Breaking News on the HoloNet

Firstly, I want to apologize for the chaos right out of the gate. Changing the name and URL right after launching breaks every rule of newsletters. But I couldn’t pass up Greg Pak’s great suggestion for a title - so, SACKS APPEAL, it is!

Working in comics as a freelancer requires a side gig or two. I have been blessed to have some great ones, including reporting for NBC News and writing for UNICEF USA.

And my streak continues: Thanks to editor in chief (and all around awesome person) Kristin Baver, I have joined the team at StarWars.com as a writer. Aside from the cool opportunities to dive deeper into that galaxy far, far away that I love so much, the side gig has allowed me to flex my muscles as a former journalist with more than 25 years of experience.

(Plus I got to hang out backstage at Star Wars Celebration in Japan gorging on free lunch while my wife was wandering around looking for the shortest food stall line on the other side of the velvet rope, but the less I say about that in front of Masako the better.)

My latest piece for the site is a write up off Kristin’s interview with ANDOR star Adria Arjona (Bix!) that is currently atop StarWars.com and that you can read here.

My two favorite contributions to date:

1.) Unofficially dubbing the Dedra Meero/Syril Karn celebrity relationship name as “Dedryl.”
2.) Getting the lede in that same article, “In the end, they were Death Star-crossed lovers,” into print. (Twenty of those years of experience were at a tabloid, the New York Daily News, after all.)

LAST CHANCE: A HAUNTED GIRL SPECIAL EDITION

We’re in the final hours of the Zoop campaign for the exclusive extended edition of A HAUNTED GIRL.

For those of you who don’t know about the original series/book from Image Comics and Syzygy Publishing, it’s a YA supernatural horror story inspired by my daughter’s real life struggles with depression and hospitalization for suicidality. My kid, Naomi, didn’t just inspire it, she co-wrote the series in an effort to inspire others going through similar mental health battles.

A HAUNTED GIRL is co-created and drawn by artist extraordinaire Marco Lorenzana, with coloring by Andres Mossa and letters by JAME. (That’s his professional name, like The Rock!) Comic legend Chris Ryall edited. We teamed with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention — which honored Naomi with their 2025 Public Education Lifesaver Awards — and the American Psychiatric Association, both of which provided resource guides in the back.

There’s a pretty comprehensive article that ran in People Magazine that you can read here.

This new special hardcover edition of A HAUNTED GIRL includes all sorts of new behind-the-scene-features such as scripts, layouts, and a how to draw guide, making it the ultimate collector’s item.

But here’s the best part: A portion of the proceeds goes to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention!

Right now, that’s 10 percent of proceeds, but if we can hit our stretch goal of $7,500, which is a stretch (sorry) right now unfortunately, we can raise it to 15 percent! Please note that whatever I personally make off this campaign goes to funding the art costs for A HAUNTED GIRL 2.

Also, under the rewards section: There’s one zoom call slot left with Naomi and I. It’s a chance to ask me questions directly about Star Wars, AHG, the comic book industry, or just about anything else.

So, if you’d like to get your own copy and support the life-saving work of the AFSP in the process, this is your last chance!

You can find the campaign here:
https://zoop.gg/c/ahauntedgirl

A SPECIAL THANKS

I just wanted to close out with a thank you to Tommy Stella, who helped advise me on how to set this newsletter up. If you are a comic book creator in need of a newsletter - heck if you are anyone in need of starting up a newsletter, I can’t recommend his consultation services enough. You can contact him through his Bluesky feed.