Written by Mikael Lopez @mkllpz - Tumblr Blog

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I've posted a few of these in the past, and now that it's been announced that Ex.Mag Vol. 6 will be released on March 30, here's the playlist I made for me and Mykell as we worked on our story "Armature" for that anthology:

(Fictional soundtrack titles with the real artist and title in parenthesis)

Construction (Akino Arai - Idol Talk)

Between Bone and Flesh (Joe Hisaishi - Die Out of Memories)

A New Contract Arrives (Ryuichi Sakamoto - A Hearty Breakfast)

Winter (Seatbelts - Powder)

Iris (Yukihiro Takahashi - Harukanaru Omoi)

Armature (Mitsuo Hagita - Austral-jima no Nazo)

2025

2025 was a quiet year compared to 2024, but while work on The Hermes continued, I started editing a new book for Strangers and contributed a story to the latest volume of Peow's Ex.Mag anthology.

Ex.Mag Vol. 6

Ex.Mag: 100 Billion Stars was successfully crowdfunded last summer, and as the title suggests, the theme for this volume is space exploration. I was invited to write a story for Mykell Pledger who I worked with on "Autopsy" two years ago, and this was another great collaboration with Mykell. Our story, "Armature," is set aboard a spaceship which "dives into uncolonized regions and probes the resistance of endemic lifeforms" – you can read a two-page preview below.

Ex.Mag Vol. 6 will be available later this year; "Autopsy" and "Armature" will be published in a collection in the future.

● "Armature"

▼ The dust jacket for Ex.Mag Vol. 6 by Dofresh ▼

▼ The first two pages of "Armature" by Mykell Pledger ▼

Untitled Strangers Book

Strangers announced the publication of a new book by Oasis of Hate, which I'll be editing, an eerie story set in the early 19th century. It's incredible.

More about the book will be revealed soon.

Conventions

I tabled at eight conventions this year, as well as a few smaller markets, including my first time at Copenhagen Comics where I shared the table with one half of Decadence Comics. It's definitely the largest of the Nordic conventions I've been to so far, sort of dipping its toe into Comic-Con territory, but there's still Helsinki Comics Festival to complete my tour of major Nordic conventions!

Last year's great discovery was the poetry of Louise Glück, particularly the collections The Wild Iris and Averno; "Armature" is, in a very oblique way, an adaptation of Glück's poem "The Wild Iris." I was also very enamored with Susan Sontag's essay "Against Interpretation" which I needed to read very much at the time.

Two cinematic highlights from last year, both dark depictions of love and crime: Bela Tarr's Damnation (1988) and Bi Gan's Long Day's Journey into Night (2018).

It's now officially 2026.

#comics #scifi #science fiction

wrenmcdonald

💫Ex.Mag vol 6 *100 BILLION STARS* is now live on Kickstarter! Genre: SPACE EXPLORATION 💫

Edited by me and Pat Crotty for Peow2

Featuring work by:

Anabel Colazo ☆ CHASET1000 ☆ DOFRESH ☆ Fiiishman ☆ Genie Ink ☆ Hanna K ☆ James Noellert ☆ Joseph de Lapaillone ☆ Kejun Wang ☆ Lando ☆ Linnea Sterte & Gareth Damian Martin ☆ Jules Naleb ☆ Mon ☆ Malachi Ward & Matt Sheean ☆ Mykell Pledger & Mikael Lopez ☆ Nicolette Wood ☆ Wren McDonald ☆ Ziora

Ex.Mag Vol. 6: 100 Billion Stars

The Kickstarter for volume 6 of Peow's Eisner-nominated anthology Ex.Mag just launched (theme: space exploration, title: 100 Billion Stars), and it will feature a new story written by me and illustrated by @mykellpledgerart titled "Armature"!

Mykell and I first worked together on "Autopsy" which was included in Koguchi: Neo-Future, a cyberpunk anthology published last year. It's a privilege to work with Mykell again, and hopefully we get to work together more in the future!

Above, the amazing cover by Kejun Wang; below, a beautiful page from "Armature" by Mykell plus the AAA lineup. Back it now!

#comics #scifi #science fiction #space #space exploration #mecha

I'll be back at Malmö Seriefest this year!

Date: 13-14 September Time: 12-18 Location: Ridhuset, Folkets park

I'll be at Oslo Comics Expo again this year! The market will take place on 19-20 September at Deichmann Grünerløkka, and hopefully this big boy will be back as well ✏️

I'll be at Copenhagen Comics for the first time this year! ⭐ I'll bring my books as well as a bunch of books from Peow, so stop by my table in the artist alley if you're in Copenhagen next weekend ⭐ What: Copenhagen Comics Where: Valby-hallen When: 7-8 June

The Stockholm International Comics Festival 2025 will take place on the 24-25 May at Kulturhuset and I'll be there representing Peow2!

I'll also bring two new anthologies with stories written by me and illustrated by the amazing Tim Fischer and H. Berlin:

☆ After the End (One Shot) ☆ Book of Fuligin (Strangers)

See you there!

#comics #stockholm international comics festival

Arthur the Librarian More concept art by Tim Fischer for our upcoming graphic novel The Hermes which will be published by Kinaye.

Arthur is a librarian in a prisoner-of-war camp during WWI.

#hermes #comics #adventure #1930

DECEMBER 2024

I've written quite long year-in-reviews for the past two years (2022, 2023), but this year's y-i-r will be much shorter since I've mostly focused on one project.

The Hermes

That one project is The Hermes, my adventure book with the amazing Tim Fischer. I posted some early concept art for it at the very end of last year's y-i-r, and I recently posted some more concept art of some supporting characters. We're at the halfway point now, and the preliminary release date for the French edition (published by Kinaye) is set for fall of 2025 (the English-language publisher still to be determined). Really looking forward to everyone finally getting to read this next year!

● The Hermes

▼ A panel from The Hermes by Tim Fischer ▼

▼ An unlettered page from The Hermes by Tim Fischer ▼

▼ A color test for The Hermes by Tim Fischer ▼

Book of Fuligin

Book of Fuligin, the Book of the New Sun anthology which includes my horror story "A Column of Ashes" (a collaboration with H. Berlin), was crowdfunded early last year, and it was finally printed and sent to backers this year. A few copies are available in the Strangers shop.

● "A Column of Ashes"

▼ The cover to Book of Fuligin by Artyom Trakhanov ▼

▼ A page from "A Column of Ashes" by H. Berlin ▼

The Cult of Dreams

Oscar Westberg/@gudgurkan ran a crowdfunding campaign for his illustrated "fantasy journal" The Cult of Dreams which I had the privilege of editing. The campaign raised 800% of its initial goal and is available to buy here. Highly recommended!

▼ The cover of The Cult of Dreams by Oscar Westberg ▼

▼ The first page of The Cult of Dreams by Oscar Westberg ▼

Peow2

Peow "came back from heaven to do overtime" as Peow2 earlier this year, releasing four new books and reprinting a handful of titles, three of which I was involved with as assistant editor: Soft: Director's Cut, Dreaming in Color, and Ex.Mag V: Bloodsucker. I've (assistant) edited 13 books for Peow so far, and I hope to get to add more to that list in the future.

Conventions

I went to 12 conventions/markets this year, including my first convention outside of Sweden, Oslo Comics Expo (Norway), which was held in a tent in front of a library. I sold out everything I brought with me to Oslo – Norwegians really love comics. Next year I'll try to go to Copenhagen Comics (Denmark) and Helsinki Comics Festival (Finland) as well, completing my tour of the four big Nordic conventions.

I'd hoped to announce my next book and collaborator at the end of this year, but I can't do that quite yet. Hopefully very soon!

#comics #sci-fi #science fiction #fantasy #gene wolfe

Dimanche, Émile & the Vigilant Nobles Concept art by Tim Fischer for our upcoming graphic novel The Hermes, to be published by Kinaye next year!

#comics #adventure #1930

I'll be tabling at Seriefest i väst again which takes place at Frilagret in Gothenburg on 26 October!

I'll have self-published work and a handful of books I've been involved in as either writer or editor by @peowstudio, @gudgurkan, and Koguchi Press.

Third and final playlist, the one I made for me and H. Berlin while working on "A Column of Ashes" which was published in the Book of Fuligin anthology, a tribute to Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun:

(Fictional soundtrack titles with the real artist and title in parenthesis)

The Garden (Mica Levi - Intro)

Quincunx/A Column of Ashes (Alberto Iglesias - Viaje a Galicia)

Tephra (Alberto Iglesias - Tributo a Cormac McCarthy)

The Man in the Box/The Endocatopter/Truth and Penitence (Marco Beltrami - Axe Gang)

Beneath the Endocatopter/A Sating Quantity of Blood (Ryuichi Sakamoto - The Seed and the Sower)

After posting a playlist for "Autopsy," I was asked to post more playlists, so here's the one I made for me and Tim Fischer when we worked on "Lápida" which will be published in the upcoming After the End anthology:

(Fictional soundtrack titles with the real artist and title in parenthesis)

Camila/A Dying Rainforest/Lápida (Tangerine Dream - The Dream Is Always the Same)

Fierro Rojo (Hong Kong Express - Midnight Market)

Vuelo del Dragón (Daniel Lopatin - Windows)

Eliana/Matias (Daniel Lopatin - Back to Roslyn)

Orestes/The Beginning of Something New (Daniel Lopatin - Pure Elation)

I'll be tabling at Malmö seriefest this weekend (31 Aug-1 Sep) with my books Berzerkid and A Cold Place Between the Shores, plus a handful of @peowstudio books, including the recent reprint of Soft, and @gudgurkan will also be at the festival with his book The Cult of Dreams which I edited!

gudgurkan

I'll be at Malmö Seriefest in two weeks. I'll have lots of books to sell, including "The Cult of Dreams"! Stickers!

I'll be tabling next to @mkllpz ✨ Come say hi!

mkllpz

Malmö Seriefest in two weeks marks the official start to the convention season – come and say hi to me and Oscar if you're in Malmö or Copenhagen!

I'll be tabling at the Oslo Comics Expo next weekend, 7-8 June! As usual, I'll bring my own books and a handful of Peow books. It'll be the first time I visit Norway and also the first time I table outside of Sweden! 7-8 June at Deichman Grünerløkka

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Written by Mikael Lopez