Vicious Shivers (Cullen Bunn's Official Newsletter), Issue 139
Vicious Shivers is 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!
WELCOME TO ISSUE 139…
This will likely be a short issue this morning. Why? Well, I’m in Memphis, Tennessee, for the Memphis Comic Expo. I’m a little tired, my iPad (upon which I hastily write this newsletter every Sunday) is low on juice, and I can’t find my charging cable. I say it MIGHT be a short newsletter, though, because once I start rambling, who knows where this will go?
On Friday morning, my pal Josh and I jumped into the Jeep, ate some hot balls, and drove down a metaphorical bumpy road.
Why hot balls and bumpy roads?
It’s important to have traditions, that’s why. Years ago, while on the way to a different convention, Josh and I had to drive down a long, meandering, craggy dirt road to pick up JimmyZ. Thanks to memories of my old man always having Atomic Fireballs in the car when he went on road trips, I had some in the car. Josh and I ate a couple, and Josh proclaimed, “We’re gonna eat hot balls and drive down a bumpy road!”
This, I thought, was a perfect summary of life.
And, so, the tradition was born.
Along the way, we stopped at The Book Nook in West Plains, MO.
This was the bookstore I frequented almost every day during my freshman year of college. It’s also the place to which I sold all of my comics (a complete run of X-Men, Amazing Fantasy 15, the first 20 issues of Spider-Man, and thousands of other books) in order to pay my way through the rest of my college years. It’s been 30 years since I visited the shop, but I’m thrilled they’re still in business. They’ve moved locations a couple of times since my day as a customer, but it has all the same charm. The store has a new owner, but the guy who bought those comics from me all those years ago stopped in (as a customer) while I was there. The new owner happened to be the collector who bought all the X-Men comics I sold way back when.
Circle of Life.
I bought a couple of Destroyer novels, some horror books, some Tanith Lee hardcovers, and a small gift for Cindy.
Arriving in Memphis, we unloaded and set up the table for the convention. Then, we headed to our hotel (my navigation took us through a mansion-filled neighborhood which I took as a sign that I should be working a lot harder). After we unpacked, we headed downtown for ribs at the Rendezvous.
I’ve never had ribs like these before, but they were delicious. We heard another customer complain that they weren’t drenched in sauce and they didn’t fall off the bone, but this is a 100+ year old recipe, and I think it works for them.
Of course, we walked around Beale Street for a little while, but we kept our wits about us. No one needed to indulge in all Beale Street has to offer and then go work a convention the next day.
The convention has been great. Well, Day 1 was a good time. Saw some great friends I haven’t seen in years. Some of us shared stories of feeling abandoned by the comic industry and by many fellow comic creators. While I hate that others are feeling that way, it’s nice to know I’m not completely alone in that sentiment. We also talked about forging new paths, trying some different things to make this industry work for us.
The circle of life.
Hot balls. Bumpy roads.
With other friends, I talked about everything from comics to monsters to how many Big Macs I can eat.
One reader challenged me with a question about how Sinestro could fly from one side of the universe to the other so quickly. He even shared an equation to figure out exactly how fast Sinestro would have had to fly. I shared an equation of my own.
”Sinestro = total badass.”
I think that’s a scientific as I need to be.
Another reader brought me this:
Predator-themed whiskey! I love the bottle! Not sure how good the contents will be, but it’s pretty cool!
I did no shopping whatsoever. I just never had time to break away from the table. I’ll try to do a bit today. I did manage to get a couple of sketches in my Monster Manual sketchbook, though. And the folks running the show were super helpful and supportive. The convention goes out of its way to put creators first, which means a lot.
I wanted Mexican food for dinner, and somehow that turned to sushi. A terrible storm blew in over the evening. Are these two events connected? I think so.
Here’s hoping today will be just as much fun, because tomorrow means I’m getting back to work writing! I’ve got a couple of series to finish and a couple of new ones to start!
***
Writing-wise, I finished an outline/proposal for a new series. It’s been accepted, but I just needed to put a little more structure to it before we could move ahead. I sent in another proposal to a different publisher, and I think it has a good chance to make it across the finish line. I wrote a bunch of pages for a couple of other projects, worked on a short story, and finished another chapter of the novel I’m working on.
I was also in a ton of meetings—discussing everything from film and TV adaptations to role-playing game projects to board game projects to strange new business ventures.
***
Kirkus published a very nice review of UP TO NO GHOUL that pleased me to no end. It’s a great book for kids during this time of year. If you haven’t checked it (or its predecessor THE GHOUL NEXT DOOR) out, please do!
UP TO NO GHOUL | Kirkus Reviews — www.kirkusreviews.com Evil takes root in this chilling sequel.
***
See? I told ya! Wasn’t that short at all.
My self-importance will not allow for a brief newsletter.
HUSTLE & HEART FILMS...
Last week, I shared the announcement about NIGHTWALKERS from Source Point Press. In that announcement, Hustle & Heart Films was mentioned. I’ve gotten a few questions about it, so I thought I’d share what H&H is all about here.
Heath Amodio and I officially launched Hustle & Heart Films in early 2018 as a way for comic book writers, novelists, and creators in general to have more involvement in the adaptations of their original works.
By using most of 2018 to network and develop projects, we were able to partner with seasoned producing veterans to sell our first two shows to Showtime and CW respectively. We then sold a third show in November of 2019 to Amazon. None of the projects moved forward at the networks or streamers, but that’s the nature of the TV industry. It bats .200 on a good day.
Heath and I continue to develop great projects for television with partners like Todd Garner’s Broken Road Pictures, Roy Lee’s Vertigo Entertainment, and stand up comedian Laura High. To name a few. As a company, we have four original graphic novels slated to come out 2023-2024 from Oni Press, and have just partnered with Source Point Books on a slate of new comic book series.
2023 and beyond should prove to be some exciting times for H&H as we’ve now launched a new business model. It allows us to work hand-in-hand with some of our favorite comic book creators, actors, directors, novelists, and screenwriters. Through these collaborations, we intend to make a slew of amazing new comics that we hope you’ll all thoroughly enjoy!
NEW VARIANT COVERS NOW AVAILABLE!
If you head over to my store, you can order Creator-Exclusive Variant Covers of THE CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SALEM and A FOULNESS IN THE WALLS (as well as SHOCK SHOP and many other variants). These new covers are very limited. Fewer than 250 of each cover. They are pre-orders. While they are on pre-order, though, there is no extra charge for signed copies. So, now is the time to grab them!
THE CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SALEM - Creator Exclusive Variant (Danny Luckert Cover) | Cullen Bunn's Shock Shop — cullenbunn.bigcartel.com This is a LIMITED EDITION This is a LIMITED EDITION variant cover for THE CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SALEM #1! This variant is only available directly...
A FOULNESS IN THE WALLS - Creator Exclusive Cover (Sami Kivela Variant) | Cullen Bunn's Shock Shop — cullenbunn.bigcartel.com This is a LIMITED EDITION This is a LIMITED EDITION variant cover for A FOULNESS IN THE WALLS! This variant is only available directly from Cullen...
WEEKLY OBSESSIONS…
For some reason, I was on a Terminator kick this week, and I watched the first two movies. I guess I was just in a Tech Noir kind of mood.
I finished up the first season of Cobra Kai, and I enjoyed the Hell out of it. I believe there’s another season on the way, and without too many spoilers it looks like they could take in the direction of one of my favorite 80s martial arts movies. I’m jazzed!
I finally finished the latest season of What We Do in the Shadows, and I liked it a lot. The last episode was quite sad for me. The cliffhanger, though, was *mwah!*
And, of course, Survivor started, and I couldn’t be happier.
EVENTS…
Keep in mind, these days, "finalized" doesn't mean as much as it once did. All events are subject to change.1
FEBRUARY 4, 2023 - ArtCon, Neosho, MO
MARCH 17 - 19, 2023 - Planet Comicon, Kansas City MO
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.
A LEGACY OF VIOLENCE - A horror maxi-series about a mysterious town and mysterious experiments that have played out there.
THE CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SALEM - A one shot following Sabrina’s mischievous cat on a wild adventure.
DOOR TO DOOR, NIGHT BY NIGHT - A horror/comedy series about a door-to-door sales team that moonlights as monster hunters.
A FOULNESS IN THE WALLS - A horror one-shot about loss and grief and guilt.
NIGHTWALKERS - A survival horror series that sets up a whole world of apocalyptic nightmares.
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 new licensed horror comic series
Another new licensed horror comic series
A horror maxi-series exploring a side of horror you might not expect
A horror/thriller I’m co-writing
A horror limited series I’m working on with one of my best friends and long-standing collaborator
An action/horror story of destiny and demonic blood
A horror prose anthology I’m editing
A return to a fan-favorite character I haven't written in quite a while.
WORK UPDATE…
So far this year, I wrote:
1360 pages of comic book scripts (938 in 2021)
0 feature length screenplay (1 in 2021)
1 half-hour comedy pilot (0 in 2021)
1 short film script (0 in 2021)
6 short stories (13 in 2021)
0 novellas (0 in 2021)
29 new comic book series proposals (25 in 2021)
0 podcast proposals (5 in 2021)
1 essay (0 in 2021)
1 foreword for upcoming graphic novels (0 in 2021)
1 television series proposal (0 in 2021)
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
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.