Which means this bitch of a ride is half over. It has not been a good week.

But the end of it will certainly be better than its start, for two immediate reasons.

First -- The last issue of The Crime Bible: The Five Books of Blood, "The Parable of the Faceless," comes out tomorrow. I'm very happy with the issue for a number of reasons, but in particular, Manuel Garcia did a fantastic job on the art, and where he was allowed to ink himself, the work is, in my opinion, outstanding. Timing on this is good, as I'm just about finished with the first issue of "the next thing" that the Question is appearing in, and the progression from CB into this new project is a good one.

And because I like the cover so much, I'm sharing it again:

So that's the first thing.

The second thing is that on Saturday myself, JVM, and Matthew Clark will be heading up to Lacey, WA, to join Eric Trautmann (mercuryeric and Brandon Jerwa (sd6) celebrate the grand opening of Olympic Cards and Comics' new home, which, conveniently, is just across the street from its old home. The new address is 4230 Pacific Avenue, in Lacey, just north of Olympia. Honestly, OCC is one of the best comic stores I've ever had the pleasure to spend inordinate amounts of money in, and if you're even remotely close to the area, I urge you to come by. We'll be signing, and I have it on reliable authority that there may be a grand-opening freebie for the first 100 or so who make it in. Ribbon cutting is scheduled for noon.

Edited to complete the list of those in attendance.

Solicits came out today for DC's May books. If'n you're the kind what's interested in this kind of thing, you can find them posted at Newsarama. If you scroll WAAAAY down, you'll find the listing for Checkmate #26. And you will note that it is written by Bruce Jones, and that it is illustrated by Manuel Garcia (who, incidentally, did a fantastic job with the art on Five Books of Blood #5, which is out tomorrow).

All of this is a bass-ackwards way of confirming for all and sundry -- those of you that care, that is -- that, yes, Checkmate #25 is the last issue for Joe Bennet, mercuryeric, and myself.

So as there's no confusion about this, I was not removed from the book. I decided that #25 would be my final issue on the title at least a year ago, and informed DC Editorial of my decision shortly thereafter. Since then, I've tried to arrange things such that my departure would leave the book in as strong a position as possible, and headed in the direction I thought best. Ultimately, however, the choice on who takes over the book is DC's, and not mine.

Mine and Eric's final arc will be "Castling," beginning with issue #23 and ending with issue #25. We think it's some of the best work we've done on the title, and, hey, it finally -- finally! -- reveals the identity of the Rooks! I firmly believe we're going out strong, and I hope you'll all continue to read it, and that you'll share our opinion if you do.