Vicious Shivers (Cullen Bunn's Official Newsletter), Issue 117
This is the 117th issue of Vicious Shivers, a (mostly) weekly newsletter for fans of my work. Thank you for subscribing. Please share it with others if you think they might be interested!
Hey! It’s Easter Sunday! Thanks for joining me for this issue of the newsletter before you rush out to see what the giant, anthropomorphic bunny has left in your easter basket!
I have many, many fond memories of Easter from when I was a kid. Once upon a time, I woke up to find that the Easter Bunny had left me four action figures from a movie I had not seen yet. Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, C3P0 and R2D2. I remember running through the yard, using the plastic blister pack container as a spaceship/sky sled for those characters. What an amazing day!
I can’t think about Easter, though, without mentioning the 10,000-egg Easter Egg Hunt my mom and dad put together in Fayetteville NC when I was a little kid. I was very young, but I have weird dream-like flashes from that day. My dad ran a photography studio for many years, and the event was a promotion for his business. He was also a professional stage hypnotist, so he incorporated a hypnosis show into the day’s festivities! There was also an Easter Bunny… with a HUMAN FACE… that scared the newly-reborn bejesus out of me.
Anyhow… here are a few pictures from that day.
During one of my last visits with my mom, she brought up that day. She remembered it quite fondly. “Maybe we didn’t do a lot,” she said. “We were always so busy, but we did do a few things that were really something special.”
Good times, indeed.
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Something really cool that I’m super excited about: Cindy and I are going to be working on a comic book together. Very early stages right now, but I think it will be a lot of fun! Or Cindy will kill me. I can be a frustrating co-writer.
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I don’t often post about upcoming FOC (Final Order Cutoff) dates, mainly because I need to do a much, much better job of keeping track of those, but here’s one that drops tomorrow. Pre-ordering a book from a comic shop helps the comic shop, the publisher, and the creators. It can dramatically impact the longevity of a title. So, please, consider a pre-order!
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The HARROW COUNTY board game draws closer and closer. A few pictures of the game (albeit in a playtest format) have been popping up online, so I thought I’d share them with you.
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I added a “Markets” section to my Discord server. There, members of the community can post any paying prose or comic markets they come across. I did this as much for me as anyone, because I’m very interested in doing more prose work in the future.
You can join the Discord server here - https://discord.gg/PzDvsWRM48
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This week, I return to conventions for the first time in a couple of years. Planet Comicon in Kansas City—here I come! It’s one of my favorite shows, and I’m excited to be there!
I’ll be at Table 430/432.
I had originally planned to only bring a handful of books, but I ended up putting together a ton of material to sell. Financial needs trump my need to travel light. I have no way of knowing what the turn-out will be, but I’m hoping to see a lot of folks.
I'm also thrilled to bring my D&D themed sketchbook out of retirement!
I am not sure how this will impact the newsletter for next week. I’m going to try to post something, but conventions have a way of overwhelming me while I’m there! We’ll see how it goes! If nothing else, I'll post lots of pics!
INTERVIEWS…
Here’s an interview I did about the upcoming BLOODBORNE series!
DF INTERVIEW: CULLEN BUNN LAUNCHES A NEW ‘BLOODBORNE’ SERIES, BEGINNING WITH A FREE COMIC BOOK DAY EDITION
PATREON...
I publish quite a bit of behind-the-scenes material, serialized comics, short stories, scripts, and much more on Patreon. I try to post at least five new items every week. I use money generated from Patreon to fund the creation of new material. I hope you’ll consider checking it out.
The current Patreon Index can be found here - https://www.patreon.com/posts/64469540
Patron-only posts from the past week include:
Script: The Sixth Gun #6 - Another one for the archive!
Moment of POW: Spoiling for a Fight - On my introduction to the Teen Titans and one of their most epic fights.
Commentary Track: Shadowman #8 - A behind-the scenes look at the final issue!
ReadCommentary Track: The Last Book You'll Ever #7 - A behind-the-scenes look at the penultimate issue!
Bucket List: Druid - What comics are on my bucket list?
Convention Supply Checklist - What are the essentials that I bring with me when setting up for a convention?
For next week, I’ve already scheduled more sneak peeks and some more scripts and some new fiction!
EVENTS…
Here are the events I have finalized for the coming days. Keep in mind, these days, "finalized" doesn't mean as much as it once did. All events are subject to change.
APRIL 22 - 24, 2022 - Planet Comicon, Kansas City
MAY 7, 2022 - Free Comic Book Day at the Little Shop of Comics, Cuba MO
JUNE, 17 - 19, 2022 - Tremendicon, Springfield MO
SEPTEMBER 24 - 25, 2022 - Memphis Comic Expo, Memphis TN
THINGS TO COME...
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.
May 7, 2022 - BLOODBORNE kicks off with a Free Comic Book Day issue!
May - TALES FROM HARROW COUNTY: LOST ONES
July - BOOK OF SHADOWS, the Valiant Universe supernatural team book.
August 2022 - UP TO NO GHOUL, a sequel to THE GHOUL NEXT DOOR.
A LEGACY OF VIOLENCE - A horror maxi-series about a mysterious town and mysterious experiments that have played out there.
A sequel to a story about dreams and loss and adventure.
A sequel to a story of robotic mischief.
A horror OGN where reality and surreality clash in a murderous way.
An action/comedy thrill-ride. unlike anything else I've ever written.
An apocalyptic horror/fantasy maxi-series.
A horror one-shot about loss and grief and guilt.
A new action/horror series I can’t tell you much about just yet.
A new series that will allow me to spin many, many horror stories.
WORK UPDATE…
So far this year, I wrote:
545 pages of comic book scripts (938 in 2021)
0 feature length screenplay (1 in 2021)
1 short film script (0 in 2021)
4 short stories (13 in 2021)
0 novellas (0 in 2021)
18 new comic book series proposals (25 in 2021)
0 podcast proposals (5 in 2021)
1 foreword for upcoming graphic novels (0 in 2021)
1 television series proposal (0 in 2021)
FINAL THOUGHTS…
If you find yourself at Planet Comicon in Kansas City later in the week, please come by and say hello!
If you enjoy reading about all the nonsense I’m up to, I hope you’ll consider throwing some support toward my Patreon. I post something almost every day, and all the funds earned on that platform go directly into funding more and more comic book work!
If you want to keep the conversation going throughout the week, follow me on Twitter or join my Discord server! Thanks for joining me!
WHERE TO FIND ME ONLINE...
WEBSITE - If you haven’t been there lately, you should check it out. I’ve started posting a lot more content and news on the site.
TWITTER - This is the best place to interact with me online. My handle is @cullenbunn
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.