TINY UPDATE 9/13: Building A Better Onion
“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
Hello Friends!
So, my original plan was to get this out last week, but then life got in the way of that. But I wanted to check in with all you beautiful people. We’re still in the middle of a transitional moment here on my Substack, as my eyes turn toward 2023. There are big changes to come around these parts. I started hinting at them last month, but it’s all becoming a bit clearer how I want to evolve this system to best suit what I need it for in the coming years. I look forward to explaining my evil plans to you all. But we’re not there yet.
It’s been a wild month for me. I have been spending the last few months setting up a new life for myself in Brooklyn, and I feel like I’m finally reaching a kind of equilibrium. I’m almost done with my new apartment. Still need to hang artwork, and I have one more key piece of furniture that needs to arrive, but after that, I think I just get to live in this space, which is pretty neat. I’ve also shaken things up over at my studio. I used to use that place as a quiet retreat from home, but my new apartment is a bit of a quiet retreat in and of itself. What I really needed is a place I could go to be around some friends when I’m under the gun work-wise but still really want to actually interact with some human beings.
So, my pals Tradd Moore and Ian Bertram have moved into the studio with me. It’s an incredibly creatively fertile place to work. Getting the chance to peak over their shoulders while Tradd works on his upcoming DOCTOR STRANGER series, and Ian works on PRECIOUS METAL is already such a massive thrill. It makes me excited to jump right into the work I have in front of me, and reminds me how fucking cool comics can be. There’s nothing in the world more thrilling to me than being in the presence of original comic book art, and it’s a really cool feeling spending time with my comic peers. It reminds me of everything I love about this medium. We still need to come up with a good Studio name for the three of us, as mandated in the bylaws of the bad-ass comic studios that came before us. More to come on that.
In any case, I feel like I am getting a better and better sense of what this next chapter of my life is going to look like. I know pretty much every single comic book that I’ll be releasing next calendar year and have already written a handful of them. I’ve got my publishing plans lined up for the last of my Substack books. I’ve got a lot of travel in front of me in the next few months, and then I am going to prioritize living my life a little bit in 2023, while I work on all of these cool comic books that I love so much.
Anyways…
I had this ready to go for Monday, but then two pals of mine told me they were going to be launching their own Pay Substacks and I wanted to coordinate my launch with their debut. Now, I’m biased, because I love these humans. Josh is the person I message about comic bullshit all day with, and Matt is the person I message about comic bullshit all night with (when you don’t sleep, your friends need to work in shifts).
I’ve heard a lot about what they’ve got planned for all of you and I very highly recommend you signing up for both. Go check out each of their launch posts below, and sign up to get some great comics and behind the scenes looks at at even MORE great comics.
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September 21th
WYND: THE THRONE IN THE SKY #2
W: James Tynion IV / A + Main Cover: Michael Dialynas / L: AndWorld Design / E: Eric Harburn & Ramiro Portnoy / P: Boom! Studios
Wynd and Merien consider a risky journey into the foreboding mountains, where the deadly cold might be the least of their worries.
Danger and betrayal (and maybe even a little romance) confront our heroes at every turn, while elsewhere, the Duke makes plans of his own...
Don't miss the next thrilling story in the Wynd saga, from the GLAAD Award-winning creative team behind The Woods!
September 27th
THE NICE HOUSE ON THE LAKE #10
W: James Tynion IV / A: Alvaro Martinez Bueno / C: Jordie Bellaire / L: AndWorld Design / Cover A: Alvaro Martinez Bueno / E: Marquis Draper & Chris Conroy
The plan is in motion. The pieces are in place. The trap is sprung. Norah’s in a position to wrest control of the Nice House from Walter—unless, of course, something goes wrong. But they’ve thought of everything. What could go wrong?
THE SANDMAN UNIVERSE: NIGHTMARE COUNTRY #6
W: James Tynion IV / A: Maria Love / L: Simon Bowland / Main Cover: Reiko Murakami / Variant Cover: Aaron Campbell / E: Andrea Shea & Chris Conroy / P: DC Comics
The ancient witch known as the Thessalian has survived millennia of human atrocity via her cunning and remorselessness. But for the last 30 years, she’s endured her greatest challenge yet: Los Angeles. Thessaly needs a change. A big one. And when she learns of the opportunity presented by the Corinthian’s reappearance, may the old gods help anyone in her way! The horizons of the Nightmare Country open up in this standalone issue, as our tale grows ever larger and stranger…
DC VS. VAMPIRES #9
Writers: James Tynion IV and Matthew Rosenberg / Art: Otto Schmidt / Cover: Guillem March / E: Ben Abernathy & Dave Wielgosz / P: DC Comics
Road trip! Our heroes split up and spread out across the globe to prepare for the final strikes against the vampire kingdom! Will Green Arrow's mission force him to battle one of his oldest friends? What horrors await the Birds of Prey inside the ruins of Gotham? And does Black Manta's secret mean a watery grave for Supergirl?
September 28th
THE DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH #21
W: James Tynion IV / A + Cover A: Martin Simmonds / L: Aditya Bidikar / Cover B: Anand RK / D: Dylan Todd / E: Steve Foxe / P: Image Comics
Cole Turner’s loyalties to the Department of Truth have been tested time and again. Now that a mysterious murder threatens to turn a Cold War into an all-out conflict, those loyalties may finally reach their breaking point…
HOUSE OF SLAUGHTER #9
W: Sam Johns / A: Letizia Cadonici / C: Francesco Segala / L: AndWorld Design / Main Cover: Rafael Albuquerque / E: Eric Harburn & Ramiro Portnoy / P: Boom! Studios/ Series Developed by James Tynion IV and Werther Dell’Edera
Edwin finally comes face-to-jaws with the legendary monster he's been hunting - against all odds, will he be able to survive the encounter? Meanwhile, we return to the past, where a young child faces a very different kind of watery terror...
It was great seeing folks in Fan Expo Toronto and down at Third Eye Comics over the last couple of weeks. You’ve still got a few more chances to see me here in the states before the end of the year, and I’m beyond thrilled to say I’ll be heading to Europe and Asia later in the Fall and Winter.
Amazing Comic Con - Las Vegas, NV - September 16-18
New York Comic Con - New York, NY - October 6-9
Lucca Comics & Games - Lucca, ITALY - October 28 - 30
Madrid Comic Pop Up - Madrid, SPAIN - November 4-6
Singapore Comic Con - Singapore - December 10-11
I’ll broadcast my NYCC schedule with a dedicated post as we get closer. I know I was operating mostly behind the scenes in San Diego, but I will be doing a few signings a day each day at NYCC, so you’ll be able to catch me there!
This Douglas Rushkoff article is a must-read, I think. The book it’s promoting immediately jumped to the top of my to-read list (SURVIVAL OF THE RICHEST), and I’m already about halfway through it. Will report back when I finish. Next up on the reading list is THE CHAOS MACHINE by Max Fisher.
I finished listening to SECRET CITY: THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF GAY WASHINGTON by James Kirchick on audiobook and it was excellent. Endlessly fascinating. There are so many incredible dramas in its pages I’ve only ever heard in passing in the other histories I’ve read.
I really deeply enjoyed Nick Drnaso’s ACTING CLASS and Luke Healy’s THE CON ARTIST. It’s always so invigorating to step outside my usual corner of comics, and I need to do it more often. At the other end of the spectrum, I read FANTASTIC FOUR: FULL CIRCLE and it is absolutely incredible to see Alex Ross taking a massive leap forward in his work, which I already adored. Next up on the reading list is Kate Beaton’s DUCKS, which I should be getting my hands on this week before I head out to Vegas.
I managed to catch FUNNY PAGES and BARBARIAN in theaters over the weekend. FUNNY PAGES is good, especially in its willingness to lean into strange human characters. It feels a bit like I imagine it wanted to feel like, a mid-90s Black and White alternative press comic in live action. Great debut from Owen Kline. Will absolutely follow him to his next project, even if it has nothing to do with comic books. BARBARIAN is a very different kind of beast, and I’m going to echo everyone else in saying that you should go in knowing as little as possible, but that might have been the most fun I’ve had at a horror movie in months.. Coming around the corner is PEARL, the prequel to Ti West’s X, and I am very eager to check it out. Probably not until I’m back from Vegas, though. ALAS.
The She-Hulk show (which I’ve enjoyed much more than I was expecting to) got me hankering for some Hulk comics, and I’ve been revisiting the Bruce Jones run from the 00s, which were the first monthly Hulk comics I ever read. Some really incredible JRJR work in there. Hulks are fun! The hybrid of monsters, conspiracy thriller, war stories, and action is just pure comic books in the best way possible.
Started both HOUSE OF THE DRAGON and RINGS OF POWER. Between the two, HOTD definitely comes closer to hitting the mark for me (though ROP is picking up steam), but mostly succeeded in kicking off a GOT rewatch. Feels like both shows are missing some comedy. GOT was always funny, even in the face of all the horror of the show. Will keep watching both, but ROP is most at risk of falling into a kind of fantasy that has never connected for me.
Like I said in the VERY TINY UPDATE two weeks ago, we bumped last week’s Onion Drop to this week.
This is going to be centered around NICE HOUSE ON THE LAKE. For our European followers, you should go sign up for Alvaro Martinez Bueno’s newsletter, because he’s going to have his own batch of this merch shipping from Spain with much less brutal shipping costs.
Anyways, we’ll see you tomorrow for the Onion Drop! Go sign up for Matt and Josh’s newsletters! Have an excellent week!
James Tynion IV
Brooklyn, NY
9.13.22
Any chance you could come out for L.A. Comic Con? 🤞🤞😉😁
SF Fan Expo has you listed as a guest - will you be making it back to our kicka$$ neck of the woods?