SPIDER-VERSE! MURDER INC.! ABU DHABI!
Hey, it’s an actual newsletter! It has news. It has letters. As has been requested, there will be more of these proper newsletters throughout the summer.
Thank you to those who have subscribed to the pay wall content, which has been coming at you on the regular, but I never meant for that to be in replacement of the actual newsletter itself. But, listen — boy some of this reads like big time bragging but I have, in my heart, I promise, outgrown bragging. To me, this is an opportunity to share some good fortune with you. I do feel like we’ve been on a bit of a journey together as reader and author and a lot of what’s been happening is a reflection of that. I also know that quite a few of you are writers and creators yourselves, and I’m hoping that the insanity I’m about to share with you is inspiring. I get so inspired when I read about others journeys.
So, no bragging, just inspiration. Here we go!...
SPIDER-VERSE COMETH
I am broadcasting to you live from the lobby of a Portland movie theater. I just dropped off a couple of my older kids at The Little Mermaid. Just so happens, I’m staring at the concession stand which is completely decked out for ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE. DECKED OUT! Videos. Blankets. Cups. Anything they could put Miles on his on it. And this is after seeing all the Burger King debut stuff.
It’s so crazy! I instantly flashback to my Cleveland childhood days, when stuff like R2-D2 was all over the lobby for the first time. And now it’s our Miles.
24 hours after I write this, the entire Bendis family is going to be in Los Angeles for the Across the Spider-Verse premier. I didn’t go to the first Spider-Verse premiere because, the chaos of my life at that moment wouldn’t allow it. So I’m really excited for this do over opportunity, and to share this with my kids.
ABU DHABI
Any other week, ALL THAT would be the most amazing thing that’s happened. But just 24 hours ago I was, beyond my comprehension, in Abu Dhabi. As far as I’ve ever traveled from home. I was asked to be the keynote speaker at the Abu Dhabi Literary Conference. I never thought this job would take me ALL over the world. I’m still catching my breath.
I’ve been posting pictures from our travels on Instagram. So to spare you the newsletter version of an old man showing his vacation photos, I’ll let you decide whether or not you want to go see the magnificence.
The best part about being invited to these trips is meeting new people, and almost every organization goes out-of-the-way to make sure that we get to experience as much culture of the region as we possibly can. This has happened to us a few times over the years: Bolivia, Australia, Japan, Detroit...
Yes, in Abu Dhabi, more than one of the drivers pointed to a cluster of tall buildings and said: that’s where Vin Diesel drove one car through one building into the other building and into another building.
Vin Diesel aside, international trips really allow us to step outside our unintended silo and look around and see the differences in cultural perspective. I can already tell how much my work has been changed by what happened this week.
SECRET INVASION
Just a couple weeks after Spider-Verse comes an adaptation of our big giant Marvel event, SECRET INVASION.
Obviously a different vibe from the comics but, I just got invited to that premiere as well and I’m excited to see what’s going on there. I’ve seen some cuts of Spider-Verse, no spoilers, but I haven’t seen anything from Secret Invasion yet. I am as curious as everybody else to see how it all comes together. Part of the original comics inspiration was thrillers like Invasion of the Body Snatchers, so it’s interesting to see that initial idea maybe brought to focus for a TV show. Big fingers crossed. Hope it’s great.
MURDER INC.
Hey, comics! Our brand-new volume of MURDER INC. debuted a couple weeks ago.
Thank you for all the nice reviews on our new crime world. Thanks for sticking with us for those who’ve been buying it since the first volume came out. For those of you who tried the colorful world of Jagger Rose for the first time this week: thank you.
I know its probably a bit tacky to say this but, I do think issue six of this run of the book is the best thing Mike, Taki, and I have ever done.
If you missed it, Mike has been posting some really fantastic process videos on how he created the book. Particularly, the BTS of the six interconnecting covers. Yes, all the covers of this volume make one giant story image. This is not easy to pull off...
I feel so warmly about what Mike and Taki accomplished. It’s pretty incredible.
Little side note, just before the Writer’s Guild strike (yeah, I'm on strike too), Murder Inc. was put into development as a TV show. All of this goes on pause until the strike is over, but Murder Inc., Pearl AND Jinx were all in television development at the same studio and we were all so excited. Amazing people attached!! For now, we have the books. On sale now at Dark Horse.
The strike is so essential.
MORE FROM DARK HORSE
Our publishing plan for the next couple of years is really exciting. After Murder Inc., we’re going to debut Volume Two of the gorgeous JOY OPERATIONS, which Steven Byrne is tearing through. He already has the first three issues in the can.
After that, a BRAND-NEW CRIME COMIC by myself and Eisner award-winning partner, Alex Maleev. We’re already a few issues into it and it is everything I wanted to be. It’s something we haven’t done before and it’s pulling out some amazing stuff from Alex. I know a lot of you wanted us to continue with Scarlet, but that story is complete. Now we have a brand-new cast of characters to show you.
After that will be the next volume of THE ONES with Jacob Edgar. I hope we get to make The Ones forever.
And then, after that, a BRAND-NEW SCI-FI-ISH genre bender with myself, Mike and Taki. (And we’re a couple of issues into THAT as well.)
What I’m working on this week is PHENOMENA: BOOK 3. Yes, 3! For those of you who follow André’s newsletter you know he is hard at work on the second half of Volume Two. It’s amazing. He flew right past the amazing artistic achievement of the first one.
Abrams has been talking to us about different formats for the next printing of Volume One. So keep an eye out for that.
BLUE SKY/DISCORD
Thanks to the mighty Kelly Sue DeConnick, I am now on Blue Sky. Please sign up. It seems like how much healthier social media place at the moment. Fingers crossed.
CGC
Upon request, we’re doing another CGC private signing this summer! Send in anything you want and Mark Bagley and I will take care of it.
(Some of those aforementioned Jinxworld titles en route to be TV shows seem like a decent bet.)
This gives Mark and I a great opportunity to hang out all day. We live in different parts of the world with different lives, so it’s great to have a day to just hang out, reminisce, and make all of our readers happy at the same time.
PODCASTS
As I told you guys a couple of newsletters ago, I am going to be a guest on Comedy Bang Bang: Scott Hasn’t Seen.
I love this podcast with my whole heart and was delighted to be invited. For those of you who don’t know, it’s a podcast focusing on Scott Aukerman’s shockingly big holes in his film viewing. There is a list of the movies he’s never seen and the guest gets to pick what movie that podcast will be focused on.
After much deliberation, I picked my favorite movie of all time: Warren Beatty’s Reds. We’ve already recorded the podcast and I had the best time. I can’t wait to share it with you. Plus, there is a Mike Avon Oeming/Powers surprise at the end…
NO LIFE
Some recent recommendations. Continuing my never ending column on things that I did dug.
EMILY THE CRIMINAL
I know a lot of people have seen this, as it was high up on Netflix a few months ago but, I just saw it on the plane and I absolutely loved it. A very small, hard-boiled crime movie. An exceptional character piece. The kind of thing I admire and aspire to. Outstanding performance by Aubrey Plaza.
JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH
I finally got to see this essential and beautifully made portrait of America through the eyes of the Black Panther party. Highest recommendation.
NEWCOMERS WITH NICOLE MEYER AND LAURA LAPKUS
Late to the podcast party on this one too. I’ve been such a fan of both of them on other projects and other podcasts, and I didn’t think I needed another movie comedy podcast, but Newcomers is really something special. I am through the Fast and Furious season.
Can you tell I had a long flight home?
THE MARVEL ART OF DAVID MACK AND ALEX MALEEV — 2 DELUXE BOOKS KICKSTARTER
Obviously, I could not be more excited.
Ok, thats a newsletter if I ever saw one.
Next time, we’ll do a behind the scenes at the Spider-Verse premiere. On the other tiers, We’re going to start launching the next chapter of CREATION., which will be focused on... SECRET INVASION. That’s something quite a few of you have requested. So stay tuned for that.
I know some of you have been waiting for me to talk about stuff that hasn’t gone as well creatively, and we will get to that, but I do feel that FORTUNE AND GLORY: THE MUSICAL! — which is coming out every other week through this very newsletter — is about a gigantic creative failure... And my participation in that. I’m giving you both the highs and lows of what it’s like to do what we do.
The next MASTERCLASS is NEXT TUESDAY, JUNE 6th, at 6:00pm PST/ 9:00pm EST! The subject will be the many theories behind STORY STRUCTURE. I am very excited to see you all back in class live. Thank you for all the class notes, as some of you have been catching up on classes. I’ve enjoyed the back-and-forth on the Discord.
See you soon.
With never ending gratitude,
BENDIS!
