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Something I'm working on with John Ridley, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Andrea Cucchi, and José Villarrubia.John talks about this unusual and important project here: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/john-ridley-unveils-history-dc-universe-1307027
OTHER HISTORY is a highly collaborative project. John and Cammo's work is intimate and whole, and José is working directly with them on color. Mark Doyle, Amedeo Turturro and I have taken point on different aspects of production. I'm focusing on art & color, covers, design.
The covers are by my longtime collaborator Jamal Campbell, with whom I've worked on FAR SECTOR, GREEN ARROW REBIRTH, NAOMI and VIXEN; and Cammo with painter Marco Mastrazzo. What you see is the template we designed for the series. The heroes will change every issue.
WONDER WOMAN: DEAD EARTH. The final chapter of Daniel Warren Johnson's epic saga of Diana at the end of the world on sale now. In this finale, Wonder Woman prepares to make the ultimate sacrifice to save humanity from the fury of Themyscira.
Cover and variant cover.
Cover and variant cover.
WW Dead Earth is one of best books I've ever worked on. In nearly 80 years of storytelling, no one's done anything like what Daniel's created with Mike Spicer and Rus Wooton, and yet it's as core a Diana story as anything you can think of. Like the best sci-fi, it's about now.
It's been extremely gratifying to see readers support this Prestige Plus presentation of Wonder Woman: oversized pages, longer issues, high quality paper and cover stock, and at $6.99 per issue. WW Dead Earth has been an unqualified success, and I'll always be proud of it.
HARLEY QUINN: BLACK & WHITE & RED continues with this beautiful and delightful chapter from the mighty Erica Henderson. The co-creator of UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL, Erica is responsible for one of the best Marvel series *ever.* Was honored to edit her first DC work as a writer.
In Erica's story, we see a rare schism between Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy when Harley decides to quit villainy cold turkey. If that weren't enough for poor Pam, Harleen burns down their home. A digital-first story available here for 99 cents: https://www.readdc.com/Harley-Quinn-Black-White-Red-2020-7/digital-comic/T2121400075001?ref=Y29taWMvdmlldy9kZXNrdG9wL3NsaWRlckxpc3Qvc2VyaWVz
One of my favorite books I've ever worked on is HIGH LEVEL. Conceived by Rob Sheridan (co-creator of NIN's groundbreaking Year Zero ARG) with Barnaby Bagenda & Romulo Fajardo (OMEGA MEN), it's a startlingly prescient cyberpunk epic set hundreds of years after the end of the world
HIGH LEVEL #1 sold out on release and all six issues of the miniseries earned rave reviews. You can see why in some of these sample images below. Rob, who art directed most of NIN's output in the 21st century, designed a collected edition that is stunning. https://www.readdc.com/High-Level-2019/digital-comic/T1957200018301?ref=c2VhcmNoL2luZGV4L2Rlc2t0b3Avc2xpZGVyTGlzdC9pdGVtU2xpZGVy
One particularly cool and innovative aspect of HIGH LEVEL is that it has an original score synced to every scene of the book. I've never seen/heard anything like this. Check out the video in Rob's tweet below. The music is available digitally and on vinyl. https://twitter.com/rob_sheridan/status/1295462575879028736?s=20
JOE QUINONES IN FULL EFFECT. One of comics' best and most versatile artists makes his writing debut in this week's chapter of HARLEY QUINN: BLACK & WHITE & RED. Harley Quinn finds herself kicked to the curb when she botches Poison Ivy’s best-laid plans... https://www.readdc.com/Harley-Quinn-Black-White-Red-2020-9/digital-comic/T2121400095001?ref=c2l0ZS9hamF4U2xpZGVyL2Rlc2t0b3Avc2xpZGVyTGlzdC8zNDg5NQ
Many artists invoke the stylings of Batman: The Animated Series but Joe understands it on a deep level, synthesizing that classic approach with his own influences, idiosyncrasies and superlative drawing. I love how 'simple' this looks while also being very technically complex.
And just on a writing level, Joe gets these characters. Love this Ivy/Harley dynamic.
The Suicide Squad movie material released over the weekend seems to share some of the insane energy of the SUICIDE SQUAD REBIRTH work Rob Williams and Jim Lee and I did awhile back. This was the biggest and most complicated project I'd worked on at that time, and remains a fave.
This was an auspicious project. Jim Lee's first new serial in a while, and a big vote of confidence in Rob Williams and myself. Rob had impressed DC with his work on MARTIAN MANHUNTER and of course 2000AD, and I'd inherited the previous Squad book and was very keen to revamp them
The New 52's Suicide Squad was decidedly dark, brutal. Its followup series was more grounded and thriller-ish. Valid takes, but we thought the next Squad should be bigger, brighter, more SUPER, and crazy. We wanted to turn it to 11 right away, and we did with this:
Working on Squad Rebirth, Rob and I always asked "What's the SUPER version of whatever we're talking about?" Like, a super-mission, a super-threat, a super-double-cross, super-romance. Like, even cafeteria fights at Belle Reve were absolutely wild.
I think Rob Williams is the greatest writer of Captain Boomerang who's ever done the job. His approach to Digger was that he was just literally obsessed with Boomerangs. Look at this. LOOK AT IT.
A specific goal of mine for the Rebirth Squad was to restore Harley's classic characterization and look. Rob brought back the humor and intelligence, and Jim embraced a 'Harley-fied' philosophy whereby she had no one costume, but a look that could apply to any outfit.
Rob came in with a vision of the Squad taking on major DCU-level threats. The Phantom Zone, the Justice League, a foreign answer to Task Force X, Captain Boomerang coming back to life as a malevolent A.I. And so many conspiracies. Poor Amanda Waller.
Rebirth Squad was twice-monthly so Jim did 12 pages while Rob wrote backup stories. That was super challenging for us; the same amount of work as four twice-monthlies, really. But I love the shorts. Fabok, Reiss, Tan, Frank are only some of the great artists who helped.
Squad Rebirth gave rise to JUSTICE LEAGUE VS SUICIDE SQUAD, the first Rebirth crossover and the first crossover I ever did. Loved working on that in the room with Josh Williamson, Amedeo Turturro, Brian Cunningham, Steve Orlando, Jessica Chen, and Geoff Johns. It was a hit!
After NEW SUICIDE SQUAD, SUICIDE SQUAD REBIRTH, JUSTICE LEAGUE VS SUICIDE SQUAD, HARLEY QUINN & THE SUICIDE SQUAD APRIL FOOL'S DAY SPECIAL, SUICIDE SQUAD: WAR CRIMES (with Ostrander!), I was pleased to discover I've edited more Suicide Squad issues than anyone in DC history.
Making Suicide Squad sometimes felt like being in the Suicide Squad because it was SO INSANE and SO MUCH and SO FAST, with deadline doom always a threat. But it worked, it's rad, and I'm gratified to see echoes of it on screen. I love Rob. I learned so much from Jim. Sold great.
Another fun thing about Squad: I wanted to Harley-ize the logo. DC's head of logos was like WTF are you talking about. Maggie Howell loaned me a lipstick and I drew it on printer paper, scanned it, and he was like ok got it and we had Tom Muller have a go and he nailed it.
WONDER TWINS has been nominated for Best Humor book in the 'Ringo awards. I worked on this book as part of development on what became the Wonder Comics line. My big contribution was hiring my frequent collaborator Stephen Byrne, who in my view is a master storyteller.
Bendis came to DC with a bunch of ideas but he was particularly passionate about Wonder Twins. I confess I was skeptical; I didn't know if their ironic status in the culture could be overcome or if anyone would care. But then Mark Russell came in with a pitch that fucking worked.
Exiled from their home planet, super-confident (and clueless) Zan and super shy (but streetsmart) Jayna navigate life as teens on Earth at South Metropolis High School. Under the watchful eye of Superman, they pull monitor duty at the Hall of Justice as interns. Perfect hook.
One of the pre-approved projects I inherited when I was re-orged to Vertigo was a stunning crime thriller by Bryan Hill about a white-passing cop who infiltrated the white nationalist scene. With Leandro Fernandez and Dean White on art and color, this became AMERICAN CARNAGE.
American Carnage had the potential to be bombastic and didactic, but Bryan's vision was actually quite subtle and delicate. This story isn't about "both sides" or anything so political. Like the best noirs, it's about broken people swept up in a wave of very, very bad choices.
American Carnage isn't the familiar story about racism in the South, but a Los Angeles crime saga. Mann's style of neo-noir was an aesthetic inspiration Bryan pushed from the jump, and it was something we all embraced and pushed at every level of the story, art, lettering, covers
Leo and Dean worked together on PUNISHER MAX, one of the best longform comics ever. Reuniting them on an LA neo-noir was a goal I was determined to realize because I couldn't un-see it in my head. Pat innovated a brilliant way to depict sign language in comics. Beautiful book.
Ben Oliver's gorgeous covers for AMERICAN CARNAGE, adorned with a killer logo by Tom Muller and trade dress designed by Kenny Lopez with a bit by me. Working with Kenny on the new DC/Vertigo logo and how it worked with color was so much fun. This run here looks especially good.
