Decadent Debauchery '24!
Somewhere outside the realm of reason and linear time lies the Akashic Library, its phantasmal shelves stretching endlessly into the distance. What mind-blowing esoterica shall we discover there today? Read on, traveler . . .
Woo hoo, it's Spring Break! As you may know, I am a professional educator, which means I get a week off work just like my students. It's been good so far--yesterday morning my firstborn child Blu and I went to a local coffee shop with our laptops and did some writing. I've been working so much on comics and RPGs (see below) that my fiction writing skills have gotten rusty, but I was able to crank out about 1400 words of a new short story. Feels good! I came home and, lo and behold, something special had arrived in the mail. . .
LIGHTNING MAN #4 IS HERE!
This is a comic book that I made! You can order one, if you want!
The first volume of the Lightning Man saga concludes here! Secrets are revealed as our hero learns about his heroic legacy, stretching back to the days of World War II. Witness the life story of Isobel Blake, AKA Lightning Girl--but what connection does she have to Blake, and what effect will she have on his future? Plus Marvo the Magician, Lash Lighnting, Magno the Magnetic Man, the malevolent Mastermind and more, all in this jam-packed issue!
I worked hard on this one, I'm happy with the finished product, and I hope you'll give it a try.
Don't have any of the previous issues? You can order the Lightning Man Combo Pack, including all four issues at a slightly discounted price, here.
Don't need them all, but have a hole in your collection? You can order individual issues through the following links:
Lightning Man #1
Lightning Man #2
Lightning Man #3
Lightning Man #4
And if you can't justify the purchase, you can still read all of Lightning Man volume 1 online here.
MILLION-COLORED SUN UPDATE
Last newsletter I wrote about our then-current Kickstarter campaign for the pulp sword & sorcery RPG Million-Colored Sun. I'm happy to report that MCS set a personal record, raising $2,275 from 107 backers. Thanks, backers! Josh, Steve, Stacy, and I are hard at work editing the game. The goal is to finish editing by the end of March so we can begin layout.
I just completed an illustration for the Alien Sorcerer in the Monsters chapter. The text reads:
The alien sorcerer lurks in its hidden sanctum, surrounded by countless machines of uncanny origin and function. Its face and form remain hidden beneath hooded robes and cloaks whose rugose texture hint they may be the alien’s own flesh rather than garments. The sorcerer plots to use the heroes to despoil this world, satisfy its unfathomable desires, and feed its unholy appetites.
My illustration:
PRINT COPIES OF SWANN CASTLE (OSE) NOW AVAILABLE
The PDF of Swann Castle (OSE) has been available for awhile now, but I've just now made print copies available. If you want one, you can order it here. Wait'll you feel that cover, it's so nice.
BOOKS AVAILABLE THROUGH KINDLE VELLA
There are currently 28 chapters of my science-fiction adventure Armistice Hawkins and the New Architects of Creation available on Kindle Vella, and you can also read the entirety of my occult detective novel The Lobster-Quadrille there. If you like surreal detective stories, go ahead and start at the beginning.
BOOKS I'VE READ SINCE LAST TIME
Daredevil: Born Again, Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli
Dreadstar Vs. The Inevitable, Jim Starlin and Jaime Jameson
Batman: City of Madness, Christian Ward
I Am Stan, Tom Scioli
Something is Killing the Children volume 1, James Tynion IV, Werther Dell’Edera, and various
Den: Neverwhere, Richard Corben
Savage Dragon Ultimate Collection volume 2, Erik Larsen
All comics this time. I'm also in the process of reading the hardest novel I've ever read, but that'll take a few more months yet.
I enjoyed all the comics, though some were better than others. Daredevil: Born Again is an all-time classic that still blows me away, Miller and Mazzucchelli an absolute dream-team, if you've never read it you gotta. I love reading new Dreadstar from Jim Starlin, I can see why so many people have been raving about Something Is Killing the Children these last few years, and while the story in Den didn't always captivate me the artwork is amazing. Man, comics are so great! Good thing I've still got a million more in my To Read pile.
TV SHOWS I'VE BINGED
The Gentlemen
It's a Guy Ritchie crime show, it's not reinventing the genre, but I really enjoyed it from the first episode to the last. It's suspenseful and funny.
MOVIES I'VE SEEN SINCE LAST TIME
John Wick 4
Blue Beetle
The Tragedy of Macbeth
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Othello
Aquaman: The Lost Kingdom
Wonka
The Iron Giant
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
Macbeth and Othello are on there because I'm, you know, a high school English teacher, and in 3rd quarter the 11th graders read Othello and the 12th graders read Macbeth, so we watched the movies. I'd seen the Othello, the 1995 version with Laurence Fishburne and Kenneth Branagh, before. The 2021 Tragedy of Macbeth, directed by Joel Coen, was new to me; I've previously shown the kids the 2015 Kurzel Macbeth. I watched it, then showed it to both my classes, so I've now seen it three times and I only grow more and more enamored of it. It's funnier and includes more of the play than the Kurzel. And the witch(es)! So creepy.
The kids and I began exploring the oeuvre of Brad Bird with MI: Ghost Protocol and The Iron Giant. Ghost Protocol is a delightful romp and The Iron Giant is, of course, a perfect movie.
Okay, Spring Break rages on, so I can't spend any more time writing a newsletter . . . I've got to go out there and live life to the fullest! Time for a lifestyle of decadent, hedonistic indulgence.
See you next month.
Your Pal,
Leighton