February 2022: Love is blooming

Long-awaited comics (and other surprises) I've worked on are finally coming to fruition

This past month, I finally caught up on a few projects (before spending the end of the month exhausted from some pretty harsh allergies, probably compounded with that hard work). Many are still in the works and therefore very hush-hush. But several of the projects that I’ve been editing have finally been released or announced. So, celebrate the month of love with geeky announcements and comics I fell for (because who says you need a significant other to enjoy February).

Announcements

A couple of the wonderful projects that I’ve finished editing have finally dropped via the power of Kickstarter and Amazon!

Less Traveled

Shawn Gabborin is an awesome horror writer who I am proud to know personally and professionally. Having previously edited part of his fun run on Puppet Master as well as enjoyed his Let’s All Die comics, I’m really happy to say that my first time editing a short story collection is his work, Less Traveled! This collection includes 11 short horror stories. As it says in the book’s description: “The road less traveled leads to many dark places.” Be sure to get a digital copy for your Kindle or go “old school” and get the paperback from Amazon.

Bloom Pretty - A Fantasy Comic for a Mature Audience

The Bloom Pretty campaign launched in February on Kickstarter. Another project from Last Ember Press, this fantasy comic for mature audiences features romance, obsession, murder, and plant-people. It’s an oversized 56-page (42 sequential pages) comic that I worked on as an editor.

What I’m Editing

Scout Comics

It’s been a long time coming, but Cult of Ikarus #1, a gritty vampire title, has debuted in comic book stores! The issue has already received several positive reviews from the likes of Comic Bookcase, who said that “Cult of Ikarus #1 from Scout Comics succeeds with a strong character pairing.” Graphic Policy adds, “Like Blade, there’s a popcorn entertainment aspect it that works and works well.” The book is a lot of fun and doesn’t pull any punches, so if you’re into vampires, you may enjoy sinking your teeth into this series. The rest of the issues in this four issue mini-series are also available to order on distribution websites like Previewsworld.

February’s Previewsworld magazine also saw the announcement of the next arc of By the Horns: Dark Earth, which begins in April! I’m joining the Voracious team once more as their editor for another story featuring a myriad of fantastical creatures and locations all ready to be slain by Elodie.

Tapas Media

Episode 25, the final episode in the first season of the Chinatop webcomic, was released on Tapas Media! This fantasy world is about a young woman with the ability to see the red string of fate that connects two soulmates as well as their remaining lifespan. When she meets a mysterious woman looking for someone, the two find themselves growing closer together in this magical world full of fantasy and drama.

What I’m Writing

While I don’t often talk about my scholarly-related work, back issues of the scholarly journal that I edit, Clio’s Psyche, regularly release for free on their website. What’s special about the recently made free Spring 2020 issue of the journal is that it includes an article written by me, which I won a Young Scholar Award for! Looking back, I do think I could have added a bit more nuance to the article. But within the allotted amount of space, I did want to give a brief overview of popular culture and its neverending battle with scapegoating, for better or worse. (Please note that this still has my Action Lab Entertainment affiliation, with whom I am no longer associated.)

To get an idea of what the piece discusses, here is a sneak peek at my abstract: “The author looks at how different forms of popular culture have been condemned as the causes of the evils in the world, including comic books linked with juvenile delinquency, Dungeons & Dragons with suicide and occultism, and video games with mass shootings. She then analyzes why this presents a problem and what we can learn from this history of scapegoating.”

Plus there are plenty of other articles within the “Comics in American Fantasy” section that may interest you in addition to some of the other scholarship present in this volume.

Interviews

Kickstart the Week by Traveling through Space (or Staying in Grantsville)

February Kickstarter interviews featured drastically different genres (psychological horror vs. science-fiction) and formats (hardcover graphic novel vs. anthology). But both share the fact that I interview some passionate creators about their beloved works.

Kickstart the Week(end) with Bear Skin – a Hardcover graphic novel of Dread and Horror

When real monsters show up in a small West Virginia town, it’s up to a madman in a bear suit to save them all. The psychological horror of Bear Skin is explored more in-depth in an interview with creator Jason Pell. The project has since ended and successfully raised $12,387.

Kickstart the Week with Voyage Anthology 2: Melting Pot

Travel the galaxy with Voyage Anthology host Sonderon in this over 200-page science-fiction anthology created by former and current students of the highly-esteemed Joe Kubert School of art. I specifically spoke with the runner of the Kickstarter, Zackary Marois, and collaborator Brett Melograno.

For the First Time Ever: Zoop into the Week

“Kickstart the Week” has always been meant to extend to other crowdfunding campaigns as well (case in point, I’ve previously featured GoFundMe and Indiegogo projects). However, this month marks the beginning of what I’m hoping will be fairly regular “Zoop into the Week” interviews.

This newer crowdfunding platform already seems to be a promising alternative to Kickstarter that can offer more hands-on help for independent creators, so it’s definitely a website to watch. For the first few interviews I do featuring Zoop campaigns, I am making it a point to ask creators why they chose this crowdfunding platform over the likes of Kickstarter and what it’s offering them.

Zoop into the Week with Thirty-Three

Thirty-Three is a five-issue collection featuring everything from bombastic action to dysfunctional family drama. Think John Wick meeting Raising Arizona with a tough of Die Hard. I talked with creator/writer Juan Ponce (Marvel Voices: Comunidades) and the artist for issues #2-5, Gavin Guidry (Captain America: The Ghost Army). The project has ended, successfully raising $5,434.

Zoop into the Week with Dead Dreams: The Lucid Chronicles #1

The science-fiction series Dead Dreams: The Lucid Chronicles begins exploring the concepts of dream drugs, doppelgängers, and parallel worlds. This interview features creator/writer Brittany Matter (Marvel.com) and Dailen Ogden (WITWULF) sharing their preferred parallel worlds as well as the intense themes explored within the world of Dead Dreams.

More work to be done or more resting to be had?

I have a handful of new projects that I will be tackling in the month of March. I’ve mostly recuperated from my allergies, which drained my energy levels and made working a bit of a slog at the tail-end of February. My hope is that I continue to remember to take care of myself since I wouldn’t be surprised if stress compacted with the severity of my allergies. (Naps are your friend!) Either way, expect more geekiness in the near future.

But what were you up to in the month of “love”? Let me know in the comments below. Also, consider subscribing to this newsletter to stay updated on my latest projects and comics to keep an eye on.