Far beyond the fields we know lies the Akashic Library, an unutterably ancient edifice of arcane esoterica. What mysteries will you plumb amidst its endless shelves? Read on, traveler, and find out . . .

Last month I mentioned that I sold a story to a magazine but it wasn’t published yet when I sent the newsletter out. It’s out now, and I can direct you to Swords & Sorcery magazine, where you can read my story “The Scarlet Shroud” for absolutely free. It’s romantic!

In my last few newsletters I also mentioned the Ricky Imes comic I’ve been working on . . . But you know what, if this is your first time reading my newsletter, don’t worry, you don’t need any background knowledge. In fact, this one is A Great Jumping-On Point For New Readers! Hello, I’m Leighton Connor, nice to meet you!

One thing that I, your new friend Leighton, have done recently is make a comic book called Fuzzball & Scuzzball: The Saga of Ricky Imes, and I just got my copies from the printer. They look like this:

LET’S TALK ABOUT RICKY IMES
Years ago I drew a weekly webcomic called Fuzzball & Scuzzball. It’s about these two brothers who are made of fuzz who operate a detective agency in Happy City, New Jersey. In the course of doing hundreds of pages of comics, I did a hardboiled detective story called "Happy City Nights,” starring Scuzzball.

In this story I introduced a supporting character named Ricky Imes. Kind of a loser.

Later I brought Ricky back in the story "Meanwhile," and messed up his life, and then gave him some resolution in the story "Epilogue."

I've collected all these Ricky Imes appearances in one handsome full-color comic book, AND I’ve drawn 8 new pages of comics to serve as a framing sequence and provide a more satisfying narrative arc (including the first two pages, below). It's the full saga of Ricky Imes as you've never seen it before, and it's only five bucks! I underpriced it, and my mistake is to your benefit!

I know I’ve already shared the first two pages of the comic in a previous newsletter, but . . . Look, we’ve talked about this, I’m not just catering to you old-school readers. I appreciate you, you are the wind beneath my wings, but we also have to be welcoming to new readers, okay? Be friendly! Anyway, here’s a preview of the first two pages, newly created for this comic book:

The Saga of Ricky Imes. Your local retailer doesn’t carry it; you can only get it right here.

I UPDATED MY WEBSITE
Did you know I have a website? Probably not, I haven’t updated it or directed anybody there in a few years. These things happen, no need to beat myself up, the important this is that it’s updated now. It took me a few hours to update the thing and I’d hate for that to be in vain so, you know, humor me, click the link and browse around a little. Appreciate you!

There’s a section of my website that directs you to my newsletter; now there’s a section of my newsletter that directs you to my website. The circle is complete.

ART IS ON SALE NOW
Speaking of Ricky Imes, you can pick up an original drawing of Ricky, drawn for Swann Castle, for cheap! Snatch it up now, before Ricky-mania sweeps the nation!

There are other drawings on sale there, in my Etsy shop, and I just added some more. Remember all proceeds from art sales go to help Palestinian children, and if you don’t want to buy the art, you can just donate directly.

BOOKS I'VE READ SINCE LAST TIME
Fairy Tale, Stephen King
Galaxy: As the World Falls Down, Jadzia Axelrod and Rye Hickman
Godzilla: End of the Reign, Tim Seeley and Nikola Cizmesija
Orion, Ngozi Ukazu
Blood Squad Seven volume 3: Wartime Ratings, Joe Casey, Paul Fry, and various
Friday, Ed Brubaker, Marcos Martin, and Muntsa Vicente
GI Joe: A Real American Hero Compendium 3, Larry Hama, M.D. Bright, and various

I need to point out that I finished the third GI Joe compendium just because, let’s be honest, it’s something of a staggering achievement. Look at these things:

I’ve now read GI Joe: A Real American Hero issues 1-113, as well as GI Joe Special Missions #1-28. That’s a lot of comic books! And they’re good, too, because of Real American Hero Larry Hama.

I’ve been reading Stephen King’s Fairy Tale since March. It was a leisurely journey but ultimately rewarding.

In particular this month I highly recommend the graphic novels Orion by Ngozi Ukazu and Friday by Ed Brubaker and Marcos Martin.

Friday is about Friday Fitzhugh, who as a kid was the assistant/muscle to a brilliant boy detective. She grows up and goes off to college, then when she comes back for Christmas break she immediately gets swept up in a case, but this one is different. Basically what if Encyclopedia Brown and his assistant Sally got older and had to deal with Lovecraftian horror? It gets weirder from there but I don’t want to spoil anything. It’s beautifully drawn and colored; the story is set in a small New England town in the 1970s and Martin creates the setting so vividly that you feel like you could walk into the panels and just live there. It’s magical.

Orion is the sequel to Ukazu’s Barda, which I also highly recommended (and previously wrote about in this newsletter, but it’s okay if you didn’t read that! Great Jumping-On Point!) The titular Orion is one of my all-time favorite characters in fiction, because of the way he was beautifully written and drawn by the great Jack Kirby in the New Gods comic book series. Unfortunately, though the character has appeared in dozens of comic books since then, almost no one has really understood him and the average portrayal has been lackluster.

Right now comic book writer and former CIA agent Tom King is overseeing an animated adaptation of his award-winning Mister Miracle mini-series. Tom King apparently saw a lot of war crimes being committed in Afghanistan and that flavors everything he writes; his take on the character is that Orion is a callous monster who commits a lot of war crimes. Ukazu’s version, like Kirby’s, is a tormented but ultimately noble warrior. She shows Orion come to terms with his natural urges toward violence by directing them in a healthy, pro-social direction, i.e. killing fascists. Very much in the spirit of Jack Kirby!

When Tom King’s Mister Miracle animated series comes out it will have the largest audience any of the Jack Kirby New Gods material has had in years, possibly ever. It’s a shame that King’s story is the one getting the exposure, when the best modern adaptation is here; they should be making animated movies out of Ngozi Ukazu’s Barda and Orion. She gets these characters in a way that Tom King, and dozens of other comics writers, don’t. And she knows how to tell a story!

THANKS FOR TRYING THIS NEWSLETTER!
I’m glad you came aboard with this Great Jumping-On Point for New Readers! Don’t worry, you won’t have to go out of your way to seek out this newsletter in the future—you can subscribe and it get it sent to you each month, ABSOLUTELY FREE. What a bargain!

TV SHOWS I’VE WATCHED SINCE LAST TIME
Star Trek: Deep Space 9 season 7
Mobile Suit Gundam
Fallout season 2
My Adventures With Superman season 3
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4

I watched Fallout with my wife, D29 with my kid, and Gundam with my other kid. Finished Fallout season 2, kinda disappointed by the season finale, not as satisfying as I’d hoped. Only a few episodes away from the end of Gundam, about half a season away from being done with DS9. And what will I watch then?!

MOVIES I’VE WATCHED SINCE LAST TIME
Supergirl
Zootopia 2
Finding Dory
The Odyssey
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes

Summer blockbuster time! Jackson and I went to see The Odyssey the other day and we really enjoyed it.

And that’s enough for now, isn’t it? I hope you enjoyed our time together, new readers and old alike. See you next month.

Your Pal,
Leighton