347: let’s not be actively masochistic for a change
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A huge week next week.
In fact, it may end up being a big week, every month, as DIE: Loaded and The Power Fantasy will be dropping on the same day. Cripes.
DIE: Loaded is explained here in detail. In short: Goth Jumanji II. It’s the sequel to the award-winning DIE from Stephanie Hans and myself. You can jump aboard here, but the first series is available (and cheap digitally here right now) so it’s a real chance to get it and go for it.
And here’s the preview pages for the first issue.
Also, there’s the Power Fantasy #13. Which is basically where folks will realise “oh, they weren’t joking about every issue this arc being a lot.”
Here’s the first two pages.
And it generally kicks off.
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Big book of the week emerging from this house is the collection of Golden Rage: Mother Knows Best, which is Chrissy Williams and Lauren Knight’s book. It’ll be in book shops later (as per usual) but folks can grab from Comic Shops. First trade is still available, so you can order them both.
C writes about it over in her newsletter with more details (including where to find them at Thought Bubble), but here’s the basics.
The concept is Battle Royale meets the Golden Girls, but done at at an intensely oblique angle to that one liner. It’s about as far from Hagsploitation as you can get – it’s about female friendship, frustration and (well) rage. And cheesecake. Actual cheesecake. Not pin-ups. Oh, you know what I mean.
I’m obviously as biased as one can get, but I think this is a wonderful book with a focus you really don’t see in comics (or pop culture) enough. Do go nose at it.
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I did actually spend a significant amount of time working out whether I should include mine or not, but realised that let’s not be actively masochistic for a change.
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I mentioned that the Alex Segura Discord was running a reading group for The Power Fantasy, where I popped into answer some questions after they had done the first trade, which I republished here. I also popped in for a second bunch of questions about the second trade, but haven’t published them here until (er) now.
Spoilers up to the end of the second trade, and fun to look at some things which now have firm answers if you’re following in single issues.
How were the names of the characters decided upon? How far into their development were they all named? The names in this book seem to fit the character so perfectly
Thank you. I played around with names a little - I wanted something which wasn't just prosaic, but also wasn't anything like a superhero name - and also something generational, due to the time.
With the pop-music influence, I struck upon the name of stage names of the period. Look at what pop stars were calling themselves, and go with that. Santa Valentina is a 1950s star name. Etienne Lux is a sort of Stevie Wonder or Ray "the Genius" Charles. Heavy's full name is very much MC5 Detroit rebel. Jacky Magus is first wave punk - Johnny Rotten, Sid Vicious. Eliza Hellbound is more postpunk. Masumi's rarely used artist name "Deconstructa" is 1980s mode. Kid Ignition is straight out of nu-metal, etc.
So you took that formula, and then just made it personal.
We did a survey of fans to see who was thought of as the heroes and as the villains. The results are below in two graphs. As a group, we felt more sympathetic towards Masumi and Heavy, but much less sympathy towards Etienne, Magus, and Eliza. Do these match what you’d expect?
I think so. That said, you didn't do a poll for "sympathy". You did a poll for heroism. These are quite different things.
That said, while the directions are interesting, so is the split. More people still think Etienne is the third most heroic person in the cast. The division is more interesting to me than the change, if you see what I mean?
Will this change by arc three? Well, play to find out, etc.
You mentioned last week that Eliza was the one that you find “most horrifying on a gut level”. Many of us expressed more sympathy for her in the second volume and she saved the world during these issues. Is the gut level fear based on her design and being from hell, or are we missing something?
I think a lot is how seriously you take Hell as a concept, if it is real - and TPF takes it extraordinarily seriously.
She's as doomed as any individual has ever been, basically. That's the horror of her, and if you take that actually seriously, it makes me want to claw my own eyes out.
The Spawn comic in Kid Ignition’s room shows that comics are still popular in this world. How did the super powers affect comics in general? Do people gravitate more towards the Spawn, Hellblazers, and Hellboys of the world since they are more realistic or towards stuff like Superman and the Fantastic Four where knowing the heroes is easy unlike their real world? What is the Pirate comics in this world?
I think this is a question we mostly would answer in the book were we to ever answer it, right?
That said, comics? Popular? In any world? Seems unlikely.
A PS1 makes it into the second trade. What were yours and Casper’s favorite games for the PS1? (It looks like a version of Tekken being played.)
I'll check back later with Caspar's.
My brother actually bought a PS1 very early on... as I moved off to university. So it entered my life occasionally, but not exactly full on. Toshinden was actually the fighting game of choice - I think the side-dodge really was something we loved, in an ahead of its time way.
Wipeout was the generational game, in a "we are clubbers and go to clubs and hear these songs and then go home and play games with this song." Design wise - in its look and vibe - was hugely ahead of its time.
Res Evil. Ridge Racer.
Parappa the Rapper, of course. You gotta believe.
Caspar update! His 1990s PS games...
All the Final fantasy’s, ff tactics. Vagrants story. Parasite Eve 1-2
I’m sure there’s more. I got a psx late so I mostly played the jrpgs I missed out on.
Chrono cross, grandia, Valkyrie profile. All bangers.
We all really want to know the deal with Etienne. Are there any hints you can share at this point?
Folks following in issues will find out soon enough.
It has been interesting people theorise over this - as in, generally, in the various places. The "He can transfer his consciousness" is seemingly the most common one, which only works if you think Magus and Eliza are incompetent. As in, the psychic shield simply didn't work.
Do you think Magus and Eliza are incompetent?
But you'll find out soon enough.
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We finished our the Between campaign, so Jim and I did another Threedom chat, where we talk a little about the Penny Dreadful-’em-up. It’s less a little, and more lot. Jim had to do the equivalent of getting a hook to pull me off stage when we passed 4000 words. TL;DR: It’s great. And the piece is definitely is too long, but do read.
It’s Thought Bubble next week. I’ll be doing the full run down on that in the next newsletter, in terms of where I’ll be and where to find me, but I saw a ticket sell-out warning, so if you were planning on coming and buying on the door, it’s likely worth your time securing your ticket now.
The Kieron Gillen bundle on Bundle of Holding is in the last few hours. Basically all the stuff I’ve written for Image, minus a handful of small things. A ridiculous amount of stuff.
Excellent Australian Retailer Comics Etc had me on to talk all things comics (but mainly DIE: Loaded). This was fun, in the way that being interviewed by two friends who are clearly having fun can rub off on you. Pop in.Freaksugar had a bunch of comic pros give Halloween Memories. I don’t really have many, but I did share one.
Games Workshop Artist Pete Knifton died, a creator whose name I didn’t know, but whose art was an absolutely iconic part of my teenage years – Blood Bowl especially. He’s got such a great Bolland-meets-early-Dillon-esque line that when I saw the art, I always presumed it was one of the 2000AD artists, but it seems Knifton did it all in house. Just really charismatic stuff. Here’s an appreciation of his work from 2016.
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I said to do a check in about where we are with the Power Fantasy week, but now I sit down, I realise I’m not quite sure what I specifically have to say.
I did want to say that my essay in the back of 12 really did seem to create a response. I talked about the big 600% sales uptick in trades, which seems likely to have come from that. I’ve also seem a lot of folks online taking the call to action, and talking about the book generally. Thank you.
However I also wanted to say… I didn’t want folks to think the book is in a worse state than it is. You talk about this stuff at all, and it does feel like saying that. In terms of intent, it’s very much a “indie books are marginal generally – I would not assume anything will be continuing, and I would urge you to take an active part in spreading the work about culture you love.”
It certainly applies to TPF, but isn’t solely about TPF. We’re an interesting one – sales are pretty solid, and if it was a normal ongoing, we would just ongo until we could ongo no more. That it’s a big structural comic means there’s less give, and you want to make sure it’s as secure as possible – I don’t want the landing to be rushed. Hence the activation of the fanbase.
“Activate the fanbase.” That’s a phrase I picked up when being interviewed by David Harper last night for next week’s Off Panel. It struck me as a good example of how special the book is right now – in that we actually do have a fanbase to activate. For example, The reddit is actively cooking now, in terms of chat. That we have a reddit is strange enough alone. That we have an active reddit is even stranger. It’s clearly a book which is giving a lot on a month by month basis, which is the goal. A banger serialised novel, that people are digging, and you really can jump aboard and enjoy the party. So spread that word.
I suppose what I wanted to say is “Thank you, but don’t overworry about the book.” The message I’d encourage to give is “this is great, and it’s a perfect to get aboard, and you’ll love it” rather than “jump aboard or this book is doooOOOooooOOOmed.” Partially as that kind of negative stuff just doesn’t work, but mainly as it’s not true.
(In all honesty – and this is probably too honest – the biggest thing that would stop the book going past 16 for now is actually exhaustion. This is hard. Caspar and I are going to have our big summit at Thought Bubble, and work out our plans, but we know the gap after 16 will be longer than the usual “one month” if we do continue. It’s a perfect time for it in the story, thankfully.)
Equally, I’m amazed and touched how many people actually do read the backmatter. I write that stuff assuming it’s mostly skipped. People really have taken it aboard. I especially smiled with Caspar coming back from NYCC, having been approached by multiple editors and writers what he was doing after 16, and whether he’d be available. That’s a very sincere compliment.
We’re both good where we are and grateful for you.
Here’s a couple of stories that came up in the wake of it – Screen Rant doing a full on call to Action (“The best superhero story being told right now isn't coming from Marvel or DC Comics”) and Slash Film (“This Superhero Comic Is The Best X-Men Story Marvel Never Made”) which were good to see, but broadly seeing fans talk about the book in public is all we can want. It’s what I do about the stuff I’m into (you follow me on Blue Sky, you see a lot of this kind of thing) and I think it’s just good for the art you love, for yourself, and your friends who hear about the new hotness.
Workwise, I’ve been getting a first-draft of TPF 16 wrapped, which is a whole lot. I’ll be nailing it down firmly closer to where Caspar needs it. This week I’m onto a new thing, which is a genuine breath of fresh air, and a million miles away from anything else I’m writing right now. It has a fight scene in for a start.
The main stress was actually Script Club – I messed up sending out the mail, and everyone got it for free. So I sent again, with the actual proper options clicked… and then it only charged the people who had signed up for the newsletter since last time, and everyone who paid for the first one got it for free. So I was despairing that I’d have to start again from scratch, and then I woke up this morning and the rest had charged. Phew.
When I finished Off Panel, I stepped away a little annoyed with myself – it felt like I was very much in my business head for it, which is an undignified, inelegant pose to strike, for a writer of my instincts. But some weeks (or years) you’re aware that to put on a show, you have to build a stage, and that’s what’s on your mind.
Speak soon.
Kieron Gillen
Bath
5.11.2025