Locke & Key: Small World — Art by Gabriel Rodriguez

Last July, MEANWHILE speculated that writer Joe Hill was teasing upcoming comics work in his newsletter, Escape Hatch. In today’s newsletter, Hill confirms that he plans to introduce a four-panel comic strip in future issues (possibly by this summer), and that the newsletter would shift to a weekly publication schedule:

“At some point, maybe this summer, I’m hoping to introduce a four-panel strip to Escape Hatch… at which point the newsletter will become a once-a-week concern, because you wanna keep the story moving, especially when you’re doling it out in such tiny nibbles. The comic is still in the early planning stages, although I admit I’ve got the first part of the story worked out.”

Hill did not indicate the title of the strip in today’s newsletter, or the creative team; presumably Hill will write the comic, but it is unclear who will be the strip’s artist. The confirmation that the writer has the “first part of the story worked out” suggests that the strip will have an ongoing narrative.

Hill’s prose work includes Heart-Shaped Box, Horns, NOS4A2, and The Fireman. His comics work includes the acclaimed Locke & Key series (with artist Gabriel Rodriguez) for which Hill won an Eisner Award for Best Writer in 2011.

Interested Hill fans and comics aficionados can sign up for the newsletter here: www.joehillfiction.com