Lovecraftian weirdness on the way to Con Nooga
Lovecraftian weirdness on the way to Con Nooga
Plus: I drink beer and try not to get killed by an angry crow
Hey! How are you this fine New Comics Day?
Me, I’m finally recovered enough from my epic Smokey and the Bandit-style road trip to get back to writing this newsletter.
Chattanooga, TN is a lovely city, and the con was a great time—sold a lot of books, met a lot of fans, and even got to co-host a panel or four:
But who cares about the convention? We all know the real reason I was there:
Two things you should know:
I don’t really like beer all that much, and I absolutely HATE coconut… and yet, the diabolical mixologists at Cherry Street Brewing Company have concocted a bewitching draft in That Coconut Porter, and I’m thrilled to say it was every bit as good as I remembered.
So good, I went to the brewery two nights in a row. (The food is pretty fantastic, too, and I’m bummed we weren’t able to try the Sunday brunch.)
And the company? Stellar!
So, if you’re in the Chattanooga area (or near their locations in Cumming, GA), stop on by Cherry Street Brewing and tell them the guy who drove 600 miles for their beer sent you. *
*No, I’m not a paid shill for the brewery… but if they want to pay for my office space, I could be.
The Elder Gods Have Spoken
Speaking of Con Nooga, here's a strange-but-true dreamlike tale...
Last Thursday, as Mick and I headed out to make the long road trip to Chattanooga, we received a shipment of 15 boxes full of DREAMQUEST...
...which tells the tale of Margo Carter going off to the dreamlands to rescue her great-uncle, Randolph Carter.
And a recurring line in the book is: "All Carters are one Carter."
After we hit the road, we pulled over to stop for dinner in a town called, coincidentally, Carters.
Then we arrived at our hotel, located at... Two Carter Plaza.
Where we were greeted by the con organizer, who'd just got in from... Cartersville.
And while at the con, we learned that former president Jimmy Carter had gone into hospice care.
What does it all mean?
Hell if we know, but we think you're going to get a great book in the mail soon:
If you missed out on the Kickstarter, there’s still time to grab this gorgeous book in our second chance store:
Mick is already hard at work on original art, sketch covers, and backing board sketches:
Response to the Lovecraftian one-shot has been great so far, and a few of you have already asked if there will be any more like it.
What say you, Frequent Frier? More Margo and DREAMQUEST?
Hit reply or
FRIENDS OF FRIED
A few Frequent Friers have some great campaigns ending soon, and they could use a few more eyeballs to get them funded.
First up, In the Land of the Dragon #'s 1-2 by husband and wife publishing team Brant and Lisa Fowler of Last Ember Press:
The pitch: “The kidnapping of a child with unknown powers sparks a war between two corporations in a world forged of magic and technology.”
If you like cyberpunk fantasy…
CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT IN THE LAND OF THE DRAGON
Next is Sunmaker #3 by Ryan Kroboth, who colored all of our Frieda back-up stories—and even drew an entry in the series (“Crisis on Infinite Friedas”):
Here’s the pitch for this final chapter: “One man must decide if preserving his legacy is worth becoming a monster on a frozen, post-apocalyptic world.”
If you’d like to return to the cold (or pick up the whole series!):
CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT SUNMAKER
Rancidville: An Odious End concludes John Edingfield II’s charming teen mystery. Longtime readers will remember John drew a few of our Frieda tales, and we even collaborated on a story for Russell Nohelty’s CTHULHU IS HARD TO SPELL series:
The pitch: “In a decrepit town, an orphaned teen and his two friends investigate a greedy town council to solve a murder mystery.”
If you're a fan of Goonies or Scooby-Doo…
CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT RANCIDVILLE
Finally, Slice of Life's Kat Calamia and Phil Falco just launched their tenth campaign this year (I may be off a few--it's hard to keep track of this prolific pair!). This time out they bring you HAIROLOGY! a comic anthology all about HAIR!
And get this: the foreword is from legendary hair stylist Gail Simone (who I think used to coif Batgirl and Birds of Prey):
There are 20+ creators involved, and it's a heck of a list, with the likes of Sterling Gates (Supergirl, The Flash), Sarah Leuver (Teen Titans Go!), Kenan Halilović (WEBTOON’s Witch Creek Road), and many more!
So if that makes your hair stand on end...
Please check these projects out and throw some support their way if you like what you see!
And Finally…
Substack tells me I’m out of space, so I’ll leave you with this picture of Crow Hogan from Yu-Gi-Oh holding an actual crow:
Until next time!
- Clay