My Return from SPACE
Nestled snugly somewhere between the fourth and fifth dimensions lies the Akashic Library, its luminous shelves stretching off past the limits of imagination. What stimulating esoterica will we find there today? Read on, traveler, and find out . . .
I really didn’t intend to put this off to the last day of the month but, wow, April has been busy.
I’ve been traveling a lot lately—for instance, last weekend I was at SPACE, the Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo, in Columbus. Here’s me talking to Matt Kish:
Matt’s a great artist, you should buy some of his stuff.
It was great to see friends at SPACE. More on that in a minute, but first I want to mention . . .
LIGHTNING MAN VOLUME 1
SPACE 2025 was the world debut of the limited edition hardcover collection of The Adventures of Lightning Man volume 1. People who backed the Kickstarter already got copies, but now the rest of the world can, too!
Lightning Man is the story of a teenager, Blake Robinson, who gets electrical powers and decides to become a superhero. It's drawn in a minimalistic cartooning style, so at first glance many people expect it to be some kind of satire. It's not! This story draws inspiration from classic comic book stories from the 40s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s, blending various tropes and remixing them into something new. You'll thrill to the first six months of Blake's career as a superhero, from his origin story, through his developing friendship with his classmate Marisol, his teenage romance, and his battles with various villains, culminating in him learning the secret source of his powers.
The book is 124 pages long with yellow endpapers and a ribbon bookmark, as well as an Art Gallery featuring drawings from Byron Black, Josh Burnett, Matt Kish, Joseph Morris, and Michael Neno.
You can order a copy here. Also, check out that video.
50 REFLECTIONS
Most of my spare writin’ time recently has been spent on a project called 50 Reflections for 50 Years. Starting 50 days before my 50th birthday, each day I’ve been posting a reflection about my past on Facebook. Ewwww, you say, isn’t Facebook trash now? It is, but it’s the easiest way for me to share these reflections with a wide range of my friends. Believe it or not, there are people I know who haven’t signed up for this newsletter. Scandalous!
(If you haven’t already, you can subscribe to make sure you don’t miss out.)
I mention this to say that I wrote a reflection on SPACE the other day, and I’m going to share that here.
MY REPORT ON SPACE
Today I drove up to Columbus for SPACE, the Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo. I don’t think I went to the first SPACE, in 2000, but I went to most of them thereafter, usually as an exhibitor. It was easy when I lived in Columbus, and since I moved to Cincinnati the drive’s only a couple of hours.
I had a good time. Unlike past years, when I often got sad and frustrated that I wasn’t selling enough comics, this time I achieved a peaceful zen-like state. I did not expect to sell comics, and I did not feel disappointed when I did not sell comics. Okay, I sold a few comics, and that’s beautiful, but it’s not necessary. The point is not to make money, it’s to see friends and buy comics.
SPACE was, according to Wikipedia, partly inspired by “a stop on Dave Sim’s 1995 ‘Spirits of Independence’ tour.” I didn’t live in Columbus in 1995, but Dale, my then-girlfriend Milly, and I drove up from Lexington to Spirits of Independence to meet some indie comics superstars. Dale told Paul Pope “Your art is so good it makes me hate myself; I bought a copy of Reactionary Tales from Michael Neno; Milly made a comment to Dave Sim, and he made a sexist joke. Magical!
This year, the 26th year of SPACE, my table was next to Matt’s. Matt had lovely Doctor Fate drawings on sale. At one point he was talking to a friend of his, and the friend said, “You know what they say about memory, that the more often you remember something, the less reliable it is?” Matt concurred, and the friend added, “Every time you try to pull up a memory, you’re remembering the last time you remembered it.”
It made me think of these reflections. When I read the ones I wrote ten years ago, some of the details surprise me; my memories of the past are less vivid than they were back then. Or maybe I didn’t remember things any more clearly then, but just reconstructed them as needed. Was any of it accurate? The more I try to remember what Matt and Ione’s friend said about memory, the more I doubt the specific words I’m putting down. Did Dale really say that thing to Paul Pope? Why should you believe anything I say?
BUY ART, HELP PEOPLE
I currently have several black-and-white drawings available for purchase in my Etsy shop. As always, I’m donating every dime I make from art sales to charity. And depending on when you read this, I may have some commissions available.
I’m currently donating through Gaza Funds; every time you visit or refresh the page, it shares a different GoFundMe link for someone in need in Gaza. The people of Gaza are really suffering and if you don’t want to buy any of my drawings I urge you to consider donating directly to them.
But if you want to donate AND get a charming pen-and-ink drawing, you can find my artwork here.
THE MESSAGE
So when I said I was donating money to the people of Gaza, it’s possible that your instinctive response was something along the lines of, “Why would you want to help those people? They’re all terrorists!” (Just for the sake of argument, I mean, I’m sure you wouldn’t actually say that.)
As I mentioned last newsletter, I recently read The Message by Ta-Nehesis Coates. The book is divided into four parts—the first is about the importance of journalism, the second is about Coates’s trip to Africa, the third is about his trip to South Carolina, and the fourth is his trip to Palestine. It’s the fourth part that’s relevant to us here today, though the whole book is good.
Coates is an American who, in recent years, realized that the media had misled him regarding Palestine. His argument . . . did you see the clip, from when he was on that morning show? Here, it’s only a few minutes. His argument is great because it’s so simple. Any time someone mentions Israel’s horrific mistreatment of Palestinians, there’s a legion of people who want to chime in, “Well, it’s complicated.” Morally, though, it’s less complicated than they want you to believe. Coates’ argument is that Israel is an apartheid state, and apartheid is bad. Segregation is bad. If you don’t think people should have fewer rights because of their ethnicity, then you don’t support Israel’s policies regarding the Palestinians.
When people push back against this argument, they always deploy some version of “But look at what the Palestinians did,” AKA, “They had it coming.” Again, though, you have to ask yourself if you’re in favor of persecuting an entire ethnic group based on the actions of some of its members. Is it okay to take the land and homes of Palestinians? Is it right to devastate Gaza, killing more than 50,000 men, women, and children?
Coates says no, and I agree with him. It’s a good book; check it out.
BOOKS I'VE READ SINCE LAST TIME
This Book is Full of Spiders, Jason Pargin
What the Hell Did I Just Read, Jason Pargin
Godzilla, Shigeru Kayama (translated by Jeffrey Angles)
I read John Dies at the End a few months ago. It took me awhile to read the sequel, This Book is Full of Spiders, which is basically a zombie apocalypse-type story. Right after I finished it I started the third book, What the Hell Did I Just Read, which is . . . less easy to describe. I really got into it, though, and read it in just a few days. They’re all entertaining horror-comedy adventure stories and I’m looking forward to the fourth one.
TV SHOWS I’VE WATCHED
The Studio
Twin Peaks: The Return
Leverage season 3
Daredevil: Born Again season 1
Andor season 2
Blu and I finished Twin Peaks, my wife and kids and I have finished Leverage season 3, my wife and I are watching Andor, and I finished Daredevil: Born Again by myself.
I recently watched the first six episodes of The Studio, and can only agree with Josh’s description of it as “a less cartoonish 30 Rock.” Watching it can be stressful but it’s also really funny.
PODCASTS I’VE LISTENED TO
Blank Check
If Books Could Kill
In the Time of Monsters
Behind the Bastards
After hearing good things for years, I finally started listening to Behind the Bastards and, what do you know, I love it. I really recommend everyone listen to the recent four-parter about the Zizians. It’s both funny and disturbing, a look at the mental illness that pervades the tech community that currently controls the world, and a reminder that people really need to study the humanities. If they don’t, apparently STEM people will just reinvent Calvinism.
MOVIES I’VE WATCHED
Con Air
Cage! Cusack! Malkovich! Buscemi! Rhames! What a cast! What a thriller!
I remembered Nicholas Cage’s accent in Con Air being bad, but what I didn’t remember is that it’s so consistent—it’s bad in the exact same way in every line of every scene. It always sounds fake, and Cage dedicates himself to that accent with his whole heart. It’s kind of impressive.
Now we’ve crash-landed the plane in Las Vegas, metaphorically speaking, and come to the end of the newsletter. Have a great May Day, and I’ll talk to you soon.
Your Friend,
Leighton