UPDATES FROM THE FARM

Year End Review and Look Ahead To 2022

Happy New Year Everyone.

Looking back on 2021 there was a lot of work published that I’m proud of from Primordial and Mazebook to Robin and Batman. The launch of Black Hammer Reborn and completion of Ascender among others and of course this Substack and Fishflies.

But I’m never one to spend too long looking back so I thought I’d give some teases and sneak peeks at all the books I have coming this year…

IN PRINT

The first new project coming this year will be the recently announced LITTLE MONSTERS, by next collaboration with Dustin Nguyen, in March. Little Monsters tells the story of a group of child vampires after the end of the world.

Some people have asked how many issues LM will be, and the truth is I don’t know yet. I have a loose outline for 12 issues, but there is a very good chance it could grow once I get into writing the second arc in detail later this month. So, the answer is, at least 12 issues, maybe a lot more.

Dustin is just wrapping up the art on issue 1 and here for the first time is a look at his amazing cover for Issue 2!

Next up we have the first projects in the new BONE ORCHARD MYTHOS w/ my Gideon Falls and Primordial partner, Andrea Sorrentino. The Bone Orchard will be a sprawling new shared universe of horror and dark stories all written by me and illustrated by Andrea. The books will be published in various formats, some will be original hardcover graphic novels and others will be serialized comic series. But no matter the initial format, all will eventually be collected into a unified hardcover library of books.

The first project released will be the Free Comic Book Day one shot special. This is not just a preview of the larger stories, it will be a unique, full-length stand-alone story available only as this Free Comic Book Day issue.

Andrea has already finished drawing this one and here he is to comment on his horror influences, as well as offer a first peek at the cover art, and some interior artwork…

For me, when it's about horror novels, I tend to go pretty 'classic'. 

Not the biggest fan of Stephen King, to be honest (I love some of his ideas, but not much of his prose). I think the only book I really loved of King was the Long Walk, and that's probably only because of the incredibly captivating idea (thus even that one ends in the most predictable way possible). 

So, my usual go-to horror readings goes to Lovecraft (from whom I sometimes re-read old stories), Poe or some classics like Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

I love how these books were all built on the fear of the unknown and how they build upon a mood and an atmosphere in every page.

I think A LOT of the way I draw horror comes from the years of reading these novels and being forced to visualize these stories in my head, even more than what I get from reading comics.

I think it's a bit underestimated when it comes to advice for aspiring comic artists, but reading novels really helps forging the imagination, probably even more than reading comics themselves, because you're forced to give your own vision to things you see written without having everything already visualized on the page.

If you want to read something awesome from Lovecraft, I think it's easy to find books that collects all his novels and short novels. Some of my favorites are The Color Out of Space, Dagon (that is written in just a bunch of pages) and The Shadow Over Innsmouth (that feels like a forerunner of the 'a man that goes in an unknown city and discover its secrets' trope) 

As for movies, aside from Alien which I'll always be a fan of, I’m attracted by this new-wave of horror movies like The Witch, Midsommar, Babadook. Those lend more to a concept than to some strong visual horror and are awesome in building the atmosphere and the sense of stranding and loss for the main characters.

Following this story will be the first larger project, a 90-page hardcover GN called THE PASSAGEWAY coming in May, followed by a mini-series TEN THOUSAND BLACK FEATHERS in September.

In addition to these projects, I will also have a brand new ongoing series launching later in 2022 with my Sentient and Barbalien collaborator, Gabriel Walta. It’s too soon to give any details on this book, but here is the very first look at some spoiler free interior pages from Gabriel…

I also have a new Black Hammer: Madame Dragonfly mini-series in the works with BH co-creator Dean Ormston! Dean is finishing art on issue #1 now and here is the first look at that!

ON SUBSTACK

In addition to these print books, I will continue to publish original work here on this Substack as well. I’ve teased and promised some new Black Hammer comics and I am excited to announce that the very first of these projects will launch this month.

In addition, FISHFLIES will return next week with the first part of Chapter 2!

Thanks for following everyone. We will have more details on the incentive tier rewards that you signed up for in August soon as well.

A reminder Tales From The Farm is a reader-supported initiative. Your subscription directly enables me to make more comics, hire more creators, and tell bigger and better stories. I really appreciate your patronage!