Matthew Dow Smith
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matthewdowsmith.bsky.social
Matthew Dow Smith
@matthewdowsmith.bsky.social
8K followers 2K following 7.7K posts
Writer, artist, comic book creator. The October Girl (Book Two coming May 2026 from Mad Cave/Maverick), Amelia Shadows (Book One coming April 2026 from Papercutz), DC's Misfits of Magic, and others.

Literary agent: Moe Ferrara at TriadaUS.
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matthewdowsmith.bsky.social
Matthew Dow Smith @matthewdowsmith.bsky.social · 14d
Pre-Order Now!

Coming May 2026!!

From me and @papercutzgn.bsky.social!!!

AMELIA SHADOWS AND THE NEW HEAD GHOST!!!!

You can pre-order here: www.simonandschuster.com/books/Amelia...
Amelia Shadows has never had what you might call a "normal" childhood for one thing, her dad's the most powertul dark magician in the world. And for another, she's spent her entire lite in a house filled with ghosts and monsters and incredibly dangerous magical objects! As far as Amelia's concerned, her lite's actually pretty cool. When Amelia and her cat, Clara, aren't having adventures or dealing with like her dad like her dad, with the help on ghost tutor mime do Gustave. You g thin, a ghost tutor named Gustave would be pretty fun, but he's actually pretty boring. And it a boring ghost tutor wasn't bad enough, now Amelia's dad has hired another ghost to oversee things, Hans. Which wouldn't be that bad, except Hans has very strong opinions about how things should be around the house. This new head ghost has got to go, and Amelia may have a surprising ally... Magic and mischief and a life lesson or two from Matthew Dow Smith (DCs MISFITS OF MAGIC, THE OCTOBER GIRL) Pre-Order Now!
matthewdowsmith.bsky.social
One of the cats has to go in this morning for a regular shot and I didn't want to start work until that was taken care of, so instead I sat drinking coffee and organizing things on my computer and accidentally came up with three more Amelia Shadows stories.
December 26, 2025 at 2:02 PM
matthewdowsmith.bsky.social
If being creative is so worthless, then why did they spend billions of dollars to build a machine to fake being creative for them?
December 26, 2025 at 1:40 PM
matthewdowsmith.bsky.social
New Comic Book Friday: A brand new chapter of AMELIA SHADOWS AND THE CHRISTMAS CURSE is now up on my Patreon for all my paid subscribers!

#AmeliaShadows
#PatreonComics
#KidsComics
ASatCC Chapter 5 | Matthew Dow Smith
Get more from Matthew Dow Smith on Patreon
www.patreon.com
December 26, 2025 at 1:05 PM
matthewdowsmith.bsky.social
I have just drawn the single greatest page in all 8 books of Amelia Shadows so far and I really want to show it off but I don't want to spoil it for everyone, because I think people would laugh their butts off when they finally get to it.

But here's a little sneak peek --
A very happy Henri, with Amelia Shadows under one arm. He looks like he's running.
December 24, 2025 at 10:16 PM
matthewdowsmith.bsky.social
DC's MISFITS OF MAGIC makes Sir Jon's Pint O' Comics Best of 2025 list!

(Along with several of my own personal favorite books of the year!)
December 24, 2025 at 5:16 PM
matthewdowsmith.bsky.social
A quick message to all my fellow freelancers racing to get too many things done before tomorrow and stressing out about deadlines while everyone else is already kicking back drinking egg nog and watching holiday movies --
Remember to sometimes remind yourself that what you do is really freaking cool.
December 24, 2025 at 4:32 PM
matthewdowsmith.bsky.social
As a longtime DC fan (and occasional DC creator) I am thrilled at the success of the Absolute line, but please, please let the takeaway from its success be that doing something new and challenging can sell comics and not just "let's take our familiar characters and make them darker and grimmer".
‘Batman,’ Absolute Universe Comics Power DC to Super Year
The publisher reveals sales numbers exclusively with The Hollywood Reporter, including some surprising statistics about 'Batman.'
www.hollywoodreporter.com
December 24, 2025 at 1:06 PM
matthewdowsmith.bsky.social
I design a book series very, VERY carefully, and build in both what I call "accordion points" where you can do more books if the response to the series is strong AND points where you can end it and still get a satisfying ending if the sales just aren't strong enough to continue.
matthewdowsmith.bsky.social Matthew Dow Smith @matthewdowsmith.bsky.social · 2d
Whelp, took a bath and while I was in there worked out the plan for the rest of the Amelia Shadows books and decided which of the options for the rest of The October Girl series I want to do...
December 23, 2025 at 8:20 PM
matthewdowsmith.bsky.social
Whelp, took a bath and while I was in there worked out the plan for the rest of the Amelia Shadows books and decided which of the options for the rest of The October Girl series I want to do...
December 23, 2025 at 8:01 PM
matthewdowsmith.bsky.social
Tuesday Tip: 12/23
Every writer, artist, musician, actor, director you know and admire sucked at it at first. sucking is the first step to getting good at something.
December 23, 2025 at 2:08 PM
matthewdowsmith.bsky.social
Making Comics Monday: Step-by-step process for a page from last week’s Amelia Shadows chapter, now up on my Patreon — www.patreon.com/matthewdowsmith

Layouts
Roughs
Inks
Colors

#AmeliaShadows
#PatreonComics
#KidsComics
December 23, 2025 at 2:22 AM
matthewdowsmith.bsky.social
As the butler to several black cats over the years...

Yes. This is all exactly as it should be.
December 22, 2025 at 11:58 AM
Reposted by Matthew Dow Smith
comic-watch.bsky.social
Magic Runs in the Family, but Amelia Shadows might rewrite the rules entirely in Amelia Shadows & The New Head Ghost from @madcavestudios.com @matthewdowsmith.bsky.social
comic-watch.com/news/magic-r...
Magic Runs in the Family, But Amelia Shadows Might Rewrite The Rules in Amelia Shadows & The New Head Ghost - Comic Watch
Magic Runs in the Family, but Amelia Shadows might rewrite the rules entirely in Amelia Shadows & The New Head Ghost from @MadCaveStudios
comic-watch.com
December 21, 2025 at 10:22 PM
matthewdowsmith.bsky.social
Happy Holidays!
Autumn from the October Girl walking through the snow with the words, "Happy Holidays".
December 21, 2025 at 1:16 PM
matthewdowsmith.bsky.social
Behind The Scenes: Character concept for Max, aka "The Tinkerer", from the After School Villain Society.
A red headed kid with goggles and gloves with a toolbox. There's a wrench drawn on his t-shirt.
December 20, 2025 at 3:07 PM
matthewdowsmith.bsky.social
An (almost) end of year thought --
As we stumble to the end of another incredibly difficult year for creative people in any medium, I just want to share one piece of advice that I genuinely think we should all be following no Matter what stage you're at professionally: Figure out what you love doing and do More of that. Just go all in on the things you're obsessed with. If you're going to struggle, do it for something you love.
December 19, 2025 at 2:45 PM
matthewdowsmith.bsky.social
New Comic Book Friday: A brand new chapter of AMELIA SHADOWS AND THE CHRISTMAS CURSE is now up on my Patreon for all my paid subscribers!

#AmeliaShadows
#PatreonComics
#KidsComics
ASatCC Chapter 4 | Matthew Dow Smith
Get more from Matthew Dow Smith on Patreon
www.patreon.com
December 19, 2025 at 1:05 PM
matthewdowsmith.bsky.social
Throwback Thursday: Sabrina the Pre-Teen Witch edition
A drawing of Sabrina as a kids character Character design for Sabrina as a kids character Head designs for Sabrina as a kids character
December 18, 2025 at 10:24 PM
matthewdowsmith.bsky.social
I was archiving finished projects today and worked out that I've written and drawn 8 graphic novels and more than 100 pages worth of short comic book stories this year alone.

So again, when I say I hope you like the work I'm doing now because there's a lot more on the way, I am so not joking.
December 18, 2025 at 5:16 PM
matthewdowsmith.bsky.social
I know a lot of people are starting to log out for the holidays, so while we're all still here, I just want to share an important annual reminder from Comic Book Dad that you are awesome --
I'M NOT YOUR REAL DAD, BUT IT'S BEEN A ROUGH YEAR AND IF YOU DID ANYTHING CREATIVE AT ALL THIS YEAR, I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT I'M PROUD OF YOU. -COMIC BOOK DAD
December 18, 2025 at 12:49 PM
matthewdowsmith.bsky.social
Time to once again post "The Online Artist's Lament" --
What I wouldn't give for an art post or a post about my upcoming projects to get even half as much engagement as a post complaining about the latest stupid thing tech bros or politicians have done to us.
December 17, 2025 at 6:00 PM
matthewdowsmith.bsky.social
Behind The Scenes: Coloring this week's chapter of AMELIA SHADOWS AND THE CHRISTMAS CURSE.

This is what my colors look like while I'm working on them. I do all the character coloring first, since the colors for each character are already set, and then do the backgrounds later.
A bunch of Amelia Shadows comic book pages. Only the characters are colored.
December 17, 2025 at 4:13 PM
matthewdowsmith.bsky.social
Great interview with the great @dirkmaggs.bsky.social, which is much better than any interview I'd ever do of Dirk, which would just be endless questions like "Why are you so great?" and "What's it like to be so great?".
December 17, 2025 at 3:11 PM
matthewdowsmith.bsky.social
If you are still on X/Twitter in any capacity as an artist, get off there right freaking now.
December 17, 2025 at 2:59 PM
matthewdowsmith.bsky.social
My favorite thing I drew today --
AMelia and Henri standing in the door to a room. Where it's snowing. Yes. It's snowing inside. Because... you know... magic.
December 17, 2025 at 12:59 AM