SPECTATORS - Part 88
Plus, BKV's favorite original comic art of 2023!
I left my writing cave again.
Brian here, and I just finished a draft of a screenplay I’ve been working on since the strike ended, so I finally put on hard pants to interact with other humans in the outside world over the weekend.
What a blast I had attending the emotionally intense and occasionally horrifying (at one point, a masked performer placed what appeared to be a real human tooth in my hand) immersive theatrical experience The Shape of the Night, where I had the dreamlike joy of running into a few of you lovely Exploding Giraffe readers, including loyal Tower member Chris Tonick.
Anyway, I hope you had a delightfully surreal weekend, too. Artist/co-creator Niko Henrichon spent much of his weekend working on the following epic double-page spread that concludes this particularly violent (and naked) sequence of Spectators, lettered as always by the fantastic Fonografiks. Thanks for reading their beautiful efforts on the biggest, brightest screen you’ve got…
I realize that future readers of our completed graphic novel will devour in a few minutes (seconds?) this entire thirty-page Central Park scene that you weekly readers have been marinating in over the months it took us to produce. I don’t know if one experience is “better” than the other, but Niko and I are very grateful to you for making both possible.
A new chapter in Sam and Val’s story begins next week and continues the Monday after that, but a heads-up that Exploding Giraffe will be CLOSED the Mondays of December 25th and January 1st, before returning with more new Spectators on January 8th, cool?
Thanks to everyone who picked up the latest Saga trade at their local comic shop last week!
As I mentioned in my dumb Instagram over the weekend, unlike our brick-and-mortar partners, some online retailers appear to be struggling to keep up with demand. Or maybe they were just upset about this past cover…?
Either way, thanks for always shopping at your friendly neighborhood comic/bookstore.
We also promised to send out signed copies to a few randomly selected paid subscribers in The Tower, and our first lucky winners of December are:
Sunyoung Chong
Pete Nikolai
Karen Fernandes
Congrats, and our intern Genesis the Exploded Giraffe (who just sent out a bunch of November prizes) will be reaching out for your mailing addresses soon.
Speaking of The Tower, we learned the considerable depths of your generosity after I asked which charity you would play for as a contestant on Celebrity Jeopardy! And we also learned that some of you, like Elaine Wilson, have actually already played (and won!) on the “regular” version of said show:
When I was on Regular Jeopardy (one-day champ, March 2019) I played for the charity of My Credit Cards, but on Celebrity Jeopardy I’d play for the ACLU—if they let me be so “political.”
Amazing, Elaine.
But for today’s Question of the Week, I thought we’d shove aside our better angles and instead embrace end-stage capitalism by asking: What’s #1 on your personal wish list for this holiday season?
And we’re talking consumer goods or some other kind of physical object, no “peace on Earth” bullshit. That’s just greedy.
A few randomly selected commenters will win any article of clothing their heart desires from the Saga Threadless Shop, including this long-awaited new item:
Finally available in many different colors, t-shirt varieties, etc.
But it’s this new “cut and sew” shirt of Fiona Staples’ iconic Chapter 34 cover that has fashionistas everywhere swooning:
Would it be weird if I got several of those and just made it my official daily uniform?
If you’re new to Exploding Giraffe, WELCOME, and I regret to inform you that you’re just in time for 2023’s final installment of my semiannual descent into art-collecting madness…
Come Up and See My Etchings
Last week, my buddy Jeff Yorkes forwarded me this tweet (or whatever the fuck tweets are called now)…
…since Jeff recognized one of those villainous Kissinger pages (as featured in a previous edition of C.U.a.S.M.E.) from the wall of my office bathroom:
And the next day, my other filmmaker pal Dan Kanemoto sent me this post…
…since Dan recognized that massive Robert Stromberg matte painting from another wall here at To Be Continued headquarters.
Clearly, I have a problem, one that the writers’ strike mercifully curtailed this year.
But now that I’m back to work on my Hollywood side hustle, I was able to resume my decadent hobby, and pick up a few modest pieces of comic art that nevertheless inspire me every time I look at them.
Here are my seven faves of 2023:
#7
While I was walking the picket line during the aforementioned WGA strike, I ran into writers Kevin Smith and Marc Bernardin (as they discussed in this episode of their podcast Fat Man Beyond), and I mostly bothered Kev with questions about original comic art, as I’d heard he owns a few grails that are now probably quite valuable.
I don’t think I’m solely responsible for Kevin auctioning off much of his collection just a few months later, but I took advantage of the moment to pick up this gem from his run on Green Arrow. It features Onomatopoeia, a clever supervillain Smith created with killer artist (and fellow collector) Phil Hester, with inks by Andre Parks, letters by Sean Konot, and a perfect sound effect referencing my one-time Bat-editor Bob Schreck:
#6
I’m fortunate enough to have ridden my collaborators’ coattails to a few Eisner Awards, but I was never able to meet the legendary Will Eisner himself. Still, I met Stan Lee a few times, so I like to think that this sketch of the Spirit that Eisner gifted to Lee brings me one small degree of separation closer to the late master:
By the way, looks like Eisner drew this for Stan during his episode of The Comic Book Greats, which you can (unofficially) find online.
#5
From 1962’s Mad Magazine #70, here’s the title logo for “Spy vs. Spy,” a silent comic (its creator didn’t speak much English) about the absurdity of war by famed editorial cartoonist Antonio Prohias, who was forced to flee Cuba after Fidel Castro accused him of working for the C.I.A.
After our regularly scheduled paywall, I’ll share a few more works of art, including one that used to belong to my neighbor Harlan Ellison, a genuine piece of Marvel Comics history, and whatever the hell is inside this gigantic box:
Everyone else, have a wonderful week, and I’ll see you back here next Monday evening for more free Spectators!