Newsletter #4. Make it fast Thompson, we got things to do.
The people have spoken loudly on the Q&A…we’re doing it. People also went wild (a slight overstatement perhaps?) for the contents page thing, so be prepared for more contents page magic in every installment.
And I’ll put this up top since it doesn’t slot nicely into the contents page (which is probably a flaw of the contents page, but let’s not go there)….since I’m now fully vaccinated I got to go to a restaurant for the first time in 14 months! And I got to do it with my parents (also vaccinated), who I haven’t seen in nearly 18 months! So this was a good weekend. And I hope all of you have had a similarly lovely encounter with people you’ve missed, or have one on the not too distant horizon. It was an amazingly restoring experience after such a weird lonely scary year. We’re hardly through it, obviously, but I think I didn’t know how much I really needed that restoration until I got it. <3
This week!!! <— important because it has THREE exclamation points
Other times!
Announcements!
Sneak Peeks!
Q&A!
THIS WEEK!!!
TODAY ACTUALLY! Black Widow #7 released TODAY! This kicks off an all new arc for Natasha called I AM THE BLACK WIDOW and I am so excited for you guys to see it. The issue includes the debut of Nat’s new base of operations in San Francisco - “The Web.” We’ve also got a young hero I’ve loved a long time joining our book (Anya!), plus we find out Marigold’s real name, AND we get our first look at the mysterious Apogee. Lots of stuff you don’t want to miss! And if you’re a collector…lotta FIRSTS here. Just sayin'!
And if you can, make sure to add Black Widow to your pull list because a lot of people weren’t able to get it last time, which is great for the health of the book (we got not one but two variant covers for an issue #6 second printing run!) but I never want fans to have to go without.
OTHER TIMES!
It’s gonna be a long wait for the next Captain Marvel since we had a skip month this month, but both Cap and Black Widow will be back toward the end of June (Captain Marvel #29 on June 23rd and Black Widow #8 on June 30th).
And in the meantime, my issue of Black Hammer: Visions (#5) with the incredible Leonardo Romero and Jordie Bellaire is out June 9th - please look for it! I love this book so much!
ANNOUNCEMENTS!
There’s nothing I’m allowed to really talk about right now, though I hope there will be soon, BUT in the meantime, a lot of you might have missed (even I did) that Marvel released a really fun new volume of my Kate Bishop Hawkeye series.
So they released the first volume last year and it’s a smaller digest size (but thick!) collecting the first 12 issues of my Hawkeye series (it’s called Hawkeye: Private Eye).
And NOW we’ve gotten a second volume called HAWKEYE: GO WEST which includes the rest of my Hawkeye run (issues 13 - 16, plus the oversized Hawkeye: Generations issue, PLUS the first four issues of my West Coast Avengers series with Stefano Caselli and Triona Farrell - which spun out of my Hawkeye series). It’s honestly so cool to see it all collected together like this:
I do have literally ONE for sale in my webstore right now, but I hope I’ll have more in the future and you can obviously look for it anywhere you buy comics: https://www.1979semifinalistcom.store/ogntpbs/hawkeye-go-west-2021
SNEAK PEEKS!
I don’t know if this qualifies as a sneak peek since the issue is out today, but this is one of my favorite bits from this issue - Yelena and Nat’s dynamic brings me great joy:
And here’s a little something to get you Cap fans through the weeks without her book…a favorite bit from Captain Marvel #29:
Q&A!
You guys asked some great questions, but I only have time to answer a few!
KELLY: I get asked this a lot and I feel like the answer always ruins some weird mysterious theories people have and it never seems to be as exciting as people hope it will be? BUT HERE GOES. So 1979 Semi-Finalist is the name of one of my favorite songs by a band called The Bad Plus.
But the reason I chose it when I was sort of building my online identity was because I really identify with the feeling of being a Semi-Finalist. Of not quite making it. Of being good, but not the best. And that isn’t just to run myself down or fish for compliments…it’s at least in part about being in a state of mind that I always need to keep trying and keep pushing. That I can always be better, create better, build better. And to not give up.
KELLY: Black Widow has been one of my favorite characters since I first started reading comics…I encountered her very early in my comics reading (thank you Uncanny X-Men #268) and loved her on sight. So I was trying to get my hands on her basically since I started at Marvel. Just took a little while. I surely haven’t read her every appearance, but even before I started pitching and writing, I had read most if not all of her major appearances/stories. Some of my favorites are Marjorie Liu’s Black Widow, Ed Brubaker’s Natasha in Cap/Winter Soldier, Warren Ellis’ Nat in Secret Avengers, and of course Waid and Samnee’s recent Black Widow run.
KELLY: Everything plus the kitchen sink.
KELLY: I don’t know who this Steve Matthew Rosenberg guy is, but can security just escort him out, please? Perhaps back to his own newsletter which…hmmm…DOES have a fancy contents page. MUST BE A FANCY COINCIDENCE. Check it out: https://matthewrosenberg.substack.com/p/it-is-a-period-of-civil-war
Okay, my lambs, I most close this one up and get back to work. Don’t forget to be nice to yourself today. Others too if you have the time. <3
Kelly
Really important question here: How do Shark-Girl and Jeff feel about each other? Kindred spirits or super unimpressed, like one of them is giving sharks a bad name?
Love the newsletter - this is the best way to find out what you're up to - also, the wait for the next issue of Captain Marvel is KILLING me!