X-Men & Current Friends

Plus: Sex Criminals and HORROR!

Here at Casa de Zdarsky we stan Ryan Stegman. Oh wait, sorry, I meant we STAND Ryan Stegman, barely. But, he’s got a family with two growing boys (who can now both take their old man in a fight but kindly don’t) and so he needs money. Like, all the time.

Every couple of weeks he texts me begging me to draw Batman. I keep reminding him that it’s illegal because he’s under a lifetime contract with Marvel, which he signed when they promised him a dozen action figures every year until he died. So, up until recently, Marvel only had him working as the artist on the backup stories for a Millie The Model relaunch in 2025. Which isn’t really Ryan’s strong suit as he thinks romance is “full ass.” When you ask him to explain what “full ass” means, he just licks his lips and repeats the phrase “full ass.” Needless to say his drawings on the series have been unmarketable to anyone under the age of forty.

So, being a good friend, I reached out to Tom Brevoort, the editor on the upcoming X-Men line of books, about getting Ryan a gig doing, like, backgrounds for it. Tom, also a nice guy, agreed, and so Ryan got a better gig that would hopefully pay him some much-needed royalties.

Then, the main artist on the book disappeared. Like, gone. I can’t say much because the investigation is still ongoing, but this really screwed over Marvel who needed pages immediately. All of a sudden Ryan chimed in and said “foregrounds are just backgrounds with full ass” and started sending in finished pages of art. Tom had no choice, but also saw this as an opportunity since Ryan’s page rate was so low and action figures are so cheap that he could save Marvel a ton of money on this relaunch.

So now, Ryan is producing the best pages of his career on X-MEN and I couldn’t be happier for him. Plus, he’s working with a Canadian on the title! The adorable and talented Jed McKay.

It’s heartening to see Ryan stumble upwards like this. Everyone seems to really dig his approach, though I have noticed some people say his Cyclops is a little too young-looking, but I don’t see it:

Anyway, congrats, Ryan! We’re all rooting for you!

YOU’RE A GOOD FRIEND

Thank you, I know

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In more important news, in ONE WEEK’S TIME this bad boy hits the shelves!

It’s a zillion pages of sexy fun and learning and jokes and heartbreak and man oh man am I ever proud of it. Matt Fraction is my best chum and my favourite writer and going through this again just reminds of both those things.

Get yours through your local comic shop! And if for some reason you can’t, then there’s that snazzy variant edition available through Indigo Books! We sprung for a very hot pink for that bad boy. And I’m properly chuffed that the Canadian price worked out to be $69.99.

A lot of people have been asking what’s IN this edition? Well, it’s all 31 issues of the main series. We didn’t put in the Sexual Gary special or the back matter from previous volumes or the sexy variants, ‘cause those aren’t the STORY. I really wanted this edition to just be that reading experience. The most “bonus” thing in here is a four page back-and-forth interview between me and Matt about the history of the book.

Maybe one day we’ll do a big ol’ hardcover omnibus of everything for those of you who need such a thing, but for now, this is the thing, the whole experience.

MORE LIKE SEXPERIENCE

I … sure. If that’s what makes you buy one, fine.

Even Brian Michael Bendis bought one! And he created Miles Morales!

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In more FRIENDS O’ THE ‘STACK news, our resident Chipclass student Allison O’Toole is in the last stretch of her latest Kickstarter, BALIKBAYAN, a Filipino horror anthology!

It’s written by the super talented Jeff Estrella and drawn by NEWBURN alum Fabian Lelay and it’s proper creepy!

They’ve got less than FIFTY HOURS TO GO to get this funded so I highly suggest you go and back it immediately! I love cool comics making their way into the world!

Also, you do not want to upset Allison, trust me

GO BACK IT NOW PLEASE

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And finally, in “Where will Chip be” news, the latest show on my calendar is GALAXYCON RALEIGH! I’ll be there July 25-28!

Should be fun! Let me just check the weather that time of year and—

ah fuck

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UPCOMING BOOKS
BATMAN #142 (3rd printing) — Mar 26
BATMAN #143 (2nd printing) — Mar 26
BATMAN #144 (2nd printing) — Mar 26
NEWBURN #16 — Mar 27
SEX CRIMINALS: THE COMPLETE EDITION — Mar 27
BATMAN #146 — April 2
AVENGERS: TWILIGHT #3 (2nd printing) —April 3
KAPTARA: UNIVERSAL TRUTHS TPB — April 9
AVENGERS: TWILIGHT #5 — April 17
AVENGERS: TWILIGHT #2 (3rd printing) — April 17
THE WHITE TREES — May 1
THE WHISPER QUEEN #1 — May 1
BATMAN #147 — May 7
AVENGERS: TWILIGHT #6 — May 29
NEWBURN VOL. 2 — May 29

UPCOMING SIGNINGS
C2E2 (Chicago) — April 26-28
COMICPALOOZA (Houston) — May 24-26
GALAXYCON (Raleigh) — July 25-28
ROSE CITY COMIC CON (Portland) — Sept 6-8