Very similar to your vaporators…

Chapter 139: Its not Wednesday?

• What’s Wrong With Comics?

• Go to Manchester and Talk About My Book!

• Go to the Comic Shop and Buy Other People’s Books!

• Mailbox!

• Mixtape!

Let’s start with the obvious. I’m late. I started this newsletter thinking I was about 4 hours late. It wasn’t until about 30 seconds ago that I realized it was actually Thursday and I was 28 hours late. So that’s fun. In my defense it’s been an ass-kicker of a week month and I lost track of time. In my non-defense I spent yesterday afternoon taking my friend

James Tynion IV

to a belated birthday lunch instead of writing this. So we’ll just chalk it up to my general dumbness and move on. Lunch was good though.

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I want to talk about the state of comics discourse for a second. I get it because that’s what I’d do if someone said this to me, but please don’t immediately delete this. I promise I will make this as painless as possible.

If you’re not up on the current state of discussion around comics I am so happy for you. But to summarize the conversation it’s basically this-

You got some culture war stuff. You got some economic hardship stuff. You got some old feuds rearing back up again. You got some general discontent, fear, anger, sadness, and all that other fun stuff. It’s fucking exhausting.

I’m not the comics police and I’m not going to tell people what they can and can’t say. Some of what people are saying is very right. Some is wrong. Some is opinion, and some is taste, some is lies, and some is hard facts. If you see a problem, by all means feel free to point it out. Go nuts. I just want to explain why I mostly sit it out.

I will start with two things that rub me the wrong way. The first is the self serving nature of so many of the conversations. Comics is an art form and a medium, but it’s also a lot of people’s rent check. And when you see people who make a living off a thing start to tell you what is wrong with it, it is almost always going to be tied to their well being. I watched it play out over and over again this month. Famous comic creators, up and comers, journalists, retailers, and everyone in-between had found some problems that negatively impact them or found some solutions that coincidentally benefitted them. This isn’t surprising. People talk about their lives. People’s opinions are filtered through their life experiences and their hopes for the state of the world and their place in it. That just makes sense. The problem comes when we treat these opinions like gospel. When someone is taking all their time to point out problems or peddle solutions, you should always take a moment to figure out what their stake in it all is. That’s not to discredit anyone for talking about things they have a stake in. I just think the conversation is not approaching anything resembling an honest level of objectivity or earnest disclosure. And that’s not all on the speakers. People take other people’s points that they like and run with them, molding them to their own agendas, and creating a sense of universality to things that are very much not universal. The whole thing becomes unbalanced in very weird ways.

This leads to the other problem. Anything resembling a healthy balance of ideas has been thrown out a long time ago. So much of the positivity, enthusiasm, and excitement for the medium has been pushed to the backseat in favor of anger, griping, and depressing takes. That’s partially due to the nature of social media, partially due to deliberate agendas, and partially due to a thousand other factors. But the point remains, the negative discourse has crushed the positive. Obviously if you’re just bummed on the state of comics, you shouldn’t be expected to put on a song and dance. But it feels to me like the people who are excited have been marginalized and quieted, and many people who are regularly enjoying things have fallen into the pattern of complaining about what they dislike more than boosting what they do like. Maybe I’m misreading the room and everyone is truly bummed, or I am not seeing the positivity, but my inbox tells me otherwise. Either way, it’s obvious that if the only discourse on a subject is all the things that are wrong with it, it’s going to have a chilling effect on current people’s enthusiasm and new people’s excitement to join. Nobody is going to try the delicious sandwiches at a restaurant when every single review just talks about how the neighborhood sucks. Doesn’t mean the neighborhood sucking isn’t a problem, but it’s not the whole conversation.

All this is not to say that comics doesn’t have some real problems. It sure does. A lot of them. And it doesn’t mean people shouldn’t discuss or work to fix them. They should. I’m pretty sure, that like almost every other problem on Earth, they won’t be fixed by people yelling at each other on twitter though. I myself have a lot of ideas on what some of the problems are and what the solutions are. And I try to talk to people who might have an impact when I can. Maybe I’m telling on myself here but I’m not sitting around yelling into the void (or at all of you) about it because, honestly, why the fuck should you listen to me? I keep seeing people peddling solutions that are so narrow, or so self serving, or so misguided, that it’s laughable. But when they become the whole conversation it’s a lot less funny. And I have no interest on being a pundit.

With all that said, I will continue to do some things that I think do benefit comics and the community as a whole. And they’re pretty simple. And if you want to join in, go for it.

• Support and boost the things you think are good. This feels pretty basic to me. If you like something, share it. Let people know. Help the people who made it continue to make more things and help the people you know discover good stuff.

• Support your local comic shop. Comic shops are the front line of comic culture and need support now. In the era of mega-corporations and catastrophic price increases on just about everything, supporting the independent businesses that keep comic companies and comic creators alive and able to reach people is crucial.

That’s my whole take. If you want a manifesto, there are plenty of people happy to offer them up. I just think you should buy stuff you like, let people know when you think stuff is good, and support indie businesses. That’s it.

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In exciting news for people in Manchester, the Manchester Comic Book Club is talking about WHAT’S THE FURTHEST PLACE FROM HERE? next month.

If you’re around stop in to the the great TRAVELLING MAN comic shop and tell them you think the whole book is a metaphor for the effects of inorganic expansion and forced urban planning exemplified by the impact Robert Moses had on New York in the mid-twentieth century. It’s not true, but it will definitely be a good ice breaker.

And if you want to know more about the Manchester Comic Book Club you can check out their facebook page here. Glory Glory Manchester Comic Book Club.

It’s Wednesday (ish)! And you know what that means! New Comic Book Day!

NATURE’S LABYRINTH by Zac Thompson, Bayleigh Underwood, & co. 8 Criminals, dropped on a tropical island that was designed to kill them. The winner gets everything they ever wanted, the losers all die. Equal parts BATTLE ROYALE, PAPILLON, and TREASURE ISLAND, this mind-bending thriller will keep you on your toes.

ANIMAL POUND #1 by Tom King, Peter Gross, & co. A modern update on Orwell’s ANIMAL FARM, King and Gross present a thought provoking story of oppression, revolution, compassion, hope, and reality. And dogs and cats. A smart and interesting reinterpretation of a classic, it will be interesting to see where they take it.

SHIFT One Shot by Kyle Higgins, Daniele Di Nicuolo, Francesco Manna, Danilo Beyruth, Geraldo Borges, Chris Evenhuis and co. Collecting 4 previously published short stories plus an all new one, SHIFT focusses on the mysterious antagonist of RADIANT BLACK and further explores a character that will be a big part of the Massive-verse going forward.

FEAR AGENT Omnibus #1 and #2 by Rick Remender, Tony Moore, Jerome Opeña, Mike Hawthorne, & more. These gorgeous oversized hardcovers collect the complete story of a space exterminator and his role in saving or dooming the universe. One of the best sci-fi comics of the modern age, this series has a golden age sci-fi feel, updated with a ‘fuck you’ sensibility, and presented with some of the prettiest art you will ever see. Now you can read the whole thing in these 2 gorgeous volumes and you should do it right away.

THE ALL-NIGHTER vol. 2 by Chip Zdarsky, Jason Loo, & co. Is it a superhero story? Is it a vampire story? Is it a story about running a 24 hour diner? Somehow the answer to all of these is yes. Comics favorite boy Chip Zdarsky writes a new volume of his offbeat and engrossing superhero diner story, and Jason Loo once again deftly brings it to life. A very fun book.

FOUR GATHERED ON CHRISTMAS EVE by Eric Powell, Mike Mignola, Becky Cloonan, and James Harren. I’m a sucker for the old Victorian Christmas ghost stories, and this beautiful book happily follows in that tradition. Holiday-themed ghost stories, with a comics twist, this book is a joy and a perfect read in the lead up to Christmas.

CURSE WORDS Compendium by Charles Soule and Ryan Browne. The superstars behind 8 BILLION GENIES prove that they weren’t just insane weirdos that one time. Curse Words is the story of an evil wizard, a koala, and their journey together through the world of magic and madness. It’s hilarious, sweet, and very strange. This collects all 28 issues plus a bonus story, all in one easy-to-beat-people-to-death-with format.

IMMORTAL SERGEANT by Joe Kelly and Ken Niimura. The creative team behind the brilliant I KILL GIANTS returns to bring you an unlikely buddy cop duo between a hard-boiled detective on his way out the door and his anxious son. Equal parts detective story and study of a family, Immortal Sergeant is a fun team-up story that manages to take the familiar and bring it somewhere completely fresh.

Now go get yourself some comics.

Time for another trip to the Mailbox. Let’s see what folks have to say. Today’s letter comes from Timm C. He writes-

“Hi Team Ashcan,

I was wondering if you had any updates on DC Versus Vampires or Wildc.a.t.s.. I loved both books and wanted to know when we are getting more. Whats The Furthest is great too.

Thanks.”

Thank you, Timm. So I have some okay news and some less okay news. But lets be honest. It’s 2023, okay is a win.

We will start with DC VS. VAMPIRES. We are hard at work on the book and I'm actually working on issue #5 this week. Otto Schmidt is drawing is ass off and it’s some of his best work ever. There is a moment in issue #2 that will make people lose their damn minds. So do not worry. It is coming. I just don’t know when. I know there is a plan and a schedule, I honestly just didn’t ask. At some point DC will asl me to start writing solicit copy and do interviews, and when that happens I will know we’re getting close. But until then… ummm… 2024?

As for WILDC.A.T.S., no news to share. The second beautiful hardcover is coming out early next year. Ask your local comic shop to get you a copy. And beyond that, nothing else I can really talk about. My editor and DC executive editor Ben Abernathy was a former Wildstorm editor and loves these characters as much as anyone one Earth. And the head of DC, Jim Lee, is also a pretty big fan it turns out. So trust me when I say that they want the Wildstorm characters around and they want them doing big, cool things. It’s just a matter of timing and getting the right book together that will get readers excited. I have thoughts. We’ve talked about them. Hopefully at some point soon more Wildstorm stuff will be coming your way. I’d love to work on it. I’d be happy to just get to read it. Either way, nothing to report now.

And yeah, WHAT’S THE FURTHEST PLACE FROM HERE? is rolling along. And very, very soon I will be discussing some brand new secret things here.

Is Timm short for something? Just curious.

So rare that I like the cover more than the original. This Jawbox cover holds a special place in my heart though.

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And that’s all.

Stay safe. Take care of each other. P.M.A.

-Matthew Rosenberg

NYC 12/21/23