SPECTATORS - Part 42

Plus, an important poll about variant covers in comics!

How is it already Monday again?!

Brian here, hoping your weekend didn’t evaporate as quickly as mine just did. Have you finished all of your holiday shopping yet? Or even started? If you’re still not sure what to get those hard-to-please loved ones on your list, why not gift them a subscription to Exploding Giraffe and our periodically pornographic pages of Spectators?

What’s that, you say? That’s an insane present to give another human being? Right. Fair enough.

For what it’s worth, there’s no graphic sex in today’s installment from artist/co-creator Niko Henrichon and letterer Fonografiks, just some more eye-popping spectacle as our ghosts Val and Sam continue to ascend into the heavens, waiting to see if nuclear war breaks out on the land of the living far below.

(And if you’re a new reader, welcome! You can catch up on the first 100+ pages of our serialized epic right here, always 100% free to read.)

Spectators 111 113

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Spectators 111 113

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Another decadent double-page spread? What is this, Shaolin Cowboy?

Seriously, if you’re reading this on your phone, I’d encourage you to please check out Niko’s extraordinary work on a tablet or other larger, brighter screen as soon as you get a chance.

Either way, more hints as to what the hell is going on in this nutty story coming next Monday…

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Thanks to the many of you lovely giraffes who became paid subscribers in what we call “The Tower” last Friday, and got access to my old pilot script for the unmade sci-fi series Smokers. More people read that story this past weekend than over the last twelve years since I wrote it, which I deeply appreciate.

If you’d like to check out that script, or my comedy screenplay Roundtable, or ANY of the hours and hours of exclusive bonus material from Niko and me, everything is always accessible to Tower members through our archives, so thanks for considering joining up today.

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Last week, I was sad to learn about the death of influential comic-book pioneer Aline Kominsky-Crumb. I think Julia Wertz, one of my other favorite cartoonists, put it best on her Instagram:

Deepest condolences to everyone who loved her.

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It’s been a rough year for comic creators, and Peter David (THE definitive Marvel writer of my upbringing) recently suffered some serious health problems. If you’re able to help him at the moment, you can make a donation here, thanks so much.

(I know some of our international readers are baffled and/or horrified by the need for so many American creators to turn to crowdfunding to assist with their medical expenses, but that’s a conversation for another day. For now, your support can be life-saving, so thanks for however you’re able to give.)

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Speaking of ongoing debates in our industry, recently, there’s been a lot of talk about the explosive growth of “variant editions,” comics released with multiple different covers to the same issue.

I wanted to discuss my own conflicted feelings about this phenomenon in a future installment, but first, I thought I’d take YOUR temperature with another exhilarating Exploding Giraffe Poll!

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Finally, presuming I can figure out anything to do with technology, this Friday’s bonus content exclusively for paid subscribers will be the latest episode of Mature Readers, my occasional podcast-thing focusing on comic books made for adults.

And this week’s guest is the definition of “needs no introduction,” it’s none other than Robert Kirkman!

We’re planning to record this one later this week, so if YOU have any burning questions for Robert about his comics, multimedia empire, or beard-grooming habits, please share them below:

And I’ll meet you loyal Tower members back here on Friday for your chance to listen AND win some cool stuff.

Stay well,

BKV