It’s Newsletter Day! Huzzah!
These Days …
Nothing to see. Move along.
Lovecraft Kids
The Lovecraft Country (Eldritch New England) Holiday Collection Kickstarter was a two part project. There was the main RPG manual and then there was The Children of Lovecraft Country, an anthology of short stories featuring each of the Morgan Family Cousins. I got to do an illustration for each story!
Blood and the Deep Blue Sea (Innsmouth) by Oscar Rios – Alice Sanders has a lot of questions in her life, mostly about the father she never got to meet. These are all questions her family just won’t answer until she’s “older”. But time moves slowly for a thirteen year old girl who’s in a hurry to grow up. Then, one chaotic and bloody afternoon in Innsmouth, everything suddenly changes.
Dreams of Dunwich (Dunwich) by Glynn Owen Barrass – A child of farming stock, Gordon Brewster lives a simple life, though life in Dunwich is often very far from simple. Darkness hangs over the decaying hamlet, something which spreads its insidious tentacles towards every soul in the vicinity… especially the innocent. Gordon has witnessed some of the worst terrors Dunwich has to offer, seen friends kidnapped and lost forever to the vile practice of cannibalism. If only those Dunwich Horrors were truly over. If only the nightmares that plagued him weren’t the harbingers of further doom.
Luck be With You (Arkham) by Brian M. Sammons – Edward Derby is not your average 12-year-old boy. Inquisitive and wise beyond his tender years, he started reading shortly after walking, has mastered Latin, and notices things others don’t (or choose to ignore). When he notices someone scribbling strange symbols across Arkham in places where soon after a mysterious death occurs, his curiosity is piqued. To prevent more such deaths Edward reluctantly takes it upon his slim shoulders the solve this mystery.
George Weedon and The Mystery of Emily Keane (Arkham) by Lee Clark Zumpe – According to authorities, little Emily Keane fell down a well one autumn afternoon, never to be seen again. On the fifth anniversary of her disappearance, George Weedon and a ragtag group of plucky Arkham kids try to find out what really happened to the girl. Their investigation takes them to some of the city’s most feared locales and reveals a centuries-old secret.
Ghosts & Monsters (Kingsport) by Peter Rawlik – Donald Sutton has a secret: his imaginary friend Simon isn’t imaginary at all. Simon is just one of many ghosts that haunting Kingsport that Donald is somehow able to see. When the ghosts of Kingsport begin vanishing from their haunts, Donald discovers them trapped in the most unusual places. When Simon himself vanishes, Donald must work to free him, and accept help from a frightening source, with terrifying consequences.
Witchlights (Dunwich) by Christine Morgan – Down in the woods, down in the hollow, pale and eerie lights appear. Nothing to worry about, Dunwichers say. Nothing to fear… Fireflies… Marsh gas… Foxfire… That’s all. But, if there’s nothing to fear, why do people warn their children to stay away? Why do those who ignore such warnings sometimes go missing? Little Gerdie Pope may only be ten, but she is determined to find out.
Talking to Myself (An Ongoing Dialogue)
Scene –
The Studio. A fat orange cat lays belly up on the carpet. A long-haired black cat sleeps atop the computer. The Salesman sits in front of the computer looking at images.
The Cartoonist enters. He carries a mug filled with a mix of coffee and a brand of eggnog no one wanted to drink by itself. He steps carefully over the orange cat.
Cartoonist – “You’re sitting at my computer. Why are you sitting at my computer?”
Salesman – “I’m doing research.”
Cartoonist – “You’re looking at my illustrations for Sunk Cost Elegy. How is that research?”
Salesman – “I’m trying to figure out how to brand manage this comic.”
Cartoonist – “Brand manage?”
Salesman – “Of course. Everything you produce is part of your brand. I’m trying to figure out if this is on brand or if I’ll need to tweak your brand’s vibe to include it.”
Cartoonist – “Tweak my brand’s vibe?”
Salesman – “Everything is brand management now. Everyone is online. Everyone is a brand whether they plan it or not. The big question is – are you in control of how your brand is perceived?”
Cartoonist – “Wasn’t ‘Branding’ a last decade thing?”
Salesman – “Branding is eternal. I might be a bit behind in the lingo but we can make that part of the Brand.”
The Cartoonist sits on the couch. The fat orange cat stretches and yawns but remains on its back. The Cartoonist sips the stuff in his mug.
Cartoonist – “Okay genius, what’s my brand?”
The Salesman frowns.
Salesman – “Ozthulhu.”
Cartoonist – ” … ?”
Salesman – “That’s better than ‘mostly obscure’. Your most public work has been for Call of Cthulhu RPGs and Land of Oz related things. When you met Brandon Graham he recognized you from you having inked Oz Squad. I know you did more work on Misspent Youths but that was thirty years ago and it was a mess.”
Cartoonist – “It was the best work I could do at the time.”
Salesman – “It was still a mess. And it made so little impact on the comics scene that Wikipedia deleted the entry because it ‘wasn’t culturally relevant’.”
Cartoonist – “I’m over that. Now.”
Salesman – “It’s fine. It’s part of your brand’s story. You’re punk. You’re underground. You’re weird and obscure and not ready for prime time.”
Cartoonist – “I’m pretty sure that’s part of someone else’s brand.”
Salesmen – “I checked. It’s available.”
Cartoonist – “Okay. Whatever. That’s your department. Could you get out of my seat? I’d like to get back to work.
The Cartoonist and the Sales … er … Brand Manager exchange places, each stepping over the fat orange cat in the process. The Cartoonist puts stylus to Wacom tablet and starts work. The Brand Manager stares at the ceiling. He picks up the mug that the Cartoonist left on the floor in front of the couch. He gulps down the remainder of the contents.
Brand Manager – “So, when are you going to be done?”
The Cartoonist doesn’t look at the Brand Manager.
Cartoonist – “It will be done when I’m done.”
Brand Manager – “I get that creation takes time but Brands can’t just disappear. They have to keep producing content for the fans. Pick a release date so your peeps have something to look forward to.”
Cartoonist – “I don’t think I have ‘peeps’. And I’m not going to claim this will get done by any certain date. I’ve made too many pronouncements about too many projects. It will get done when it gets done. The best I can do is work on it.”
Brand Manager – “That was an on brand answer. Very good. What are you doing right now?”
Cartoonist – “I’m editing art.”
Brand Manager – “What do you mean? I thought Sunk Cost Elegy was mostly finished. Don’t you just have to write a new script? Maybe rearrange some pages?”
Cartoonist – “It’s turned into more than that. The original story was mostly a gag with a basic plot. The more I work on it, the more I look at the art, the more I see that can be adjusted.”
The Brand Manager makes an “Oh, god, not again” face.
Brand Manager – “So you’re making more work for yourself? Wasn’t the art good the first time?”
Cartoonist – “It was the best I could do at the time with the material and time I had within restrictions I agreed on. Ten years from now I’ll probably look at this stuff and see ways I could improve on it.”
Brand Manager – ” ‘Always improving!’ Good Brand Strategy. Show me.”
Cartoonist – “Show you what?”
Brand Manager – “Show me a before and after page.”
Cartoonist – “Nothing is done. It’s all a work in progress.”
Brand Manager – “Fine. Show me some befores and in-progresses.”
Cartoonist – “Will you go away if I do?”
Brand Manager – “I will go away if you show me three.”
Cartoonist – “Fine. Three. I’m going to pick at random.
One. Before – 
In Progress –
Two and Three. Before –
Two and Three. In Progress –
Brand Manager – “Hunh. Why …”
Cartoonist – “If you want to have a Brand to manage, you’ll fuck off now.”
Thank you!
That is, thank you for reading and looking at the pictures. May the coming week bring you much joy and few annoyances!
See you in seven!
