TINY UPDATE 8/7: Getting Ready For Flamecon
“Tiny Update” is a monthly 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 Friends,
I hope summer is treating you all nicely. It’s been a very good one in Tiny Onion Land. I spent a couple of weeks out on the West Coast in July, and I came home with a pretty neat souvenir from San Diego Comic Con.
I really didn’t expect to take home the Best Writer award again at the Eisners, but I am extraordinarily grateful to everyone who voted for me. I set it up with all its brothers and sisters on the shelf back home and it feels pretty neat, I gotta say. And I’m pretty fucking happy with my outfit that evening. Boom Studios captured my award speech which you can watch over on Instagram if you feel so inclined…
SDCC itself was a dream come true. Honestly I can’t overstate how cool and weird it is to walk past a giant W0RLDTR33 poster at the Image booth, A giant BLUE BOOK cover at Dark Horse, and a humongous SIKTC display at Boom! This year was really special because I had so many fans come up and tell me what Order of St. George mask type best represents them, and why they feel that way. It’s amazing to see how big the readership for the series grows every year.
It was also a very good San Diego on a business front, for a million reasons I still can’t tell you. I feel like it’s been six months of me kind of winking to all of you and saying that I’m up to stuff, and the stuff I’ve been up to is SO close to being revealed… BUT NOT YET. Actually, there is one more big reveal that’s going to come this month. I have one more new series that’s going to launch before the end of the year. I’ve been working on it behind the scenes for the last two years, and I’m very very proud of it. Expect an extra newsletter a bit later in the month around the time Image Solicits for November drop.
Anyways. I’m very tired. It’s been an emotional rollercoaster since I got home, with me doing some overdue recalibration in my personal life, and then trying to do my best to stick with the decisions I knew I needed to make. This weekend I surrounded myself with friends and dogs and a few too many beers and it was really incredible. I wish I was a bit more productive this weekend, but sometimes you have to hit the life side of the work-life balance a bit harder.
I’m still keeping everything free here in the Newsletter for the next couple of months. We’ll be gearing up for the next phase of all things Tiny Onion soon, and I want a more robust experience here before I start asking you all for money again. More on all of that soon.
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I wanted to give a special shout-out to the latest arc of House of Slaughter, so I asked writer Sam Johns to give you all the hard sell for this coming arc. Here it is in their own words!
Hey, Everyone!
Last year Letizia Cadonici and I introduced you to the Scarlet Mask Edwin Slaughter. Edwin has a brilliant mind that he doesn’t know what to do with. He can only see the world for what it is, and describe exactly what he sees. This week we get to tell the story of a new White Mask who first debuted in those pages — But how do I introduce a character without a first name?
The other White Masks in the House of Slaughter just call him Bait — because that’s exactly what he is. When the source of an Oscuratype can’t be tracked down, Bait lures them out — because that’s what he does. No one, not even the other White Masks, know how he does this so well.
There are a lot of unanswered questions about the young hunter, but the one that’s asked most often (just before, “How does he fight?”) is, “What is he thinking?” Bait doesn’t speak. Maybe it’s his silence, the mystery around him, that entices others to talk with him, and to talk about him — but as Bait finds out after entering a new mission in Erie, Pennsylvania, sometimes it’s the loudest voices that are drowning out the darkest secrets…
I hope you can check it out!
Sam Johns
I’ve been dying for Sam to get to tell Bait’s story since they first cooked the character up a few years back. This arc is called “Alabaster” and is going to get into some of the nitty-gritty about how the White Masks of the House of Slaughter operate in the field.
Pick it up in stores this Wednesday! And pick up the rest of these cool comic books!!!
August 9th
HOUSE OF SLAUGHTER #16
W: James Tynion IV & Sam Johns / A: Werther Dell’Edra & Letizia Cadonici / C: Francesco Segala / L: AndWorld Design / Cover A: Javier Rodriguez / E: Eric Harburn & Ramiro Portnoy
There is nothing the ruthless White Masks won't do to eliminate a nest of monsters. Nothing is apparently unthinkable or off-limits, as a special and infamous member of their ranks is dispatched to finish the job in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Bait, the fan-favorite White Mask (a young boy with amputated arms and a tendency to survive suicidal odds), is dispatched with a mission more malicious than imaginable at hand.
Something (or someone) else is killing the children now, and however unexpected... the children will find the one that hunts them viciously familiar...
WYND BOOK THREE: THE THRONE IN THE SKY SC
W: James Tynion IV / A + Cover: Michael Dialynas / L: AndWorld Design / E: Ramiro Portnoy & Eric Harburn
The land of Esseriel is a darker and more dangerous place than ever, as tensions between the Human and Faerie realms build to the brink of war. Could Wynd be the only hope for peace? Danger, betrayal, and even some romance confront our heroes at every turn, while elsewhere, the Duke makes murderous plans of his own. Things seem dire, but help from an unexpected figure might just be the lifeline Wynd and Merien need… even though the final battle draws near. The Eisner and GLAAD-nominated Wynd saga continues in this epic new volume from Eisner Award-winning writer James Tynion IV (Batman, SOMETHING IS KILLING THE CHILDREN) and artist Michael Dialynas (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), the GLAAD Award-winning creative team behind THE WOODS.
August 16th
SOMETHING IS KILLING THE CHILDREN #32
W: James Tynion IV / A + Cover: Werther Dell'Edera / C: Miquel Muerto / L: AndWorld Design / E: Ramiro Portnoy & Eric Harburn
The horror is far from over as the terrifying Duplicitype, the infamous monster that changed Something is Killing the Children forever, remains at large...
Meanwhile, Cutter is still in relentless and sinister pursuit!
With Tribulation still very much in danger, will Erica finally find the ally she needs, or is betrayal in the cards?
August 23rd
THE ODDLY PEDESTRIAN LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER CHAOS #3
W: Tate Brombal + James Tynion IV / A: Isaac Goodhart / C: Miquel Muerto / L: Aditya Bidikar / Cover A + B: Nick Robles / E: Greg Lockard, Daniel Chabon / P: Dark Horse
Christopher and Dracula Boy join forces to take on the crime-infested streets of New Briar City while, at the same time, looking for a way to bring Christopher's high school crush back from the clutches of death.
August 29th
THE SANDMAN UNIVERSE: NIGHTMARE COUNTRY - THE GLASS HOUSE #4
W: James Tynion IV / A: Lisandro Esterren / C: Patricio Delpeche / L: Simon Bowland / Main Cover: Reiko Murakami / E: Andrea Shea & Chris Conroy
The immortal witch Thessaly has interjected herself into the brewing storm between heaven and hell, the waking world and dreams—and there are powerful forces who demand she pay in blood for her meddling. Thessaly, however, only has eyes for the mystery of Flynn and the Smiling Man. As for the Corinthian? Despite his promises to Dream, he’s less and less sure whose side he’s on with every passing moment…
August 30th
W0RLDTR33 #5
W: James Tynion IV / A: Fernando Blanco / C: Jordie Bellaire / L: Aditya Bidikar / E: Steve Foxe / P: Image Comics
With PH34R ascendent, Gabriel is forced to pull a trigger that will change the shape of the entire world. No sacrifice is too great to stop the spread of the Undernet...
The first arc of the acclaimed new horror hit from multiple Eisner Award-winning writer JAMES TYNION IV (THE DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH) and artist FERNANDO BLANCO (Detective Comics) ends in a way NO ONE will see coming!
My favorite Queer Comic Convention is returning to New York City this weekend, and I’m thrilled to say that Tiny Onion Studios is one of the key sponsors. We’ve got a lot in store for everyone coming, so let me break it down for you!!!
And a quick reminder of the full line-up for the Tiny Onion booth at the end of artist alley! We’ve got a killer line-up, and we'll have lots of books and merch and cool stuff we’re excited to share with you!!!!
The only other convention I have on the books this year is NYCC from October 12-15 in NYC! So if you wanna hunt me down, that’s where you’re gonna have to find me.
I bet I end up doing a few more signings around the Northeast toward the end of the year, but overall, this is it for 2023!
OKAY! I gotta get back to the comic book mines so I can knock out as much script as I can before Flamecon this weekend. I hope I get to see some of you there. As summer winds down, I hope you all are getting some good sun, and good time in with friends and junk.
James Tynion IV
Brooklyn, NY
8.7.23
this is so cool -
is there a way to get the Chaos Zine if we cant be there in person?? I am loving the book and I alot of the creators that contributed are VERY COOL
OMG! Where can I get that jacket!! I must wear it to my next Latin Salsa party!!