This week, we’re joined once again by Saladin Ahmed (Black Bolt / Miles Morales: Spider-Man) as we discuss his comics origins, his new Image Comics series Starsigns and Terrorwar, taking over writing duties on Daredevil, and more!
IDB is an all-new weekly podcast presented by Ashcan Press and featuring Matthew Rosenberg, the Supple Boiz, and wonderful guests from the world of comic books!
Our theme song is “Where’s the Poison” by Summer People.
Enjoy!
Hey again.
Hope your week is off to a great start. I was laid low by a booster shot this week so, while laying on my couch trying to regrow my brain cells, I decided it was my time to catch up on a lot of the big blockbuster movies I’ve missed this past year. So far I’ve watched DUNGEON’S & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES, ANT-MAN & THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA, SHAZAM 2: FURY OF THE GODS, and THE FLASH. I think I’m going to watch Joel Coen’s THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH as a sort of mental reset. Lady Macbeth isn’t a big CGI worm or anything, right? It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a production of it.
But while I recuperate, we decided to bring you part II of our chat with the wonderful Saladin Ahmed. He has just launched a new DAREDEVIL series that is already shaping up to be a ton of fun. But he is also still writing a ton of other great stuff like the Image Comics series TERRORWAR and STARSIGNS, which you 100% should be reading. I love them, but I’ll let Saladin tell you why. Enjoy the show
It’s a big week for me at the local comic shop. Not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 new titles from me on shelves. That feels like too much. But look how pretty they all look when I squish them together. You can do that, IRL, if you just go to the comic shop.
WILDC.A.T.S. 11 is the beginning of the end of our little story. I tried to make it big and chaotic in the way my favorite 90s comics were. Lots of twists and turns, betrayals and brawls, and just maybe some characters finally have sex.
DC VS VAMPIRES: ALL OUT WAR vol. 2 collects the second half of our little Anti-Vampire Dirty Dozen. It’s a lovely collection and has a bunch of great back up stories in it, along with a the Harley Quinn one shot we made.
RED HOOD: GOTHAM WAR 1 is a ton of fun. Just brutal, badass, Gotham stuff. Red Hood remains one of my favorite characters to write, and I think if you liked my Punisher, Grifter, Task Force Z, or any stuff like that you’ll dig it.
WHAT’S THE FURTHEST PLACE FROM HERE? #14 is the start of new arc that will, not hyperbolically, change everything you know about the book. I’m really proud of this arc. It’s probably my favorite thing I’ve ever written and I can’t wait for you all to read it.
I greatly enjoy promoting other people’s work on here, but this one is so obvious it sort of feels like cheating. Many of you may know Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou from his work lettering a ton of other amazing books, or his award winning comics magazine PANELxPANEL, or his brilliant Youtube show STRIP PANEL NAKED. But he is also our partner in crime on WHAT’S THE FURTHEST PLACE FROM HERE?, where he letters the book and somehow makes my dumb words look cool on Tyler’s cool art.
But Hass is never one to be happy just having 20 or 25 jobs at a time. So of course he wrote a book. And, since he’s Hass, of course it’s awesome. THE UNLIKELY STORY OF FELIX AND MACABBER is a really hard book to describe. It’s part fairytale, part parable, part magical wrestling comic, and part sad coming-of-age story. In short, it fucking rules.
The amazing Juni Ba draws it. I was lucky enough to work with Juni on THE JOKER: PUZZLEBOX and was just blown away by his imagination and energy on a page. And then I saw this book and realized that he was holding back on ours. Because goddammit is this book fun to look at. But you don’t have to take my word for it.
Told ya so.
THE UNLIKELY STORY OF FELIX AND MACABBER is coming out at the end of October from the fine folks at Dark Horse Comics, but the dreaded Final Order Cutoff is today! This means you should reach out to your local comic shop or place you purchase graphic novels from and kindly let them know you need a copy. It’s a sweet, sad, funny, weird, gorgeous comic and the world is a better place with more of those in it rather than less. So support this one and get yourself a great book to read.
That’s it for me.
Stay safe. Take care of each other. What movie should I watch next really?
IDEAS DON'T BLEED episode fifty-four | Saladin Ahmed, part two
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IDEAS DON'T BLEED podcast
A weekly podcast where hosts Matthew Rosenberg, Ethan S. Parker, and Griffin Sheridan talk to guests from around the world of comic books. It's fun. It's short. Why not give it a listen?
A weekly podcast where hosts Matthew Rosenberg, Ethan S. Parker, and Griffin Sheridan talk to guests from around the world of comic books. It's fun. It's short. Why not give it a listen?
IDEAS DON'T BLEED episode fifty-four | Saladin Ahmed, part two