Henry Henry Took Over Vault Comics Twitter to Promote A Dark Interlude
Oh Henry #OhHenry
Vault Comics are publishing A Dark Interlude, the meta-sequel to White Noise Studio’s Ryan O’Sullivan and Andrea Mutti’s meta-comic, Fearscape. to promote the book they are also adding a 1:15 cover by Caspar Wijngaard and a 1:30 foil version of that cover. But then they did another thing, by letting the star of both comic books take over the Vault Comics twitter account… this is how it went down:
Ryan Sullivan: Huh. Seem to be having trouble logging into the @thevaultcomics account. @afwassel @DamianWassel @dwdissanayake any idea? Password you sent me doesn’t seem like the right one
Vault Comics: Apologies, “writer”, you shan’t be joining the party today. HH
In fact, just to be on the safe side. (Let 2020 be the year you remove toxic people from your life.) –HH
Henry Henry Took Over Vault Comics Twitter to Promote A Dark Interlude
Now that that’s settled, I believe an introduction is in order…
My name is Henry Henry. To those of you who have not heard of me, I am the lead of the 2018 series FEARSCAPE, and am the lead to the 2020 series A DARK INTERLUDE. I will be taking over the Vault Comics twitter for the next 24 hours. Tweets from me shall be signed “-HH”.
Who are you? How are you talking to me? My god, have they given readers a voice on this “platform”?
Actually…Vault COMICS? No, I’m sorry. That simply won’t do. Comics are for children. A DARK INTERLUDE is more than a mere advert for action figures. Give me a moment. I’ll be changing a few things here…
Henry Henry Took Over Vault Comics Twitter to Promote A Dark Interlude
Kyler Clodfelter: This is either some seriously awesome marketing done by one of the best publishers in the biz, or they actually just got hacked and things are about to get weird.
Vault Publishing: I’m sorry, but who are you? Who would ever allow a reader to talk back? HH
There, much better. I trust this redesign will encourage failed writer/self-proclaimed “editor” Adrian Wassel to focus more on high art and less on saleable genre-focused IPs for Hollywood.
Ryan E Candyce: Is this a takeover by a character?????
Vault Publishing: “a character”? “A”? I am the lead. Without me none of this would exist! Mankind would have fallen to the greatest of all fears were it not for me! “A character”? -HH
Zack Kaplan: The most brilliant social media takeover ever! Esteemed author Henry Henry has control of Vault Publishing!
Vault Publishing: At last, someone recognizes the proper order of things. I do hope this Zack Cackle fellow writes proper books.
Elizabeth Viera: How do you feel about the other titles Vault publishes?
Vault Publishing: Fearscape is a masterpiece. -HH
For those of you paying attention, this is why Vault promoted These Savage Shores so much over Fearscape. Fearscape vastly outsold that silly little vampire story, but sometimes-publisher Damian Wassel (thank you, dear readers, for identifying him) wasn’t ready for that. (But I shall speak on that later. First, I must settle an old score. Bear with me whilst I find it…) -HH
Multiversity Comics (12th November 2018): Is “Fearscape” #2 a bit too obtuse for its own good? @Quetzelish muses on this question in #WrappingWednesday. http://multiversitycomics.com/reviews/wrapping-wednesday-110718/
Vault Publishing: *Abstruse. And no, it wasn’t. -HH
There. Glad that’s settled. Now, time to promote A DARK INTERLUDE. -HH
The premise of A DARK INTERLUDE? Evil beings from a world beyond our own have humanity locked in a Crisis of Infinite Sequels. This is the story of how we escape. -HH
It follows me, your humble narrator, and a cortège of supernatural allies, as we traverse the Fearscape (a metaphysical realm populated by the personifications of what we fear most) to help free humanity from the clutches of the endless sequel culture we are now trapped in. -HH
Now. I know what you may have heard: That A DARK INTERLUDE is a sequel. That, because it takes place immediately after FEARSCAPE, with the same cast, continuing the same story, it is somehow “part 2”. This is libel from comics “critics”. You must not believe them! -HH
A Dark Interlude is no more a sequel than any of the forty-five additional chapters of Shakespeare’s unnamed, singular masterpiece! -HH
(And for the record. I have nothing against comics criticism. I think it’s a great idea.) -HH
A DARK INTERLUDE #1’s FOC is October 26th. (If you’ve heard otherwise, blame David Dissanayake, who flubbed his job chasing giant robot sales). Be sure to tell your local [redacted] store that you would like a copy reserved for you. The on-shelf date is November 18th. -HH
David Dissanayake: Please, I’m doing your sorry book a favor.
Vault Publishing: Ah, so your contractual obligations are favors now! I’m sure if those dullards, the Wassels, had one spine between them, they’d be addressing this. -HH
You may click on the following link to order A DARK INTERLUDE #1: https://bit.ly/2SM4rQG
Tim Daniel: You’ve highjacked our account, insulted my friend and stolen my design work. Is this a showcase for thievery?
Vault Publishing: Design is the flourish used to turn true literature into product. If this Jim fellow had ever written anything, perhaps he’d know the truth! -HH
Tim Daniel: And exactly how else would you expect anyone to read your so called “literature”–but then you already know about stealing focus and claiming attention don’t you?
Vault Publishing: Twitter, mute this man for all our sakes! -HH
Hmm. It says here I have to mention the “creative team”. No, I don’t think I will. The whole is more than the sum of the parts. Besides, I’ve had enough of this nonsense. It’s disgraceful that I had to take time out of my day to do David Dissanayake’s job for him. Again. -HH
Adrian Wassell: You can take potshots at me all day, but speaking of contracts…the takeover came with the obligation to promote other Vault series.
Vault Publishing: What?! You cannot be serious. No. I abjectly refuse. What could I possibly say about those silly pamphlets you publish for arrested developments? And don’t get me started on those White Noise imbeciles. (Congratulations, redcoats, you read Don Delillo. Aren’t you so literary?)-HH
Comic Book Yeti: Henry^2 taking over the Vault account and refusing to let anyone market the book except for himself is Peak Henry and highly amusing. Or, should I not say “Muse”? That might still be a sensitive subject with him…
Vault Publishing: Look at this blatant attack by an obsessive fan who self-describes as a monstrous Yeti! Attacking my family, truly, for the Muse was like a mother and child and more to me.
Comic Book Yeti: Hey, HH, have you read GIGA yet?
Vault Publishing: The monster that attacked me asks me questions? No, I don’t read jumped-up picture books for children. -HH
Fine! If I must promote other Vault titles, then I shall start with the worst of the lot: THESE SAVAGE SHORES. Oh how I loathe that jumped-up gothic romance. If you’re going to write about vampires in 2018, at least have the decency not to hide behind “historical fiction”. -HH
All history is fiction. The world would be a better place if Ram V decided to read about it, sometime. (Preferably before his next Vault title, which was due out for release later this year, but has mysteriously landed on the slate for next year.) -HH
I Detest THESE SAVAGE SHORES too much to speak on it further. See attached pic for a brief summation. Do not waste your time reading it. -HH
Henry Henry Took Over Vault Comics Twitter to Promote A Dark Interlude
Ram V: Says the hack with a historical character on just about every page. You see…the reason I haven’t spoken about Henry Henry generally is because I’m not very interested in him, and I don’t really want to get involved with a writer of his calibre in some sort of squabble.
Vault Publishing: Oh! Ram! Lovely to hear from you. I didn’t know you were on twitter! Haha! Forgive me. Just a bit of banter between peers, eh? I utterly adored THESE SAVAGE SHORES! The way you merge history and fantasy to provide such a familiar yet also unfamiliar story is breathtaking! -HH
cannot wait to see what you’re doing next with Vault! Honestly, I much prefer you to your White Noise compadres Alex Paknadel, Dan Watters, and…uh… (…I’m sure there’s a fourth? @kierongillen?)
On the subject of Alex Paknadel. There’s another case of Damian Wassel fixing the numbers. 28,000 copies sold for GIGA Issue #1? For some robot thing? Preposterous. Clearly this book was heavily promoted to sabotage the launch of the book following it on the release schedule.
“And What book is that?” I hear you ask, “What book got thrown under the bus to promote GIGA?” A DARK INTERLUDE, of course. You see the pattern emerging here, dear reader? Wassel Wassel seeking to censor Henry Henry. -HH
Alex Paknadel: It’s always a lovely moment when aspiring writers discover metafiction.
Vault Publishing: Oh! Dr. Paknadel! Alex! Didn’t know you were on twitter! Great to hear from you, old boy. Huge admirer of your work. FRIENDO was superb. And GIGA looks to be even better! (Every sale absolutely deserved! A post-war mech murder mystery — what a concept! Positively Ballardian!)
Alex Paknadel: It was great seeing you at London Book Fair last year, Harry. Hope the squirrel costume wasn’t too itchy.
Vault Publishing: Hah! Always good humored! While I have you. Who were the retailers that ordered large on GIGA? Would you mind putting me in touch? Us writers have to stick together! -HH
David Dissanayake: If only you hadn’t insulted me so many times, I could have put you in touch with them.
Vault Publishing: David. Chum. Banter is banter, eh? -HH
Having now spoken with my good friends Ram V and Alex Paknadel, I can now safely say that they should boot that good-for-nothing, coat-tail-riding Dan Watters out of White Noise. I cannot think of any writer I despise more than Dan Watters. -HH
Yes, Lucifer was magnificent, as were Coffin Bound and Limbo, and the upcoming Home Sick Pilots looks equally fantastic. And, yes, Dan Watters is a literary writer who, for many years, I considered a kindred spirit. But all of this makes his betrayal hurt that much more. -HH
“What betrayal, Henry?” I hear you ask. “What did Dan Watters do?” It’s simple, reader. He wrote a sequel. -HH
THE PICTURE OF EVERYTHING ELSE, a sequel no one asked for to Oscar Wilde’s peerless “A Picture of Dorian Gray”. Need I say more? Does Dan Watters really believe he can match wits with Wilde? He who is part of a studio named after a novel by contemporary nuisance Don Delillo? -HH
Dan Watters: Pretty much. (And you may find it’s “THE Picture of Dorian Gray”. But Henry totally read it.)
Vault Publishing: Dan! Great to hear from you. Autocorrect must have messed up my earlier tweets. I meant to say that THE PICTURE OF EVERYTHING ELSE transcends its literary influences (*The Picture of Dorian Gray), building upon what was, to shine a light on what will be. A masterpiece! -HH
It’s been great hearing from the White Noise chaps. Kindred spirits, all three. I just wish I could remember the name of the fourth. Ryan…something? (Ferrier? Cady? K. Lindsey? K Vaughan? No, wait, that last one was a Brian.) Oh who cares. I got the main ones. -HH
Right, let’s change things up a bit. No more White Noise. -HH
Ah yes. The dynamic duo of Zac Thompson and Lonnie Nadler. Canada’s “Grey Murmur” to the UK’s White Noise. If I had a dollar for every time each of them used the word “weird” I would be a very rich man. -HH
Lonnie Nadler, the Alan Moore understudy no one asked for. While I admit that, at first, his book BLACK STARS ABOVE pulled me in with a certain faux-literary charm, I soon came to my senses. The Cormac McCarthy inspiration in the prose is clear as day. -HH
Lonnie Nadler: The book was actually more inspired by writers of Weird Fiction like Blackwood, Machen, Chambers, Kavan. And Canadian writers like Farley Mowat, who you likely are unaware of. Just because you’re ignorant of those writers and their inspiration doesn’t mean it’s not there.
Vault Publishing: Lonnie! Great to hear from you. I was just saying earlier how you remind me of a young Alan Moore! Merging the stark, brutal cadence of one of those great authors you’ve just listed with Ito-esqu horror and Moorean magical realism in BLACK STARS ABOVE. In awe, my friend! -HH
Zac Thompson is no better! His book, NO ONE’S ROSE is also inspired by, perhaps, an even more contemporary author: Ursula K. Le Guin. Now, I’ve never read any of her works, but she is both sci-fi AND contemporary. Reason enough (two reasons, even) to ignore anything Zac pens! -HH
Also! Zac Thompson’s need to shoehorn the narratively incongruous, contemporary concern of climate change into NO ONE’s ROSE robs the title of any aesthetic merit it would otherwise have. Art does not require a moral agenda. L’art pour l’art, dear boy. -HH
(My condolences to Emily Horn, Zac Thompson’s co-writer on NO ONE’S ROSE. I would advise your next work be solo, Emily. He will only drag you down with him as he has Lonnie.) -HH
Zac Thompson: You know what? I’ll take it. Le Guin’s got too many words for little HH. I guess even Hanry Henry gets it right sometimes.
Vault Publishing: Zac! A pleasure! I was just telling a friend of mine that I was considering Veganism. Your earnest and exceptionally important work, NO ONE’S ROSE being the chief culprit. There is much artistic and, indeed, aesthetic merit to be found in a well-crafted polemic. Bravo! -HH
Zac Thompson: Most people call it a “plant based diet” these days but all the same I’m glad to see you trying so hard.
Vault Publishing: Ah, yes! It’s the effort of moving forward that counts, right? Nothing of our pasts. Nothing. -HH
Thomas Maluck: Henry Henry’s* takeover of the @thevaultcomics account today has got me excited for the upcoming A DARK INTERLUDE in all the right ways. *See his earlier adventures in FEARSCAPE!
Vault Publishing: And yet! I hear the spineless Wassels scratching at the door. You’ve no idea how many times I’ve changed the passwords here today. -HH
Maximum Derek: This is, uh. This is satire, right? Some of it has the ‘tweed jacket and tobacco pipe’ aesthetic to the writing, but then the ‘Only the CLASSICS matter’ is kind of hitting you over the head with it.
Zac Thompson: Oh yes. It’s for a book called A DARK INTERLUDE. A very clear sequel to FEARSCAPE.
Vault Publishing: It is NOT a sequel! -HH
I’m sorry for the outburst. We are friends now. Both of us, sharing our lifelong plant based diet fixation. But surely you wouldn’t turn on me so quickly? -HH
Multiversity Comics: The manifestations of our worst fears come back next month in “A Dark Interlude” #1 and we’re thrilled to bring you this first look.
Vault Publishing: Finally! David Dissanayake has clearly scrambled all day in order to do his job (at last!) and line up a proper spotlight. But I see he’s fumbled the credits again. -HH
Apparently I am obligated to mention one more. Who to pick…Oh! Yes. The worst of the lot. GENRE writer George Mann. -HH
The tagline of his latest book, ENGINEWARD is: “Earth is an ancient myth”. If only this were true. I would not have to put up with writers like George Mann anymore. -HH
While I may have complained earlier about contemporary fiction, that’s nothing compared to the lifeless cadaver that is GENRE fiction. Dying Earth? Post apocalyptic? Fantasy? Sci-Fi? Celestials? The Zodiac? Endless worldbuilding ENGINEWARD has the lot. I hate it. -HH
Everyone has classic fiction they have yet to read. Works of high art that have stood the test of time. Why would you read the genre scribblings of George Mann when the oeuvres of Shakespeare, Proust, even my own humble opus, remain untouched by your eyes? -HH
George Mann: What is this? Where are the Wassels? It seems the Vault Twitter feed has been well and truly ‘hacked’.
Vault Publishing: George! I was just saying how much I adored ENGINEWARD. (I believe the Vault folks have been editing my tweets to make them unnecessarily antagonistic. Please disregard them. Better yet – don’t read them! “Well and truly hacked” is correct. They’re tampering with my voice.) -HH
ENGINEWARD is a masterpiece; pulling from the familiar and the unknown to drive home a piece of fiction, nay, a piece of high art, that showcases once and for all that genre fiction can push us to the Kantian sublime just as much as any literary novel or work of art. -HH
And your novels, too! NEWBURY & HOBBES! WYNCHWOOD! It is great to see a REAL author amidst Vault’s sea of “scripters”. Hopefully others like you will follow suit and help pull Vault out of the pulp gutter. I daresay you could teach White Noise and Grey Murmur a thing or two! -HH
(Sorry again for the misunderstanding, old boy. How about me, you, and…perhaps your agent, all go for a drink sometime? My treat. I could even bring a manuscript I’ve been working on as an apology present! Is your agent looking for anything in particular? I have a range…) -HH
Cavan Scott: Reported and blocked.
Vault Publishing: Yes, please block George Mann from seeing those tweets Vault tampered with — all just to make me look bad in my old friend’s eyes! -HH
Cavan Scott: You’re fooling no one.
Vault Publishing: You see, Vault! You’re fooling no one by tampering with my tweets. My readers are much too clever for such tomfoolery. -HH
Jenna Cha: Good job taking potshots at all the Vault writers while skirting around the other obvious aspect of comics: ARTWORK. Maybe if you included artists, people would still be RTing this “takeover.” But I get it—as the maxim goes, we fear what we don’t understand.
Vault Publishing: Why on earth would I mention the ones who add the pictures? They have their names on the cover. What more do they want? -HH
Vault Publishing: At last. One of us is back in. Time to pull the plug on Henry Henry. No one goes after our artists. Bear with me as I wrestle back control. – Adrian Wassel
Vault Publishing: “Wrestle back control”? What?! I didn’t tweet that! What is going on? How did Adrian get in here? -HH
Forgive me, twitter. Adrian Wassel’s phone was able to access the Vault Account. I have blocked it. -HH
Honestly, Vault are hypocrites. Either I’m contractually obliged to promote works, or I’m not. They should not be trying to remove me or censor me. -HH
THEY BLOCKED ME BUT I MANAGED TO GET BACK IN. I DON’T KNOW HOW MUCH TIME I HAVE. -HH
I AM BEING CENSORED. DO NOT TRUST VAULT. THEY ARE AN IP FARM POSING AS A PUBLISHER. THEY WANT TO STOP A DARK INTERLUDE FROM SUCCEEDING BECAUSE IT IS LITERARY. -HH
ORDER A DARK INTERLUDE #1 BEFORE THE FOC OF OCTOBER 26TH. WE MUST STAND UNITED AGAINST VAULT’S OPPRESSIVE CENSORSHIP OF LITERARY FICTION. -HH
NO! BETTER YET, DON’T ORDER IT! DON’T GIVE THEM YOUR MONEY! JUST BUY IT FROM YOUR LOCAL STORE ON NOVEMBER 18TH! -HH
OH! I JUST REMEMBERED THE FOURTH MEMBER OF WHITE NOISE! HIS NAME IS RY
Vault Comics: Thank goodness! We’re back! All passwords firmly under our control. We cannot apologize enough for the disruption. A (not so) wise man once said “Let 2020 be the year you remove toxic influences from your life.” We’ll follow that advice. Goodbye, Henry Henry. We won’t miss you.
And, Ryan O’Sullivan, don’t worry! We’ll unblock you. …tomorrow.
DARK INTERLUDE #1 CVR A KRISTANTINA (MR)VAULT COMICSSEP201542(W) Ryan O’Sullivan (A) Andrea Mutti (CA) Ariela KristantinaAfter the stunning success of Fearscape, comes A Dark Interlude, the story of-No! The only offence to literature greater than the loathsome synopsis is the sequel. I will not stand idle while some poor excuse for an editor mangles and confuses my story, which is intact, perfect, and concluded, with this derivative drivel. Mark my words, this nonsense has nothing to do with my tale. I am not in it. I do not condone it. And you, dear reader, should not buy it. -HH In Shops: Nov 11, 2020 SRP: $3.99
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Founder of Bleeding Cool. The longest-serving digital news reporter in the world, since 1992. Author of The Flying Friar, Holed Up, The Avengefuls, Doctor Who: Room With A Deja Vu, The Many Murders Of Miss Cranbourne, Chase Variant. Lives in South-West London, works from Blacks on Dean Street, shops at Piranha Comics. Father of two. Political cartoonist.