That’s why I’ve been programmed…

Chapter 134: Whoops. Forgot to say anything here!

• How itchy is too itchy?

• Help out a cool comic shop!

• How do you (I) make a story?

• Scream “Far Away” with me in honor of one of the best ever!

• New Books out this week!

Hello again.

This week was going really well. Getting a lot done. Figured out a solve to a big story problem. Getting some new book planning finished. Got a Christmas tree that is neither too small nor too large. And then I got a bug bite on my back and it pretty much undid all that good stuff.

I don’t know what kind of bug it was, and I don’t want to think about it, so I’m just saying fuck all of them. (Except ladybugs. They’re cute.) It was in a spot that I couldn’t really reach which is really a type of cruelty I would only wish on Henry Kissinger, and I don’t think they have bugs where he’s going. Or maybe that’s all they have. Either way, now that the itchiness has gone away I keep thinking I might be itchy when I’m not? Like I’ve developed an itchiness paranoia? Just normal regular itches start my mind racing that I keep getting new bug bites when I don’t. All of this sent me spiraling wondering if I’m more itchy than a normal person should be (I don’t think I am), or if that bug bite made me lose my mind. I was not helped by getting to the episode of FOR ALL MANKIND with the ants this week.

Why am I telling you all this? Two reasons. Firstly, it’s really fucking hard to come up with weekly content for this damn newsletter. Especially when almost everything I’m working on is not announced yet. And secondly, my paranoia that I was a hyper-itchy person got me thinking about perception and what anyone really knows about the world. I don’t think I’ve ever had a conversation in my life where someone told me how many itches they get in a day. I’ve just coasted along assuming I was within the acceptable spectrum of itchiness.

I’ve never had a professional massage. Doesn’t really interest me that much. But I get that other people like them a lot. They must, because there are dozens of places that give massages in every city in America. There are major characters on sitcoms who are masseuses. So here I am, with an itchy back that I can’t reach, wondering why there are hundreds of people near me I can pay to give me a massage but I’ve never seen anyone advertise that they’d scratch my back. So clearly society’s desire for massages far outweighs their desire for backscratching, where as mine does not. So again, questioning my place on the itchiness spectrum and the world in general.

All this is to say, there is so much of what we believe we truly know about the world that is just informed by simple assumptions and interpretations of the world we’ve made along the way. Our own experiences don’t really always reflect the reality of those around us. Obviously being out of synch with those around you can cause all sorts of problems both great and small, but I really found a lot of comfort thinking about this. We each make our own version of reality, our own understanding of the world, and we try to fit ourselves into that. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. But there is something really beautiful about our minds tailoring reality to fit our needs just as much as we tailor ourselves to fit reality.

Or maybe it was just a bug bite.

(Not) speaking of comic shops, one of my favorites could use some help. MISSION: COMICS AND ART in San Francisco has had a rough year, like many stores. But their awesome owner Leef has made it very easy to help them in 2 simple ways.

First, if you want to buy some comics you can stop in or order online and have them shipped to you ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD! Amazing. They have a great selection and you can get your holiday shopping done right now.

The other way you can help out is through Kiva. If you aren’t familiar, Kiva is a very cool site that allows people to crowdsource small, interest-free loans. So you decide how much you’re willing to lend towards the goal, and the borrower sets up terms for repayment. Kiva makes it simple, and they have a nice system where you can keep lending out money to other projects once you get your initial loan back. I think it’s a really great idea and can really help out people in need at minimal risk to you. Seeing people work towards helping out their community is always something worth your time, so poke around on Kiva and lend a helping hand to Mission if you can.

So there you have it. Two simple ways to help out a classic comic shop and feel good/get yourself some cool stuff along the way.

Time for another trip to the old Mailbox.

Today’s letter comes from Anna P. She writes-

“I have a question if you care to answer... I really like your storytelling so I'm curious... Do you write as though you're right there inside the story with your characters? Or is it more like inserting certain mechanics to move it along, eg: incident here, character's fear there etc?

I know this is a weird way of looking at things - maybe I just analyse too much while reading!”

Hi Anna. Thanks for the question. So, this one really tripped me up because the answer is… mostly neither? Or maybe both?

I am a big advocate of “letting the story lead you” style writing. Meaning new ideas will present themselves as you go. Sometimes that comes from getting to know the characters more, sometimes from just being so immersed in the story that you understand it better, and sometimes it comes from boredom. When you spend weeks/months/years working on a story, it often loses the ability to surprise you. That’s understandable and okay. But what isn’t okay is getting “used to it” or bored with it. When that happens it’s a major red flag. I think there are some writers who assume they are bored because there are no surprises left, but for me the lack of surprise isn’t the problem. Boredom means it’s not working. Surprise is a powerful storytelling tool, but it’s not everything. But being excited and interested is, and even on your 1,000th time through your story should still grab you by the throat and not let go. So, in that sense, I try to stay immersed in the story. Not exactly “with the characters” but not above the story either, if that makes sense. I like discovering things with them, trying to figure out what can make things harder for them and how they will (or won’t) overcome that. A little bit I’m on their journey, a little bit I’m a god set out to ruin their lives. I’m like Tom Bombadil if he didn’t like going outside.

But also I think mechanics are important. I’ve never been that big on writing manuals. Maybe that comes from being raised by writers, so that stuff was subconsciously or even genetically put into me, but I’ve never found them that useful. I think a lot of those types of “how to write” books can be a crutch. But I’m also not always anti-crutch. What kind of monster is just be blanket anti-crutch? Sometimes people hurt their feet. And, in the same way, sometimes people don’t know how to get a character to have agency in their story. In these cases, crutches are good. But you run the risk of relying on those crutches and losing the spontaneity and urgency that a good story demands. A story is much closer to a painting than a math problem, and I see a lot of aspiring writers think that the right list of prompts and mechanics will solve things for them. But rarely does that create something interesting. Storytelling prompts and reminders can be good. Storytelling checklists can not.

All of that is further complicated by the fact that I make single issue comics mostly, which have their own structure and story dynamic challenges. Making a satisfying single issue, that also fits into a large volume, that might even fit into an ongoing story, demands some fundamental understanding of mechanics even just to know when to break and bend them. And it’s rare that you’re going to find the book on writing that has a chapter entitled “Using Multiple Three Act Structures To Build A Larger 5 Act Arc As The Opening Of Your Overall Story.” So it’s important to understand what is compelling and interesting in a story, what moves a plot forward, and most importantly what keeps you excited.

Not sure if that answers your question, but I have to stop or I’ll just write vague nonsense about this all day.

If you have question you’d like semi-answered, shoot me an email or comment below.

Getting pretty tired of memorializing my dying heroes on here. Rum, Sodomy, & The Lash is a perfect album unlike any other. Shane McGowan was a perfect frontman unlike any other. The backup vocals in Sally MacLennane are the best backup vocals ever recorded.

Fágann saol maith ina dhiaidh oidhreacht álainn.

Wednesday. New Comic Day. Let’s go.

BIRDKING vol. 2 by Daniel Freedman & Crom. I really loved the first volume of Birdking. It’s a wild buddy adventure story in a fantasy world, bolstered by eye-meltingly gorgeous art. This book is worth it for the character designs alone, but just a few pages in you’ll find you’ve fallen in love with these characters and this world.

OUR BONES DUST #1 by Ben Stenbeck. If you’ve ever read any of Ben Stenbeck’s stuff with Mike Mignola you have a good sense of what a rich storyteller he is. But Our Bones Dust still caught me off guard. A visually rich and brutal world, we follow a child who is both on the hunt and hunted. It takes a lot to stand out in the post-apocalyptic genre these days, but Our Bones Dust really makes it’s presence known from the first page.

THE HARD SWITCH by Owen D. Pomery. The story of interstellar scavengers during the last days of intergalactic space travel is exactly the type of sci-fi I love. It’s working class, lived-in, and incredibly imaginative. The balance of relatable and fantastical is super hard to hit. Go too far in one direction and you lose your grounded characters. Too far in the other and the exciting elements no longer feel special. But The Hard Switch nails the balance perfectly.

BLOODRIK by Andrew Krahnke. I guess December is the month for writer/artists to come out swinging. Bloodrik is a really rich take on a more savage and desperate Conan. It’s a fun and wild ride and a must grab if you are into swords and starving barbarians. I also want to give a shout out to all the books using Black Metal fonts for their titles. I think it’s super fun. It probably hurts sale, so even more impressive a bit to commit to. But Bloodrik’s clever workaround for that made me laugh.

THE SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH by Gou Tanabe and H.P. Lovecraft. I’ll address the multi-tentacled elephant in the room first. H.P. Lovecraft? Not a great dude. I wouldn’t want to hang out with him. You wouldn’t want to hang out with him. But he’s very influential, very dead, and Gou Tanabe, who has been adapting his work, is very much alive and awesome. If you missed his adaptation of AT THE MOUNTAIN OF MADNESS you should run to your local comic shop and grab it. I read both volumes in a night and my only complaint was that the “digest-sized” manga format meant it was harder to really study the jaw-dropping details he put in every panel. THE SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH continues the tradition of truly unsettling horror stories told in some of the most gorgeous, detailed, black and white art you’re going to find. Every page is a joy and a nightmare.

SKEETERS #1 by Kevin Cuffe, Bob Frantz, and Kelly Williams. Alien mosquitoes invade a small town. It’s up to a ragtag band on unlikely heroes to save everyone. This is about as loving a tribute to classic B-Movie “creature features” as you’re going to find. It’s funny and gross and exactly the kind of thing comics is perfect for.

MILKY WAY by Miguel Vila. Equal parts erotic thriller and depressing character study, Milky Way is sad and unsettling and really fresh. When a man in a struggling relationship begins to obsess on the woman who works in the ice cream shop, everything begins to spin out of control. I think this one will make a lot of best of year lists, and rightly so.

That’s it. Go buy some comics.

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Stay safe. Take care of each other. Normalize paying someone to scratch your back.

-Matthew Rosenberg

NYC 12/6/23