"Something is Killing the Children," and "Swamp Thing," Crossover Announced

Well, here's something I didn't have on my bingo card! It is another inter-publisher crossover, this time between BOOM! and DC. As revealed at New York Comic-Con, we are going to be getting, "Swamp Thing is Killing the Children," in a clever tale where Erica Slaughter goes toe-to-toe with Swamp Thing under the suspicion he's a kiddo-killing monster. SIKTC creators (writer) James Tynion IV and (artist) Werther Dell’Edera will be bringing us the crossover, which has most details under wraps except for the title (it really is a clever title) and the creative team. I'd imagine it will release in 2026 with more details revealed as 2025 winds down.

A New, "The Invisible Man," Comic is on the Way

I've been enjoying the Universal Monsters-themed comics from Image's Skybound imprint. Their sequels/retellings/etc. have been superb among the issues I have had the chance to read. That is why I'm excited for a new, "The Invisible Man," comic written by  James Tynion IV with art by DaNi and colors by Brad Simpson. There are old tales about an invisible man, more modern retellings and takes, and I have been a fan of many iterations. 

This version of the story goes with the solicitation of, "Jack Griffin has always been invisible to the people around him — at least in his own mind. But when an experimental breakthrough presents a path to make his dreams of invisibility a reality, no one — not even the woman he loves — will stand in his way. Witness Griffin’s legendary descent into madness as his humanity fades away and the monster inside is revealed, leaving only… THE INVISIBLE MAN!" Sounds like some scary fun to me; I look forward to the debut issue on August 27th!

The Tiny Onion Comic Brand is Growing Into a Production Company

James Tynion IV has had his comic brand of Tiny Onion for a number of years now. It was his self-published work and other creative partners. However, as reported by a variety of sites including Comicsbeat, Tiny Onion is now becoming, "...a full-blown production company. Tynion’s goal as both founder and CEO is to take the independent film studio approach to comics. To encourage a mutually beneficial creator economy." 

Tiny Onion will be a production house and will not be a comic publisher, but instead, "...will work with publishers such as Dark Horse and Image comics, with ambitious plans for the company in the future include expansion into publishing, film, and TV in the future." Basically, a creator who needs support to get a project made could turn to Tiny Onion for a variety of resources and industry contacts thanks to how, "Tiny Onion will focus on the business sides of production including comics development, packaging, marketing, and promotion of creator-owned comics work. Working as more of a book packager and production house [as I said], the company will be managing some of Tynion’s creator-owned work."

James Tynion IV

It sounds like this expansion of Tiny Onion will assist Tynion IV with his own projects and allow him to assist a bunch of other creators he (or the company's staff) has enjoyed working with or believes in. I look forward to announcements of what projects are in the works these coming months!

"The Department of Truth," to Have an, "Official," Bootleg Edition--How Trippy!

"The Department of Truth," is a fun and surreal comic by James Tynion IV and Martin Simmonds (with occasional guest artists). It focuses all on conspiracy theories and is quite trippy.  Tynion recently announced for the upcoming New York Comic-Con this October that they'll have, "Department of Truth: The Bootleg Edition." As Tynion described it in his email newsletter, "It’s printed in black and white, on newsprint, right here in NYC. We’re not making these available for sale online...we did a print run of 500 of these suckers, and they’ll be hand-numbered on the back." It is designed to be like a little pamphlet done by a crazy person as, "The ink literally comes off on your fingers." An official comic by the creative team designed to look like a bootleg? A faux bootleg or a fake of a fake? How strange and fitting for this series!

I had a post in August discussing how bootleg/unofficial/fan-made products can be extremely popular. It is humorous to witness an official item that is designed to look like a bootleg now hitting the scene. If anyone happens to be at NYCC and swings by the Artists' Alley they should be sure to visit table C-27 and grab one of these comics! Heck, if they let you buy two maybe get one for me!

"Worldtr33," #1 is Off to a Scary and Strong Start

James Tynion IV has written quite a number of hit comics and has teamed with skilled artist Fernando Blanco to give us quite the creepy debut issue for, "Worldtr33." Published by Image, it was delayed/recalled due to a printing issue but now it is officially out. It follows a secret part of the world wide web known as the Undernet--and the danger it poses. There's a strange naked woman named PH34R who seems to be in its thrall and other folks exposed to it also become quite... unwell. The Undernet was stopped once before in 1999 and sealed away thanks to something called Worldtr33. However, in very-near-future 2024 it is back.

"Worldtr33," is extremely violent, super creepy, and sets up quite the mystery of how exactly the Undernet was discovered and if it can be stopped (as well as how bad things will be should it spread). Blanco's artwork really shines, especially in the segments where people are first, "Exposed," to the Underweb and the styling gets all scratchy and weird like a VHS tape skipping. One can only wonder just how twisted things might get as the series continues and more is revealed about the Undernet and if, "Wordltr33," can stop it. It's going to be a twisty ride.

4 out of 5 Stars.

"Something is Killing the Children," Shall Be a Netflix Show

"Something is Killing the Children," has been a major hit comic and is probably the most popular series from BOOM! Studios (although they've had a number of great titles). It would have some news about an option on occasion but little would come from it. Well, Netflix has made it clear they're interested in making a show as, "Netflix has commissioned Baran Bo Adar and Jante Friese, acclaimed creators of Dark and 1899, to develop a TV series adaptation," of SIKTC. The comic's creative team James Tynion IV and Werther Dell’Edera will be co-executive producing. Assuming the show gets made this could be a hit as folks love horror series lately. Whether it can keep going as lots of streamers seem to give shows just a season or two before canceling them will remain to be seen. At least we might get a good 8-13 episodes or so based on the comic, though. That might be fun.

I Know I'm Late to Discuss this, but the First Issue of, "The Nice House on the Lake," is Amazing!

I am behind on reading my comics. I have a big ol' stack of them that I've lately been trying to make a dent in. I finally had a chance to read issue #1 of, "The Nice House on the Lake," and goddamn was that a crazy comic. It starts slowly, as all these people arrive at a beautiful house by a lake, then as the comic nears the end of its debut an utterly insane twist (which I won't ruin so that you too give this comic a chance) is revealed and now I've already been in the process of finding issues #2, #3, and #4 that are out because this book is wild. I should've expected a great comic as James Tynion IV is the writer and he's been on fire with some stellar books lately. Alvaro Martinez Bueno illustrates everything amazingly too. I am so delayed in being amazed by this comic compared to everyone else but this first issue of, "The Nice House on the Lake," helped remind me why I love comics and why I love horror too.

I've revealed as little as possible about the plot on purpose, but I will talk about how surprising it is this book is at DC under its Black Label as opposed to Image or BOOM! Studios where Tynion has his other works. As I understand it, this is a rare example of a new creator-owned book at DC. Long ago, in the early days of the Vertigo imprint (may it rest in peace) DC had that, but then Vertigo quit letting creators own their books and everyone went to Image whilst Vertigo withered away. Tynion has a hit book at three publishers right now, "Something is Killing the Children," is dominating the charts with BOOM!, "The Department of Truth," is a smash with Image, and now we've got, "The Nice House on the Lake," over at DC. Plus, he does self-published work with his Tiny Onion Studios and has a popular Substack. The man is on fire.

Anyways, I'm sorry I am so late to the party when it comes to singing the praises of, "The Nice House on the Lake." I'll be trying to get the issues that have come out so far post-haste so that I can immediately enjoy them!

5 out of 5 stars.

What is this, "Substack," Comic Creators Are Talking About?

If you like to follow specific comic creators you may have heard about more and more doing something called, "Substack." Scott Snyder revealed he signed a lucrative deal with them, James Tynion IV just announced he'll be leaving his work on titles such as, "Batman," to focus on creator-owned works for various publishers and Substack. Jonathan Hickman is involved. What is Substack, though?

Substack is basically a paid newsletter. It can have essays, articles, and whatever else along with comics. When it first emerged on the scene the focus was as a way for journalists to earn money for their hard work creating informative content, but then Nick Spencer spearheaded a new initiative. He came to Substack with an idea where comic creators will make comics for subscribers and these creators will be paid by Substack while keeping ownership of their work. Creators get a bunch of subscription revenue, Substack takes a small cut, and followers of creators they like get a steady stream of quality comics delivered to their inbox. As Comicsbeat details, there is a mixture of excitement and dread from all this.

An upcoming comic on Substack.

If you like digital comics this is interesting. If you prefer physical comics, it maybe doesn't appeal as much. Should you be a huge fan of a certain creator who is moving towards Substack you might feel tempted to subscribe. This could be the next huge thing or it could implode horrifically. One thing I and others have noticed is that this is mainly people known for writing comics now making the newsletters. They will have various popular artists working on titles with them and those artists will have ownership of the comics, but the, "Name," attracting subscribers is a comic-book writer. One exception to this is Molly Ostertag, but a lot of the folks are primarily writers (yes, Hickman drew some of his earliest work, but he hasn't illustrated many things beyond his interesting infographics for some time).

So, there you go. Substack is a paid newsletter service that has attracted some popular comic-makers with some juicy deals. Now we wait and see if the subscribers will be there to justify all this.

"Something is Killing the Children," gets a Spin-Off Comic, "House of Slaughter."

The comic, "Something is Killing the Children," has been a huge hit. It follows a lady named Erica Slaughter who fights monsters that, well, kill children. I don't love the series as much as some other stuff written by James Tynion IV, but it is interesting. The book has gone bonkers in terms of everyone wanting to get earlier issues and the new ones coming out sell like hotcakes. An option with Netflix was just announced as well. A spin-off was revealed today, "House of Slaughter," and the press release hints it might be the first spin-off of many. 

"House of Slaughter," focuses on another character in the main comic, Aaron Slaughter (everyone comes from a mysterious group hence the shared last names) back when he was younger. It's probably going to get a ton of orders considering how huge, "Something is Killing the Children," has become. I like a lot of Tynion's stuff so I'm just happy his comics are doing well--for my money, "The Department of Truth," is the best thing he's currently putting out though.

"The Department of Truth," Sounds Like a Wild Read

I myself don't really believe in conspiracy theories, but I enjoy reading about them. Some zany ones make me laugh and others just make me mad because of how uninformed and dangerous they are. Well, James Tynion IV will be writing a comic all about conspiracies with Martin Simmonds on the artwork. Titled, "The Department of Truth," it is apparently going to be like a cross between, "The X-Files," and my beloved, "The Black Monday Murders," which is published by the company putting-out this series, Image Comics.

This new ongoing series involves one man discovering that every conspiracy theory is somehow true, even ones that contradict themselves, I suppose. Yes, everything. The Earth is flat, politicians are reptiles who shapeshift, JFK's death was apart of an intricate plot--everything is for some reason covered-up by the titular, "The Department of Truth." It sounds pretty crazy and I look forward to reading it this September 30th when it is tentatively due in comic shops and online.

Is DC's Latest Event-Teasing Comic Any Good? A Review of, "Dark Days: The Forge #1"

I love doing my rant-reviews/capsule reviews but sometimes you just wanna do a deeper-dive into a single comic because there is a variety to discuss. This book was interesting because it was strange, and while I wasn't amazed, I did overall at least like this comic. First off, the artwork is solid throughout as various talents pop-up to provide their talents (Jim Lee, Andy Kubert, and John Romita Jr.), but Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV really have maybe a bit too much going on within the span of this single comic for much to make any sense.

"The Forge," leads into the upcoming DC event, "Metal," which seems to be about how a mystical metal provides many famous artifacts in the DC Universe with power. This isn't just about that though, it involves other worlds, past Universes such as the New 52 one, and the denizens of that universe such as Plastic Man, plus we have one of the, "Three Jokers," a version of, "The Outsiders," so-called, "Immortal Men," the possibility of a dystopia ruled by Batman, and Hawkman and Hawkgirl play a role too. Also, Green Lantern is involved too because something is up with his ring that relates to all this. Yes, there is a lot going on here and it can be a bit much.

Oh, I didn't even mention the dimensional tuning-fork

To the credit of all these competing stories, enough stuff is interesting that I'm considering giving, "Metal," some attention. While I could take-or-leave the idea of various powerful items in the DC Universe all sharing some mystical metal, I'm a fan of stories that involve alternate universes as well as tales where those dimensions meet-up. This book isn't exactly friendly to casual readers of the DC Universe however (like myself) who just dip our toes into various books. No, this is the kind of thing that rewards folk with extensive knowledge of DC and I had to look-up a lot of reviews and break-downs to make sense of some things.

"Dark Days: The Forge," is a comic so loaded with teasers for a variety of story-elements that it hampers the overall flow of the plot a bit with an unclear focus. Is this a tale of magical metals, alternate universes, dark futures ruled over by Batman, or a multitude of other things? Thankfully a variety of these ideas are compelling and--as I said--the book looks quite good, so I overall liked this comic and am curious what comes next--which was arguably its whole intent, to get us intrigued in future stories.
3 out of 5 stars.