ROYAL CITY A New Ongoing Image Series Written & Drawn by Jeff Lemire

With SDCC around the corner, there have been a lot of announcements lately, but none that I'm more excited about than this!  I will be launching a brand new ongoing series called ROYAL CITY. It will be published monthly by IMAGE COMICS and it will be the first monthly book that I've both written and drawn since Trillium and Sweet Tooth! 

IMAGE COMICS ANNOUNCES JEFF LEMIRE'S ROYAL CITY

Image Comics is pleased to announce ROYAL CITY—a new ongoing monthly series written and illustrated by New York Times bestselling author Jeff Lemire (DESCENDER, Sweet Tooth) and set to launch in March 2017. ROYAL CITY promises to be a sprawling, serialized graphic novel that will chart the lives, loves and losses of a troubled family and a vanishing town, across three decades.

ROYAL CITY follows Patrick Pike, a fading literary star who reluctantly returns to the once-thriving factory town where he grew up and is quickly drawn back into the dramas of his two adult siblings, his overbearing Mother and his brow beaten Father, all of whom are still haunted by different versions of his youngest brother, Tommy, who drowned decades ago.

As each member of the family struggles to keep themselves above water, it quickly becomes clear that Tommy’s death isn’t the only dark secret tearing the town, and this family, apart at the seams. Can each member of the Pike family come to terms with their own guilt over Tommy’s death, and make peace with the many versions of Tommy that still haunt them, or will they all be dragged down below the river along with his lingering ghost?

ROYAL CITY is a return to the literary and thematic territory of Lemire’s breakthrough graphic novel Essex County and is his most ambitious, and most personal project to date.

Read the first interview about Royal City here at ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY!

WAYPOINT ENTERTAINMENT AQUIRES FILM RIGHTS TO PLUTONA

•  

Waypoint Entertainment has acquired the rights to author Jeff Lemire and illustrator Emi Lenox’s comic series Plutona, a coming-of-age story which centers on a group of kids who find the body of a famous dead superhero in the woods. The move comes right before the start of Comic-Con which starts in earnest next week on July 20th in San Diego. Image Comics released Plutona, a 5-issue limited series, in September last year.

Waypoint Entertainment’s Ken Kao (The Nice Guys) will produce the project with partner Dan Kao and Addictive Pictures’ Russell Ackerman (Mama) and John Schoenfelder under their first-look deal.

“Plutona has been a labor of love for us and we were very careful about finding a home for it, and we are thrilled that the team at Addictive and Waypoint share our passion for the story and for its potential as a film,” said Lemire, who is also the author of titles including the Essex County Trilogy, Sweet Tooth, The Nobody, and wrote a run of Animal Man.

Jaime Hogge

Lemire is known for his moody, humanistic stories and sketchy, cinematic, black-and-white art and has worked extensively with DC and Marvel Comics. Lenox is perhaps best known for her diary comic Emitown, as well as having work featured in such critically-acclaimed series as Nowhere Men, Madman, Glory, and Sweet Tooth.

Waypoint Entertainment is the same company that acquired the rights to two Mark Millar properties, American Jesus and Supercrooks, which Ken Kao will produce with partner Dan Kao and Addictive Pictures. They are also in pre-production on the sci-fi thriller Tau, directed by Federico D’ Alessandro and starring Maika Monroe and Ed Skrein.

Addictive Pictures is currently prepping Jeremy Saulnier’s next film Hold the Darkfor A24, and recently closed a deal for Deeper written by Max Landis starring Bradley Cooper at MGM.

Lemire is represented by Angela Cheng Caplan of Cheng Caplan Company and attorney Allison Binder of Smelkinson, Genow, Stone, Binder & Christopher LLP.

JOIN MY NEW MAILING LIST

Subscribe to our mailing list

I have created a new twice monthly mailing list to help share news and updates about my various comics projects. I will also be sharing EXCLUSIVE artwork, previews and behind the scenes material not offered anywhere else.

You can join by adding you email address above and unsubscribe at any time.

THREE MEMORIES OF DARWYN COOKE

One of my cartooning heroes, Darwyn Cooke, passed away this weekend from cancer.

Darwyn's work was a huge inspiration to me, and him being a Canadian just made him even more inspirational. He was so supportive of my work even from the early days of my career when the first volume of Essex County was published. I have a lot of fond memories of Darwyn, but I thought I'd share three that I'll never forget...

1. Darwyn and I were nominated against one another for "Best Cartoonist" at the 2008 Shuster Awards for Canadian cartooning. I ended up winning the award that night and on my way back to my seat, Darwyn cut me off and grabbed my hand, congratulating me in such a heartfelt and genuine way that I was incredibly moved. I mean, who is kidding who, I had no business even being nominated for a cartooning award against a master like Darwyn, let alone winning. Yet the look in his eyes that night as he shook my hand made me feel worthy and meant as much to me as the award itself.

2. When Essex County was collected into one volume I emailed Darwyn and asked if he would write the introduction. When he agreed I was over the moon and when I read what he wrote, I was so honoured and moved.

3. At Fan Expo in 2013 Darwyn pulled me aside and asked if I'd take a walk outside of the convention centre with him because he wanted to "talk to me about something". I was curious of course, but I was also worried. I knew that Darwyn had a temper, and I worried that I'd done or said something to piss him off. But when we got outside and found a spot to sit on the steps near the Rogers Centre I was stunned when Darwyn told me that he wanted me to write something for him to draw. He had just read Underwater Welder and said he wanted me to write something like that for him to draw. I was stunned, flattered and, again, moved. I never got a chance to work with him. I became so busy it was always one of those things I thought I would follow up with him about one day down the road, and now he's gone.

While I never got to know Darwyn on a deeply personal level, he still made a huge impact on me and these are memories that I will always cherish. Darwyn was one of the greatest cartoonists alive, and he not only accepted me into the clubhouse, he made me feel like I belonged.

I'll never forget his kindness and his talent.

Rest in peace, Darwyn. And thank you.

MY TCAF SCHEDULE

I will be a featured guest at the  TCAF - The Toronto Comic Arts Festival  this weekend, May 14-15

I will be signing all day Saturday and Sunday in the MASONIC TEMPLE location along with my Plutona collaborator Emi Lenox and many other talented comics creators.

I will also be interviewed by RAY FAWKES at THE PILOT in Saturday at 11:00 am and I will be doing some live drawing on stage at the Masonic Temple on Sunday and giving away whatever I draw.

SATURDAY MAY 15 11:00 am - Spotlight panel moderated by my friend and frequent collaborator RAY FAWKES at THE PILOT (22 Cumberland Street, Across from The Library)

In addition I will be selling these new LIMITED prints featuring all of my crater-owned characters, from LOST DOGS to ROUGHNECK, from the last 10-years! The prints are limited to 150 copies and come signed and numbered.

The prints will also be made available online through CADENCE COMIC ART, who also sell my other prints and original artwork,  on MONDAY MAY 16.

I will also have a limited supply of signed BLACK HAMMER PREVIEW COMICS.

BLACK HAMMER NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE ORDER!

BLACK HAMMER, my new creator-owned series with Dean Ormston and Dark Horse Comics is now available for pre-order at any local comic book store.

Simply bring this order-form to any local comic book shop and order today!