Tagged: All We Ever Wanted

Exclusive! “The Weight of Time” from All We Ever Wanted

A Wave Blue World or AWBW is an independent comics publisher founded in 2005 with a focus on graphic novels, anthologies and art books. The founders, Tyler & Wendy Chin-Tanner, put an emphasis on publishing culturally relevant works including American Terrorist, Broken Frontier, and last year’s This Nightmare Kills Fascists which was successfully funded on Kickstarter last year and available on Amazon and through Diamond Previews now with order code SEP181563.

The editorial team of Matt Miner and Eric Palicki from TNKF is back, joined by AWBW publisher Tyler Chin-Tanner to bring us All We Ever Wanted. Where TNKF looked at issues facing us from a horror angle, All We Ever Wanted takes on the issues that affect our lives with a more optimistic approach. It’s a collection of 24 stories that present a brighter vision of the future, meant to inspire hope that together we can create a better world. The creators behind this anthology include veterans of comics like Howard Mackie and rising starts like Nadia Shammas and Eryk Donovan with a cover by Ariela Kristantina and a logo by Katrina Tan Kit.

Tyler of AWBW was kind enough to give ComicMix one of the 24 stories from All We Ever Wanted, “The Weight of Time” to premiere in its entirely on our site. This story examines how we view the queer civil rights movement and is written by Jarrett Melendez with art by Danica Brine and lettering by Taylor Esposito. If you like the story, please reach out to your LCS to have them order a copy for you with Diamond order code OCT181514 or send them this linkAll We Ever Wanted will be available on December 12th, so get your pre-orders in with your LCS as soon as you can!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Matt Miner and Eric Palicki Bring “All We Ever Wanted” to Kickstarter

Earlier today A Wave Blue World, a graphic novel, anthology, and art book publisher run and operated by Tyler and Wendy Chin-Tanner, launched their latest Kickstarter. Organized and edited by Matt Miner and Eric Palicki who both previously published This Nightmare Kills Fascists through AWBW, this comics anthology moves away from horror and into optimistic speculative fiction; more Star Trek than Mad Max. This latest anthology, All We Ever Wanted: Stories of a Better World, has nearly reached 20% of it’s goal in just a few hours.

I got the chance to chat with Matt and Eric about this exciting new anthology, which you can read below as well as seeing an exclusive preview page from Maria Frohlich’s story “It Looked Like Our Dreams.”

After the success of This Nightmare Kills Fascists, what made you both decide to tell such a different kind of story with your new anthology?

Matt: Eric and I felt that we’re already living in the beginning stages of the nightmare dystopian future promised to us by movies and books, and we wanted to do something uplifting, inspiring.  The stories are all filled with conflict and problems, but told against the backdrop of a better future. So, think more “San Junipero” Black Mirror and less “Shut up and Dance” Black Mirror.

Eric: While there are some positive, cathartic moments in TNKF, most of the stories –often without subtlety — hone in on what has become a depressing reality. It has gotten difficult to outdo the horror on the nightly news, so it felt appropriate to redirect our attention away from grounding ourselves in the moment and toward a better future.

It’s also nice to undermine readers’ expectations. Matt is primarily known as a horror writer, thanks to Toe Tag Riot, Critical Hit, Poser, and GWAR, and my last book, No Angel, also had a strong horror element. It’s nice to step out of our respective comfort zones.    

Matt: It’s nice I’m known as a horror writer now instead of the guy who writes political stuff.  You start your career with a series about animal liberationists and you’re branded that way for a long time.


Outside a few people including yourselves there are no repeat contributors in this volume. Why is that?

Matt: We simply have too many friends and colleagues we wanted to ask to be part of these anthology projects so we wanted to give more people a chance to contribute.  Our next anthology, presumably in 2019, might have some repeating creators.

Eric: The number of creators who approached me about joining TNKF during the campaign or, later, about appearing in the follow-up has been heartening. After filling two books with people whose work I admire, I still haven’t managed to fit everyone in. As with This Nightmare Kills Fascists, a few of the spaces are going to brand new voices, which is one of the most rewarding parts of this gig, and most of the TNKF creators I’ve spoken to have been really cool about ceding their place in the new book to give unsung or underappreciated talent a platform.


Is there anything you learned from doing This Nightmare Kills Fascists that you’ll be repeating or not repeating here?

Matt: I learned to keep a better eye on organization.  Putting together a huge book with dozens of creators is a massive undertaking and my spreadsheets tracking contacts, deadlines, money, etc are much more detailed this time around.  

This book has also helped Eric and I further hone our editorial skills and better do what it takes to help people tell their best story.

Eric: Editing TNKF opened my eyes to those moments when it’s good to provide firm editorial guidance and when it’s better to step out of the way and let the creators do their own thing. I’d like to think I’ve developed a more targeted approach to editing the stories in this new book.

I also think the division of labor between us is better this time around, or at least more logical. Matt is much better at the organizational aspects of planning and tracking, for example, so I’m happy to leave that to him rather than stepping in and ultimately making a mess.

Check out the Kickstarter campaign here to learn more. Backing at the $20 level gets you the physical copy of the anthology. Ends .