What I love most about small, 1-day comic-cons is the community aspect to it, and the fact that it’s usually comic-centric in nature. Comic-Con is a bit of a misnomer these days, as they are often propped up by pop culture attractions outside of the comic art medium. I’m not opposed to all of that, but it’s nice to see the focus back to where most of that pop culture stuff originated: comic books. But I digress. This was an excellent show, thanks to the fine folks at Clearwater Public Library for putting on the event and having me as a guest. I met some amazing talent there, caught up with friends and colleagues, drew a few things for old and new fans, and sold a slew of books. Pretty much a perfect comic-con experience!
Hudson, Florida 02/12/2022 – The second chapter in Scott Reed’s science fiction epic Hark is now on sale! Reed is best known as a writer of Marvel Comics Realm of Kings (Son Of Hulk, Microverse: Enigma Force) and for his critically acclaimed Image Comics mini-series, The Overman. About his current series, Reed explains, “I’m introducing an alien philosophy as a thread that weaves through all the action, explosions and strange creatures doing terrible things. Everything that happens in the story is rooted in symbolism in some way. There are quotes and parables from Hark, who is this AI super-intelligence conflicted about his own purpose as a force for peace. Plus, he’s mutated into something terrifying. He has a lot of new powers that he doesn’t know how to handle.” Reed is writing, drawing, and publishing the series via his creator-owned imprint, Beyond Forward Comics. He views the 6-issue series as a ‘long-game’ endeavor, with 1 intricately drawn issue published every year, between his other projects.
The story is set on the once war-torn planet Serad, until it was transformed into a pacifist’s utopia thanks to Hark’s teachings. His work completed, the android philosopher went into sleep-mode, only to awaken a century later to discover his message of total non-violence has sparked a cosmic genocide, at the hands of an alien presence known only as The Elusivv. Hark is faced with the survivors: The Pacifista, a cult who now worship him as a God, and The Reactors, a barbarian-like clan who seek revenge against the Elusivv, and against Hark, who they blame for causing the downfall of their civilization. Hark is caught between these two powerful ideologies, with his own unstable powers threatening to make matters even worse.
Kurt Sasso of Two Geeks Talking interviewed me in his recent podcast, where we talk about my current comic, HARK, as well as a deep-dive into some of my creative process.
I had a great time yesterday as a guest at Emerald City Comics Free Comic Book Day event. This was my first signing in quite a long time and I’m hopeful I’ll be able to do more of these in the months ahead, assuming we aren’t all in Pandemic lockdown again. I sold almost all of my inventory of Hark #1, along with a few copies of some of my other comics and a few commissioned sketches. Also, I was in good company, seated next to guest artists Anthony Hary and Filipe ‘Fil’ Bergson. It was great talking shop with them while meeting old and new fans. Lastly, thank you to the fine folks at Emerald City for having me as a guest. EC is one of the very best comic shops in Florida and if you’re a local or visiting the area, I highly recommend a visit there.
PERSONAL WORKS MAY 24, 2021–Conan: A Rebellion of Ghosts is a Marvel spec script I wrote last year, but unfortunately I couldn’t find an opportunity to pitch it to editorial. Undaunted, I’ve decided to create a faux cover art and post the work online as a freebie. As much as I love being immersed in creator-owned projects like Hark, there are a few licensed characters out there that are on my writing bucket list. Conan is at the top of that list, and I had too much fun writing him to just let this story collect digital dust on my hard drive. So, I’m posting the first part here as a downloadable pdf and plan to get the second part posted in the next month or two. Enjoy!
