A Brand New Day...
The world of Killadelphia is expanding—in addition to new stories of the macabre, fantastic, and surreal—coming from me!
The last four years have gone by in the blink of an eye.
My comics career began in 2017 with my 8-issue run on Marvel’s Falcon. It was a complete learning experience for me that challenged what I thought I knew about comics and reinforced what I needed to learn. Lando: Double or Nothing and Lion Forge/Oni Press’s Quincredible came next and I began to settle in as to what I believed my voice in comics would be. I was comfortable (relatively speaking) in the realm of television and film, as I’d been writing professionally for twenty years, but comics were a whole other beast... but a beast I’ve come to love passionately.
Next came Killadelphia. The vampire/political/family drama/etc. horror fest from myself and the great Jason Shawn Alexander and our entire team. It’s the first book I felt best exemplified who I am as a comics writer. But it’s not the last!
Which brings me to why I’m here, throwing my hat into the Substack ring.
I’ve always loved stories that broke the boundaries of conventional storytelling. Over the past five years, my eye and mind have connected more and more to independent comics and the creators that make them. I love the big two, and for more years than I could remember, they made up the bulk of what I purchased and consumed. They still make up a large part of the stories I consume. This isn’t about them, but rather about me. And quite simply, I have stories to tell! I want to control the way they’re told and as well own the rights to said stories along with my co-creators.
Substack has given me that opportunity.
Some questions may now be coming to your mind, so let’s get them out of the way first.
WHAT ABOUT ZOMBIE LOVE STUDIOS?
Zombie Love, or ZLOS is happening. We will launch in the spring of 2022 with Blacula, Florence and Normandie, and Crownsville roaring out of the gate!
WHAT ABOUT THE IMAGE BOOKS LIKE KILLADELPHIA AND NITA HAWES’S NIGHTMARE BLOG?
They’re not going anywhere! In fact, Substack will be the place where you can find the third book in the Killadelphia universe, the yet to be titled zombie series set in Flint, Michigan, as well as Johnny Gatlin, a vampire hunter forged in Hellfire. And those werewolves folks keep asking about? The ones that lived in Elysium Gardens? They’re coming to Substack too!
But back to Image! Beyond Killadelphia and Nita Hawes, there’ll be a miniseries titled Monarch coming in 2022. It’s got aliens and things blowing up, but at its heart, it’s a love story.
WHAT ABOUT THE BOOKS FROM DYNAMITE LIKE JAMES BOND, ARMY OF DARKNESS, AND THAT NEW ONE THAT HASN’T BEEN ANNOUNCED YET?
Not going anywhere! Truly love the work and have no plans to stop!
OKAY... HOW ABOUT THOSE TWO STAR WARS BOOKS YOU’RE WRITING FOR MARVEL/LUCASFILM?
Nope, not going anywhere either... love the Star Wars universe and am honored I get to occasionally play in it.
QUINCREDIBLE?
Finishing book 3 as we speak.
THEN WHY, RODNEY?! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS???
Because I love comics. I love entertaining folks. I love working with artists and making things. Again, this isn’t an indictment against the system, but rather an appreciation for a new way to tell stories and connect to my audience.
OKAY, LET’S BE SPECIFIC. WHAT IS YOUR SUBSTACK SUBSCRIPTION GONNA LOOK LIKE?
Well, it’s subscriber-based and there’ll be tiers. Here’s what you’ll get for subscribing:
Comics!
A behind-the-scenes look into my world of writing and producing movies, TV shows, and comics.
Comics!
A weekly newsletter keeping you up to date with Rodney-related news and musings (don’t tell anyone, but this will be free!)
Comics!
The first Substack outings will be Killadelphia related. Johnny Gatlin and Elysium Gardens will begin to publish every two weeks on Substack. Each will be ten pages. Then, the untitled third series in the Killadelphia universe (full 20 pages) will drop and join the aforementioned monthly titles.
In between short prose and comics, stories will drop. These will be horror, supernatural, and mysteries that are part of “Dark Apocrypha Presents,” a Heavy Metal-styled magazine coming in 2023.
The tiers will be as such:
MONTHLY—7 bucks a month will get you the two Killadelphia short stories.
ANNUAL—75 bucks a year will get you the two Killadelphia stories, plus the monthly series.
FOUNDERS—A yearly subscription of $175.00 will get you the two Killadelphia short stories, the monthly Killadelphia spinoff, and three variant covers from any of my works (subject to what’s in stock) per year. As well, there’ll be signed prints and a bevy of surprise incentives to keep you coming back for more!
This is going to be a wild ride that I’m incredibly excited about. It’ll allow me to connect more with readers and answer any questions you may have about writing in general and my writing in particular.
Let’s do this!
Rodney
Army of Darkness: 1979 #1
Dynamite proudly presents a brand new Army of Darkness series, written by Rodney Barnes (Killadelphia), drawn by Tom Garcia and featuring an awesome array of cover artists, including the Dynamite return of Jason Shawn Alexander, along with Junggeun Yoon, and Stuart Sayger and the Zombie King himself -- Arthur Suydam!
Congrats Rodney! Really happy for you!
You’re a great writer and your work is inspiring