011: Just another La Quinta Inn near the airport
Hello, readers! October went pretty well. It was the first month where I got to sit at home and do nothing since April, and boy did I need that. I still do. I don’t play three straight days of Civilization VI unless I really need it. Rest assured, the first and last weeks of October were absurdly busy, so I’m still the wretched workaholic you’ve come to know and love, dear editors. I am NOT abandoning MY POST.
But the slack time hasn’t been wholly unproductive. I’ve been feeling oddly nostalgic* lately, and much of the “new” stuff I’ve been consuming has been rooted in the ‘90s. As such, I’ve been exploring de-canonized Star Wars extended universe books from the ‘90s—partly to see what’s being cribbed, and to see what my peers were reading while I was off doing other stuff. So far, I’ve read Dark Empire and Dark Empire II (fantastic art, shoutout to Cam Kennedy), and the second book of the X-Wing: Rogue Squadron series, Wedge’s Gamble. This one is a delight. A most-assurredly-written-for-straight-teenage-boys delight.
As the letterer of Star Wars, I’m often asked which piece of the “legends” canon I’d drag into the current continuity,** and I finally have my answer. In the middle of a high-stakes undercover mission, Gavin Darklighter (cousin of Biggs and certified rookie) works up the nerve to ask Corran Horn (fighter ace and certified protagonist) about the wonders of interspecies dating. Corran really doesn’t want to get into this, but the rest of their squadron forces Corran to spill the beans about his torrid, The Bodyguard-esque love affair with a non-human woman he was assigned to protect. From the book’s text, I was picturing the lucky lady as a very tall and female Nightcrawler from the X-Men, but according to Wookieepedia, she was more like a giant otter. No judgment. The scene ends with Corran telling Gavin “It might turn out you’re literally allergic to each other. But hey, you’ll have a nice weekend. Give it a shot.”
So that’s what I’d re-canonize. Corran Horn would be played by H. Jon Benjamin. Gavin is played by Dan Mintz.
I should go outside.
Me and my sweetie drove down to Long Island to celebrate her grandmother’s 100th birthday. It was my first experience with Friday-Afternoon-Long-Island traffic, and I recommend passing on it. It was hell. In the year of our lord 2025, our GPS still didn’t know the diamond lane was a thing, which could have shaved two hours off of our trip if we had been guided to I-495 instead of the Grand Central Parkway. Also, New York has too many damn parkways. New Jersey only has the Garden State Parkway, and that’s all it needs, dammit! I’m not going to verify that statement—I’m in Lewis Black mode.
Anyway, the celebration was lovely. My sweetie’s family seems to like me, and her Aunt Susan really enjoyed hazing me. Shoutout to Aunt Susan. Highlights included a lovely breakfast at the Blue Point Diner, and decompression time at Tiny Racoon Books (where I bought more X-Wing books, thank you very much).
Lowlights included…well, our hotel. It was a La Quinta Inn near MacArthur Airport, and I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.
To the Inn’s credit, the bed was good, and the staff was very nice.
*I’m just kidding—I’m always nostalgic. Millennials are born nostalgic.
**No one’s ever asked me this.
Sound Effect of the Month:
Community:
There’s a Kieron Gillen Humble Bundle going! If you’ve been wanting to read Phonogram, Die, WicDiv, etc. and you can’t track down physical copies, here’s your chance to read them all for dirt cheap! And for a cause!
Rian Hughes: Typeractive is live on Kickstarter. I was a fan of Rian’s long before we started working together on Die, and this one was an insta-back for me. To the other designers reading this email, you should back this just for the included fonts in the rewards tiers. Getting 5-10 Device® fonts for under $150 is a steal.
Many collaborators won Ringo Awards this year! Congratulations, Chris Samnee, Bilquis Evely, Kelly Thompson, and Jordie Bellaire! Also, Batman & Robin: Year One #1 won “Best Single Issue or Story,” so hooray for us!
Ryan Kelly is selling an artbook of pinups! Quick marker head sketches are included. If there’s a more criminally underused comic artist than Ryan, I couldn’t tell you who they are.
Podcaster/kind human Lodro Rinzler has launched an X-Men Horoscopes Patreon! Give it a look! There’s a t-shirt tier!
Recommendations:
Comic: Assorted Crisis Events. Look at me, I like a major critical darling! I’m recommending this specifically to people who are horribly depressed about the state we’re in. I was avoiding this one because, well, I don’t need to be reminded that Things Are Bad, even knowing that this comic is as objectively good as anything can be. I tried it anyway, and found the act of reading it to be surprisingly cathartic. Someone else gets it, and they’re smart about it, too! A.C.E. is in no way subtle about its subject matter, and it doesn’t offer solutions to our various problems, but it’s all the better for it. Give it a read. You will feel better afterward.
Non-comic: The Lowdown. Reservation Dogs is my favorite show of the 2020s, and I’m glad to see Sterlin Harjo making another one. The vibe is a little different. This one is much more outwardly funny, though probably more violent. Ethan Hawke gets bloodied up and thrown into a trunk in the pilot episode. Damn he’s good at getting his ass beat. Give it a try if you like neo noir and hate old money families. And if you like Keith David. And Kaniehtiio Horn. Who doesn’t love Kaniehtiio Horn? No relation to Corran Horn.
Stuff With My Name In It (November 2025):
11/03:
Age of Revelation Infinity #1
11/05:
Aliens vs. Captain America #1
Amazing X-Men #2
Batman #3
Birds of Prey #27
Star Wars: Jedi Knights vol. 1 - Guardians of the Republic TP
11/10:
Age of Revelation Infinity #2
11/12:
Adventureman vol. 4: Family Tree HC
DIE: Loaded #1
The Power Fantasy #13
Predator: Badlands #1
Star Trek: Lower Decks #13
Star Wars #7
Venom #251
11/17:
Age of Revelation Infinity #3
11/19:
House of X/Powers of X HC (2025 edition)
Predator Kills the Marvel Universe #4
Star Trek: The Last Starship #2
Star Wars: Jedi Knights #9
Unbreakable X-Men #2
Wonder Woman #28
X-Men: Book of Revelation #2
11/25:
Age of Revelation Infinity #4
11/26:
Absolute Batman #14
Magic: The Gathering: Untold Stories - Elspeth #3
Trinity: Daughter of Wonder Woman #5
Venom: Black, White & Blood #4
X-Manhunt TP
And finally, the cat photo:
I’ma go lie down for a while.