Announcing Our New Everafterverse Book + Tabling at Emerald City Comic Con's Artist Alley
Lifeline Comics table at their first West Coast convention, Emerald City Comic Con!
Hello Lifeline Comics subscribers!
We’ve got a BIG announcement for you this week - revealing the title and logline for our next EverAfterVerse 18+ Dark Fairytale comic!
We’ll also talk about our experience tabling at Emerald City Comic Con for the first time, let you know how you can get our ECCC 2024-exclusive Trading Card, let you know about a new queer anthology we’re participating in (for a good cause), and share our thoughts on Netflix’s Avatar: the Last Airbender and Madame Web,
Let’s dive in!
This week, we’re starting with EverAfterVerse (our Dark Fairytale shared comic universe) news!
As you probably know, Nightmare in Wonderland #1 is still live on Kickstarter and ends this Thursday!
“An ASSASSIN ALICE must rescue her childhood friend, SLEEPING BEAUTY, from a nightmare version of WONDERLAND in this steamy, 18+ adventure!”
With Nightmare in Wonderland coming to a close and a certain movie trailer sweeping the internet, we thought now would be the perfect time to announce the title of our NEXT EVERAFTERVERSE COMIC…
Launching this Spring, The Witches of Oz is a Sapphic take on Glinda the Good Witch and the Wicked Witch of the West!
“When the people of Oz turn on Glinda, she has nobody she can turn to…except for the Wicked Witch of the West!”
We can’t share much else about the series now, but expect more details - including some art samples, a launch date, and news about a REALLY EXCITING COVER ARTIST soon!
Let us start by welcoming any new readers to our Substack Newsletter! We had quite a few of you sign up at our table last weekend and are glad to have you as part of the community!
Lifeline Comics took on the West Coast with our first year at Emerald City Comic Con, and we had an absolute blast!
We got to meet many of our online peers in person like Arthur Ebuen, Jessica Maison, Brittany Matter, and so many more wonderfully talented creators.
Kat had the pleasure of being part of Jazzlyn Stone’s panel all about marketing yourself in the comic book industry. We talked about the importance of finding your own unique voice through the ever-changing terrains of social media.
But don’t worry - we fit in a little fun too. Including eating at The Butchers Table where we tried different cuts and steaks, and visited one of my favorite ice cream shops, Salt and Straw.
We also saw some truly amazing cosplay (including some familiar characters…)
It was a blast tabling on the West Coast for the first time and hitting a completely new audience. It already has us looking forward to our next travel con!
LIMITED: Get our ECCC-Exclusive Trading Card via Kickstarter
If you stopped by our table this weekend, you probably already know about our Emerald City Comic Con 2024-exclusive Trading Card - featuring our Assassin Alice from Nightmare in Wonderland drawn by Dravacus!
For those of you who didn’t attend the Con but are still interested in Exclusive items, we’re making the Trading Card available for purchase for a limited time on the Nightmare in Wonderland Kickstarter campaign!
This HOLO card is available for purchase as a $7 Add-on to the campaign!
We Have a Short In “When I Was Young…”
If you enjoy LGBTQ comics, we’re sure you’ve heard of the Color of Always and Michele Abounader’s work as a whole. We’re honored to have a story drawn by Ale Canzanella talking about our journey making queer comics in Michele’s most recent anthology, When I Was Young.
A book that includes the likes of: Heather Antos (Star Trek, Gwenpool), Sam Maggs (The Fangirl's Guide to the Galaxy, Marvel Action: Captain Marvel), Stephanie Williams (Nubia, Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur), Chris Cantwell (Halt and Catch Fire, Iron Man), David Booher (Rain, Specs), Fell Hound (Commander Rao), and so many other wonderful creators!
All the proceeds will be donated to the Trevor Project, which will help in their mission to save young LGBTQ+ youth.
“Slice of Life” Season 1 is FUNDED
Just over a week into our “Slice of Life” Season 1 campaign, we’re already funded and charging towards our Stretch Goals!
In case you missed the announcement, this HUGE 236-page graphic novel collects the entire first season of our Webtoon “Slice of Life” - with 26 pages of EXCLUSIVE CONTENT not available on Webtoon/Tapas.
We’ve already sold out of our Reward Tier and Add-on for the Kickstarter-Exclusive Hardcover edition of the graphic novel. Just a couple of them are left via Cover Bundles and Collector’s Boxes, so be sure to grab one of those tiers if you’re interested in this popular item!
Next Events
Emerald City Comic Con was only the start to our jammed packed 2024 con schedule!
Indie Comics Creator Con
Monkeys Fighting Robots’ Matthew Sardo invited us to be guests for Indie Comic Creator Con, and we couldn’t be more excited to spend the day with 100+ independent comic book creators.
If you live in the area, we have a special 20% discount for the event, and can’t wait to see you there!
Rutgers’ Transgender Day of Visibility
While tabling at NJ’s teaching event earlier this year, we met Damien who invited us to Rutgers’ NJ Transgender Day of Visibility. We are honored to be invited to the event (my brother is actually a Rutgers alum) as we work on our own Trans anthology with Phil’s brother, Dan.
Media
And let’s discuss some popular non-comics media!
Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender
Note: We’ve only seen the Pilot so far, so that’s all we’ll be talking about.
Kat: If you’ve been following our newsletter for a while, you’ll know I’m not a huge fan of remakes and “too faithful” adaptations. I’ve seen it once. I rarely need to see the story retold beat-for-beat again. Avatar doesn’t have a good track record when it comes to live action remakes, but I was still anticipating Netflix’s take on the iconic cartoon. And my verdict is…
…it’s just okay. It’s not the most offensive remake on the planet. It tries to change up the story to some degree (granted, I’m not really sure how much these changes actually affect the overall plot for the better), but it’s also just a retelling of (in my opinion) the weakest season of the Avatar franchise. The emotional beats just don’t hit as hard compared to the original, and neither do the visuals. Most of the action sequences are too dark, and the set designs are very hollow.
I wish I had a more emotional reaction, but it’s just kind of just there. If you want to hear more in-depth thoughts we did a whole podcast episode for the pilot over on the Legendary Ladies.
Phil: There’s been a lot of discourse and discussion leading up to the release of Netflix’s Avatar show. After the universally panned M. Night Shyamalan, fans were instantly nervous at the announcement of a new live-action adaptation. And when the original creative team behind the animated series departed from the remake, fans only grew more apprehensive.
But for all its controversy, Netflix’s A:tLA ends up being a mostly sanitized and inoffensive adaptation.
If you’ve seen the original animated series (and if you haven’t, you should fix that immediately), then you know how nuanced the characters and story of this universe are. Every element of the world oozes with personality. The characters are fun and larger-than-life, but also incredibly flawed and relatable.
There was a lot of discourse leading up to the release of this adaptation about removing the element of Sokka being sexist at the beginning of the series. Some fans took real offense to this change, arguing that a huge part of Sokka’s development as a character is learning the error of his ways and moving past his sexism. While I personally don’t care much about this element, I found another small change to character motivation even more offensive.
In the original series, Aang learns about his identity as the Avatar and the way that his life is about to change (leaving his home in the Southern Air Template to train). And as a 12-year-old kid unprepared for this responsibility, his (understandable) reaction is to run away and subsequently get accidentally frozen in an iceberg. In the Netflix adaptation, a conscious choice was made to adjust Aang’s motivation such that he is just “going for a fly” on Aapa to clear his head, with the implication that he plans to come back had he not gotten caught in the storm.
This small change bothers me so much and feels kind of emblematic of my problem with the adaptation. It’s such a needless sanitization of Aang’s character that robs him of agency. The guilt he feels at not being there for his people when they are killed is mitigated by the fact that he meant to come back. It’s such a small, stupid change that feels like it serves no purpose but to make the characters and circumstances less interesting.
All-in-all, Netflix’s Avatar is just fine. It doesn’t seek to change much (at least early on), and the changes that it does make feel pretty hollow. But I like the cast enough to continue to give it a chance and see where it goes from here.
Madame Web
Kat: Sometimes I just want to see a bad movie. And you know the type of bad movies I’m talking about: The ones with plot holes, bad effects, and head scratchers that will keep you questioning the actions of the characters well past its 90+ minute run time. I don’t want boring - I WANT BAD! I’m happy to report Madam Web is the closest to bad movie charm we’ve gotten in a long time.
Sure, there are plenty of boring parts (the middle of the movie is a real slog), but there are also SO MANY laugh-out-loud moments. How this movie tries to fit in Peter Parker’s lineage, the horrible ADR, and, of course, the yellow taxi that follows Dakota Johnson into the deep depths of the woods.
Madame Web is a BAD MOVIE, but a hell of a GOOD TIME!
Phil: It’s not really surprising that Madame Web was bad. You didn’t need to see the future (🥁) to see that coming. But is it worth a watch? I’d say yes.
Madame Web is a pretty bizarre experience - veering from hilariously bad to almost competent to boring as tears. The opening scene of Cassie’s mother researching spiders in Peru has some of the worst movie dialogue I’ve seen in recent memory. But thankfully(?), the rest of the movie isn’t quite as intolerable as its opening scene.
There are times when Madame Web is actually charming. The interplay between Cassie and the three teens is usually fun - usually in a “fun bad movie” sort of way, but even sometimes bordering on genuinely endearing. And a lot of the action in the movie is enjoyable to watch - special shout-out to an AWFULLY BLOCKED beat where our villain literally JUMPS INTO an incoming ambulance for some reason. I laughed SO HARD.
On the negative side, a good chunk of the middle of the movie is boring bad. Not fun bad. The villain is one of the worst in comic book movie history (and he has some steep competition in that department). And anyone going into Madame Web expecting a great film will be sorely disappointed. But if you’re looking for a fun bad movie, you just might have a great time.
Hell’s Kitchen vs. Top Chef
Kat: With a new season of Hell’s Kitchen in the books, I wanted to talk about my two favorite comfort shows. Next to comics, food is my second love. So I enjoy “digesting” food related content either through YouTube or reality television. Hell’s Kitchen has been in my life for many years, but with a new Peacock membership, I also started binging Top Chef.
I’ve always been a little hesitant to start Top Chef because of its intimidating episode count and my small bias towards Hell’s Kitchen. I mean how can it “top” Gordon Ramsay’s outbursts for the perfect welly!
I know I teased a “vs.” post, but I honestly feel like Top Chef and Hell’s Kitchen are the smorgasbord of reality cooking. They aren’t rivals. Both shows elevate their genre! Hell’s Kitchen is the ultimate job interview. Gordon wants to find the perfect line cook to eventually become one of his head chefs (maybe…sometimes).
Top Chef is almost the complete opposite. The show doesn’t rely on the structure of your typical kitchen, but instead leans into creativity. These are exec chefs that have already proven themselves at the very top of the professional ladder.
But both shows have one big similarity, one mistake can send even the best chefs home. The stakes are high in these easily cravable shows!
Comics
Let's discuss some comics we've enjoyed recently!
As usual, we'll spotlight a Direct Market Indie Book, a DC or Marvel book, a Kickstarter book, and a Webcomic!
Indie Comic: The Legend of Korra Graphic Novels
Kat: Since Avatar is on the brain, I wanted to give some love to the other side of the franchise - Legend of Korra. Korra is one of my favorite TV shows…period! It’s a property that was heightened through its transition into comic books as it continues exactly where the show left off.
It has room to explore Korra & Asami’s blossoming relationship and takes the time to expand on new and old mythology a like. (We even get to see Kuvira return and go through her own redemption arc!) The creators of Avatar were heavily involved in these books and IT SHOWS!
Marvel: The Loners
Kat: Just in time for Madame Web, I wanted to give some love to a book that Mattie Franklin starred in: The Loners. This is such an underrated series as it stars B-list/C-list Marvel characters with the likes of Darkhawk, Phil Urich, and my girl, Julie Power, joining the ranks.
The Loners is about a group of heroes and even villains who don’t know what to do with their lives once they hang up their costume for one reason or another. The comic does a beautiful job at developing characters that normally don’t get the spotlight. Some threads introduced here STILL play a part in these characters’ lives including the introduction of Julie’s bisexuality.
WEBTOON: Beeswax (BL)
“After a terrible breakup, Soma Lark moves to Lancaster Valley, where he quickly finds himself in the midst of rival Witches, magical bees, and a serious lack of caffeine.”
Phil: Beeswax is a fantasy slice-of-life romance that sees its lead character starting a new job as an entomologist in the magical Lancaster Valley. He’s immediately startled (and charmed) by a talking cat, his 7’4” boss, and the cute errandboy. While early in its run, Beeswax has a lighthearted charm and sense of humor. The central relationship is still being established, but the interactions between our romantic leads so far have been fun and cute.
What really captured my attention in Beeswax was the art - particularly the colors and lighting. It’s really beautiful to look at. And the frequent use of yellows and golds (as one might expect from a comic called Beeswax) helps to create a really cohesive and unique look for the series almost immediately.
Fun bonus detail: the artist uses partial images for each part of a chapter which together form a completed image. It’s not the first time I’ve seen this on Webtoon, but this is definitely one of the cooler examples. It’s a fun personal touch for the series.
Read Beeswax on Webtoon Canvas!
Kickstarter: Wurst & Mayhem #1
“Two strangers bound by a curse must work together to pay off a debt in this medieval caustic adventure.”
Phil: A medieval comedy comic from our friends John Edingfield II and Ryan Kroboth - who have been working on this comic for a while and have clearly poured so much love into it (including sharing physical previews with previous backers)!
Wurst & Mayhem is sure to remind you of your favorite and most hilarious D&D one-shot campaigns. And with an extra-sized 58-page first issue, there’s so much content to enjoy from this first issue.
Funded in its first week with still more than three weeks to go, be sure to check out this campaign if you’re looking for some mature Middle Ages laughs!
Support Wurst & Mayhem #1 on Kickstarter!
In Closing
Thanks, as always, for reading our newsletter! We’ll have more news for The Witches of Oz soon! In the meantime, be sure to check out Nightmare in Wonderland #1 before the campaign ends this Thursday!
And if you’re not already subscribed, now’s your chance! Don’t miss out on future updates!
Current Kickstarters:
Nightmare in Wonderland #1 (Ending 3/07)
“Slice of Life” Season 1 (Ending 3/28)
Next Convention/Event: Indie Comics Creator Con (3/09 - New Haven, CT)