It’s been (more than) a few months in the making but we’re finally on the production calendar! What do you mean, you ask? I’m happy to share!
John Muller and I teamed up to rework the “Run For Your Life!” story from Strange Times 1 into a 12-page, full color story for Antarctic Press’ revival of the classic 1940’s Planet Comics series (back issues available here).
We had wanted to do some work together again after having so much fun on his Horrendous!: Halloween Special 2023, and I had an interest in getting into Planet Comics. John was game as he likes sci-fi and monsters (among other things), so I mulled over options and suggested “Run For Your Life!” as it was a complete one-off short that had lots of room for modification/expansion to fit available space.
It’s a little nerve-wracking to do an entire story on spec, and it takes extra time when the spec piece is the absolute last thing on the worklist because you don’t know if it is even going to get picked up. Fortunately, John let me send a couple trial pieces over to Antarctic to gauge their interest, and they were positive enough to give us confidence in working on the project. Once it was complete, Antarctic picked it up immediately. Never was an issue.
We were just informed by Antarctic that our story will be appearing in Planet Comics 30!
This is VERY exciting news for both of us. I’ve never been published for creative works in a “professional” comic book (but I did get a letter published in DC’s 1980s-era Blue Beetle once). John’s a prolific artist, but he says he’s never been published by a Diamond-distributed comic publisher. So this is a first for both of us!
Issue 30 is on the Antarctic Press production schedule, but it’s not yet in the Diamond/Previews ordering queue. Issue 28 is set for release on April 24, and issue 29 is scheduled for June 26. That suggests a bi-monthly publishing schedule. We are tentatively projecting an August 28 release if the schedule holds.
Of course, we’ll keep you informed as we learn the details. Put your local comic shop on notice: You want a copy of Planet Comics #30!
Phoenix Productions 
Well. Feelin pretty good are ya? Well. Y’oughta! Please be sure to send reminders along the way and for sure a couple of weeks before release. I’d really like to get this issue! What a terrific way to start your years! best wishes, Matt L. Walking Man Productions Words, Music, Pictures new recordings ‘in exciting lo-fi:’ https://www.youtube.com/user/WalkingManComics/videos
SONGS SEEKING SINGERS–SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-308500730 You-tube: https://www.youtube.com/user/WalkingManComics/videos SONGS FOR CLASSROOMS–https://soundcloud.com/user-308500730/sets/songs-for-classrooms WALKING MAN COMICS–https://www.facebook.com/pg/Walking-Man-Comics-142371289185184/photos/?tab=albums&ref=page_internal
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Thank you, Matt! Rest assured, reminders are forthcoming. I don’t know of any comic shop where I live that actively carries Antarctic Press, so I think it wise to let people know the Diamond Previews code once it’s announced in order to special order with the shops. And then, we’ll have a reminder as your suggest. Exciting times (but always strange ones)!!
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