TL;DR (Too Long, Don’t (Wanna) Read)

• Letters from the Void Has Arrived!
• Crit One 4 is Nearly Over!
• Series Updates
• Into the Gutters: Is 20th Century Boys Disappointing Or Am I Being a Bad Reader?

• Gutter Buds!

  • Something OId: Shady HXVRT by Shady Blaze & BLVCKHXRT
  • Something New: Go back Passing in the Night, Inheritance #1 & The Enchanted Circus of Wonder #1-2 on Kickstarter!
  • Something Borrowed: Under the Oak Tree
  • Something Blue: The Downward Spiral

WHAT’S THE WORD?

Laze - to act or lie lazily, to pass (time) in idleness or relaxation.

Letters From The Void Updates

Drum roll please……………..

Digital copies of the book have been sent, and the print order has been sent!

Thank you to everyone who supported this book and I hope you enjoy it.

Crit One 4 Is Nearly Done!

We’re entering the final week fully funded and even unlocked a stretch goal! We’re working on getting a second one where every backer gets a digital bundle of goodies including comics, art, zines and RPGs. Help us end strongly!

Project Kaiju Husband & Nonbinary Little Mermaid Making Progress

The first script for Project Kaiju Husband is being edited by the wonderful Devin Arscott. Also, I have reached out to an artist about getting pitch pages for this series, and they said they were available! I’m saving up funds to pay for these pages, and I can’t wait to announce who it is and show off the art.  

The Nonbinary Little Mermaid project also has an artist who has shown interest, and the first issue’s script should be completed soon.

I’m thrilled to have made a strong start on these and hope one of them will be pitch-ready by the end of the year.

INTO THE GUTTERS

Staring Too Close at the Pedestal

Like last year’s dive into all things Mignola and Hellboy, this year I’d decided to read all (or most) of Naoki Urasawa’s catalog. Many have told me he is one of the greatest comic creators of all time, so I wanted to see for myself what makes him so revered. My journey started with Pluto and instantly, I saw the appeal. The story was complex and gripping. The art embedded so much emotion into each panel, even ones with stoic-faced robots. Pluto is a masterclass in how camera angles and page layouts are so vital to the heart of a story. Already, I was ready to hand Urasawa a spot in my personal list of favorite cartoonists. I knew that 20th Century Boys–the Urasawa book I’ve heard about more than any other–was going to be just as good.

Sadly, I seemed to have placed the pedestal too high, and I feared if I looked too close, I’d see a few scuffs in the marble.

Early on, I couldn’t decide if I liked 20th Century Boys. The story was slow and wasn’t quite what I expected from a “sci-fi” series. The characters were interesting, but it felt like they weren’t doing much beyond living their lives. Only the occasional scenes of what appeared to be a cult kept things moving.   

Five volumes in, I was still waiting for things to come together and I felt constantly denied when big reveals were germinating. The point of everything had yet to emerge but my insistence that “this is Urasawa, it has to be good,” and the overall ideas at play compelled me to continue. I feared that I set my expectations too high and, because of my anticipation, the story wouldn’t even reach the feet of my mental Urasawa monument.      

But then I read volume 7 and it all made sense.   

The slow pacing and denial are a part of the message of 20th Century Boys. Though I struggled with the first volumes, I did like how the story revolved around boyhood nostalgia and how that can be detrimental in adulthood. The story kicks off with the protagonist, a struggling general store owner named Kenji, who suddenly has the responsibility of his infant niece, Kanna, thrust upon him, and sees symbols that he vaguely remembers from his childhood.

The story ping-pongs between this timeline, one in the future that focuses on Kanna, and on Kenji’s rural youth: playing pretend with his friends, building secret bases, and burying treasure. Along the way, little hints are dropped about cult conspiracies and, perhaps, a plot to destroy Japan. What this structure cleverly hides is a quite intentional and meticulous curating of the reader’s experience within this theme of boyhood.   

It would be incredibly easy for 20th Century Boys to be another shonen manga that glorifies the heroic boy conquering impossible odds, but Urasawa wants to critique this idea. The reader meanders in the before and after of an inciting incident for a long time, before it’s finally reached and the fight against evil commences.

By using the typical desires of a shonen reader as a carrot, he leads the reader through a complex set of relationships that spans decades and shows how nostalgia can be a source of good, but also easily corrupted for nefarious means. Through Kenji, the reader sees how to navigate our rosy childhoods with nuance. Only then is the reader rewarded with some world-ending action, so that they can see these events exactly as Urasawa intended.

Sometimes, as a comics creator, I think I worry so much about being a good writer or letterer, that I forget how to be a good reader. I’m constantly dissecting books to see what things I might borrow for future projects or which things I wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole. The more I develop as a creator, I find myself being more classically-minded than romantic. I want to know how things work together and, truly, I think that’s how I’ve always gotten enjoyment out of reading. However, I think that pushes me away from being a passenger in a story. I get too concerned with asking about every knob and dial in the vehicle that I forget to simply enjoy the ride.   

So, no, 20th Century Boys isn’t actually a disappointing work of genius; I was being a bad reader. I wanted to understand Urasawa before I’d even had a conversation with him. Sometimes, it's good to remind oneself to let the art take the reins and not always be engaging with it for betterment or enlightenment. It was one I certainly needed this month.   

GUTTER BUDS

SOMETHING(S) OLD

Shady HXVRT by Shady Blaze & BLVCKHXRT

Lately, I’ve been fascinated with cloud rap and the artists that championed/created this unique sound of hip-hop that originated on early social media sites. One of those artists is Shady Blaze, who has quickly become one of my favorite rappers. This album, in particular, his mixtape with producer BLVCKHXRT from 2014, is my favorite. Blaze has a unique ability to rap incredibly fast, but never overshadows the production. His versatility in flow and performance is astounding. Plus, it’s free on Bandcamp!  

SOMETHING(S) NEW

Check out these campaigns by friends, colleagues, and things I just thought looked cool:

Passing in the Night: A Queer Romance Fantasy Graphic Novel

Relationships are hard, especially when the fae get involved. Ruth (medical resident) and Gloria (turns into flying lizard at night) struggle to hold on to each other as the stresses of the day-to-day and supernatural worlds threaten to tear them apart.

Living together in Gloria's apartment, Ruth and Gloria can't seem to manage their conflicting schedules. When Ruth suddenly disappears one morning, Gloria will be forced into the magical world beneath the city that she - and everyone else - has been ignoring all along.

Passing in the Night is a story about choosing togetherness in the face of challenge. If you love a good queer romance, this is for you. And if you're sometimes overwhelmed by adversity and intolerance, Passing in the Night will remind you that the fight is worth it.

Inheritance #1

Inheritance is a maxi-series where a man inherits his father's vast criminal empire. Now he will have to deal with all the family and hanger-ons looking for their "piece" of the pie.   

Greg Tremont had never wanted to be a part in his father's life of crime, but when his father is mysteriously murdered, Greg stands to inherit everything his father had built. It just comes with a side of blackmail, extortion, stalking and every other nasty trick super villains are known for.

The Enchanted Circus of Wonder #1-2: The Quest for Knowledge

Ringo Coswell has built a miracle — a traveling circus powered by ancient enchantment and boundless ambition. From Richmond to the farthest corners of the coast, the Circus of Wonder brings light to a broken world.

But the magic that fuels the show is unstable. Dangerous. Stolen. Before Ringo wore the coat and top hat, there was another ringmaster — Captain Draven. Exiled in disgrace to Mount Trashmore's Salvage Prison. Stripped of everything. Cast out into darkness.

Now Draven returns. Not as a man. But as a Pirate King with a mighty mech suit. With iron at his command and vengeance in his heart, Draven will tear the circus down plank by plank to reclaim what he believes is his.

SOMETHING(S) BORROWED

Under the Oak Tree

They say don’t judge a book by its cover, but I checked this out from the library purely because of its cover. Under the Oak Tree is a slowburn fantasy romance about an arranged marriage between Lady Maximillian and Sir Riftan, where the night of their wedding goes horribly, and then Riftan has to leave for a three-year campaign to slay a dragon. He comes back a hero, but the Maxi is sure that he will divorce her to marry the emperor’s daughter. As a victim of an abusive father, she has no expectation of receiving love, which makes Riftan’s affections something she always second-guesses. I won’t call this comic a masterpiece, but I enjoy the relationship so far, and there are little hints that something more sinister, possibly orchestrated by Maxi’s father, is going on in the background. With gorgeous art and creative lettering, I’m hooked for the foreseeable future.        

SOMETHING(S) BLUE

The Downward Spiral by Nine Inch Nails

Luke, this is a 30-year-old masterpiece, why are you recommending it? Recently, I feel like I’ve lost my connection to rock music. It was such a pivotal part of my childhood and, as silly as it sounds, I’m trying to fall back in love with it. I don’t need to say too much about this album that’s already been said, but when I listened to it this week–the first time I’ve done so in a long time–I got lost in a feeling that’s been long missing in my life. It’s a depressing album, but a great one.