Alright, so Kelly and Matt invented something called a “table of contents” for their newsletters and it seems pretty handy for letting folks know what they’re getting themselves into, so I’m stealing it. Wonder if it’ll catch on?
Table of Contents
Finding Some Sort of Balance
Pre-Order Beyond The Breach #1
What I’m Watching: Mr Inbetween
What I’m Reading: The Many Deaths of Laila Starr
Mail Bag
Projects in Development
Upcoming Releases
Lasagna
Finding Some Sort Of Balance
I had originally written an overly long essay on anxiety and the pandemic and how its really been an eye-opener in terms of how I’m going to approach work going forward. But it was too long and so I’m going to sit on it for a while, see if I can’t form it into something else.
Some of what I wanted to say was piggybacking off what Matt wrote in his latest newsletter (scroll down to Ever since I was a kid I always wanted to be invisible.) The two threads he weaves together match my experience and expectations almost exactly — except that I didn’t know any writers until I began writing myself and I quit bands much earlier.
The rest of what I was getting at in that now-deleted-essay is that I’m taking efforts to focus on prioritising my time and energy. If you look at my Projects in Development somewhere lower in this newsletter, it may not look it, but I’m taking on fewer projects so that I can spend more time on each, while also seeking a balance between Big Two work and Creator-Owned.
Creator-Owned comics were how I broke in and what I thought I’d be doing until I hung up my keyboard. But, for the last several years, I haven’t really had the opportunity/time to devote to them, despite my best efforts.
The one positive of the pandemic is that I’ve learned I need to slow down, that I need to make the time. I need to find that balance or I’m going to regret it. It was during the pandemic that I conceived of both Beyond The Breach and the latest Murder Book — as well as a couple other creator-owned projects that I’m finally getting around to developing further.
None of this is to say I’m giving up or dropping my Big Two work. I still love playing in those sandboxes and have some exciting projects on the horizon. It’s just about finding a balance.
Anyway, keep an eye on this space. This’ll be the first place that I launch any news of upcoming creator-owned books and other projects. I’ll have exclusive behind-the-scenes peeks and all that good stuff.
Speaking of balancing time. I should be working on an outline that was due last week instead of writing this newsletter, so I’m going to stop rambling and get to the rest of it.
Pre-Order Beyond The Breach
With all that said, let me switch up to salesman mode for a moment.
Beyond The Breach is my first creator-owned book in a few years. It’s a fun sci-fi/modern fantasy road-trip book that has its roots in a lot of 80s cinema. I hope that you’ll join Damian, Patricio, Hassan and I on this journey. The folks at Aftershock have been a real pleasure to work with and hopefully this is just the first outing for us.
Here’s me talking with Aftershock about the book, which includes a bunch of preview pages for you to gawk at.
Please do me a favour and let your local comic shop know if you’re interested.
The book hits shops in July, but the FOC (final order cut-off) is in a couple weeks. The Previews/Diamond order code, which your shop may or may not need, is MAY211102.
Oh, and here’s the cover to #2! In this issue, we meet two of my favourite characters: Samuel and Turtle.
What I’m Watching: Mr Inbetween
Mr Inbetween is back for its third and (unfortunately) final season. If you’re not aware of the series, I highly recommend you hunt down the first couple seasons and give them a watch.
The series follows Ray (Scott Ryan), a hitman and leg-breaker with no passion for the work. He’s been at it long enough that his enthusiasm for the job is about the same as a factory line worker clocking in after 20 years on the same production line. He tries to balance the job with raising his daughter and maintaining some sort of semblance of friendship with his ex-wife while also battling his own shortfuse temper.
The series was created by star Scott Ryan and is directed by Nash Edgerton who also brought us The Square, which is also well worth your time.
Each episode is only 30 minutes, so it makes for perfect lunchtime viewing.
What I’m Reading: The Many Deaths of Laila Starr
Death gets fired from her corporate gig as…Death, as a new child is brought into the world promising immortality for mankind. Death, having known only death for an eternity is having some trouble adjusting to life as a mortal and so seeks out to kill the above mentioned child so that she can get her old gig back.
Ram V is one of the most exciting new(er) voices in comics and I’ve been a long time fan of Filipe Andrade’s art. The two combined are a frustratingly talented Voltron of comics storytelling.
Mail Bag
I’ve been getting a lot of versions of the below question lately:
Amazon has the trade for Punisher Vs. Barracuda listed as coming out in June. Is this true?
Sadly, it is not. Before the book was put on hiatus, we had four issues complete, but not the fifth and final issue. The book has been pushed back to some future date, but I don’t know the when/if of it. All I can say is it’s certainly not coming out in June as a trade paperback collection.
It looks like Amazon has finally removed the listing, though it’s still on Amazon.ca for some reason.
When/if it is solicited, I’ll be sure to screech it from the rooftops. Declan and I created a pretty great Punisher book and I’m certain it’ll see the light of day when the time is right.
If you have any questions you’d like to see me address in upcoming newsletters, you can either leave a comment on Substack, or just reply to this email and it’ll go directly to my inbox.
Projects in Development
I know other folks tend to list stuff they’re working on, labelling them with mysterious and misleading Project names. And since I’ve already stole Matt & Kelly’s table of contents, I figure why not continue the trend of stealing? The plan is to use this newsletter as a list to keep me honest about what I have on the go. Hopefully putting it into your inbox will keep me accountable.
Right now, I’m working on eight projects. All in various stages of development.
Murder Book: Catch & Release: Proofing in progress. Off to the printer soon!
Predator: I get asked about this one a lot and here’s what I can say: The release date for this beast of a book has been pushed back about 5 months. Behind the scenes, nothing has changed. Kev and I are still working away at it.
Project Heist: A 5-issue series about heist gone horribly, horribly wrong. It’s very early days on this one, I’m working up an outline and have a good idea of what it is and where it ends. If it goes the way I expect it might be one of the most heartbreaking things I’ve ever written.
Project Phenom: A pitch I’ve developed with an incredible artist and creative team. Currently pitching to publishers.
Here’s a non-spoilery panel, don’t tell anyone I share this:
Project Red: A Work-For-Hire series that has been outlined. Waiting on notes and, hopefully, the greenlight to move ahead to script.
Project Shotgun: A new horror/crime thing that I’m working out. The plan is a sort-of-anthology style series, with one-offs of mini-arcs all built around a larger narrative involving the town that serves as the backdrop. Planning while I wait for a break in the artist’s schedule.
Project Trauma: Trying my hand at a screenplay based on an idea that’s been bouncing around in my head for half a decade. Have an outline complete and am starting on the script this week.
Project Undone: A Big-Two pitch/project that has been killing me. Developing the five issue outline that I was supposed to have in last week (I really should be working on it instead of this). I feel like I’ve finally cracked the thing that was tripping me up, but we’ll see what my editor thinks.
Upcoming Releases*
A quick look at what I’ve got coming up in the next two months:
JUNE 16:
Heroes Reborn: Weapon X & Final Flight #1 (one shot)
Silver Coin #3
JULY 14:
Beyond The Breach #1
Carnage: Black, White & Blood #4
*I have three other books out in July that are still top secret, but I’ll be sure to share here when I can.
LASAGNA
As a reward for sticking it to the end, here’s a pic of my handsome boy Lasagna.
If you’re not familiar, Lasagna is an exotic short haired cat, his mother is a one-eyed former show cat and he is one of the most relaxed and majestic beasts I’ve ever had the pleasure of sharing my home with. He naps roughly 20 hours a day.
Like some sort of newsletter catnip, I’m going to post a new pic of this sexy bastard with every update.
Okay, That’s All
That’s all I’ve got for you this time around. Thanks for sticking it out to the end and I’ll see you all in a couple of weeks.
Ed Brisson
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada