t’s been awhile and it’s been too long. Without the long story, after a bit of a rough ending to last year I decided I needed a change. Starting 2026 by building a life that I had dreamed of. That’s right….. I moved to Barcelona! And it’s been amazing! I feel like Julia Robert’s except I don’t really pray. I do and have eaten a ton of good food though.

I really enjoy exploring the world and feeling the energy of different cultures and people. It’s really something that can energize my creativity. I have new books I’m working on that I can’t wait for everyone to see. New original stories in genres I love. The Seasons is just the first book like that. An all ages fantasy adventure that’s reminiscent of Miyazaki and Tin Tin with a little David Lynch in there for spice. Needless to say I hope to keep putting out original work for the foreseeable future. With friends but also solo. Nothing is as creatively fulfilling as starting with nothing and ending up with a world you built.

The Seasons

We are moving right along for big finish of this first storyline in the Seasons sister’s world. It’s been so much fun being able to explore different styles and even page layouts with this book. When Rick an I first talked about the book we knew we’d have to do something out of the ordinary for us. Here are some snippets of the crazy fun.

Looking at Life

Another great thing about moving to Barcelona is discovering a great little art community where I can regularly get to draw from life. Nothing is better and nothing helps me recharge like trying something new and having other great artists in the room with you creating amazing pieces of art. I always have just one goal, try something new and don’t use the tools you’re used to. Here’s only a sampling of the sketches I built up. Maybe I’ll do a sketchbook one day with a collection of my favorites.

The Lost Commissions…

Firstly, I have to really thank those who have been patient with me through this whole rearrangement. I really appreciate anyone wants to own an original from me and I hate that these got pushed so late. The good news is I’m catching up on all of them. I have a little more to go but I’ll be sending them out ASAP. I’ll update everyone who I owe a commission to via email and I’ll let you all know the moment they ship out. Again, thank you for understanding.

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MILAN COMICON!

Or more accurately, games and comics and cartoons con. Thank you everyone who stopped by the booth and picked up the beautiful The Seasons hardcover Salda Press put together. I told Rick that we have to copy their design when we finally do our hardcovers because it was so perfect. Not to mention they did a gorgeous metallic variant of my Transformers cover. I made sure I stole a couple of copies for my personal collection. Check them out below!

Also, nice of them to print up the covers real big for the booth. It’s always interesting to see something intended for comic size blown up to bigger than me.

Not only was I a guest at the Milan Con but I did a couple of signings too. One in Padova and one in Rome. Everyone at the shops were so nice and I had a blast meeting all the fans. I wish I was able to keep up and save more pics that fans posted but here’s a few clipped from Instagram.

Big thank you to Kissashop in Padova and Forbidden Planet in Rome for the warm hospitality. Two wonderful shops that you should check out when you’re in the area.

UP NEXT…

I have a few more updates about The Seasons and the sketch covers. Look out for that in my next Substack. For now here are a few more random pics from Italy.

(I’m still soooo full of pasta and gelato…)

CIAO!

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Ciao! So excited to make the trek back to Italia and Milano later this month. SALDA PRESS (my longtime Italian publisher) has booked me a little signing tour at the end of this month and I can’t wait to eat all the good food and meet all the lovely people.

I’ll be set up at the SALDA PRESS booth at Milan Games Week & Cartoomics, signing and doing little sketches all weekend. Then I’m off to a couple of book stores for more signing and sketching (more on those when I get the final info). Click the link if you want to check out the con:

Milan Games Week & Cartoomics

Also here’s a link to the wonderful publisher:

SALDA PRESS

SKETCHES!!

Unfortunately, I’m too swamped before the trip to take any commissions for the show but I will be doing little sketches for everyone who gets a book signed. It’s a limited number but I’ll do my best to get to everyone.

That’s all for now but I’ll send some more updates before the show and more about future commissions. Of course, I’ll also have so many fun behind the scenes for The Seasons coming up so look out for that.

Grazie a mille! Ciao!

P.

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THE SEASONS

After some really fun conversations and excitement about the next issues and where the story was evolving, Rick and I decided that we needed to go big or go home. We reworked the ending and made some ambitious choices with how to get there. Unfortunately, with all that, we had to take a bit of a publishing break so we can dive into the next issues with a bit more creative juices. For those that have read issue 8 you can see things take a turn and I can’t wait for everyone to see what’s next! Here’s a little behind the scenes to the cover for issue 10.

Rick and I got really excited about homaging the first cover with our brand new big bad villain… Winter?!

I roughed it out to show Rick and with just a few little tweaks, we both agreed this was gonna work perfectly.

I tried to mimic what I did on the first cover in the inks. Although, to be honest, I didn’t quite remember what I did. So I went going on instinct and whatever courage I could muster that it’ll somehow work out.

Here’s the undressed cover. I tried to keep it simple and striking and hopefully it’ll be something that can stand out against the other comics on the shelf. Either way it was a fun one and just the smallest taste of the what we’ve planned for inside.

SKETCH COVERS

In other news, with all the rearranging, I’ve taken forever with these covers. Thanks to everyone who picked one up and for those still waiting, I promise I’m working on them currently and I’ll have them off ASAP. I appreciate the support always and I really appreciate the patience.

That’s all for now as I get back to all The Seasons fun awaiting at the drawing table. Look out for more posts and updates right here. Spread love.

P.

ORIGINAL ART

Want to get your own sketch or purchase a page of my art? Check out my online store

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I’m going to do 5 sketch cover commissions for $250 to whomever replies/comments first to this newsletter.

Reply/comment with your email and we’ll work out the details.

Here’s some examples of the ones I did before. They’ll be full figure with some background and a little color thrown in. Don’t miss out!

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With 4 issues out of THE SEASONS we’re really rolling now. Rick and I are so happy with all the feedback and can’t wait for everyone to see what wee have in store (you ain;t seen nothing yet). Issue #5 drops on June 8th and it’s a fun ride that has our little Spring not knowing which way is up or down… or out!

Click here for more info

COVER JOURNEY

This series has really giving me the oppirtunity to spread my artistic wings and try some things out. And that’s especially true with the covers. When I starting figuring out what the look of the book was going to be a told myself, “I’m going to approch every cover differently.” Rick and I have said from the beginning when we were cooking up this mystery/horror/adventure/fantasy/heartfelt book that it’s going to hard to explain the book in one sentence (let alone one image). So in my mind I tried to capture one of the aspects of the book in each cover. The first was horror, the second was fantasy, the thrid was fun adventure, and the fourth…..? Well, that was the whimsy and craziness. I knew it had to be kind of a collage and for seom reason I knew it needed a giant weird skull. Here’s the crappy rough I did that I showed to Rick and crossed my fingers that he could decipher what I was going for.

He loved it and now was the hard part of figuring out how I was going to actually draw the dang thing. I think the most fun I had was going in and using water-soluble graphite for the first time. I had played around with it but never tried to make a finished piece. I kind of want to just sell this as a print even though out of context it makes no sense.

You’ll notice there’s a little tape in there and white acrylic. I really had fun playing and not knowing what would work and what wouldn’t. Yhen came scanning it in and digitally drawing the rest. Nailign down a palette for the coer and balancing all the different rtextures and elements wasn’t easy btu I finally landed on smething that looked pretty cool and wierd.

True to my initail promise to myself I took a swing on something new with this one. I learned a few things and I’m eager to try it all again. I have a couple more covers to do still and I think I might just have to dig into the toolbox and see what else I can wrangle together. Hope you enjoyed this little peak behind the scenes. I may do one of these for each of the covers coming up. Let know if you dug it.

COMMISSIONS

After finally catching up recently with commissions (thank you for the patience everyone), I’m trying to take on a limited number of new ones. No pressure, but if anyone would like a painted one, I need an excuse to flex those muscles again. I had so much fun with previous ones I did (and the couple available at my online store).

Below is a painted commission avaiable and the link to my store to check out the options.

Click here!

I’m sending out another newsletter with a cool exclusive offer for my Substack readers, so look out for that!

Spread love.

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Keep an eye out for some exclusive offers for only my Substack readers. More about that real soon.

Spread love.

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I didn’t realize it would be that many. Close to 100 blank covers in fact. I had to roll up my sleeves and get to work. At the end of the day it was a lot of fun and looking at the giant stack was gratifying… but my poor brain got a bit fried. I had to take a day (maybe more… maybe some whiskey?) to recover.

So here is all I managed to document. But to those out there that were lucky enough to snag a copy, let us know how much you dig it.

The intimidating full box of blank covers

Getting there

These are a little extra special for really big orders

Here are some choice sketches

Wish I could have posted all of them but I do have to get the book done. Back to the drawing board!

Be on the lookout for an opportunity to get your own personal sketch cover variant.

WE SOLD OUT!!!

We are officially sold out of issues 1 and 2 and going back to print. Thank you, thank you, thank you, to all those who picked up the book and sent us all the wonderful feedback. We felt like it was a risk with this book and seeing such a positive and great reaction has only motivated us to stay on track and keep it pushing. It means a lot to us. Stay safe and spread love.

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Below I thought I’d give an little behind the scenes of the second cover. Rick and I had areal tough time nailing the look and theme of them because we frankly had a mash-up of themes and ideas in the book. Is it a horror? Is it a fun adventure? Is it a creepy Lynchian walk through a magical world that will chop off your head at any moment? Or a heartfelt story about sisters? So in my head, I decided to tackle each one of those layers in each of the first few covers. This second one being the magical sisters and their distinct personalities.

After some ill-fated attempts at different approaches for the second cover, Rick gave me the clarifying note of, “Just make something beautiful with all the sisters. Something with a design heavy composition that shows their personalities. Don’t overthink it.” With that motivation I kind of went for a dreamy and flowy piece that invoked more of a fantasy vibe than the first cover. Bringing in elements of Alphonse Mucha and illustrators like James Jean. Here’s the very rough idea with room to play in the final.

I always wonder if my collaborators just shake there head at my roughs. Either way! On to the inks I went while trying to keep an overall flow to the whole thing.

I do love adding clown imps whenever I can. Happy with this, I felt like I tapped into one of those layers I mentioned. Now on to coloring and adding the final sister who will just sit at the bottom. Almost like she’s telling her pet goldfish all about her wonderful sisters.

And there you have it! A not so smooth and sometimes annoying journey of how the second cover came to be. Sometimes these things just flow out like an improvised solo in jazz, but a lot of times it’s trying things. Trying and failing till you hit that magic. Hopefully, the readers like it because there’s plenty more to come. Maybe one day I can just put together the many many roughs Rick and I wrestled with for designs and covers. For now, here are some failed ideas that didn’t quite work for this cover.

GO PICK UP ISSUE 2!

OUT WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 26th!!!

My store is still active and up with original art and commissions. If there are any pages you’re interested in that aren’t up there, feel free to contact me through any of the social media platforms below or replying to this newsletter.

Online Store

Thanks everyone! Spread love!

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Here's some preview pages so you can check out the interiors….

PRESS

And here is all the press we did to help get the word out. I may have missed a couple but we really tried to talk to whomever would listen. We wanted to give the book the best chance to succeed and give our baby a nice push out the door. Check them out if for nothing else but to see Rick’s beautiful cherubic face.

Comic Book Resources

Let's Talk Comics: Image Comics Podcast

AIPT conversation with Rick

LRM online podcast

Comic Book Club interview

Indie Comics and Reviews

Comic Tropes After Dark Interview

Geek To Me Radio

Lastly, check out this awesome trailer!

Coming Soon….

Getting back in the swing of things with this newsletter, I’ll be showing some more behind the scenes of the book (now that it’s out) and fun stuff planned for 2025! So let me know what you want to see and ask me about the making of the book. More soon and spread love.

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Announcing this art drop for the Halloween Season!

I uploaded a bunch of Outcast originals to my online store and even added a discount code for the next two weeks (October 22nd through November 5th)

Here’s the link and pics of most of them below! I have a lot of OUTCAST pages and it’s taken some time to break it up and not just flood the store with them. Hopefully, I’ve curated a nice little selection here but if there’s anything you don’t see just ask.

Discount Code: HALLOWEENOUT

Online Store!

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So the word is out just in time for NYCC! Finally getting the previews released into the wild and getting some chatter about the book is exciting. Looking forward to seeing everyone this weekend and probably talking way too much shop for way too long into the night.

I’m just gathering a bunch of the press releases here for everyone in case you missed it. More soon but here’s a big taste of things to come.

COMICS BLOG

IMAGE COMICS

THE FANBOY FACTOR

BUZZ COMICS

AIPT

FANGORIA

I’m sure I missed some and more will be coming out over the weekend. In the meantime here’s some of the variants we were able to wrangle out of some great artists.

JORDI LAFEBRE

KENT WILLIAMS

WES CRAIG

And more in the works! I’ll definitely post a whole deetailed look into making the first issue but for now I’m off to the con! See you there!

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My home convention has grown over the years into an unwieldy mess of media and sound and colors bombarding your senses. I remember when the New York con was in a church basement and barely a TV or movie actor would set foot in it. Except Lou Ferrigno who was always down and rode the convention circuit hard. But enough old man talk, I have a new book to promote!

The SEASONS with Rick Remender and colors by Matheus Lopes

I’m trying to set up some interviews and media talk about the book to get the word out. I’m so proud of what we put together (especially after seeing the first issues with colors and lettered) that I want everyone to know. The anticipation of getting our little baby out there. The excitment of getting it on the Image Comics schedule. The eagerness of it’s first print and holding it in my hands. When it’s your own book there’s a special magic to it.

So if you or anyone you know wants to interview me (or Rick), drop me a line. DM me on Instagram. Email me at azacetaart@gmail.com. Bug me on Twitter (I know but I can’t change now in my old age to call it something else). Podcast? Sure! I want as many people to hear about this book as possible.

Which brings me to this awesome preview by Fangoria. Check it out and show all your friends!

Fangoria Exclusive Preview

NYCC 2024

Unfortunately, I’m not set up this year in Artist Alley but I will be attending the show. I’ll be mostly cruising around Artist Alley seeing old friends who I don’t get to see much. Doing any interviews I have lined up and I am on a panel with some other great people:

Image Comics Presents: Breaking Ground

Join Jason Aaron (THE GODDAMNED, new announcement), Mahmud Asrar (new announcement), Charles Soule (EIGHT BILLION GENIES, new announcement), Ryan Browne (EIGHT BILLION GENIES, new announcement), Pornsak Pichetshote (THE HORIZON EXPERIMENT), Paul Azaceta (OUTCAST) and others for some special announcements of upcoming projects, and a conversation about genre, storytelling, industry secrets, and tricks-of-the-trade. Moderator: Jim Viscardi, VP of Business Development

SUNDAY OCT. 20th

11am-12pm

Room 406.2

Also, I posted this on Instagram & TikTok recently. Here it is with generic music because copyright nonsense. Been trying some different things with process videos. Let me know what you’d like to see.

More soon! Hope to see everyone next weekend.

P.

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Sorry about the gap in posts. Long story short I moved! Upended my life a bit and I had to reorganize everything (still working on that). But the good news is, when I’m done, I’ll actually be in a happier and more creative and more productive place. Here’s to taking the reigns and building your life to fit your wants and needs.

As for work I recently redid and expanded my online store to include original art. I’ve taken over selling my own stuff and it’s been a learning curve for sure. But I’m hoping this will make it easier for everyone to see what’s available and purchase whatever tickles their fancy. I’m planning on doing art drops and rotating what’s on the site. Maybe do soem specials for complete short stories and other fun things. So look out for that. Here;s the link to the store as it is now with Spidey pages, some Daredevil Domino fun and even an Outcast cover or two:

Online Store!

The SEASONS is really picking up some steam and seeing the issues come together with lettering and coloring (Thanks Matheus and Rus!) is so exciting. Rick and I had so many convesations over that last couple of years about whta we wanted this book to be and I think we hit the nail on the head in a lot of ways. Here’s another cover I did that shows the more whimsical side of the book. We put a bunch of effort into combining seemingly opposite genres together that it wasn’t easy trying to caprture that in the covers. So I think looking at the first covers together is the best way to see the different tones and feels that the book is. wE’re trying to create something new and hopefully really differnt from what’s usually out there on the stands. Can’t wait for the world to see what we’ve concocted.

I recently did an interview with Alex Morrissey that was a lot of fun. We talked about comics and my new books and all kinds of nonsense. Give it a listen if you haven’t. We need more comic podcasts out there so please go support him.

Click Here for the Podcast!

Lastly, Thank you everyone who downloaded and checked out my short story SPEED KILLS. I have some more shorts I’m going to put out there and if everyone digs them maybe I’ll be able to make a collection for Kickstarter. I also put up some behind the scenes stuff on Instagram but here it is again for those who missed it there. So let me know if you want to see more of that kind of stuff.

Remeember to suscribe and get the word out about this here Substack. I’d love it if this was actually my main connect to anyone interested in my art and creative endeavours. Till next time!

P.

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Check it out!

… And some just sat on my computer. This one was done for an Inktober from some years ago. I’m always amazed at other artists and their ability to take part in Inktober (creating an image for each day of October). I’m not the best at keeping a schedule and all that energy is usually devoted to getting whatever book I’m working on done. But in the fateful year of 2020 I decided, “Let me take a crack at it!” I got excited about making it a short comic, to keep it interesting for me and to have a sort of theme. One panel a day and at the end I’ll have a fun little story with no real commitment or idea of doing anything with it in the future. I had recently watched Rollerball. The original with James Caan (We can all just ignore the remake with LL Cool J, right?). Amazing movie and so much better than it needs to be when you hear the premise. It’s basically a comic idea filmed through the lens of 70’s cinema.

So I added my little tweak to the concept and thought up a short fun thing to draw. The problem is that once it was in my head it actually kept getting more and more exciting. I had more ideas and more things that I wanted to draw. Now it is true that I never made the 31 days of October and ended up adding a couple of panels much later to finish off the story, but what that spawned in my head is still rattling around and when I get to it I’m going to enjoy every second of drawing it.

So here it is! I had drawn each panel to fit on social media and I still would love to do some strictly for online that really takes advantage of scrolling and the format of Instagram or TikTok or whatever app consumes the public’s mind in the future.

Enjoy SPEED KILLS…

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We’re gearing up to do something cool for NYCC this year so look out for that!

Another thing I’ve been tackling lately is taking on selling my own originals without an art dealer. It’s been a lot of extra work but I do enjoy directly connecting with fans and not having a middleman. I’m getting a site together so everyone can see what pages are for sale and make it easy to pick and choose what they want. In the meantime I set up an email just for those dealings:

Original art!

I also have my Big Cartel site where I’m accepting commissions. I’ve been enjoying doing some painted ones for the first time. Learning bit by bit on each one and working my way towards doing some big paintings. It’s exciting to keep pushing my art in new ways.

Commissions!

Lastly, I wanted to add that I’ll also be running some short comics I’ve done in here. Some never before seen and some made just for Substack. Lots of fun planned!

P.

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Rick Remender and Paul Azaceta invite you to:

THE SEASONS

An imaginative adventure that follows four sisters through an evil circus filled with dark magic and deadly consequences.

We really have something we’re both proud and excited to be putting together for you. Something new from us. And something a bit different than the usual offerings on the stands. We worked hard on building this little world, creating these four sisters and what this book will be. But this is only the beginning! Plenty more on each character and behind the scenes sneak peeks right here on my Subtsack. So tell everyone, the word is out! You’re all invited…

So tell your friends and everyone else to sign up to this here newsletter for behind the scenes and process stuff for my new books. Also, I’ll be posting some shorts I’ve done for fun or previously published here and maybe some process videos and random sketches. All kinds of goodies like these process shots of the first cover.

P.

Original art and Commissions!

Interested in some original art? While I’m working on getting a little online store going you can direct any requests to:

Original Art!

for any inquiries

Commissions can be ordered through my Big Cartel site. Lots of options!

Commissions!

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