Problem: How do you entice readers to start reading a monthly comic with issue #21?
Solution: Make it look like #1.

Brian gets a lot of well-deserved praise for being a great writer. From the damaged streets of the DMZ to the frigid wastelands of Northlanders, Brian brings heart, drama and truth to all of his stories.

But he doesn’t get enough praise for being a great designer and artist too. The first 34 issues of DMZ? Those covers were all Brian. That bold logo? Brian. And the new trade dress for Northlanders? That’s Brian too. He really wanted readers to know, “yes, it’s okay to start here!” We knocked around a few different ideas, but ultimately what did he do? He took the Northlanders logo, kicked it to the side, designed a new logo for “The Plague Widow” and put that front and center. Slipped a “1 of eight” in there and suddenly you’re thinking, “Hey, what’s this comic? I’ve never seen this before, maybe I’ll give it a shot…”

See Brian thinks about this stuff. He talks to retailers and readers, finds out what works, what doesn’t, and incorporates all of it into his work, sucking you in to a unique comic experience from the logo to the last line of dialogue. Start to finish, you know you’re in the hands of an artist. Enjoy it.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Here’s the thing—it’s got a twist ending.

I just started working with Will (Dennis, my boss, who I’m totally scared of) plus Brian and Ryan (Wood and Kelly, writer and artist, who I’m totally a fan of) on this Northlanders book and I’m wicked excited about it. But it’s got this twist ending. And there’s something in the first script that totally gives it away.

Imagine you’re a production assistant on “The Usual Suspects” and somebody refers to Kevin Spacey as Keyser Soze on page 15. Kinda like that. But I caught it, and we saved it. They must have appreciated it because now I’m editing Northlanders all on my own. Awesome. (Of course they won’t talk to me anymore for being such a know-it-all pain-in-the-ass, but, whatever, it’s cool.)

So check it out: Northlanders Volume 2: The Cross and the Hammer. It’s got Vikings, murder, tragedy and at the heart of it all a father and daughter on the run. Go buy it. See if you can spot the twist, before it hits you in the gut.