Tales of Syzpense #44
Neanderthal Sunset, Marvel Entertainment, and a gallery of Jeffrey Veregge's uniquely amazing work
I’ve been curious about the movie Sasquatch Sunset, releasing this week, especially after hearing one of its stars, Jesse Eisenberg, on Paul Giamatti & Stephen Asma’s CHINWAG podcast (which in general feels like it was created just for me). Not just for it being a dialogue-free film featuring a family of Bigfoots, especially when the conversation turned to it maybe being the last remaining group of Sasquatch. They evidently stumble across various signs of human existence and are suitably freaked out (as we would be in the reverse).
Which got me thinking about a similar approach I once took in a one-shot comic I wrote under the Frazetta Comics line when it was being published through Image Comics. Jay Fotos, who was managing the line, is an old friend (and an amazing colorist, as his work on Locke & Key, ‘68, and many other books has proven.
Jay offered me one of the one-shots, under the premise that we’d all select a classic Frazetta painting, which would also be used as the series’ primary cover, and tell a story centered around that image.
I chose Neanderthal.
At the time, I asked artist Zach Howard to do the issue with me, rightly knowing that Zach would deliver an amazing issue (because he always does). And he got to drawing, both the cover and the first few pages.
The path I’d taken on the story was likewise a silent one — I didn’t want to do trying to script contrived “Ook! Ook!” kind of dialogue. Silent made sense, and in the hands of someone like Zach, it would work great since he puts so much detail into every panel of every page. It was actually a nice writing challenge, too, to try to figure out how to pace a story and communicate emotion and intent with no words to help carry me through.
And Zach’s initial efforts were, as always, even better than I envisioned.
Ultimately, as can happen in comics, circumstances got in the way of this issue being completed as planned with Zach. Artist Tim Vigil came aboard and he and Jay Fotos drew the story that was ultimately published — that process of those pages coming together and the order (*cough*) in which they did is a separate newsletter in itself, but the finished piece was nice. I was happy with it. And as the story built toward its conclusion, I added in a coda that was more of a conclusion of Neanderthals as a whole. Not in the way described above in regards to Sasquatch Sunset, but similar thinking.
Anyway, the movie certainly looks intriguing. And if you’re intrigued by the Neanderthal comic, I’ll make a PDF available to everyone at the conclusion of this week’s newsletter. Til then, enjoy a glimpse at these never-published images by Zach Howard. The originals sit proudly in my collection but man, I wish they could’ve been part of the finished Frazetta comic.
One good thing is, well, if you want to see a full Bigfoot-centric comic drawn by Zach Howard, well, we’ll have that for you later this year, too.
Booksmart
Our latest series, Self Help, launches in June so there’s still plenty of time to get onboard. As with any new series, pre-orders are an immense help to both retail stores and to those of us making the comics, so I encourage you to check out what Owen King, Jesse Kellerman, Marianna Ignazzi (along with Fabiana Mascolo, Ian Chalgren, Stephen Byrne, and I) are doing on this one. I think you’ll like it, and I say that without even knowing all of your individual tastes in comics.
Self Help #1 info page at ImageComics.com
The Cabinet #4 hits its Final Order Cut-Off on Monday, April 22, so if you’ve been along for the ride thus far, make sure to let your shop know to pull you this penultimate issue if you haven’t already subscribed to all five issues.
If your retailers needs the order codes for any specific cover above, they are, clockwise from the left: A: 0324IM210, B: 0324IM211, C: A: 0324IM212, C: 0324IM213
And this may not be a Syzygy release but… what’s this about an Origins of Marvel Comics Deluxe Edition coming this fall…?
I don’t know (well, I do know, I just can’t say more yet) but I’m eager to talk about it, and show certain aspects of it, as soon as I can. In the meantime, this piece at 13th Dimension just went up with some info and some speculation. This is the book that really kickstarted my love of comics, Marvel comics in particular, so it’s fun to have my name connected to it even in this not-yet-announced-but-available-for-preorder way.
While I’m talking about Marvel books I’m connected to, here are a couple more:
The second volume of Marvel’s Rom Spaceknight Omnibus, with an introduction by me, arrives in June, and the third volume, which completes the run, is now available for pre-order, too. I recently completed my introduction for this one as well, and it remains a thrill to be a part of these books.
As with the other two volumes, the covers for the book are great: it’ll be available with either the Bill Sienkiewicz image on the left or with my favorite P. Craig Russell Rom cover.
And finally, one more Marvel Omnibus that I contributed an introduction to was released this week: the first hardcover collection of the equally long-awaited Micronauts: The Original Marvel Years is newly in comic shops and worth a look for far more than my introductory words. The book design is particularly nice, and those first couple years of Micronauts tales by Bill Mantlo and artists like series co-creator Michael Golden and Howard Chaykin, Pat Broderick at most Golden-esque, Steve Ditko, and others, is great.
Finally, while I’m at it, my Mighty Marvel Calendar Book: A Visual History (and a 1975 Wall Calendar reissue, with dates that line up with 2025 dates) is still up for preorder now — it arrives courtesy of Abrams ComicArts just before the holidays, which means you only have another eight months of holiday shopping, and an equal number of months in which I’ll be shilling for this book. I’m pretty happy with the way it all came out, especially Shawn Lee’s designs.
The Art of Jeffrey Veregge
The comics world lost artist Jeffrey Veregge last week. Jeffrey was a member of the Port Gamble S’Klallam tribe and also one of the most unique artists and nicest people I’ve worked with. I was lucky enough to publish his first cover work, but he produced many amazing images for my Onyx and Rom series, as well as for Star Trek, Transformers, G.I. Joe, as well as great pieces s for Marvel, Valiant, DC, and others besides. As well as art pieces, gallery images, and much more.
Jeffrey had been struggling with Lupus since 2021 and he finally succumbed last week. I figured I’d take another break from offering up a spinner rack theme and instead just showcase some of Jeffrey’s work. He was one of the most highly original artists I’ve ever seen in comics, and he will be well-missed by so many of us. But the amazing works he created, only a handful of which are presented below, will live on.
I only just learned about Jeffrey’s passing. We got to know each other quite well, and I’d followed his struggle with lupus. What a lovely man, and what a great artist. I suspect his artistic legacy will grow as the years pass.
Chris, thanks for sharing your Neanderthals story. I love wordless/silent comics. From Larry Hama's famous G.I. Joe issue to Grendel #9 with the fantastic Pander Brothers art, and so many more. One of my favorite collaborations ever was on a silent mini-comic with my artist friend Matt Kish, which led me to do another one with him years later called "Green to Green." I've made it available on my Medium page; if you're interested in checking it out, here's the link:
https://medium.com/@daranaraghi/my-comics-green-to-green-38a7f6be1b2e