Explaining the obvious

On the brilliance of my Free Planet cocreator Jed Dougherty

This week in Atlantis still sunk:

• Yet another brand-new Image Comics series you must pre-order: Blood & Thunder from Robert Kirkman, Benito Cereno and E.J. Su

• Score a rare Free Planet #1 ashcan without dropping $150 or more

• Catch me digging for back issues at WonderCon

• Part two of my appearance on Matt Rosenberg’s Ideas Don’t Bleed podcast

• My recent interview in Kieron Gillen’s Wordmail newsletter

But first…

If you read our sword & sorcery romantic comedy Savage Hearts, you already know that Jed Dougherty and I are an absolutely outrageous comics team. That book is where we learned to play to one another’s strengths, but I also learned something crucial that informed the entirety of what became Free Planet: Jed Dougherty has a profoundly deep command of the comics medium, built upon a foundation as distinct as it is sturdy.

First off, let’s get the obvious out of the way: Jed is an absurdly talented draftsman, i.e., he draws magnificently. Not only is he capable of drawing everything, not only is it all informed by actual research and study, not only does he have an outrageous consideration of lighting and texture, but it all looks sumptuous and rich. And, while it’s easy and understandable to become bedazzled by his depictions of muscular female forms, it would be disingenuous not to acknowledge that all his characters are expressive, attractive, charismatic, regardless of gender, muscle mass, species.

And yes, Jed’s “storytelling” is flawless: what is happening is never in doubt, character acting is always on point, his pages are clear and smooth. But these are the tools of a craftsman – necessary and admirable, to be sure – but mere requirements for good comics, not ends in and of themselves. Draftsmanship and storytelling alone are not sufficient to explain the brilliance of my frequent collaborator Jed Dougherty.

Jed’s research-informed drawing, his ability to capture emotion, drama and humor; as impressive as these are, they are skills found throughout the comics industry. What makes Jed’s comics so powerful is his design-oriented approach to the medium. It’s a direct outgrowth of our shared comics lineage and Jed’s time spent working alongside my beloved uncle, an architect of the modern comic book, Howard Chaykin.

Among those who don’t know any better, my Uncle Howard’s contributions to the comics medium are unjustly boiled down to “he did interesting stuff with letterer Ken Bruzenak.” While that’s undoubtedly true, Howard’s most impactful and influential innovation has been his insistence on using page design as a narrative tool. In Chaykinian Comics Theory, the fundamental storytelling unit is the page, a view shared fervently by Jed and myself.

If you look past the drawing aesthetics and even the specific storytelling approaches, it’s easy to see the Chaykinian influence throughout Free Planet’s complex, information-rich pages. For every issue, prior to scripting, I do thumbnails, in order to ensure that every time the reader turns the page, they are assaulted by an overwhelming amount of visual information. These thumbnails are never sent to Jed, because what would be the point? Jed, benefitting from the inimitable tutelage of Howard Chaykin, always comes back with something even better than what I’d imagined, rendered with jawdropping detail and care, with word balloons and captions alike integrated into the design.

My Uncle Howard’s approach to comics was trail blazing and incredibly influential. But, while specific Chaykinian design elements and surface techniques have been absorbed into the comics lexicon, these – like draftsmanship and storytelling – are primarily aesthetic concerns, with the fundamental approach largely abandoned by contemporary comics. This is due to film and television’s vast influence on comics and the fact that writing comics like screenplays is far, far easier than engaging with the comics medium on its own terms. Which brings us to the other thing about my frequent collaborator: Jed Dougherty always, without fail, puts the work in.

The approach I’ve briefly described is difficult, painstaking even. But whenever I think about skipping my thumbnail step, or abandoning a particularly dense history book, or saying, “I guess a grid is fine here,” I remember the absurd amount of work Jed puts into Free Planet. Jed Dougherty never slouches, never takes shortcuts, never skimps on backgrounds or detail. He always searches for a better, more interesting, more expressive visual solution. He never takes the easiest path or the first solution. Jed Dougherty, like myself, seeks to elevate the comic book to art object as well as literature; the result is Free Planet. It’s the Shape of Comics to Come, a book utterly unlike any other on the rack, utterly unlike any you’ve ever read, and the birth of anything utterly new is never easy.

Early Free Planet designs

If you’re still somehow unconvinced of Jed’s brilliance, check out his recent Patreon post exploring early designs for the Freedom Guard. Jed’s development work for Free Planet was extensive and wide-reaching, ensuring that every ethnicity, planet and confederation of planets had their own aesthetics, energy sources, weapons and vehicles, which went on to inform our narrative in countless places. Free Planet was and remains a holistic approach.

Often, creators will hammer out a narrative and then develop characters and the world around it. For Free Planet, Jed and I built an entire world and fleshed out a complete cast of characters, from which narrative would arise organically. To kick off Jed’s character design process, I provided him with descriptions of amalgamated archetypes from history and 1960s prose science fiction: The guerrilla hero, the zealots, the robot, the savage, the leader, the scientist, the battlesuit, the alien, the good soldier, the terrorist. Head over to Jed’s Patreon to see his earliest stabs at figuring out who these people are and do yourself a favor: Subscribe while you’re there.

As ever: The best way to help make Free Planet a success is to call your local comic shop and preorder the book. Doing so not only ensures you’ll get a copy of the first printing but indicates that there will be wider demand for it. If you don’t have a comics shop in driving distance, my friends at Collector’s Paradise have you covered. And if you are – somehow – still not sold on the Shape of Comics to Come, check out this preview.

Get the rare Free Planet #1 ashcan

There are only 407 Free Planet #1 ashcans in existence; I know because I hand-numbered them myself. Because Free Planet is a book that must be experienced in the print, periodical format, I gave our ashcans out at ComicsPro and sent them out to the comic shops have supported me most over the years. While the Free Planet #1 ashcan has been commanding impressive prices on eBay, some shops – like Asylum Comics in El Paso, Texas – have set up giveaways this extremely rare copy of Free Planet #1. Ask your local comic shop whether they received a Free Planet ashcan and how you can get your hands on it!

Find me at WonderCon!

Everything about Free Planet has been deeply considered from every conceivable angle, including how many copies of our ashcan we printed up. This Saturday, March 29, I’ll be wandering the floor (primarily digging for back issues) at WonderCon in Anaheim, California. Be the first to find me at WonderCon and ask, “Why are there only 407 copies of the Free Planet ashcan?” and I’ll not only explain, but I’ll give you one of these exceedingly rare issues! Anyone who stops me afterward will get an exclusive peek at whatever weird back issues I’ve scavenged.

“All humility is false humility”…

…Is just one of the broad, forceful claims I made on Ideas Don’t Bleed with comics writers Matt Rosenberg and Ethan Parker. While last week’s installment saw me delve into my comics origin story, the second part of our epic chitchat gets into my frustration regarding the industry’s perception of me and my work and how Free Planet’s holistic approach aims to change it. I get pretty fired up (and possibly a little aggressive) on this one, which means it is, once again, probably of significant interest to folks who have been with me since the STRAIGHT SHOOT days.

Also, because someone asked in the comments on the first installment: Yes, we talk about No One Left to Fight and BEEF BROS. Go listen to part two of my Ideas Don’t Bleed interview right this very instant.

Speak of the devil: Matt Rosenberg and Stefano Landini have a brand-new comic out this week, We’re Taking Everyone Down With Us! I read the first issue last night and it was a blast, an artfully considered, deliberately constructed spy thriller that’s unlike any other spy thriller you’ve ever experienced. The less you know the better, so just go grab issue #1 before the inevitable sell-out. A sell out for the book; everyone knows Matt is NYHC down to the marrow and would never sell out.

Chatting with Kieron Gillen

As alluded to above, Free Planet grew out of an enormous amount of thought regarding how to improve and elevate my work. While I remain confident in the execution of all my comics, my previous work has never received the type of response garnered by what I can only refer to as smart writers.

That’s why I was so thrilled that Kieron Gillen, one of contemporary comics’ smartest writers, wanted to interview me for his Wordmail newsletter. Even more gratifying was that Kieron, having read Free Planet, understands what we’re striving for and what a big swing it is for Jed and myself. Click through to find out – among other things – what on earth Aldous Huxley’s Point Counter Point has to do with the Shape of Comics to Come.

Pre-order Blood & Thunder!

You’ve already read me raving about Zander Cannon’s Sleep but there’s yet another amazing new Image Comics series launching in May: Robert Kirkman, Benito Cereno and E.J. Su’s Blood & Thunder!

I’ve read the first issue of this thing and am already salivating for more. It’s a science fiction buddy cop series but the buddies are an alien police officer and her sentient gun. While Blood & Thunder and Free Planet are wildly different books in approach, tone and content, they share a lot of common ground: Sci-fi action, alien societies and political commentary. As such, they’ll be excellent companion pieces to one another come May 7, when they both hit stores!

NEXT WEEK: I’ll talk, once again, about the extensive research I conducted for Free Planet. But it’s up to you to tell me which part of my bibliography you want me to expound upon next…

Aubrey