Old Devils 1-2 is live on Kickstarter!

First thing’s first. Artist J. Schiek and I are thrilled to announce…

OLD DEVILS is back for issue two on Kickstarter!

This campaign will be limited to just 666 hours, and as always, supporting early is the best way to make it happen.

The Story So Far…

In issue #1, former occult investigator and current Boston club promoter Jade St. Claire was contacted by her former employer, Dr. Randall Shaw. Shaw believed that he’d finally discovered an “Old God” active in North America—an ageless being that seemed to be causing the deaths of young women in America’s Great Plains and rural Canada for well over a century.

The deaths seemed to be connected to reproduction.

Reluctantly, Jade accepted the assignment to investigate the deaths, even as the “Old God” was drawing in its next victim.

At the same time, another type of seemingly unconnected killer—a small, burned, disfigured humanoid creature—attacked and devoured a man on a rural North Dakota highway.

In this issue…

Guided by Shaw’s research and intel, Jade heads to North Dakota to meet the families of the dead and try to track down an Old God before the burned child finds her.

Also, only for subscribers, we are offering a signed edition of Old Devils #2 at a special discounted rate. If you’d like a signed copy for just $6, please use this link.

Interested in how comic scripts become comic pages?

Talking to folks about making comics, I get questions: Where do you get ideas? How do you find collaborators? Why don’t you just use AI?

My favorite one, which I usually get from kids, is “how do you make a comic?”

I’m a writer and publisher, so I have to hire artists and letterers to create the final product. I’ve worked with some fantastic artists—most notably J. Schiek and Matt Rowe—to bring my stories to life visually. A few weeks back, I started showing comparisons of my script pages to the comic pages, which got a really positive response, so I wanted to do it here as well.

Here’s script pages vs. rendered pages for Old Devils #1.

The script calls out number of panels and action, but I don’t give much guidance in the way of layout. Sound effects are called out for the letterer.

In this example, I think J could have done a lot of things, but his layout and the angles and focus points he chooses emphasize the action in a really nice way. Panels 4 and 6 are exactly what I envisioned. They allow for a very tense moment, so when the page turns, we get the reveal of the monster.

Later, when Jade is introduced, you can see more of J’s interpretation of my rather loose guidelines.

Here, I gave a visual example of the club I was thinking of—in this case the now-closed Allston venue Great Scott. I also sent J photos of actor and old friend Kris Sidberry as a visual reference, and suggested that she look run down burned out. J and I are about the same age and have a similar frame of reference when it comes to music and culture, so I trusted that he’d be able to create the aesthetic I was looking for without more specifics.

This is all specific to J and to this story—when I work with Matt on Free Hands, I often give quite a few more visual samples, as Matt is a lot younger than me and so we don’t have the same frame of reference, but also, Free Hands is an 18th century period piece, and so presuming he’s going to know the difference between a schooner and a frigate is unreasonable.

The funny thing about comics is that, unlike with film, there’s no universally accepted format. Some writers (Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman come to mind) are known for dictating not just layout, but even small details like what’s on the floor to their writers. Others—Stan Lee provides the most extreme example here in his “Marvel Method”—give artists an outline of what needs to happen and set them loose.

My preference is to give a panel-by-panel script and communicate to my collaborators that if they have an idea about how to do what I’m trying to do in a more visually compelling way, to run it by me, or even just try it. Sometimes this leads to more or less panels, or a completely different layout from what I’d expected, but it’s rarely anything but an improvement on what I’ve written.

Because comics are collaborative, I’ve found that giving collaborators some rope and not being too precious serves me well. Sometimes I find a hill to die on, but usually, the work is improved when the person who specializes in what they do makes a suggestion that is focused in their specialty. This has proven true for me with illustrators, colorists, and letterers.

Crowdfunding Campaigns by Friends

Since you’re heading over to Kickstarter to back Old Devils right now, here’s a few other campaigns that friends, associates, and people I admire are running.

Tomb of The Pale Horse | Tomb: Complete Collection

In the wake of his three siblings, the Pale Horse of Death stalks the Earth. Its sweeping gaze reveals what’s left of our world: Entire cities reduced to ash, hordes of animals that attack on sight, and untold casualties beyond measure. In a matter of days, mankind has been wholly eradicated from the face of our planet.

Except for Jude.

This campaign concludes the Tomb Series and ends 9/30/25. I am a genuine fan of the series, and encourage you to check it out.

Mary Shelley's School for Monsters: Origins #3

Shel and Frank battle arcane Watchers to free Will from a hexed amulet and claim the Primal Woods as home for the School for Monsters. Origins Issue #3 is the collector comic edition of the next chapter in the award-winning series.

This campaign runs until 10/2/25. This series is new to me, but seems like a fun, lighthearted take on horror that I know a lot of folks could use right now.

Worrywart

A young demon prince is dependent on his Worrywart, a magical imp friend who makes him happy with a touch, to get through life on the miserable planet his Royal mother has conquered. But the Queen thinks this makes him too weak, so the Worrywart must DIE. No limit on collateral as long as her son technically survives. A fun standalone action-fantasy comic with great art by Lane Lloyd.

This campaign runs until 10/2/25. Creator Nick Bryan has done great work in the past, and I’m looking forward to this one coming out.

Upcoming Appearances

I will be tabling in the following locations coming up! Come by and say hello!

Saturday, October 4, 2025, 11am-6pm

Silvermoon Comics
1 E. India Square Mall
Witch City Mall #131
Salem, MA 01970
Website

Sunday, October 5, 2025, 10am-5pm

Wicked Comic Convention
Westin Boston Seaport
425 Summer St
Boston, MA
Website

One More Time! Please Check Out Old Devils on Kickstarter Today!

We’ve got a ton of cool tiers, including signed editions, bundles, ad space, and even the opportunity to have yourself, a loved one, or even a hated enemy drawn into the back cover.

I’ve said it many times, and I’ll say it again: The only way I get to make stuff like this is with the support of readers like yourselves. This is my sixth book in five years—I launched Nightmare Man on Kickstarter on September 22, 2020 in the height of the pandemic. It was an incredible experience that led to over 200 backers, and eventually to publication from an independent publisher and over 5000 copies through comic shops and conventions all over the world.

You can help make this happen by backing it, and also by boosting it. A reminder, you aren’t charged until the end of the campaign (in this case 9am ET on October 22, 2025), and only if the campaign meets its goal.

Here are some posts on various social media platforms that could use your interactions. Leave a comment on the campaign, respond to a post, or retweet/repost wherever you can.

• Facebook

• Bluesky

• X/Twitter

• Threads

• Instagram

• Kickstarter

Thank you all. We look forward to telling the story, and hearing from you about what you think of it!

The world is a hellscape. All we can do is make stuff and support each other.

-MW