(The idea of a photo of me PEERING at everyone on Comixology’s mailing list is kinda scary)

Anyway! A sale of my stuff.

Well, of Journey Into Mystery and my Uncanny X-men V2 run, anyway, and one issue of Rob Rodi that has got mixed in.

Comxiology purchases can either be read on Android, Apple, Kindle Fire or Windows 8 devices. They can also be read online in a browser, for those who stay away from tablets and similar.

For those who don’t follow comics or my Marvel stuff, and just want to try a few issues, I’d recommend these ones specifically out of context.

UNCANNY X-MEN 4: A standalone issue from the perspective of an alien creature the X-men end up fighting, with me playing with alien perception and the horrors you can do with juxtaposition. Brandon Peterson really leaned into the bio-organic horror of it all, and does incredible Phalanx. It’s basically the themes of my X-men run in a single issue.
UNCANNY X-MEN 14: While this is embedded deep into Avengers Versus X-men, it’s also its own creature. Basically, it’s an extended pastiche of Notes From Underground in a Steampunk-critique city buried beneath the Earth, and about determinism and society. Even if you don’t read it, it’s worth coming to see what Dustin Weaver does with the cityscapes. It’s virtuoso stuff. I think this may be the best issue I did during Uncanny, and certainly in the top five of what I’ve done for Marvel. Here’s Colin TooBusyThinkingAboutComics writing about it.
JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY 632: While the final issue is JIM’s high point, this is my favourite single issue. It’s a Christmas story based around Loki having to find homes for seven hellhounds. It’s cute and funny, but has a mass of doom and darkness bubbling beneath the surface – which is basically the core of what JIM does. The Breitweisers make it all look like a seasonal card too. I think the panel with Leah holding up her skirt when she chases around the hellhounds may be my favourite image of the Hel-maid in the entire run.
JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY: THE MANCHESTER GODS 639, 640, 641: I’d recommend reading it out of contest primarily for people who aren’t actually going to read the rest of JIM. It’s got a fairly serious position in the larger story, in terms of various reveals. However, as its own thing, it’s me writing about the concept of Britain and firing it through a half-dozen fantasy filters. It’s as mad as the maddest parts of Phonogram. For example, it features a Tony Wilson analogue as a urban druid. I still can’t believe I got away with most of this stuff.

And a few things I’d say before buying either run.

UNCANNY X-MEN
This stands alone. However, it is embedded in Avengers VersusX-men, the major crossover event of the year it was published. The information you need to know is worked in, and AvX was always where the run was ending at – and my themes aimed to dovetail with i ts – but it’s worth noting. The first 10 issues are by themselves, but do feature a lot of foreshadowing of where it’s going.

There’s a sort-of postscript to my run in the form of AVX Consequences, which you can also buy, though it’s full price.

JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY
Journey Into Mystery is basically a closed novel. However due to existing in the modern superhero comics mainstream, it subverted a bunch of crossovers it was involved with to tell it – namely the EXILED crossover with NEW MUTANTS and the EVERYTHING BURNS crossover with Thor. It was also launched out of the FEAR ITSELF crossover, though include any important beats you need to know in JIM. I usually say FEAR ITSELF is WW2, and we’re a story about the Enigma code.

Anyway – if you buy the first 14 issues, and 539-541, they stand alone. The issue of Thor and New Mutants you would need to buy to get the complete thing are…

EXILED NEW MUTANTS 42 NEW MUTANTS 43 THE MIGHTY THOR 18 THE MIGHTY THOR 19 THE MIGHTY THOR 20 THE MIGHTY THOR 21

The Exiled/New Mutants issues are now a couple of dollars, but The Might Thor ones are full price.

I suspect it’s still worth throwing down for all the JIM issues. You won’t get them cheaper, and you can always come back and get the others. And to state the obvious, for anyone who pirates comics as they think they’re too expensive, now would be a good time to show that they would purchase at a lower price.

You can buy here. And it’s a sale just for today, so – er – buy today? That sounds about right.

Page 1
Yet more of Dale’s background detailing. Fun!

I originally wrote Tony more silent here, but it seemed to need more.

God, Dale really is killing himself with all the detailing on 451′s armour. Man!

Page 2
Tony’s doubt makes him collude with the reader, which is useful.

Page 3
Space=meaning, once again. A very BKV-ian character beat given a page of space to sell implication.

The Mom, Dad line was added at lettering to help the segue between the two periods.

Page 4
There’s been so little of Maria in the MU that I’m especially glad we’re getting a chance to show her here. While Howard’s the one with the resources in the MU to use, making sure she’s involved was an important thing to worry about.

Page 5
Hard cuts across time on the panel break. Hand holding as shared element. This page is really sparse. Four panels. You could do this information in two panels effectively. If you were willing to rewrite, you could do in one. When I have to compress later stuff so much, you may think that it’d be a good idea to merge scenes here – like, say, with an almost-as-quiet next page.

I’d say that would be a fatal error. What’s important in your story? Give that the space. If you don’t believe in the feelings of Howard & Maria, this story entirely collapses.

Dale does a great Howard & Maria.

Page 6
That Howard is as problematic a guy as Tony is stressed here. Late night conversation, horrific in its normality. I like dale’s chosen-aspect for first panel. I’m being more restrained with the dialogue here than I normally would.

Page 7
And here comes the MU! A more elegant story would have the Greys as the sole element – but this is in the MU, and can’t be a purely elegant story. The fact the universe is a bit mental is key, not least because of the framing sequence is Tony talking to a robot in space.

I love hard-cut scenes like this. Implication of other stories for people’s imagination to fill. The cameos you may not recognise are Nathaniel Richards (Reed Richards’ Dad) in the first panel, Nathaniel Essex (aka Mister Sinister) in the second and The High Evolutionary in the fifth.

Page 8
My direction for Rollo the Alien was “Basically Fredo from the Godfather”. I love what Dale did with all his bodylanguage from here on in.

Page 9
Area 52. Area 51 + the deck of cards.
When I knew I wanted aliens involved, the question became what aliens. Since I’m playing games with the iconic nature of real Nevada, none of the pre-existing MU ones really fit the role. In which case, I thought a riff on the Greys could be interesting.

The traditional Grey explanations are basically them either as the science-ages Angels or Demons. They’re either here to mess with us or save us. There’s been a bunch of revisionist Greys of course – the “They’re just like us” approach of Paul seems pretty popular.

I thought it may be fun to just make them pretty venal. Why would an alien species be interested in Humans? Because we’re rubes.

Also this means I get to dress them all in Grey suits, which amuses me.

Page 10
When I talked about how I could have compressed earlier scenes, I’d look at this page and the previous one as an example of getting a lot more information in there.

Page 11
And the putting the team together scene. I love these. We’re using a classic Heist structure here, and he have to the putting the gang together scene. A panel and a beat to show the relationship, captions doing some of the heavy work.

Dugan, Jimmy and Thunderbolt are pre-existing Marvel characters. Nessa and The Bear (and her Shiba Inu) are new ones, designed to fit the quasi-period vibe. Nessa is primarily inspired by Eartha Kitt. I picture the Bear as an actor like Holly Hunter dressed as Jackie O.

Page 12
And a splash of the team. Clearly useful for PR purpose, but half the fun of a heist is having a cool gang.

I winced for a second when I saw the lettering when this was used for PR, before smiling at what whoever had written it was doing, in terms of being deceptive. The Bear is “THE BOMBSHELL” because she’s the explosive expert.

Page 13
Rollo’s stance in the second panel is great.

The fleshiness of the Grey boss is also great.

I’m not sure if I asked for the Grey gangster’s moll, but I’m glad it exists.

Page 14
Implication of a mission going on.

Good expression on the alien boss for the hard-cut gag on the final panel.

Page 15
Here we’re really cramming. The actual Heist was originally a little more complicated, with a couple more tricks in there, but it’s probably for the best to have lost it for clarity’s sake.

I worked out the details of the Heist on dinner date with my Wife in Brighton. We just talked nonsense for a couple of hours, and I edited down to something that worked. The Bear’s shiba inu’s is my payment to her for help.

Page 16
The heist being based on the one already-introduced bit of sci-fi is key. Hide the robot with the inducer to make it appear it’s already been stolen.

The goggles on the Shiba-inu still makes me smile.

We had some problems with the last panel, making clear it’s actually a bomb. Adding red lights and SFX seemed to do the trick.

Page 17
I hate Gin, for the record.

Page 18
I quite like how goofy 451 is in the last two panels.

Page 19
Yet more hard-cuts to sell point. I actually had a plan to make Rollo not get shot in the head, using a Life Model Decoy he’d borrowed from Nick Fury… but that’s extra Marvel Universe tech which to people who weren’t versed in the MU would come out of nowhere. A Marvel reader would be fine if we foreshadowed it with a conversation with Fury earlier… but it’d lose a lot of other people unnecessarily.

And having Rollo get shot sells the crediblity of the Greys as an opponent.

The “This Breaks My Heart” is a Godfather nod.

Page 20
And back to the present with the framing sequence. Reminder of 451′s previous crimes and motivation. Obviously a slow build in creepiness. The last panel is fun.

Page 21
Dale definitely leans into 451 being more sinister than quirky in the framing sequences. Notice the shadows in that first panel.

More details here.

And we dive into THE SECRET ORIGIN OF TONY STARK with the first part proper. This one motors.

When the issue unlocks, you can buy it online here.

Preview here.

There’s an interview over at CBR about the story, where I touch on a bunch of stuff. Those who were wondering about the 451/UNIT stuff should find their answers in here.

Actually, while we’re talking, Crave Online reviewed the first two issues of Uber and gave them 9/10.

“As a writer, I might tend to be more interested in why people do bad things than why people do good things. It’s why people are led down horrific moral paths and all the different reasons for that.”

And you can read the rest here. There’s a preview for Issue 2 in there too.

Spoilers, obv.

Issue 0 was written in 2008. If my filenames are correct, I wrote Uber 1 in mid-2011. The stylistic difference, in terms of numbers of panels, length of scene, etc. is pretty obvious. That said, the whole first “arc” is constructed over the structure I wrote in 2008. There’s movement of elements between issues, but not a complete reconceptualising. On a personal note, I’m interested in seeing the difference between how I construct the later arcs (the three “small” arcs that form 6-11).

Unusual thing, Uber.

A little bit of a note, when Uber was originally planned, issue 0 was going to act like how Avatar Issue 0s tended to work – as in, they came out 3 months before the issue 1, and were in part about spreading word before the “first” issue’s orders were finalised. With the passing of time, issue 0 became more of a standard start of a comic series.

However, in terms of how I chose to start this Issue 1, I was thinking about how I would start the series proper.

1
And, yes, it’s an alternate timeline where something happens which stops Hitler killing himself. The point of divergence is exactly at this terminal part of the Reich.

My historically minded friends see this page, and go “But Hitler didn’t shoot himself in his mouth.” Then they see page 3, and realise I know it too. Compositionally, this works far better with a page shape, and it’s better in a few other ways. Not least, that it’s less dignified.

2
Yes, Eva Braun died in a black and pink-flowered dress, at least as far as I was able to discern.

And, yes, the point is the country is exactly like Eva.

Fact I didn’t get in: Hitler tested the cyanide on his dog Blondi before using it on himself.

3
Goebbels showing up at the end here.

Gottersdammerung is Nazi Wagner fetishism, which feeds into the names of the Battleship. Also “Opera” as theme, as you’ll see as we go along.

4-5
And the whole of issue 0 happens between the last page and this one. Working out the bridge was somewhat tricky.

Guderian and Sankt, bringing in Speer. We introduced Guderian last time, and this is Speer. The anecdote is correct. The attempted (and oft successful) manipulation of Hitler in the siege of Berlin was one of the themes in the history that interested me. Self-mythologised “Good Nazi” that Speer managed to not be executed after the real war says just as much of how he operated.

I keep on trying to write more here, but then delete it, as I don’t want to just write an explanation of what Uber is about. Some of it is started to be hinted at around here, and is brought right to the foreground in issue 3.

6
By this point in the war, a lot of the “Name” Nazis or generals are simply not relevant any more. They’re either dead or considered traitors. You can imagine Himmler and Goring being executed by Hitler off camera, if you like.

Anyway – here I lay out the situation with central command, and try and hint who’s “Important” in our story. While Borman could be relevant, for my purposes, he doesn’t allow me to do anything I’m interested in doing which I can’t do with any other other German High Command characters – Hitler, Goebbels, Guderian and Speer.

Also we first introduce Scheele, Sankt’s adjutant. She’s in the background here, but becomes increasingly important. She also straightens her hair by the next time we see her.

Yes, she’s very tall.

I named her after a friend of mine. Yeah, she’s clearly incredibly happy with that.

7
And Churchill and Menzies. Menzies is relatively minor in the story, but Churchill remains a major figure and one who’s one of the few who I actively enjoy writing. Churchill is problematic in lots of ways, which I’ve tried to work into the portrayal, but anyone who has books of his one-liners at least has a certain appeal.

Why didn’t I use any US president at this point? The time setting is closely after Truman took over from the deceased Roosevelt, and he’s just a bit divorced from the story – and physically, Churchill is nearer the theatre and there’s more “British” hardware important in the first arc.

(I’ve mentioned Turing in interviews, so you can guess that Bletchley Park comes in. You’ll also see that I reference the Manhattan Project here. If you know the timeline here at all, you’ll be aware that the Atomic bomb is a ticking clock on the strategic situation.)

You know, that Poison Gas wasn’t used in WW2 is something that genuinely amazes me. I can see why, but it’s fascinating.

(EDIT: In the western theatre, anyway. It was used in China by the Japanese)

8
And we confirm that “Freya” is “Stephanie”.

First explicit reference of Stalin, I believe. I’m trying to boil down a lot of the interactions between the allies here. The race to Berlin was a real thing the British worried about.

9
A little time switch to the night before, which is awkward. In later issues, when I do things like this, I drop a ONE WEEK EARLIER just to hand hold a little. Generally speaking, as we progress, there’s more clarity in my choices.

This is nicely illustrated by Caanan. The cigarette burn is one thing. The implication of the mass of cigarettes another.

10
Once again, the size of the Panzermensch is stressed.

The movement of dialogue across time to compress a little.

11
A little bit of our pseudoscience here. Just so people know the rules.

12
Move from discussion to fatigue to noting that he’s tired? Shameless, Gillen.

I like the storytelling here. Nice work, Caanan.

14
This did involve sending videos of people firing Panzerfaust to Caanan to get the pose right.

14
Appearance of one of our standard motifs – marking historical events with a caption drop, naming minor characters, etc.

I probably got it from playing the Game Cannon Fodder, which solemnly puts a stone in your graveyard for every “life” you lose.

15
Panel Transition, panel transition, you are a panel, transitioning.

16
We’ve actually set up the “What happened with Freya?” twice in this issue, delaying the gratification of knowing what actually happens a little longer than usual, I suspect. Hmm.

Worth noting how Sankt takes control here, despite being the lowest station by far. Frankly, Speer and Guderian are trying to work out what to make of him. Sankt even throws an insult at Speer, which is probably unwise.

17
And Maria was the only one of the ground level characters who survived last issue. I suspect writing-aware characters may have guessed that, as I probably wouldn’t have spent as much time on her being quirky as I did if I didn’t have plans for her.

Just fascinated by the visuals of arms of watches on the Soviet soldiers, clearly.

Maria’s demented optimism has a certain appeal.

18
This whole scene involved me looking at maps of Berlin and working out where on Earth they’d move people and where had a view. I sort of wanted a hill for them to be on, but there wasn’t anything suitable.

19
We’ve already shown Speer away from Hitler. Here we show him near him.

This scene – including the end – is about a lot of things, but establishing the various modes of the various German leaders is key.

20-21
Neutral voice blank captions plus images of horror is really Uber.

Space=Meaning in modern comic vernacular, so doing beats like this as double-page spreads – and well as giving Caanan room to sell it – also sells it to the reader. If there’s one obvious change between 0 and 1 is my greater understanding of this particular rule of modern comics.

22
We’ve shown Speer and Hitler. Here’s Guderian being plain practical about it all. That’s horrific in a different way, of course.

Good work with colourist to sell the composition in final panel. Yes, it’s clear we want to keep your attention on Maria.

Details here.

Delays in the UK due to bank holiday. There’s multiple covers too. I also believe the issue 0 reprint is also available, in case any of you missed it. It’s a dollar extra, but there’s a bunch of making-of stuff, and issue 0 is twice as long as normal, so it’s still not exactly expensive.

Issue 1 has apparently sold out at retailer level, so I’d rush and grab one from your local shop, if you’re interested.

There’s a preview here.

I knew people would be jumping along at this point, so I’m trying to reintroduce a bunch of stuff, plus give a sense of where Tony “is” at this point. So we’re getting a little of the space-adventure elements before we segue into what’s a period piece.

Obviously, there’s a bunch of stuff I can’t talk about here.

Page 1
Obviously, the biggest change this issue is Dale. Rather than Greg’s stylised photorealism, Dale approaches the page in a style that manages to marry what people would consider as a classic comic look with enough modern touches to make it clear it’s not a retro look per se.

Dale also clearly is enjoying drawing all the aliens. These are all of his back – I gave the Mos Eisely nod in the script, and he went for it.

Here we introduce Tony’s status quo Re: The Guardians as well. And, yes, the intro page bio is a nod towards Hawkeye’s intro pages. While Tony being in the Guardians is important, I do want to stress this is IRON MAN which exists in a shared universe rather than a perpetual-crossover thing.

I really like the blue alien. At the front.

Page 2
Harpoon head shot. A reference to Impactor in Transformers UK? Who can tell.

Page 3
And say hello to Death’s Head, drinking some robot booze. I like the Kirby Dots floating off the top.

Also the top-half faceless robot at the bottom is interesting. I want to know more about that guy.

Page 4
This is a little bit of catch up on the plot, as well as selling the idea of some idea having passed. Tony and DH were fighting last time they crossed paths, but it wasn’t personal.

Note the circuitry designs around the page that Dale has added, which is a nice visual motif. Also, he really works the detailing on 451 to the level where I felt I should give 451 a jacket at some point in the story just to give him a break.

Page 5
My favourite thing is how tiny the money is.

Obviously lots of foreshadowing in almost everything Death’s Head is saying Re: Where the issue goes.

I note that when I get into the story proper, I set into a fairly standard five panel beat, with a few twists. This changes next issue, which is denser than I suspect is generally fashionable. I’d worked with Dale on Uncanny X-men before, so I had an idea what may and may not work, which is always useful.

Page 6
Another Star Wars nod from Tony. Your Kid’s TV never stops messing you up.

Page 7
I’m not a big fan of the transition here, but throwing in a bunch of panels showing their time trying to hunt him down – which I did try – there wasn’t really a way around it.

Death’s Head’s ship is a reprise from the SWORD series Steve Sanders and myself did. My first Marvel “ongoing”. If you like my Iron Man space stuff, I suspect you’d get a kick out of it.

Page 8
Yes, the spelling is a little dig at Superman.

Page 9
This is slower than I tend to go, but I’m trying to build a little atmosphere.

It was originally quieter too – I added some dialogue in draft state.

Page 10
This is perhaps where the 451-was-originally-planned-to-be-UNIT shines through. Pheremone abuse is one of his fave tricks.

Page 11
Oh Death’s Head, you and your dual meanings.

Page 12
Really like the first panel here. It’s simple, but there’s something to it.

Page 13
And the mood breaks into humour. I’m a fan of Steady-angle panelling (for a recent other example see Young Avengers’ Thor/Cap A scene).

The question is how long has PEPPER been compromised, of course.

Page 14
The swearing isn’t bothering Death’s Head. It’s the “Bounty-Hunter”.

And look at 451′s cheery little face in the last panel.

Page 15
Pedantry is the worst crime.

That Tony is moving around on his thrusters is Dale’s idea, which I quite like. Really sells the idea of Tony’s immobility.

Page 16
And we’re heading back into the more serious mood again. Nothing that showy here to do so, but just becoming a little more restrained..

Page 17
Dale draws a mean moustache.

Page 18-19
Another steady. Six panel grid. The sixth panel re-establishing that Tony is watching it was Dale’s call, which I think works well.

The choice was about trying to maximise the sense of confessional, putting you in Tony’s shoes, and really getting the sense of Howard’s acting, etc.

And then the reallllly casual reveal at the end. 451 is just… there. It normalises it.

Page 20
And then the final panel is on Tony’s response to this all. The point being less the reveal, and more what this could mean for Tony.

Next part out next week, I believe.

Between 4 and 5 at Orbital Comics.

Which is the prologue issue of THE SECRET ORIGIN OF TONY STARK epic. Which is clearly the “If they remember one thing about my run, it’ll be this” story.

Man, I’ve been at Chicago, so there’s a bunch of press around. Let’s go with this one, over at PreviewsWorld.

The issue’s preview

You can buy it online here.

And to answer what several people have asked, this would be a good place to jump aboard. We intro everything you need to know.