I’m Jonathan Ball, and this is my recent work.

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About Me

I am Jonathan Ball, PhD, the author of 8 books of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction, and the comic series The Eye Collector.

I host the podcast Writing the Wrong Way and teach creative writing, literature, and film at universities in Winnipeg. My film Spoony B was sold to The Comedy Network.

Here you will find an overview of my recent work. You can contact me at jonathan@jonathanball.com or using the form below.

The Eye Collector (Virus Comics, 2020)

A five-issue miniseries publishing Fall 2020, with a trade collection to follow Summer 2021, from Virus Comics (an imprint of Heavy Metal magazine).

The Eye Collector tells a horror story centring on a young protagonist, Nathan, who struggles to shield those he loves from a mythic amalgam of the Sandman and Man in the Moon. Equal parts god and parasite, the Eye Collector grants mortals what they most desire, in their secret hearts, in exchange for their eyes, which fuel his dark magic. The book’s artwork reflects this dark, chaotic, surreal war for control of perspectives on reality.

My collaborator-artist for The Eye Collector is GMB Chomichuk, whose ninth graphic novel, Apocrypha: The Legend of BABYMETAL, debuted at #14 on the BookScan Author Graphic Novels chart. Our letterer is Lyndon Radchenka, who is also the author of two graphic novels. I am the author of eight books. 

Here are the first 8 pages of The Eye Collector #1.

Here is a later 5 page sequence from The Eye Collector #2. (Pick this, if you just have time for one.)

Dirk Dirkson vs. The Demons from Mars (rights available)

I am currently developing a comic series titled Dirk Dirkson vs. The Demons from Mars, a comedy/sci-fi/horror in which Dirk immigrates to America and discovers that the U.S. has been overrun by demons from the planet Mars. These demons possess humans supernaturally, transforming them into vicious, quick-moving killing machines. 

Although most Americans react to the demons with apathy, having accepted the presence of demons in their daily life as depressing but unavoidable, Dirk vows to fight back. Everybody else is satisfied with cheering Dirk on (but not actually helping him fight) or exploiting his enthusiasm for the American dream, but Dirk, never deterred, becomes America’s greatest/only demon warrior. 

My collaborator-artist for Dirk Dirkson is Steven Kaul and lettering is by Lyndon Radchenka.

Here is an 8-page story, complete as a one-shot, but setting up the core premise for a continuing series.

The Lightning of Possible Storms (Bookhug, 2020)

My eighth book is a collection of short fiction. Here is one story, previously published in Joyland, titled “The Nightmare Ballad of the Drunken Brand Identity with a Cameo by Shakespeare and a Title That Cannot Get Worse.”

I have been called “one of Canada’s very best writers” (by Suzette Mayr, author of Monoceros, which was longlisted for the Giller Prize) and Quill & Quire called these stories “multi-faceted puzzle boxes, far more complex than they may initially appear.

My previous books are available here. You can also contact me below, to request more samples or information, or for any other reason.