Pat Shand's Whaddya Gonna Do? - Newsletter #3
Zenescope VIP Vegas 2024
Heads up: orders from the Space Between Tour 2024 launch have gone out, including the Destiny, NY TCG Meadow promo card. We will be launching two promo cards in the shop this weekend celebrating three March conventions, so stay tuned.
Now, let’s get into it.
I spent this past weekend in Las Vegas doing my favorite convention.
It’s not one many other creators have heard of.
I’m talking about Zenescope VIP, an event that Zenescope Entertainment throws twice a year. One show in Philadelphia, just a few miles from their office in Horsham, PA and one somewhere else in the country. Last year, it was New Orleans. This year, Vegas.
There is only one other publisher that does events like this and it’s Brian Pulido’s Coffin Comics. Zenescope and Coffin are two publishers that independent creators should look toward as a model to follow, because how many indie publishers can throw an event like this? An event that is essentially a mini (and really, not even that mini) convention that is just their stuff. Just for their biggest fans. Where they put up their creators, open up a ballroom, sell their work, and let the fandom build.
That, to me, is incredible.
I started writing for Zenescope Entertainment in 2011. I was fresh off my first-ever gig, Angel: Yearbook at IDW which was a huge dream come true. I was talking to my friend Jay, a big Charmed fan, who suggested I hit up Zenescope. I was aware of them not because of the Charmed comic, but because they were the only comics publisher who had a presence in Hot Topic. I remember seeing those for years, and then again when I worked at Borders books. If you’ve seen Zenescope covers, you know — they stood out.
Jay gave me a secret that would serve me for years of networking to come. He had messaged Zenescope’s warehouse with a question about shipping and got an email response. He wondered “I wonder if their emails all follow a map? Like, plug in someone else’s name using this format and see if it works.”
I tried it. I bought a Zenescope book and looked at the masthead. The Editor-in-Chief was Ralph Tedesco.
Using the name format of the email Jay got, I emailed Ralph to introduce myself, send some samples, and express interest in Charmed.
I got an email back that day. Ralph was looking for writers on both Charmed, a graphic novel they were doing of Spike TV’s 1000 Ways to Die, and some shark comics for the Discovery Channel. The most random gigs. While I was being considered for Charmed, I took the other gigs. Very soon after that, I was invited to write my very first solo comic: Grimm Fairy Tales: 2011 Holiday Edition.
For the first time, I actually read those books I’d seen at Hot Topic and Borders. I wanted to be sure that if I was writing for established characters, I’d read every word they’ve ever written.
I always look back to this as a level of hunger I should aspire toward as a writer, both for my own stuff and freelance. It’s hard so many years in some days, but it’s important to try.
In reading Grimm Fairy Tales, I had no idea that I was reading the beginning of a universe that I’d still be writing for thirteen years later. The Grimm Universe is one of if not the largest shared universe in independent comics at this point, using a mixture of reinvented fairy tale characters, horror icons, and completely original characters to build a modern, urban fantasy world.
I went through many different phases of my relationship with Zenescope. I started out getting a few gigs here and there. Less than a year in, Ralph and President Joe Brusha offered me an exclusive deal to be Staff Writer. I took it and started out with a couple of miniseries: Robyn Hood (which I’d go on to write for 39 issues) and Godstorm.
Then, I was writer on more than half their titles for the next few years. There were months where I was grinding away at seven titles a month.
Then, I parted ways as staff writer and took a break for a few years.
Now, I’m back on a long-running stint as the writer of Van Helsing. She’s a character that we cooked up as the daughter of the iconic Abraham, named Liesel. I wrote the series for the first four arcs from 2013 - 2016 and came back in 2021.
I often get asked by creators how I did what I’m doing with Space Between Entertainment and Cheeky Comics.
Where I’m at now in my career is getting those questions more than ever.
There are multiple answers.
One of the biggest, is that I learned so much from my friends at Zenescope Entertainment. The industry would be a much healthier, more friendly, and more profitable place if other creators keyed into how Joe and Ralph built a publisher, family, and community around the love of stories and art.
LIVE ON KICKSTARTER: OnlyFriends With Penn #2
My Cheeky Comics imprint of Space Between Entertainment has launched a new Kickstarter. OnlyFriends With Penn is live with its second issue now.
OnlyFriends With Penn is a rom/com erotic comic that takes you into the personal life of a spicy content creator. I’ll give a more detailed pitch in a Penn-focused update in the weeks to come, but here’s the vibe: take Forgetting Sarah Marshall, turn the lead into an NSFW model, and let the fun and heartache begin.
Here’s a preview:
Comics needs more comedy, life needs more comedy, and this is one I’m putting a ton of humor into. I miss the days where the blockbuster movies were adult comedies, so this is my take on that. Plus… you know, sex, because it’s Cheeky Comics.
Back OnlyFriends With Penn #2 here.
SPACE BETWEEN TOUR 2024
March 15 - 17: GalaxyCon Richmond featuring Pat Shand & Twon Ficaro (Events Manager of Space Between)
April 26 - 28: C2E2 featuring Pat Shand & Anthony Stokes (Writer of Tap or Die)
May 3 - 5: Fan Expo Philly featuring Pat Shand & Chris Halton (Operations Manager of Space Between)
May 18 - 19: Cradle Con featuring Pat Shand & Team Space Between
What’s Next?
IN COMIC SHOPS: Van Helsing: Vampire Hunter #3 will hit shelves March 20th from Zenescope Entertainment.
ON KICKSTARTER NOW: Stretch Goals have been announced for Devil in America #1 right here and for OnlyFriends With Penn #2 right here.
ON KICKSTARTER APRIL 1st: Wild Wisps #1 launches as my new ongoing series from Space Between Entertainment. Kingdoms clash in a fantasy world where magical creatures serve as companions to warriors & their secret ambitions. It’s Pokémon meets Game of Thrones. Follow it here.
SHIPPING NOW: Amorini: Amateur Cupid #1 is now shipping. Cheeky Comics Annual 2024 and Azza the Barbed are also both expected to ship this month.
DIGITAL DELIVERY: Emerald Fantasies: Space Between Annual 2024 has been digitally delivered. The Digital Deluxe version is going out now!
I’ve been inquiring to Zenescope once a month for almost a year and a half. Maybe I’ve had the wrong email address the entire time! 😅