Gwenpool reprints, Jedi Nightmares & raging Zombiotes!
This week’s comics bring High Republic horrors... and a whole lot of brain-munching. PLUS: Your questions answered!
IT'S NEW COMIC BOOK DAY!
Hello there!
Another week, another NCBD – and this week it's Jedi Marshall Keeve Trennis stepping up to the plate... as well as She-Hulk facing a Zombiote horde alongside some surprising allies.
Also in this newsletter, you'll find some new interviews with me and a reader question about what draws me to Gwenpool!
Keep scrolling!
GWENPOOL #1 GOES BACK TO PRINT
Thanks to everyone who picked up issue one of Gwenpool.
The day after launch, it went back to print — with a second printing on the way!
You. Are. All. Awesome.
Let your comic shop know if you want this in your collection!
STAR WARS: THE HIGH REPUBLIC - FEAR OF THE JEDI #4
The end is getting nearer by the day! And with it comes Issue Four of Fear of the Jedi, on sale today.
Written by me, with art by Marika Cresta, colours by Jim Campbell, and letters by Ariana Maher.
Here are the covers:
Cover A (Phil Noto), Cover B (Ben Harvey), The Force Awakens 10th Anniversary variant (Chris Sprouse)
And the solicit too:
KEEVE TRENNIS and her team of battle-weary Jedi must face their biggest challenge… and their greatest fear. The NAMELESS strike as you’ve never seen them before. What is the secret of the Nightmare Fleet? And how can TEY SIRREK defend himself against the person he loves most?
Want more?
Okay, here are the preview pages!
Hope you enjoy the issue!
As a side note, I'm working on the lettering pass for the Finale issue today! One step nearer my final High Republic moment.
Waaaah!
VENOM WAR: ZOMBIOTES / VENOMOUS
Also out this week, it's the trade paperback of my Venom War mini-series, Zombiotes, collected with Venom War: Venomous, Black Widow: Venomous and Venom War: Daredevil.
A new threat emerges in VENOM WAR, in the form of symbiotes that can raise the dead and corrupt the living - Zombiotes!
As the two Venoms face off, a darker strain of symbiote has slithered across New York City - one that can reanimate the dead and turn the living into an engine of mindless hunger with just one bite! That's right: zombie symbiotes, making symbiote zombies!
And you thought they liked eating brains before!
An unlikely team - led by She-Hulk, Hellcat and Shocker - could be humanity's only hope!
Plus: What will become of the deadly Black Widow and her even more lethal symbiote in the Venom War? And as the horde of Zombiotes descends on Hell's Kitchen, the two Daredevils must rise up to stand as the last line of defense - but will they be enough to stem the tide, or will their brains be first on the menu?
NEW INTERVIEWS - TALKING GWENPOOL!
As I teased last week, I've popped up on a gaggle of shows talking Gwenpool!
First up: I Read Comic Books...
Then: Fortress of Comics...
And last, but definitely not least: Countdown City Geek...
Go listen to them all!
I also did the AMA over at League of Comic Geeks. You can see the answers here – including what pizza I prefer to order.
Yes! The important stuff!
WHAT DREW YOU TO GWENPOOL?
Morgan emailed with a question:
Thank you so much for bringing back Gwenpool! She’s the most relatable character ever created to me.
What drew you to writing for her?
Hi Morgan, thanks for getting in touch.
The answer is two-fold.
First up, the simplest answer is: Marvel asked me to write Gwenpool.
Editor Jordan D. White and I had enjoyed working together on Venom War: Zombiotes and were looking for another project to work on. Jordan had already invited me to write a Venom mini, but unfortunately, we couldn’t make the schedules work. So, he came back and asked me about Gwenpool, providing the central concept for our new Dark Gwenpool character.
I pretty much said yes on the spot.
Which leads me to the reason for biting his hand off. Yes, I am a freelance writer, so offers of work are a very good thing™ – but it was more than that.
First things first, I love the original Unbelievable Gwenpool run by Christopher Hastings and Gurihiru. It’s one of my favourite Marvel comic, a real breath of fresh air at the time that still stands the test of time.
Then comes Gwen’s fourth-wall-breaking antics. Growing up in Britain in the 70s and 80s we had a raft of weekly humour comics: the Beano, the Dandy, Whizzer and Chips, Nutty… the list went on and on. And those comics had a long-standing tradition of the characters talking directly to the reader and – more often than not – the reader talking back. All of these characters knew they were in comics, a tradition I was pleased to continue when I later wrote many of them in the Beano myself.
So Gwen just seems natural to me as a character. She feels right at home alongside Bananaman, Minnie the Minx and Roger the Dodger – all favourites of mine as a kid.
And as someone who loves a good Easter egg or seven, she’s a dream. They're quite literally her language!
And of course, she’s more than all that. For all the bluster, and the wackiness, there’s a real vulnerability there. She really feels things, both good and bad.
At the end of the day, Gwen is a fan. She gets excited about the things we get excited about and worked up about the things that vex us too.
I hope that answers your question, Morgan – and that you enjoy the rest of the series!
Send me your questions! The easiest way is to either reply to the newsletter if you receive it in your inbox, or use my handy AMA form. Just hit the button below!
THAT'S ALL FOR NOW, FOLKS
That was a very release-heavy newsletter – but I appreciate you supporting me by picking up my stuff!
Further editions will (probably) be less salesy! Promise!
Until then, look after yourself and each other!
UPCOMING BOOKS
- STAR WARS: THE HIGH REPUBLIC - FEAR OF THE JEDI #5 Out 4th June 2025
- GWENPOOL #2 Out 18th June 2025
- STAR WARS: THE HIGH REPUBLIC - DISPATCHES FROM THE OCCLUSION ZONE TRADE PAPERBACK Out 1st July 2025
- GWENPOOL #3 Out 23rd July 2025
- STAR WARS: THE HIGH REPUBLIC FINALE - THE BEACON Out 30th July 2025
