SPECTATORS - Part 110
Plus, BKV chats with writer Darcy Van Poelgeest!
How about some good news for a change?
Brian here, and I’ve mentioned in the past how much I love the band Eels, and recently, frontman Mark Oliver Everett (aka “E”) revealed that he had successful open heart surgery.
In a letter bursting with gratitude, E mentions his late father, renowned physicist Hugh Everett III, who first proposed the parallel universe interpretation of quantum mechanics:
The only good thing that came out of my father dying of a heart attack at age 51 was it taught me to stay on top of heart health. So I’ve had yearly scans to keep an eye on things, and it became apparent that, although I felt fine and had no symptoms, my aorta, the main artery that carries blood from the heart to the rest of the body, had an aneurysm and if I didn’t replace it soon it was bound to explode and make me feel symptoms of… death. Probably sometime in the next few months. This isn’t related to what happened to my father, but it was because of him that I found out about this. So thank you to my father, Hugh Everett III, who gave me a parallel universe to presently reside in: one where I’m still alive.
Goddamn, I am so happy that E is still rocking hard in our universe. Every track off his new album Eels Time! has been incredible so far, and I can’t wait to listen to the whole thing when it drops this Friday.
Meanwhile, in this latest installment of Spectators from artist/co-creator Niko Henrichon and letterer Fonografiks, our spectral protagonist Val (wearing her ever-present Eels concert shirt!) heads in a new direction with her ghostly companion Sam, across the suddenly war-torn Manhattan of tomorrow…
Wow. You can feel a story behind every single window, right?
Niko’s latest breathtaking double-page spread means a lot to me, and not just because of my own weird personal connection to the real New York City building it’s showcasing.
But more on that in a future installment (and you can catch up on past installments anytime in our Exploding Giraffe Archives). For now, it’s time to give away another invaluable piece of Niko’s hand-painted original artwork…
…and intern Genesis the Exploded Giraffe had randomly selected one of you generous paid subscribers: Ross B.
Congrats, Ross, and thanks very much for your ongoing support. If you missed out on this page, you still have the rest of 2024 to join your fellow giraffes in The Tower and be automatically entered in our fabulous final giveaways (or you can just head over to Essential Sequential and purchase some beautiful art; your call):
Tower members also get full access to the past thirty months’ worth of our bonus nonsense, and if you didn’t see last week’s complete Artopsy, you missed out on several all-new Henrichon masterpieces, including this gem:
And some magical time-lapse videos to boot:
If you just joined us, please be sure to check out all of Niko’s past artistic autopsies, including his illustrated travelogue to my glitzy/grimy neck of the woods…
My most anticipated finale of the year has finally arrived.
From the freshly Eisner nominated team of Ed Brubaker, Marcos Martín and Muntsa Vicente, the last issue of Friday just debuted at pay-whatever-the-hell-you-want wonderland Panel Syndicate.
I’ll let Marcos tell us more…
Friday finale... finally!
This is it. At long last, after four years, the ninth and final chapter of FRIDAY has arrived. I'm really sorry it has taken us this long to get it all done but I promise you Ed, Muntsa and myself have given our best to bring you the conclusion to our post-YA series.
Will Friday make it back from the past? What is the White Lady's secret plan for Kings Hill back in the present time? And what future awaits our heroes... if any? All will finally be revealed in this monster sized 54 page final chapter!
So we've reached the end of the ride and I just wanted to thank you all for your support and your patience as we slowly trudged through the snowy paths of this story. Hard to believe the first issue came out just as the pandemic hit. I wish I could say the world is in a better place but reality seems to be dead set on proving this wrong. I hope we could at least bring a little bit of joy with this book.
Anyway, you can find the conclusion to the series at panelsyndicate.com for whatever price you want to pay, including zero.
Thanks again and hope to see you all again soon!
A perfect final issue, with one of the loveliest last pages ever.
I don’t know if Hollywood Brubaker needs the dough, but Marcos and Muntsa deserve a fortune for their innovative work on this groundbreaking story, so I hope you’ll throw them a few bucks for their 54-page (!) conclusion.
Finally, I wanted to rave about another excellent comic I just read, one that will be on shelves at your friendly neighborhood retailer this Wednesday from Image Comics: Precious Metal #1 by the team of writer Darcy Van Poelgeest, artist Ian Bertram and colorist Matt Hollingsworth:
MINISERIES PREMIERE
Thirty-five years before the events of LITTLE BIRD, VOL. 1: THE FIGHT FOR ELDER'S HOPE, disillusioned mod-tracker Max Weaver's routine hunt for a modified child takes a grisly and unexpected turn. Now, saddled with an unpredictable mod who may be the key to unlocking his missing memories, Max will soon find that he isn’t the only one interested in the child’s unique abilities—and if he wants to know more, it’s going to cost him everything.
Eisner Award-winning creative team DARCY VAN POELGEEST and IAN BERTRAM reunite for their gripping return to the dystopian American Empire.
So yeah, this prequel is the long-awaited follow-up to the team’s Little Bird, and while you don’t need to have read that miniseries to have your mind blown by Precious Metal, I highly recommend picking up the gorgeous collection if you haven’t already.
I met writer/director/affable Canadian genius Darcy Van Poelgeest at NYCC back in 2019, and recently, he was kind enough to send me some advance copies of Precious Metal, an exquisite excerpt of which I’ve attached below, and implore you to give a gander:
I’ve now read the first two issues of this miniseries and I absolutely love it… but you longtime readers of Exploding Giraffe already know what happens to many unfortunate creators who dare send me free comics to enjoy:
BKV SABOTAGES DARCY VAN POELGEEST WITH TEN AWKWARD QUESTIONS
1) Congrats again on the spectacular new book, Darcy. If you were about to be executed, what would you have for dessert with your final meal?
Thank you for taking the time to read it and to invite me over to this prestigious newsletter for a chat!
Without question, I would request a slice of Granny Smith apple pie and an Americano (cream, no sugar). In my experience, this combination can turn any day around!
2) I was surprised to read in your newsletter that your first comic may have been an issue of G.I. Joe. (My wife is Canadian and her parents wouldn’t let her near those toys, since they thought it was all just “propaganda for the American war machine.”) Anyway, if you were a Joe, what would your codename be?
I think your wife’s parents were most likely correct but by the time I was old enough to discover G.I. Joe it was more of a superhero book. If I was a Joe, I’d probably be Swamp Ghost. That’s a loose translation of my last name and I think it appropriately captures my fighting style of just ghosting the team mid-battle and hiding out in a swamp until we’d overtaken Cobra, at which time I’d wander into the smoldering remains of battle and utter something about it being a tough fight.
3) You’re an accomplished film director, and I presume from this old illustration by the incomparable Ian Bertram…
…that your artistic collaborator is also a sophisticated cinephile. So why the hell are you two slumming it in comics?
Because if it’s good enough for BKV, it’s good enough for me! And I’d never looked at it that way. I love comics and I love films and I would happily slide back and forth between mediums for the rest of my life but because I love writing so much, and because I value creative control above all else, comics is just a great fit for me. LITTLE BIRD came out at a time when I’d sort of hit a roof of what I was going to accomplish in Vancouver, Canada as a filmmaker (that’s a much longer interview) and I saw this opportunity to tell stories I wanted to tell, the way I wanted to tell them, in a medium I love, and haven’t looked back. But if someone wants to give Ian and I money to make a film, I mean - I doubt they’d regret it.
4) Speaking of you and Ian, why do collaborations between Canadians and Americans make for the absolute best comics 100% of the time?
I asked my kids this at dinner after reading through the questions and they said it’s because Canadians have the brains and Americans have the boldness. Haha. I mean…that seems unfair but I kind of get how they’d come to that conclusion based on their limited understanding of the history and politics surrounding these countries. But the truth, when it comes to the collaboration between Ian and myself, is that neither of us are scared to push ourselves at the risk of failure, and although it’s impossible to make the best comics 100% of time - we make the best comics for us!
5) Seriously, the first issue of Precious Metal is magical. I won’t publish this moment if it’s too much of a spoiler, but I think this page…
….is one of the best, most elegantly executed pages of comics I’ve read in a very long time, the perfect example of a writer, artist, colorist, and letterer combining forces to create something even greater than the considerable sum of their parts.
So I guess my question is: how the fuck did you all pull this off?
Go ahead and publish the page. If we can’t spoil it in here, then where?
I think this is a result of just working with great collaborators who are also very good at what they do, which are two different skill sets. We don’t tend to experiment all that much in terms of how a page is laid out (although a bit more-so in future issues) but within the panels themselves we’re always looking to embrace what comics do best. I like each panel to carry a very specific beat and personal perspective so I quite often do this kind of POV exchange in a scene and Ian just made the whole sequence brilliant with his design of Yoru (the globby guy), and how the character functions, as well as narrowing each panel as we move through the scene to convey time collapsing in on our protagonist. Matt Hollingsworth colours it brilliantly and adds a subtle blur around the edges so you feel the depth of the tunnel being created. Then Hass [outstanding letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou] sees the opportunity to layer the words in behind Yoru’s bits as though sound is being closed off or muffled, and there you have it. Comics! I love it.
6) What is a shitty aspect of writing that nobody ever warns you about?
I think the shittiest thing about writing, specifically comics, that not enough people understand is that writing is only half the job. There are so many things that require your time and attention that are decidedly NOT writing.
I’m an early riser and almost always excited to get to the keyboard in the morning but find 50% of my day is taken up by managing everything else that’s required to make a series or book happen. It’s exhausting. But this is also partly on me, I could eliminate some of this by working more consistently with an editor (particularly on Image books) but at the same time, I feel the project slipping away from me when I do that. But I’ve cheated here, haven’t I? Because this isn’t really about writing.
I suppose the only other thing I could come up with, that’s writing specific, is research. I hate doing research. No one ever warns you about how much it sucks doing research, probably because a lot of writers genuinely love that side of it. Weirdos.
7) What?? Research is the greatest form of writerly procrastination ever created! But I am indeed a weirdo.
Regardless, last great movie you saw in the theater?
Probably Dune, which I thought was great. But I have to go back a few years to The Green Knight before I recall something that stood out as particularly interesting, which is all I’m ever after these days. I think about that one all the time.
8) The planet seems closer to the brink of annihilation than ever. Are we really doomed, or am I just middle-aged and incapable of imagining a world that will continue long after I’m forced to exit the party?
I totally get this feeling and I think that does have something to do with it. But the way I understand it we are getting close to reaching peak human population, so it makes sense to me that anyone, of any age, would feel this impending doom. The idea of growth is becoming more difficult, and yet we are trapped in a system where we’re only rewarded for growth. Where growth is intrinsically tied to any sense of happiness and optimism. But I’m an optimist! If I look past that, a hundred years from now, when population is on the decline, I feel pretty good about the future.
Bonus story if there’s space...
I walked into the big Toronto library the other week, ahead of TCAF, and some old Italian guy asked me to sit with him so he could lecture me on philosophy. He had a cardboard cut out sign with something illegible written on it. So with all the red flags firmly in place, I sat down and listened for a while until he concluded that without philosophy the world would end. And then I corrected him by saying that even if that was true, it would not be the end of world. It would be the end of humanity. There’s a difference. He took exception to this comment and the conversation ended there. But I feel like it’s more important than ever to see ourselves as separate from the planet. So perhaps we are doomed, but the planet will be just fine! Or at least until the sun consumes it...
9) MANDATORY SUPERHERO QUESTION: Any interest in tackling existing characters for “The Big Two”?
Absolutely. The only reason I haven’t done that to date is because no one’s asked (not that they should have). But that said, it’s also not something I’ve prioritized.
I have so many stories of my own that I’m excited to tell that taking time away from that to build pitches for existing properties (that probably result in “no”) just doesn’t feel like time well spent. But should the opportunity present itself, I’d probably take a run at it. The dream scenario at this point would be someone giving Ian and I a mini-series and letting us run with it (to whatever extent DC or Marvel is able to do that).
10) Best place to meet someone for a beverage when visiting Vancouver?
That’s a tough one because I don’t get out all that much but I’m going to say Britannia Brewing here in Steveston village, about 30 mins outside of downtown Vancouver. Delicious craft beer on tap. And if it’s more of a coffee thing, probably 49th Parallel & Lucky’s Doughnuts on Vancouver’s Main street. It’s spacious, and it has a fireplace. It has donuts and coffee!
Thanks so much again for the awesome answers/comics, Darcy, and let’s meet up next time I’m in Vancouver! So many of my favorite comic creators/humans live there.
Darcy was nice enough to offer a signed copy of Precious Metal #1 to one of you lucky readers, and Genesis will randomly select a commenter from this week’s chat thread to receive that precious prize.
Today’s question: How’ve you been?
Seems like pretty much everyone has had a particularly rough year, so just checking how you’re holding up.
Niko, Fonografiks and I will be back with more free Spectators next Monday, so until then, in the words of E, remember to “stay on top of heart health,” yours and others.
Peace,
BKV
I retire on Thursday (city job in NYC). Looking forward to this next chapter in my life.
Well. It's been a bastard of a year so far, to be honest. Six weeks ago, my stepfather passed after a very short battle with pancreatic cancer. Not be outdone, my youngest sister passed away thirteen days later. Fentanyl. I mention that because it's such a goddamn plague in this country and I wish we could end this nightmare. My poor mother is putting on a brave face, but losing your husband and youngest child in less than two weeks is just ridiculous. My sister had a closet full demons and a knack for burning bridges, so it had been a few years since I last spoke to her, but she is still my sister. A couple weeks ago, my niece, her oldest daughter, and I drove to the East St. Louis area to clean out the room she died in and a storage locker she had, and to make sure everything was square with the roommate who found her body. It was freaking surreal. It took us two days of sifting through what to take, toss and/or donate. Emotionally, it's hit me differently then I thought it would, and yes, I am talking to someone about it. Sorry. Not trying to bring everybody down. Venting this actually helps and you did ask, Brian (BTW thanks for another week of this, sir, as I truly look forward to it and the awesome people here).