Vicious Shivers, Issue 152
Vicious Shivers is the official newsletter for fans of my work. Thank you for subscribing. Please share it with others if you think they might be interested!
I’m sending this one (and most likely the next one) out early this week. On Sunday, I’ll be celebrating with my family, opening presents, and drinking egg nog. I hope, no matter what you celebrate, you’re having a hell of a December and are looking toward to an awesome New Year.
Next week, I’ll be writing a bit about what I wanted to accomplish in 2022, where I succeeded and where I failed, and what I hope 2023 will bring.
The last several weeks in the world of writing and publishing have been a little bleak. Social media, which is one of the primary places for creators to market to readers, is drowning in a miasma of bots and hateful people and bad decisions and algorithms. Conventions, another important source of creator-to-reader connections, are focusing less on creators and more on voice actors. (Nothing against voice actors, but don’t call yourself a comic convention and then forget the people who create comics.) Publishers are failing to pay creators or even publish their books. Online sales appear to be on the decline. A paper shortage is on the horizon.
…And a partridge in a pear tree…
It’s not all awful, of course. I think times are gonna be tough. But tough does not equate to nightmarish.
I think I’m going to have to work my ass off to stay afloat over the next 18 - 24 months. But I have several new projects in prose and comics and film in the works. And there are several new concepts that I’m trying to get off the ground. There are surprises ahead. Good ones, I think.
But it is becoming more and more apparent that I will need to dedicate more of my time to direct-to-reader communication. Which is nice, because it’s something I like doing. Of course, I could use your help.
The primary sources of communication for me are:
If you haven’t checked all of those places out, please do! Maybe sign up for my Patreon! Share this newsletter! Join a discussion on Discord! Just as important—tell your friends to check them out!
I plan on becoming more and more active with all of these sites, but I need people to sign up and participate!
And speaking of the things I’ve been cooking up…
This week was less about writing and more about preparing for the future.
I cleaned up a few proposals for upcoming projects. One of these, PROJECT: DUNGEON, is for a licensed project. The licensor and I have been going back and forth on this one. Not arguing or anything. Just trying to make sure what I want to do works in the scope of their universe. It’s actually been kind of fun.
I did a lot of work on PROJECT: SWORD. I imagine I’ll be able to share some details about this with you in just a few weeks. It’s connected to a much, much bigger initiative that I think will really excite folks and open some new doors for me.
I spent a little time talking to a publisher about a number of books going forward. I sent them some samples of projects I might want to do, and they immediately jumped onto one of them. A little too soon to add it to the list of Things to Come, but I’m hoping soon. Interestingly, the story they are most interested in is one that I’ve submitted a few other places. Every time, I’ve been told that it is simply “too dark”. I had almost considered retiring the proposal, but it is the darkness that appealed to the publisher.
There is also an OGN that I wrote for them some time ago that may be changing into an ongoing. Not a big deal, as I wrote it in five distinct chapters or issues anyhow. Pretty exciting stuff.
I’ve been communicating with several artists about working on projects together. It’s a matter of finding the right project, the right publisher, and the right deal to make anything happen, but I’m hopeful.
With potential artists and potential publishers in mind, I’ve been working on a number of my pitches, trying to get them in shape to start a campaign that will take me through the next year.
In terms of writing, I did spend quite a bit of time re-working some pages for the first issue of PROJECT: V. This project is a big one, and it needs to be “just right” before it can move forward.
I hope you’ve been enjoying THE DOOM THAT CAME TO CHRISTMAS, the short horror tale I’ve been serializing through Substack.
I really had a lot of fun writing it. Maybe I’ll revisit that tale in the future!
The last chapter comes out in just a bit. If you haven’t been reading it, you can find all of the chapters in the archive!
Today, I’m taking a bit of a break from writing. Instead, I’m relaxing a bit, cleaning house a bit, making gingerbread houses with my awesome family, and dreaming of sugarplums and all that.
Thanks for spending a bit of your day with me!
Reader Questions…
Here are some questions from readers this week!
Sean Northridge writes:
Think we'll ever get to see that Harrow County Map teased in the Priscilla Plush Crowd funding?
You know, that’s a really great question. The map was done, at least in an initial form. I’m going to ask Tyler if he’s okay with me sharing it.
Mr. Macabre asks:
If you could creat your own League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, using your original characters, who would the roster consist of and what obstacles would they face?
All right. So… while this would never happen, it would certainly be fun. Stupid maybe. But fun. I’ll keep it to just a handful of characters. Just six. Though I really want to load it up.
Becky Montcrief from THE SIXTH GUN for some guts and determination.
Drake Sinclair from THE SIXTH GUN for his cunning and killer instincts.
Emmy Crawford from HARROW COUNTY for heart and soul… and her friendship with Becky might be awesome.
Stanley from LUCKY DEVIL for some magical oomph and a willingness to make dark choices.
Rikard from HELHEIM for some muscle.
Wrex from TERRIBLE LIZARD for pure destructive power and dinosaur hi-jinx.
I wanted to include Annabelle Riggs and Ren Kimura from THE FEARLESS DEFENDERS, but I am banning myself from including characters I don’t own.
As for their challenge… through the use of dark rituals, Griselda (THE SIXTH GUN), Bera (HELHEIM), and Kammi (HARROW COUNTY) have managed to overthrow and replace the Fates of lore. Now, they can control all of reality, and their powers stretch into every world I’ve ever created. Our team comes together to stop them before their ham-fisted machinations bring the multiverse crumbling down.
Alic Reader asks a couple of questions:
Is there any chance of a Cullen Bunn “masterclass” in writing comics? Bendis has one going via Substack.
I love the idea of doing it. I’ve thought about it. Not sure how interested people would be in hearing what I have to say about it. I feel like I know some things worth sharing. But I’ve never had the confidence or time to put it together in a meaningful way.
How do you stay organized when you’re working on so many different things with so many moving parts?
Sometimes, I don’t.
I keep a calendar; a notebook (my ReMarkable); a bulletin board with magnetic post-its; a to-do list for the current day, tomorrow, and “some day”; and a TON of index cards. And it still gets muddled.
Once or twice a week, I focus for an hour or two solely on getting my mind organized and keep those multiple moving pieces organized. That is my saving grace, really. I would fight to protect that time.
How many hours a week, on average, would you say you (a) spend in the writing process (write/rewrite/edit, etc.) and (b) spend doing work that comes with the business of writing, e.g., marketing, interviews, meetings, working on deals, etc.? And (c) how does that balance against family time and self-care?
I don’t get a lot of time for self-care these days.
I work about 60 hours a week, maybe more. Ideally, most of that would be actually writing, but it is probably more like a 50/50 split. Some weeks, it swings drastically toward the non-writing side of things. Rarely does it swing the other way, unless I do something like Scriptpocalypse, where I ONLY focus on writing.
I try to balance all this with family time as much as possible. With my son on the go so much because of music, we’re usually pretty busy during non-work times. But I try to carve out as much time as I can. It’s all about looking for those little opportunities and taking advantage of them.
New Comics This Week…
DOOR TO DOOR, NIGHT BY NIGHT #2
Fred and the rest of "the best damned door-to-door sales team" have always had a knack for getting into trouble, but now that they've witnessed supernatural forces first-hand, they can't help but spot monsters, ghosts, and foul ne'er-do-wells wherever they go. Case in point, they've stumbled upon an infestation of otherworldly goblins in Hopkinsville, who are driving the townsfolk to murder! And when the team can't trust their own eyes, how will they face the minions of evil?
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 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.
RED ZONE - An action/comedy thrill-ride. unlike anything else I’ve ever written.
PROJECT: GHOST - A horror maxi-series exploring a side of horror you might not expect
BLOODBLADE - An action/horror story of destiny and demonic blood
PROJECT: BOT - A sequel to a story of robotic mischief.
PROJECT: MASK - A horror OGN where reality and surreality clash in a murderous way.
PROJECT: WATER HEATER - An apocalyptic horror/fantasy maxi-series.
PROJECT: DUNGEON - A new licensed horror comic series
PROJECT: CONVOY - A horror/thriller I’m co-writing
PROJECT: MATINEE - A horror limited series I’m working on with one of my best friends and long-standing collaborator
PROJECT: SWORD - A horror prose anthology I’m editing
PROJECT: V - A return to a fan-favorite character I haven't written in quite a while.
PROJECT: PREHISTORY - More kaiju craziness.
PROJECT: MEGA-BATTLE - Even More kaiju craziness.
PROJECT: LAST - A horror prose anthology I’m editing.
PROJECT: RUSH - A horror prose anthology I’m editing.
PROJECT: GALLERY - An RPG project I’ve been quietly developing.
PROJECT: CARD - A magical one-shot.
Work Update…
So far this year, I wrote:
1710 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)
9 short stories (13 in 2021)
0 novellas (0 in 2021)
8 two-sentence horror stories (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)
Events…
Keep in mind, these days, "finalized" doesn't mean as much as it once did. All events are subject to change. I hope to be adding more conventions in the near future! Stay tuned!
FEBRUARY 4, 2023 - ArtCon, Neosho, MO
MARCH 17 - 19, 2023 - Planet Comicon, Kansas City MO
JULY 7 - 9, 2023 - Tremendicon, Springfield MO
Weekly Obsessions…
This week I watched VIOLENT NIGHT, and I loved it. If you have time before Christmas… and you like a very bloody action/comedy Christmas story, you should check it out. It’s so much fun. See if you can identify the exact moment it went from a movie I liked to a movie I loved.
I also watched A WOUNDED FAWN which deserves a watch by the surreal horror fan. There were times during the movie that I wondered if this was the greatest horror film I’d ever seen. In the end, it didn’t claim that title. But it gave me some wild nightmares that evening.
I started watching the CHAINSAW MAN anime, too. It’s not quite what I was expecting. A little more pervy 80s sex comedy than I thought it would be. But the action and stories and creature designs are a lot of fun. So far, I like it.
Where to Find Me Online…
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.
Where is the preferred place to ask questions?
Not sure if you know the FOC on any of your books. If you do can you remind readers in advance. The Nightwalkers FOC was last weekend. I had contacted a few people that are fans and they didn't know. I tell my LCS (even though I help with orders) I want everything Cullen Bunn (within reason).
My sons keeps eyeballing those Kaiju titles. I have twin boys and one has become a Godzilla fan since your Godzilla/MMPR and the other has always been a MMPR fan. We have been looking for your Godzilla Cataclysm (no luck), Godzilla books hard to find. We have been watching the newer Godzilla movies but have all the older ones saved. The MMPR son keeps asking if there will be a Godzilla/MMPR II. He has plans for this one. We love Freddie Williams art. He says they will make a few green and white rangers covers and those will sky rocket (jdf passing ebay prices are ridiculous). Have the green ranger on top of Godzilla like he's on his dragonzord. Have him commandeered the Mechagodzilla with the Dragonzord looking all jealous but damaged somehow transformed a Dragonsword (bigger Dragon Dagger) for Mechagodzilla to fight whatever super Kaiju Lord Zedd created. The he's all talking about Goni Montes helmet covers (he loves these covers). Would they put each color helmet in front of each Titan's eye? Would each Hemet reflect each Titan? He's really been brainstorming the return on this series.
But for now TMNT/MMPR drops this Wednesday and he's excited for those Goni Covers and Freddie Williams covers.
One last thing...
Sorry for the long comment. Wanted to say Thank you! My boys are teenagers so they seem to be in that rebel stage and always want to argue or challenge the parental units. Your Godzilla/MMPR has given us boys a bonding experience and got us interested in the same thing and it's enjoyable. So yes, Thank you for these stories!!