281: lost it in the local Co-op
Hullo.
James McAvoy! What are you DOING!?
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We reach the half-way point of Rise of Powers of X, which is basically the end of the first movement, before exploding into the second half. It's one of my favourite sorts of issues – fundamentally rotating around someone(s) making a decision or not. The character stuff. There's a lot of sci-fi coating in this, obviously, but conceptually (as a sequel/reflection to PoX) it had to come down to the people: Moira and Xavier, talking, seeing where they've come from and where they're going to.
And here we are.
Here's the first three pages...
You'll note that the cover is a slight deception, for obvious “you can't have someone pointing a gun at a 13 year old on cover, FFS!” reasons.
There's more details and covers in the full page here.
We'll be over with Gerry in Fall of the House of X #4, and after that X-Men Forever #2 and Rise of the Powers of X #4. I believe they both drop in the same week? I hope they do, anyway. The unlettered XMF preview for 2 is up, which you can nose at here, if that's your thing.
Still doing occasional capsule reviews over at Blue Skies. Here's a director's mix.
GRIZ GROBUS: dual dovetailing narratives let us discover an alien world and a human heart, full of Ghibli style and the finest Tor-novella poise.The team creates a universe, and is generous enough to let us live there. I read the KS edition, but an image edition is coming in June.
I read my advance of UNCANNY VALLEY #1, knowing nothing, and want to try and keep that for you too. This has the grounded weird of Fleecs previous (fantastic) STRAY DOGS and Dave Wachter does a wonderful grounded painterly stand-by-me-ism. The cover gives away a bit of it, but the mood it creates and then plays games with is really strong.
THE PRINCIPLES OF NECROMANCY written by Lanzig/Kelly with Eamon Winkle letting truly awful corpse-things crawl out of his head onto the page. Fantasy horror story that succeeds in both - Cronenbergian Conan. Magma comix launches v well. Out soon.
SPECTREGRAPH #1: Tynion/Ward/Bidikar bring their skills to the latest oversized DSTLRY mini. Reclusive rich weirdo builds a haunted house which stinks of murder - Citizen Cain, if you will. Horror and horrific parenting from the realtor lead character. Out soon.
Finished off the whole of JUDGE DREDD: A BETTER WORLD from 2000AD, which goes for the throat, and then keeps on tearing. "Defund the police in Mega City 1" remains the topline, but it sings as a drama while Flint's Early-Miller-styled grids bring the cannonade percussion. Will make a great trade too, and they're selling a bundle until then.
COMMON SENSE & NUCLEAR WARFARE: Some The Power Fantasy research that I got around to finishing is one of the heavyweights of 20th century philosophy taking a short book to apply common sense to nuclear warfare (i.e. just don't guys, don't, ffs guys, don't) Both clearly of its period, and timeless (the threat remains existential).
HAUNTHOLOGY: My theory? There's 2 ways good horror comics work. One is idea based - give the concept, let it get inside your head. The other is art based - which is reliant on an artist having things inside their head they have to share. Jeremy Haun's mass of lockdown-born shorts do both wonderfully. Available now from Image.
I'm only four chapters in, but Dave Baker's MARY TYLER MOOREHAWK is the only comic this year I've tried to explain badly to my mum, which says something. After writing that, I then lost it in the local Co-op, and had to buy another copy – the first comic I've lost out in the world since I lost Pax Americana (Twice!) on the way home.
- This is a serious one. My friends at Rowan Rook & Decard are in the process of running a backerkit for Dagger In The Heart, an epic sourcebook and Campaign for their excellent Heart game. It's funded, don't worry. The fear is that it is approaching its 150K stretch goal, where they'll commission a Heart Actual Play. If this happens, this will create more work for a certain someone who doesn't want to do any more work. I urge you, don't back this. Perhaps reduce or cancel your pledge. You can always buy it afterwards. Don't make this person do any more work. Seriously, don't back..
- Me. The person's me.
- Paul Cornel and Rachael Smith have launched their new crowdfunder on Zoop, for WHO KILLED NESSIE. I love them both, apart and together, so think this is really worth your time. An interview about it here.
- Sex Criminals' omnibus is out this week, and here's Comic's Watch piece on Sex Criminals. I think it was probably the best ongoing comic of the 2010s, or at the least the one most likely to troll Jamie and me.
- Sktchd does a big article about how creating comics effects how one reads comics, where I'm quoted. This is fundamental stuff. I was aware of what I suspected most folks would say, and tried to find angles around that. Mainly, I talked too much.
- The second part of my chat with Ideas Don't Bleed is up. Lots of stuff about all the stuff you'd like to hear anbout, including The Power Fantasy.
- You may remember Oh No creator Alex Norris having to crowd fund for legal help when a company tried to take all the rights in 2019. Now, just as it was wrapping up, the company have counter-sued again. As such, if you can help, please do.
- Rascal looking on two indie games which try to evoke ADHD in game form. I'm always interested in this stuff – all art can evoke whatever they want, right? - though wonder how much “This is what my ADHD can feel like” gets turned into “This is what ADHD feels like” in the discourse. These are really different things.
I collapse out of the new-drafts-of-material age, into the next one. My new work is just CO stuff, and I'm still trying to find the rhythm. Bar finishing off a little screenwriting, I've been doing non-writing stuff – mainly design based. As well as talking with Rian Hughes for The Power Fantasy covers, I've been talking to Becca Carey (who did the excellent Golden Rage design) about the logo for Stephanie and my OGN.
The OGN logo has been finalised, and I've lobbed at the publisher, who love it. The Power Fantasy one is more of a second stage thing. Rian gave us 61 designs, which Caspar and I worked through, and a couple of meetings and I eventually wrote a big document trying to nail down what we need. There's a whole section where I discuss Too Bad Boy vs Not Bad Boy Enough axis. I'm sure Rian is just thrilled to be working with me.
I mentioned the screenwriting, which was the actual main writing last week. It went fine. Let's just leave it at that, and see what the company say about it. It's been a few years since I've written in the form, so there was a lot of me reacquainting myself with it and googling things like “why do you call the big words that appear on a screen.”
(“Chyron”)
This week has been about breaking ground on a new project – the ceremonial construction of a Scrivener from notes (and this one has a lot of pre-existing things I needed to integrate ). I'm doing it now as it's my next project with Stephanie, and she's visiting on Thursday and Friday for a summit and brainstorm. I have no idea what this will involve. I'll tell you next time, or at least alude to it.
This has also led to finally doing things I've avoided. My inbox To Answer is now down to 10. I finally opened a package in the office which includes a cheap-ass CD player and hooked it up to my nearly 40-year old stereo, so I've been listening to various CDs I've bought over the last decade that I've barely listened to. This has involved thinking of Powder which is something I suspect no-one has done in a while.
And now: back to work. Just sent off my tweaks on the lettering PDF of X-men Forever 3 which I grin at, as it totally has some real FUCKING HELL. I probably could write an essay on the FUCKING HELL paradigm of serial comics. I mean, I could write an essay on anything. It's my disease.
Kieron Gillen
London
27.3.2024