TINY UPDATE 8/16: A Lighter Week

“Tiny Update” is a weekly free newsletter that keeps you up to date on the latest news, comic book projects and merchandise offerings from James Tynion IV and Tiny Onion Studios.

Hey everybody! Big influx of new subscribers over the weekend. Welcome to the circus, I’m the ringmaster, and the clown, and the elephant riding a tiny bicycle. Every Monday we’re going to be dropping a free “Tiny Update” in your inbox letting you know the latest news from the Empire of the Tiny Onion.

I spend the weekend out in Western Pennsylvania, and I just want to thank all of the amazing people who showed up at Codex Comics & Collectibles for my Free Comic Book Day signing, alongside the amazing Sam Johns. This was the first time I’ve been let out of my writer’s cave in the last month, and it was great to chat with a bunch of amazing fans. I’m extremely grateful to everyone who came in, especially the folks who made a journey in from out of state! I know some of them said they were subscribers here, so giving you all a special shout out here. A lot of hard work goes into planning FREE COMIC BOOK DAY at stores across the country (and globe). But the energy is great and it is the perfect way to welcome new readers who don't visit comic book stores regularly and to thank customers that return week after week!

Last week was a big news week, but now I get to shift into my favorite part of the job, which is actually putting my nose to the grindstone and building stuff. We’ve got a bunch of really cool projects cooking for you, not just here on Substack, but at a whole host of publishers and in some other media to boot.

I also wanted to have a quick chance to address last week’s DC Comics solicits! My last month as the main writer on Batman, and boy is it a doozy! We’ve got my last two issues of BATMAN with Jorge Jimenez! I’ve got one more BATMAN: SECRET FILES featuring the secret history of The Gardener that I’ve been talking about with Christian Ward for most of the last year (And holy crap, the pages that are coming in…)! I’ve got the epilogue to the Fear State event with BATMAN: FEAR STATE OMEGA, drawn by the great Riccardo Federici! I’ve got the conclusion of my Ghost-Maker back-ups with Ricardo Lopez Ortiz in this year’s BATMAN ANNUAL! And we’ve got the next regular issue of JOKER with the great Steffano Raffaele, and a JOKER annual that brings back Matt Rosenberg and Francesco Francavilla and continues stories of Jim Gordon and Joker through Batman’s history! And that’s not counting DC vs. Vampires. So it might be my last month on Batman proper, but I’m definitely not going out with a whimper. I’m incredibly proud of ALL of these comics, and I’m wildly excited for you to read them. I’ll be banging the drum for Fear State more and more in the next few weeks, so stay tuned.

This week, paid subscribers will get my thoughts on Batman Continuity in the next entry of THINKING BAT THOUGHTS on Wednesday. And then this Friday, we’ll start digging into some behind-the-scenes content about the making of our first Substack exclusive comic: BLUE BOOK by me, Michael Avon Oeming, and Aditya Bidikar. I blocked out our release schedule for all of my posts over the next few months, and I think that Monday/Wednesday/Friday release schedule is going to be our standard from here on out. If you don’t want to miss out on all the cool stuff we've got cooking, you should sign up to be a paid subscriber today!

This is one of those rare weeks in the year where I don’t have any new comic books in stores! So, I figured it might be a good chance to introduce folks to my existing creator-owned titles in case they haven’t checked them out yet. Tackling these babies alphabetically, because I love all of my children equally.

THE DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH
W: James Tynion IV/A: Martin Simmonds/L: Aditya Bidikar
E: Steve Foxe/P: Image Comics

Nominated Best New Series and Best Continuing Series at the 2021 Eisner Awards! Currently in development for television with SISTER (the producers of HBO’s Chernobyl). The Department of Truth is a conspiracy thriller set in a world where the more people believe something reality shifts to match what they believe. Our story follows conspiracy expert Cole Turner as he is recruited into a mysterious secret branch of the United States Government called Department of Truth, tasked with making sure that conspiracy theories stay conspiracy theories, but he must grapple with whether or not the government should have the power to decide what the truth really is. The first trade paperback is in stores now, and the second will be released this October. Issue #12 will be in stores this month.

THE NICE HOUSE ON THE LAKE
W: James Tynion IV/A: Alvaro Martinez Bueno/C: Jordie Bellaire
L: Andworld Design/E: Chris Conroy & Marquis Draper/P: DC Black Label

My newest creator owned title! And the most mysterious. The Nice House on the Like is a science fiction/horror series that starts with a group of friends invited to an ornate lake house in upstate Wisconsin… And where it goes next… Well, you should read it for yourself. This is a story that you don’t want spoiled for you, and it might be the best reviewed comic I’ve written, yet. The first three issues are available now, with the fourth releasing early next month.

SOMETHING IS KILLING THE CHILDREN
W: James Tynion IV/A: Werther Dell’Edera/C:Miquel Muerto/L: Andworld Design
E: Eric Harburn, Ramiro Portnoy, Jonathan Manning/P: BOOM! Studios

Nominated Best New Series at the 2020 Eisner Awards! Currently in development for television at Netflix with Mike Flanagan and Trevor Macy’s Intrepid Pictures. Something is Killing the Children is the story of Erica Slaughter, an agent of the arcane and mysterious Order of St. George, who arrives in a small town in upstate Wisconsin where children have kept turning out dead… The children say that they are being hunted and killed by monsters, but the adults in the town can’t see them, and they don’t believe they exist. Erica can see the monsters, and she is there to kill them. Issue #19 will be out in stores this month, and the first three trade paperbacks are available now in stores. And this October, we’ll be releasing the first spin-off of SIKTC, called House of Slaughter - Written by Tate Brombal, and drawn by Chris Shehan!

WYND
W: James Tynion IV/A: Michael Dialynas/L: Andworld Design & Aditya Bidikar
E: Eric Harburn & Ramiro Portnoy

Nominated for Outstanding Comic Book at the 2021 GLAAD Media Awards. Wynd is a project that I first thought up when I was just a teenager. This is a Young Adult fantasy adventure series, but it doesn’t pull its punches when it’s time to freak the audience out. It’s the story of a young boy with magic in his blood, in a society that has banned all magical blooded people from existing, and how he gets wrapped up in the life of his kingdom’s Prince who is trying to abdicate the throne to change the laws banning magic once and for all. Wynd and his friends must escape from the terrifying Bandaged Man, out into the wild world of Esseriel, and find themselves along the way. The first volume is in stores now, and our epic finale of book two will be released next month with Issue #10!

We’ve had a tremendous response to each of these books over the last year, so if you haven’t checked them out yet, you should go pick yourself up a copy at your local comic book shop!

• Given the news, I started listening to REIGN OF TERROR by Spencer Ackerman on audiobook this morning. I’m only a few chapters in, and it’s already incredibly engrossing, and worth checking out.

• Tiny Onion pals Steve Orlando & Steve Foxe teamed up to write the first release from Aftershock’s YA imprint, Seismic Press, with Valentina Brancati on art. Go pick up RAINBOW BRIDGE wherever comics are sold!

• Working on replacing my screen time with more time in front of actual books and comics soon and have a big stack that’s built up over the last six months. Will call out my favorites as I work through it all.

• I dropped the UPCOMING APPEARANCES column this week, but next week I’ll loop you in on some West Coast appearances in the next month. I am still scheduled to attend Dallas Fan Expo, NYCC, and Thought Bubble, but am keeping an eye on all of that, given the state of the world. Fingers crossed, though. I want to see you all!

Okay, I think that’s it for this week. I guess one final shout out to new subscribers that we’ve got all sorts of cool enamel pins and merchandise on sale on the TinyOnionStudios.com webstore! You should go check them out now!

And a reminder to follow @ReadTinyOnion on twitter!

James Tynion IV
Brooklyn, NY
8.16.21