Some answers to many of the questions we have been receiving:

Fear Agent: We still have one more arc of Fear Agent to wrap the big story up (issues 28-32) and put the book on hiatus while Tony, Jerome and I go and do our very best work possible for Marvel. This arc is well underway with Mike Hawthorne, Tony Moore and John Lucas working as a tag team supreme. It’s the best looking arc yet.

It’s important to give every project your 100% all — no matter if it’s creator-owned or not. The readers deserve our very best work, not something we rush out after over committing. So in that spirit we are devoting all of our time and energy to these Marvel projects.

It’s not something we take lightly. The readers deserve our best; we are lucky to have them and will do our best to never produce a diluted and voiceless product. Comics are expensive, it’s our job to see to it the comics with our names on them are worth the cost of admission. Regardless of this fact, Fear Agent, The End League and Gigantic were coming to their endings at these points anyway.

As for some reader’s feelings towards our Marvel work (most of those complaining have not read any of it) — Contempt prior to investigation is low thinking.

This isn’t a war you need to choose a side in. Mainstream/indy… it’s comics. Made by people. Some people can’t translate what they do from one side to the other, sure. But before you decide we’re among them, read the issues.

We are making the exact same books at Marvel that we make on our own. That’s why they wanted us at the company, to do what we do.

I stand behind our Punisher work as much as I do Fear Agent. Fear Agent will be back.

Gigantic and The End League are both ending as planned. Nothing has changed. The story you get by the end is the story I wanted to tell. They are both complete.

Fear Agent as well. By issue 32, when the book goes on hiatus, we will have hit the end of the original series bible outline. And if you ask me, 32 damn fine issues that were never compromised. Late, yes. But looking at the work, I’d rather see the books as our best foot forward every issue than look back at perfect shipping.

Marvel gave us a clause to continue these books if we desired to, but as I said, the books were reaching their conclusion. It’s not Marvel telling us to wrap these up. Marvel has simply allowed us to work on the characters in their stable that we’ve always wanted to — we couldn’t be having more fun. If you like Fear Agent, you’ll love what we’re doing in Punisher. If you like Strange Girl, You’ll love Doctor Voodoo.

I still have a new creator-owned series in the works. Last Days of American Crime will launch in October from Radical Comics. It is amazing, Greg Tocchini is the next big thing in comics, his pages are works of art. Alex Maleev turns in some of the best covers of his career.

Anyway, it’s important people not misunderstand this stuff of take a cynical point of view about it. If you have a jones for my creator-owned books, there are over twenty trade paperbacks worth you can find on Amazon right now.

I’d recommend Night Mary or Black Heart Billy.

Thanks for the support,
Rick

Did this as a sketch for Atomic Comic’s store manager Jeff Teston last year and he got it tattooed-

Tin-Tin Agent by Francesco Francavilla

Getting settled into our new house in Portland. The rain has just started but otherwise I’m happy as a pig in shit. Really great city. My comics are late as fuck. I’m neck deep in a treatment for a new video game at EA based on an outline by Warren Ellis. Having fun with it.

Trip to Hawaii reminded me to take it easy and not to work so much. I was burning myself out these past two years, best to slow everything down a bit.

On a long needed vacation. It’s an odd feeling to not be completely overrun and exhausted. I have three scripts due so I hope I don’t get too used to it.

Back home on Friday and then we move from San Francisco to Portland. Look forward to the change.

I just finished the final page to the Last Christmas. 113 pages and three covers later, I’m done. I’m not going to pencil anything for a long time, it’s too much work. Proud of the book over all, now it’s in Hilary Barta’s hands and the deadline looms… 🙂

I was going to use the pap below as the legal mumbo-jumbo at the bottom of my emails. I never did though, it looked a bit messy down there and I’m sort of a little bitch of neatness. Anyway here it is—-