Welcome back to the Weekly Up-Dave! The first full week of 2026 was long and unrelenting, I hope that you are doing all right, taking care of yourself, and going easy on yourself, even if you are pursuing big goals and resolutions.

Last week I talked a lot about where I was at personally and mentally heading into 2026 and I thought this week I would get back to what this Newsletter is primarily about: my comic book writing career.

I am working on a number of projects right now, and always on the lookout for more, but I wanted to give you a rundown of what I am working on, even if I can’t say very much quite yet. I am going to talk about four projects and then what else I am on the lookout for this year, in a slight act of “Speaking it into being” and or…”manifesting”.

Let’s get started!

The first project you know about and it’s coming out at the end of this month on January 28th, and that is the Green Arrow story I wrote that’s coming out in the pages of DC’s Supergirl Next Door, DC’s Valentine’s Day anthology for 2026.

The story is pencilled by very talented newcomer Dylan Dietrich making his DC Comics debut, inked by the legendary Wade Von Grawbadger, colored by one of my personal favorites Ivan Plascencia, with letters by the great Wes Abbott.

The week the issue comes out I will be emailing Dylan about his experience with this as his first published DC work, and what it was like working with me. I will also be doing an interview with comic writer Dorado Quick who has a terrific Jay Garrick (The Golden Age Flash) story in the anthology drawn by Laura Braga.

This is far from my first seasonal anthology story for DC, and it’s also not my first Green Arrow short story. I came up with two storytelling challenges for myself that made me want to do this story, and I’m excited for folks to give this a read and see if I was successful at either. It was also just a joy working with Dylan. I think he’s got a big comic book career ahead, it was an honor to write his first DC story, and I hope I get to work with him again.

And yes…Green Arrow is wearing his Neal Adams-era attire. This is a bronze age-set story, or in the parlance of modern days readers a bit of a World’s Finest-era story…

Back in early October I was contacted to pitch on a short story, again as written above…I have done a lot of short stories, but this one is going to my biggest yet. The announcement on this one is a way’s out but it’s going to be worth the wait.

This was one of the coolest things I have been asked to work on yet, and I am proud of how the script turned out. It was hard because the size of the opportunity was psyching me out to a degree, but luckily I had great editors who kept my feet on the ground and my eyes focuses on what is always the most important…tell the story in front of you…don’t worry about what the story could do for you and your career.

Right now the story is being drawn, I am working with an artist I have never worked with before, but I was blown away by their work when it was shared with me. I think it’s going to be a special story, and as long as the artist does not strongly dislike me by the end of the experience? I will do the usual Weekly Up-Dave interview with them here.

Got a lot of news about this one this week and all I can is say is…buckle up.

Much more, much sooner than you think.

Towards the end of 2025, after an awesome development period with an artist, I got a second creator-owned project off the ground. This past week I have been working on the first script. The artist on this is someone you do not know yet, but they have made a tremendous impression on me, and our publishing team with their imagination, design work, and tenacity. I am working with someone who no doubt is going to be a star, and I am very aware of that as I write scripts for them. I want to make sure this is a great first project for them, and as always leave the door open for us to hopefully work together again.

Also this is the longest project I have written since wrapping up my first creator-owned project’s scripts back at the end of May 2025. Since then I have been writing shorter assignments, which again you can make great comics at all page lengths, but getting to write something longer again is nice. I have been thinking so much about structure, how to best to use pages, and world-building. This project has A LOT of world-building. And while a great artist came on board Creator-Owned Project 1 while I was writing it. The artist on this project has been on board every step of the way, and we have so much visualized before we are diving in on issue one, it’s nice. It also means we will have a lot of bonus content for the eventual trade paperback.

This one is a ways out from being announced, but…it’s starting fast and furious here.

So, to summarize, I am actively writing scripts for one project and very actively prepping the release of something I finished writing a little bit ago. My dance card is still open and I am looking to fill it. I have a couple pitches I worked on with the great Sid Kotian out there in the world, I would love either or both of those came to fruition. And then once the Green Arrow short story and the secret short story are out in the world I will be sending those to editors in order to get more work.

I am still game for short stories, especially if they give me the chance to work with publishers I haven’t yet, work with interesting creators, or are a part of of something I haven’t been yet. However, my great writing focus this year is getting more longer projects. Solo issues, annuals, mini-series, and things like that which allow me more page real estate and more opportunities to show what I can do.

Starting off the year with a longer creator-owned project to write is a gift. And it gives me something to focus my schedule around. Once I get to the halfway mark on the scripts, around March then I will be more focused on what comes next, but…if there’s any interested editors reading this, I have a ton of samples I would love to send if you if I have not already. Just email me at [email protected]

New Comic: Sorcerer Supreme #1 by Steve Orlando, Bernard Chang, Ruth Redmond & Cory Petit

There was a large stack of comics that came out in November and December waiting for me at my local comic book store (the tremendous Collector’s Paradise in North Hollywood, California) and I have spent the last two weeks reading through what I missed. I have read fifty-plus single issues, and my biggest take away is that there are a lot of creators doing the work of their careers on a great many books in the industry right now. Things feel good, it was hard to pick a book to spotlight but this one feels right.

Steve Orlando has been writing Scarlet Witch for years now across a couple different ongoings, mini’s, and event tie-ins. I love Steve, I worked with him a lot at DC, and we did a lot of work together that I am proud of. I think his run on Scarlet Witch may be one of the best comics he has written to date. He’s embraced Scarlet Witch, Wanda Maximoff, her whole history, given her a great new cast of supporting characters, lovingly kept her previous connections and dug deeper into them, and as is the best part of having a long run has just become very familiar and confident with the character. And in Wanda’s new role as Sorcerer Supreme of the Marvel Universe, that confidence continues. Such a fun read, so much character, and just a shining example of how great super hero comics can be. And also how great they can be when we give creators a lot of time to work on the characters.

Steve has also worked with a ton of great artists on Scarlet Witch: Sara Pichelli, Russell Dauterman, Jacopo Camagni, Lorenzo Tametta, and now the great Bernard Chang. Who absolutely dazzles with his art. It’s bright, dynamic, whimsical, and he draws the heck out of every character. Especially the legendary Dormammu who shows up in issue one. Bernard worked a lot at DC while I was there, but he was one of the few people I did not get a chance to work with, something I regret, and something I regret even more reading this book and how great he did with it.

TV Show I’m Watching: The Pitt Season 2 on HBOMax. Guys, this show rules. Like most, I did not expect a hospital show in this day and age to completely captivate me, but Season 1 was a total blast and a perfect hybrid of the type of excellently executed TV dramas we would all watch on network television in it’s hayday, and the prestige TV we have loved for the last twenty plus years. Thankfully, more like network TV, The Pitt Season 2 came back very quickly after the conclusion of season one.

Only the first episode is out so far, but man, it is a narrative knockout punch. It sets up so much for nearly a dozen characters we love, and it feels like we are in for another awesome fifteen-episode season. I am also hopeful this “Pitt-Model” of a 15-episode season that comes out weekly, on streaming, is something that can be done for other types of TV shows we love: sitcoms, crime procedurals, and the like. But for now we have one The Pitt, and it’s pretty fantastic.

Movie I Watched: The Princess Bride Directed by Rob Reiner, Written by William Goldman. Folks know why I have been thinking about Rob Reiner as of late. I am one of the generations of Americans for whom Rob Reiner loomed very large. He was Jess’s Dad on New Girl and had a stellar turn in The Wolf of Wall Street as Jordan Belfort’s aggrieved father who just wanted to watch The Equalizer (the television show). I am also of the age where Rob Reiner’s run of films as a director were omnipresent. They were every referenced in other media I watched, or they were just on cable all the time. The ones that I have seen the most and had the largest impact on me are Stand By Me, A Few Good Men, and The American President.

I had never seen The Princess Bride, which not only is a movie that is in the DNA of many people I know that’s how much they love it, but it was also written by William Goldman who I deeply revere. I watched it over the weekend and I totally got it. It is a perfect modern Fairy Tale, there is not an ounce of fat on the movie, the performances are charming, the story direct and enticing, and you feel like a kid watching it. I am sure if I had watched it when I was younger I would have loved it even more, but I loved it quite a bit at age thirty-three. Time absolutely well spent watching it.

A reminder! I will be going back to Emerald City Comic Con for this year’s 2026 show. I will have my own table in Artist Alley, and I will be there all four days from Thursday March 5th through Sunday March 8th. My first time at the show last year was an absolute blast, the best show I did all year, and I have high hopes for this year.

If you are going to be there? Come on through, bring some stuff for me to sign, and be ready for me to try to make you leave with something brand new from me.

I do not know what table number I am in Artist Alley yet, but once I do I will let you know. I am also pretty delighted that I am listed a guest on the website, so you can check out the guest list for more updates as well!

That’s it for now.

We will be back next Thursday, probably with a shorter post, but it will also have a Media Diet section, we’re keeping that in the format for the foreseeable future.

Until then?

Stay safe!

—Dave Wielgosz