31 Comments
May 18, 2023Liked by Chip Zdarsky

My my my, quite the list of nominations you managed to nab for yourself there champ! Congrats Chip!

Ah yes, the end of an era. Gonna be strange not seeing you and Marcos on DD anymore, but we’ll always have Hell’s Kitchen, so there’s that. And of course this means you get freed up to focus more on Batman, so it’s not a COMPLETE loss. Still, epic run brother, epic run.

Also, shames me to admit, I can’t say I recognize the new creative team, or anything they have worked on at the House of Ideas. Anything in particular of theirs you might be familiar with so I can get a taste of what’s to come from their run?

Also if that cover for their issue 1 is any indication, I just lost my wager in the pool on whether Matt makes it out alive in this run or not. TBH, i was betting Elektra takes over the series going forward. Kinda bummed I was wrong there, lol.

Finally question: this arc upcoming is supposed to be a Catwoman crossover. Is the Catwoman involved in here going to be the new one, or OG Selina? I haven’t been keeping up with Catwoman’s title in a while so I’m a little behind.

Anyways, keep up the good work Chip!

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Saladin's done some amazing work at Marvel! I was a fan of his Miles Morales run, but the thing that really wowed me was his Black Bolt mini with Christian Ward. Check that one out! And Aaron delivered EPIC work on Avengers Forever, but his Ghost Rider with Ed Brisson is stunning.

And who's to say that's Matt Murdock on the cover? Or his GHOST??

The Catwoman in our crossover is 100% Selina!

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May 18, 2023Liked by Chip Zdarsky

Oooooh, THAT Saladin. He’s the guy who did the clone saga for miles, and introduced the Aaron Davis Prowler to main Marvel continuity. Yeah yeah, I remember him now. Damn now I am excited and will be keeping this on my pull list! Also Aaron sounds like he has some seriously awesome chops to bring to the title. Definitely psyched for this!

I always figured Matt would be one hero who when he dies, he either finds peace and becomes a member of the holy choir, or spends eternity fighting down in hell for the violence he lived by. Though a phantom DD does kinda sound fun. Reminds me or this idea that was rumored to be in the works but never cam about in DC. Harley in Hell I think it was called.

Sweet! Been missing the original queen of the thieves. Really interested in seeing what, seemingly, has her no bats at odds. When does that first issue for this arc drop chip?

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Oh, I'm terrible with schedule stuff. Batman 136 is next month and then two more issues of Knight Terrors, so.... September I think?

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May 18, 2023Liked by Chip Zdarsky

Ah yes, Knight terrors. Is it bad of me I forgot that tht was even happening? And m I a bad person that I’m annoyed we have to wait two issues before we get back on track to our regularly scheduled Batman?

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Ha! It'll be fun! And also, you'll be getting too MUCH Batman once the event starts!

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May 18, 2023Liked by Chip Zdarsky

Well if DC Comics have taught me anything from the past decade, there’s NEVER enough of Batman for them. So no surprise there.

Tbh, I’m not sure how this event, is supposed to differ really from the Dark Multiverse stuff back during METAL & DEATH METAL. Wasn’t the whole thing about that that the DM was made up of worlds and variants of our heroes that was their worst fears come to life?

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May 18, 2023Liked by Chip Zdarsky

Hey! That’s awesome, and truly well-deserved. Congratulations on being nominated, and I’ll be rooting for you! Tbh, I’m not surprised at all, especially about the “best writer” nomination: pretty much anytime I see your name on a project, I pick it up and add it to my pull list - no further questions needed - because you’ve earned my trust and confidence that whatever it is will be top notch. Seriously.

Ok, enough praise. You still have more stops on your Canadian road trip, and you don’t need a big head making it difficult to get in and out of your car!

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haha thanks!

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Congratulations on all those Eisner nominations! They’re all entirely well deserved and--OH MY GOD SALADIN AHMED???

Well, it’s good to know our boy Matt will still be in good hands after the changing of the guard. (unless that cover is a fake out and you’ve killed him or something, in which case, also rad) I was incredibly interested in who’s taking over the book, and this is a fantastic outcome!

Looking forward to seeing how your run wraps up, and how his run begins!

But seriously, those three nominations don’t surprise me in the least. You’ve been consistently putting out quality content as a writer and artist.

You’ve got some tough competition, but you’re tough too, right? I mean, I look at you and I think things like, “Man, that guy sure looks tough,” and, “Sure wouldn’t wanna get into a fight or get nominated for an Eisner up against THAT guy.”

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May 18, 2023Liked by Chip Zdarsky

YAY!

Congratulations on your Eisner nom-nom-noms Chip!

I am rooting for you (To the 3rd power), Marco & Rafael. You all deserve it for your Daredevil run. Delighted to see Public Domain up for best new series too.

Thank you for reminding me Saladin wrote that killer Black Bolt mini with Christian Ward. I am glad he’s been consulting with you to continue to make Matt’s life an absolutely delicious mess. I’m looking forward to Saladin & Aaron coming on board as I adore what you, Marco & Rafael have done.

Okay, given that Matt is so Old Testament lately I have a daft question regarding this:

In DD 9, Manuel drew a cross-like scar/sutures on the top panel of page 3 (Matt waking up with the Crociote in his eye socket after his fever broke). Was that cross scar a wink to “Cross my heart and swear to die?” That’s what I thought of after reading Matt’s dialogue on that last splash page in DD 11.

Also, did the Beasts of the Fist die with the Book of the Fist? It seems to me that Matt is becoming something like the Beast through his actions & the double dose of Re-CID. You probably can’t answer this one…

Thanks as always, Chip! Congratulations again on the Eisner nominations. So happy for you, Marco, & Rafael. Safe travels.

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Ha! That scar was ALL Manuel! I'd love to take credit though

Matt's "Beast of the Fist" powers went away with the Book, but yeah, the extra RE-CID hit is making him more ... aggressive

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May 18, 2023Liked by Chip Zdarsky

Apologies foremost, because this doesn't really have anything to do with the stuff in the newsletter (all great news though!) but I feel compelled to tell this tale before I forget it.

The other day Lord of the Rings came up in conversation, which for whatever reason got me thinking about character names, particularly some of the weirder/sillier Elven ones. Which made me remember Celebrimbor, the main elf that oversaw the creation of the Rings of Power, among other things. THEN, because my brain is a tangled mess of tracks upon which trains of thought collide and derail, an incredibly dumb idea sprang to mind: what if his name was CeleBRIMPor. And because of him, brimping became a widespread practice among the elves. Like, all these proper high fantasy Tolkien characters just going to town pumping their junk through that trademark long, silky, luxurious elven hair. Imagine Hugo Weaving as Elrond doing that shit! Celebrimpor: it was so stupid and absurd that I couldn't help laughing to myself, while knowing full well that I'd be entirely unable to explain it to pretty much anyone. Except for you, Chip. Except for you.

So, uh, thanks for that, I guess?

Also, I'm very sorry.

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wtf

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May 18, 2023Liked by Chip Zdarsky

I know, right?

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Soooo ... The Lord of *what* kind of Rings? Will the Eye of Sauron have seen too much? Will the Ents get wood? I think there is massive SC + LotR cross-over potential here.

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May 18, 2023Liked by Chip Zdarsky

See you Saturday!

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May 18, 2023Liked by Chip Zdarsky

So ... Saladin didn't murder you? I thought he'd kill you and then we find out that you'd won all those Eisners posthumously. (By the way, in that inset photo in the Marvel promo blurb it does look like someone is sneaking up to do you in!) I've heard nothing but great things about his Ms. Marvel run so this should be very exciting. And Aaron is great.

Congrats on getting nominated! I hear that's good enough for most people...

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Oh I'm 100% dead. This is ChipGPT!!

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May 18, 2023Liked by Chip Zdarsky

Great! ChipGPT, don't fuck up Batman.

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beep boop uh oh

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dear chip,

congratulations!

you deserve all the eisners AND all the awards from all the people!

including a zdarsky award, which is where you win the BELIEF that you deserve all the awards!

hope you win them all!

love,

myq

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May 18, 2023Liked by Chip Zdarsky

Congrats on the Eisner nominations Chip! Another step closer to breaking Ryan Stegman

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May 18, 2023Liked by Chip Zdarsky

AND OH MY GOD CONGRATULATIONS!! I’m really happy for you on your nominations. Well deserved

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Woo! Thanks! And yeah, see you Saturday!

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WELL DESERVED CHIP HUGS TO YOU

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PLEASE VOTE 4 ME ALEX

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Thanks -as always- for answering my questions, Chip. Safe & happy trails.

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