NEW BOOKS BY ME! NEW BOOKS BY ME!
That’s it!
Oh, wait. No. Buy this book that I didn’t write today!
Two emails in a week?! What fresh hell is this? I know, I know. It wasn’t my plan but I sent out my newsletter the other day and within hours was informed by my dear friend Batman that my next two projects would be announcing soon. I can’t recall my newsletter after it’s been sent out, can I? That’s a real question. Can I? Because I have a real typo problem that is taking years off my life. I did end the last email with “Big stuff coming that I’m excited to share soon!” so you can’t say I didn’t warn you. Anyway, to make a non-story short, I am sending you another email. 2020 should have prepared you for stuff like this.
So I have two cool new projects at DC Comics coming out in October that I am very excited about. I’m going to be talking about them a bunch on here, probably too much, but I’ll start slow.
TASK FORCE Z rises from the simple question “what if we made the Suicide Squad even more fucked up?” Red Hood is in charge of a team of recently deceased villains as they work for a chance of getting their lives back, literally. The team includes the coprses of noted bad people Bane, Man-Bat, Mr. Bloom, The Arkham Knight, and newcomer Sundowner. But more bodies will be added along the way, I promise.
I am joined on this book by a murderer’s row of talented people. Eddy Burrows is pencilling, and my god is it gorgeous and creepy. Eber Ferreira is inking beautifully. And Adriano Lucas is laying down his brilliant colors. And the whole thing was put together by the mad scientists of editorial Paul Kaminski and Dave Wielgosz. I couldn’t ask for better partners on this one.
I will be getting more into it later but for you continuity nerds- Yes, this is in continuity. Yes, it will reflect the events of Chip and Eddy’s Red Hood story in BATMAN URBAN LEGENDS. Yes, this relates to FUTURE STATE and FEAR STATE. Yes, we know Man-Bat is in JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK. Yes, Jason and Bane are going to have a “conversation” about Alfred. Yes, it’s going to be a real screwed up book.
DC VS. VAMPIRES is exactly as wild and screwed up as the above cover would lead you to believe. It’s a 12 issue maxi-series following in the mold of a book I really love- DCeased. This is an “anything can happen” take on a vampire coup. The vampires have infiltrated some of the most powerful corners of the DC universe. No one is safe and everyone is a suspect.
This project came to me in a very funny way. My GRIFTER editor Ben Abernathy called me and said he had a new project he wanted to discuss. I have had such a good time working with Ben on Grifter that I immediately just told him that I’m in. This is what is known in the business as being bad at the business. But I like working with people I like, so yeah, maybe I had just agreed to write captions for DC branded cereal boxes at 1/100th my normal rate, but I’d have a good time doing it. Luckily, that wasn’t the offer. Ben explained that James Tynion IV had pitched a book about vampires invading the DC universe but he needed someone to write it with him. Once again, I was 100% in. James is a great writer, a great friend, and this idea is obviously badass. At this point I think Ben was frustrated with my enthusiasm because he hadn’t even had the chance to play the ace up his sleeve. “We got Otto to draw it.” So there is the kicker. Otto Schmidt, my partner on HAWKEYE FREEFALL would be handling the art duties. I could not ask for a better team in comics.
As you can see I’m really excited about both these books. They launch in October so you can start annoying your local comic shop about them right now. I’ll be talking at annoying lengths and showing cool art from them here over the next few months.
One final note. Since we seem to be on a horror kick here and today is New Comic Book Day I figured I’d recommend a very fun new book by my pal Ed Brisson. BEYOND THE BREACH #1 is in comic shops today. With art by Damian Couceiro & Patricio Delpeche, letters by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, this book is a ton of fun. Rural grindhouse-style monster invasion story with a ton of heart and humor. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy.
Thanks for reading (again). Stay safe and take care of each other.
-Matthew Rosenberg
NYC 7/14/21
Very stoked for Task Force Z