SPECTATORS - Part 121
Plus, a bonus comic by Niko Henrichon!
That was a delightfully uneventful weekend.
Brian here, and I spent the last few days just watching subpar movies and hanging out with my way-above-par family, both very inspiring. Hope you also got to enjoy some rejuvenating downtime with your loved ones and/or middling cinema.
To help ease you back into another week of work and other horrors, we have a lot of fun stuff to share this Monday evening (including a gorgeous sci-fi comic from the mighty Niko Henrichon), but first, the latest pages of Spectators from legendary letterer Fonografiks and aforementioned artist/co-creator Niko, as our ghostly protagonists Val and Sam take front row seats for a scintillating drama unfolding over in the land of the living….
You know the drill: to be continued, catch up anytime in our archives, don’t forget to subscribe/floss/hydrate/etcetera.
Thx.
Last week, The Tower had an illuminating discussion about our various educational experiences so far.
Overtaxed intern Genesis the Exploded Giraffe was tasked with mailing out some signed copies of Saga to a few random commenters, starting with longtime reader Nick, who wrote:
Many highs and lows looking back. I definitely agree with those saying they wished they’d taken more time to slow down and think! Currently working on my Masters in Sustainable Design which has me excited to learn again after just work for 9 years. It’s been amazing to shake off the cobwebs and really dive into something I’m passionate about, they never help you do that in college!
Next up, Brian C. said:
Maaaaaaaaan. I’ve had a literal lifelong journey with education. I’ve taken a few years off here and there. But, I’ve pretty much been in school all my life.
I’m now a 5th grade teacher and this is probably my favorite era of my educational journey. I try my best to get kids excited about learning and becoming lifelong learners. It’s so fun to watch the kids get excited about subjects most people dread.
I should be finally finishing my Masters this coming year. I can’t wait to FINALLY be done with my own schooling!
Thanks for your service, fellow Brian.
Last but certainly not least, writer Amy C. shared:
As the holder of three degrees, people tend to think I’m a lot smarter than I am, so I am grateful that if this comics thing doesn’t pan out I can always get a “real” job. But truthfully, the most practical skills I walked away from MIT with were lockpicking (which everyone knew because someone published their thesis on it) and hustling pool. Wellesley forced me to be less of an introvert so there’s that. Harvard was slightly better; I learned pitching and negotiations which obviously helped in comics. But it sure was an expensive way to go about it...
Exceptionally badass response, lock-picking/pool-hustling Amy.
Genesis will be reaching out for your mailing addresses this week (and they’re still waiting for responses from some of you previous winners of our Threadless merch, so please check your sp@m folders for a possible important message, thanks!).
And speaking of exceptional badasses, Daughter K. Vaughan joined me last week for our second Olivia Rodrigo concert together, this one at Inglewood’s Kia Forum.
You can read all about our first trip to the O.R. (a more intimate performance at the Greek) in this ancient post from the early days of Exploding Giraffe:
Now a seasoned songwriting vet at 21 years of age, Olivia put on a much more epic show than last time, though she and her killer band still managed to connect with the gigantic crowd, even we jaded Gen X chaperones.
And I get it, maybe you’re too hip for today’s “pop” music, but this Pops dares you not to tear up listening to Rodrigo’s devastating making the bed. That song annihilates, dude.
But the highlight for me (and for at least a few of the other middle-aged fathers wearing freshly unfolded “dad idea, right?” t-shirts) was finally getting to see The Breeders, who Olivia wisely requested as her openers.
Kim & Kelley Deal were both in excellent form, and literally set the stage for an unforgettable night that’s still ringing in our ears.
Guts World Tour: Thumbs up, would recommend.
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Right, time for me to turn the controls over to the talented Monsieur Henrichon, but I’ll be back in seven short days with more free Spectators AND a special preview of next week’s new issue of Saga.
- BKV
Hi everyone,
I’m going to talk a little bit but mostly show a small story I did a long time ago, in a pretty cool collective comic book published by Image Comics in 2007 called 24SEVEN.
There was a good bunch of talented artists and writers who were participating on theses comics. Some starting talents like Fabio Moon, Gabriel Ba, Mat Santolouco were in the lineup. Young Kelly Sue DeConnick and Jason Aaron were present too. And our very familiar Spectators letterer Fonografiks did the lettering on many of these short stories.
Writer Ivan Brandon was in charge of this project. We happened to meet online around that time and a bit later became friends and worked together on a very funny Machine Man story for the Marvel Comics Presents series.
Anyway, I accepted the short story assignment and started working on a small scenario for it. When you’re not a proper writer and just have “some cool ideas,” these kinds of experiences can be quite challenging.
So I did what I found to be an easy way in and took some pre-existing material and twisted it to become something else. Even if we lose the original meaning of the source, it doesn’t matter. I always liked the Lafontaine Fables. I’m not sure how popular they are in Anglo-Saxon cultural ecosystems but in French culture, they are everywhere, in the form of books, cartoons, advertising, etc.
So I took one of the most famous, “The Fox and The Crow,” and I completely sabotaged the context, the moral and the meaning of it. It’s just for fun, right?
If you’re curious, here’s a translation of Lafontaine’s Fable:
Master Crow perched on a tree,
Was holding a cheese in his beak.
Master Fox attracted by the smell
Said something like this:
“Well, Hello Mister Crow!
How pretty you are! How beautiful you seem to me!
I’m not lying, if your voice
Is like your plumage,
You are the phoenix of all the inhabitants of these woods.”
At these words, the Crow is overjoyed.
And in order to show off his beautiful voice,
He opens his beak wide, lets his prey fall
The Fox grabs it, and says: “My good man,
Learn that every flatterer
Lives at the expense of the one who listens to him.
This lesson, without doubt, is well worth a cheese.”
The Crow, ashamed and embarrassed,
Swore, but a little late, that he would not be taken again.
And here’s my ruthless futuristic version…
[BKV rudely interrupting to let you know that Tower members will get access to Niko’s complete comic, as well as an amazing animated process guide to his coloring, all after the jump, thanks again!]
