The Future of Lady Death

Today, I read the following post on the "Lady Death- Boundless Comics" Facebook page:

Concerning LADY DEATH being missing from store shelves for the last 4 months and how that looks like cancellation, Shawn Wick posts: "Why does it have to be automatically obvious it's been cancelled? Why on Earth would they not print all the issues? Why would the series not just start up again in January? Were there any other issues beyond #30 that were being done? Could there end up being a final issue to wrap everything up at least? If all this is true then you have got to be kidding me. One of my ultimate favorite characters and they solicit issues and then just never print them? This is a disgrace! It's unacceptable, plain and simple. Man, this really makes my blood boil with rage, I gotta say. I cannot even begin to comprehend or accept this in any way."

Considering your obvious passion for the series, your outrage is understandable, Shawn. I'm not happy either, having heavily invested myself in the writing and promotion of the series for the last 3 years. I completed the scripts for the first 6-issue arc (#25-30) featuring LD's new look and powers, and the full color art was also completed for those issues by Marc Borstel. The "Death's Reaper" LD arc would have run a total of 18 issues, spanning #25-42. With no explanation from Boundless, all we can do is speculate, but at this point it looks like those books might never be printed or shipped for a number of reasons. My hands are tied in the matter, and although I'm aware of why this has happened, I'm still not in a position to speak about it publicly, and I'm waiting for an official company statement from the publisher just as you are.

I put everything I had into the series, expanding on established characters and creating a large number of new allies and enemies for LD, and fell in love with each and every one of them, so it's frustrating to not see them bloom from the seeds I planted.

My major concern is that without a responsible statement from Boundless to all of their loyal fanbase, they will be creating resentment for the company and taint fan acceptance of future releases, whether those books are LADY DEATH or other properties. Please be aware: There are issues specific only to LADY DEATH which is preventing its publication, and I would hate to see a stigma attached to other 2014 Boundless releases, because I'm probably going to have my name attached to at least one of those.

Maybe things will turn around, problems will be solved and a resolution will come that will see the relaunch of the series. As I've said, as soon as I know something concrete and a public statement has been released, I'll let you guys know.

My thoughts...

• I've been a fan of Lady Death and Brian Pulido since the beginning. I hope that when the official public statement sheds some light on what's going on.
• As a long-time fan of Lady Death, I'm use to having the series being stopped. I'm not saying that I'm happy about it, just that I'm familiar with the feeling.
• Lady Death is the only series that I collect from Avatar Press/Boundless Comics. If Lady Death is cancelled, I don't think I'll actively try to find additional titles from Avatar to add to my collection.
• My hope is that the public statement is more a "We're on a break" rather than a cancellation.
• When the new Lady Death series was originally released, it encouraged me to re-collect the old Chaos! books. (Those who have been with me from the start of Zanziber's PoV know that I've collected and sold my prior collection.)

We'll see what happens. If the series is cancelled, I guess I'll be able to devote extra resources to re-collecting the Chaos! books.