I write in the mornings and then deal with the business of comics in the afternoon. Which is to be honest the thing that slows me down the most. I’m a fairly fast comic book writer. I’ve slowed down over the years, but I’ve never been one to drag TOO much. But the thing that slows me down the most is that other side of comics…the actual business side of it. I count interviews, phone calls, emails, meetings, conventions, etc in that. There is a part of me that wished I could just shut all that off and just focus on writing comics and improving as a comic book writer, but that just isn’t the reality of comics. If you want to be successful you MUST do all the business side of things, too.
That all being said…if you’ve emailed me in the last few months and I haven’t responded, I apologize. I will try to get back to you soon. Some days I feel like I have two options: write comics…or answer emails. And the deadlines always win.
Now let’s talk about all these comic books that I’ve been writing alongside a taste of art!
If you’re a paid subscriber there are updates just for you on the other side of the paywall at the end.
SUPERMAN: Issue #5 came out last week. The end of our two-part “Romance” arc with Silver Banshee and Jimmy. I love Jimmy. It’s 100% in character for Jimmy to have some wild romance with someone unexpected. This issue was one of my favorite issues to write. I always knew how it was going to open with the romance piece but then end with the tragic Lex scene, but the middle was a mystery…until Jimmy had the rocket pack. That was the moment it all came together.
The cliffhanger ending that was in SUPERMAN #5 was built into the start of the series. The idea of how important Superman’s super hearing was, and his communications and trust with Lex Luthor. I’m glad the shock ending wasn’t spoiled by anyone before hand and a lot of readers got to experience it the intended way.
Honestly, I was anxious about this series more than I’ve ever been for a project at DC Comics. I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again. Superman IS DC Comics. It’s intimidating. I understand how much Clark and his mythology mean to people. It goes beyond comics. It’s a responsibility I take seriously. To tell the best stories I can with the character and his world. So, I put extra pressure on myself for SUPERMAN. But I really don’t know what people think of it. Because I sort of live in a bubble lately, I don’t know if people have been digging it. But I’ve been lucky to hear from some friends and people who work for the websites that they have been enjoying it. I’m thankful to hear it and hope people also tell Jamal and Ariana. Jamal and Ariana are KILLING IT. Every page is stunning. I’m blown away by the work they’ve done.
This summer we’re taking a small break from the series for KNIGHT TERRORS. BUT in August we’ll have the SUPERMAN 2023 ANNUAL that will give more teases about the big Superman event planned for next year. It’s already been hinted in the solicits for the annual, so that shouldn’t come as too much a surprise. It has an appearance of a character that I always love to write and I’m really excited to include them in a Superman story in a bit way.
A few weeks back, I saw an article where someone thought the event would be Lois vs Superman/Clark…no, I would never. Haha. Oh and I heard that people are trying to guess who Lois Lane hires to work at the Daily Planet. And no one has got it right yet. But once you see it, it will feel obvious. Lois is thinking outside the box a bit.
The next arc that starts in September called THE CHAINED introduces a new villain for Superman. It will have surprising connections to the history of Metropolis and one of Superman’s allies. It leads to a big issue, a massive fight, and a difficult choice for Superman. Things really get nuts after The Chained in the book, so be ready!
We’re continuing the theme of short arcs. Issues 1-3 was one, 4 and 5 was another. The Chained is three issues drawn by guest artist GLEB MELNIKOV. I worked with Gleb on the ROBIN series, but Gleb had drawn a few Superman shorts before that, which showed me he would be perfect for our big blue boy scout. Here is a small taste:
BATMAN & ROBIN: We announced the new series in March and haven’t released a whole lot of art for it yet. The solicit for the series pretty much talks about what the book is about:
Father and son. Bruce and Damian. Batman and Robin. From Batman vs. Robin to Knight Terrors, a lot has happened to the Dynamic Duo, but now they are back together and ready to fight crime in Gotham—just in time for Batman’s most monstrous rogues to team up to turn the city into an urban jungle! A new villain watches from the shadows, intent on revenge, with a plot to turn one of Batman’s greatest assets against him! Can Damian help his father solve the case before it’s too late? A brand-new fun and exciting father-and-son adventure begins, from DC Comics architect Joshua Williamson and superstar artist Simone Di Meo!
Way back in 2021 when I was working on the new ROBIN series starring Damian, we knew BATMAN VS ROBIN and LAZARUS PLANET was going to happen in late 2022. I knew that I was only writing a short BATMAN run to connect with SHADOW WAR. BUT the plan was to launch Batman and Robin as a new father and son adventure this year in 2023. I just couldn’t tell anyone that when the Robin series was ending. That it wasn’t being cancelled. It was ending for story reasons and so we could relaunch with the new title.
Writing Bruce and Damian together is a blast. My take on them is that they know how to be Batman and Robin. They know how to be the new dynamic duo…but…they don’t really know how to be father and son. And before when they lived together Alfred was still there. Alfred acted as a buffer between them. He was a parent to both. The adult in the room, so to speak. And now that he’s gone Bruce and Damian are not sure how to act around each other. Yet.
My goal here is to do way less father and son conflict and a more father and son fun adventure that showcases the weirder pieces of Gotham. We are slowly going to reveal a new criminal mastermind in Gotham that will surprise people. I hope so at least. There will be a LOT of misdirection in the new series along with killer artwork by Simone Di Meo.
GREEN ARROW: #3 comes out THIS WEEK. Holy crap. #3 already. Time flies! Sean has been kicking ass on pages. Every issue has a new location, and Sean has been nailing them. Here you learn that Ollie and Lian are trapped with Connor in the future…with the Legion of Super-Heroes!
Part of the ending of #3 was ruined by the cover to #4…but as you know…the covers are never the whole story. But we’re touching on a piece of Ollie’s “Quiver resurrection” that always bugged me and seeing how it ties into our major mystery.
It's been a blast writing this series. A dream come true. My goal for this series to tell a kind of “Hush” level story with Ollie and his family. We’re only 3 issues in and we have a lot of characters to bring in for this Arrow Family reunion.
KNIGHT TERRORS: Starts NEXT WEEK. Whoa! Our two month event.
I wrote nearly all of this before it was announced. I need to wrap up the ending and then I’m done on the heavy lifting for this story. The art has been rolling in and looks amazing. It’s been to watch creators cut loose and create some really horror-filled comics for DC. It’s wild that the whole event is almost done and the first issues haven’t even come out yet. In fact, Guillem just turned in his last page of the KNIGHT TERRORS: BATMAN mini-series this morning. It was bittersweet. It’s always nice when a book wraps up on time, but I love working with Guillem so much it sucks for it to be the end of his awesome pages landing in my inbox every week.
It’s been interesting to see some corners of the internet say thought they could skip this story. But it has a HUGE impact on the tone of Dawn of DC and the cast. That will become obvious once we get to SDCC and into the fall. I see it as Empire Strikes Back of the Dawn of DC story.
KNIGHT TERROR: FIRST BLOOD kicks it all off and is the first appearance of INSOMNIA. Then in late August we have KNIGHT TERRORS: NIGHT’S END. That will teases some of the future stories in the DCU, and will have the first appearances of DOCTOR HATE. A new villain that will have a big impact in the DC Universe as we get closer to winter.
Check out KNIGHT TERRORS next week!
DARK RIDE: #7 comes out July 12th! It’s the issue I call “Family Dinner.” And is a talking heads-heavy issue but crucial to the overall mystery that has been building in the book since #1. It all takes place in a fun location called “CLUB 666” which is a play on Disneyland’s “Club 33.”
I love this book, but it is the hardest one to write. It was the same way with BIRTHRIGHT. Maybe because I don’t have superhero tropes or history or mythology to lean on. Or it’s just the mix of family and horror. When I was writing NAILBITER I used to have a line written at the top of every page of my notebook. It was a simple rule. “Where is the SCARY?” And it’s the same here. In every issue I try to not get too lost in the family drama and find those spaces for the blood. Andrei and Adriano really kick ass on the horror in this series. It’s amazing to watch them work together.
NAILBITER: Working away on getting more “Tales” chapters together. We hit a snag at the end of last year on my end and will be restarting soon. We’ll provide more updates on this in July.
G.I. JOE: So, this got announced. One of comics best kept secrets. It’s been in development for a LONG time with Skybound and I was surprised it never got out. It’s still a bit too early to talk about the DUKE and COBRA COMMANDER series, but keep a close eye on San Diego Comic Con this summer as we’ll talk about it a lot more after that.
And yes, I am also SUPER PUMPED for Daniel Warren Johnson’s TRANSFORMERS. Take a look at the teaser he made below!
That’s it for the announced project updates!
Later this week we’ll do a bit of a BLAST FROM THE PAST as we talk about the TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT, the series I did with Dark Horse that started in 2013.
Now into some fun stuff I’ve enjoyed recently!
RECOMMENDATIONS:
COMICS:I have a massive stack of books in my office. Too many. And I read a LOT of comics. Here are a few that I enjoyed recently.
Nemesis: Reloaded: The first issue was awesome. The whole mini-series was a roller coaster with a kick-ass ending! Pun intended! The way this series connected to the whole Millarworld story was really fun.
Kick-Ass and Wanted: After I read NEMESIS: RELOADED I went down a rabbit hole on the books that connect to it. Read ALL OF IT. I was surprised that between KICK-ASS and HIT-GIRL there are 14 trades! But suffice to say I’m very excited for BIG GAME!
Vanish: Read the first trade and really enjoyed it. I wish I had a dozen trades of this series to dig into.
The Punisher: Jason Aaron, Jesus Saiz and Paul Azaceta did a fantastic job on this 12-issue series. It was the book I would always read first the week it came out. We need more comics like this. 12 issues with something to say about the character. I have struggled with Punisher since Garth Ennis left the character but this story actually took Frank Castle into a direction I felt made a LOT of sense. It was fresh, action packed, touched on his mythology but first and foremost it was EMOTIONAL. Of all the Marvel books I’ve read the last year this one had my highest recommendation.
MOVIES:
Super Mario Brothers was amazing.
Across the Spider-Verse was beautiful. It’ll be awesome to watch it and Beyond the Spider-Verse in one sitting some day.
Scream VI: Loved it. I didn’t love Scream (2022) but I see how it was like table dressing. The pieces in VI that really worked were set up in the last one.
TV: I don’t really get the time to watch a lot of TV, but here are a few things that I never miss.
Ted Lasso: Loved the show. I felt like the ending was a great. If I felt like the whole season felt like a bit too much of a slow burn, there is a part of me that looks at the last season as a series of epilogues. Still, I loved that ending.
Schmigadoon!: Binged the first two seasons. Really by the time the second season started, I was hooked. Short six isodes each. I look forward to whatever musical trope they embrace next. Maybe they do an animated episode? Get Disney with it.
Top Chef: Season 19 and Season 20 are great. The people I wanted to win both seasons won. There was something about Season 20 that felt like the end of a massive story. Some of that is because of Padma leaving the show. But also the epicness of a international all-stars where nearly everyone was cooking perfection all season. For a reality show about cooking they really know how to nail down the drama. I look forward to how they change things up with season 21.
That’s it for now! More this week!
THANK YOU!
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