Rex Mundi Turns Black
from Rex Mundi Book 2, chapter 1
It only took ten years, but Rex Mundi is finally turning a profit – today, I got my first royalty check from Dark Horse. Thanks, Dark Horse!
Specifically: thanks, Lance! Lance Kreiter is the chap at "The Horse" who handles foreign licensing. Because of him, Rex has been published in German, French, Italian, Spanish, and even Portuguese. Without the ducats from those deals, Rex would still be tens of thousands of dollars in the red.
The check actually was a lot bigger than I expected, and you know what? I'm going to give it all away, probably to Doctors Without Borders; they do amazing things in Haiti, all over the world.
And I'm not bragging about it, because it's not really my money I'm giving away. Every time someone forks over their hard-earned cash for a volume of Rex Mundi, they're directly supporting me in my little Crusade Against Reality.
So thank you, Dear Reader. Without you, Rex Mundi would have withered up and died a long time ago. Consider the donation a gift from all of us to the rest of the world.
Rex Mundi Book 6 in stores
Biblically thick, in senses both metaphoric and literal!
It's here, a little earlier than anticipated! We added a few extra pages to the final chapter, which I hope makes the pacing of the ending closer to perfect. There's also a final map and a final two-page "le Journal de la Liberté" – first time in print.
That, plus a whopping 44 page Brother Matthew murder mystery, and a brilliant 8 page prologue with art by Guy Davis and David Stewart.
Finally, the Rex Mundi saga is complete. Come an' git yerself a copy of Book 6 at amazon.com (I get a little kick-back from ’em if you buy it from the above link)!
Got my advance copy of Rex Mundi Book 6
Biblically thick, in senses both metaphoric and literal!
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.
Two Books, Same Time
The final issue of Rex Mundi hits stores today. So long, Rex Mundi!
And, as if that weren't enough, Zero Killer #4 is out today, too. Finally, after two years.
What can I say? It's a good day to be Arvid.
An Important Note About the Final Issue of Rex Mundi
We didn't have enough space to run le Journal de la Liberté in Rex Mundi #19. Doh!
But!
I'll be posting a link to a PDF download right here, and on rexmundi.net on August 26th, when #19 comes out. There'll be two issues of le Journal, as well as the final Rex Mundi map! Joy!
Arvid Nelson (me!) is a comic book writer, responsible for Rex Mundi and Zero Killer, among other things. I live in Northampton, Massachusetts with my lovely wife. more...Coming Up
- Feb. 15: Dejah Thoris #10