Batman: The Brave & The Bold #20 Preview

If you live in the United States and observe the holiday? Happy Thanksgiving to you. I hope you are enjoying reading this before or after the big meal or on Friday when you’re bored out of your skull and wondering why no one else has produced content for us bored heads on this day. I will confess to you, dear reader, that I am writing this post in advance so I can enjoy the long weekend (I’m sure I made minor edits to this post the night before it went live).

Because I am writing this in advance, I am hoping that yesterday the release of Batman: The Brave & The Bold #19 which featured part one of “Man’s Underworld” written by me, drawn by Nikola Čižmešija, colors by Rex Lokus, letters by Steve Wands, and edits by the team of Ben Meares and James Reid, went incredibly well. People loved it, the reviews were kind, and if you haven’t read it yet you can get it this weekend!

Batman: The Brave & The Bold #20 had its FOC this past Monday, we didn’t run preview pages because quite frankly? We didn’t want to spoil the story, which I think was ultimately the right move. However, I’m hoping that everyone ordered their copies of issue 19 and issue 20 at the same time. And I am going to show you the first two pages of part two of “Man’s Underworld” right now.

So for those of you who haven’t read part one yet, or not deeply in the know about DC lore, we reveal that the villain behind Wonder Woman’s lasso of truth being stolen is the character Roulette. Roulette is a great character, originally created in the series JSA, and she ran illegal fights between super-powered people that the rich could gamble on. In our story she’s looking to expand her empire. She’s re-established the black market auction house Mirror House alongside the character Guiborg from Scott Snyder, Jock, and Francesco Francvilla’s modern classic Batman: The Black Mirror. In the Black Mirror storyline, Mirror House sold items associated with Batman’s adventures. Now that Roulette is involved she thinks everything from the DCU is up for grabs, and that’s why for her first auction she went after Wonder Woman’s lasso.

At the end of part one of our story, we reveal that Roulette and Plastic Man have known each other for quite some time, from a time when they were criminals and not involved in the super-powered world. And at the start of part two, we get even deeper into that relationship. I’m really excited for people to read part two, and just like with part one, everyone involved did a great job. Nikola drew the hell out of this story and was just a delight to collaborate with. I think Rex Lokus did some of his best coloring work to date on this project. And Steve Wands? That guy is one of the best letterers in comics, and I’m blown away that he lettered this story.

Batman: The Brave & The Bold #20 comes out on 12/25/24, Christmas Day, so go to the comic book store the day after, buy the book, and let us know how we did.

My First Store Signing

Speaking of Christmas, this is a reminder that I will be heading back to where I grew up in Western Massachusetts this holiday season, and I will be doing my first-ever store signing at the fantastic Comics N’ More in Easthampton, Massachusetts at 64 Cottage Street from 1 PM-5 PM. Bring comics for me to sign, be ready to buy comics at the store, meet me, and support a great local comic store/small business this holiday season. I think we’re going to have an outstanding time, and after my LA Comic Con experience, I have been so eager to meet more readers, sign more comics, and do the things comic book writers do besides writing comics!

Giving Thanks

As I get older, stopping and giving gratitude has become an essential part of my life. I kick that gratitude into high gear during November and December. The year is coming to a close, and the holidays are around the corner, but I also know this is an incredibly stressful part of the year for people and one where depression can be at all-time highs for folks. Stopping and letting the people I’m around know that I’m grateful for them and that what they do…is everything.

That is even more true now as I close out my second year as a freelancer. I’m so thankful that for almost two full years now I have been able to put together an amount of work that allows me to have a good quality of life, live somewhere that I like, and take care of myself. That isn’t the case for everyone, and even though I am actively trying to get more work next year than I did this year, I would be an ass if I did not say that my life has been very good these last two years.

I want to thank all of you for subscribing to this Newsletter. It’s become an essential part of my creative expression, the way I promote my work, and an important way that I communicate with the world. When I have had weeks where I didn’t have a comic script to write or a pitch to revise, this Newsletter became the main thing that reminded me that I am a full-time comic writer and hopefully reminded the world of that as well.

Last year, when I left DC Comics, I thought the comic book writing work was going to come immediately. As I have mentioned before, it did not. This year, however, I achieved the goal I set out for myself to write six paid comic book projects. Four of those projects came from my former full-time employer DC. I want to thank the editors Andrew Marino, Michael McCalister, Ben Meares, James Reid, and Rob Levin for welcoming me back as a writer, letting me pitch for awesome projects, and then giving me great notes that made those projects some of the best I have done so far. Thanks to the artists of those projects: Sid Kotian, Nikola Čižmêsija, and Howard Porter. The colorists Patricio Delpeche, Rex Lokus, and Hi-Fi. And the letterers Tom Napolitano and Steve Wands.

Before I went back to DC this year, my first non-DC writing project came out in the form of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Black, White, & Green #3. Getting to write a Teenage Mutant NInja Turtles story…that meant the world to me. It was important for me to write somewhere that wasn’t DC Comics to prove that I could, but to have that opportunity be on a comic that is so closely affiliated to where I grew up in Western Massachusetts? It felt like magic. Thanks to editors Maggie Howell and Nic Niño for having me, and to the people at IDW in general for being so astonishingly kind to me. And to the artist I worked with on my story in that book Riley Rossmo. One of the best collaborators and pals a guy could ask for. A friend who is there when times are good and bad. His kindness is only matched by his immense artistic talent.

There are a few editors I can’t thank yet because our projects haven’t been announced yet, but in case they are reading this too? I am so excited for next year, and the opportunities you have given me were life-changing and dream-making. Likewise, to some of the people who hired me to do non-comic writing work this year, it was an amazing opportunity to stretch my creative muscles and remind myself that I can write so many different things if I choose to. And have a great time doing it.

This year I’ve also been really lucky to become friendly with way more comic writers and get to share my experiences with them. Becoming a part of that community has meant so much to me, and I want to thank those folks, too. To the many writers who have been willing to give me advice, go to cons with me, commiserate about starting my career for a second time, giving me feedback on pitches and decisions I was considering making, just getting a damn meal with me, or having the simple kindness to ask me “How are you doing so far?”, I thank you all!

I hope I returned all the kindness that was provided to me, and even though I’m looking for more in the year ahead, again…to not appreciate what I have and how far I’ve already come on this adventure would be awful. So thanks for reading this. And thanks for being here.

Don’t forget you only have one more day to get your questions in for the first annual Dave’s Holiday Q&A, I am closing down the questions tomorrow, and am going to begin answering them over the weekend so we have the post ready in time for next Thursday. Again, let me know if you want me to run your name with the answer to your question, be nice, don’t send me your pitches/scripts, and ask me fun stuff about the comics I’ve made and the process of making comics! Send your questions to [email protected]!

That’s it!

Stay safe!

—Dave Wielgosz