Guts N' Gutters #3 (December 2024)
Reflecting on 2024's creative journey and teasing exciting projects ahead!
TL;DR (Too Long Don’t (Wanna) Read)
2024 in Review
Next year: Crit One 3, Krazy Kat, a folk horror anthology, and possibly more.
The Best Graphic Novels Article is Published!
Into the Gutters: How to Do Fan Service
Go buy Beauty Queens, Gendocybin, and A History of Fans & Fandom!
I’ve been on hiatus this month, so this newsletter was completed well before December. Blame any weirdness on the vestiges of time and the limitations of the human body, definitely not my own oversight. X-D
WHAT’S THE WORD?
Resolution - a firm decision to do or not to do something.
The Year in Review
Here’s a little collage of everything that I was published in this year. Like I said last month… I may have done too much, but I think I’m a stronger writer and creative because of it.
Top Row, Left to Right: Comic from the Kitchen, Crit One 2, Automosity zine, Kaleidoscopic Absolution (Silver the Hedgehog Fanzine), Sorting it Out zine, Archetypes magazine
Bottom Row, Left to Right: Bootleg Bob’s (Bob’s Burgers Fanzine), Tides of Fun (Sonic the Hedgehog Chao Fanzine), The Party Never Dies (Monster High Fanzine), Summer’s End: Tales of Heartbreak, Head Over Heelers (Bluey Fanzine), A Crack in the Code
Naruto Genderfuckery Zine
There also might be a Naruto Genderfuckery zine featuring a short story of mine out by now. The original publication date was November, but things are running late (as of writing). It’s a reimagining of the puppetmaster Kankuro and its discovery of its asexual/aromantic identity, plus its preference for “it/its” pronouns. There’s also some creative ninja nonsense. If it is released before this gets published, I hope you enjoyed it! If not… then add it to the already massive list in the next section
COMING NEXT YEAR!
So, what’s next? I do have plans for next year, though little is set in stone yet. Here’s what’s going on so far:
Crit One 3
Crit One 3 launches on February 1st! Sign up for pre-launch so you don’t miss it!
Charity Anthology (Krazy Kat comic with KVGIR)
Still in progress and should be launched sometime in January 2025.
I was an invited author to this horror anthology where every tale is set inside the same spooky high-rise apartment complex. My story, Weightless, involves a fat nonbinary character, new-age vitamin regimens, and a creepy exercise room. I’m waiting on updates from our editor, but this should be coming out sometime in 2025 as a digital-only anthology.
Members of the Comic Jam have put together a folk horror anthology that will be launching sometime in February. I wrote and lettered a 6-page story with incredible art done by Ryan Devine (go follow him on Instagram) called Breaking Bread which is inspired by Celtic legends of the Fear Ghorta, a starving man creature from the days of the potato famine.
Here’s a preview page exclusively for you all!
This chapbook was meant to be launched in April of last year, but due to Kickstarter’s policies, it was postponed. Kickstarter doesn’t allow newer creators without a track record of fulfilling campaigns to run another before the previous one has been finished. This would have forced the Summer’s End team to push back that Kickstarter since Crit One 2 was still being fulfilled in April. I still want to launch this book as a campaign, but I haven’t picked a date. June is probably the best option to not conflict with the next possible project…
I’ve talked a little about Letters from the Void on my socials, but have been pretty hush-hush about it. Essentially, it’s an anthology where the void shouts back after hearing everyone’s woes and anxieties for eons. Its shouting back takes the form of existential horror comics written and drawn by a great crew of creators with all of the lettering done by me. Progress has been slow because it’s a large project that I’m funding entirely by myself and I want my invited creators to be paid fairly. The goal was to launch in October 2025, but this project is very much TBD until further notice.
“Best Graphic Novels I Read”
My article is now live on Medium! Check it out and let me know if you check out any of these books. They all deserve it.
INTO THE GUTTERS
To Subtly Serve the Fans
One of my favorite bands, Hollywood Undead, released a new single called “Hollywood Forever” that is delicious if you’ve been a longtime fan; Pure nostalgic ear candy. There are references to old lyrics and beats, plus a couple of warm fuzzies such as this:
Hide the pain underneath the surface
But you saved me, gave me a purpose
I don't know, maybe I deserve this
But now I know that my pain isn't worthless
It gave me chills listening to this song that seemed to thank me personally. However, anyone who stumbled on this song might be confused. The rapping rhythms are choppy at times and change swiftly (to fit in the references) and the lyrical callbacks would likely go over a newbie’s head. This song is so dependent on familiarity that its lasting impression will be drastically different from listener to listener.
This is the drawback of fan service such as this. It’s alienating to anyone, not within certain circles. In addition, those too close to the art/artist often overlook the work’s flaws when it caters to them like this. I love “Hollywood Forever” but the song does suffer from forcing in these references and its longevity comes into question. Once the fans have gotten their sweet fix, this song will likely be shelved.
Fans are a necessary part of the artistic process. If a writer or artist isn’t sharing their work, they aren’t completing the cycle of creation and essentially having a conversation with themself. Even with the vitalness of fans, there should still be some distance to avoid the unhealthy feedback loop that can occur by validating parasocial relationships too much. It’s a tightrope that every creator has to navigate, but how does one pay lip service to those who enjoy one’s work without alienating others or creating an illusion of infallibility?
The world of hip-hop provides an excellent answer.
Last month, I refamiliarized myself with one of rap’s greatest albums (because my over 50 boss said he’d still never listened to the whole thing despite it being the album’s 30th anniversary this year), Nas’ Illmatic. If you haven’t heard it, I highly recommend listening. It’s stunning and historically significant for several reasons. However, I want to focus on the opening line from the second verse of “Halftime”:
It’s like that, you know it’s like that.
On my recent listen this bit made me chuckle because, to me, it’s a clear reference to Run-D.M.C.’s debut single “It’s Like That”.
It’s like that, and that’s the way it is.
The rhythmic deliveries are similar, but also the content of Nas’ verse following this line has a similar feel. Run-D.M.C.’s song is about being dismissive and ignorant of all the bad things happening in society. “It’s like that” is a kind of shrugging of the shoulders and reflects on how things never change. Similarly, “Halftime” is about how Nas will never change his hustling nature.
The phrase “it’s like that” could easily be slang from the era that’s carried through the years, but it assuredly gained prominence thanks to Run D.M.C. and has been used in countless rap songs (since starting this, I noticed it in Da Brat’s “Fa All Ya’ll” & Outkasts “West Savannah”). In hip-hop culture, this would likely be named a “callback” more than fan service, but I believe it has the same effect and works better than other mediums’ attempts. Why is this so and how can one better use fan service through studying hip-hop?
References are baked into it.
The foundation of hip-hop is sampling songs to create beats. It’s already drawing from the past to create something new. Plus, artists in this vein are expected to push forward the culture by finding new, transformative ways to further the art. One way an MC or a DJ can do this is by flexing their musical knowledge and skills by throwing in a line from another song or designing a beat from an obscure record.
What one can draw from this when writing is to consider the culture surrounding the genre or type of story one is telling and see what is already there. What is expected of this type of story and how can a writer reward fans of the genre while also subverting them?
The audience doesn’t need to understand them.
If a listener is a hip-hop head and knows the life of Run-D.M.C., then Nas’ “Halftime” has more meaning and the listener can salute the artist for their knowledge. But, someone hearing “Halftime” without that knowledge can easily enjoy it as a simple, catchy line that introduces the verse well. They don’t lose much for being unfamiliar.
Writers should think of fan service as a balancing act where both old and new fans can enjoy the work without alienating either group. A fresh reader shouldn’t feel like they’re missing context.
The references work with the song.
Unlike Hollywood Undead’s clunky inserts, Nas’ delivery is smooth and flows with what comes next. At the same time, the song isn’t overwhelmed with lines from other rappers. Partially, this is because hip-hop has a disdain for being a biter (someone who steals other’s styles in unoriginal ways), but the listener can also hear the care and thought that went into the writing. Nas took a reference and wove into Large Professor’s beat and his already established rhythm.
If a bit of fan service is done with this amount of intention, then it won’t fall for the common pitfalls previously discussed. Fans are important, but a writer’s potential fans are just as important. There’s no reason to stop a reader at the gate because they haven’t been around long enough to learn the secret code. Subtly and care are the secret ingredients to quality fan service.
GUTTER BUDS
Shout out to these campaigns and projects by friends and colleagues!
“Follow the adventures of Gertie, Tall Girl, and Cicada, an all-trans-girl punk band from Omaha as they tangle with local fascists, their career, and their own personal baggage.”
I picked up the first four issues a year ago and I love everything about this series. It’s punk in the truest sense.
“It is 3077--a thousand years since the discovery of the "trans gene". Hundreds of years since the last trans person had been eradicated by the United Church of Necrosis, the genetic monitoring chip of one, Cruise Montellier, has set off an alarm that no one in New America has heard in a lifetime. Puberty has awakened someone’s latent trans gene…”
This book is colorful and emotionally raw. I can’t recommend it enough.
“In the 21st century pop culture is everywhere; you can’t move for a new superhero film or major franchise appearing in our lives and we love it. We’re just jumping into the media landscape headfirst in order to get more of our favs, track down spoilers and deep dive about plot lines on social media. It’s hard to deny fan culture as part of the world now, there’s a fandom for everyone, but what does that actually mean, and where did it come from?”
My Masters is in Communications and Mass Media and how we consume media nowadays is one of my fascinations here. I’ve only read a preview of this book, but from what I can see, it looks like a fascinating read from a nonbinary author.