Substack Newsletter #1
*This originally appeared on our Substack on May 22nd, 2025*
Hey Folks,
I wrote a little about this in the beginning of the year on Instagram but I want to try out a better way to connect with you all. Smarter people than myself have written much more eloquently on how disconnected it can feel posting on social media and limited reach, etc. etc. I’m not going to belabor the point, we all feel it so here we are.
This newsletter is going to be primarily Strangers Publishing focused, but I also have a hard time disconnecting Strangers from myself. Having started as a fanzine, Strangers was originally intended to be an outlet for my own interests, so I will be using part of this to be self indulgent, sharing what I’m watching/reading and probably some musings about being a small press.
But first, some promotional buttons.
Upcoming Shows
I’m looking to pick up a few more show appearances this year, schedule pending! Hopefully some more details to come but here is where you can currently expect to see Strangers.
TCAF- Toronto, Ontario - June 7 + 8, 2025
I don’t believe I’ve received our table # yet but when I do, I’ll make sure to share it around. This is my third year tabling at TCAF, it’s always one of my favorite shows. Toronto is a really fun city and The Beguiling is arguably one of the best comic shops in the world.
I will be joined by Aaron Losty all weekend who will have some of his own self published books in addition to advance copies of his upcoming Strangers debut; The Hanging!
SPX - Bethesda, MD - September 13 + 14, 2025
I will also officially be returning to Small Press Expo this year! I was supposed to have been there last year being helped out by Matt Emmons, but every single one of my boxes got lost in shipment so, it was a Second At Best Press table for the weekend!
This year I will be joined again by Strangers table regular; Adam Falp. If all goes as planned, we’re going to use SPX to debut a new book that Adam did a lot of work on and features a full length comic by the legend; Ken Landgraf. More on that below.
I’m also intending to debut Volume 2 of Justin Morale’s The Bouledogue Barbarian as well as a reprint of Volume 1!
Thought Bubble - Harrogate, UK - November 15 + 16, 2025
Year 4 here we go! Strangers is returning to the UK for Thought Bubble. I was tepid on returning due to the amount of expenses, but if I’m being honest with myself- it’s a weekend I get to hang with my friends I only get to see once or twice a year. Assuming all things continue- I’ll be joined by the usual Strangers lot; Adam Falp, Tom Kneeshaw and maybe a return of Jordan Barry-Browne. All to be determined.
It’s a little too early to say if we’ll have anything new for this show besides the above but more to come!
Current Book Updates
Preview of The Hanging & Demon Summoner Gash Gash
As I mentioned back in the beginning of the year, I’m slowing down quite a bit versus the past few years. I think it’s going to end up being 6 or so books this year and then going forward the plan is to do 4 a year going forward.
The Hanging by Aaron Losty
Description: The Hanging by Aaron Losty tells a story set in Finglas, a suburb of Dublin where in the near future an unseen alien plot has resulted in the launch of every nuclear missile on earth. Only for them to stop a mile short of their target and hang in the air. Set in the global social and economic collapse many years after the Hanging we follow three brothers on their daily quest to secure some food tokens to lighten the burden on their factory working mother. But brothers, Adam, Mac and Tim must confront the condition of their community and the world over as nukes begin to fall and Tim’s visions of invisible aliens begin to rise.
A couple weeks ago I received some sample copies of The Hanging. Aaron and I are both extremely thrilled with how it came out. French folds, some spot gloss, offset printing on uncoated toothy paper- it’s a good looking book. The bulk of the order is sitting with our printer in Hong Kong but we will have some copies at TCAF that Aaron will sign for anyone going!
Demon Summoner Gash Gash by Connor McCann
Description: WHO WILL SURVIVE THE CENTIPEDE GOLGOTHA? After an unspeakable tragedy, Mason Marrow must descend into a world of grindhouse black magic in order to save his town and family from an impending cosmic massacre. Demon Summoner Gash Gash is a genre-bending odyssey through heaven and hell. Inspired by Devilman, Gummo and Cormac McCarthy, it’s everything you’d expect out of a Connor McCann comic and more.
I think we’re officially through the last round of edits on Demon Summoner Gash Gash! After we received our proofs, Connor wanted to make some tweaks to make sure the color saturation was up to snuff. Once it’s printed- they’ll join The Hanging on a slow boat from China to Colorado!
Our webstore is also up to date with all our currently available titles. You can check that out here!
LUNAR Distribution Updates
Preview of Fortress and Mabel & Francine
We’ve currently got two different books available for pre-order on LUNAR right now- coincidentally both by Australians!
Fortress #1 by Joel van der Knaap - $8 USD
Description: A soldier wakes with his bionic limbs missing and finds that he's the target of a manhunt.
While not an official release, Strangers has been the US distributor of Joel’s work since before I even started the publishing line. Fortress is one of my favorite self published series and an important part of the Strangers family. I offered Joel to try out listing the series monthly on Lunar through our account to get it more exposure in the states and he was down to give it a shot.
The first issue will be hitting the stands in August with subsequent issues following monthly. All important details here if you’d like to pre-order a copy from your LCS.
Initial Due Date: 5/22/2025
FOC Date: 7/14/2025
In-Store Date: 8/6/2025
Product Code: 0525ST706
Mabel & Francine by Pierre Lloga - $12 USD
Description: Two cats who travel into space, looking for a strange treasure that will make them rich and help them escape the drudgery of their everyday lives.
This one came out for us summer of last year and we’ve selling at shows, online and directly to retailers so we figured it was time to offer it through Lunar!
Initial Due Date: 5/22/2025
FOC Date: 7/14/2025
In-Store Date: 8/6/2025
Product Code: 0525ST707
Sneak Peaks, Leaks and Future Releases
Upcoming preview from Sacred Fields, Ken Landgraf, Justin Morales
The Bouledogue Barbarian #2 by Justin Morales
Not too much to share here at the moment- the book is finished and planned to have out by SPX. This volume is around 120 pages, about 3x the length of volume 1! Like the last volume, Justin has tapped in his friends to draw some of the action scenes as well as another awesome cover by Goran Gligovic!
Hostile Planet edited by Strangers Publishing & Tom Kneeshaw
This ones been in the works for some time. Organizing an anthology sure is something. Hostile Planet is an upcoming environmental science-fiction anthology about surviving, adapting and rebuilding in the extremes of a world we have lost. We’ve let the interpretation of that sentence up to the creators involved and what remains is 13 stories and illustrations by Margot Ferrick, Tim Fischer, Miranda Smart, Andrey Garin, pbbeta, Garresh, Bryce Davidson, Lando, Sacred Field, Mooooonbug, Solynx, Tyler Landry and Caterina Gerbasi.
We’re waiting on the last couple stories to wrap up and hopefully we’ll be able to get this on Kickstarter in the next couple months! I want to make sure DSGG and The Hanging are wrapped up first.
Additional Things Upcoming
There are a couple other books I’ve teased in one way or the other. The first is a comic with art by Ken Landgraf and a backup story, lettering and cover colors by Adam Falp! This will be primarily available through Lunar with a small run for the webstore and shows as well. Hoping to have this one announced in the next couple months!
I also shared on Bluesky that I’ve received the contract for our first manga license! Barring a couple edits, I imagine I’ll be signing this by end of week and be able to start sharing more details in the next couple of weeks. Publishing at least one volume of manga has always been this dream goal of mine for Strangers so I’m really excited it’s finally coming to fruition. I’m planning to have this released sometime, hopefully early 2026.
Lastly, we’re in the early stages but I am working with Ludovic Lalliat to put out an English language version of one of his books. This ones been planned for a couple of years now, prior to the book being published in France, so it’s exciting to have this almost a reality! This will also be a 2026 release.
Personal Musings
This newsletter is already pretty long so I’ll try and keep this section somewhat brief. I’ve been playing a lot of catchup on Strangers lately. The beginning of the year is always super intense for my day job and then comes to more or less a grinding halt after April, so I use the Summer to get things ready for next year. I just got back from a month away from home- two of those weeks for work, and then the other two were a postponed honeymoon in Japan/Hong Kong.
My wife and I worked our way down Japan for the majority of the trip, getting to see Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Okinawa before flying over for 3 days in Hong Kong. Returning home all in was about 24 hours of travel time, repeating Monday twice. This trip was one for the books. In terms of comic related things- we got to check out the Masamune Shirow art exhibit in Tokyo, the Kyoto International Manga Museum and lastly the Osamu Tezuka Museum, all of which were truly amazing. Tons of original art on display, the best being this Ghost In The Shell piece that Tsutomu Nihei made. One of my favorite artists riffing on one of my favorite anime/comics was really awesome to see. This isn’t my tweet but this is a picture of the work.
I got home and started reading a good amount, something I’ve not done in awhile. That extra downtime has made it a lot easier for me to focus. Other than that, I’ve been watching a lot of playoff basketball and very few movies. The new David Cronenberg movie was great, saw this Taiwanese romance called Blue Gate Crossing and rewatched Fallen Angels in a cool 4K remaster. I’m on Letterboxd if you care to keep up there.
Below is a pic of some of what I’ve been reading the past couple weeks! The one that really surprised me (in a good way) was Kyoko Okazaki River’s Edge. It’s one of those high school ensemble dramas in the same vein of Gregg Araki movies, Skins or Euphoria; lots of delinquent behavior. They made a movie about it in 2018 that I’m going to try and watch this weekend. Also really liked Hideshi Hino’s Town of Pigs that Starfruit Books put out a couple years ago. Maybe a hot take but Panorama of Hell was not for me.
Thanks for reading if you got this far. I don’t know if this warrants feedback, but tell me if I’m being too self indulgent or send me some notes on what you’d like to hear more or less about.
All my love forever and ever,
-Eddie