DJO June Newsletter
Adventures in Adventures, The Acolyte Premier, and More...
First of all, a huge thank you to all the new subscribers and to everyone who’s been along for the ride thus far! It seems like every other month I’m re-figuring out what this place is gonna be, and I’m grateful that you’ve stuck with me amidst it all. The world keeps changing, my brain and heart stay in motion, and I keep getting buried in deadlines and digging myself out just in time to find a whole new pile of them in my inbox hahaahaha that monthly comics cycle is NO JOKE! I love it but wow. More on that in a moment.
Here’s what I know: there are more things I want to say about writing, lots of things in fact! Please ask any questions you have on writing and/or publishing — I’m twenty books into this career and love to talk about craft, process, and even the business of it all. There’s lots of comics I have in me that I want to post, but in the meantime I’ll be posting sketches as I continue my journey re-learning my first artistic love.
And we’re 267 days into the US funded Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, and 76 years into the ongoing Nakba, and we’ll be talking about that on this Substack until Palestine is free, and also after that too. This month, I posted this essay that also went up on Lit Hub, about how PEN America has been abusing the word antisemitism to hide its uselessness on Gaza.
I also want to shout the amazing pro-Palestine movement here in New Orleans, an incredible, badass coalition including the local JVP and PYM chapters, a Masjid, a group called NOSHIP that’s doing work on the Port of New Orleans connections to the genocide, and various socialist orgs, student groups, and others. I’m just blown away by the collective brilliance, bravery, creativity, and compassion of these folks. I’ve been organizing in different spaces for most of my adult life and I’ve never been involved in a movement space like this. It’s been so inspiring and invigorating and healing to be in community with them. Truly grateful.
Alright, onto…
Updates and Things!
Last month I traveled to the Bay Area to spend my May the 4th (be with you) doing one of my favorite things—talking about books! I had the pleasure of being a guest at the Bay Area Book Festival’s Family Day with Brittany and Tito (my wife and son for those of you who are new around here).
Here’s some of the highlights:
I had the honor of moderating a discussion with the brilliant storyteller Hannah Moushabeck regarding her new children's book Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine. It’s a wonderful and imaginative book perfect for kids and parents alike. You can buy the book here!
I then chatted with fellow graphic novelist Thien Pham about writing comics for Star Wars! It was a perfectly dated panel, especially with the 4th doubling as Free Comic Book Day!
While I was in the Bay Area I headed over to Lucasfilm Headquarters in San Francisco to meet Nubs! Well, I went for some other stuff too, but Nubs was definitely priority one—just look at him! Seeing where the magic of Star Wars is created, where everyone works so hard on maintaining the inspiration that Star Wars stories provide us all, it was just so special and I was reminded how lucky I am to be able to add my stories to this galaxy far far away.
Speaking of Star Wars…
THRA Issue #5 and 6 came out this past month, and it was given so much love. Every issue of this series so far has gotten more love than I could ever ask for—thank you!! It’s so gratifying to hear that these characters and their stories resonate with y’all so much.
There’s a lot ahead, including lots and lots of Tarkins — turns out the ancestors of the everyone favorite extra-cheekboned Grand Moff were just as messy and chaotic as you would imagine. And some of my favorite Jedi are coming back into the action, including Ram Jomaram and others…
Also ahead: a newly announced YODA MANGA in the EDGE OF BALANCE series, called PREMONITION, which I’m writing. It features incredible art by Haining.
Also coming up: More Crash! A one shot called CRASH & BURN follows up on the previous one and let’s just say it’s required reading and there’s a significant…er….something significant happens. Don’t miss it!
ANYWAY……. here’s some beautiful cover art by Andy Duggan, Harvey Tolibao, and Isobel Rees ayyyyy!
And here’s a single panel sneak preview of the upcoming HIGH REPUBLIC ADVENTURES issue #7, with beautiful art by Harvey Tolibao and colors by Michael Atiyeh, featuring sweet Aloxian baby Zint and brand new very old Tarkin!
On my Substack I’ve been putting out Artist Spotlight interviews with some of the talent on the THRA team. You can check out what Nick Brokenshire had to say on his process and working with other artists on the same comic! And here’s my long time partner in crime Harvey Tolibao’s brilliance.
You may have seen it, but last month I made my red carpet debut at Disney's The Acolyte premiere! I still can’t quite believe it, the whole day was so surreal. The show is brilliant, every performance stood out, the direction and writing were stellar—I could talk about it forever. But above all, The Acolyte is just SO Star Wars. To think of where The High Republic started and where it’s at now brings me so much joy. Walking on the red carpet and seeing cosplayers in their white Jedi robes was just wild! For those who are new here — The Acolyte takes place in the High Republic, an era of Star Wars two hundred years before the Skywalker Saga that I got to help develop with a team of other writers.
That’s all for this month! See you in July (tomorrow ayyy).
—D