NJW&C 26: Bourbon is For the Homesick
Hey, Kids! It’s Nice Jewish Words & Comics!, the latest installment from Neil Kleid's bi-monthly newsletter with updates and info about his latest projects!
Okay, so where exactly the hell have I been this summer?
My last newsletter was way back in June. I turned fifty and then, well…honestly? I’ve been busy. That’s all there is to it. Aside from hunkering down and staying focused at the day job and enjoying the summer with my family, I’ve been heads-down working on two projects.
Lettering ‘Project Mantle’, which is still on target to come out this Fall. I really had a blast writing this thing. I can't wait for you all to read it later this year. It's so different from anything I have ever written, but incredibly cathartic and really just a lot of fun. And the art coming in from my fantastic co-author (who I hope we can announce soon, if you haven’t figured it out already) is just...epic. You're going to love this thing. Sometimes, comics can hug your heart. The best part of being a comics writer is when you get fantastic art from your co-author, so here’s some colored + lettered panels from issue #3:
I’ve also been writing ‘Project Wonka’, which has consumed most nights, as I’m aiming to have 50K words completed by the end of October…and I want to make sure they are the right words, you know? I’m at approximately 15k now. For the first chapter, I wrote into being a very heart-jumping, frightening thing that happened to me in my old house that I've been saving up for years. Protect all of your stories and ideas like magpies, pals. One day you'll find a place to use them.
Apart from that, I managed to get polished pitch documents completed for ‘Project Main Street’ and something new, ‘Project Hammond’, as well as a first draft for the ‘Project Long Ago’ pitch. Additionally, I pitched a new middle-grade book, ‘Project Jack’, to a potentially receptive editor. So, yeah; it’s been busy.
But the summer’s nearly over, so let’s talk about cool shit again.
First of all, the kind folks at Canvas Rebel were kind enough to ask me some questions about earning a living from creative work. Thanks, kind folks at Canvas Rebel, and thanks to our kind pal Arnon Shorr for recommending they ask me said questions
NYCC 2025
We’re two months from New York Comic-Con, friends, and it looks like I’ll be wandering around on Friday and Sunday, as usual, chatting with pals and editors, meeting new ones, and generally taking in the sights and sounds of the comics industry.
There may be the possibility of a panel or signing, and I’ll let folks know in upcoming newsletters as well as on social media about the where and when of it all. But for now, if you’re planning to be at the convention and want to get something signed or say hello, keep your eyes glued to this space. And who knows?
Maybe we’ll announce something, if we’re lucky.
LA STRONG WON AN AWARD!
Thrilled to hear that LA STRONG was awarded the 2025 Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con. The Humanitarian Award is presented in the name of famed animator Bob Clampett, who created the TV series Beany and Cecil, designed such popular characters as Porky Pig and Tweety Bird, and directed 84 classic Warner Bros. cartoons. After his death in 1984, the award was created to honor those people in comics and the popular arts who have worked to help others.
Though my involvement was minimal, I was pleased and honored to have contributed an essay to the anthology, and am so glad it was able to help those in our comics community affected by the Los Angeles fires. This wonderful, meaningful project did exactly what it was intended to.—as is evident by these testimonies from Steve Seagle and David Booher—and my thanks again to Mike Marts, Sarah Brunstad, everyone at Mad Cave Studios and all the contributors for helping bring in to life.
You can still get copies of LA STRONG at the Mad Cave website
OTHER GRATITUDE
This month I hit quite a milestone, in that my lymphoma has been in remission for four years, thanks G-d. Recently had a scan, and I’m still all clear, kid. Let's blow this thing and go home for our victory medalsNOT YOU, CHEWBACCA
To mark the occasion, I achieved another major milestone by visiting a place I have always wanted to go, to walk in the path of heroes, and y’all it was a once in a lifetime kinda day. Kind of overwhelming, to be honest.
MOVIES YOU HAVE PROBABLY SEEN
So yeah, I saw both the Superman and Fantastic Four films, and I liked them.
I will say that I enjoyed the latter a bit more than the former. I do love Superman and all the characters and James Gunn…but the FF film felt a lot more intimate to me, and a bit more emotional. Yes, the family angle, and sure, it felt somewhat quieter and more lived in. But they were both about hope and both about caring and kindness, and I think we can all use some more of that these days.
The Fantastic Four movie may be my second favorite Marvel movie, edging out Thor: Ragnarok and the Spider-Man movies, right behind the first Captain America film. That said, it could’ve used a few more Hebrew signs near Yancy Street. And I was very happy to see the magen david front and center during the Ben Grimm parts of that movie.
Superman, meanwhile. It was a lot of fun. Even great in some areas—it definitely epitomized what a Superman movie should be, lots of hope, kindness and Gunn really understands the DC characters, including the supporting cast—and...honestly, really dumb in others. Still, very enjoyable. Suffered a bit from "let's throw a lot into it" syndrome in parts, and I wanted more moments between Clark, Lois + the Daily Planet cast. Oh, and Krypto=best. Also, I have been listening to this thing like nonstop.
I said this with Thanos a few years back, but I think it’s kinda amazing that after this summer, I’ll be able to reference Guy Gardner and people in my non comics life will know who I’m talking about. Also, I cannot WAIT for Fillion/Guy Gardner in the LANTERNS show now, but damn, gimme a Mister Terrific show, as well.
Here’s my favorite Guy Gardner page ever by Kevin Maguire from Justice League America #46:
Hey; here’s a Metamorpho I drew, just for you, and the Metamorpho theme song:
Oh, I also saw the new Jurassic movie and boy, it sure was a Jurassic movie. I mean, it was fun, sure...but the trouble with these movies is that—especially as a writer—you kinda know which of the characters are and aren't gonna survive. But hey; big old hungry dinosaurs in the water.
So win some, lose some.
PAPPYLAND
Have just burned through Pappyland, Wright Thompson’s book about Julian P. Van Winkle III and the phenomenon that is Pappy Van Winkle, one of the most sought after bourbons in the world. Sure, yes, lots of history here in this thing and tons of amusing anecdotes, but it’s Thompson’s style of writing that really caught me—especially because this book is really about legacy, about fathers and children, which if you’ve read any one of my comics or graphic novels, well, you know is right down my alley. In particular, two passages grabbed my attention:
For all the science that takes place in the lab, and for all my mocking the idea of magic, there is something about the landscape that finds its way into these bottles that are filled in Kentucky and then sent around the world. The bourbon inside is a note sent by shipwrecked people to let someone out over the horizon know that they are still alive, and to maybe transmit some of the culture, too. The sunlight that shines down on the fields that bear the grains that become the whiskey leaves the sun eight minutes and twenty seconds before it warms the earth and gives life to those plants. We are always living in the past and every bottle carries that time travel with it into the world, sealed tight against the oxidizing danger of the air. Maybe whiskey is so fragile because once the cap comes off, the past rushes out of the bottle and is gone forever.
And here’s another goodie:
This is an industry that requires peering into the future and determining which America will exist in a decade…and that’s a nearly impossible thing to do. We’re asking people to predict a national mood; to predict our fears and hopes. It’s nearly impossible to guess what consumers will need in ten years or fifteen or twenty or twenty-three. Bourbon booms are tied mostly to a sense of nostalgia and longing—to memory—and when the brown stuff is flying off the shelves, you can bet that we are sure of where we are going and in need of a vehicle to take us back. Vodka is for the skinny and scotch is for the strivers and bourbon is for the homesick.
More like this in the book itself. Get your copy here.
FAREWELL TO THREE REAL ONES
So long, Ozzy. There was a solid year where all my high school friends were just playing 'War Pigs' over and over and over and if you didn't know all of the lyrics like seriously what were you even doing. Light your lighters, crank the volume, play 'No More Tears' and 'Mama, I'm Comin' Home' and ‘Iron Man.’
For a lot of my childhood, many of my family and friends used to shout “Neil Before Zod” at me nonstop. Farewell to the General AND to pre-Empire Chancellor Valorum. RIP Terence Stamp
Finally, RIP to a real one, Kenneth Colley, aka Admiral Piett, king of the deadpan take:
SOMEONE LET ME WRITE A STARJAMMERS COMIC
Hey, Neil...you have to finish a 50k word novel by October, so, what the hey, dude; why NOT have some fun and co-author a ten page Starjammers fan comic with Kings and Canvas co-author Jake Allen for his portfolio, right?
Here are some sketches in progress, by our pal, Jake (who also did a great pin up for ‘Project Mantle’ that I can not wait to share):
I PREFER THIS TO NICOLE KIDMAN
They should play this Star Wars Coca Cola ad before every movie ever.
FINALLY, we’re weeks away from the 2025 football season so this is my annual plea to the marvel universe to let me bring back NFL SUPERPRO
Short one, friends. Hope to have more for you in the Fall.
Hold on to that last bit of summer vacation, and bottle it for the future, if you can. I’ll see you soon.
—Kleid
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