Do Not Siege Walled Cities - 241
End of Year Party
IT’S ALL OVER
It’s customary to act as if every year is the worst and we should all be grateful to see January 31st. But 2023 was good to me. Or at least not so bad that I remember any bad. Spent time with my family and doing things I love. Nobody got sick or died.
Perhaps there’s some aspect of stasis I could criticize. Not enough movement or change. Not enough money. Etc.
But I spend most afternoons with retirees at the dog park, and they’re big believers in “any day above ground is a good one.” I think I agree. It would be nice if 2024 broke open for me in a way that allowed wealth or ‘great things’ but if I get more time with my family, doing the things I love, I’ll consider it a win. I hope your year was at least serviceable. And if not, 2024 could be a good one. Why not.
QUICK REVIEW BEFORE I HOP TO RAMBLING
Read OUR BONES DUST issue 1 last night. This is a new title from Ben Stenbeck. It’s a post-apocalypse story that leans heavy into mystery.
I thought the art was exceptional. Stenbeck doesn’t overdraw… anything. Every panel has exactly as many/few lines as it requires. As a result, even busy pages don’t feel cluttered. Lots of faith in the colorist here.
As far as the writing goes, at this all good. I was intrigued felt like I was taken from a world-intro to a call to action. But as a matter of preference, I struggle with multiple elements of science fiction in a single story. If something is Mad Max, I’ll take it straight with juuuust enough subversion. It does not require aliens. Call me limited, but I prefer to see a familiar thing done exceptionally well than a casserole of genre ideas or themes. I’m excited to continue reading but I am wary of the possibility of ‘too much.’ My classic example of that is the film District 9. I understand the theme purposes (blunt though they are) for the transformation into a partial alien. But… it’s too much. Alien refugees are enough for any story. But maybe OUR BONES DUST doesn’t run up against the same problem. I’ll find out in future issues.
HOW EVERYTHING MEANS TWO THINGS
Some of you may remember the New Guy meme from a couple years ago. If not, it was a comic strip written with a specific perspective and was received in the opposite fashion intended.
So the purple-haired girl was supposed to be the sympathetic protagonist we can all relate to. But for many she seemed snide, sarcastic, and refused to meet the guileless boob coworker on his level. Reading Knowyourmeme I see it was then dragged into some type of culture war ultra-online partisan nonsense. Ok, ignore that part. I’ve got a point here.
The comic below has been shared a fair amount since it came out a few months ago. It’s a heavy-handed jab at political populism, the ridiculousness of the figures in those movements, and one could assume also the Trump era defined by that stripe of dim-witted but confident demagoguery.
But every time I see it, I have a New Guy moment. I recognize the tone of the work and I know what it’s supposed to be skewering. But I see democracy as a value. Meaning, you can embrace it or reject it, but if you subscribe to it- you take the good with the bad. Because that’s what a value requires.
“This is democracy manifest” is Australia’s national meme. Also known as ‘Succulent Chinese Meal” (search out the complete video).
And I think about this video often. The words, sardonic they may be, bang around in my head. With the accent.
Either democracy is something you hold dear, or it’s a utility you run out on when it becomes too expensive. I would not try to convince you of either perspective. But I should point out that the boomers (it’s always the 50+ set of creators on my feed) that post the above cartoon would tell you they love democracy. So, love it. In for a penny in for a pound. Values.
I just thought it was an interesting comic for what it was saying and how different ears would hear that same message. A technocrat reads it and says “yeah, those passengers aren’t capable. They’d die.” Someone who believes in democracy reads it and says, “if no other person stands up to sway them in the other direction, then a social contract is fulfilled and best of luck.”
MORE ON THE MATTER OF INTERPRETATION
Heard this Australian radio staple on (no surprise) the radio this week. I had not given the lyrics any attention before. Listen.
The chorus is likely what stuck with you. Evocative and sensory and then “this is Australia.” Which might make you assume it was actually about the state of being Australian. But on this listen, the intention wasn’t clear to me. Is it critical of Australia? Is it a celebration of it? Is it satirical? Earnest? I didn’t know. So I looked it up. It’s so much more moving than any of that. It’s about the sights, sounds, and smells of childhood. In the lyricist’s case, a difficult time in childhood. His family moved to Australia and then the parents divorced. So everything associated with ‘new home’ is ‘new anxiety.’ While millions of people have sung along with the notion that lightning bursting over the cane fields is ‘Australian (all positive)’ to him it was ‘Australian (mixed, perhaps net negative).’ Perspectives vary.
YOU KNOW THE DRILL
It’s the end of the year so everyone feels an obligation to remind you what they accomplished. I’ll keep mine brief because there’s so much of this in the final week of the year that it all becomes noise. Quickly, and with purpose:
Finished the 12 chapters of GEHENNA serialized in IMAGE! 30th ANNIVERSARY ANTHOLOGY. A big thank you to Eric over there for inviting Maurizio and I. It was a real thrill to be in the same book with names I respect. I believe the IMAGE! series is getting a collected edition of some type and we’ll be putting GEHENNA out in some form or fashion. We recently organized everything for a trade paperback, but I’m gonna see what Image’s thoughts are on going with a 4-issue periodical release first. I think that would get it to a whole different reader and maybe afford the trade a little hype. We’ll see.
STRINGER was a major accomplishment for me. I know it’s smarter to be format agnostic and just chase money, but there is something endlessly fulfilling about holding a meaty hardcover OGN. And even better if it has your name on it. It’s just worthy, if that makes any sense. The work is strong, Paul is about as clever a cartoonist as you’ll find, and the story itself is true entertainment. This one is available at your local comic shop or amazon.
Al and I hit a snag on our Kickstarter, pushing it back by A YEAR. We’re obviously disappointed, but continue to grind. And the work is exceptional. So we own all the problems as our fault and we’ll make sure backers feel good about it in the end. And that end is in sight.
The big one this year was the completion of ANTIOCH, which just hit stores a few days ago. If you followed the challenges Marco and I had on this book you know it was a lot at one time. So to have to finally on the shelves and to be SO good is a weight off our shoulders. You can hear Marco and I talk about the experience and the strengths of the book on the Badaboom Podcast below.
And you can read a rather glowing review of it from I-J Wheaton at CBR.com here. Our reviews on FRONTIERSMAN had a weird political subtext (or text-text) wherein the critic would attempt to find some ideological shortcoming in the intention of the book. So it was nice to receive a thorough and considered review of the actual work on the page.
A beautiful book to read and hold. Available at shops and Amazon.
DON’T AVERT YOUR EYES, the crowdfunded volume of THERE’S NOTHING THERE got its money at the end of 2022, but the physical books arrived in 2023 so we’re counting it. A really bold (if I’m allowed to say that about my own work), borderline pornographic, piece featuring art from a number of interesting creators. It was a fascinating experiment in addition to a really solid book. A few months after backers got their first printings stores were allowed to order copies with a variant cover. Doing more of this soon.
Because the release schedule was switched up I almost forgot LEADED GASOLINE. And that would be a crime because the book is so rare. It’s a thriller. I thought horror, but Hollywood people yelled at my manager when he tried to sell it. Thriller, they said. Ok, fine. Whatever it is, it’s exactly what I wanted to see on shelves. Creepy, severe, violent, and real. Lorenzo did some moody and evocative work in this book. It’s grit from page one to end. I would like more of this type of material in comic book stores and, goddammit, I’m gonna show retailers that it’s not just me.
Looking at this year in aggregate, an obvious thing just occurred to me. This is all material written a year earlier. Ok, no real shock there. But I’d never really considered that my thoughts are on a delay. I’ve got a number of projects I’m working on now and you won’t have access to them until mid-year or later. I wonder how different my life will be then.
If you’ve been here, you’ve seen this material and heard me talk about it. This was merely a reminder to go out there and grab the material that is in stores. What you may actually want word of is NEW material. Ok.
Here’s some teasers.
I’ve got new work with Marco that will push us both to the limit. It’s AWESOME stuff. Set in our universe with all the care we’ve put into FRONTIERSMAN and ANTIOCH, but steering into a DOMU-inspired darkness.
Paul and I are three issues deep on a series that you will not get anywhere else. It’s one of those blessed projects that is the sum total of the creators. Picture in your mind a crime comic book series wherein every issue is a fulfilling self-contained story told with visual flair and memorable dialog. Ok, well, that’s what it is.
Maurizio and I are collaborating again! Another beautiful woman as the protagonist (Maurizio has a gift) but this one pulls from HELLBLAZER and The Dresden Files. It’s going to give Maurizio a chance to draw some of the wilder thoughts in his head. And that is something to look forward to.
I’ve had a project on hold for a minute with simply the best unknown artist in comics, and it’s just about time to start it up in earnest. This guy is just starting out in Europe and I’m so grateful to get an opportunity to be a stop on his journey. It’s a horror setting but falls between BERSERK and Ladyhawke. Really excited to get this one into the world.
And speaking of brilliant european artists, I’ll soon announce a new title, the first issue of which features a guy I think could be a household name. The book looks like nothing on the shelves and for that reason we may go Kickstarter first and only bring it to the DM after we’ve shown and proven. Like GEHENNA, it’s moment-to-moment beats and does not let up. I know you will love it.
Alright, is that it? I don’t think so, but I don’t have my projects list in front of me. More will be announced and everything I’ve talked about will get a proper rollout. Thank you for a great 2023. Ever upward. Do for self.