Spook-tober-blessed: Conspiracies, Vampires, and Other Thrills/Chills.

JUMP SCARE!

Hi, all.

It’s spooky season, the time when Jack Skellington has his mid-life crisis and — like so many celebrities whose stars have begun to fade — attempts a Christian re-brand.

Uh-oh.

Uh-oh.

I know he did a bad job and all, but as an adult I realize Jack Skellington only had about two months to pull together his first Christmas, after exhausting the year’s worth of resources they spent on Halloween, so maybe cut the guy some slack.

Here’s what I’ve been up to lately:

NEW TRAILER: INSIDE JOB on NETFLIX

For most of quarantine, my full-time job was writing for Shion Takeuchi’s (Gravity Falls, Rick & Morty) new adult-animated show Inside Job. I loved doing it, I’m incredibly proud of my contributions, and I can’t wait for you to see it.

Via Variety:

The Truth is Out There, and Lizzy Caplan, Christian Slater and Clark Duke will find it in Netflix’s “Inside Job,” a new conspiracy theory office comedy animated series from “Gravity Falls” writer Shion Takeuchi and creator Alex Hirsch.

Part 1 of Inside Job premieres on Netflix on 10.22.21 — Set your Netflix Reminder now and follow @InsideJob on Twitter and Instagram.

DARKHOLD: BLADE on sale from MARVEL 10.27.21

Cover by Juan Ferreyra.

Cover by Juan Ferreyra.

Chilling Fact: Everyone loves the Marvel movies, but very few people ever step foot in their local comic book shop and check out the source material.

Here’s how you can pre-order DARKHOLD: BLADE from a LOCAL COMIC SHOP NEAR YOU and become one of those insufferable geniuses who knows what’s going to happen in the movies because you read the comic books:

  • Go to http://Comicshoplocator.com — or, if you’re more familiar with it (and why wouldn’t you be) — Google Maps.

  • Call that local shop and ask them to reserve you a copy of DARKHOLD: BLADE by Daniel Kibblesmith and Federico Sabbatini, due out in October 2021. Give them your name and telephone number.

  • When they call you, go buy it.

  • Read it immediately on a park bench with an autumnal novelty coffee.

  • Spread the word on social media that you are a comic book expert now and DARKHOLD: BLADE is your favorite comic book of all time (may require a selfie with cover as proof).

You can also pre-order RIGHT NOW digitally for the Kindle and Comixology apps, or buy a copy from a store that ships nationally, like Midtown Comics.

OR you can just pre-order the whole paperback collection of the entire Darkhold storyline, here or from a local bookstore near you.

Via Marvel:

THE DARKHOLD: BLADE #1

DANIEL KIBBLESMITH (W) • Federico Sabbatini (A) • Cover by JUAN FERREYRA | STORMBREAKERS VENOMIZED VARIANT COVER BY NATACHA BUSTOS | VARIANT COVER BY MICO SUAYAN | CONNECTING VARIANT COVER BY JOSEMARIA CASANOVAS | DESIGN VARIANT COVER BY CIAN TORMEY

THE KING OF DEATH!

Are you fanged, or are you food? The world is divided into humans and vampires – and Blade, the one who walks between them both…and kills with equal impunity. After reading from the cursed Darkhold, Blade and a cadre of other heroes were meant to enter Chthon’s dimension and stop the ancient god from destroying the Multiverse. But reading the book has changed all their lives and histories…and for Blade, the consequences are far-reaching. Vampires rule the world, and he rules over them all. But there are some heroes left—and Blade is not as omniscient as he thinks. 32 PGS./ONE-SHOT/Rated T+ …$3.99

Garfbert Garfberts on.

You’d think having a newborn and several full and part-time writing jobs would make it difficult to do a regularly updated, unpaid, unlicensed Instagram comic about Dilbert living with Garfield, but it turns out all this delirium needs to go somewhere.

All “Classic Garfbert” strips now live on the Garfbert Instagram account (also at Garfbert.com) with new updates every Monday for as long as schedule and fatigue permits.

If you haven’t subscribed yet, here’s a gallery of ALL OF THE NEW ONES SO FAR. “Enjoy.”

Currently Reading:

  • Foundation — it is pretty different from the show.

Currently Watching:

  • Foundation — it is pretty different from the book.

Daniel Kibblesmith

October, 2021

Jump Scare

Two Announcements: OF BABIES AND BLADE-YS

Announcement #1. We Had A Baby

It is much, much more accurate to say that Jennifer Wright had a baby. Our daughter was born on July 10, 2021 at 3:20 A.M. Which makes her — if I correctly recall my astrology lessons — a baby.

Vin_Diesel_saying_FAMILY.wav

Vin_Diesel_saying_FAMILY.wav

RE: Gifts. We truly have everything we need at this point, in terms of clothing, single-purpose chairs, and tumble-dry animal simulacra. But I invite you to make a donation to the NYC-based children’s charity Little Essentials (Charity Navigator score: 94/100).

From their website: Little Essentials offers at-risk families living in poverty urgently needed children’s supplies and parenting education to promote the health, wellbeing and safety of their children under five years of age. Donate money or items here.

But if you know us well enough to have our e-mail addresses and INSIST on getting us a GIFT-gift, please make it Seamless gift cards. I burnt myself pretty bad making short ribs and it’s just now starting to pus.

Announcement #2. I’m Having A Blade-y

Cover by Juan Ferreyra.

Cover by Juan Ferreyra.

I’m writing a Blade one-shot to tie in to Marvel Comics’ October Darkhold event — with the incredible cover above by Juan Ferreyra and interior pencils by Federico Sabbatini. It’s a spooky, alt-future story about Blade confronting an I Am Legend style vampire apocalypse — WHERE EVERY CHARACTER IN THE MARVEL UNIVERSE IS NOW EITHER HUMAN OR VAMPIRE! Call it a “House of V.” So appropriately it drops October 27, 2021, just in time for Halloween.

Via Marvel:

THE DARKHOLD: BLADE #1

DANIEL KIBBLESMITH (W) • Federico Sabbatini (A) • Cover by JUAN FERREYRA | STORMBREAKERS VENOMIZED VARIANT COVER BY NATACHA BUSTOS | VARIANT COVER BY MICO SUAYAN | CONNECTING VARIANT COVER BY JOSEMARIA CASANOVAS | DESIGN VARIANT COVER BY CIAN TORMEY

THE KING OF DEATH!

Are you fanged, or are you food? The world is divided into humans and vampires – and Blade, the one who walks between them both…and kills with equal impunity. After reading from the cursed Darkhold, Blade and a cadre of other heroes were meant to enter Chthon’s dimension and stop the ancient god from destroying the Multiverse. But reading the book has changed all their lives and histories…and for Blade, the consequences are far-reaching. Vampires rule the world, and he rules over them all. But there are some heroes left—and Blade is not as omniscient as he thinks. 32 PGS./ONE-SHOT/Rated T+ …$3.99

It is difficult to overstate how important Blade (1998) and Blade 2 AKA Blade II AKA Blade II: Bloodhunt (2002) were to my development as a fan and a creator.* I have sometimes called them “my Star Wars,” which still isn’t fully accurate, unless there’s a scene I’m forgetting where a power-limping Kris Kristofferson pumps a shotgun into R2-D2.

The Blade movies are perhaps more accurately my Godfather and Godfather Part II, in that I flip back and forth on which is the superior and more important film. Appropriately — and to director Guillermo Del Toro’s apparent regret on the commentary — both sequels contain the line, “Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.” Although only Blade 1 (and zero Godfather films) contains the line, “I’m gonna be a naughty vampire god!” which likely makes it superior to all movies, Godfather and otherwise.

I’m also on the record saying — and I don’t think it’s a remotely controversial opinion — that Blade (1998), as both hit film in its own right and proof of concept, should be getting constant credit for kicking off the superhero movie revolution (leather-clad X-Men would drop a mere two years later). Without Blade (and Snipes, and Goyer, and Dorff, and Norrington, and co.) the trillion-dollar superhero genre juggernaut that now thoroughly dominates global pop culture might have never taken flight, making Blade (and again, this is just math) as or more culturally and commercially important than Star Wars.

Obviously, I’m teasing, no letters please. Although, AGAIN, UNLESS I’VE FORGOTTEN, Star Wars doesn’t feature Norman Reedus exploding into a cloud of brittle pink granules.

Blade is THE character I’ve been gunning for (swording for?) since my first conversation in 2017 with editors Wil Moss and Sarah Brunstad (Team Loki, but also crucially, Team Lockjaw). So it would mean a lot to me if you PRE-ORDERED DARKHOLD: BLADE from a LOCAL COMIC SHOP NEAR YOU.

Here’s how:

  • Go to http://Comicshoplocator.com (yes, it’s just called that) and look up the comic shop nearest you. Or, just use Google Maps, you’re a smart person, everyone is saying so.

  • Call that local shop and ask them to reserve you a copy of DARKHOLD: BLADE by Daniel Kibblesmith and Federico Sabbatini, due out in October 2021. Give them your name and number!

  • Pick it up when they call you (make sure to pay for it first).

  • Read it!

  • Tweet and Instagram yourself holding up the cover and tell other people what beloved local shop you bought your copy at and how they can support them (and me, and Frederico, and dozens others) by doing the same. This final step is crucial.

You can also pre-order digitally here, OR order a mail-order copy from a store that ships nationally, like Midtown Comics here, OR you can just pre-order the whole paperback collection of the entire Darkhold storyline, here or from a bookstore near you.

Currently Reading:

Or just Follow me on GoodReads so we can all earn that personal pan pizza.

Currently Watching:

  • Kevin Can F*ck Himself (AMC)

  • A.P. Bio (Peacock)

  • Physical (Apple TV+)

  • Ted Lasso S2 (Of course. Apple TV+)

JUST FINISHED Watching:

Loki on Disney+ which, to answer an FAQ, I did NOT work on in any capacity, however I did (very proudly) still get a surprise line in from our 2019 run:

Richard E. Grant directed by Kate Herron

Richard E. Grant directed by Kate Herron

Art by Andy MacDonald & David Curiel

Art by Andy MacDonald & David Curiel

Beyond honored. #HailToTheKing

Daniel Kibblesmith

July, 2021

Very tired.

*Blade Trinity is a film that I have seen twice. Once when it was released and once this year for a podcast. We can talk about it in person some time.