This Ink Runs Cold and Scott Morse's Relief Through Collaboration

We chat with the cartoonist's cartoonist about collaborating with 89 writers, including the two weirdos behind Comic Book Couples Counseling.

This Ink Runs Cold Scott Morse Interview

A year ago, Scott Morse found himself adrift, severed from a stable income and a defined creative path. Panic was an option. So was fear. Instead, he chose collaboration and creation. This Ink Runs Cold: Short Stories from the Space-Crime Continuum smashes two of his favorite genres between its pages. It's an anthology of one-page pulp stories written by 89 different writers, all drawn by Scott Morse and colored by José Villarrubia.

Many of these writers are seasoned comic veterans, animators, and filmmakers. The table of contents includes Mike Allred, Brian Michael Bendis, Jorge Gutierrez, Derek Kirk Kim, Dave McKean, Fábio Moon, Scott Mosier, Eric Powell, Stan Sakai, and on and on and on. Even better, for our purposes anyway, This Ink Runs Cold includes numerous comic book newcomers, including us - Brad and Lisa Gullickson!

As of this writing, This Ink Runs Cold has one week left on Kickstarter. Scott Morse and Allen Spiegel Fine Arts offer two editions: the Full-Color version featuring José Villarrubia's wizardry and the limited Black and White Noir version, showcasing Scott Morse's beautiful brushwork. Having knocked out some stretch goals, those backing the Bookplate and Noir/1-2 Punch tiers will get an extra book, The Brush-Offs. This is a 24-page bonus book featuring unused art, abandoned pages, scripts, an alternate prologue/epilogue, and an analysis of this unique writer/artist collaboration.

Scott Morse, This Ink Runs Cold, and Collaborative Salvation

Long before we submitted our script to Scott Morse for This Ink Runs Cold, we were massive fans of his work. He's the cartoonist's cartoonist, having delivered one sensational and singular story after another. He's done his time in the trenches of corporate comics, working on Batman, Elektra, and an all-time great Plastic Man run with Kyle Baker. However, his more personal pieces, like Soulwind, Southpaw, Magic Pickle, The Barefoot Serpent, and Dugout, cemented him as an essential artist for any lover of the comic book medium. For our money, if you see his name on a book, you must buy that book.

Therefore, we're beyond honored to contribute one page to This Ink Runs Cold; we're practically in disbelief. Today's podcast is the first time we have featured a story we helped create, and it's an incredibly emotional experience. We're grateful to Scott Morse for coming on the show, explaining how This Ink Runs Cold grew from a mini-devastation, and why this intense injection of collaboration reinvigorated him.

We also had the opportunity to explain what our short story "The ADHD P.I." means to us and how it helped us process some anxiety and self-loathing. Working with one page was ridiculously challenging, and what's most exciting is seeing how 88 other writers tackled that challenge and used that finite space in infinite ways.

We also start this week's episode with our recent trip to WonderCon and an LAX nightmare we will never forget. If you're here only for the Scott Morse chatter, we won't begrudge you for skipping ahead, but you'll miss out on another outlandish story.

This Week's Sponsors

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This Ink Runs Cold and Scott Morse's Relief Through Collaboration

We chat with the cartoonist's cartoonist about collaborating with 89 writers, including the two weirdos behind Comic Book Couples Counseling.

Scott Morse, This Ink Runs Cold, and Collaborative Salvation

This Week's Sponsors

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