Tales of Syzpense #2

Apr 18, 2023

I’m flying back the Big Lick Comic-Con NOVA in VA, where I was a guest of the show. It was the type of convention that reminded you why it’s great to work in comics and attend conventions.

At the show, I brought the various comics we publish through the Syzygy Publishing imprint at Image, but also brought these goofy 8 x 10s I made from my appearance in an early Power Rangers episode. 2023 being the 30^th anniversary of the show, there’s renewed attention on the property, and a few legit Power Rangers actors were also attending guests. I’ve brought copies of this photo — me getting trash dumped on my head by Bulk & Skull (season 1 episode 3) — to a couple other shows and both times, came home with all copies unsold. Well, I’m happy to report that that’s no longer the case, thanks to some gracious fans. Next up: figuring out how to convince Hasbro to make an action figure of my character…

Speaking of action figures, I added a new one at the convention: Chip Donahue, a member of a Rom FB forum, kindly drove three hours to hand me a custom figure that Rex Barja (@RexBarja on IG) made me, based on the character’s design from our 2017 revival series.

Rom was a series I loved as a kid, so it was a blast to get to discuss both that series and our version of Rom on a panel at the show, where I was joined by former Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter and artist of some of our Rom comics, Guy Dorian Sr.

Walking the Edo Road

Also stopping by the con and hanging out for the day was HS Tak, the writer of Hitomi, one of the current Syzygy comic series. For everyone else reading that series, the final issue of this first storyline is released in comic shops tomorrow, April 17. Available with either of these covers:

This weekend, we also wrapped up the Hitomi collected edition that will be released this summer. It’ll have an all-new wraparound cover by series artist/co-creator Isabelle Mazzanti and colorist Valentina Napolitano, seen here without trade dress:

Look for the book in late summer. If you enjoyed the series, stay tuned for some other cool Hitomi news, both comics-related but also good news for those of you who might like your comic content streamed to you in other ways, too.

Syzygy Miscellani

In June, I’m launching a new series called Tales from Syzpense. It’s available for ore-order right now at comic shops everywhere. It makes comic shops’ life easier if you pre-order, and even easier still if you provide them the below item code for each cover you may want.

TALES OF SYZPENSE #1 CVR A WOOD (MR) 6/21/2023 APR230091
TALES OF SYZPENSE #1 CVR B DANIEL (MR) 6/21/2023 APR230092
TALES OF SYZPENSE #1 CVR C 10 COPY INCV DANIEL TRIBUTE (MR) 6/21/2023 APR230093
TALES OF SYZPENSE #1 CVR D 25 COPY INCV WOOD (MR) 6/21/2023 APR230094

It’s a split-book comic, with two 12-page stories plus a fair amount of back-up material and no ads. We’re kicking it the series with “Les Mort 13” by Ashley Wood and TP Louise; and “Dreamweaver,” by Nelson Daniel and me.

Because the name of the comic echoes Marvel’s classic Tales of Suspense split-book series, each issue will have a cover that pays tribute to that old series, only recast with our characters, by Nelson. All the covers are below. The top 4 available in comic shops, the bottom image only available at the Supanova cons in June since Ash and I will both be in attendance at the cons in Sydney and Perth. We’ll prolly offer any that we have left over, though, if you really want to track down that one, too.

Oh, and for the assorted people who’ve told me that the name of our imprint, Syzygy, is hard to say/spell/define, Word of the Day offered up this yesterday:

And if you need even more reinforcement that we’re all living in the Syz Age, well, Marvel Comics agrees, at least based of this images from their recent New Fantastic Four.

Many Hands Clapping

Lastly, at the Big Lick Con, I was able to reunite with Ming Chen, who was the webmaster on the Kevin Smith web site Movie Poop Shoot, a site I ran as EIC after it turned from a movie parody site into a legit pop culture portal. Ming has since gone on to be a TV star on AMC’s Comic Book Men. It’d been a while since I’ve seen Ming, so it was great to get to see him again after all this time, too. Here we are at the show this past weekend, and at a convention two decades prior, too:

Time to Read the Donuts

Finally, writer Joe R. Lansdale has whipped up yet another in his massive catalog of novels that are so easy to dive into and nearly impossible to put down. His latest is The Donut Legion and it involves mysterious disappearances, a few nasty murders, a doomsday cult that just might be housing a downed UFO at its East Texas compound, and the usual array of colorfully bizarre lowlifes that Lansdale brings to life in such compelling fashion. Plus donuts! Highly recommended, as is pretty much any book with Joe’s name on it.

Have a good week. Don’t forget it’s the first Record Store Day of the year this weekend, too!