THE ODDLY PEDESTRIAN LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CHAOS: Issue One
Enter the twisted world of New Briar City in the latest release from Tiny Onion Studios!
Hello Friends!
I am very, very excited to debut the complete first issue of the latest Tiny Onion series, THE ODDLY PEDESTRIAN LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CHAOS.
This is a story that’s lived in my head for a very long time and a title that’s lived in my head even longer. I’ve been working on building this world with the amazing Tate Brombal since I first got the Substack Grant last summer. The first season of TOPLOCC is going to be released in five over-sized issues (similar to the format we’ve been using for WYND). We’ll be releasing these every other month over the course of the next year, slowly expanding this incredible universe for all of you to see.
This is a comic for folks who like teenage angst and horror monsters. I’ve always liked books that don’t fit neatly into one category or another. You’ll see some trappings of young adult storytelling here, but when the horror kicks in we don’t hold back. And we don’t hold back on the language either. Hell, it’s not like teens do, anyways. It’s not a superhero bit, but it doesn’t shy away from some of my favorite superhero tropes. It’s not a YA story, but it similarly doesn’t shy away from the best of those tropes. I think when I first started kicking it around in the back of my mind I thought of it as “A queer horror answer to Invincible.” And like Invincible, we’re going to use this book to introduce you to a huge and vibrant world.
We didn’t plan it this way, but I’m very glad to be dropping this comic during Pride Month. As a queer comic book creator, my books reflect me and my life and the people in it. There’s a lot of me in Christopher here. Even more that you’ll see as the story progresses. My number one priority has always been making comic books that I would love to read, and would have loved to read when I was a teenager falling in love with the medium for the first time. Those guidelines are in full effect here, and I think this would have been a real favorite of teenage James.
The initial concept was mine, but I brought in Tate Brombal (House of Slaughter, Barbalien: Red Planet) to script the series and expand on my initial notes, and have been working with him to make the series sing. We brought on the phenomenal Nick Robles (The Dreaming: Waking Hours, Onion Club Gold Foil Covers) to design the characters, and gift us with the phenomenal covers you see in this post. We got the amazing Isaac Goodhart (Victor and Nora: A Love Story, Postal) on interior art, with the spectacular Kurt Michael Russell (The Blue Flame, Money Shot) on colors. Tiny Onion stalwarts, Aditya Bidikar, Dylan Todd, and Greg Lockard returned for the project to grace us with their letters, designs, and edits. TOPLOCC is a book built by a big comic book family, and we’re so excited to show you what we’ve been working on!
In between issues, we’ve got some REALLY FUN STUFF in mind for you, from the whole TOPLOCC team. This issue introduces you to Christopher Chaos, but this is only the first step into the wider world of New Briar City and all the strange people who live inside of it.
THE ODDLY PEDESTRIAN LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CHAOS IS COMPLETELY FREE TO READ!
That’s right, True Believers! You do not need to be a paid subscriber to this Substack to keep up with each issue, but if you like what you do read, I hope you WILL subscribe, to see all the other goodies we have in store for you. And if you REALLY like this comic, you might want to sign up in time for next week’s Merch drop (We call it The Onion Drop around here!). You can subscribe to this newsletter either as a free or paid subscriber by hitting the button below!
We’re also going to shake up how we deliver the books. Moving forward, we’re going to keep our short-form, 10-page comic releases like BLUE BOOK and TRUE WEIRD, within the posts themselves, but for long-form comic releases like TOPLOCC and anything we might do in the vein of THE CLOSET in the future, we’re going to release them in CBZ and PDF form for you to download and read on your device of choice! This seems to be the standard across all the comics Substacks! And it seems a good way not to dump a million big images into your inboxes.
The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos
Based on an idea by James Tynion IV
Script by Tate Brombal
Art by Isaac Goodhart
Color by Kurt Michael Russell
Letters by Aditya Bidikar
Character Designs and Covers by Nick Robles
Design by Dylan Todd
Edited by Greg Lockard
If you’re a first-time reader here at THE EMPIRE OF THE TINY ONION, you might have missed the Prologue to TOPLOCC that we released back in February! You can check it out here, and introduce yourself to the mysterious ADAM FRANKENSTEIN! He’s going to be a big part of the story we’re telling.
The Empire of The Tiny Onion is supported by READERS LIKE YOU! We’re coming up on the end of my first year as a paid Substacker, which means the end of the grant that funded the first year’s worth of Tiny Onion comics and illustrations. We’ve got big plans for year two, but we’ll only be able to make it happen with all of your continued support. So consider upgrading to paid membership today (You can even do a free trial for one week if you sign up today), or even upgrading to the Onion Club membership, where you’ll get a physical membership card, and SIX exclusive gold foil variant covers over the course of the next year!
On Monday, we’ll be releasing the last TINY UPDATE in June, with a full calendar of all the amazing comics you can snag from all my publishers. On Wednesday, we’ll be releasing the next ONION DROP for paid subscribers (Onion Club members should expect an email at Noon ET on Monday - We’ve got two variant covers dropping both with smaller print runs, so set your alarms if you want to make sure you can snag a copy!). And then on Friday, paid subscribers can expect the next DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH: WILD FICTION.
And a reminder to any new subscribers here - The comment section here is not a democracy, it is a dictatorship. If you’re being a jerk, your post will be deleted. If you keep being a jerk, you’ll lose the ability to comment on this Substack permanently. Be nice! We’ve got a nice little community going on here, and I want to keep it that way.
ANYWAYS! I’m thrilled this is out in the world. Hope you dig it.
James Tynion IV
Brooklyn, NY
6.3.22
Loved the first issue! Peggy ❤️❤️
Happy Pride 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️🙌