Brian here, and I fucking LOVED this latest movie from writer/director/editor Sean Baker, a romance/drama/comedy involving an exotic dancer from Brooklyn and the kid of a Russian oligarch.
One of my favorite filmgoing experiences since Baker’s equally brilliant The Florida Project. What a pleasure to sit in a theater with other adults and watch a sharp, hilarious, harrowing story with something original to say about sex and violence.
While you look up your nearest showtimes, let’s roll another sumptuously not-safe-for-work installment of Spectators from artist/co-creator Niko Henrichon and letterer Fonografiks, as the three-way that our ghostly protagonists Val and Sam have long been searching for AND the apparent apocalypse both begin in earnest…
As always, you can see exactly how these tragically horned-up characters ended up here via the past 129 vignettes in our free Archives, OR you can join your fellow generous paid subscribers in The Tower and read all 300+ pages of Spectators so far in one convenient download.
When he created that massive file, Niko described it as not unlike watching his life flash before his eyes:
We’ll have one last complete digital collection for you loyal Tower members when Spectators wraps up later this year (and several more exclusive contests/giveaways), so join up now, True Believers!
Or not.
Your call, thanks.
San Francisco-based publisher/gallery/retail shop Silver Sprocket has been doing important work championing “socially conscious and independently produced comic books, graphic novels, and related arts,” and I love that their latest campaign references none other than Kids Rule OK (my contribution to that British classic with artist Chris Burnham is on stands now!).
I just noticed the “BKV+BTK” gag, Burnham!
My cheap plug aside, Silver Sprocket is celebrating 15 years with their first fundraiser, which I strongly encourage all lovers of independent comics to check out:
Celebrating 15 Years & Our First Fundraiser!
In case you missed it, Silver Sprocket is fundraising to truly stay an “independent” press as we gear up for another 15 years of artist-forward, socially conscious comics!
This fundraiser serves as an effort to keep Silver Sprocket sustainable for everyone we’ve worked with, letting local cartoonists use our equipment and resources to make their own comics, year-round community events, initiatives like the Pride In Panels: Queer Comics Festival and to support everyone who works at Silver Sprocket.
These efforts aren’t profit driven, nor do we want them to be—everything we do is central to our mission of supporting indie comics and community above all else.
Silver Sprocket isn’t a traditional business, priding ourselves on our commitment to artists and radical politics first, which is why we’re trying to avoid investor money that could threaten our independence—and instead turning to you, our community.We invite you to continue your relationship with us and help make this fundraiser a success by supporting everyone who makes Silver Sprocket possible!
We’ve got a few different options for how you can show your support. One way is to purchase a print from one of our many talented published artists and supporters. You can get a print from Michael DeForge, Jenn Woodall, Caroline Cash, Tillie Walden, Cam Marshall, and more! Check out just a few of the prints we have to offer below, and click the link here to check out the rest!
You can choose to either buy a monthly or yearly subscription where each month you will automatically be sent each new book we publish that month without having to place an order. Each subscription option can be either for digital or print copies. The only caveat here is that the print subscription is only available for US residents. For now.
When you subscribe you will also receive a discount on ALL store purchases! For a digital subscription, you will get an extra 5% off ALL purchases, and for a print subscription you will get an extra 10% off. The print subscription also comes with a free tote bag and the ability to switch out certain books if you’ve already placed an order for some OR there are some books you’re not interested in.
Haunting cover by artist/co-creator Fiona Staples, with elegant logo and trade dress by Spectators’ own Fonografiks, of course.
And I’m very sorry, I know that latest issue of Saga was originally supposed to be in stores this week, but a small production hiccup means that it will actually be in stores NEXT Wednesday, November 6th.
Deepest apologies again for this slight delay, but Exploding Giraffe will have our regularly scheduled preview of Chapter Seventy for you next Monday evening, cool?
For now, our new 6x9 “commuter-sized” editions of Saga should finally be available in most finer comic stores this week (after an apparent snafu with customs; it’s been a year!), so I thought we could give away a few signed copies.
Since everyone online is blabbing about the presidential race at the moment, let’s offer a little counter-programming. For the third and final time here at Exploding Giraffe (sniff), please allow me to ask: What are you up to this Halloween?
Our intern Genesis the Exploded Giraffe (who’s already mailed off their ballot and would prefer to ignore any/all election talk for at least the next week) will randomly select a few responders to receive a digest with my scribblings.
Comic retailers always receive Image collections first, but if you’re not lucky enough to have a comic shop in your area, bookstores will be getting their own copies of this new edition of Saga next week, on November 5th, so maybe swing by after you vote? (Sorry, Genesis.)
And this new volume makes a great stocking stuffer for any mature readers in your life, in case you want to get a jump on your holiday etcetera:
Finally, in a recent issue of Saga, I included another of our semi-annual Reader Surveys, which you maniacs have been filling out with deeply personal information, ripping out of the back of your comics, and then mailing to my dog(s) for over a decade now.
I promised to share my own answers with those of you in The Tower, so stay tuned for all 25 of my doubtlessly fascinating responses.
Everyone else, remember to check your kids’ Snickers for valuable razorblades, and Niko and I will see you back here next Monday evening for more free Spectators.
2024 SAGA READER SURVEY
1) How’s your eyesight?
I’m both slightly nearsighted and farsighted, and every pair of glasses I’ve tried so far feels like my life is being filmed by an antagonistic cinematographer (and his drunken focus puller), so I’m currently just rawdogging my P.O.V.
Not recommended.
2) If you were a bird, what kind of bird would you be?
Fuck your bald eagle jokes, I fancy myself a Great Owl.
3) Are you worried about how artificial intelligence might impact your job?
To such a degree that my writer friends have begged me to please shut up about it forever.
4) Pickleball: yay or nay?
Sorry, ‘ballers, not a fan of that horrid sound.
5) Have you ever attended an anti-war demonstration?
Sure, and I’ve even written about (a fictionalized version of) one ultimately dispiriting event:
6) If you had to spend six months aboard the International Space Station with one breakfast cereal mascot, living or dead, which mascot would you choose?
I don’t know, Lucky the Leprechaun? Who writes these stupid questions?!
7) Ever been involved in an automobile accident?
As a pedestrian, yeah. Phones down, please, fellow drivers.
8) What’s the hottest sex scene from a television program?
Now we’re talking. Here’s a clip of the only correct answer…
