So, uh, big news day in comics today, huh? Lots of writers announcing they are making comics on that famous comics platform *checks notes* Substack. How will comics on a newsletter service work? No one knows! But they’ll sure ask you to pay for it!
I joke, a little. The writers (and I should note they are all writers that are getting this grant?) are all approaching it in different ways. Scott Snyder will use his substack platform to do a writing course on comics, which, frankly, intrigues me—70 bucks for a year of lessons seems like a good deal to me. I think part of the slate of announced books he came out with recently will be coming through Substack.
James Tynion IV is leaving Batman for this. You know, the biggest cash cow in comic books. So, that’s kind of important. I am unclear on how he is developing and sharing his work. But it’ll all be collected in print—at some point. He has a book about aliens with Mike Oeming, which seems fun. Hickman is also starting something with some collaborators but it sounds like he is making an RPG sourcebook more than comics.
Again—no clue how the comics are actually being shared. Are they being delivered in a substack newsletter? A third party platform? Do you download them and view them on the reader of your choice?
New York Times wrote about it. I can’t read it because I don’t subscribe but maybe you can.
I don’t think this is a game changing market busting coup by Substack. It’s newsworthy, to be sure, and certainly a nice thing for the creators behind it in the short term, but I suspect its longterm viability will be minimal and whatever is created will end up distributed and collected by Image. But I’ll be following it. What’s more shocking to me is that there has really been not even a whiff of these major creator signings which I thinks speaks to a big space lacking in comics journalism.
Random Comic Panel of the Week
Urbane Turtle Updates
A year after submitting the pitch, my article on Jason Aaron and Russel Dauterman’s THOR has been published in the August issue of PanelxPanel. You can purchase the issue below. I reflect on Jane Foster’s journey with chronic illness and my own experience with Crohn’s Disease, talk a little bit about The Book of Job, and I think it is a very good piece. Perfect if you are anticipating Natalie Portman’s return to THOR in Thor: Love and Thunder. I shared this last month but I am very proud of it as a professional milestone.
It was very cool to see my name on a magazine article! I am slated to reappear in the pages of PanelxPanel this fall—If I can get to my deadline.
Speaking of professional milestones—I conducted my first creator chat with Kyle Higgins about the first arc of Radiant Black. Check it out—I think we had an insightful conversation both about the themes at play and the process of creating the book. It’s on ComicsXF!
Last week on CBR I reviewed Kyle Starks’ OLD HEAD, out August 24th, and the Icon & Rocket relaunch from MIlestone.
What Comes Next?
As I keep saying, to be honest, I don’t know. With the arrival of the new baby I’ve taken a bit of a step back from the churn of Content. Taking on less reviews at CBR and devoting less time to my longform features on UT dot com. I have not read a New Comic in well over a month of my own so my reserves are a bit low. I have a first draft for a piece on a classic web comic that I will be tinkering with over the next week that I would anticipate can run this month. I think it’ll be a unique thing! It’s about a sprite comic. You remember those.
I have some churning thoughts on how to use this space more frequently for shorter punchy commentary. But with my time more limited to devote to writing and reading as I take care of a baby, stress out about how to pay for taking care of the baby, and actively try to make a career shift to help facilitate the taking care of the baby, it is harder to devote to what is a hobby, even one that I enjoy as much as writing stuff about comics.
This is not an announcement of a PAID SERVICE because lol no one even reads this but Ko-Fi does now offer monthly support for creators so if you want to help me keep a new human being alive, there’s probably worse way to spend a few bucks.