Arvidnelson.com The online home of Arvid Nelson, writer of Rex Mundi & Zero Killer

Got my advance copy of Rex Mundi Book 6

I can't believe it's finally in my hands, Dear Reader, after all of these years. Rex Mundi started in 1999, during a trip I took to Paris. That same summer I met EricJ. The rest is now history.

Thank you, Eric! I couldn't have asked for a better partner. Your influence extended long after you moved on, right to the very end. I finished Rex Mundi for both of us. We did it, my brother and friend. We did it.

Thank you, Image Comics! Especially to Jim Valentino, Editor-in-Chief of Image Central when Rex Mundi first debuted. Rex Mundi was originally going to be part of an Image series that ended before Rex Mundi's turn was up. Rather than cancel us completely, you took a chance and ran Rex Mundi as a stand-alone. This was long before The Da Vinci Code. Rex Mundi probably seemed too weird for most publishers; a murder mystery about Jesus (?). But not to you. I'm so pleased to have vindicated your faith.

And thank you everyone else at Image! Thank you Eric Larsen and Eric Stephenson, for believing in Rex Mundi so much, for continuing to support it. Switching over to Dark Horse was the hardest decision I ever made.

Speaking of Dark Horse, thank you, Mike Richardson! For letting me do Rex Mundi the way I wanted to. People sometimes ask if I had to make any compromises, and the honest answer is "absolutely not".

Thank you, Scott Allie, my editor at Dark Horse! I learned so much from you, not just about the craft of comics, but about storytelling in general. Having you as my editor was like going to Jedi school. I believe we did an average of four rewrites of every script. But you know what? It was worth it. The quality of the writing took a quantum leap forward when I came to Dark Horse, all thanks to you.

Thank you Jim Di Bartolo, Rex Mundi's transitional artist! You cheerfully suffered through two grueling issues of Rex Mundi, and then convinced Juan to come on board when you had to leave. Without your help, Jim my friend, I would have walked away from Rex Mundi years ago.

Thank you Juan! Juan, I love you. In ways both manly and unmanly. You draw faster than I write. Your draftsmanship is excelled only by your exceedingly good temper. Working on Rex Mundi with you was unadulterated joy. Thanks for taking all of my crazy, nitpicky suggestions about your art and never once blowing up at me. I'm so glad you're getting well-paying work now. You deserve it. Oh yes, and of course, DON CRY ARVEED.

Thanks also to Joe Keatinge, to Ryan Jorgensen, to Freddye Lins... to all of the people who had to deal with the daily grind of producing Rex Mundi. I sincerely hope I wasn't an arrogant jerk to any of you. I really tried not to be.

And most of all, thank you, Dear Reader, for supporting Rex Mundi. I hope you think Rex Mundi is worthy of your time and silver, and if so, I hope you find Book 6 a worthy conclusion.