DECLARATIONS
A biweekly newsletter by artist/writer Declan Shalvey.
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As you get this email I'll have just returned from NICE comic Con and a holiday in the Cayman Islands, so there's not a lot to report on. Or is there...?
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NICE con was fun. Did a couple of decent commissions for it, and did a fun panel with Alison Sampson, INJ Culbard and Farr Tehani, moderated by Chris Thompson. Thanks to Leonard for the pic.
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I finished the lettering draft on the final chapter of BOG BODIES while on holidays (panel below). Last chapter just needs to be coloured/lettered but then all the story pages are DONE. Well, then I'm ging to have to go over the whole think and do a final edit on it, then it'll be done. Will move onto the design and promo work next. The whole book is looking great, really happy with it. Will be sending it to some choice people soon, looking for some blurbs.
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I did a little work tinkering with a new creator owned pitch and did my first real pass at the first issue of PROJECT ORBITAL. I know I was on holiday, but I really owed the artist a draft of the issue, and when I have time to relax, my brain tends to come up with stuff to work on. The new idea is for an artist I'm a big fan of, so trying to write something that will really showcase their work. We've had a back-and-forth about the first pass, so I need to do an overhaul on it.
Bits of work aside, I did get a lot of chill time while on holiday though, which was needed. Was starting to feel a bit ragged in the preceeding weeks, and some days on an island paradise does seem to recharge the batteries a tad.
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That pitch for the licenced book I mentioned last time? It fell through. The licensor wanted to go in a different direction. Ah well, you win some you lose some.
As shown on here before, I drew a connecting cover for HOUSE OF X #1 and 2. For those who want to get their hands on it, it's only available via the 2019 Marvel Unlimited Plus member Kit. See here for more, it's part of a pretty sweet overall package, I must say.
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I coloured the cover for my Marvel art book and released it online (above). People seemed to REALLY like it, which was great, since it's the cover to a book where I am essentially showing off!
Been talking to John Rhett Thomas (the writer of the project) about the content of the book itself. I've selected the covers I definitely want (and definitely don't want) in the book and requested to get a relatively decent chunk of prep/process work in there too. At the moment I'm going through all my files to see what process work I'd like to be included... I have some Moon Knight prep work that's never been published so I'm hoping to see some of that in there. Will be talking to JRT about interiors soon, if ye have any strong preferences on you'd like to see, do let me know. He told me he's fan of Thunderbolts, so it's good to know we'll have some of my early stuff in there.
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MARVEL COMICS #1001 is out next month. I don't think I can say what character I got to work on yet but I'm prrrrrrrettttttty sure everyone who reads this newsletter can figure out who I picked. Here's a peek at my story, if it helps.
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BAGS (Or a story therof)
While on holiday I took a couple of books and graphic novels with me to read. One was BAGS (Or a story therof) by my BOG BODIES collaborator Gavin Fullerton. I had seen a lot of pages from the book as Gavin was working on it, but hadn't hadn't read the actual story yet.
The graphic novel is adapted by Gavin from a short story by 'Over the Garden Wall's Patrick McHale. We follow a very cartooned (and sweet) main character called John Motts as he searches for his missing dog. The writing style of McHale's is clearly deliberately surreal (we meet talking walruses and the like) which works quite nicely with this format. Gavin's strength in pacing and storytelling really shines here, this story doesn't read like an adaptation, it very much reads like a graphic novel should and I suspect a lot of that is down to how Gavin adapted it.
Some wonderfully appropriate colouring by Whitney Cogar too, I should say. The delicate attention to old printing production and the various irregularities they produce are wonderfully executed and particularly well placed.
BAGS (or a story therof) by McHale, Fullerton and Cogar is a bittersweet tale of love and loss. Highly recommended to fans of books like Bone or Blankets.
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Sept 11th
FANTASTIC FOUR #12 2ND PTG SHALVEY VAR (VC)
Sept 18th
DEAD MAN LOGAN #11 (OF 12)
HOUSE OF X #2 (OF 6) 3RD PTG SHALVEY VAR (VC)
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #9 SHALVEY IMMORTAL WRAPAROUND VAR (VC)
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Okay, that's all from me this week. I'll be back again in a couple of weeks. Feel free to share the subscribe link between now and then.
Dec.
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