Hello and welcome to the Lifeline Comics newsletter!
If you're new here, this is the place where we share new information about our projects - like the just-finished and hugely successful The Beast & Snow - as well as our experiences at conventions and other events, and our thoughts on popular media.
This week, we'll be announcing the Kickstarter projects that will follow The Beast & Snow, share some info about how YOU can submit to our next comic anthology, and talk about some popular media such as Blue Beetle and Bottoms.
Let's get into it!
NEXT PROJECTS: HAUNTING & THE DANCER!
Firstly, we're excited to announce the Kickstarters that will be launching next in our slate! Both are continuations of our fan-favorite ongoing comic series! And in one case, the final issue of a series!
HAUNTING #1-6: ZOMBIE and GHOST Supernatural Horror Action
"Teen necromancers, Bram & Faith, try to outrun their past...and a psycho Femme Fatale ghost hunter!"
The Dancer: Psychological Martial Arts Thriller Grand Finale
"THE LAST ISSUE! A dancer/ASSASSIN is forced to deal with her childhood trauma of witnessing her parents' deaths!"
Following the Pre-launch Pages for these projects will notify you when they go live on September 18th! We recommend following to make sure you don't miss out on Early Bird Discounts and Limited-Availability Reward Items!
Submit to our new Anthology: "TRANSPHORIA"
Following the success of our previous comic anthologies...
We're excited to finally announce our next queer comic book anthology: Transphoria - Trans & Non-binary Stories about Experiencing Gender Euphoria!
We've officially opened up submissions to this new anthology! Apply as a Writer with a 2-8 page script or as an Artist (Interior or Cover) or Colorist with portfolio samples of your previous work!
If your submission is accepted, you'll be invited to be a paid contributor to the anthology! Our previous anthologies have included the work of industry veterans (Sterling Gates, Sarah "Comickergirl" Leuver, Chris Shehan, Lisa Sterle, and Gail Simone) AND fresh faces - including the first published comic work for some contributors!
Rates for accepted contributors shown below:
- Writers: $30/page
- Line Artists: $80/page
- Colors: $30/page
Submissions will be open until November 22nd!
What have we been up to?
Let's take a minute to talk about some of the fun things we've been up to in the last couple of weeks!
Kat's Trip to London
I love to travel and visit places I've never been before. I love soaking in the culture! This month I went to London, and was able to squeeze in a lot of sight seeing during my week there.
As a HUGE Beatles fan, the first thing on my list was to see as much Beatles history as we could. One of the highlights was visiting Abbey Road. Who knew this was a major street with plenty of cars? But I was still able to create a Paul McCartney homage.
We even visited Liverpool and saw all the major spots of their childhood/beginning of their career and how that tied into later songs like "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields".
And if you're a frequent reader of the Newsletter, you know one of my favorite things to do during a trip is to stop by a comic book store. This time around I visited one of the biggest comic book stores in the world: Forbidden Planet.
This place was HUGE, and this is coming from a person who has visited Midtown Comics in Time Square on multiple occasions (and Forbidden Planet in the city). One thing I took away was how many manga were on display mixed with comics. On Wednesday, I saw just as many people buying manga as Wednesday Warriors were picking up their pull list. Just an observation that I'd be interested to see if the States lean into.
Jersey City Pride
We love all the events that happen during Pride Month, but I'm also happy to see some queer events ALL YEAR round, and Jersey City Pride was right next to our backyard. Visiting Ms. Marvel's hometown, Jersey City has become a very popular neighborhood. It has all the fun of Manhattan or Brooklyn with a more suburban speed.
The Pride had plenty of people and events, even a parade walking between all the venders.
Popular Media
Let's discuss some non-comics media we've seen recently!
Blue Beetle
Phil: The supposed "first installment" of James Gunn's new DC film universe - though honestly that sounds more like propaganda than anything else since this movie is almost completely stand-alone. And I mean that as a compliment, since it sometimes feels like superhero movies have forgotten that they need to be good movies on their own terms before audiences care about how they relate to other movies.
Blue Beetle is a fun, but at times uneven movie. The Reyes family are wonderfully written and performed. Jaime (Xolo Maridueña) is everything he needs to be, excelling at the comedy, the drama, and the superheroics. Uncle Rudy (George Lopez) is a stand-out who remains consistently funny throughout the film. And the rest of the Reyes family all get their moments to shine and play off each other exceptionally well. Basically, any time the Reyes group are on screen, I was having a good time.
Unfortunately, literally every other character in the movie - particularly antagonists Victoria Kord (Susan Sarandon) and OMAC (Raoul Max Trujillo), and love-interest Jennifer Kord (Bruna Marquezine) - are hollow at their best, and laughable at their worst.
The high-level plot of Blue Beetle is pretty much exactly what you expect it to be. There are no real surprises in the script. And while a lot of the CGI ranges from passable to pretty good, there wasn't really a big, memorable (in a good way) sequence that stuck with me after watching.
With respect to actress Bruna Marquezine who did a perfectly fine job in her role, I really wish that the Jennifer Kord character was cut entirely from this movie. The romance between her and Jaime did not land for me. And I would much rather the time spent between the two characters had been spent developing a relationship between Jaime and the Scarab. The "big moment" in the third act where the Scarab adopts Jaime's "no kill" morality fell flat for me because we barely see the two interact throughout the film. It felt like a real missed opportunity and a misuse of the film's runtime to not spend more time on this core relationship.
In the end, I left the theater feeling a lot of love for the Reyes family, but not really for anything else in this movie. It was a solid enough time, but doesn't crack any of my "Top 5" or "Top 10" lists. I do hope to see more of Maridueña's Jaime Reyes in the future, though.
Kat: Blue Beetle is a movie with great characters, stuck in a pretty middle of the road story. Jamie and his family are electrifying. It was a breath of fresh air to see them just as involved with the scarab as Jamie. It allowed the cast to have some genuine laugh-out-loud moments, while still pulling at the heartstrings.
I just wish the superhero moments were more exciting. The scarab has such a unique power that could have been played with better. I mean, Spider-Man had a better "Iron Man" suit moment than Blue Beetle had, and his powers are more related to the Tony Stark motif.
But the villains were where I thought this movie truly went way off the rails. I enjoyed the film trying to tie into Jamie's connection to Ted Kord, but having his sister as a mustache twirling villain didn't quite work for me. Especially giving so much screen time to the forced romance between Jenny just because of her connection to Ted Kord. It all felt very one-note just to set up for a sequel that may never happen.
Bottoms
Kat: You had me at gay and fight club! I've been looking forward to this movie for a very long time. Ayo Edebiri and Rachel Sennott are both "up and coming" actors that just keep slamming out hits. Edebiri is brilliant in The Bear and Sennott truly made Bodies, Bodies, Bodies a worthwhile watch. "You hate listen to my podcast" has to be one of my favorite horror moments of all time at this point.
Bottoms is a funny, feminist movie that just so happens to be gay. I don't remember the last time I laughed SO HARD at a comedy. The script gives room to tell a clean rom-com/revenge-ish movie, while still giving enough blank space for on the fly comedy especially because Sennott played such a large role in the creative process.
This is an easy movie to put on in the background, while quoting memorable lines with your friends. Bottoms is a MUST WATCH, and hands down one of my favorite movies of the year. A perfect 90 minute flick!
Phil: I genuinely don't remember the last time that I laughed this hard at a movie. Literally within the first ten minutes (the carnival scene), I was already crying and struggling to breathe from laughter. And I definitely wasn't alone.
Bottoms is an absolutely hilarious teen comedy - the best in recent memory. Every scene is hilarious in a different way. Every aspect of the movie is firing on all cylinders - the writing, the acting, the cinematography. We get so few comedy movies these days, and even fewer that are this funny.
Bottoms is a must see - especially if you're in your 20's or 30's, and even more especially if you're queer. I'm so glad that I got to see it in a semi-crowded theater, because hearing the uproarious laughter throughout the room is something I haven't gotten to experience in a very long time.
10/10 movie 👏. Will undoubtedly see it a hundred more times.
The Summer I Turned Pretty (Seasons 1-2)
(Minor spoilers)
Phil: Amazon's The Summer I Turned Pretty kind of gives you whiplash - alternating between (relatively) low-stakes of a love triangle between our protagonist and a pair of brothers who are close family friends, and weighty topics including the tragic death of a major character and the hopelessness of losing your childhood home. Watching the first episode of Season One followed by the first episode of Season Two, it's pretty crazy that you're watching the same show. But honestly, I kind of love that it's all one beautiful, teen drama-filled mess.
TSITP really captures the teen spirit and experience perfectly - the beautiful and the ugly sides of it. Everything from the parties, to the melodramatic narration, to the jealousy and backstabbing, to the intense friendships and relationships. The setting of a beach house in the fictional Cousins Beach is paramount to the series' success. The setting and the town truly feel like one of the characters, which is a major source of the drama and stakes in its second season.
On the negative side, TSITP occasionally suffers from bizarre framing choices - especially in its first season. I struggle to understand the series' choices in how it reveals information to the audience sometimes. The primary example I use centers around one of the two main love interests, Conrad. He spends most of the first season sulking with a sour attitude - something that we're told is out-of-character for him compared to his demeanor in previous summers. And while we get snippets of a less-moody Conrad via flashback, this is the only version of the character that the audience spends any time with. And because we don't understand exactly why he is so moody (which turns out to be a very good reason) until the second-or-third-to-last episode, he immediately fell into last place in the "love triangle" competition that so much of the show revolves around.
And while I do think that the teen drama is fun a decent amount of the time, it can be a little exhausting in the first half and middle of the first season.
Issues aside, the series does succeed in a lot of other aspects. The series does a surprisingly expert job at building dread - especially in its second season. The first season reveals a ticking time bomb (the impending death of a major character) around midway through that immediately increases the tension and stakes of the series. And the second season is entirely dedicated to the ramifications.
It's heavy. And I think the second season does a fantastic job playing with its timeline - jumping ahead a few months to after the tragic death and showing the dissolution of several major relationships as a result. I was really surprised that the show not only went as heavy as it did (without losing its youthful spirit), but that they so skillfully paced the fallout of their major death.
Teen romances and love triangles often get a bad rap. But TSITP is a pretty refreshing take on both that I had a pretty great time watching. I'm looking forward to seeing what crazy places the show takes its characters in their third season.
Comics
And finally, let's talk about comics! As always, we'll share a Direct Market Indie Comic, a Marvel or DC comic, a Webcomic, and a Kickstarter comic that have been on our radar!
Indie Comic: Rogue Sun
Kat: I've mentioned my love for Radiant Black in a previous newsletter, and now I want to spread the love to more of the Massive-verse titles. I've been a fan of Ryan Parrott's writing since first discovering his work with Go Go Power Rangers, and it's been a wonderful ride to see Parrott's voice on his own property. Rogue Sun is a good mix of dark, mystical storytelling with what Parrott has already proven he's great at writing - character driven, teen storytelling.
As a Spider-Man fan, Rogue Sun is reminiscent of a Spidey narrative where instead of Peter Parker gets bitten by the spider, Flash Thompson becomes the famous web-crawler. Dylan isn't a "good" person, but a teen with a hard childhood trying to figure out what to do with such great power. It's a wonderful family story filled with morally gray characters that I literally don't know where it will go next (which is why I love indie superheroes).
DC Comics: Dark Knights of Steel
Kat: Dark Knights of Steel just wrapped its first volume. So I thought it would be a great time to plug one of my favorite DC titles. Tom Taylor is the master of elseworld storytelling. He understands the root of DC's characters, and because he knows what makes them special he's able to create unique versions of the characters that makes sense to the core of their Earth Prime counterparts.
When Dark Knights of Steel was first announced I was a bit hesitant. I tend not to enjoy medieval storytelling, but Taylor and Yasmine Putri changed that for me. There were so many twist & turns and relationship drama (especially between the queer coupling of Supergirl and Wonder Woman) that helped me understand why a show like Game of Thrones could be such a big phenomenon. I really hope that this is just the beginning of a very long saga for DC Comics. If it's anything like Injustice Gods Among Us, DC fans are in store for something special.
Webcomic: Seven Days in Silverglen (GL)
"Tess is a professional working gorgon. She's responsible, organized, and would never do anything as ridiculous as agreeing to fake date a coworker. Except, inexplicably, she did?"
Phil: Seven Days in Silverglen is a traditional romcom in every sense. It's got some of the great romcom hits - from the workplace crush, to "pretending to be dating at a family gathering",
The fantasy setting is mostly aesthetic. There's definitely some lore relating to the mistreatment of Gorgons and other monsters, but more than anything the fantasy element allows for a really unique visual style and some fun fantasy terminology sprinkled into the dialogue and locations.
Tess and Mira make for a fun pair, and their romcom antics are endearing right from the first chapter. I recommend SDiS to any fans of queer romcoms who enjoy a light modern fantasy element.
Read it here: https://www.webtoons.com/en/canvas/seven-days-in-silverglen-gl/list?title_no=775479
Kickstarter: Evie and the Helsings #1–2
"For centuries, the Van Helsing family has protected humanity from things that go bump in the night. The last protector has fallen, and the mantle goes to her one surviving heir. The problem is, Evie Van Helsing just wants to rock."
Phil: Punk rock vampires? Sign us up!
From our friend Steve Bryant (Athena Voltaire, The Catch, Ghoul Scouts) comes this stylized supernatural horror comic that's described as Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets This is Spinal Tap by way of Ash Versus Evil Dead.
We love the mash-up and are always wowed by Steve's work, so we definitely recommend checking this book out!
Check out the Kickstarter here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stevebryant/evie-and-the-helsings-12
In Closing
Thanks so much for reading this week's newsletter!
We always enjoy sharing our work and our thoughts on media with you! And we hope to see some of you apply to Transphoria!
Previous Kickstarter: The Beast & Snow #1 - Queer NSFW Fairytale Romance
Next Kickstarters:
Next Convention/Event: Hartford Pride (Sept. 9th) and South Jersey Gay Pride (Sept. 10th)
Anthology Accepting Submissions: Transphoria: A Trans & Non-binary Anthology
Phil’s Socials: Twitter | Instagram
Kat’s Socials: Twitter | YouTube
Read “Slice of Life” on Zestworld: https://www.zestworld.com/LifelineComics/slice-of-life-gl