COMICS ARE FUCKING MAGICAL

(And All Bardas Are Delightful)

I was preparing a big post last week to go out on Saturday.

And then Saturday happened and I was like “okay, well, who fucking cares about comics right now” and now, I still feel that way I guess, but comics have to be written, and drawn, and promoted, and sold because bills have to be paid and also… I love my job. Even when it’s hard. So forcing myself to lose myself in it sometimes works and feels great but it’s also confusing. Does blocking out the world to focus on my work make me super smart and effective at life, or does it say something very dark and sad about the whole fucking world?

I DON’T KNOW THE ANSWER BUT WELCOME TO THE SUBSTACK ON THIS SUPER HOT THURSDAY.

We got some big comics-y news things, like a lot of them, so let’s get into it and just I’ll tuck the existential crisis over here in this linen closet with the fitted sheets I can never fold correctly and we’ll be off!

Look at their adorable little color-coded “stop short” lines - art and colors by Paulina Ganucheau.

First up. Comics Beat fucking loved POWERPUFF GIRLS #1 today, as they should! They wrote us a delightful review and I’m truly over the moon about it. [Other people are also enjoying it and I am so happy!] Here’s a preview, if you’re still on the fence. ;D

YEAH. POWERPUFF GIRLS #1 IS OUT TODAY, YOU GUYS. Please check it out if it’s your thing. We’re very proud of it and I love these girls a ridiculous amount.

Also there’s an error in it that I missed and I think about it every day. Don’t be distracted when you do your proofing pass, kids, or you too will think about a simple error every goddamn day.

And since I don’t want you all digging through the whole issue looking for that error (and maybe even finding other errors - *insert killmenow gif here*) I’m just going to post the panel that haunts me:

Blossom and Buttercups dialogue is clearly reversed here. Art/colors by Paulina Ganucheau

In much better news, among the insane podcast interview tour I’ve been on, this delightful thing happened with WILD SOUTH executive chef Bret Macris creating a Powerpuff Girls cocktail. Sharing that with you all in case you want a Powerpuff Girls chaser. ;D

Also, shout out to Bret, not a bad bit of writing there, sir! Charming and fun, doesn’t look like your skills end at chef stuff OR cocktail stuff. Chef stuff IS an official industry term, right? ;D. Let me know if any of you readers try it out!

Panel from Powerpuff Girls #1 - art/colors by Paulina Ganucheau

I WILL have PPG #1 in my webstore, but I still haven’t received my comps yet, so it’s not there yet if you’re hoping to find it. Will update as soon as I can. In other webstore news, SCARLETT #2 and the SCARLETT #1 second printings ARE up in the shop as well as all BIRDS OF PREY through issue 11.

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You may have missed this announcement last week, but I am VERY excited about it. IT’S JEFF — VENOM WAR ONE SHOT!

Cover by Gurihiru

That’s right, 30 glorious pages of me, Gurihiru, and Jeff tearing it up in a legit superhero adventure — really like we’ve never gotten to tell with Jeff before!

Venom will obvs be making an appearance, but also Gwenpool, Kate Bishop, America Chavez, and my guy Fuse will be helping out — making it a super fun ALMOST West Coast Avengers reunion. I had a great time writing this one and as you can imagine, and Gurihiru is drawing the absolute hell out of it (in the cutest most funny way possible).

You can read more details at Comicbook.com! The issue will release November 20th, 2024 — I know it’s the very tail end of the event but I think it will be worth it and also a fun palate cleanser maybe?

Speaking of MY BOI…

DID YOU SEE THIS SDCC SHIT?!

MY GOD I NEED HIM! LOOK AT HIM!

There are some more details (and photos) here — he’s 8 inches (tall?) and he’s only $20 but he’s pretty limited — so gonna be hard to get. But I hope some of you are able to snag him! Some of you in the past have been absolute dolls and picked things up for me at shows — but I’ve asked my editor and I THINK we’ve managed to grab one for me — so I will not have to go begging through the streets rending my tattered garments.

And that’s not all for my boi because he is HAVING A LEGIT MOMENT.

Marvel Snap — a mobile game where Jeff is a big hit (and one I personally play quite a bit) is having a whole JEFF WEEK to honor my boi (kinda like a Shark Week, but a Jeff Week, you get it). You can learn lots more here.

And that’s STILL not all. This is more rumor than fact, but the rumors are not going away and they’re all pretty fun. Rumor is that Jeff will be a PLAYABLE character in the new MARVEL RIVALS game. And there are even Reddit threads about it! Wild.

Anyway, if you play Marvel Rivals, keep your eyes peeled. I gotta be honest, I’m really excited for that one and I hope it happens. <3

Skybound released a cool preview of SCARLETT #3 last week — as well as showing off some terrific covers — all the covers are great, but I gotta say that this Eric Canete offering really blew me away:

Gorgeous!

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I am also deeply excited to share this sneak peek from BIRDS OF PREY #12 — this is the (mostly) “Cartoon World” issue — and a DEEPLY FUN comic with art (mostly) by Sophie Campbell.

I shared this with a good comics friend recently, who loved it, as expected, but who also said “maybe stay off social media the day you show it off” — and I gotta be honest — that depressed me to no end and I haven’t stopped thinking about it. He’s not wrong, but the fact that he’s not wrong fucking sucks. [Another existential crisis for the linen closet! Yay!]

BUT something else absolutely awesome came across my desk around the same time that Sophie’s incredible cartoon versions did and I thought maybe showing them both in the same post would just help illustrate how absolutely different and absolutely incredible they BOTH are. So here we go… the multitudes of Barda!

Barda (and some other cuties you know), from BIRDS OF PREY #12 (releases 8/7/24):

From Birds of Prey #12 — art by Sophie Campbell, colors by Jordie Bellaire, lettering by Clayton Cowles

And ALSO Barda, from the Birds of Prey backup in BATMAN #152 (out 9/4/24) drawn by Mattia De Iulis:

Art from BATMAN #152 by Mattia De Iulis

Like, why not love both? Both are DELIGHTFUL. Both exist in perfect harmony right next to each other because COMICS ARE FUCKING MAGICAL GODDAMMIT!

Ahem. Sorry. My existential crises are backing up on me I guess. ;D

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I’ve been trying to wind down the PR blast as my schedule was getting out of control and also knew there would be some distraction when the news this week dropped — see more on that below! — but I still managed a couple recently:

POWERPUFF GIRLS #1 artist Paulina Ganucheau and I hung out with the Comic Book Club guys for some fun.

And I also hung out with Badr at The Short Box for a great chat.

I don’t like to post TOO many self-serving reviews of my work here, especially with how many podcasts/interviews I’ve been posting, because, well, there’s only so much narcissism I can take (lol), but I really enjoyed this lovely review of THE CULL and thought you guys would too.

Amid all this narcissism let’s take a tiny moment to celebrate someone else celebrating the fuck out of how great comics are. Chip Zdarsky has a comics newsletter out! A real PRINTED thing that you can pick up in comic book shops everywhere (mostly everywhere? something like that?) Definitely read more about it here on Chip’s always excellent Substack. Sometimes Chip’s newsletter is the only thing that can make me laugh. That’s not a joke it’s just real dark talk. ANYWAY, this is the kind of ambitious bullshit that I love and I’m so grateful for people like Chip out there making us both take comic books seriously, and also never take them seriously. See? AGAIN. IT CAN BE BOTH! Isn’t that fucking beautiful?!

Oh, there was also this little tidbit this week:

Art by Daniel Sampere and Alejandro

I can’t say exactly what I’m doing yet, but it’s pretty fucking exciting. There will be more official stuff I can share very soon! Polygon did a fun write up of some of the known and rumored details — or you can get it from the horse’s mouth as Scott Snyder and Joshua Williamson did a fun announcement video that goes into slightly more detail (and includes some additional images) and I suspect there will be more news coming next week with that big SDCC thing going on. ;D

There’s also this very cool Wes Craig promo art:

Art by Wes Craig, colors by Mike Spicer

Okay. Back to work for me. Jess, if you’re reading this, I KNOW.

Thanks for everything, as always and I hope you guys have a good week and fantastic weekend.

<3 Kelly