DIGGING OUT FROM UNDERNEATH

I disappear, I know, I know. It's a conundrum. I've cut down the amount of comics work I've been doing and still the past couple of months were a bit insane. I wrote scripts--many scripts, out of linear order, on varying projects and well, it's a bit like juggling. You get better at it as you go on but it's not very good for the creative soul. However, as evidenced by the fact that this newsletter has found its way to your inboxes, I seem to be digging out from underneath.

WORK

So, July and August were absolute murder. I'm pretty confident I wrote 6 comics scripts each of those months. Apart from plotting, outlining and pitching for future things. And I wrote a rather detailed pitch bible for an animated thing. Most of this endeavour was directed toward getting ahead on my Detective Comics Run. Largely, I was writing the "Outlaw" arc which starts from #1076 and features Jason Shawn Alexander on art, Dave Stewart on Colours.

I've been calling it a Sergio Leone inspired Batman story. It has "Western" elements to it but to those expecting Batman in a Cowboy hat. No...it's not quite that.

September, I jumped ahead to work on Issue 1081 - beginning of the next arc titled "Elegy of Sand" with the incredible Riccardo Federici on art. In some ways the whole narrative was built around this arc in particular. I think, it encapsulates the aesthetic and the philosophical preoccuptations of the whole run.

Here's Riccardo's Variant for the issue.

A good chunk of the work has been on the creator owned front. RARE FLAVOURS #1 came out last month and at last count is on its 3rd printing. I'm often hard on myself for not getting out there and promoting the books more. I've got only enough steam to make the things these days and I worry a little about how the books will do when they go out into the world. Then a story about a demon making a food documentary sees itself to 3 printings within weeks of release and it's always lovely to be reassured that good things will find their way. I do want to say thanks to readers and retailers who made that possible. You enable me to be a curmudgeonly shut-in, which I do really appreciate.

PLAY

I was at NYCC. I lived in Phiadelphia and New York for about 6 years nearly a decade ago (maybe more). I love the city. The convention was insane as always. I've learned to do the wiser thing and spent only a couple of hours each day at the actual convention. Flew in on Friday. Left on Monday. Did not fall ill after.

The DSTLRY party (pictured above) was wonderful. Quite energising to surround myself with creators I love and admire. Reconnected with long time friend Tradd Moore at the party as well, which was a highlight. Also got to catch up with the DC writers crew at a bar where they kept trying to throw us out. We persevered.

It wasn't all play though. Meetings were had. I think I nailed down two of my collaborations at DSTLRY and maybe began thinking about a third - all of them with existing DSTLRY founding creators. So it's going to be a blast.

INSPIRATION

I've been itching to do something without the pressures of publishing, money, deadlines etc etc. That's the work. The professional and the creative in a tumultuous marriage. But sometimes, there's joy in pursuing something just for the pure creative pleasure of it. Comics have been good to me. I find myself under less pressure to think of work as something that needs to be published and sold etc etc. So I'm going to work on an art project. It's not comics, not prose, not screenplay nor audio-play but falls somewhere inbetween. It'll be strange, it may or may not work, it may fall flat. But it'll be exciting at the very least.

The idea for it came to me as I watched a documentary called BURIAL. A mostly silent, visceral, inspiring, unnerving look at the decomissioning and dismantling of the Ignalia Power Plant in Lithuania– originally built as a twin to Chernobyl.

It's on MUBI, I recommend you watch it. It's made by Emilija Škarnulytė whose other work is also worth diving into, if you like this one.

READING

Minor Detail - Adana Shibli

LISTENING

Sampha - Lahai

WATCHING

Planetes -

OUT THIS WEEK

If you're following my work and picking up the comics I write, here are my books for next week. Thank you for picking them up! <3

On Tuesday, Detective Comics #1075 - The Batman grapples with a memory-eating demon buried within his mind, eating away pieces of his identity. Meanwhile Henry Fielding of the GCPD and the more nefarious Orghams are both looking for The Batman. Who'll find him first? Friend or foe?

Art by the incredible Francesco Francavilla

And on Wednesday, RARE FLAVOURS #2 in which Rubin and Mo travel to the desert in search of inner fire and a mythical pepper. You get to make Laal Maas, someone gets eaten and things get spicy.

Q & A

I went into my DC exclusive with a specific idea in mind. I wanted to do two kinds of things. A "big" project that spans the year. Something that feels ambitious in scope and scale - works across the DCU and perhaps ties in and pulls in other characters and books. So I've got one of these in motion early next year but that means you're likely to hear about it toward the end of the year / beginning of 2025.

And alongside this longer project, I wanted to do one or two smaller things. Limited in length. Complete stories that try do something inventive, new with unexpected corners of the DCU. Perhaps stories that reinvent / reinterpret characters that haven't been seen in a while. Perhaps stories that have new takes on existing, well-known characters.

So short answer : A bit of both.

Some of it is circumstance. I moved to the UK in 2014 - there are conventions here that are often frequented by editors from the industry. More importantly, there are creators here and I do think its important to surround yourself with people like yourself and people whose work you can look up to / admire. So that was important but it'll only go so far.

Good work is probably the most important thing. Write good stories and write them well. I think too many creators overlook the craft of writing in favour of the craft of making good stories / plots / narratives. They're two different things. They take different skills and I think a lot of newer creators could do with spending less time and energy "breaking in" and more time and energy doing good work. Good work often means you can "walk in" and not have to break anything in the process.

Lastly, and most nebulous of all. Have a voice. Have a point of view. This is particularly about the part of the question that relates to being an outsider, i.e. not-from-here. Use that. The writer's job is to often take the mundane and yet be able to view it in a new, fascinating light. Stories are subjective, cultural things - if you're not-from-here use that to your advantage, look at stories through a window that only you can open to yourself and to others. Tell stories only you can tell.

SIGN OUT

That's it for tonight folks. I've got a little bit of work to wrap before I go watch something or read. Things are getting a little bit more sane as the year tumbles on toward its end. I give myself a hard time for taking on too many things and doing too much and stumbling and falling. But you know what? It's important to preserve some childish innocence within yourself. Sometimes that means you rush head-on into too many things, screaming with glee at the top of your lungs. It's okay. There's time yet for being sensible.

The world grows angrier and more cynical all the time. It's important to preseve that child inside each one of us. The world would be a nicer place, if we did.

Be kids. I love you all.

For the newly newslettered. You're receiving this because you signed up on flybysoul.com or my website or were ported in from an older list.

I'm Ram. I'm a writer of stories. I've written for comics, games & animation. I doodle a lot.