073 Back and Recharged
C.O.W.L. 1964! Moon Man 4! Plus, EXCLUSIVE SDCC MERCH DROP!
Hey everyone! Happy almost-September!
This newsletter should have gone out last week— apologies for the slight delay. I’ve had back-to-back California convention weekends in San Jose (Galaxy Con) and Pasadena (Power Morphicon) along with wrangling a host of books that we’ve had due to the printer. But, we’re back!
Speaking of Power Morphicon, I attended the bi-yearly show this weekend along with Ryan Parrott, Melissa Flores and Kelly McMahon and it was an absolute blast. It was so much fun to talk Power Rangers again and, of course, The Massive-Verse. Shout out to everyone who came up to say hi and talk to us about the books, who have been following what we’ve been doing at Image Comics or have heard what we’re doing and decided to pick up Radiant Black, Rogue Sun and Dead Lucky trade paperbacks at our table. The response was overwhelming and it was a great boost for all of us— sometimes when we’re just grinding at our desks, stress writing to make deadlines every month (to varying degrees of success), it can be very easy to forget why we’re doing all of this. Spoiler alert: it’s an immense amount of work to run a universe. All the time. But, reactions and support like we found this weekend are an incredible salve. And honestly, we came away from the show with more ideas than ever. Get ready :)
And to everyone who signed up for the newsletter over the last two weeks— welcome! I try to get one of these out weekly, though sometimes we miss a week due to deadlines. But, hopefully we make up for that with a host of killer early looks, announcements, and exclusives.
Speaking of the latter…
The Black Market
Today, I’m thrilled to report that we’ve managed to get what’s left of our SDCC prints up on the Black Market shop!
Also, for the first time ever, we’re making Kelly McMahon’s incredible Massive-Verse pins available along with our limited edition Tom Whalen screen prints!
A quick note on the screen prints— these are signed and numbered, limited to 100! We’ve given convention goers the first crack at these over the last year and now we’re opening up the vault for everyone! Tom is a legend in the poster art world and I have a feeling these are going to go fast. Head over to the shop at the link below and grab yours while you can!
Oh, and make sure you tab through the multiple pages (there are three) to see all of the items we’re offering. Plus, as always, you can check out the other variant covers and rare books that we have in the “Comic Books” section of the shop!
Available Now
C.O.W.L. 1964 #1 - August 7
A few weeks back, C.O.W.L. 1964 #1 hit stands… and immediately sold out. This book has been incredibly special for us to make, marking our return to not only my first creator owned book but also our first (retroactive) title in The Massive-Verse.
If you haven’t picked this one up yet or you missed it at your shop, don’t fret— we’re going back for a second printing!
The second printing actually has its Final Order Cutoff (the last day for stores to order the book) today, so if you’re heading to your shop please let your retailer know to order you a copy. Or, if you use something like Comic Hub, add the book to your pull list!
Rogue Sun #21 - August 28
Rogue Sun and Divinity face off against a new villain...VEIN. But will this confrontation place Dylan on a direct path toward a showdown with Mourningstar, or cause him to question not only his mission...but his purpose?
Out this week, the 21st issue of my favorite Massive-Verse title (shhh don’t tell the other books!), Rogue Sun!
Ryan Parrott, Nick Cotton, Abel and Natalia Marques have a big one in store for you and considering I know Ryan’s plans for the next few arcs, it’s safe to say that Divinity is someone you’re going to want to follow very closely :)
Preview:
Final Order Cutoff
C.O.W.L. 1964 #2 - FOC August 26 (TODAY), on sale September 18
As allegations swirl around Geoffrey Warner, the future of C.O.W.L.’s national expansion is at risk, but a hidden secret threatens to bring down not just the expansion but the entire organization.
Issue one ended with the bombshell allegation— which readers of the original series know is true— that Geoffrey Warner murdered mob boss Camden Stone. Now, just as he’s made the announcement of his plans to expand C.O.W.L. nationally, everything is at stake unless Geoffrey can navigate these allegations… and figure out who is pulling the strings from the shadows.
Our main cover is by Rod Reis and continuing our series of mid-century inspired pieces, our B cover is by the always amazing Kelly McMahon:
Preview:
Speaking of those stunning B covers, over the weekend Image released all four of Kelly’s themed covers for C.O.W.L. 1964! Check out how good these all look together!
Moon Man #4 - FOC August 26 (TODAY), on sale September 18
Unsure who to trust as Moon Man takes to the streets of Cleveland, one terrible mistake will lead to unthinkable consequences for Ramon and those closest to him.
Our penultimate issue of volume one is on FOC today and boy oh boy do things get explosive.
Issue 1-3 have taken a deliberate approach to Ramon and the development of his powers and his world, but issue 4 is very much the tipping point.
Preview:
Oh, and if you follow Kid Cudi and have missed out on Moon Man issues 1-3, Scott announced over the weekend that on September 18 (the same day issue 4 releases), he’ll have copies of the earlier issues all available on his storefront!
The Moon Man Chronicles
Speaking of Moon Man, a few weeks back you may have noticed a slightly different newsletter from us hit your inbox, called The Moon Man Chronicles. I’ve included the post below but in case you missed the news, Scott Mescudi and I have started a podcast! Modeled after the excellent Ranger Danger Boom Rooms that Michael Busuttil, Mat Groom and I used to do for the Power Rangers comics, The Moon Man Chronicles is going to be a monthly livestream on Kid Cudi’s youtube channel where Michael, Scott and I will do a deep dive on each issue of Moon Man, tell behind the scenes stories, answer questions and maybe even debut some new music and host some giveaways (!).
And after the livestream, the audio edition— with enhanced show notes— will drop as a podcast via Black Market Narrative and this very newsletter. You can, of course, subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast platform of choice, but as a newsletter subscriber you’ll also get an email with each episode that includes the enhanced show notes, art, and the livestream. So, best of all worlds.
I’ve added a tab to the Black Market newsletter called Kid Cudi’s Moon Man, which will serve as a hub for the episodes and any extra Moon Man content we may decide to push out.
Radiant Black: The Audiobook
Last week, we also took to Instagram along with Image Comics and a host of our ultra-talented cast to roll out Radiant Black: The Audiobook cast announcements in a much bigger way! I thought it would be fun to run the graphics again here, for anyone who missed the news. Please feel free to share these wherever you like!
And for more info on the audiobook, we’re sending people to http://radiant.black/audiobook and encouraging them to sign up for this newsletter.
Okay, that’s going to do it for me today! Back to the grind!
Talk to you next week! And until then—
Stay Radiant!
Kyle
Los Angeles