Actually printing these was all Anna’s idea, and it’s great. I can’t wait to pin one on the shelves above my desk to look at while I’m writing Macabre Valley #3 (the script to Macabre Valley #2 is already done).

Now on to everyone’s favorite thing, this month’s brand new monthly commission!

Thing 1: The art

This month’s is by Gustaffo Vargas (website, bsky, instagram), who is himself a very successful Kickstarter creator. I have backed and enjoyed the heck out of his Peruvian cyberpunk comics. And now I’m thrilled that he’s done a werewolf priest piece for us.

He’s brought his striking aesthetic — along with a healthy dose of stained glass and blood — to our first issue monster, and it’s great.

Check it out below…

So, that turned out awesome. We’ve got one more werewolf priest commission on the way, either for a second September newsletter (depending how much the Kickstarter madness effects me), or for October.

And then after that, we will shift back to some of the other characters from Death of Comics Bookcase, as we start the (long, I promise) run-up to the sequel to that book.

Thing 2: Comic of the Month - Drome by Jesse Lonergan

So, pretty much no sooner had I finished and sent out my Best Comics of 2025 (so far) list via my July newsletter…I read my new favorite comic of 2025 — and it’s Drome by Jesse Lonergan. I’m not going to do a full review of this one here (you can read what I wrote on The Beat if you’re interested in that), but I will just say yet again that this comic is truly special.

I also recently had a chance to hear Jesse talk about the book during an event at Everyone Comics in Queens, and that was great too. Jesse has such an accessible way of talking about his very complex comics. To me, it feels like he’s coming from a place of I draw comics because that’s what I have to do or I won’t be happy. And he puts a ton of hard work into it.

I found his chat inspirational, one of those magic comics moments that reminds you that any of us are lucky to have found the medium, let alone to have carved out portions of our life to tell stories in it. It’s an incredible thing, almost like magic. Also, Jesse generously drew sketches in every book sold at the event. Pretty cool. Check out the one he did in my book below…

And truly, go get yourself a copy of Drome. It’s a creation story steeped in giant action set pieces and almost incorporating comics as a character into the book. I’ve (forcefully!) insisted that three friends read it, and they’ve all absolutely loved it.

If you do read Drome, shoot me an email and let me know what you think!

Thing 3: Macabre Valley #1 in the news

I was going to use this section talking about what inspired Macabre Valley #1 and why it’s so meaningful to me, but I actually already did that earlier today in a first-person piece that ran on The Beat.

You can read the whole piece with the link above, but here’s an excerpt that I think gets at the heart of why this comic is so meaningful to me…

“And on a personal note… I strongly believe that the loss of local newspapers is an underdiscussed blow to our communities. With this comic, I hope to make readers consider that, as well as how we got here and how scary it is that nothing has effectively replaced what we once had.”

I used to love newspapers and working for them, and I think I’ve been mourning them without really realizing it. Making this wild monster-of-the-week comic concept has been fun for the obvious reasons, but it’s also been cathartic.

Thing 4: The State of Kickstarter Comics

I’ve done a hand full of podcasts by now to promote the new book (one of which is out now, that being my buddy Dan Grote’s The ComicsXF Interview Podcast), and a question I’ve gotten each time is: why Kickstarter?

Well, the short answer is that we pitched Macabre Valley to a couple publishers, and we just couldn’t get the fit and timing right. To make the book we want to make, and to do it without being kept waiting (maybe forever), Kickstarter makes the most sense. I’ve also had great experiences reaching readers on there with my past two projects.

But moreover, I think as the indie comics market has contracted and become a bit more unreliable, at least for creator-owned comics sales, the perception of Kickstarter comics has changed across the industry.

Funding a book via Kickstarter was at one time sort of a strike against direct market viability, at least in the eyes of some publishers. I’m not saying that’s right (in fact, I think it was always wrong), but that is something that some publishers were concerned about. Now, however, there seems to be a clear pivot happening, wherein direct market publishers look at Kickstarter success as proof of audience.

And I just think there are some really great projects happening on Kickstarter right now, from graphic novels about Marc Maron to one-shots about sapphic assasins. It’s a cool time to be on the platform, with an interesting comic project or two landing there each and every month.

So yeah, we’re going to keep using Kickstarter as long as it keeps working for us.

Thing 5: Yes, one more newspaper thing…I am currently watching and enjoying The Paper

I have worked at some truly small papers. During my last year of college, I was the assistant editor at The Carterville Courier and The Herrin Independent, way down in Southern Illinois. The staff of that newspaper was literally three people, and after it printed, we all had to stuff the papers with advertising inserts and then deliver them around our coverage zone, which was lightly populated but massive in size.

I covered everything from local police news to high school bowling for that paper, and I had a mostly okay time doing it. I continued to work in newspapers as they became less and less vital, and while I’ve never worked at a Ghost Paper, I certainly worked for a paper that was headed that way.

I think that’s why I have a fascination with a new mockumentary show that (sort of) spun off from The Office. It’s a show that is funny enough, but I find the idea of someone (anyone!) trying to reverse course for one of these papers by doing reporting immensely satisfying to watch. And they don’t even do much journalism in this show, but they do enough that it has made me think about local news ecosystems, the past, and my own role within it.

I’d say that’s good TV. And besides, it’s only 10 30-minute episodes, not a huge bar of entry to give it a shot.

Conclusion

I’ll just wrap up by really, very sincerely telling you all once again that I’d deeply appreciate it if you gave our Macabre Valley #1 campaign page a look. We’ve got a digital comics tier that starts at $5, plus some cool deals that expire at midnight on Wednesday, September 17. Plus hey, I think we made a great book.

Cheers, be well, and please forgive any and all typos above!

-Zack Q.