Priority: Heavy Metal
How I landed a writing gig with Heavy Metal and how it affected everything.
Summer started like a bat out of hell. Between kicking things off with family during Memorial Day weekend, and Des Moines Con gobbling up the following weekend, I have not made time to write this newsletter. It’s been hard to balance priorities in the last two months. It’s not just Fighting the Good Fight that’s taken a back seat. Violet 9 and This is My Private Life have had hiccups in production, too. Somehow life seems to be moving so fast I can’t even see straight, let alone catch up.
What’s the problem? I wear a lot of hats in this career. Which is veiled bullshit for: I do way too many things. I try to say yes as much as possible because I want to open doors and create possibilities. I rarely trim the fat unless something is just not working, like Twitch streaming. Around the end of April, I had three wonderful opportunities work their way into gobbling up the last several weeks. One of these opportunities is a large group of Dungeons & Dragons character commissions which is pretty common work for me. Another, more exciting opportunity is working with a local cabaret and burlesque company on designing a mascot. It’s a milestone gig! The final opportunity, which feels like a chance of a lifetime, is writing for Heavy Metal Magazine.
Heavy Metal, the science fantasy magazine that dodged the Comics Code Authority by not being a comic. It’s a magazine that’s been on shelves in stores my whole life, with bizarre and fascinating covers and a strict 18+ disclaimer in most stores. I’ve, admittedly, felt like a kid my entire life. I’m always waiting to feel like a grown up. Grown ups get work in magazines like Heavy Metal. Now, I have work in Heavy Metal, so I must be a grown up.
So, how did I get the gig that dominated May? The editor didn’t call me. That would have been wilder than wild. I reached out to the editor. It was about as platonic and mundane as you could imagine. I Facebook messaged the editor after seeing a repost that he was looking for writers. It’s a relationship that started with my least favorite pathway to work: pleading and begging in a string of massive comments.
While I’d prefer to not be one of the thousands of people publicly applying for work amidst oodles of other applicants all promising to do the most for the least pay, I’m grateful that I was able to actually reach the editor, Chris Thompson. I have a large body of written work, especially if you include this newsletter. I have comics work, prose, and scripts. I sent Chris a bit of everything. But, what I feel helped make the relationship form was mentioning that I found his work through friend, and fellow artist, John Bivens. I’ve known John for a few years at conventions, Chris has worked with John as an artist in Heavy Metal.
I will always argue that I do my best to create quality work. I can toil over words as much as I can over perfect ink lines. But, we do not live in a strict meritocracy. Don’t let conservative reactionaries fool you into thinking everything is based on merit. Who you know is always a part of anything you’re trying to do. That’s why we have references for jobs. Sure, employers and collaborators want to hear that you’re reliable, but they’re looking to be wowed by a reference that says, “I get this person.” I don’t think knowing Bivens was the be-all-end-all, but I think it helped a lot.
The issue of Heavy Metal, in which my writing for them will debut, is the August 2026 issue. It’s not your standard Heavy Metal. This issue is a special, all sci-fi edition. Am I a sci-fi writer? Maybe I wasn’t before May, but I am now. The moment the editor and I agreed to have me write, I had to set aside all my nerves and preconceptions and write. Along my mental hurdles, I also set down everything I was doing and made my writing a priority.
One of my criticisms that makes me content in not working with the major publishing industry is the immediate deadlines. It’s uncommon the writers and artists to get months to work. Typically it’s a week or two, and that involves throwing everything you have at the work. In my nebulous, self-driven deadline space, I can move things around. It’s great! But that also means I can procrastinate. Chris asked me to have my first piece written in ten days. That felt fast, especially considering that I had to become a sci-fi writer. But, the offer came with the chance to write two pieces if I could keep my momentum up.
I had the momentum and the drive. In fact, it might be the first time that I felt large scale production timelines benefitted me. I was able to write two pieces for my first entry in Heavy Metal. The entire experience feels surreal right now. The magazine drops on August 26th, which could be millions of years away at this point. The pieces are written, and I’m working on the other two commissions, but I am not done with Heavy Metal. At this point in the process I am working out dates to offer signings at local comic shops. Right now, you can put August 29th on your calendars for Rainbow Comics in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Something no one will tell you about life goals and milestones is that you might be excited and it might feel life altering for a few minutes, but on the whole, it’s just another day. It’s a bizarre feeling. I have every intention of growing and cultivating my relationship with Heavy Metal. By the time the magazine has come out, I’ll have it added to my credits for comic conventions and other gigs. It’ll be another thing I did, and life will march forward. It’s uncanny to know that a magazine that has been around my whole life, that has stood as a testament of mature works — as something I would probably never be a part of — will soon be something I did and life will march on.
I don’t love that so much of what I do came to a grinding halt while I took on this opportunity. But, I don’t want to let go of how cool this feels. As my friend Will put it, I’ll be in the same pages Moebius was in. That’s amazing, really.
Violet 9 and This is My Private Life will return to their regular schedules soon. If you’re interested in the sci-fi special of Heavy Metal, call your local comic book stores and book shops. It hits shelves August 26th and I would love for you to read it. If you’re interested in more behind the scenes information on my entries in Heavy Metal, pop over to the Brimstone Order. I’ll be dropping two behind the scenes looks this week and the week after the magazine drops!
Plus I heard you got hired to draw a comic for someplace..