Mail Call is a roundup of cool things we’ve received in our mailboxes recently from comics creators, publishers and more. For this end of the year edition, we’re putting the spotlight on free comics that various creators have released over the last few weeks. Hit the links for more information, and check out our Comics Newsletter Directory for more newsletter goodness.
In the 100th issue of his Vicious Shivers newsletter, Cullen Bunn shared a new horror story he made with Federico de Luca and Micah Myers called “The Feast.”
“As we move toward the end of the year, I thought it might be fun to share an all-new 8-page horror comic with the world,” Bunn wrote. “Consider it a gift. Amazing artist Federico de Luca messaged me a few weeks back asking if I had a short script he could work from to try a new art style. I have had the script for ‘The Feast’ in my scripts folder for well over 12 years. It was originally written to be part of a small horror anthology, but that never happened. So, I’m so glad to see Federico’s take on the story. I love the way it turned out! Hmm. There was another story written for that anthology. Maybe I should have that one drawn, too.”
Molly Knox Ostertag’s Darkest Night + more free comics on Substack
Molly Knox Ostertag has launched her latest graphic novel, Darkest Night, through her Substack newsletter. As she revealed back in November, the story is about Magdalena Hererra, a woman born with a secret she keeps locked in the basement, “where it cannot hurt anyone else.” Her paid subscribers get to see it first, but she plans to release pages to everyone else on her Substack a few weeks later.
And for the holidays, Ostertag released two free comics to her subscribers; first there’s “Three Yules,” which stars some well-known Hobbits. She also released the somewhat darker “doldrums comic.”
Ahmed + Del Rey’s ‘Wages and Sin’
Via his Copper Bottle newsletter, Saladin Ahmed has released a new comic by himself, Vanesa R. Del Ray and Shawn Lee called “Wages and Sin” — “a self-contained tale of regrets, resolutions, and difficult choices.”
“‘Wages and Sin’ is an adaptation of a prose short story I published some years ago, and I couldn’t be more thrilled with how perfectly Vanesa’s noirish style elevates my Arab American answer-back to Indiana Jones,” Ahmed wrote.
Skottie Young’s I Hate Image
I’ve shared before that Skottie Young is releasing new I Hate Fairyland material through his Substack newsletter, but this week he shared some old I Hate Fairyland material — specifically the 2017 Free Comic Book Day offering from Image Comics, I Hate Image.
“This was one of my favorite projects. Most people grew up categorizing themselves as a ‘Marvel kid’ or ‘DC kid.’ I was straight up, 100% an IMAGE kid!” he wrote. “Image Comics grabbed a hold of me and never let go. Spawn, Maxx, Young Blood, Super Patriot, Cyber Force, Pitt, Trencher, and…well fuck, I could just keep going on and on. The point is, I bought almost every title that Image put out from day one. So, imagine how excited I was when Eric Stephenson asked me to do a full comic of MY character Gert from I Hate Fairyland wrecking shop thorough as many Image books as I could for Free Comic Book Day. Seriously, I have never felt more MAD Magazine than that month in 2017 while I made this comic with my crew, Jean-Francois Beaulieu and Nate Piekos.”
Hickman + Huddleston’s ‘Fable’ + a font
Jonathan Hickman shared two different gifts with his subscribers this week via his Three Worlds, Three Moons newsletter. First, a PDF and Panels-friendly version of “Fable,” his story with Mike Huddleston. Second, in true Hickman fashion, he shared two fonts, both versions of a language called Kreska, designed by Sarah Head for Hickman’s 3W/3M comics. The fonts are free to download.
Chip Zdarsky + Uncle Ben
Finally, if you haven’t seen Spider-Man: No Way Home yet, this isn’t exactly a spoiler, but the joke probably makes more sense if you’ve seen the film. But Chip Zdarsky released a three-panel comic introducing Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben to the Marvel Cinematic Universe — and some old friends.