January 2022: A finale, a galactic bake-off, and vampires
Kickstarting the year with plenty of coverage
January honestly felt like it flew by for me, and I have plenty of projects in the works that are still pretty hush-hush or in progress. I’m excited for the prospects of this year but do constantly have to give myself reminders about the self-care I was preaching practicing this year. I’m happy to report I’ve finally figured out a schedule that regularly fits in exercise (now let’s see if that’ll last) while also eating a bit healthier in-between my sugar cravings (candy becomes healthy when you put it in yogurt, right?).
But in between working out and yogurt, I managed to fit in some interviews, editing, and news coverage. Please join me for my first recap of the new year.
Interviews
Kickstart the Week with Poetry, an Anniversary, and Erotica
I featured three Kickstarters in “Kickstart the Week” to kick off 2022 spanning a variety of topics (and emotions), including emotionally charged content combining poetry and comics, a character that’s stood the test of time for 50 years returning in an anniversary anthology, and an erotic graphic novel from a comic book publisher that takes snapshots from real-life stories.
Kickstart the Week(end) with A Hunter’s Tale: A Comics Poem
I think Ryan Claytor, who adapted a poem written by his grandfather into A Hunter’s Tale, had one of the most impressive PR plans I’ve ever seen (literally called an “Online Tour” with different media coverage of his Kickstarter for every day of January). I salute him for his ability to do an interview a day and I really enjoyed our talk about his emotional journey with this comic poem.
Kickstart the Week with KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER 50TH ANNIVERSARY Graphic Novel
Kolchak certainly has quite a legacy behind him, which I’m admittedly not very familiar with. But James Aquilone changes that when he returns to “Kickstart the Week” to talk about the anthology based on this character, who has been around for 50 years now. Find out how the character has endured for this long.
Kickstart the Week(end) with Karma The Sizzling Erotic Graphic Novel
Between news stories for Screen Rant and “Kickstart the Week,” I’ve been keeping an eye on a lot of what Dynamite has been up to. This gave me the opportunity to meet Dan Wickline via email and get a look at how this erotic graphic novel was inspired by real events in his life. And based on his answer, he’s certainly lived an interesting one!
What I’m Editing
Scout Comics
While paper shortages continue around the world, that’s not stopping publishers from revealing a slew of upcoming titles in the January 2022 Previewsworld Catalog to be released tentatively in March 2022. It’s been a real joy to be able to edit several Scout Comics series, and two more issues that I’ve been editing behind-the-scenes are available for preorder:
Cult of Ikarus #2 (of 4): The gritty vampire title continues with our band of heroes heading in this issue to the hottest underground club for supernaturals on their search for the most powerful warlock in the city.
White Ash Season 2 #3: Explore the backstory of the town of White Ash like never before (circa 1959)!
Tapas Media
The big Tapas news for January 2022 is that the season one finale of Comedown Machine went live! We’re excitedly working on season two and I can’t wait to share more updates with everyone (hopefully soon).
J-Novel
Each part of the fifth volume of Culinary Chronicles of a Court Flower is still in the process of streaming every Wednesday on J-Novel. The upcoming collected volume is also now available for pre-order on Amazon with another gorgeous cover. (Seriously, if this artist made a manga series of this story, I’m sure it would be wonderful—and I’d love to edit that too!)
What I’m Covering
Screen Rant
This was a news-heavy January with plenty of new series announcements that I covered. My passion for independent comics hopefully showed through last month since a majority of the 13 articles that I wrote focus on publishers like Image Comics, IDW Publishing, Webtoon, and others. Some of my favorite topics that I covered include:
Image's Little Monsters is Lord of the Flies But With Vampire Kids: As a huge Jeff Lemire fan, my typing fingers perk up when I hear he has a new upcoming series that I can write about (and prepare myself early for the waterworks that usually accompany my reading of his works).
Star Wars Reveals the Jedi Officially Have Their Own Bake Off (Really): How could I resist? Especially since I can make a Great British Baking Show reference, a reality show that I fell in love with just this year for its relaxing, therapeutic effects. Add some lightsabers and I’m all in!
Vampires Feed on Money in New Horror/Crime Comic Blood-Stained Teeth: Another vampire title! Honestly, the main appeal of this one for me is the striking artwork that’s distinct enough to make a vampire title feel unique (which, considering the abundance of bloodsuckers out there, is really saying something).
Robert Pattinson's Batman Broods in Atmospheric Nightwing Cover Art: I couldn’t resist gushing about this cover, although I can’t get over how irrelevant it is to the book it is covering.
2022 has officially begun—What have you done?
How has everyone else’s 2022 been going? Are you taking care of yourselves? Working on anything awesome and geeky? Let me know in the comments below and be sure to subscribe if you haven’t already to keep up with the latest titles I’ll be working on and other comic book news!