Hey, it’s Zack.
The galactic Kaplan-verse now has six planets with steadfast populations and two more planets about to accept incoming colonists. By the years end, we will have seven fully operational worlds. It’s time to prepare to expand our reach and discover new worlds.
This is of course a metaphor for making comics. Eclipse, Port of Earth, The Lost City Explorers, Join the Future, Break Out and Metal Society all out in stores, with Mindset and Forever Forward underway. But it takes about 9-12 months from beginning a comic to getting it out to stores, I mean, for the colony ships to load up, sail across the empty cosmic expanse and finally port at their final destinations. So I am already underway planning my 2023 and a robust slate of new worlds. This means I am still pitching new “shipping outfits” and “spaceship fleets” and assessing the right world for the right colony leader. So yeah, it’s so surreal to plan this far ahead. I also am exploring new types of stories and this is an exciting and scary thing. Dare I do something…not sci-fi? Reach out and tell me what you like best from my stuff, or what you’d be excited to see me take on!
Metal Society #2 is out today, from Top Cow/Image Comics, Guilherme Balbi, Marco Lesko and Troy Peteri. This is a very interesting issue for me, because the first issue of the series introduces the readers to the fight drama and our heroine, Rosa Genthree. But this issue is also a sort of first issue and it introduces us to the challenger, WOL-421313 and the robot side of the society. It’s as hard sci-fi as my writing gets, which is to say it’s very character-based narrative with not a lot of adventure or thrills. This is just sociological tension and suspenseful drama here. But damn if it isn’t a gorgeous issue with a ton of awesome world-building! I think fans of Port of Earth and Join the Future are really going to love it, and it looks like the response is already good. There’s a Cover A by Gui and Marco, and then a really cool cover B by Dan Panosian!
Vault Comics MINDSET is coming out June 29th and the buzz is getting really fun! Cultured Vultures named Mindset the #2 on their top ten most anticipated comics of the month, next only to good friend Ram V and Christian Ward’s Aquaman, which is out today (and very very good). You can read the list here:
We also shared John Pearson’s Mindset #3 cover, and it’s so good. All three A covers next to each other are pretty dope too!
Lastly, we’re getting ready to share a lot more from Forever Forward, including a big preview and more details, so stay tuned!
Quiet week! Or rather busy week, but too many secret things in the background. I’m about to get new artwork for a brand new series you won’t see for 18 months, because it’s a graphic novel. But damn, I’m excited!
Anyway, I hope you guys are enjoying my comics, and I hope you guys are preparing to have some awesome adventures and discoveries this summer. Get out their and find some new worlds of your own, either in comics or in life!
And thanks for reading.
June 8th, 2022
Zack Kaplan