We have a prisoner!

Chapter 49: Things get a little wild.

• Come hang out with us (virtually)!

• Wildcattin’!

• You want some comics signed, eh?

• In the UK they call it Task Force Zed!

• Mixtape! - Not a bad place to be banned from really!

Hello again.

As always, thanks for opening this email. I know you had the option to not, so it means a lot to me that you put in the effort. It really feels like we’re all on the same team here… Team this newsletter.

Let’s start with the time sensitive thing. Tonight, at 9pm EST, myself and my lovely collaborator Tyler P. Boss (the “P” is for “Pea”) will be guests on the COMIX EXPERIENCE BOOK CLUB EXTRAVAGANZA! I don’t think that’s what they call it, but they should. Brian from the excellent COMIX EXPERIENCE in San Francisco, California, will be virtually hosting us for an in depth interview about WHAT’S THE FURTHEST PLACE FROM HERE? and maybe other stuff. Who knows? You can watch along live here-

I think you can even ask us questions on there. Maybe not. I don’t know. But can’t hurt to try. Just click the link and start screaming your questions at Youtube.

And of course you can order the book, with a cool signed bookplate, from the great folks at COMIX EXPERIENCE. Or you can stop in to the shop and buy it in person if you’re in the bay area. A word of warning, I have never set foot in that store and not left a few hundred dollars poorer for it…. Because they have a great selection of stuff to buy. Not because they mug me or anything.

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Other news. So the last week was an exciting one for a very simple reason…

WILDC.A.T.S.!

We’re going to flashback for a moment. It was very early in my talks with DC Comics a couple years ago that I had one of the most exciting conversations of my career. I was on the phone with my future editor, the head of the Batman group, the amazing Ben Abernathy. He asked what kind of stuff I’d like to work on. If you’ve ever pitched or worked for one of the big publishers you know that this in and of itself is a wildly amazing thing to happen. Predictably I mumbled something about “Batman stuff” like Ben hadn’t probably heard that a lot. We sort of picked at my answer for a bit and I talked about how much I love Red Hood and Green Arrow and Batwoman and then I said something that changed the whole course of the conversation. “Well I love WildC.A.T.S.”

Ben was a former Wildstorm editor and his passion for that universe and those characters is huge. I did not know any of that. I just really hold WildC.A.T.S. in a very special place in my heart. It is a book I discovered as a child and, unlike so many of the superhero team books I was reading, it wasn’t the same characters that people had been writing and drawing for decades before I was born. It wasn’t some comic with decades of history I didn’t know or understand. WildC.A.T.S. was fresh and new and it felt like it was made for me. This book had the wild cast of the X-Men, the epic scale of the Justice League, the grit of the Punisher, and art from Jim Lee who was among my absolute favorite comic artists (still is!). Jim Lee and Brandon Choi created something that felt so special and unique, while drawing on all the things I loved in comics. I couldn’t imagine a book that spoke to me more at that age. I am sure a lot of people felt that, and that’s why, in part, it was such a hit.

And then a funny thing happened. I got older and so did WildC.A.T.S. With iconic runs constantly shaking things up, redefining what this book and even superhero books in general could be, WildC.A.T.S. continued to be the place for big action, wild innovation, crazy ideas, and gorgeous art. So it just made sense to me that when I got my foot in the door at DC I might as well take my shot and reach for one of my absolute favorite titles.

Ben’s excitement at my excitement over WildC.A.T.S. managed to get me a 2 issue story about Grifter in the Future State event with the brilliant Carmine Di Giandomenico. Apparently that didn’t suck because from there I wrote 5 issues of Grifter with Wildstorm alumnus Ryan Benjamin and a Zealot story with the mighty Chris Sprouse in BATMAN URBAN LEGENDS. And all of that was laying the groundwork for this.

WILDC.A.T.S. #1 from the amazing Stephen Segovia and myself. It’s coming in November, in time for the 30th Anniversary of WildC.A.T.S. and the Wildstorm universe. You can read more about it here and find out more about other excellent looking upcoming titles like WALLER VS. WILDSTORM by Spencer Ackerman, Evan Narcisse, and Eric Battle.

I will be talking a lot more about this coming up, but for right now just get stoked.

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Last bit of news. If you plan on going to FAN EXPO CANADA in Toronto this week, the wonderful Tyler Boss will be making the trek up there. He has a table. I don’t know what number it is, which makes me feel like a jerk. But I just checked his twitter and instagram and he didn’t even say he was going, so if I’m a jerk he’s a true monster. Go find Tyler, bring him Tim Horton’s coffee, pick up copies of WHAT’S THE FURTHEST PLACE FROM HERE? vol. 1, 4 KIDS WALK INTO A BANK, and DEAD DOG’S BITE, and tell him you love him so much. I even pre-signed a few of 4 KIDS limited edition hardcovers, so go get those before they’re gone.

Also WTFPFH? #5 cover artist and #7 guest artist Josh Hixson will also be there, sitting very close to Tyler. Go tell him you love him and buy some stuff. And bring him 2 drinks. He likes that.

And go to Shopsy’s. I love that place.

I have a couple books in comic shops this week.

Such a good cover. Damn.

TASK FORCE Z #11 is the penultimate issue by me, Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira, Adriano Lucas, Rob Leigh, and superstar editor Dave Wielgosz. Things aren’t going well for Jason Todd and Harvey Dent and everyone’s favorite odd couple is probably going to die. We’ll see. Following some big revelations last issue, this one is all about chaos and consequences. I’m sad we only have one issue left to go, but I can promise you we are going out with a bang.

And of course you don’t have to take my word for it. Look at Eddy’s art—-

eddybarrows.blog

A post shared by Eddy Barrows (@eddybarrows.blog)

Why is he so good?

I was hoping people would start calling this Wolverine: Bwb, like saying “bub” with a speech impediment… But they didn’t.

I have a 10 page story in WOLVERINE: BLACK, WHITE, & BLOOD tpb that is out today. The brilliant Joshua Cassara drew the bloody hell out of it. It’s a story of Wolverine working undercover for Nick Fury in Budapest in the 80’s. It’s got Hydra agents and spies and blood and bombs and, if I’m being honest, I am shocked at what we were allowed to do. This is a fun one and the whole book is full of some of the best artists in comics today, so it’s well worth your $. But Marvel published an oversized “treasury edition” a few months ago and, if you can find that, the upscaled art is well worth it. Or buy this. I don’t know what your bookshelf situation is.

If you wanted to know what my writing soundtrack is for writing WildC.A.T.S. it’s this. All day. Every day.

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Stay safe. Take care of each other. Read some 90’s comics.

-Matthew Rosenberg

NYC 8/24/22