2024 Recap & 2025 Preview
Notes on my year that was & the year that will be
So. That was a fucking wild one, yeah?
To recap my work year:
ONCE UPON A TIME AT THE END OF THE WORLD, my fifteen issue post-apocalyptic love/divorce story for BOOM! Studios, wrapped up in truly jaw-dropping style, thanks to the efforts of the book’s incredible art teams. Artist Nick Dragotta (who had himself one hell of a year) and colorist Rico Renzi handled the bulk of ONCE UPON A TIME’s third and final arc, but those last few issues also saw the story’s three different time periods and three separate art teams, including Alexandre Tefenkgi with Lee Loughridge and Leila Del Duca with Tamra Bonvillain, intertwine in all sorts of crazy ways that I’ve never really seen in a comic book before. This was an incredibly challenging book to pull off, in so many different ways, including the raw, deeply personal emotional resonance of the story, and I’m really proud of how it all came together. Seriously, that final scene as drawn by Nick is one of my favorite things I’ve ever been a part of in comics. So gorgeous and hauntingly powerful. It’s no surprise Nick went from this to completely blowing the doors off the year’s biggest book, ABSOLUTE BATMAN.
Some of that raw Dragotta goodness from ONCE UPON A TIME AT THE END OF THE WORLD #15. My new working relationship with DC Comics continued to hum along as I got to write Superman in the pages of ACTION COMICS, the granddaddy comic book of all the comic books. It’s a story about Bizarro doing some very weird and dark Bizarro things. My first time writing Superman! But even before I wrote this three issue story, I already knew there was more Man of Steel in my future.
“Live Bizarro or Die.” From ACTION COMICS #1062. Art by John Timms, colors by Rex Lokus, letters by Dave Sharpe. I wrote UNCLE SCROOGE! Who had that on their 2024 bingo card this time a year ago? UNCLE SCROOGE AND THE INFINITY DIME came out from Marvel back in June, featuring an all-star line-up of Italian artists. I’ve talked before about how special this one was, given how my son and I read all the Don Rosa stories together when he was a kid. And the response to this story really took me by surprise. It sold insanely well, and I got to hear from so many parents who read the issue with their own kids. As the writer of books like WOLVERINE: SNIKT STAB STAB and THOR: GOD SUCKS and SOUTHERN BASTARDS, I realized I hadn’t gotten much of that over the course of my career. Makes me wanna write more comics like this. Hmmm, guess we’ll have to wait and see what 2025 holds…
The world’s toughest duck makes his entrance. From UNCLE SCROOGE & THE INFINITY DIME. Art by Francesco D’Ippolito and Lucio De Giuseppe, colors by Arianna Consonni, letters by VC’s Joe Caramagna. Also over the summer, I took my first shot at writing a full-blown Western, in the form of BRZRKR: A FACEFUL OF BULLETS from BOOM!, with art by Salvador Larroca. This one was my attempt at a hyper-violent, Sergio Corbucci style western, about the Kansas/Missouri Border War from the 1850s, with, you know, an immortal killing machine who looks a lot like Keanu Reeves stuck in the middle of the gun-slinging, horse-heaving action.
Meet the Man in the Tree. Now run. From BRZRKR: A FACEFUL OF BULLETS. Art by Salvador Larroca, colors by Lee Loughridge, letters by Ed Dukeshire. I contributed to the year’s grand return of the beloved EC Comics imprint, with stories in both EPITAPHS FROM THE ABYSS #2 and the holiday themed SHIVER SUSPENSTORIES from Oni Press. The story from EPITAPHS, with incredible art by Jorge Fornés, is a modern version of a classic EC horror tale. While the story from SHIVER SUSPENSTORIES, with killer art by Kano…is one of the weirdest comics I’ve ever written. But also one that’s all about the love of that most magical time of the year.
Meet the Grave Digger. From EPITAPHS FROM THE ABYSS #2. Art by Jorge Fornés, colors by Michelle Madsen, letters by Richard Starkings and Tyler Smith. BATMAN OFF-WORLD continued to chug along, inching closer to its big cosmic finale, which I swear will be coming your way soon. I’ve seen the pages. And I think it’s going to make for a fun read in trade. I’ve certainly had a blast with my first time writing the Slag Galaxy’s greatest hero. I mean Punch Bot, of course. But writing the Dark Knight hasn’t been too bad either.
The Dark Bot rises. From BATMAN OFF-WORLD #5. Pencils by Doug Mahnke, inks by Jaime Mendoza, colors by David Baron, letters by Troy Peteri. NAMOR from Marvel is another series that employs multiple art teams, each one focusing on a different time period. Paul Davidson handles the present day, as World War Sea rips the oceans asunder, and Alex Lins reveals the dark history of the mighty Sub-Mariner. It’s a similar structure to my PUNISHER: KING OF KILLERS series from a couple years ago, and as with that book I’m thoroughly pleased with the results. It’s always been dark beneath the waves, but I like to think this NAMOR series plumbs those Stygian depths as never before.
The people you meet in the deep. From NAMOR #2. Art by Paul Davidson, colors by Neeraj Menon, letters by VC’s Jor Caramagna. I made my return to the Hyborian Age of Conan with a two part story in the gorgeously black and white pages of THE SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN from Titan Comics. Art was provided by legendary Conan artist Geof Isherwood, and the story, titled KING CONAN: THE ENSORCELLED, works very much as a companion piece to my previous work on Conan for Marvel. Here Conan encounters a seemingly nefarious witch, the terror of the Graaskal Mountains, only to have his eyes opened in a way they never have been before.
Just another day in the life of Conan the King. From SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN #5. Art by Geof Isherwood, letters by Richard Starkings and Tyler Smith. SCALPED is now available in Omnibus format! My first ongoing series. The one that gave me my entire comic career. If THE OTHER SIDE was my first EP, then this was my debut album. The Omnibus features a new cover by r.m.Guéra and loads of never-before-seen extras, including stuff I’d forgotten about myself. In stores now!
SCALPED OMNIBUS VOL. 1, cover by r.m.Guéra. And then there were two of the biggest launches of the year, with TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES from IDW and ABSOLUTE SUPERMAN from DC. A lot has already been said about these comics. They’re two of the best-selling, best-reviewed series of my entire career. And it should go without saying, but we’re just getting started. More on that in a moment.
I traveled. A lot. I did ten comic cons, which I’m pretty sure is the most ever for me in a single year, along with multiple store signings, D23 in Anaheim, and a visit to the set of the Superman film, plus my obligatory Disney theme park trip, a Disney cruise for the first time (including some drinks in the Hyperspace Lounge), drinks at a lot of tiki bars (year’s tiki highlight was definitely Adrift in Denver, one of the best tiki bars I’ve ever been to anywhere) and a relaxing getaway to the magical shores of Zipolite, Mexico. In the midst of all that, my partner and I also decided to buy a house together. And hey, turns out I’ve got a lot of stuff. I mean, like, a lot. So moving is kind of an ordeal. Put all that together and it made for a rather exhausting fall. But now we’re mostly settled into the new place, and I’m beginning to feel sufficiently cocooned in my basement office full of books, comics, Prince candles and Godzilla toys.
Which brings us to the New Year, and what you can expect to see from me in 2025:
You don’t have to wait long for more ABSOLUTE SUPERMAN, as #3 is in stores today. It’s an issue set almost entirely on Krypton, where we get a glimpse of young Kal’s life there, growing up in the purple fields of the Redlands, bristling under the rule of the Science League. Kal may just be a child, but he’s already fighting for the truth in a huge way, as his home planet begins to breathe its last. Featuring more awesomely dynamic art by Rafa Sandoval.
ABSOLUTE SUPERMAN #3, cover at by Rafa Sandoval, colors by Ulises Arreola. With TMNT, after the ridiculous murderer’s row of artists we had for issues #1-5, I somehow find myself even more excited about this book as artist Juan Ferreyra comes onboard as the ongoing artist. Seriously, Juan was born to draw this story, and I think his work here is going to kick people in the face ninja-hard.
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #9 cover art by Juan Ferreyra. Other than those two ongoing books, I do have a few surprises in the works for 2025. In the same way 2024 allowed me to check a few boxes by writing characters like Superman and Uncle Scrooge for the first time, it’s looking like 2025 will allow me to check a few more. Can’t really say anything about any of those just yet. But I can talk about the other big, new book I’ve got coming your way very soon. The thing I’m most excited about for the New Year…
BUG WARS: FEBRUARY 2025
Expect to be hearing more and more about this new Image series as we move toward FOC in mid-January. In short, it’s me, Mahmud Asrar and a whole buncha bugs. Plus colors by Matthew Wilson, letters and designs by Becca Carey and edits by Heather Antos. Plus a killer line-up of variant covers by Peach Momoko, Pepe Larraz and Matías Bergara. Oh look, here they come now.
Wysta is a Web Witch, a Syster of the Heavenly Spyder, the most mystical and mysterious of all the sects of Mytes, the tiny Bug Warriors who lie hidden in the backyard of the Slaymaker home in West Bottom, Alabama.
In the Yard, they say the eyes of the spiders are always watching, and this is true.
Wysta serves the will of the Weavers.
No matter who has to die.
The Beetle Clans are the most fiercely and proudly savage of all the Mytes, used to hacking out a living in the harshest reaches of the Yard, even in the Wild Weeds where the possums roam.
Do not come to Swarm City with trouble on your mind. Or you will find yourself facing the Blood Beasts.
While Bug Rustlers and Dung Barons alike guzzle ‘suckle rum, gnaw on roasted grubs, and roar for your bloody demise.
From the Citadels of the Ant Imperium to the Blakk Nests of the wasp-riding Wor Wraiders…there is talk of atrocities.
Word has come from the frontier hives in the Pinelands of the Far Yard, word of Myte colonies and bug herds reduced to ruin.
Some speak of a mysterious Death Storm slaughtering all within its path.
But among the Bug Warriors of the Yard, suspicions turn as always to age old enemies.
And so the Mytes ready for war.
BUG WARS Book One begins February 12, with a double-sized first issue, full of sprawling action, dark fantasy world-building, a bit of bug-fucking and loads of extras. Coming your way from Image Comics. Be sure to tell your local comic shop you wanna pre-order your copy and be a part of the infestation.
Notes & Links & Things & Stuff
-Look, mom, I’m in the Rolling Stone!
—I plan on doing less travel in ‘25 than I did in ‘24, but you know I love visiting Third Eye Comics in Anapolis whenever I can, as it’s one of the best comic shops in existence. So look for me there in February, for the big launch of BUG WARS.
-In case you missed it, me, Scott Snyder and Kelly Thompson all got together with David Harper for an all ABSOLUTE edition of his great podcast Off Panel.
Off Panel #477: Absolutely Fabulous with Scott Snyder, Kelly Thompson, and Jason Aaron
—Happy Holidays, courtesy of Mahmud Asrar. And here’s to 2025, the year of the bug!
This has been Beard Missives, direct from the bug free face of Jason Aaron.
This week’s newsletter has been brought to you by blackberry Izze, Tajin Pineapple Rings, and my time-honored Christmas tradition of Baked By Melissa mini cupcakes.
Happy New Year. Cheers to you and yours.
Jason Aaron
KC, January 1, 2025
Books Mentioned in This Post That You Can Buy Right Now
Signed Copies of TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #1
Signed Copies of ACTION COMICS, “I, BIZARRO”
ONCE UPON A TIME AT THE END OF THE WORLD Vols. 1-3 trade paperbacks
More collections and comics are available from my online store.
Things to Come
NAMOR #6 — January 8, 2025
STAR WARS: A NEW LEGACY #1 — January 29, 2025
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #6 — January 29, 2025
ABSOLUTE SUPERMAN #4 — February 5, 2025
NAMOR #7 — February 5, 2025
BUG WARS #1 — February 12, 2025
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #7 — February 26, 2025
ABSOLUTE SUPERMAN #5 — March 5, 2025
NAMOR #8 — March 12, 2025
BUG WARS #2 — March 19, 2025
UNCLE SCROOGE & THE INFINITY DIME GALLERY EDITION — March 19, 2025
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #8 — March 26, 2025
AVENGERS FOREVER BY JASON AARON OMNIBUS — April 9, 2025
WOLVERINE BY JASON AARON Omnibus Hardcover Vol. 1 (New Printing) — April 16, 2025
WOLVERINE GOES TO HELL Omnibus Hardcover (New Printing) — July 23, 2025
Where I’ll Be
Third Eye Comics, Anapolis, Maryland — February 15, 2025
I hope you and your family had a great holidays and start to the new year! You're writing is so true that I can't thank you enough for what you are doing with TMNT and Absolute Superman!
Digging the Batman Off World. I was apprehensive at first with the Dark Knight in space. Happy to see and read your unique spin.