Sayonara Savage Land!
Saying goodbye to Ka-Zar, the first month of 2022, and what I'm reading right now.
Good morning from the snow piled shores of Prince Edward Island. Since we’ve last communicated - we’ve endured three blizzards worth of snow. There’s four foot walls of snow piled on either side of my driveway. Shovelling it was fun at first but it’s quickly waring on me. So it goes…
Two weeks ago I tripped over my cat and fell down the stairs. We have old hardwood in our house that covered in a thin layer of carpet. My tailbone hit the first stair and as I started to fall, I (stupidly) stuck out my foot and tried to stop my descent with my foot on the bannister. I broke one of my toes in the process. For a few days I couldn’t sit or stand without being in a ton of pain. Things are much better now. I can walk again!
So that was my January. It was really slow around here. We’re in a COVID lockdown anyway. So I made good use of my time by watching lots of movies and staring at the birds in my backyard.
I’m starting the year with a finishing whole host of things. This week I’m writing the last issue of PROJECT MAZE (well before the book will even be announced), next week I’ll finish PROJECT XII just as Eoin is completing the first issue. If all goes according to plan, an announcement about that book should be coming next month. Here’s a little tease:
This past month I’ve had quite a few people come out of the woodwork to talk about the year ahead. Normally, I’d be the one chasing people down for leads so this is a welcome inversion. A few things have clicked into place over the last month and if everything works out - I’ll be able to make a few things I’ve been dreaming about for years. Crazy. I feel intensely fortunate to be in this position. Last week marked five years since THE DREGS #1 was released.
Last week, almost to the date, I signed a contract for something that was huge for me personally. It was one of the goals I set for myself when I got into comics, and in a weird moment of synchronicity it finally became solid last week. It actually gets weirder but I can’t be candid about this just yet. Let’s just say we’ve got a new book on the board in PROJECT BLOOD - more when I can share it.
Ka-Zar: Lord of the Savage Land #5
This is it. The final issue of Ka-Zar: Lord of the Savage Land is on shelves this week. It’s both an ending and a new beginning for the character. Long before the pandemic sorta blew everything up - this was envisioned as something that would give marching orders to an ongoing series. There’s threads I would have loved to explore further. I have an entire second arc outlined and maybe I’ll share it one day. But for now, let’s focus on what’s in front of us.
From the very beginning, I felt intimated by the team on this book. German and Mat are some of the most talented creators I’ve ever had the pleasure of collaborating with. German took every page of my scripts and elevated them beyond what I even thought was possible. His on-the-page storytelling is really second to none, and his nimble but refined line work is truly an anomaly in the superhero comics space. It has been such a pleasure to work with him on this and build this new vision for the Savage Land. There was an element of trying to outdo one another with each issue, trying to throw the biggest wildest ideas I had at him and see what he could do. I think we’ve managed to create something that will stand the test of time.
Working with Mat Lopes was a dream come true. I’ve been a huge fan of Mat’s work for years and when news broke that he’d be joining us on this book - I nearly lost my mind. There’s an ethereal quality to his colors here that evokes the pulpy golden age. We wanted to create a visual throwback to the comics that inspired Ka-Zar’s creation in the first place - and I think Mat succeeded on every single level.
Joe Caramagna’s letters work so well in tandem with the rest of the book. I remember getting the first issue back with those stylized “location captions” seen in the example above and just feeling so damn lucky. Marvel books don’t usually stray from a certain lettering mold. Joe’s initial email was something along the lines of “I felt so inspired by the script, I wanted to do something a little different.” As a writer, there’s no better feeling in the world than that. I exist as way to empower my co-creators to do their best work.
Then we’ve got Alvaro Lopez. Who came onto the series in the third issue to help with our nightmare flashback scenes. This series marks some of Alvaro’s first interior work as an artist, after inking Javier Rodriguez for years. I’m sure y’all will agree that Alvaro has got a long career ahead of him as a sequential artist. His pages in this final issue are just mind-blowing. Check it.
Finally, my editor Sarah Brunstad deserves a huge shoutout. Sarah is the editor of some of Marvel’s best books. Her books have won Eisners and she was just nominated for a GLADD award. She’s one of the best at the house of ideas.
Sarah emailed me in early 2020 and asked if I wanted to reimagine Ka-Zar into an avatar of the Savage Land. I’m sure Animal Man came up in the early discussions. Sarah was instrumental in getting this book made and she’s also why it looks so damn good. Her eye for casting is second to none. Throughout the five issues, Sarah always empowered me to do my best work and lean into my own personal tastes and influences. This book simply wouldn’t exist without her passion and commitment to it during a time where literally everything about making comics had turned upside down. There’s a real shortage of books that deal with the climate crisis in comics and Sarah really wanted to tackle that head on. So I’m thrilled that we were able to build this together. Honestly Sarah’s guiding hand, collaborative spirit, and insightful feedback made me a better writer.
That’s it. I’ve been screaming about this book for the better part of a year now. Once issue #5 is in your hands tomorrow, it marks 23 months with this book in my life/in my head. It’s bittersweet to say goodbye - but it’s not often you’re asked to radically reimagine one of Marvel’s oldest legacy characters.
I really hope whoever writes Ka-Zar next takes the spirit of this book to heart. Marvel needs a wild animal man, now more than ever.
Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who took this journey with us and to all the other writers and artists who’ve shared in the enthusiasm along the way. I don’t know how we did it, but we managed to make a modern Ka-Zar book that got people excited and talking. That feels like a massive accomplishment in and of itself.
It all ends tomorrow.
The Luminous Dead
I’m almost done of Caitlin Starling’s THE LUMINOUS DEAD. It’s a claustrophobic horror story about a deep-space caver descending deep into a massive landform with their only companion being a voice in their helmet. It’s a classic Sci-Fi trope - the lone survivor in the harsh and oppressive alien landscape… and yet I can’t put this down.
I don’t want to say much. This is a haunted cave story but it’s also a psychological nightmare yarn spun between just two characters. There's the protagonist Gyre, the young caver who maybe lied her way into a risky, high-paying job. Then there’s Em, her handler, the voice in her head, and her only connection to the outside world.
Both characters might be insane. Worse, there’s some monsters in that fucking cave. The structure of the story hinges on the slow-burn paranoia. As Gyre gets deeper into the cave, her personal connection with Em continues to fray. The tension and claustrophobia is palpable. If you love single POV - lost in the wilderness type stories - you’ll love this.
Later
That’s it for me this week. I’ve got way too much scripting to get done. We’re in the final leg of revisions on the screenplay PROJECT WITHERING and getting ready to send it off for approval for the final round of funding. I’ve somehow been zen about the whole process. We’ll see if that fades with time.
I’ll be back in two weeks time to talk about the release of SUPERIOR FOUR #2 and whatever else comes to mind in that time. Here’s a playlist to carry you through the next few weeks.
Until then, I recommend checking out this profile on Kim Stanley Robinson from the New Yorker. I found it positively refreshing and hopeful when it comes to imagining a better future in our fiction.
- Z 02/01/22