And now for our 2011 recap from RSM’s very own Enrica Jang. Hah! I love talking about myself in the third person…

Well, I’m smiling. Big. 2011 was an effing great year in so many ways. We’ve launched. We’re flying! The end of the year, Red Stylo Media hit a nice cruising altitude at the tail end of wall-to-wall shows and signings, straight into the wind with publishing two trades and then the holidays. This hard and high, you take a moment to glide and admire the view. There are some landings still to stick, but…details, baby, details. This feels good. Fast.

Flying does.

I’m going to stick with this analogy for a bit longer. This time last year RSM was Kickstarted to life with nothing but a first issue, some hope and balls. It’s well and good to have a destination in mind, but I never expected the journey to yield so much. Personally, this year I have made more friends, worked harder, and achieved more personal and professional milestones, than any other in my life. Everything Red Stylo Media does is the product of the hard work and talent of a great many people, so it’s almost unfair for me to take so much personal pride in the shows and the pages. (But, oh man, I do! Have you read AZTECA? Don’t you LOVE Poe Twisted!)

At the same time I am humbled, utterly, by the grace and kindness of strangers-turned-friends who helped us out along the way. A shared table here, a great review there, a steady stream of singular (random!) acts of kindness and comeraderie from fellow creators and publishers with words of support and advice, who had absolutely no reason to help and who asked for nothing in return. Nobody in this life has to be there for anybody. And yet so many were. So many are.

Which means we have to keep delivering! We owe it to them–we owe it to YOU–to stay on course. AZTECA is getting fresh blood from artists Ben Frazier and Alex Cormack who debut AZTECA #4 next month. The Poe Twisted Anthology will see a sister title this year in Shakespeare Shaken, a collection of original comics and art inspired by The Bard. And artist Kevin Leen is set to premiere work from our newest graphic novel/series Seventh Voyage at Wizard World New Orleans in January. Keep it here, folks. It was good before. It’s about to get better.

Thought a long time about what to write for this 2011 wrap-up and I looked back a year for a little inspiration. Turns out I wrote it right last year too:

“Time is a big theme in the AZTECA story. What we lose, what we gain, what we manage to build and/or destroy in the little time we have on this planet. Whether you buy into the 2012 mythos or simply enjoy the folktale, there’s something freaky about the idea that we’re counting down to some kind of change (or fiery destruction), beyond comprehension and beyond our control–and as of midnight tonight we are one year closer to whatever is or isn’t going to happen December 21, 2012. I hope that all of you reading this are doing right by yourselves and can say–with a smile–that you spend your time in worthy, satisfying pursuits. And even if you’re not, that you wouldn’t do it differently even if given the chance.”

This is still my hope and wish for everyone. Special thanks and good wishes to RSM artists and friends. And Happy New Year! In 2012, do what you have to–if you can, do what you want. But try to be good. Or Nicho will come and cut your heart out.

Hasta luego,

Enrica J.