Greetings from Grindtown (June 2021)

It’s June, a fine month in many ways. I think it’s in my top 3, after May and September (in that order). So, now you know something about me you didn’t before, and isn’t that the idea with these? Getting the up-close personal deets you won’t find in an interview about my latest Space Wars or Supermanbat or whatever. If DC’s never done that second one, consider this my official pitch and— oh, who am I kidding? Someone definitely did that at some point. Although... (Googles and comes back) huh. I don’t see it. Okay. I call dibs. If DC ever wants to make a comic about a man-sized bat creature who wears red underpants, I want my name on that cover.

But not for a while, because as the header implies, I am deep IN it right now. I’m working very, very VERY hard on my fourth novel, with a word count target of 2500 words every single day, no breaks, just GO. This is not an easy thing to do, in part because the section of the novel I’m working on is historical, set in 1789 Massachusetts. Super interesting time in America, but dang it is TOUGH to do this. Doesn’t matter how much research I do, there’s always a detail I don’t know. What were underpants like in 1789? Did ordinary folks use metal utensils or wood? What were their airplanes like? Trust me. It’s tricky.

But it’s going well, and I’m really excited about the book that’s taking shape. It’s a bit nerve wracking to be following up a #1 New York Times Bestseller (my last novel LIGHT OF THE JEDI), but it’s probably better than NOT having a #1 NYT bestseller. Probably.

I don’t want to be a tease on this - you’ll hear more about Novel 4 when the time is right - but it’s ambitious to a (potentially) stupid degree, and I want to just keep working on it and make sure I pull it off before I starting talking about it in additional detail. So - some things I *can* talk about! How about the massive new Star Wars story I’m telling over in the comics at the moment??

War of the Bounty Hunters

WAR OF THE BOUNTY HUNTERS #1 hit shelves this week, and, no lie, I’ve been planning this story since 2018. When I came on board the main Star Wars comic for Marvel, I created a huge pitch document that outlined a very long run. A centerpiece of that document was this event.

On the surface, it’s simple - Boba Fett’s trying to get the frozen Han Solo to Jabba the Hutt so he can get paid. Complications happen. But that’s really just the beginning of the story. I’m not quite ready to spoil the surprises yet, but basically, someone steals Han, Boba wants to get him back, and the identity of the thief is a game-changer.

Dang, I am excited for this one. Luke Ross and Neeraj Menon are doing incredible work on the art, giving it this wonderful, neon-drenched sheen...I love it, and I think you will too. Below, find some early press on the event, and a reading checklist if you want to follow along...

"The story by author Charles Soule is, to absolutely no one’s surprise, exciting, thrilling, a great action story" - Jimmy Hayes of Comic-Watch

"War of the Bounty Hunters feels like The Mandalorian comic we may never get." - Matt Patches of Polygon

"Tight, fast and compact, Fett’s infamous word economy is perfectly portrayed by Soule, the story skipping along as the slide from minor problem to disaster is drawn beautifully by Steve McNiven." - Mark Newbold of Fantha Tracks

Hell to Pay

It looks like the next big creator-owned series you’ll see from me is HELL TO PAY, a supernatural adventure about a foxy young couple trying to locate 666 coins of the Devil’s treasure that have found their way to Earth. It’s The Conjuring meets Indiana Jones. It will be published by Image Comics in not too much time - we’ve already got three issues (mostly) done.

The creative team here really wanted to involve our fans in the creation of the comic in a very direct way, and so we’re doing something unique - Twitch streams where we show the book being drawn, colored, discussed, etc., so you can see the process in real time. That mostly happens on series artist WIll Sliney’s Twitch (who will soon be too famous to make comics with me, as he just announced an art-based TV show he’ll be starring in for Ireland and the UK). 

But beyond that, we’re also making an EXCLUSIVE version of Hell to Pay #1 that’s only available to our fans, not in stores. W’re not printing many, but that’s part of the fun. You can access the secret Hell to Pay store by clicking here!

You can get the issue, a signed version, and even a sketch from Will dialogued by me. It’s cool stuff. Here’s the cover... for the first time anywhere, art by Will and colors by series colorist Rachelle Rosenberg!!!!

SIGNED BOOKPLATES!

I am not doing shows! While I am indeed fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and urge you all to get the shot if it’s possible for you, I’m deep in that novel-writing grind I mentioned at the top, and I haven’t scheduled any signings or appearances of any kind.

But, I realize you might have stuff you want signed, and based on the response to the signed bookplates for LIGHT OF THE JEDI I put out a while back, y’all seem to find bookplates a nice substitute to actually being within breathing distance of me. So, I’ve created custom bookplates for 18 of my most popular titles. Click here to visit the full store! Each bookplate will be signed and features a pithy remarque and a terrible, terrible sketch. They’re groovy! Collect them all!

More Like Kickfinisher

We recently (and finally) finished fulfilling the Curse Words omnibus Kickstarter campaign. Thank you again to everyone who backed the campaign for your patience as we dealt with that uphill battle.

Speaking of Kickstarter, my Curse Words co-creator Ryan Browne recently launched a new Kickstarter campaign for an omnibus for his incredible series GOD HATES ASTRONAUTS. You can (and should) back that project by clicking here. I can assure you it'll go a lot more smoothly than our last one.

And we out.

As I have made extremely clear over the course of this post, I have some writing to do. I’m going to get back to it, but my goodness, it was nice to write this and feel like I’m talking to you all as opposed to just pouring an endless series of words into a laptop that simply will not talk back to me no matter how many nice things I type into it.

See you next month - enjoy the third-best month of them all!

—Charles