Hello Visionists!
It’s official: we’re over half way into the year. Lots has happened, both in the world of comics and with the site.
Having launched officially back in May of this year, we’ve since published 12 articles, multiple of which have hundreds of views and the site itself has nearly broken 1000 views in total!
This may not seem like a lot to some people, but considering how new we are, the rate at which we’re currently able to publish work and the exponentially fractal audience that we’re likely to reach (the percentage of people that like comics, followed by the fraction that want in-depth comics criticism, followed again by the people that can find us), I’m over the moon at those numbers. Especially considering I spent the entirety of last week unable to write much of anything due to a greatly unappreciated illness (which reminds me to remind you, look after yourselves, people!).
Now on the other side of it, and with a renewed drive for writing on comics, the question on everyone’s minds is: what’s next?
What’s Coming in July 2023 on Visionist Cove?
Knight Terrors is upon us, and outside of a small handful of books it’s hard to avoid it if you want to read anything from DC.
So far I’ve been fairly mixed on the event. Knight Terrors: First Blood felt schlocky and rough around the edges, failing to really deliver much of a reason to invest outside the general premise of a fun, if not throwaway, two month event. However, a lot of the tie-ins since then have picked up the slack. Williamson’s script on Knight Terrors: Batman left something to be desired, but March’s gothic horror was worth the price of admission alone. Alex Paknadel also continued his tour of convincing me he’s the next big thing to watch with his work on Knight Terrors: The Flash last week, while Daniel Bayliss blew me away with work that reminding me of if the great Francis Manapul played more with form and body horror.
Needless to say, it’s holding my interest for now. Plus, given my desire to put out my work per week, the easily digestible nature of the issues lend themselves well to shorter (if only slightly) essays that I can get to you faster.
So, expect more coverage of Knight Terrors. At least, the ones that something interesting with horror.
Speaking of shorter pieces that release faster, I’m also hoping to put out some analysis on the various We Are Legends titles. All three have really landed for me, and despite playing into some familiar territory here and there, they do so with enough of a clever re-examination of the superhero genre that it all feels fresh and, most importantly, exciting.
The Vigil in particular has really won me over. I was least excited for that to drop, given my less than thrilling experience with its Lazarus Planet lead-in, and yet each issue has progressively won me over. I’m not sure what wizardry Ram V is pulling off, but this isn’t the first time he’s won me over a few issues into his latest experiment. It’s all leaving me incredibly excited for Rare Flavours #1 in September, coming from BOOM! Studios…
Finally, in honour of the third annual Hellfire Gala (and perhaps the last?) I’ve had an essay on the second iteration in the back of my head for a while now that I think deserves some attention. It’s less concerned with all the plot movements and universe organising that it does, and focuses instead on the relationship between Cyclops, Emma Frost and the weaponised truth. It’s gonna be fun!
What’s Coming Down the Line for Visionist Cove?
There’s a backlog of essay ideas I’ve had for a while that I’m slowly working through.
Most notable among them are: an extended piece on fight scenes and action in comics, and how Venom #21 absolutely nails them; a full series exploration of revenge and Westerns as a genre in Sean Lewis and Hayden Sherman’s Above Snakes; multiple pieces on Thorne’s grossly underappreciated Green Lantern run from about a year back and maybe even some more critical looks at titles like Nightwing and Superman: Son of Kal El.
There are plenty of others too, but as far as a taster goes I think that should suffice.
Specifically in October though, I will be exclusively covering horror titles in honour of Spooktober – something I wanted to do way back when I used to stream (yes, you can find me on Twitch too, same handle), but never got around to. Expect a look at House of Slaughter and maybe Immortal Hulk? That King in Black tie-in issue has had my name on it since I bought it way back when…
Also, to broaden what you can expect from the site, I’m also hoping to start setting up some creator interviews! There’s a ton of wonderful looking indie comics coming down the pipeline, and I want to lend my voice to the hype that they deserve. If there’s anything you want us to cover or give a spotlight to, please @ us on Twitter or Facebook or whatever your chosen social media hellsite is and let me know! I’ll do my very best to get in touch with the creators in question and sort something out.
Closing Thoughts
I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has checked out the site so far, everyone that’s spent time reading the analysis and, even better, recommending it to friends. Writing about comics is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, and getting to share that passion with you (both for writing and for the medium at hand) is wonderful.
I’m going to work on setting up some more infrastructural elements to the site going forward, maybe a newsletter or mailing list type deal. Something to help keep readers connected and aware of what’s coming their way, and also something that gives me a better idea of what people are responding to.
I suppose all that leaves is for me to sign off – I hope everyone enjoyed this little update, and everything else the site has to offer.
Stay passionate.
Stay celebratory.
Stay safe.
And read more comics!
