Issue 178: The Benzedrine's got my teeth wiggling.
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I’ve probably said this before, but I don’t remember conventions being this exhausting.
I used to do convention after convention, charging in at full speed, grabbing life by the leathers and holding on for all I’m worth! Eight seconds to glory! Eight seconds to glory! And afterwards I bounced right back and was ready for the next one.
Those days, it seems, have slipped me by.
Yesterday, I spent the day at the Route 66 Comic and Toy Convention in Lebanon MO, just a short drive away from my home base. I had a great time, met a bunch of readers I might not get to meet otherwise, sold a ton of books, and even bulked up my personal collection a bit. It was a good day.
As soon as the convention was over, though—and I mean the very second they announced an end to the day—a wave of painful exhaustion washed over me, and it was all I could do to stay upright. Even this morning, after a good night’s sleep, everything hurts and I loathe the idea of crawling out of bed.
I’m gonna… but I hate it.
Obviously, it’s just time and the gradual, horrific collapse of my physical form catching up with me.
I look forward to the day when visitors to my table at the convention will just encounter a video monitor displaying a rage-filled AI face, like Robocop 2, and I will only calm down to a growling, glowering AI face when they ply me with a hit of street-grade Nuke… or buy a book… which will be signed by my robotic claw-hand.
Until then, I can only I look at my calendar of upcoming events and weep. I love attending conventions… but there are just so many awaiting me, like that pesky gen-1 Robocop, coming to harsh my post-Nuke mellow.
I spent a lot of time yesterday talking to my pal Kyle Strahm about the comic book business—the past, present, and future. Kyle’s one smart cookie, and I really appreciate his insights. He noted that I often let my pride get the better of me when it comes to interactions with some publishers. He’s right, of course. I don’t like being walked all over, and I’m damn sure not gonna sit back and just let it happen. There might be, Kyle suggested, a middle ground that I’m leaping across in my counter-attacks. I don’t always have to go in like a rampaging Robocop 2.
Maybe there’s a way to make my point without burning bridges.
But… but… I LIKE burning bridges!
He’s right, of course, and I need to reflect on that a bit. I don’t know what this “middle ground” looks like, but I’ll keep it in mind.
I gave Kyle a bit of static during the conversation. “Don’t try to life coach me!” But I hope he knows that I genuinely appreciate what he was saying.
(Remarkably, we did not discuss Robocop at all, which is a bit unusual for the two of us.)
We also talked a lot about paths forward in the world of comics. One thing I’ve come to realize over the years is that my business strategy must always evolve and change. What worked in the beginning will not work now. And it’s nice to talk to someone about my plans and goals. Some of those plans (in very high-level terms) for me include:
More crowd-funding… though I need to refine my approach and do some new things.
A focus on building this newsletter. I have a great group here, but I want to expand.
More livestreams/videos.
Figuring out the balance of Substack and Patreon. (This one is gonna be the biggest hurdle for me.)
Approaching conventions differently. (More focused products, bringing fewer boxes to shows.)
Follow-up and communication. A tough one for me, not because I don’t like communicating, but because I always feel so overwhelmed and busy.
There’s a lot more to it, of course, but these items seem like good starting points.
Announced this week!
I’m returning to the world of BLOODBORNE with BLOODBORNE: THE BLEAK DOMINIONS, a new four-issue series! Previously referred to as PROJECT: DUNGEON, this book is a stand-alone follow-up to the tale I told in BLOODBORNE: THE LADY OF THE LANTERNS.
Issue 1 launches in September!
I think the campaign for THE SIXTH GUN goes live this week. I await the launch with excitement and fear. Excitement because this is such a cool project and there are some amazing announcements associated with it. Fear because… well… I’m always afraid of how these kind of campaigns will go. Anyhow, so many cool revelations await, and I hope you’ll join us for the ride!
“Sometimes what’s dead doesn’t stay gone.”
THE SIXTH GUN
REBORN
from
@OniPress
Coming soon to #KickstarterReads
Follow here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/onipress/the-sixth-gun?ref=7uiaj2
As of this writing, THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UNCANNY anthology from Outland Entertainment has just FOUR DAYS to go to reach its funding goal! Now is the time to join in! There are so many cool stories in the book, including “The Disobedient Devil Dust-up in Copper Junction,” which is my story.
You can back it here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1330509990/the-good-the-bad-and-the-uncanny-tales-of-the-weird-west
While at HeroesCon last week, I was interviewed by The Scoop on PreviewsWorld. Here is that short interview for your enjoyment!
https://scoop.previewsworld.com/Home/4/1/73/1012?articleID=269076
Today, I’m going to do my best to get a lot of work done, then I’m grilling some hot dogs, and then I’m playing a little D&D. I’m looking forward to it, but man-oh-man, that first step (actually getting out of bed) is a challenge.
I hope you, like me, can Robocop the Hell out of this day!
Not just Robocop.
I want you to Robocop 2 the Hell out of this day!
I watched THE BOOGEYMAN and really enjoyed it. It was a tight 90 minute horror romp with plenty of jump scares, including one that had me exclaiming “Oh, shit!” But it also has a lot of heart and soul. A lot deep character moments that set it apart.
I re-watched EVIL DEAD RISE. While I liked it when I saw it in the theater, I think it improved for me with a repeat viewing. I may have to re-think my ranking of the movies. Honestly, I don’t remember how I ranked them the last time.
Cindy and I started watching SHAMELESS again, and it’s terrific.
I’m still re-reading and listening to BLUE WORLD from Robert McCammon.
In terms of collecting, I grabbed some old gaming material at the con yesterday… as well as a sweet Gamera toy that I could have re-sold to con-goers a dozen times.
Here is a quick and dirty list of upcoming projects. In most cases, I’m only listing projects that are definitely on the schedule with a published. Oftentimes, I will not be able to share much information, but I can at least tease the future! Everything here is, of course, subject to change.
JUNE 2023
SWORDS IN THE SHADOWS
RAZE
JULY 2023
LAMENTATION #3
GHOSTLORE #3
DOOR TO DOOR, NIGHT BY NIGHT #7
DOOR TO DOOR, NIGHT BY NIGHT TPB
AUGUST 2023
DEATH OF THE VENOMVERSE 1 - 5 (weekly)
GHOSTLORE #4
DOOR TO DOOR, NIGHT BY NIGHT #8
DISPLACEMENT
MAGIC: THE GATHERING - NOTORIOUS
REANIMATOR: THE ETERNAL LIE, Part 2
SEPTEMBER 2023
BLOODBORNE: THE BLEAK DOMINION #1
OCTOBER 2023
REGRESSION: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION
BLOODBORNE: THE BLEAK DOMINION #2
NOVEMBER 2023
LAMENTATION TPB
PROJECT: MATINEE #1
BLOODBORNE: THE BLEAK DOMINION #3
DECEMBER 2023
PROJECT: MATINEE #2
BLOODBORNE: THE BLEAK DOMINION #4
JANUARY 2024
BEYOND MORTAL Trade Paperback
THE UNKNOWN FUTURE…
PROJECT: JUMP, a new comic book series in the Beyond Mortal Universe.
PROJECT: HEX, a supernatural/horror thriller.
PROJECT: HORROR, a licensed horror comic.
I’LL KILL YOU LAST - An 80s action/horror fiction anthology I’m editing.
PROJECT: GALLERY - An RPG project I’ve been quietly developing.
PROJECT: PREHISTORY - More kaiju craziness
PROJECT: MEGA-BATTLE - Even More kaiju craziness
PROJECT: SURGEON - a very dark horror tale
PROJECT: BOT - A sequel to a story of robotic mischief
PROJECT: WATER HEATER - An apocalyptic horror/fantasy maxi-series
PROJECT: RUSH - A horror prose anthology I’m editing
COPYCAT - A new limited series from Todd Garner, Heath Amodio, and myself.
BLOODBLADE - An action/horror story of destiny and demonic blood.
PROJECT: CONVOY - A horror/thriller I’m co-writing
PROJECT: ARCANA - a dark fantasy series
PROJECT: MONSTER - a new horror/action/comedy series
PROJECT: HOAX - a horror limited series
965 pages of comic book scripts (1710 in 2022)
0 feature length screenplay (0 in 2022)
0 half-hour comedy pilot (1 in 2022)
0 short film script (1 in 2022)
0 short stories (9 in 2022)
0 novellas (0 in 2022)
10 two-sentence horror stories (10 in 2022)
0 new comic book series proposals (29 in 2022)
0 podcast proposals (0 in 2022)
0 essays (0 in 2022)
1 foreword for upcoming graphic novels (0 in 2022)
0 television series proposal (0 in 2022)
JULY 7 - 9, 2023 - Tremendicon, Springfield MO
AUGUST 5 - 6, 2023 - Fountain City Con, New Century KS
AUGUST 19, 2023 - Signing at Distant Planet Comics, Columbia MO
AUGUST 31 - SEPTEMBER 4 - DragonCon, Atlanta GA
SEPTEMBER 9, 2023 - Signing at B&B Collections, Jonesboro AR
SEPTEMBER 16 - 17, 2023 - Extremicon, St. Roberts MO
SEPTEMBER 30 - OCTOBER 1 - Cowtown Comic Convention, Fort Worth TX
THE SHOCK SHOP - My online store, where you can find exclusive covers you can only get directly from me!
TWITTER - This is the best place to interact with me online. My handle is @cullenbunn
TIKTOK - A fun spot for quick videos about writing, comics, and collecting
PATREON - Here, I post a serialized novel, a serialized comic book, short stories, and other cool materials.
THE CULLEN BUNN DISCORD SERVER - A place for fans to hang out and talk about comics, books, movies, games, collecting, and whatever else strikes their fancy.
THE BUNNGALOW - Cindy and I talk about life, hot button topics, pop culture, being married to a comic book writer and EVERYTHING in between.
Never stop building! Your books, your platform presence, everything. I'm here for all of it! Cant say thank you enough for your fantastic books!
The best kind of friend gives it to us straight. Yay for Kyle. Gotta love a friend like that. 💕