Updates from Marz: 2026

Updates on Updates

New Year, new website, or at least new content moving forward. I’m planning to update this space twice a month from here on out, on roughly the 1^st and 15^th of every month, as we ramp up the content on my site. You can expect announcements of new projects, preview artwork, convention appearances, some travelogue stuff about the more interesting places I’m able to visit, a store page where you can order signed items, writing tips, and whatever else occurs to me. I can’t promise updates will drop exactly on the 1^st and 15^th of every month, depending on work and travel commitments, but it should be pretty close. And, of course, I’ll announce new updates on my Twitter (I’ll never call it X) and Bluesky accounts.  

Green Lantern, X-O Manowar, and More

I’m teaming with artist Darryl Banks for a new Kyle Rayner story in Green Lantern 600 (otherwise known as issue 33 of the current run), which will be released in March. I can’t reveal much about the story yet, but I can tell you Darryl has designed two new Green Lanterns for it. Hopefully I can share those designs in the future. I can also tell you Kyle will debut an updated costume in the issue, designed by artist David Nakayama. As an anniversary issue, Green Lantern 600 will offer up a number of variant covers.

I’ll also have a new story in the X-O Manowar: Black, White & Gold hardcover from Valiant/Alien Books, which was a Kickstarter campaign. The volume will ship later this year. My artistic partner-in-crime on this one is my buddy Bart Sears, who was the artist on my X-O run for the original Valiant back in the mid-’90s. I really enjoyed the series and especially the main character, which was best described that as Conan and Iron Man mashed together. But I had to leave the book back then because I was offered writing duties on Marvel vs. DC, and my schedule was already full. Something had to go, and it was X-O. Truthfully, I also had a sense that some rough seas might be ahead at Valiant, which had been purchased by Acclaim at what seemed like a highly inflated value. Turned out I was right, and Valiant collapsed in a few years.

But I always felt like X-O was unfinished business, something I wanted to write again. I even discussed it with one of the previous editorial regimes, but that incarnation of Valiant flourished and perished before anything came of it. When the opportunity to contribute to this anthology came up, I was all in, and fortunately was able to lure in Bart as well. Sometimes you can indeed go home again.

I’ve written some other anthology stories that will appear over the course of the next few months. I’m a big fan of writing short stories because I feel like it forces you to hone your storytelling to a fine point in only a handful of pages. There’s no room for padding, wasting pages, or self-indulgence. Everything has to count, which is why, whenever I teach a comic writing course, the assignment is always to write a six-page story. It forces you to be a better writer. If you can write a complete story in six pages, you can certainly write a full issue. Some of what’s coming up:

• A Western drawn by the great Will Conrad for an anthology put together by Charlie McElvy. The story is done, and Will absolutely killed on the art. More on the release when I’m able.

• A story to be published in India by Alpha Comics for an anthology called Manasa, which translates as “The Mind,” drawn by artist Tadam Gyadu. The story came about through my visit to Bangalore, India last year for Comic Con India, where I met Tadam and was introduced to Alpha Comics. I’m not sure if there will be an U.S. reprinting of the story; as of now, no plans.

• I’ll have another Western included in the return of Negative Burn, the legendary series originally from Caliber Press. The story will be drawn by Tom Raney, and be included alongside work by great comics talent like Mike Allred, J.M. DeMatteis, Phil Hester, Paul Jenkins, Joe Jusko, James Robinson, Declan Shalvey, Steve Niles, Brian Bolland, and many, many more. Negative Burn is being crowdfunded via Zoop, and the campaign is live here: https://zoop.gg/c/negativeburn

When I can spare the time to put it together, I’m planning to gather up many of the short stories I’ve written over the years and collect them in a hardcover.

More comics are in the works, including a number of creator-owned projects that will debut this year. One is drawn by the exquisite Laura Braga, who joined me for the end of my Witchblade run. The opportunity to work with Laura was far too tempting to pass up, and I’m very pleased with what we’re creating. More soon, including a peek at Laura’s artwork.

I’m also expecting to release Russian Sunset, an espionage project started long ago, drawn by my friend Pete Krause (champion of our fantasy football league this year, so I have to send him the trophy, which has resided in my house for this season). Here’s a tease of a prospective cover Pete put together…

Most writers are usually juggling numerous creator-owned concepts at any given time. In addition to those mentioned above, I have about a half-dozen projects being developed, with character designs and/or pages being worked on. Sooner or later they’ll see the light of day, but it usually depends on the artist’s schedule. As soon as I can, I’ll tease them here.

Con Job

Convention bookings are getting confirmed for 2026, with some news shows on tap as well as returns to a few favorites. I have at least two international shows lined up thus far, as well as a number of domestic appearances.

The convention circuit can be a grind if you let overwhelm your schedule, so there’s a balance to be struck. I approach cons as an opportunity to hang out with creator friends, meet fans, and yes, make a few bucks at the table. But more than anything, they’re an opportunity to travel to places I wouldn’t ordinarily get to visit. Conventions have given me the opportunity to visit most of the 50 states (I think I’m missing five or six), as well as six continents, and places like New Zealand, South Africa, Kenya, India, Uruguay, Netherlands, Italy, Malta, Scotland, Ireland, Alaska, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and more.

Travel is a gift that I do not take lightly, and I make sure I visit what each destination has to offer. I’ve seen glaciers calving in Alaska, wandered deserts in the Middle East, witnessed lions and elephants in the wild in Krueger National Park, marveled at a hundred waterfalls spilling over fjord cliffs on New Zealand’s South Island during driving rains. In America, everything from the zoo in Omaha to Saguaro National Park in Arizona, the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City to Prince’s Paisely Park in Minneapolis. Life is experiences, I want to have as many of them as possible.

Most shows of the 2026 slate are not announced yet, but two upcoming shows have been:

• Feb. 21-22: Alaska Comic Con in Fairbanks, AK.

• Feb. 28-March: Happy Valley Comic Con, State College, PA.

Upcoming shows will be updated on the Appearances page of the site as soon as they’re announced. I’ll be at an international show on Feb. 14-15, but it’s yet to be announced.

As always, my appearances are booked through 7 Lafayette Speakers Bureau: https://www.7lafayette.com/ 

Retail Therapy

We’ve added a Shop page to the site, offering some items that are normally only available from me at conventions. I started offering Mystery Boxes at my convention appearances, thanks to a friend’s suggestion, and they’ve been met with enthusiasm, for which I’m grateful.

The Ron Marz Mystery Box contains at least six comics I’ve written, including at least one Marvel, one DC, one CrossGen, and one Image, as well as two other mystery books. Some boxes will contain more than six comics as well as other surprise items, and all boxes contain bookmarks, trading cards, and mini-prints. All comics, cards, and prints are signed. The boxes are filled randomly, so the comics in each box will be different, sometimes familiar, sometimes rare. Mystery Boxes are $40, plus shipping.

We also have a fairly rare comic that was published last year. Awakened Spirits 1 is a ghost story set in Prohibition-era Albany, New York, written by me drawn by Keith Browning, and lettered by Buddy Beaudoin. The cover is by Matthew Dow Smith. The comic was produced by the Albany Distilling Company, located in historic downtown Albany, and owned by my friend John Curtin.

The comic came about as a way to promote Albany Distilling’s new bottling of Awakened Spirits coffee-infused vodka, but it’s not by any means a traditional promotional comic. There’s no mention of the brand, or of vodka, no product placement. It’s simply a ghost story set in Albany, a city with a rich literary tradition, as well as a plethora of local ghost stories. In ours, a young woman moves into a new home, only to find it occupied by the ghost of a 19-century aristocrat (who was a real-life person). Keith’s inkwash art is perfectly evocative of the era.

A few tidbits: the snazzy Awakened Spirits label was designed by Matth

ew Dow Smith; my beloved German Shepherd Freyja, whom we lost in 2024, appears in the story; the house on Livingston Avenue in the story is the present-day location of the Albany Distilling Company Bar and Bottle Shop.

We’re hoping to do more issues in the future, and continue the tales of our ghostly pair. Issue 1 contains 22 pages of story, plus backup comic strips, and is printed on gorgeous paper stock sourced locally. Signed copies are available for $15 each, plus shipping.

More items will be added to the shop as we can.

Pod People

I appeared on J. Alex Morrissey’s Tradecraft podcast recently, and really enjoyed the conversation. You can listen here:

https://jalexmorrissey.substack.com/p/episode-253-ron-marz?triedRedirect=true

Thanks for your attention, thanks for your support. You’ve all made this life possible, and I appreciate it more than you’ll ever know. See you in two weeks…