That Gum You Like is Going to Come Back in Style
Somewhere beyond yet behind the material plane lies the Akashic Library, its spectral shelves stretching off past the horizon. What phantasmagoria will we encounter there today? Read on, friend, and see for yourself . . .
I am already exhausted by 2025. For one thing I came down with a cold, for another we were snowed in, but worse than either of those, David Lynch died.
David Lynch is my favorite director. I had been saying he was my favorite living director, but now I have to drop the qualifier. I get the complaints about his movies—they’re too weird! They don’t make sense!—but they really speak to me. His work is attuned to the exact frequency of my dreams. And if you watch enough of his movies you realize that he’s not “weird for the sake of being weird” or ironic; he’s expressing his worldview with total sincerity. Whether that worldview connects with you or not is a matter of taste, but the man never phoned it in.
As I’ve mentioned in this newsletter, I recently watched The Straight Story and The Elephant Man for the first time and my eldest child and I have been watching Twin Peaks. We finished Season 1 and 2, and Fire Walk With Me, and had started on The Return, so we were watching David himself on the screen (he played FBI Deputy Director Gordon Cole) and enjoying his presence. So it was extra shocking to hear that he had died.
Even though I knew he had emphysema, wasn’t leaving his home, and was unlikely to direct again, there was something reassuring in knowing that he was out there, puttering around his house, meditating, painting, thinking creative thoughts.
I was planning on writing my thoughts on Twin Peaks, but we haven’t finished the series yet. And I wanted to give my ranking of Lynch’s movies, but I haven’t watched Dune yet. So I’ll do my homework and try to have both of those done next time.
“It’s good for the artist to understand conflict and stress. Those things can give you ideas. But I guarantee you, if you have enough stress, you won’t be able to create. And if you have enough conflict, it will just get in the way of your creativity. You can understand conflict, but you don’t have to live in it.”
--David Lynch
LIGHTNING MAN UPDATE!
Last time I mentioned there were delays in printing the Lightning Man Volume 1 hardcovers, due to the colored endpaper being out of stock. Good news, the paper came back in stock, so I was able to place the order. The books have printed, and now I’m just waiting for them to be shipped to me. Once I get them I’ll mail them out to the backers ASAP.
NEW KICKSTARTER COMING SOON!
Ever since 2020 I have launched an RPG Kickstarter campaign each February, and 2025 will be no exception. Last year I did Million-Colored Sun, the rules-light game of pulp sword & sorcery, with Steve Johnson and Josh Burnett; this year I’m doing Beowulf Vs. Grendel, an adventure for Million-Colored Sun.
The book will be beautifully illustrated by Josh; take a moment to admire that picture up there, in all its arm-ripping glory. Once you’re done with that, please take a moment to click here and check out the preview page. Click “Notify me on launch” to be, you know, notified when it launches.
ETSY STORE UPDATE
Friends, I am concerned about the state of the worlds, and my way of coping with this is selling art through my Etsy shop to raise money for charity. Thanks to people’s generous purchases in 2024 I donated $300 to TransOhio. This month I switched charities, and now I’m raising money for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund.
(Even if you don’t want any art, I encourage you to donate to them.)
The project’s going well—since I started doing this I’ve sold over 20 drawings. The pictures I shared last time are gone, but I’ve added more to the store. Here’s what’s in stock at the moment I’m writing this:
There’s original art here from Million-Colored Sun, Swann Castle, Akashic Titan: Blue Bolt, and more! People seem to like the trees the most—I’ve sold more trees than anything else. Fortunately I like drawing them. I’m pleased with this one, which already sold:
This one’s still available, at the time of this writing:
Anything you’d particularly like to see in the Etsy store? Let me know!
BOOKS I'VE READ SINCE LAST TIME
The Sheriff and the Gunsel, Ken Eppstein, Bob Ray Starker, Michael Neno, and various
Billi 99, Sarah Byam, Tim Sale, and Jose Villarrubia
Wonder Woman Earth One volume 1, Grant Morrison and Yanick Paquette
Wonder Woman Earth One volume 2, Grant Morrison and Yanick Paquette
Wonder Woman Earth One volume 3, Grant Morrison and Yanick Paquette
Alan Scott: The Green Lantern, Tim Sheridan, Cian Tormey, and various
Grant Morrison’s Wonder Woman Earth One trilogy was originally printed as three hardcover books, but the whole thing’s now been collected in a cute little $10 paperback—you can get it from InStockTrades for under $6. Helluva deal!
(The DC Compact Comics books are pretty great—you can get Watchmen, All-Star Superman, the Brubaker/Cooke Catwoman, all kinds of good stuff for super-cheap.)
It looks like I only read comics in January, but those are just the books I’ve finished. I’m in the middle of so many books; I really need to finish some of them.
TV SHOWS I’VE WATCHED
Twin Peaks: The Return
Leverage season 2
The Perfect Couple
MOVIES I'VE SEEN SINCE LAST TIME
Wicked
Nosferatu
The Fall Guy
Luca
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
Independence Day
The Boy and the Heron
Star Trek: Section 31
No one in my family wanted to see Nosferatu so I went and saw it by myself and, you know what, I had a great time. I hadn’t previously seen any movies by this Robert Eggers fellow but now I want to watch more.
Can’t spend too much time watching movies, though. I’ve got trees to draw and Kickstarters to run. Hey, if you haven’t already, could you go ahead and subscribe to this newsletter? It only comes out once a month.
We’ll talk next month, at which point the Beowulf Vs. Grendel Kickstarter will be live! Get excited!
Your Pal,
Leighton