Big welcome to all of the new subscribers from the end of last week, and for the incredible response to the first chapter of BLUE BOOK. If you want to recommend it to your friends, I bought the URL www.ReadBlueBook.com and redirected it to the BLUE BOOK section of my Substack. Feels like an easier URL to direct folks to. The first chapter is the only one that’s going to be free to read… So if you liked getting a little dose of UFO lore in comic book form, and you want to keep reading twice a month, I recommend that you become a paid subscriber of THE EMPIRE OF THE TINY ONION!

What’s going to run on Fridays in between chapters of Blue Book? What else can we do to tap into the vein of the TRUE WEIRD genre? Well… I guess you’ll have to stay tuned and see what we’re announcing on the Substack this Friday. You should stay extra tuned if you’re a fan of THE DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH.

Today is the FOC for HOUSE OF SLAUGHTER. When I heard the initial sales numbers on this book I almost fell down. This is a great new vantage point into the world of SOMETHING IS KILLING THE CHILDREN. The series will expand the mythology, introducing a new House of Monster Hunters in the Order of St. George, and dig into the backstory of Aaron Slaughter, telling a story deep in his past, and another story that took place directly before the first issue of SIKTC. Tate Brombal is scripting the hell out of the story we built together, and Chris Shehan and Miquel Muerto have made the book a real feast for the eyes. The Slaughterverse is getting bigger, and this is just the start of where it’s all going to go from here.

I am very glad to be home after about two weeks abroad. I’m taking a deep breath, and knocking out my deadlines so I’m back on top of everything, because something VERY exciting is going to happen in the next week. I’m going to actually be on top of my deadlines, and from there I will be able to look to the future and really start planning. I can feel new stories and story documents about my existing books aching to come out of my brain in big unwieldy story documents. There’s a character coming up in the main SOMETHING IS KILLING THE CHILDREN arc who I am excited to bring to life with Werther over the next month.

I also have some big thoughts on how I might enhance the experience here on the Substack. It’s been interesting trying things over the last few weeks and seeing what works and what doesn’t work here on this platform. I’m very eager to get to the point where we have comics and comic art being released steadily here, multiple days a week, so I can get down to one actual newsletter-newsletter a week. That’s going to free up some brain space in pursuit of more and bigger interesting things.

I’ve been having lots of conversations about the future of Tiny Onion over the last month, and the biggest thing I’ve been hitting over and over again is that what I really want is to try shit. See what I can get away with. I’m happiest when I’m experimenting, both on the story front and the business front. I have ideas, I just need to carve out the bandwidth to bring those ideas to life. In any case, this is going to be the front line, where you can see it all taking shape. And the best way to see all of it is going to be by signing up for this here newsletter… So once again reminding you to…

This week’s dispatch from the Fear State...

John Ridley and Olivier Coipel are bringing you the stunning I AM BATMAN #1. I recommend everybody go back and check out the amazing The Next Batman: Second Son to see how John has picked up all of the threads from the end of Joker War and Batman #101 last year heading in this direction. The Fox Family have been having a very big year, and this is the big next step of all of that. We all know that Jace Fox became the Batman of Future State, but what kind of hero will he become in the present day? Don’t miss out on this great new book.

ALSO: I have to give a special shout out to ARKHAM CITY: THE ORDER OF THE WORLD. FOC on the first issue of this bad boy was yesterday, but you should still go and tell your local comic shop that you want a copy. I shot off a tweet yesterday via the @ReadTinyOnion account, but I just wanted to repeat the thought here: “This book is phenomenal. Incredibly written with some of the best art you'll see in a mainstream superhero comic. Firmly set in the present day continuity of the Batman line, while feeling like it will sit on the shelves as a standalone for years to come.” And boy, do I mean it.

Oftentimes, it’s the books that step away from continuity that are allowed to push the boundaries and do weird and interesting things… It’s incredible to see a comic that can push all of the boundaries from the continuity frontlines. The first issue is strange and beautiful, and I can’t wait to read the next, and the one after that, and the one after that. I was telling Dan and Dani over the weekend that I don’t get my DC books for free anymore, so I will actually be adding this to my real life pull list.

WYND #10

W: James Tynion IV/ A: Michael Dialynas/ L: Aditya Bidikar/ Cover A: Michael Dialynas/ Cover B: Rian Gonzales/ Cover C: Alvaro Martinez Bueno/ Cover D: Michael Dialynas/ E: Eric Harburn & Romiro Portnoy

This is the EPIC FINALE of Book Two of Wynd!!! This series is so freaking important to me, I really can’t overstate it. This is me working with one of my oldest and most trusted collaborators to bring a story to life that’s been living in my brain since I was a kid. Michael and I are already hard at work, dreaming big about Book 3, and moving all the pieces closer and closer to a truly epic climax. Mysteries of Wynd’s past come hurtling back into the present, and if Wynd has any hope of saving his friends from the catastrophic war that’s about to break out across Esseriel, he’s going to need to change. And his friends are going to need to change, too.

I feel like more and more people are finding this series, and you can expect me to bang the drum about it like an absolute maniac as we get closer to the release of the second volume in stores early next year.

THE JOKER #7

W: James Tynion IV/ A: Guillem March/ C: Arif Prianto/ L: Tom Napolitano/ AE: David Wielgosz/ Cover A: Guilliem March/ Cover B: Simone Bianchi/ Cover C: Ben Oliver/ 1:25 Cover: James Stokoe

Très bien—the Joker visits Paris! Gordon must get to Joker ahead of the Sampsons, but has the Clown Prince set an ambush for his pursuers? Plus, Barbara fights for her life after her introduction to the new Talon! 

Also featured in THE JOKER #7… PUNCHLINE!

W: James Tynion IV and Sam Johns/A: Sweeney Boo/ L: Ariana Maher

Things are getting SERIOUS in Blackgate Penitentiary! Harper Row needs to find the one person who could keep Punchline behind bars forever, before the Clown Princess of Crime kills her off. Featuring the return of ORCA, and absolutely stunning artwork by Sweeney Boo!

BATMAN: THE COWARDLY LOT HC

W: James Tynion IV/ A: Jorge Jimenez/ C: Tomeu Morey/ L: Clayton Cowles/ AE: David Wielgosz/ E: Ben Abernathy/ Cover: Jorge Jimenez & Tomeu Morey

Collects Batman #106-111 and Infinite Frontier #1!

Following the tragic events in the Infinite Frontier special, Batman and his new ally Ghost-Maker must reckon with a new gang operating in Gotham City. Is the new gang in Gotham connected to the resurgence of the Scarecrow? Meanwhile, Mayor Nakano has a meeting with shadowy billionaire Simon Saint, who has come to Gotham to pitch the concept of an advanced law enforcement project known as...the Magistrate!

BATMAN BLACK & WHITE HC

W: James Tynion IV, J.H. Williams III, Paul Dini, G. Willow Wilson, Tom King, Gabriel Hardman, Corinna Bechko/A: Tradd Moore, J.H. Williams III, Andy Kubert, Greg Smallwood, Mitch Gerads, Gabriel Hardman/C: Greg Capullo

This Eisner Award-winning anthology series is collected in hardcover. Tradd Moore and I collaborated on a story of Ra's al Ghul and the League of Assassins. This collection also includes all the talented contributors listed above! Collects Batman Black & White #1-6.

• Listening to “THE ONLY LIVING WITNESS” by Stephen G. Michaud and Hugh Aynesworth, about Ted Bundy on audiobook this week. Some really horrifying details in this are going to stay with me for a long, long time.

• Saturday night, I got to hang out with some friends in a bar and we all started cheering the action and animation of BATMAN OF SHANGHAI on someone’s phone. Sam leaned in to me and said “Everyone thinks we’re watching sports right now.” But in general, I want more opportunities to cheer jawdroppingly badass fight animation while drinking with friends. Also: If you never watched those shorts you should hunt them down because they are rad as hell.

• If anyone has a lead on a podcast, book, or article about the early history of Santas in Department Stores, please help me out. I gathered some good non-fiction books about the history of Christmas a while back, but they don’t have much on the exact thread I’m looking to mine here. I’m about to switch gears from overloading my brain with serial killer fiction to overloading my brain with Christmas stories. You’ll find out why next year.

That’s everything for now… Here’s your latest reminder to go check out the Tiny Onion Store, and to go follow @ReadTinyOnion over on Twitter.

There are some big things coming on the merchandise front over the next month. Very excited for the next phase of this whole operation to be out in the open.

James Tynion IV
Brooklyn, NY
9.13.21