A bit of an anomaly this time out. Obviously, I’ve used this platform -- on the rare occasion -- to shamelessly pimp my wares… but not quite in this manner. But, y’know, I’m all for experimentation, so let’s just dive in and see how it plays…
As I often remind myself (and you folks are forced to bear with me when I do), I’ve been slaving away at this gig professionally for almost thirty years. That’s a lot of miles traveled, a lot of words written, a lot of books published. For whatever reason, I thought I should come up with a list of some of my favorite creator-owned works -- books that I wish more folks had checked out -- along with links to facilitate easy purchase for anyone that may happen to be curious.
Some of these might already be familiar to some of you. Some of these, you may never have heard of. Taken altogether, I would put this list up as a particularly worthy argument for comicbooks being fully capable of going head-to-head with the best of any other entertainment medium, comicbooks as a medium that can contain any and all genres, and a display of my own pride in both the work and the collaborators who created them with me.
So let’s get to it…
Featuring some early, manic artwork from Chris Burnham, this was one mother**ker of a comicbook. Presenting the violent tale of a dedicated super-cop who is constantly resurrected after repeatedly getting killed in the line of duty, this concept started out -- for me, anyway -- as an American answer to 2000AD’s very own Judge Dredd. And, as a bonus, the backmatter for this particular edition includes the full screenplay I wrote for the Officer Downe feature film that we eventually made, as well as a fairly extensive photo album chronicling the production itself.
Of course, you can also watch the film right here. If nothing else, it’s a grindhouse gas.
A superhuman crime story, this was my first collaboration with Chris Burnham, back when he was just breaking into the industry. The designs of the cast of characters is both gloriously colorful and appropriately twisted. It’s the kind of genre-splicing that I get a big kick out of (both writing and reading). Its premise is as simple as it is effective: a parole officer for super-villains. We did it first as a black & white OGN but about ten or twelve years later, we had it colored and kicked it up to hardcover format.
One of my favorite things I’ve ever done in comicbooks, in both concept and execution. This was first published as a tight, three-issue series showcasing truly fantastic artwork by Ian MacEwan (who, in my opinion, doesn’t do enough sequential work). I’m as proud of creating Pamela Evans as someone could possibly be. It’s one of those rare situations where the influences may be right out in the open for all to see, but the result is much greater than the sum of its parts. Personally, I think the cover alone sells this thing…
Built from the ground up with artist, Benjamin Marra, this might be one the most unique books I’ve ever brought forth into the world. I wrote a lot about the intention and creation of this standalone graphic novel in a previous newsletter, so I refer you back to that if you’re at all interested. Having said that, I’m insanely proud of this work.
BUTCHER BAKER THE RIGHTEOUS MAKER TPB
Even more than a decade on, it’s still tough to explain this one. At the time, it was a primal scream of over-the-top superheroic spectacle at a specific moment when mainstream superhero comicbooks were, as far as I was concerned, pretty boring overall. This was meant to be a pure shot of four-color adrenaline, with Mike Huddleston providing appropriately over-the-top art. Some readers seemed to get as much of a kick out of the pointed backmatter material I wrote up each issue as they did out of the sequential storytelling itself (which is why it’s included in the back of this collected edition).
JUNIOR BAKER THE RIGHTEOUS FAKER TPB
Released a little over a decade later, this is the spiritual sequel to BUTCHER BAKER THE RIGHTEOUS MAKER (if not a literal one) Admittedly, where that book was gonzo comicbook storytelling, this book was a little more intimate, a bit more emotional, a more personal story for me. Visualized to experimental perfection by artist, Ryan Quackenbush, the story accomplished just about everything I set out to do, so it’s a landmark in that respect, at least. A complicated birth, no doubt about it -- in terms of my own feelings about the book -- but totally worth all the struggle. Hey, that’s what Art is all about, isn’t it?
Without getting too sappy about all of this, these books are literally snapshots from my life. Not just my work life, but my personal life, too. Despite their obvious genre trappings, they all do have some deeper meaning for me. I can only hope that at least a small bit of that is actually imparted to whoever chooses to read them.
Also, as promised…
BONUS TERMINAL CONTENT!
TERMINAL #1 shipped last week. Kind of a big deal. Literally years in the making. It’s epic superhero storytelling on a grand scale. Kinda hard to believe that it’s finally out in the stores, but trust me when I say… we’re only at the starting line of a marathon of modern comicbook hotness.
The following video comes straight from TERMINAL artist/co-creator, David Finch, and his extremely informative YouTube channel. If you ever wanted to see an accomplished comicbook artist draw something I’ve written in real time, here’s your chance. It’s labeled as “Part 1” so I can only assume that Dave will be posting further installments of this specific process sometime soon. Pretty fascinating stuff…
Until next time…
Joe Casey
USA
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