Cover art by Patrick Zircher

Rick Remender and I have been c0-writing the current arc of Venom. It’s been a lot of fun siccing The Savage Six and Flash Thompson and his family and friends. This week, it was announced that I’ll be assuming the writing chores on Venom as of issue 23.

Once the dust settles from Flash’s encounter with Crime-Master and his crew, I’ll be throwing a new batch of challenges into the mix. Code: Uatu missions, tabloid muckrakers, demons, and the Son of Satan himself will be entering Venom’s orbit as he tries–really tries–to become the superhero he’s always wanted to be. Hopefully, this will be a good jumping on point for readers who haven’t been following the series up until this point.

My first arc will bring story threads from The Fearless and from the Circle of Four story together in a big way. Why did Daimon Hellstrom betray the Avengers and join the forces of the D.O.A.? Little does Flash know, but it’s all his fault. And if you thought Crime-Master could mess with Flash’s head, just wait til you see what Hellstrom has in store.

CBR interviewed me about my plans for the book. Check it out when you have a moment.

If you haven’t checked the book out yet, now’s the time! Support your local comic shop and order all three volumes of the series! If your shop can’t or won’t order the books, then you can get them (often at a significant discount) from Amazon.

This Saturday, May 5th, is Free Comic Book Day! If you’re not familiar with the event, it’s the one day a year when participating comic book shops across America join together in handing out comic books for free to anyone who walks through their doors. It’s a very cool event. Check with your local shops to see if they are participating, then head on out!

My Sixth Gun co-creator Brian Hurtt and I will be signing books all day long at Acme Comics in Greensboro, North Carolina. I’ve heard nothing but amazing things about the store, so I’m really looking forward to this.

Of special note… Spider-Man: Season One, the graphic novel I wrote, is coming out on May 8th. But you can get the first chapter of the book for FREE on Free Comic Book Day. This book is a perfect introduction to the iconic wall crawler.

Also of special note… this year, FCBD falls on Cinco de Mayo. As I’ll be signing books all day, I’ll be unable to track down a Mexican restaurant.

Somebody bring me a margarita.

Please.

I’ve been asked that by a number of people. My wife, friends, co-workers, fellow creators, and family. Hell, I’ve even asked myself that question.

I mean, I worked my ass off to achieve my dream of being a full-time writer. I made a lot of mistakes along the way and my journey took longer than I would have liked. But I made it. I reached this goal I’ve been working toward for at least half my life. I spend my days telling stories, some featuring my own characters (such as The Damned, The Tooth, and The Sixth Gun) and some featuring characters I’ve loved since I was a kid (such as Wolverine, Spider-Man: Season One, and Captain America & Hawkeye). I should be content, right?

But being content just doesn’t seem to be in the genetic soup running through my veins.

“Are you ever going to be happy with the way things are?”

God, I hope not.

I’m happy with how far I’ve come, especially in the last couple of years. I’m thrilled that readers are enjoying my work. Telling stories is a helluva way to make a living, and I wouldn’t give up on it without a fight. But being happy and being content are very different things. The idea of being content–of complacency with my professional lot in life–makes me cringe. Whenever I’m asked why I just can’t be content with the work I’m doing, this equation runs through my head:

Complacency = Stagnation = Death!

I’ve said many times that I never gained any traction with my writing until I started treating it like a full-time job. I wrote in the morning before I left for my day job. I wrote during my lunch break. I wrote for a few hours every night after my son went to bed. I stopped being content with treating my writing like a hobby, and suddenly it became an honest-to-goodness career. I was tired, but making the earth tremble is tough work.

But…

Even though I’ve been working… even though I’ve written dozens of books over the past year… I find myself sliding slowly back into a comfort zone. I know what I have to produce to pay the bills. I know how much time I have to spend on my various projects. It’s a seductive trap. And that feeling scares the Hell out of me.

Unless I’m expanding… unless I’m doing more… unless I’m still daydreaming and taking action to make those daydreams come to life… I’m stagnant.

It’s time, once again, to adjust my attitude when it comes to work. It’s time to work harder, work smarter, and diversify a bit. Comics (creator-owned and otherwise), prose, screenplays, video games. I want to tell stories. I don’t care what medium.

I like to stay busy. I’m only ever really close to “content” when I’m working.

I’m focusing, planning, rallying allies, educating myself, taking meetings, and sending out proposals again. There are big things on the horizon. I’m building something. I’m working like a madman and loving every second of it.

I feel alive.

This is the preamble to Scorched Earth.

• Bunn Gets His Hands Dirty With Wolverine, wherein I answer reader questions about everyone’s favorite clawed mutant.
• Cullen Bunn Scares Wolverine, Teams Up With Captain America, wherein I talk about some of the books I have coming out next week.

CAPTAIN AMERICA AND IRON MAN #634
CULLEN BUNN (w) • BARRY KITSON (a)
Cover by KALMAN ANDRASOFSZKY
• Madripoor is in chaos (more-so than usual) as technology goes berserk!
• Captain America and Tony Stark fight their way through the city – and through Batroc’s Brigade – in search of the villains behind the disaster!
• In a world of assassins and super-spies, on which side does the elusive woman known as Kash fall?

CAPTAIN AMERICA #15
ED BRUBAKER & CULLEN BUNN (w) • SCOT EATON (a)
cover by STEVE EPTING
“NEW WORLD ORDERS”
• Still reeling from Hydra’s Madbombs, Cap finds himself the target of a vicious media smear campaign.
• Who are the Discordians and what will they blow up next…?
• Brought to you by Eisner award winner Ed Brubaker & Cullen Bunn (FEAR ITSELF: THE FEARLESS; CAPTAIN AMERICA & HAWKEYE) with superstar artist Scot Eaton (SECRET AVENGERS)

VENOM #20 & 21
CULLEN BUNN & RICK REMENDER (w) • LAN MEDINA (a)
Covers by MICHAEL DEL MUNDO (#20) & TONY MOORE (#21)
• Toxin vs. Venom! Flash Thompson’s Last Stand! The Crime-Master Triumphant! – It’s the
Savage Six Finale the comics world will be talking about!
• CRIME MASTER’S IDENTITY IS REVEALED – and Flash Thompson and Betty Brant’s lives will
never be the same!

Since we first started working on the book, Brian and I wanted to do a silent issue, a tribute of sorts to the great silent issue of Marvel’s G.I. Joe where Snake Eyes invades Destro’s castle. Now’s our chance. And here’s the strange part… the kismet, if you will.

We knew we were going to do this issue at this point in the story. What we weren’t sure is how the issues would break down. And neither of us had the numbering for that great issue of G.I. Joe in mind. Awhile back, we were signing at a comic book shop. We mentioned our plans for a silent issue to the manager. He quickly replied, “Is it gonna be issue 21? You know, like G.I. Joe?” Brian and I quickly started doing the math in our heads and realized that, yes, Becky’s invasion of the stronghold of the Knights of Solomon would be happening around that point. It was a pleasant surprise for both of us. How’s that for unintentional awesomeness?

This issue also promises to have some big reveals in it regarding the story as a whole. A preview of the first several pages follows.

Using the power of the Sixth Gun, Becky Montcrief invades the sanctum of the Knights of Solomon in order to rescue Drake Sinclair! Becky’s enemies have often seen her as the helpless damsel in distress-but no more! Once she’s finished with them, the Knights will know without a doubt that she is the deserving wielder of the deadliest weapon ever created!

Easter 1972. I was terrified. But in my defense, the bunny had a HUMAN FACE!

And now. Here I am with my kiddo. At first, I thought he was scared, too, but upon closer examination it looks like he’s smiling gleefully at forcing me to stand so close to the object of my mortal terror.

As we all dream of a cute and fluffy bunnies delivering baskets of brightly-colored Easter eggs to good little girls and boys, I thought I’d remind everyone of the cute and fluffiness of true EVIL… as presented by Brian Hurtt and myself in 1999 in the pages of Whispers From The Shattered Forum #1. I guess this was one of our first collaborations. Brian’s bunny went on to become the mascot of Undaunted Press.

Little Bunny Cthulhu

Little Bunny Cthulhu
sloughing through the forest
grabbing up the mi-go
and gobbling up their heads
And down came Nyralathotep, and he said:
Little Bunny Cthulhu
I don’t want to see you
grabbing up the mi-go
and gobbling up their heads.
And now I’ll give you three chances, and if you keep it up,
I’ll seal you in a tomb!
Little Bunny Cthulhu
kept slithering through the ocean
snatching up the Deep Ones
and gnawing on their heads.
And down came Nyralathotep, and he said:
Little Bunny Cthulhu
I don’t want to see you
snatching up the Deep Ones
and gobbling up their heads.
And now I’ll give you two chances, and if you keep it up,
I’ll seal you in a tomb!
Little Bunny Cthulhu
kept creeping through the Dream Lands
catching all the moon beasts
and slobbering on their heads.
And down came Nyralathotep, and he said:
Little Bunny Cthulhu
I don’t want to see you
catching all the moon beasts
and slobbering on their heads.
And now I’ll give you one more chance, and if you don’t stop,
I’ll seal you in a tomb!
Little Bunny Cthulhu
went writhing through old Arkham
enveloping the rat-things
and slurping up their heads.
And down came Nyralathotep, and he said:
Little Bunny Cthulhu
I’m not very proud of you
enveloping the rat-things
and slurping up their heads.
You disobeyed me, so in sunken R’leyh I seal you in a TOMB!