Meet the new boss
Not the same as the old boss
Hello companions in June! I am here to show the cover and some bits from my first book in an upcoming trilogy - The Boss of the Underworld: Shirley vs The Green Menace will be published by Hachette in March 2025.
When I’ve alluded in this newsletter to the big project I’ve been working on over the last few months, this was it! Each book will be 160 pages - the longest comic(s) I’ve ever made. As I’ve said here before, the method by which I’ve written longer comics in the past has been totally improvisational - but with something this long an arc and structure was required, and I scratched my head for a few months trying to work that out. The click came for me when I got a good sense of who Shirley the girl, and George the big cockroach were - then it all started to fall into place.
One day Shirley, in pursuit of a rolling pound coin, falls down a manhole into the Underworld, where she meets George. Together they travel through forest, marshland and into the sewers to find the pipe that leads back to the Upperworld, and Shirley’s route home.
Keen readers of this blog might recognise that its origins came from the comic I was serialising here, Hellboss. I’m working on some new pages for that, though I’m going to change the name (I was thinking Hot Desk??) to keep them separate.
Nearer publication date, I’d love to write more about the process of making this book, but out of fear of jinxing it before it’s all coloured up (not to mention two more books to go!) I’ll wait a few months. Anyway, I’m extremely excited about it, and feel lucky to have this chance, and to be working with Rachel and Jen at Hachette…
Here’s a short silly comic about Spring - and a thought I often have.
Thank you for reading, see you soon.
I’ve read it - had to! It’s so fun and witty and can’t wait to find out how on earth (or beneath actually) Shirley manages to get back home, if she does!
Wow!!! The cover looks amazing! I love the little bit of sky in the opening of the O - what a cool idea! I'm really looking forward to this TRILOGY (Wow!!!). I also loved the original Hellboss comic very much and am happy to read that you will also keep this one going! Hot Desk - oh yeah! 🔥😂 But also really excited about the adventures of Shirley and George. The preview bits look super promising and I always love the dialogues of your protagonist duos so much! This will be a delight! (Not to jinx it, but it certainly will be!)