The Nightmare [after] Christmas, hibernation and a London signing

I'm writing Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Shiver of Christmas Town!

First: I’m doing a live (and later, an AMA) for Near Mint Condition TODAY at 1:30 pm EST. Omar and the Minties are the best! Come chat with us.

AND: Garth Ennis, Keith Burns, Rob Williams, Steve White and I are signing at Forbidden Planet in London the 14h of December. Come by and get your Battle Action signed!

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TIM BURTON’S THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS: THE SHIVER OF CHRISTMAS TOWN #1

(Yes, that’s the title!!!)

I’ve had the wholly delightful pleasure of jumping into the world of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, and the result, a four-issue miniseries, is out in January (impressively scheduled to miss both Halloween and Christmas). The FOC is on Monday, the 1st of December, so please let your local comic book store know if you want a copy of #1. The art is by the excellent Edu Manna, who has done an incredible job of recreating the feel of the movie in comic form.

This is an all-ages book, and all my too-dark/bad jokes & beats were lovingly weeded out by the team at Dynamite and Disney, so it should be safe for younger audiences. If you’re a fan of the original movie, I hope you’ll check it out!

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The first year of Catwoman, a give-away and the brilliance of Sebastian Fiumara

Sebastian Fiumara’s cover for Catwoman #84

I spoke to DC.com about my first year of Catwoman — you can read it here. We’ve so far traveled the world with Selina Kyle, and in our current arc, she is in Venice, dancing with Carmine Falcone and the elites of the underworld, taking back something that arguably didn’t belong to her in the first place. It is a deeply personal mission for our girl, and we spend a lot of time in her memories (expertly drawn by Patricio Delpeche) as she contemplates her motives and where to go next. If you want to follow along, issue #81 would be a good jumping-on point. The arc is drawn by the great Danilo Deyruth, with Patricio coloring and drawing the flashbacks.

I’ve collected the first year of Catwoman into a handy 12 issue bundle, and I’m giving it away to one of you. If you want it, let me know in a comment below.

The greatest joy of this job will always be the art. Seba Fiumara has been our cover artist since I took over the book, and he keeps, somehow, outdoing himself. Please enjoy some of the covers for our current arc.

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Hibernation and hygge

I paid my daughter to bag, board and organize all my comps a few weeks ago, which was an oddly pleasing experience. There’s something about seeing the work in that most tangible form, the single-issue comic. They are bastards to store, though. I don’t have easy access to short boxes, and I’ve yet to find a good alternative. How do you store your comics? Is there an IKEA hack for storing comics? Or some other brilliant solution?

Here’s a TikTok of Maja trying to do her job, with the help of Ember the kitten: (follow me on TT for more quality content like this.)

As always this time of year, I have buried myself in soft rooms lit by candlelight. The hygge is an unconscious reaction to the short days. It’s like mental muscle memory stepping in to save us from the darkness outside. The days are short and slow and the snow insulates us from the rest of the world, which feels far away. I know it’s not going to last, though. January will bring impatience and frustration, but as of right now, I’m full of love and warmth and joy. How are you? What are you reading and watching?

• I’m re-reading one of my all-time favourite books, From the City From the Plough by Alexander Baron. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it.

• I’m listening to the new season of Heavyweight, which remains delightful. (In the latest episode, Kevin talks about how he used to draw comics and sell them to his neighbor and friend. Just a small reminder of how much I love this medium.)

• Do you know what a horny moose ox sounds like? If not, I can help. (My camera picked up this handsome boy trying (and failing) to get it on with this lady in front of the cabin a few weeks ago. Poor kid, caught in the middle.)