Welcome (back).
Longtime subscribers may notice that the newsletter looks a little different this time around. I’ve moved the newsletter from Mailchimp to Substack because it seems like the cool thing to do. The interface is much (MUCH) simpler and I like the comment features. So, we’ll see how this goes.
Comic News
It’s been a weird year for me. Not as much work as in past years, which is partially by design and partially due to Covid coming into the world and destroying everything like a tantrum-throwing toddler. The stuff I am working on has mostly been pushed back to later in the year and so there’s not much that I can say about it just yet, but there’s plenty of exciting news coming down the pipes shortly.
As for things I can talk about…
BEYOND THE BREACH #1 (AFTERSHOCK)
After several years away from creator-owned work, I’m making a concerted push to return to it in 2021 and 2022 (and beyond). Between the Murder Book Kickstarter (more below) and this, I’m pretty happy with my progress so far.
So, what is Beyond The Breach? Well, here’s the official solicitation to give you a little taste.
(W) Ed Brisson (A/CA) Damian Couceiro (Variant Cover) Declan Shalvey
Life sucks for Vanessa. Her mother just died and her boyfriend is cheating on her (with her own sister!). To clear her mind, Vanessa is taking the California road-trip that she’s been dreaming about for years.
Her postcard-perfect drive through old-growth forests quickly turns when THE BREACH hits. A bizarre anomaly in the sky plunges California into a nightmare world populated with strange, extra-dimensional creatures. Now Vanessa, along with Dougie, an orphaned child, and Kai, a strange, fuzzball of a beast, must fight to survive if they ever hope to make it back home. If there’s even a home to return to.
Written by Ed Brisson (Uncanny X-Men, Ghost Rider, Old Man Logan) and illustrated by Damian Couceiro (Old Man Logan, Iron Fist, X-Force), BEYOND THE BREACH is a fantastical sci-fi road trip adventure about perseverance and finding family in unexpected places.
In Shops: Jul 14, 2021
Diamond Order Code: MAY211102
$4.99
Issue #1 features this stellar variant cover from everyone’s favourite Irish Man, Declan Shalvey:
I started writing this book around the time that everything began to shut down last year. I was determined to not sit around with my thumb up my ass when the world seemed to be going sideways. I’d been complaining for years about not having the time to focus on personal projects and so with nothing but time on my hands, I knuckled down and went full bore on personal projects and am thrilled that they’re finally seeing the light of day.
Those of you who’ve been following me for any length of time should already be familiar with Damian Couceiro. He’s the first artist I ever tried pitching books to publishers with back in 2005. Since then, he and I have worked on MURDER BOOK, SONS OF ANARCHY, CLUSTER, IRON FIST, OLD MAN LOGAN, GHOST RIDER 2099 and plenty of other stuff that I’m sure I’m forgetting. Damian is my ride or die and so I’m over the damned moon that we’re able to do another creator-owned together. This book is him doing what he does best: crazy creatures and insane world-building.
We’ve got Patricio Delpeche along, providing otherworldly colours and super genius Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou on letters.
We’re planning a lot of supplementary materials for the book, including a director’s commentary-style podcast, where we’ll go through the book, page by page and discuss the process, design and everything else that went into the book.
SILVER COIN #3 (IMAGE COMICS)
The grisly third installment of horror anthology THE SILVER COIN by all-stars MICHAEL WALSH, CHIP ZDARSKY, KELLY THOMPSON, ED BRISSON, and JEFF LEMIRE. After a home invasion goes bad, the mysterious coin helps its new owners outrun the law. But it's leading them down a path much darker.
Published: June 16, 2021
Diamond ID: APR210331
$3.99
By now, you’re probably aware of SILVER COIN, a horror anthology with a different writer on each issue, all drawn by my long-time friend Michael Walsh. Issue #1 was written by Chip Zdarsky, #2 by Kelly Thompson, #4 will be Jeff Lemire and #5 by Michael himself.
It was great to get to stretch my horror muscles a little bit. I’m a huge horror junkie, but rarely get the chance to do straight horror — though, of course, there’s a bit of crime mixed into this issue.
The book has been doing incredibly well and it’s a little nerve-wracking to be sandwiched between such big names, but I’m proud of the issue and really excited for Michael’s success on this one.
HEROES REBORN: WEAPON X & FINAL FLIGHT #1
THEY'RE THE BEST THERE IS AT WHAT THEY DO!
In a world without the Avengers, the Squadron Supreme protects and defends the interests of America! But where does that leave a country like Canada? The Great White North is now a wasteland. Their forests are scorched. Their provinces annexed. Their people barely surviving. Who will stand up and protect them from the supremacy of the Squadron? Weapon X and Final Flight, that's who!
Written by me, illustrated by Roland Boschi and coloured by Chris O’Halloran.
This one was an interesting project. Essentially an alt-reality version of Alpha Flight lead by Logan. Marvel let me go really dark with this one and I feel like I should apologize to everyone up front because this issue is a bumpy ride. Though, there is a lot of fun stuff in here about US/Canada relations, pushed to the absolute extreme. But, the ending…it’s a tough one.
CATCH & RELEASE: A MURDER BOOK STORY
For those of you who either backed or are following the progress of my latest Murder Book project: CATCH & RELEASE: Lisandro’s done art and I have the final lettering draft script off to Hassan — who’s already lettered nearly half of the book. With any luck, we should have the digital rewards out to folks by the end of May and should have books shipping in late June, though with Covid delaying things, it’s possible it doesn’t ship until July.
Really happy with how the book came together and, depending on how fulfillment goes, am already making plans to do another, in a similar format. If I can make it work, my hope is to do a new Murder Book hardcover OGN once a year. But…like I said, let’s see how fulfillment goes!
For those who missed out on the Kickstarter. I will be overprinting slightly to ensure that I have enough copies to cover lost shipments. Any left at the end of the fulfillment period will be available through my online shop — though there won’t be many available.
Speaking of My Online Store
I’ve been getting a lot of requests for comics lately and since Conventions have been on hold for a while, there hasn’t been an avenue for most to get signed comics. So, I’ve launched an online shop for those looking. This will also help me get through the avalanche of comics I have collecting in my storage room.
If you’re looking for something I’ve written and don’t see it in the shop, just drop me a line. If I have copies, I’ll add it to the shop for you.
And, to show you all how much I appreciate you, here’s a 25% off coupon code that’s good through the end of May: GRANDOPEN25.
Click on the image to go to the shop.
What I’m Watching
My friend Kurtis recommended the Swedish show SNABBA CASH (translation: Easy Money) to me a few weeks back and I ended up binging the six episodes over five days.
The series, developed by Jens Lapidus and Oskar Söderlund (based on the books by Lapidus), follow the lives of three folks trying to better their lives, generally to the detriment of those around them. It’s about the pursuit of money and status, whether through street cred or business acumen, where even those looking to go straight find that the straight world can often be as corrupt as the crime-soaked world they’re trying to escape.
The show slowly ramps up the tension over the six episodes to the point where you feel like you’re going to snap. I found I was pacing the living room through most of episode five.
The last scene of the season was so incredibly satisfying that even though I’m hoping for a season two, I would be just as happy if they left it there.
Jens Lapidus also created the show TOP DOG, which I’m about to jump onto. There's also a three-film series based on his SNABBA CASH books that I’ve got on deck as well.
Anyway
I promised myself I wasn’t going to make this newsletter too long, but here we are.
I’ll be back in a couple of weeks with more comic news and previews of stuff I’ve got coming.
Thanks for reading!
Ed Brisson
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Love the idea of the Director's Commentary podcast, mate. Absolutely top shelf.