Chris Condon. So Hot Right Now.
Chris Condon.
It brings me great joy when somebody I consider a friend achieves success. There’s so much shit and negativity in the world and when good things happen to good people, it makes me feel all tingly inside.
Chris Condon (how does he not have a Wikipedia page? Somebody get on that!) is a comic book writer who caught my attention with his incredible noir THAT TEXAS BLOOD. The book follows the history of violence and darkness that has soaked into Ambrose County, a small community in the armpit of the Lone Star State. By the time Condon and his artistic collaborator Jacob Phillips introduced Harlan Eversaul, a Carl Kolchak-inspired investigator, in the second volume of their series, I knew I was in love.
In 2022, I had the pleasure of hosting Condon for a book signing and film screening at the Alamo Drafthouse LaCenterra. Condon guest programmed BLOOD SIMPLE and signed copies of THAT TEXAS BLOOD. A great time was had by all.
In the years since, I’ve read with pleasure as Condon’s work continues to mature and grow sharper. His wrestling noir HELL IS A SQUARED CIRCLE (art by Francesco Biagini) is an incredible, complex portrait of revenge and the inescapable pull of the consequences of our actions. It read like something out of EC Comics, so it was no surprise that in recent months he’s contributed stories to CREEPSHOW and EC Comics’ new imprints CRUEL KINGDOM, CRUEL UNIVERSE, and EPITAPHS FROM THE ABYSS.
Don’t let me forget to mention that Chris Condon is now writing GREEN ARROW (!) fro DC Comics and ULTIMATE WOLVERINE (!!!) for Marvel Comics. Dang, son!
Condon seemingly has no plans to slow down because he has two books coming up, and I’ve had the honor of reading early copies of each of his first issues.
FAR DOWN BELOW comes out tomorrow (Wednesday, March 26), from Mad Cave Studios. Condon, with artist Gegê Schall, crafts a stellar introductory first issue, setting up some of the mysteries and introducing the leading players of their tale. Teens Mike and Brian are stuck at home on a rainy day and can’t decide if they want to keep playing with their STAR WARS toys or go and see what the pretty girl from class is up to, so they split the difference and decide to check out a house that’s said to be haunted. Unfortunately, Brian’s family (the owners of the house) has been keeping some pretty big secrets, including that one of his ancestors once dug into the hollow of the Earth, where the explorers quickly learned that some places contain dangers that have been hidden for a reason. Condon describes the series as if Stephen King had written THE GOONIES, and with the first issue, I am definitely feeling the vibes that Condon and Schall are putting out. The artwork is a stellar match for the story and does a great job balancing the light, airy poppiness of Amblin-inspired family films of the ‘80s with the darkness that I am sure is hiding around the corner in future issues. I can’t wait to see where the story goes from the first issue as Condon and Schall tease out just enough to promise readers a frightfully fun time ahead.
Coming out in June from Image Comics is NEWS FROM THE FALLOUT. Condon teams up with Jeffrey Alan Love (in his monthly comic debut) for this retro tale of a nuclear bomb test gone haywire. When a rogue military leader conducts a dangerous experiment with atomic fallout, an evil is exposed in 1962 Nevada, and a lone Army private is the only survivor of its bloody aftermath. Love’s artwork feels both experimental and timeless - like something you’d see hanging in an art museum and unlike anything you’ve seen before. Told through a grayscale abstractness that perfectly captures the ashes of nuclear fallout, the story looks so deliciously different than anything else on stand and Condon knows precisely how to play to his artistic partner’s strength, giving him a minimalist pulp script that feels like something you’d have found in the paperback section of a used bookstore. It’s direct and to the point, with the point being pure nightmare fuel.
Check out both FAR DOWN BELOW and NEWS FROM THE FALLOUT this summer at your local comic book shop. Both series have great starts, and I can’t wait to see where Condon and all his artistic collaborators go from here!