The Cull: Behind The Scenes Part 5

I wish I could say things are better since I last posted, but things are grim out there. And there’s no way to paper over that. Even if you can manage to set aside the entire war that is absolutely terrifying and currently killing so many innocent people in Ukraine, you’ll be confronted by attempts at some of the most disgusting rights roll backs I’ve ever seen in the U.S. — particularly as it affects the Trans and LGBT+ communities, but also just women in general — I mean, Missouri trying to stop women from even leaving the state to get a legal abortion out of state feels like…I don’t know even know…it’s a cliche to say The fucking Handmaid’s Tale, but I think it’s the most apt thing we’ve got. And THAT should terrify everyone.

I hate to start a post on such a dark note, but anything else feels like a lie. And since all the comics you’re going to read on here are concerned — in one way or another — with the lives of vulnerable people, it feels especially wrong to ignore real world stuff that relates.

Man, this post suddenly feels like that episode of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER where Buffy was kissing her ex, Angel before the first commercial break, and she had to be kissing Spike before the last commercial break…and it all made sense and we didn’t hate anyone for it. A truly masterful transition.

Which I have not managed here, instead I’ve…distracted you with trickery!? Haha!

So while we’re still distracted let’s get to some delicious THE CULL behind the scenes stuff. Mattia De Iulis, artist/colorist and THE CULL Co-Creator, is doing some mind blowing work on issue 1, which I can’t wait to show you guys some teases of but I’m going to resist as long as possible…but I do have one last surprise character design to show off. You thought we had four main characters from the promo page and the character designs you’ve been seeing over the last few months…but we actually have FIVE main characters.

Meet CLEO WASHINGTON:

Cleo Washington Design by Mattia De Iulis

And here’s an awesome process video of Mattia digitally painting Cleo:

I simply cannot wait for you guys to read this book, it’s turning out even better than I’d hoped. And if you missed out on the promo page we initially posted when we launched this Substack and announced THE CULL you can find it here.

Art/colors/design by Mattia De Iulis

If you’re new to our Substack, you can also find the comic BLACK CLOAK (two chapters out now!) right here:

CDoS: BLACK CLOAK: Chapter 1

Last thing before I go, I also want to draw your attention to a really great general Substack announcement that happened this morning and which you’ve probably been seeing a lot of other Substacks talk about — namely, the launch of their iOS app for phones and tablets. It’s debuting on the Apple Store with an Android version releasing soon. You can learn more about it here.

Image Advertising Substack’s new iOS App

I have to say, it’s pretty cool all around and a really clean lovely reading experience. But I think, especially for the comics side of things and how all of that is developing, this will make our lives easier and perhaps more interesting? Excited to see where it all goes!

Okay, I hope this has been some small distraction from *gestures at everything* and I hope you are lucky enough to be able to hold those you love just a bit closer to you this week. Do what you can to make things better and don’t forget to take care of yourself too.

xo ~Kelly