SPECTATORS - Part 114
Plus, BKVQ&A: The Final Battle!
Happy Canada Day!
Brian here, currently traveling across my neighboring nation to the north for a Top Secret Work Thing. Don’t worry, friends and family back in the States, I’m definitely not laying the groundwork to secretly defect from our increasingly worrisome homeland.
Definitely.
I’ve got to hit the road again shortly, so let’s get straight to this week’s new pages of Spectators from artist/co-creator Niko Henrichon and letterer Fonografiks, as Val’s spectral companion Sam thinks back to a memorable cinematic experience from near the end of his life.
(And Niko—who normally helps my technologically stymied ass convert these lettered images to PDF/CBZ files for you members of The Tower to download each week—is also traveling today, so we’ll include these new pages with next week’s digital batch, cool?)
To be continued next week!
My tireless collaborators and I now have about six months of work left on this epic graphic novel, so if you’ve been considering finally becoming a member of The Tower, I’d recommend joining us at the monthly level (though we certainly appreciate you generous annual subscribers).
Either way, once Spectators is complete, we’ll pause any/all future billing (and give you the option to resume your subscription if/when Niko and/or I ever decide to reactivate Exploding Giraffe for a new project, but more on that in a bit…).
For now, membership still unlocks all previous 175+ installments of bonus content, as well as the cool contests and other fun surprises we’ve got planned for the rest of this year, so thanks very much for sticking with us for the homestretch and helping to make our story’s grand finale possible.
Another Update from My Alarmingly Talented Friends
Y the Last Man artist/co-creator Pia Guerra continues to wow with her fearless political cartoons, which you can read over here. This one hit hard:
On a much, much lighter note, my dear friend/occasional roommate Jeff Yorkes continues to be nominated for accolades for The Muppets Mayhem, the delightful show he helped create. If you enjoyed his irreverent lunacy as much as I did, you and your young ones can now vote for the series in this year’s Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards.
And my other lifelong pal Daniel M. Kanemoto recently created this awesome animated “ride-a-long” of the iconic Disneyland theme park attraction The Haunted Mansion, based on original illustrations by artist James Gilleard. Check it out below, if you dare…
In last week’s dispatch, I mentioned that an Idaho state senator was attempting to have Saga removed from a local library, so this week, it was heartening to read that Rep. Robert Garcia, “the first openly gay immigrant member of Congress,” is an avid of reader of comics, including Saga and Ex Machina (!):
Garcia was just 5 years old when he arrived with his family from Peru and settled in Southern California. He became a citizen in his 20s, and served as the mayor of Long Beach before his constituents helped send him to represent them in Congress starting in 2023 — when he was sworn in on a copy of Superman #1, from 1939.
Spectrum News joined Garcia on a recent trip to Big Planet Comics on U Street in Washington. His eyes lit up as he walked in the locally-owned shop, which he’s been known to frequent every once in a while when he’s in town for work.
“I think one of the first things that people can understand about comics is, it’s a global industry,” Garcia said. “It’s fiction, it’s reading, it’s an American art form. I’ve always said that there’s nothing more that the American art form of fiction has produced that’s been more impactful globally than comic books.”
Most current articles about U.S. politics make me want to climb into a blast furnace, but that one nearly warmed my icy heart.
Lastly today, as promised, it’s time for the ultimate round of…
BKVQ&A
Thanks to everyone for your final probing queries.
If your question was selected for today’s installment, congratulations, you’ll be awarded your choice of apparel from the Official Saga Threadless Shop, where readers will soon be able to pick up this exclusive tee featuring co-creator Fiona Staples’ magnificent cover to Saga #67 (in stores Wednesday, July 31st, ask your friendly neighborhood comic shop to save you a copy today!):
Our latest limited edition shirt will only be available for ONE MONTH, starting the day that issue is released, so mark your calendars.
And winners, our faithful intern Genesis the Exploded Giraffe is still on safari for the next few weeks, so you may not hear from them for a bit, but I promise that Genesis will reach out to you for your selection and mailing address as soon as they’re back on the grid in early August, thanks again for your patience.
And now, let the interrogation commence…
David Something:
BKV, what is your favorite Broadway show?
I was lucky enough to see a fantastic production of Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins in Cleveland when I was still in high school in the early 90s (sorry I can’t remember which theater!), and it’s still my favorite musical.
Can’t imagine it will be performed again on Broadway anytime soon though.
Joshua Leto:
Here’s my (entirely selfish) question: What am I going to do when this online community of kind, generous comics fans dissipates after the conclusion of Spectators? I enjoy the community very much, since I try to avoid the social media endless scroll. I appreciate Ins-a-ram and Blu-s-y, but I find it too easy to waste time. I am a big RSS fan, and newsletters scratch that itch, but the community of commenters makes the difference. Anyway, I know it’s not really a question, just an opportunity to say how much I’ll miss this when it ends. I guess it’s justice for all the times I’ve celebrated the narratives that people didn’t want to end, since in fiction I love an ending.
That’s very sweet of you, Joshua! I love an ending, too.
I’ve had so much fun interacting with all of you brilliant, hilarious, tasteful readers in The Tower over the last 30 months, and also strip-mining my past/present for the bonus material that’s helped underwrite the ongoing creation of Spectators, so I can’t say that I’ll never do something like this again… but after Niko, Fonografiks and I finally complete our story, I do think I’m going to take another extended break from being online, like I did in the imagination-restoring years after closing down the dearly departed BKV Cabal.
But I know a lot of members of that lovely old internet community have kept in touch (and at least two members got hitched), so I hope some of you also made lasting connections with your fellow giraffes.
While I’m not doing any conventions or other appearances this year (sorry, no SDCC for me this month!), I plan to come out of hiding in 2025, so it would be great to meet/catch up with many of you in person. And if you were ever a paid subscriber here, please be sure to let me know when we cross paths, as I’ll bring along some special swag just for you.
For now, you’ve still got another 25 or so Mondays to put up with my ramblings here, so no need to get all nostalgic just yet.
Elaine Wilson:
For BKVQ&A: Who’s your Bond? Who’s your Doctor?
I’m not trying to be contrarian, Elaine, but I recognize both of my answers are probably going to disappoint/enrage folks.
For Bond, Ian Fleming’s novels contain the only “true,” wholly despicable version of 007, but when I was eight years old, my father took my brother and me to see Octopussy in the theater, so I’ll always have a special place in my heart for Sir Roger Moore.
I mean, this is still one of the most beautifully shot scenes in the history of film:
Fill her up, indeed.
As for the Doctor, I’ll have to go with David Tennant… but that’s only because I’ve seen just one complete episode of Doctor Who in my entire life: “Blink.” And it was fucking tremendous! But the completist in me then wanted to go back and consume as much Who-related media as possible, and I think I was just too daunted by the titanic volume of stuff out there.
Maybe I’ll give it another whirl after I retire…
Mlovitz:
As a fellow art collector, there are just too many pieces to buy, and sometimes you have to say, “I wish I could but not this time.” So my question is - which piece of art that you wanted (be it in an auction, through a dealer, directly from an artist or in trade with another collector), but ultimately were unable to get, do you most regret missing out on, and why.
Hey, Michael! I really enjoyed your latest auction recap with the rest of the Comic Art Live crew.
But damn, the “gentle madness” of collecting is a source of constant low-grade misery. There are so many beautiful pieces of art I’ve lost out on that continue to haunt me like a teenage breakup.
Most recently, I narrowly missed pulling the trigger in time for this reasonably priced gem on eBay (being sold by THE Steve Niles?), a swell 1948 illustration to Raymond Chandler’s Red Wind, drawn by Paul Norris (the co-creator of Aquaman!).
Like most things in life, I didn’t realize how much I needed this fragment of noir history until it slipped through my fingers.
Also, I might need to get back into therapy.
David Jakoi:
Is there a PO box I could send a little present to you? Comics. Nothing weird :)
Too kind of you, David! And yes, it’s the same P.O. Box listed at the end of these very emails, which is also the home of Saga’s analog-only letter column:
4335 Van Nuys Boulevard - Suite 332 Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
Which reminds me, To Be Continued wants your mail!
If you’d like to see your letter published in the back of an upcoming issue of Saga (where you’ll also have a good shot at winning one of the very special prize packages now awarded by Milkshake, our new Lead Correspondence Hound), please refresh your cursive skills, ask your grandparents for a stamp, and post us a physical something-or-other today.
Charles O.:
What’s your favorite “adult” site / genre?
My answer to this and other startlingly personal questions after the jump!
Everyone else, Niko and I will see you back here next Monday evening for more free Spectators…