What's Happening - May 2026
Hero of Legend #6 is live on Kickstarter! Buy it!
Welcome to my monthly newsletter, giving you updates on the things I’ve been lettering, reading and writing this month.
What am I writing?
Hero of Legend #6 is live on Kickstarter! Before you read any other part of this newsletter, go back it. I shared all of our awesome covers last time, but in case you didn't read my previous email, here they are again:
They're all great! You can't go wrong with any of them.
Niccolò is continuing to work on the interior pages, and let me tell you, this is the best looking issue we've made, hands down. The way he is drawing the action here is better than I could have ever imagined it. Just take a look at this spread:
I'm really proud of this book. I'm so excited for it to be completed, and I really can't wait for y'all to see the end of the story Niccolo and I have been telling for the past two years. I'd love to go out on a high note with this Kickstarter, so if you haven't taken the time to back, please do!
What am I lettering?
I've talked about this before, but one of the interesting challenges that comes in lettering is taking over for another letterer on a series. I've done this a decent amount with the work I've done at Space Between Entertainment, having taken over a chunk of projects from the amazing Jim Campbell. The reason I'm thinking about this is that I've recently taken over as letterer another comic from a letterer whose work I've never had to try and emulate before.
The reason it's an interesting challenge is that taking over for another letterer makes you really decide which parts of your process are malleable and which parts aren't. The goal for me when I'm coming onto a series in the middle of a run is that the transition is seamless and that even more attentive readers won't notice a difference.
But in that process of trying to blend chameleon-like into another person's work, I have to decide which their ticks are actually important to replicate and which of my own ticks do I need to try and excise. The easiest thing to think about here is balloon tails. This is something you'll notice, if you start paying close attention to lettering. While the fonts, the balloon shapes and most of the other aspects of a letters style might shift between different projects, most letterers are pretty consistent in the way they will draw a standard balloon tail (if the style for a book calls for a standard balloon tail.)
Anyway, back to the book I'm currently working on. For the first few pages of this project, I was actively trying to emulate the previous letterer balloon tails. Their tales are slightly less tapered then mine are at the end, which mean they have a bit less of a pointy quality to them. Nothing hugely different, but for sure noticeable to my eye.
It's maybe a little self aggrandizing, but there is also a part of my that likes that you can still tell that there is a difference. One of the things I've realize I genuinely love about comics is that they are made by people. And while you never want something to be jarring for the readers, I do think you should be able to feel, at least a little bit, when one of those people change.
Comics on Kickstarter
Live on Kickstarter
Hero of Legend #6 - The Final Chapter!
In Prelaunch
What am I conventioning?
I mentioned last month I was going to be at Oakland Comic Con. And hey, I was! It was my first time tabling at a comic convention, and I had a pretty good time overall. Was really cool getting to meet some comic pros and local, Bay Area comic creators. I didn't sell as many books as I wanted to, but I also realized that I haven't really gotten my pitch for Hero of Legend down in a way that I can do it consistently and successfully, but then I actively avoid talking about my comics to people I know in the real world, so I suppose that makes sense. Definitely an area of growth for myself in the future.
I'm hoping to do more cons, especially ones that I can get to without jumping on a plane. If you have a con you think I should try and go to thats within driving distance of the SF bay area, let me know!
That's it?
Yep! Except for one final reminder to back Hero of Legend on Kickstarter.