Posted in: Comics | Tagged: james tynion iv, ram v, razorblades

You Had Minutes Left To Buy James Tynion IV's Razorblades #1 (UPDATE)

As promised, James Tynion IV is moving into self-publishing with a limited-to-500-print-copies and digital horror magazine featuring comic book stories, called Razorblades. The first issue, which he discusses in his newsletter which more of you should subscribe to, is discussed thus – and I'm pretty much going to reproduce the newsletter verbatim with a few screams from myself along the way. He writes;

This is the comic I have been calling Project Nightmare in my last few newsletters. It is a 76-page self-published horror anthology book, curated and co-created by myself and Steve Foxe. It is the first book wholly published by my production company, Tiny Onion Studios.

I came up with the name Razorblades. Steve came up with the best justification for the name. Razorblades is meant to evoke a collection of small, sharp things, that can cut you. The goal here was to create a modern horror anthology, with a focus on the most exciting young voices in the comics and horror art communities.

The cover illustration is by the amazing Trevor Henderson, creator of Siren Head, and a whole host of amazing horror illustrations. You should all go follow him here.

The issue features comic features by Me & Andy Belanger, Sam Johns & DaNi, Steve Foxe & Michael Dialynas, Marguerite Bennett & Werther Dell'Edera, Lonnie Nadler & Jenna Cha, Michael Walsh, and Trung Nguyen. There are Ilustrations by Brian Level, Francine B/WitnessTheAbsurd, Nick Robles, Aaron Campbell, and Jock. There is a prose short story by Danny Lore, and I have an in-depth interview with Scott Snyder about horror as a genre.

The first issue sees the start of one incredible serial feature, A DREAM OF TIME, by Ram V & John J Pearson. It also sees a 2-page preview advertising my upcoming serial feature, THE ADVENTURES OF KILLBOY, by myself and Ricardo Lopez Ortiz.

Razorblades was lettered by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, Aditya Bidikar, and Serge Lapointe, and designed by Dylan Todd.

I have two stories in the book:

THE WASHING MACHINE

Andy Belanger and I have been talking about doing a horror comic together for ages. I think the first time I pitched him on doing an anthology book with me was back when I was on Talon. I absolutely love Andy's work. The story comes from a real place. Well… Real to an extent. It's based on the most horrible nightmare I've ever had. The down-in-your gut horror at what I thought I did has always stuck with me. And so, I processed it the best way I know how, by turning it into a comic book, and convincing Andy to draw what I am proud to say is the most disturbing image in the entire first issue.

THE ADVENTURES OF KILLBOY

Killboy, in my head, is the mascot of Razorblades. I was chatting with Matt Rosenberg the other day and I described the feature as I see it as "Johnny The Homicidal Maniac, if it were a Shonen Manga." I've already laid out the first full length feature, which will run in the Halloween issue, and when I sent it to Steve Foxe, he responded with a very simple "Jesus Christ. What are you trying to work through with this?!" This is the most obscene violent thing I have ever conceived, and I fucking love it. I cannot wait to bring you the Halloween gift of Ultraviolence. I've loved Ricardo's work for years. I actually have a comic I bought off him at Mocca back around 2015/2016? I'm thrilled I get to work with him on this… I might have a second RLO project in the works, but that's still very top secret. But we've got big plans for Killboy.

Sincerely, we have big plans all around (The above pages are by Trung Nguyen, and John J. Pearson). Razorblades is not a one-and-done project. As I said before, we're going to be releasing the book Quarterly and we've got the first year mostly already lined up. We've have some incredible horror creators from all corners of the comic book and horror art community lined up to create some truly stellar issues for you. Now that the project is out in the public, I'll probably start teasing these out more in the lead-up to Issue #2.

This first issue, which I am extraordinarily proud of, was first and foremost to prove that we could do it, and pull a full-sized anthology project together. Now the goal is to keep the beast alive. And what this beast needs to live is some money.

So, let's talk a bit about how you can buy Razorblades.

WHERE IS RAZORBLADES: THE HORROR MAZAZINE?

Surprise! You can buy Razorblades from my new Tiny Onion Studios webstore, where it is available in two formats:

THE DIGITAL EDITION – Inspired by Panel Syndicate, this is a Pay-What-You-Want digital copy of the full 75 page PDF of Razorblades: The Horror Magazine #1. We hope that if you support the book, and want there to be more issues of Razorblades in the future, that you throw down some money for a copy, but if you're tight on cash, we still want to provide you with that horror fix. That's right! You can get the dang thing for free if you want to! BUY THE DIGITAL EDITION HERE.

THE PRINT EDITION – We're making 500 copies of an EXTREMELY LIMITED Print Run of Razorblades: The Horror Magazine available to purchase direct through the Tiny Onion Studios webstore. Due to the size of the book, and the low print run, these are going to run you $20/pop. The current plan is that when these sell out, we will not reprint the book. We expect these are going to disappear fast, so if you want your hands on a physical copy, get one today. BUY THE PRINT EDITION HERE.

Hang on, hang on? $20? Okay I can buy that…. but hey, $17 shipping to the UK on top? Are you going to send it via unicorn, James? If do, don't just stick them on the horn, okay? When I started writing this, there were 493. There are now… 417. And dropping.

Hmm, 401 now.

BUT WHAT ABOUT COMIC BOOK RETAILERS? HOW CAN I GET ALL THIS COOL STUFF IN MY LOCAL COMIC SHOP?!

Hey! Comic Book Retailers! I made a section of this newsletter just for you!

If you are interested in a bulk order of RAZORBLADES: THE HORROR MAGAZINE #1, of 5 copies or more, I am going to lower the $20 price to $10/issue, just for you. Email TinyOnionStudios@gmail.com to put in your order while supplies last!

I am also still offering a special Retailer rate for our remaining DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH pins! $5/pin on any order of 5 or more pins. The sooner you folks sell me out, the sooner I'll get the third batch of pins up and running.

WHY IS RAZORBLADES: THE HORROR MAGAZINE?

Basically he wants to reprise Steve Bissette's Taboo. Which is totally fair enough. I would as well. It's where I found From Hell and Through The Habitrails, two of the best comics ever published. You can read the rest, as I said, on his fragging newsletter. My cut-and-paste buttons are worn out.

UPDATE: That's it, they are all gone. Were you lucky?

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!