Somewhere diagonally adjacent to the realms you know lies the Akashic Library, its sagging shelves stretching off towards infinity. What transcendent trifles shall we find there today? Read on, seeker, and see . . .

I feel like I was in a fugue state for most of April but apparently the month is . . . almost over? Wild.

The main reason I was in such a delirious state is that I was stressed about the future of my job. While you may know me primarily as someone who writes a monthly newsletter, in my daily life I’m a public school teacher. I have a contract with the district, so I’ll definitely have a job next school year, but my school is closing and I was surplussed, which meant that I didn’t know what school I’d be working at. The uncertainty was terrible. What if I got sent some place I hated?!

But then on Friday I got the call and LO, it all worked out better than I’d dared dream—I’m going to be at my top choice of schools! One that I didn’t think would even be an option! It’s exciting!

Everyone at work, my family, my friends, all have been so excited for me. I feel incredibly loved and supported. It’s easy to forget how lucky I am, but in this moment I remember.

THE PRISON PITS OF LARUBIA IS HERE!
Back in November I ran a Kickstarter for the Million-Colored Sun adventure The Prison Pits of Larubia, and now, a mere five months later, said adventure is finished and available for purchase.

I used to write all kinds of crazy RPG stuff, across a variety of genres, but it seemed like all people wanted were dungeon crawls. Well, here you go—this is my dungeon! Crawl, you worms! Crawl!

I WENT TO SPACE
SPACE is the Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo held every year in Columbus, Ohio. I set up a table there with my darling first-born child Blu, back at SPACE for the first time in years. The con was at a better venue this year and there were way more potential customers walking around. My friends who set up there all reported better sales. I sold almost nothing but, you know, I try to be philosophical about it.

In the early days SPACE was mostly black and white mini-comics that people made at Kinko’s. Over the years as printing technology got more advanced, and it became cheaper to print a professional looking comic than to make one at Kinko’s, the comics got fancier and fancier.

This year several people stopped at our table, looked at my black and white mini-comics, like Sedgwick and Fear, and asked me questions about how they were made. These people didn’t buy anything, but they’re interested in DIY mini-comics. Now, in the age of AI art, it seems like people are yearning for that old-timey mini-comic authenticity.

I am ready to finally be plugged into the cultural zeitgeist; I’m going to make some black and white mini-comics before the next SPACE. I have ideas for a few different ones, and I’ve started on a new Fuzzball & Scuzzball story. It’s been ten years since I drew a Fuzzball & Scuzzball comic, and I miss those guys, so it’s been good to get back into the swing of it. Hopefully I’ll have more news on that next time.

MY OSE GAME
It’s important to have hobbies. And while I love writing and drawing, I usually end up trying to sell the stuff I write and draw to the public, and then next thing you know I’m writing a monthly newsletter to promote the stuff I make, and it’s a whole thing. Which is why I try to have at least one hobby that’s just for fun and doesn’t involve commerce.

Right now my fun hobby is my ongoing Old School Essentials game that I’ve run once a month for the last four years. I’ve been gradually building the game world as we go.

Here’s my latest map:

You may recognize some of the names, like Quasqueton and Cynidicea. That’s because they’re from old D&D modules that I’ve run as part of the campaign. I don’t own the rights to those names and concepts, so if I wanted to publish this setting, I couldn’t! I don’t want to publish it, but it’s good to have a safeguard against monetizing this hobby.

Oh, and the Rainy City, that’s a really good system-agnostic game resource—check it out!

BUY ART, DO GOOD
There are 8 original drawings for sale in my Etsy shop and one book. The book is Lightning Man volume 1, which I think you’d like. And I bet there’s a drawing there that will catch your fancy! As always, all money I make from selling art is donated to help Palestinian children.

BOOKS I'VE READ SINCE LAST TIME
Dr. Fate by J.M. DeMatteis, J.M. DeMatteis, Shawn McManus, and Keith Giffen
The Many Odd Origins of Even Steven, Karl Kesel, David Hahn, and various
Green Lantern: Earth’s Other Green Lantern, John Broome, Gardner Fox, Gil Kane, and various
Never Lie, Freida McFadden
GI Joe: A Real American Hero Deluxe Hardcover Book One, Larry Hama, Chris Mooneyham, Paul Pelletier, and various
Tramps of the Apocalypse, Alice Darrow

I already have GI Joe: A Real American Hero #301 through 310, the issues that are collected in this handsome hardcover, but I love a handsome hardcover, and Larry Hama has given us so much, shouldn’t we give back to him when he can?

For a good overview of Larry Hama’s GI Joe run, I recommend this recent article by Tegan O’Neil. Focusing on the most recent era of the book she writes, “It’s readable. It’s actually compulsively readable, inasmuch as its still a comic book written by Larry Hama. Even when its terrible - and please believe, Hama has written some terrible comics in his time - it’s never actually bad. It reads fine. You could pull a textbook out of the ease with which the comic book actually reads. No flies on Hama.” 

I read Never Lie by Freida McFadden for our school book club. McFadden is famous for twist endings. Her fans say, You’ll never guess the twist! and you won’t because she doesn’t play fair with the reader and doesn’t really give you clues. I can’t say more than that without getting into spoilers. But the book was fun, and I liked it better than McFadden’s Ward D, which was our previous book club selection.

WHAT A DEAL!
If you act now, you can subscribe to this newsletter ABSOLUTELY FREE, and get an update from me every month. There’s no set-up fee, no additional charges. You can’t afford to pass up a deal like this! Act now!

TV SHOWS I’VE WATCHED SINCE LAST TIME
Star Trek: Deep Space 9 season 4
Star Trek: Deep Space 9 season 5
Arcane: League of Legends season 1
Daredevil: Born Again season 2

I just can’t explain to you how much Blu and I are enjoying Deep Space 9. We recently saw the episode Trials and Tribble-ations, which was amazing.

MOVIES I’VE WATCHED SINCE LAST TIME
School of Rock
Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come
Ready Or Not
The Truman Show

I’d never seen Ready or Not but I saw Ready or Not 2 in the theater, and liked it, so that night I watched the first one on streaming. Seeing them in reverse order was strangely satisfying. I knew how the first movie ended but didn’t know we’d get there, and it was fun to fill in the gaps. The first one is the better movie, the premise is cleaner, but the second one is still lots of fun. The premise, see, is that rich people are evil. Also great to see Sarah Michelle Gellar up on the big screen.

Okay, that’s a wrap on April, I’ll try to be more conscious in May.

Your Pal,
Leighton