Today is launch day! For the run-up to the release of Down Set Fight in print, Oni is doing a weekly digital release as six chapters, and the first one is available now!

If you’re not familiar with the book that Scott Snyder calls “funny, smart, irreverent” (he actually said that without being prompted, which is awesome), this is the first full-length original graphic novel that Chad Bowers and I have written, with art by Scott Kowalchuk and letters by (who else?) Josh Krach. It tells the story of “Fearless” Chuck Fairlane, a rising star running back who gets booted out of professional football and ends up battling against a series of costumed mascots hell-bent on revenge — or maybe something a little deeper than just vengeance. In the first chapter, you see Chuck’s origin, and find out just what it was that caused him to retire in disgrace. There’s football, fighting, crime and bribery, and that’s just the prologue!

It’s funny, when Chad and I were writing the series, we intended for it to be read all in one go rather than broken up as issues, but we still did it as “chapters,” mainly because we like those Kirby-style chapter breaks. Hopefully it’ll all hang together. Either way, we’re pretty excited about it, and it’s interesting timing, too: Yesterday marked the 9th anniversary of writing about comics online. This first section, “The Wrongest Yard,” clocks in at 21 pages for $1.99, with the following chapters every Tuesday, featuring new Comixology-exclusive “covers” by Scott, and the full-length OGN in stores on February 12! Give it a read, spread the word, and come back next Tuesday to meet up with Chuck ten years later!