SECRET ORIGINS OF THE SCHLUB!
ARRIVING THIS AUGUST + LIVESTREAM WITH THE TEAM!
Would you like to know how THE SCHLUB came to be? Well, I don’t really care if you do or not because I’m going to tell you. Here, right now. And if you stop reading then may God have mercy on your soul.
So there I was, at a comic convention, Boston FanExpo a few years back. I find myself talking to other creators about movies and I start talking about how much I love 17 Again starring Zac Efron. I feel myself losing everyone, so I dig my heels in and really go hard about how great of a movie it is.
I’m sure everyone in that moment was thinking I’d lost my damn mind. And maybe they were even annoyed with me. But I didn’t care… I just wanted the truth to be out there. They NEEDED to know. I started talking about body switch movies in general (which 17 Again ostensibly is) and got on the topic of Freaky Friday. Then Vice Versa. 18 Again. Even The Change-Up. I loved all of these movies. And as I talked more I realized something… I LOVE BODY SWITCH MOVIES! I don’t know why, they just speak to me. I’ll get into that with my psychologist later.
Anyhoot, I started thinking… If I’m such a body switch story fan, why don’t I do that in a superhero comic? Because I also love superhero comics!
I left that convention and started working on a book that I would write and draw. I pitched it to Image Comics under the name “The Unbearable Roger Dalton” (which shortens to T.U.R.D. because I’m a child). Lo and behold, they accepted it. I was still working with Marvel at the time, but I was getting a little bored. I needed something new and exciting. I hammered out a series outline and was all set when, well…Marvel offered me Venom.
I had turned down quite a few other projects and, honestly, almost turned this one down too. But then Donny called me, told me the story, and I fell in love with it. So, I dropped everything and went back to Marvel to do it. Unfortunately for me and Donny and Marvel, Venom was a huge failure and it only became one of the best-selling comics of the decade.
But then the itch returned. I had saved up some money and decided that I really wanted THE SCHLUB (a new title I came up with when I came to my senses) to come to life. Enter my pals KENNY PORTER and TYRELL CANNON. Kenny and I have known each other for around a decade. He was a lowly aspiring writer when we met. When I met him, I had to choose whether to treat him like shit or befriend him. In the end, befriending him won out. I only mildly regret it. Tyrell is an artist that I’ve admired for a long time. His dynamism and storytelling are second to none. Why am I not saying anything mean about Tyrell when I was so backhanded about Kenny, you ask? Life works in funny ways.
So I pitched these two fellas the project, they said yes, and here we are! THE SCHLUB is a combination of a lot of my favorite things. We’ve got body-switching. We’ve got superheroes. We’ve got a lead character that can’t get out of his own way. We’ve got family dynamics. The list goes on and on. Oh, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention it has one of my least favorite things in the world: DENTISTS. A big part of my desire to do THE SCHLUB is to finally put dentists in their place.
I hope you enjoy it! We are having a blast making it!
THE SCHLUB #1 hits stands later this Summer on AUGUST 23rd from KLC PRESS and IMAGE COMICS! You can read the the official press release [HERE].
And, of course, you can stay up-to-date on all things SCHLUB and STEGMAN by subscribing to this very newsletter! Subscribing not only keeps you in the loop, but also goes a long way in supporting these creator-owned comics! So smash the button and stay tuned, Chain Gang!
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