Big week for me! Not only did I have an outrageously good time at Emerald City Comic Con but today sees the release of Free Planet #10, including the much-talked-about Invincible Month tie-in cover featuring BATTLE BEAST.
First things first though: A humongous welcome to all the folks who signed up for this newsletter in Seattle! Manymanymany of you missed out on grabbing my books (more on that below) so allow me to direct you to some options:
Free Planet is ongoing from Image comics, with issue #10 out TODAY.
Call your local comic shop to set up a subscription
If you don’t have a local comic shop, order signed copies from my friends at Collector’s Paradise:
The Free Planet volume 1 collection is available wherever books or comics are sold:
Order signed copies from Collector’s Paradise
Wherever you get it…give us a review on Amazon
BEEF BROS and Stoned Master are both available through Power Pulp
The Comic Book Story of Professional Wrestling, Savage Hearts and The Worst Dudes are available wherever books are sold: comic shops, independent book stores, and online retailers
Whatever you do: Don’t read Free Planet digitally. The book was designed to be pored over and studied and appreciated in print, rendering digital reading a nightmarish experience; read between the lines and it’s why we’re currently getting savaged on Goodreads. Whoops! Any more positive reviews to help balance things out are much appreciated.
Free Planet #10 lands in comic shops today and it’s a big, important one for us. But, let’s go ahead and get this out of the way, shall we? As part of Invincible Month, we’ve got the monstrous Battle Beast gracing a Free Planet #10 variant. The demand for these things has already been outrageous so—if you want one (and of course you want one)—I recommend reaching out to your local comic shop toot sweet.
Of course, our big hope with the Invincible tie-in is that some of the folks grabbing them will go beyond Jed’s outrageously bloody and violent cover to explore the rest of the issue. It’s fitting because Free Planet #10 is our bloodiest, most violent issue yet. Keep on reading for a full preview.
For years, people have told me what a great convention Emerald City is. Obviously, Seattle is a fantastic city with overwhelmingly delicious food. And, obviously, one of the biggest and most revered and respected cons in the country is exceptionally well run and full of happy, engaged attendees. But, when praising ECCC, what people always harp on is how much Seattleites absolutely love to read.
So, I packed accordingly, loading up two suitcases with books, right up to the perilous edge of the 50lb limit. And then I shipped in a big box of The Comic Book Story of Professional Wrestling and an ever bigger box of Free Planet volume 1. But despite all my best efforts: I dramatically underestimated Seattle’s appetite for rich, layered, literary comics.
Thursday was my biggest single sales day at a con ever. By midday Friday, I was sold out of Free Planet #1-9 bundles. By end of day, no more The Comic Book Story of Professional Wrestling. Midday Saturday saw me sell the last of my Free Planet volume 1 trades. By Sunday, all that remained were a few assorted variants and a couple BEEF BROS fanny packs.
Making comics, it’s easy to lose sight of something crucial: There are people out there reading these things. And, with a book as rigorous and demanding and specific as Free Planet is, it’s—no other word for it—rejuvenating to watch the book, the concept, the characters, art, and approach click with people as they flip through.
Free Planet is a book meant to be experienced in print. To wit: An issue #10 spread that is categorically impossible to fully appreciate digitally:
Being a guest at ECCC also provided me with another particularly encouraging and gratifying realization: Service members and veterans love what we’re doing on Free Planet. At its heart, Free Planet is a military book, with much of the underlying revolutionary tension tied up with the relationships between officers, NCOs and enlisted service members. It was vitally important that I get this stuff right; I wanted to be both authentic and respectful. As a result, I conducted extensive interviews with veterans of all different levels. Especially in light of past internet drama, it’s humbling to learn that I—having not served myself—am nonetheless doing a credible job.
In addition to selling a staggering number of books to and seeing THE APPROACH resonate with enthusiastic, engaged readers from all walks of life, ECCC was also made incredible by the presence of my peers and colleagues. I started listing them but realized it would amount to interminable namedropping, so you’ll just have to take my word for it: ECCC 2026 hosted an outrageous array of talent, all of whom were just as enthusiastic and engaged as the attendees.
No two ways about it: Best medium; worst industry. And, in the present context, I wouldn’t exactly call it easy to put on a happy face about things. However: In the presence of so many kind, good-natured and funny colleagues, how could I not be optimistic about comics? Long-time readers of Atlantis Still Sunk know that I share similar sentiments after every convention I do; it’s an indication of how utterly crucial it is to develop community and get out of your own noggin.
Over on League of Comics Geeks, my man Joe has been writing lovely, insightful reviews of Free Planet. I make all my books to be read, for people to engage with, and I’ve loved watching Joe do so in such a thoughtful, deliberate manner. So, when he asked me to guest on his podcast Joe Talks Comics, how could I say anything but, “Hell yeah, Joe.”
If you’ve been yearning for folks to engage with the complexity, ambiguity, and depth of Free Planet, you absolutely must listen to my appearance on Joe Talks Comics. And, if that’s not enough for you, if you’ve got thoughts, ideas, questions or even a full review to share, head on over to League of Comics Geeks, where you can get chatting with Joe and others about issue #10 right this very moment!
That’s it for me this week. Get up in those comments and let me know what you think about Free Planet #10. Or better yet: Fire off some questions to Dr. Aldous Foyroushi; he’d love to answer them in a future letters page.
Finally, enjoy that sneak peek of Free Planet #11 and make sure to zoom; lots of details to take in there.
xoxo,
Aubrey
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