East Coast Dispatches: September 28, 2021

Signing my life away

Hey folks,

Summer is finally on its way out, taking its homicidal-rage-inducing humidity with it. Good riddance, you muggy son of a bitch. You will not be missed.

Last week, I handed off a script I’ve been waiting to write for nearly a decade. I can't say what the project is, so will call it Project: Camera for now.

Sitting on a project for any length of time is always complicated. I’ve had two projects that I’d spent years trying to get off the ground and, by the time I was able to, I found the spark had died. The love I had for them when I first conceived of the stories had dulled, I wasn’t at the same place anymore and the initial attachment to the ideas had since withered. As a result, writing these projects I would have once killed for became a chore and I hated the results.

I’m trying to get better about identifying this problem before getting pot committed with a publisher or co-creator — the first time I noticed it, we were too far along for me to pull the plug and I’ve regretted it ever since. The second time, I recognized that I was no longer in love with the project and pulled the plug, putting the idea out to pasture.

But, THIS TIME! This time the magic was still there. I can’t stop thinking about the book, I’m excited every day that I sit behind the computer to write it. I’m writing and researching around the clock (so much research!) and all of it is exhilarating.

Art has started to come in on Project: Camera and I want desperately to show it off, but until an official announcement is made, I can’t say/show squat.

Keep your eyes on this newsletter as we’ll be announcing it here first.

The whole experience with Project: Camera and Murder Book: Catch & Release has me reexamining how I approach comics and what my career is going to look like moving forward, but more on that next newsletter.

Table of Contents

• Murder Book: Catch & Release Update
• Ride For Cancer
• Fan Expo Canada
• Kelly’s Got A Substack!
• Simon’s Got A Kickstarter!
• Upcoming Releases
• I Know You’re Only Here For Lasagna

Murder Book: Catch & Release Update

The bookplates for Murder Book: Catch & Release have arrived after making their way from the US to Italy — where Lisandro signed them all and sketched up about 50 — to Canada, where I’m now desecrating them with my signature and about a dozen or so sketches. After I’m done, most are going to be shipped back to the US of A so that they can be mailed out with books — which should start shipping in late October. Right now, the books are on a boat somewhere on the Pacific Ocean.

In other Murder Book news, I’ve started working on the next book, which will be roughly the same length as Catch & Release. Lisandro will be back to illustrate, which I am thrilled about. More news on that, as I have it.

Ride For Cancer

Just a reminder that I’ll be participating in the Ride For Cancer this weekend. Riding 100kms on October 2, 2021, to raise money for new cancer-detecting medical equipment for our local hospital. More details are available at the link above.

I’ve lost three family members to cancer in the last 15 years and just in this last year lost a friend and former co-worker who had been fighting the disease for several years.

If you’re able to donate to the ride, you can do so here. As I’ve done in past years, I’ll be sending signed comics to any who donate more than $50.

Fan Expo Canada

I’m dipping my toes back into conventions and travel in October.

Like most of you, I haven’t traveled in more than 18 months. I’ve been on the fence about whether or not I would do any conventions this year. Fan Expo Canada has long been one of my favourites — the show I’ve done more than any other — but still…when the invite came I was anxious about attending. However, the convention has limited their attendance, have made masks mandatory, and require all attendees to provide proof of vaccination, which makes me feel better about the whole ordeal.

If I’m being honest…I’m even a little excited.

So, if you’re in the Toronto area, come see me at Fan Expo Canada, October 22-24th.

Kelly’s Got A Substack!

Comic writer Kelly Thompson (Hawkeye, Black Widow, Captain Marvel) is one of my closest friends in the industry (only partially because she’s got an Eisner) and I’m always excited to see what she’s got in the works. Over the past few months, I’ve been lucky enough to get a sneak peek at what she’s been developing for her new Substack deal and it is all solid gold. I’m honestly in awe of it.

Kelly, along with co-conspirators Meredith McClaren (Heart In A Box, Hinges, Servant of The Black Dog) and Mattia de Iulis (Jessica Jones, Immortal Hulk, Valkyries) are developing two new series that will be part of Substack’s subscription program and update weekly over the next year.

Pop over to her Substack and have a look at what they’re cooking and consider subscribing.

Simon’s Got A Kickstarter!

Past collaborator and grizzly bear/human-hybrid, Simon Roy, has teamed up with super great dude Damon Gentry, to launch a Kickstarter for Grip Of The Kombinat.

I could list the reasons why you should back it, but instead, I think you should probably click on this link and just watch their project video. You won’t regret it.

As of this writing, the project has only 15 hours to go!

Upcoming Releases

NEXT WEEK: ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARKSEID? #1

OFFICIAL SOLICITATION: Gather ’round the fire, fellow campers, because it’s time for that most terrifying of traditions—campfire stories so scary you’ll never sleep without a night-light again! The Teen Titans guide those brave enough through tales of Batman and the hidden killer, Superman and Lois Lane and the killer in their back seat, Harley Quinn and Darkseid versus a furious Bloody Mary, and four more stories so hair-raising you’ll call your momma to come pick you up. So toast your marshmallows, pull up a s’more, and answer the only question that matters this Halloween: Are you afraid of Darkseid?

This was a fun assignment. Got to write an Aqualad and Aquaman horror story set in Kelowna, BC — where I spent my teen years. Christopher Mitten is on art and really elevated this little story into something special.

This one is out on October 5, 2021.

OTHER UPCOMING BOOKS:

October 2021:

• Are You Afraid of the Darkseid (DC)
• Batman Secret Files: Peacekeeper-01 (DC)
• Beyond the Breach #4 (Aftershock)

November 2021:
• Beyond the Breach #5 (Aftershock)

I Know You’re Only Here For Lasagna

Okay, I’m off to watch Succession. Talk to you fine-ass people in a couple of weeks.

Ed Brisson
September 28, 2021
Halifax, Nova Scotia

ps. Thinking about renaming this newsletter. Apparently, I can’t stick with one name for more than a year.