I have bad news, everyone.

I have shaved my beard. Behold my naked and terrible face!

The post-shave regret is always a powerful feeling. It’ll take me another week to get back to what could be charitably called a beard, and it’ll itch like nobody’s business, and if I cross that line, I should be back in full beard town come July. Or maybe I’ll keep it like this a bit. Sometimes you just need to make a change that has no real consequences, for the sake of reminding yourself that you can do it. This was taken in the middle of the night so I look a little like a Zombie. Also: My baby face makes me look like a teenager, instead of pushing 35.

How was your weekend, everybody? I went to a friend’s houseboat out by Rockaway Beach and ate some country boil on the docks with a bunch of neat people. I have forgotten how to socialize with human beings, so I need to add that to my summer to-do list. I also got to see a bunch of you and sign your copies of THE CLOSET at Midtown Comics on Saturday. It was great to see the turnout, and I was thrilled to hear from a bunch of folks who had already read and dug the book.

As I announced this week, we are now shifting into our Summer Schedule. What that means are fewer Tiny Updates. What that DOESN’T mean is fewer neat things for you to read and enjoy here at the Empire of the Tiny Onion. Click the link above to get a fuller picture.

I’m starting the week waiting on a text or email that will set the course for the rest of the Summer. Send me good vibes, people.

THE EMPIRE OF THE TINY ONION is supported by readers like you! Subscribe today to get early access to new merchandise, exclusive covers, digital-first comic book series, and in-depth behind-the-scenes commentary on your favorite comic books by James Tynion IV.

Subscribe now

This month on Substack, we’ve got an ONION DROP coming your way this Wednesday at Noon ET, and a DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH: WILD FICTIONS this Friday. The next Friday, we’ll have the second TRUE WEIRD shortcoming your way, written and illustrated by my Blue Book partner-in-crime Michael Avon Oeming. We’ll wrap things up for the month on Friday, June 24th, with another DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH: WILD FICTIONS. In the meantime, I’m going to putting my nose to the grindstone to get all these comic books written.

Onion Club members should be receiving their dedicated Onion Club email thirty minutes after this newsletter drops (at Noon ET), revealing the next exclusive Gold Foil Onion Club cover, and releasing two more variant covers connected to my titles releasing this month. Both of these have small print runs, so I expect them to sell through QUICK.

NOW! before we get onto all of the neat books I have coming out in Comic Shops this month, I thought I’d highlight one in particular. I’m writing the first issue of the third arc of THE SILVER COIN with Michael Walsh. If you like my work and haven’t been following THE SILVER COIN, then I suggest you call your LCS right now and get your hands on the first two volumes. Every issue of TSC is a standalone horror story featuring a mysterious silver coin, with arcane powers. Every issue is drawn by Michael with a different writer playing in his universe. I’ve been talking with Michael about working together for YEARS, and we’ve been talking about getting me on the book since it launched. It was a thrill to work on this with him and I’m very proud of it. It’s coming out on the 22nd, and I hope you snag a copy…

For more Tiny Onion/Silver Coin collaborations, you should check out this Wednesday’s Onion Drop!

Okay, folks! Here’s how we’re going to be approaching these from now on!

A quick note before we begin: HOUSE OF SLAUGHTER will be back next month, and THE NICE HOUSE ON THE LAKE will be back for the last three issues of the first season in September! Thanks for bearing with us!

JUNE 14th-15th:

THE SANDMAN UNIVERSE: NIGHTMARE COUNTRY #3

W: James Tynion IV / A: Lisandro Estherren & Francesco Francavilla / C: Jordie Bellaire & Francesco Francavilla / L: Simon Bowland / Main Cover: Reiko Murakami / Variant Cover: Francesco Francavilla / E: Andrea Shea & Chris Conroy

It’s not in the Corinthian’s nature to save a life—but if he wants to understand the nature of the Smiling Man, he’s going to have to protect one of the few people to have ever seen him. Unfortunately, considering the strict orders he’s been given by Dream, saving a life very much endangers his own…

HOUSE OF SLAUGHTER Vol. 1 - Standard Edition

W: James Tynion IV & Tate Brombal / A: Werther Dell‘Edera & Chris Shehan / C: Miquel Muerto / L: AndWorld Design / E: Eric Harburn & Ramiro Portnoy

Collecting HOUSE OF SLAUGHTER #1-5

Discover the inner workings of the House of Slaughter in this new horror series exploring the secret history of the Order that forged Erica Slaughter into the monster hunter she is today. You know Aaron Slaughter as Erica's handler and rival. But before he donned the black mask, Aaron was a teenager training within the House of Slaughter. Surviving within the school is tough enough, but it gets even more complicated when Aaron falls for a mysterious boy destined to be his competition. Dive deeper into the world of Something is Killing the Children in this first story arc by co-creator James Tynion IV (The Department of Truth, The Nice House on the Lake) and co-writer Tate Brombal (Barbalien), with art by rising star Chris Shehan (The Autumnal) and co-creator Werther Dell’Edera (Razorblades).

JUNE 22nd:

SOMETHING IS KILLING THE CHILDREN #24

W: James Tynion IV / A: Werther Dell'Edera / C: Miquel Muerto / L: AndWorld Design / Cover A: Werther Dell'Edera / E: Ramiro Portnoy & Eric Harburn

While Cutter's machinations continue to unfold at the House of Slaughter, Erica has tracked a terrifying new enemy within a small town in New Mexico.

With her past quickly catching up with her, Erica must don the mask once again and head into the heart of the danger if she wants any hope of stopping this monstrous entity.

THE SILVER COIN #11

W: James Tynion IV / A + Cover A: Michael Walsh / C: Michael Walsh & Toni-Marie Griffin / Cover B: Martin Simmonds / Cover C: Adam Gorham

Eisner Award-winning artist MICHAEL WALSH’s critically acclaimed horror hit THE SILVER COIN continues with a new set of all-star writers. JAMES TYNION IV (THE DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH, Batman) joins him for this terrifying chapter.

In 1978, a firefighter finds a strange silver coin in the charred ruins of a nightclub. He quickly learns exactly what he can use it to do. What happens when a dark mind harnesses the coin’s power and unleashes it on those who least expect it?

JUNE 29th:

THE DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH #19

W: James Tynion IV / A: Martin Simmonds / L: Aditya Bidikar / D: Dylan Todd / E: Steve Foxe

One of the Department of Truth’s greatest rivals lay dead in America’s capital, and all signs point to Black Hat as the culprit. To uncover the truth, Cole Turner must decipher the hidden history of… the Ministry of Lies.

Over the last week, I managed to sneak out and see a couple of movies, which I’ve been dying to see for months: MEN and CRIMES OF THE FUTURE. If you do not have the stomach for intense body horror, I can’t in good faith recommend either to you. MEN is really interesting to me. I had a positive experience watching it, though I have friends who (Steve Foxe texted me after watching it angry with me that I didn’t warn him it was terrible). It’s more impressionistic than literal, and reminded me a bit of THE CLOSET, in that it felt more like a Novella than a complete novel. I like Alex Garland quite a bit, but this doesn’t quite join the pantheon of EX MACHINA or DEVS for me. It’s unsettling, and the final sequence is INCREDIBLY memorable. But honestly, it could have been like a 45-60 minute Black Mirror episode, and it would probably be tighter for it. I appreciated it for what it was, but doubt I’ll go out of my way to see it again. CRIMES OF THE FUTURE on the other hand I want to watch a few more times to fully digest. I mean that in the best possible way. It’s brimming with ideas and I want to chew on all of them in their disgusting glory. It’s a movie that I don’t think is going to find broad appeal, but it doesn’t chase broad appeal either. It felt more genuinely like a capital SF Science Fiction movie than anything I’ve seen in a minute. It’s David Cronenberg’s big return to body horror, but it doesn’t feel regressive or like a retread. It feels very contemporary. It’s an Old Master of horror picking up old tools and making new art with them, not just pining toward his earlier work. Kirsten Stewart’s weird performance as Timlin is the standout in the piece for me, though everyone is good in it. Otherwise, on the movie front, I did not see Top Gun yet. I’m sorry to have failed you all. But there’s a lot more time in the month and I think I’m going to be seeing movies a bit more often. I guess I’m most excited about checking out THE BLACK PHONE later this month? I’m a big fan of SINISTER, though I don’t think it quite sticks the landing, so something spooky from Derrickson and Ethan Hawke sounds good to me. Especially adapted from a Joe Hill story! I also want to see Elvis. The more people complain about Tom Hanks’ cartoon accent in it the more I want to see it. We’ll see if I see it in theaters or if that is an “on a plane in four months” kind of movie.
I saw a trailer for a movie this week that is just close enough to a concept I’ve been developing for the last six months that I might just need to stick it back on the shelf. I am hoping it doesn’t go where I want to take my piece. It’s been a while since this has happened, but it is frustrating. I am frustrated! So I am telling all of you about it!
I got a chance to read the first issue of Zac Thompson and Eoin Marron’s BROTHER OF ALL MEN from Aftershock Comics, and it’s really good. It honestly might just be my favorite thing Zac has written. If you’re a fan of historical horror, cults, and more broadly, the occult (particularly the issues of the Department of Truth that has tapped into that vein), you should check it out!

Okay! We are on SUMMER SCHEDULE here in the Empire. That means the next Tiny Update is going to drop on either July 4th or 5th (probably 5th), with everything I’ve got coming your way in comic shops and here on Substack.

I hope you all have a very good June. Paid subscribers will get little updates from me in the Housekeeping sections of the regularly scheduled posts, and we’ve got the Onion Drop coming on Wednesday. Otherwise, I’ll see you next month!

James Tynion IV
Brooklyn, NY
6.6.22

The Empire of the Tiny Onion

TINY UPDATE 6/6: The Summer Schedule…