Kindt + McDaid go dimension-hopping in the ‘scuzzy cosmic sci-fi’ story ‘If You Find This, I’m Already Dead’

The miniseries from Flux House/Dark Horse Comics arrives next year.

Matt Kindt and Dan McDaid will go multi-dimensional next year in If You Find This, I’m Already Dead, a new miniseries about a reporter whose job takes her on a cosmic odyssey.

“If Moebius, Richard Corben and Jack Kirby had a baby…well…they actually did. And it’s us,” Kindt said. “We wanted to capture the great tradition of such great sci-fi magazines as Heavy Metal, Epic Magazine and 1984 with a big scuzzy cosmic sci-fi story and format.”

Kindt and McDaid will be joined by colorist Bill Crabtree and letterer Jim Campbell on the project, which will be released through Kindt’s Flux House imprint at Dark Horse Comics.

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Smash Pages Q&A | Cullen Bunn + Brian Hurtt on the return of ‘The Sixth Gun’

The creators of the horror/Western ‘yarn’ talk about returning to their signature creation with a new Kickstarter project.

The 50-issue The Sixth Gun series — along with its several spin-off series — was a hallmark of independent comics publishing from 2010 to 2016. Co-creators Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt not only created a compelling “yarn” of a story that combined horror with the Western genre, but they also did a phenomenal job of creating a world that always seemed ripe for more exploration.

They wrapped up the initial story of Becky Montcrief, Arnold Drake and the battle for control of six mystical guns, and now Oni Press has announced The Sixth Gun Deluxe Omnibus Library, which is currently up on Kickstarter. Not only are they releasing all the issues of The Sixth Gun, plus all the spinoff miniseries, plus the spinoff series Shadow Roads, in this deluxe format, but Bunn and Hurtt are also creating new material for it — three new prelude stories will unlock as the campaign reaches new milestones over the course of its 30-day run. It’s also a precursor to a new The Sixth Gun project coming in 2025 for the comic’s 15th anniversary.

I spoke with both creators about what it’s like to return to The Sixth Gun after all this time, their collaborative process and what to expect from the new material they’re creating.

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Oni Press teases a new ‘The Sixth Gun’ project from Bunn + Hurtt

“Sometimes what’s dead doesn’t stay gone.”

Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt’s The Sixth Gun may have ended in 2016, but “Sometimes what’s dead doesn’t stay gone.”

A new teaser released by Oni Press today hints that a new The Sixth Gun project is on the way via Kickstarter. While the supernatural western had a definitive end, Bunn and Hurtt always hinted that they had more stories to tell, and even launched a second series, Shadow Roads, that was set in the same world.

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‘Ghostlore’ materializes from BOOM! in May

Cullen Bunn, Leomacs and Jason Wordie tell the ghost stories that ghosts tell each other in the new series.

Master of horror Cullen Bunn will team with artist Leomacs for a new series from BOOM! Studios, Ghostlore — which is about the ghost stories ghosts tell each other. They’ll be joined by colorist Jason Wordie on the new series, which kicks off in May.

Ghostlore is something of an ambitious concept,” Bunn said. “It started with a simple question I asked myself. ‘What ghost stories would ghosts tell?’ From there, though, it spun into this epic story of family, loss, grief, and—just possibly—the end of the world. It’s been in my head for a while, but I wanted to wait until the stars aligned, so to speak, to even give it a try. I’m lucky to be working with an artist as talented as Leomacs on the main story, and I couldn’t be more thrilled with the cadre of amazing creators who will be illustrating the ghost stories in each and every issue. It all comes together in a book unlike anything else I’ve worked on.”

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Mail Call | DC announces ‘Milestones in History’ anthology

Check out news, announcements and previews from DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, Image, Z2 and more.

Mail Call is a roundup of cool things we’ve received in our mailboxes recently from comics creators, publishers and more. Hit the links for more information.

DC Comics and Milestone Media revealed more details about the anthology they plan to release this coming February during Black History Month, which was initially announced during DC FanDome last month.

Milestones in History will feature Hardware, Icon, Static and more narrating stories “Black trailblazers from across human history,” including Hannibal, the Queen of Sheba, Alexandre Dumas and more.

The 96-page prestige one-shot will cost $9.99 and arrives Feb. 15.

Here’s the full solicitation:

Celebrate Black History Month the Milestone way, as the superpowered citizens of Dakota (including Static, Icon, Rocket, Hardware, and more) narrate the true stories of Black trailblazers from across human history! Witness the military campaigns of Hannibal and the Queen of Sheba, the literary accomplishments of Alexandre Dumas, the World War One dogfights of Eugene Bullard against the legendary Red Baron, and many, many more, all written and drawn by a who’s who of comics and literary talent! On sale February 15th, this 96 page anthology honors Black History from around the world in a beautiful, prestige format book.

Written by REGINALD HUDLIN, ALICE RANDALL, TOURÉ, MICHAEL HARRIOT, and more
Art by VARIOUS
Cover by CHRISCROSS
Variant cover by DOUG BRAITHWAITE
$9.99 US | 96 pages | Prestige Format | One-shot

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Cullen Bunn shares an unused pitch for a cosmic X-Men series

The writer shares designs for crew members of the Starship Perilous.

Cullen Bunn’s run on Uncanny X-Men saw Cyclops, Jean Grey and the other time-displaced teenaged originals joining forces with their longtime nemesis Magneto … but that wasn’t Bunn’s original pitch for the series.

His original pitch was to send some of the X-Men into space on a spaceship powered by the Siege Perilous. How cool is that?

“In 2015, I was asked to take over Uncanny X-Men,” he wrote on Twitter. “We all know that yielded the Magneto-led team. My first pitch, however, was a cosmic team with Rachel Summers in charge and a new Captain Britain.”

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Smash Pages Q&A: Matt Kindt, Brian Hurtt + Marie Enger

The denizens of St. Louis-based HEK Studios team up on a new anthology, which is up for funding on Kickstarter.

The depth and breadth of what you can do in comics and with comics — and I’m talking story-wise, design-wise and format-wise here — is virtually limitless. Sometimes it takes a particular project and a particular set of creators to remind us of this, and The HEK Treasury serves as just such a reminder.

The HEK Treasury is a creative project by the members of HEK Studios — Matt Kindt, Brian Hurtt and Marie Enger. The three of them have a large assortment of credits within comics — Black Badge, The Sixth Gun, Dept. H, Super-Spy, Fhtagn and Loathing, Shadow Roads, Nosferatu! and many more. The Missouri-based creators formed HEK Studios in 2015 and have purchased a vintage Route 66 garage that they’re converting into “the first full-time exclusive comic book studio in St. Louis.”

In addition to their own projects with various publishers, they’ve decided to team up on a large prestige format hardcover (8 ¾  x 11 5/8 ). This deluxe collection will feature “all new epic, experimental science fiction, fantasy and genre short stories. The HEK Treasury will showcase each creator as they unleash new ideas, using experimental art and storytelling techniques.” The project went live on Kickstarter earlier this week, and the campaign runs for 30 days. If funded, the book will be delivered to backers in the fall.

I spoke with the three of them about The HEK Treasury, HEK Studios and what they hope to accomplish together with this project.

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‘The Damned’ returns this week for a buck

Check out a preview of Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt’s new ongoing featuring gangsters and demons.

If you have an extra buck tomorrow at your comic shop or on comiXology, be sure to check out the first issue of Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt’s latest, The Damned. The comic started as a series of miniseries back in 2006, but after a long hiatus, the book returns tomorrow — as an ongoing series.

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