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Status Update
I’m enjoying a brief break in the heat wave. Summer is here, but at least for this morning I can pretend that we skipped summer and went straight into fall.
I’m feeling a bit more on top of things, having knocked out a few work projects and obligations. But I’m waiting on people for a few things, and once I have them it’ll be Go Time again. And I have more travel coming up next month, and will probably end up buried again. Still, feels good for the time being.
Sewer Mutant
- Don’t forget that the first Sewer Mutant zine, the Cyberpunk Spectacular, is still looking for contributions! I’m looking for articles about comics, short comics, and artwork. Hit me up if you have something you’d like to see in the zine.
- Our second podcast episode on Grendel is up, this one covering issues 1-20 of the Comico series. I go a little Billy Joel talking about 1986 and why it’s the most 80s year of the 80s. Link in bio.
- I did a short post about the Gay Comics ad in Spawn issue 10. I picked this issue up off a spinner rack at a convenience store in rural Texas in 1993. It was probably the first time I saw “gay” used non-pejoratively.
- John and I recorded an “emergency episode” on Persepolis following the passing of Marjane Satrapi. I’m trying to have it up as soon as possible, so watch out for that.
New FIST adventure: Morning Star
FIST: Ultra Edition is tabletop role playing game about paranormal cold war mercenaries inspired by the Metal Gear video games, Doom Patrol, and the A-Team.
I missed the deadline for the FIST: No Funny Business game jam, but published what would have been my entry anyway. The theme called for content based around things that can happen in the real world, ie no paranormal or sci-fi elements. So I wrote a mission to infiltrate a weekend seminar at a New Age retreat center. Your cover story: You’re a prog rock band just back from a tour in Europe.
It’s still rough, it’s just the text exported from Google Docs with no layout or graphic design. I’d like to work with an editor and artist to make a more complete and professional version.
You can also download my entry from last year’s FIST game jam, Zow, a time loop thing that also needs a lot of polish.
Breaking into comics in 2026
I’ve come across two short videos on breaking into the comics industry recently:
First, Mark Waid’s advice. It boils down to: Do a digital comic, release it on a regular schedule. Keeping a schedule is key.
Second, Che Grayson, writer of the new Absolute Catwoman series. She starts with first principles: Buying and reading lots of comics, making a comic, and going to conventions.
Bonus:
Mark Waid on the Off Panel podcast (He talks about this advice, and about a million other things)
Che Grayson on Off Panel (Likewise)
Media Diet
Tabs
TV and Film
I saw “Barbenheimer for sickos”: Backrooms (which I loved) and Obsession (which I didn’t like).
Music
Jill turned me onto the darkwave/industrial/electro musician Street Fever recently.
We also did a little record shopping recently, where I picked up Ray Lynch’s follow-up to Deep Breakfast, No Blue Thing, which I haven’t listened to yet.
Logoff
Well, until next time, that’s quite enough out of me.
Keep in touch
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