'We love retailers and we love physical comics. 'There's nothing about this deal that says these books aren't coming out through traditional publishers at some point as well,' says Cates. They're a part of everything that we are doing.'Ĭates says the traditional model for creator-owned comics is 'in some way, very disconnected from the creators themselves' and wants to have a more direct connection with the readers.īut those readers who know his work from print comics shouldn't feel left out, Cates says. 'I hope the experience people get out of this makes it more memorable than a monthly comic. 'We can now bring to you a behind-the-scenes look at what it is like for us to make this book,' Stegman says. While Vanish, Flood, and The One You Feed will eventually be published through Image, Cates and Stegman says this Substack Pro 'grant' allows them to 'do more.' We literally couldn't do this without him.' 'He's helping on every single facet of this thing from lettering and designing the books, to handling the day-to-day of the Substack in general. 'He's really been the backbone of this entire operation going back to God Country,' says Cates. Hill, who's worked on most of their books the past few years. (Image credit: Dylan Burnett (KLC Press)) (opens in new tab)Ĭates and Stegman's secret weapon in all of this is letterer/designer/project manager John J. And boy does this book have that in spades.'Ĭates adds that this is their 'emo bullshit,' but so 'brutal' you could almost classify it as 'screamo' instead of emo. 'And as an artist, I think I thrive doing those types of things. The underpinnings of everything we do are those emotional moments,' says Stegman. 'We love big explosions, big fights, but also big emotional moments. But.we can in Vanish.'Ĭates and Stegman have thrown out the term 'emo bullshit' to describe their work together, and with Vanish they're back on that - and then some. 'But the big thing for us when we were making it and crafting it, was always asking ourselves 'What could we do here if we could do anything?' because as much freedom as Marvel always gave us (and they let us get away with a lot) we could never like.blow up the moon, or level New York to dust, or have someone bash someone's brains out with a brick.

'When people read it, I think they'll see the kinds of tropes we're playing with and destroying,' says Cates. Hill for a superhero story that they say they could never do through Marvel. With Vanish, Cates and Stegman reunite with their Marvel Comics team of inker JP Meyer and letterer/designer John J. (Image credit: Ryan Stegman/JP Mayer (KLC Press)) (opens in new tab)

Ryan stegman carnage