BKV's Top Ten Things to Do in Norway
SPECTATORS - Part 57
Do you know any good tips for managing jet lag?
Brian here, and along with no longer being able to ride the Corkscrew at Cedar Point nor safely process McDonald’s dollar menu, my aging body has apparently also lost the ability to efficiently adapt to different time zones. I woke up at 3am last night like Ra’s al Gaul emerging from the Lazarus Pit, consumed with psychotic rage. Is this my life now?
Anyway, nice to be back home after a spring break adventure overseas, but more on that in a bit. First up, it’s time for our 57th installment of Spectators from my unstoppable collaborators, artist/co-creator Niko Henrichon and letterer Fonografiks.
New readers can catch up on our serialized NSFW graphic novel anytime via the Exploding Giraffe Archives, but if you’re already up to speed, let’s rejoin incorporeal specters Val and Sam as they search for the truth about who detonated a deadly nuclear device in Disneyland.
I don’t think you’ll want to miss next week’s development, as our epic tale finally nears its halfway mark.
As always, you generous paid subscribers in The Tower continue to make our story possible, so huge thanks for your support!
I ended last week’s preview of Saga #63 by asking, When’s the last time you took an actual vacation?
And I was struck by something my friend/Y the Last Man collaborator Goran Sudžuka said:
My last vacation was last September. Rented a house by the sea on a beautiful island of Vis in Adriatic Sea and spent two weeks there with my wife and kid. Nothing unusual for this part of the world, we take our vacations seriously, as a basic human right.
While Croatia (and much of the rest of the world) might view vacations as a basic human right, that doesn’t seem to be the case here in the States, as evidenced by these randomly selected posts from last week’s chat thread:
B_Mac_and_Cheese:
About a year ago my wife and I went to Playa Del Carmen. Two weeks ago we had our first child and work is making me use my vacation PTO. It’s been the wildest ride of my life, but I wouldn’t call it a vacation.
Katrina:
Shit….I’m a restaurant manager, we barely get holidays off so vacations are few and far between. There is always a phone call or email to be answered but I guess I’d say my last one was July of 2022 for SDCC. Between all my failed attempts to get the golden ticket to meet Brian at the Image booth and the work calls I took I’d call it like a mini absence. Always fun. I look forward to this year. BUT I also just lost my job so maybe this counts as a vacation?? I’ll take it.
a closer listen:
“When was your last vacation” should have a straightforward answer, but as a lowly PhD student, I’m often only able to travel by combining vacation with conferences and research travel, and thus put some of our miniscule funding to good use. Last summer was the first time since the pandemic began that I was able to leave North America, so I combined a conference in Rome and an artist residency in the rural south with a good old fashioned week at the beach. Sure, I was still “working” the entire time, but beach time is beach time. That said, after my oral defense next month, I fully intend to take a work-free trip this summer.
I wish I could say that those overworked commenters were the exception, but they most definitely were not.
Sorry I can’t help with my country’s hopelessly broken relationship to labor, but I CAN offer the above three Tower members a signed copy of Saga, which they can hopefully enjoy during their next break, whenever the hell that might be.
For this week’s bonus content, rather than giving you more scripts or whatever from my past projects, I thought I’d shake things up with a rare glimpse into my dumb private life, and share some photos from my family’s recent getaway to Norway, an excursion my wife and I had years ago promised our troll-obsessed kids (mythological trolls, not the shitty Dreamworks ones) that we’d all take if/when the pandemic ever let up.
Because we opted to travel during Norway’s off-season for tourists, the trip was surprisingly affordable, but I still feel moderately guilty about showing off our globetrotting while many of you just admitted to not being able to take a single day off. For what it’s worth, I spent much of the trip hiding in hotel rooms/train cars working on future issues of Saga, so not exactly a vacation, but still…
To take the sting out of being forced to endure someone else’s boring holiday slideshow, I’ll also be awarding one random Tower member this Norway Prize Pack, including a hardcover graphic novel from Norwegian cartoonist Jason, three signed comics from red-hot Marvel creator/my dear pal Torunn Grønbekk (who was just announced as the writer of the forthcoming Realm of X), AND a whopping 100 Norwegian Krone (like nine bucks and change).
Details how to win after our polar paywall, but for everyone else, have a wonderful week, and I’ll see you back here next Monday for more free Spectators!
BKV's Top Ten Things to Do in Norway
10) Have Your Kid Wake You Up Just in Time to Spot the Northern Lights Outside Their Window Seat
I was screaming like Shatner in Nightmare at 20,000 Feet.
9) Visit Outland, a Vast, Subterranean Comic Book Store in Oslo
I still can’t get over the scope and selection of this wonderful establishment (and not just because they appeared to have every single Image trade ever in stock, in multiple languages).
8) Enjoy Candlelight Breakfasts, Candlelight Lunches, Candlelight Snacks…
Here are two of the first things I learned about Norway:
It is constantly fucking burning down.
Norwegians don’t give a shit; they are absolute FIENDS for open flames, and love leaving them unattended in ways that terrified these pyrophobic Angelenos.