SPECTATORS - Part 93
Plus, some lost treasures from BKV's childhood bookshelf!
Well, how are you feeling about the future?
Brian here, trying my best not to be pessimistic about the state of the world, but also finding myself increasingly drawn to the comforting safety of that imaginary fantasy realm known as “the past.”
More on that in a bit, but first, my fearless collaborators Niko Henrichon and Fonografiks just completed three gorgeous new pages of Spectators (including a detailed double-page spread you’ll want to study on the biggest screen you’ve got), as our spectral protagonists Val and Sam meet two other old ghosts still haunting New York City several centuries from now…
226 pages!
I’m so grateful to Niko and Fonografiks for nearly two years of tireless dedication to our increasingly epic graphic novel. Can’t wait for you to see where the three of us will be taking this unconventional ghost story for its final act.
You know the score: past installments free to read here, new pages coming next week, and if you want to go deeper…
You are an extremely literate bunch.
In last week’s chat threat with you generous paid subscribers in The Tower, we were discussing which (non-graphic) novels everybody’s been reading so far this year, and lots of you have already finished more books than I’ve had time to start in 2024.
I added many, MANY of your excellent-sounding titles to my towering to-read stack, but only one reader could be awarded a signed copy of this out-of-print collection of The Escapists, a quasi-sequel to one of my favorite novels, Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay…
…and our deconstructed intern Genesis the Exploded Giraffe randomly selected Andrew B., who wrote:
My New Year’s resolution was to be a better reader. My plan is to read two books a month. The first book that I read this year was Chapterhouse: Dune. I had already read the five other Dune books written by Frank Herbert, but had done so over a lengthy period of time (much too long) and I had never gotten to Chapterhouse yet. So that seemed like the obvious book to start with. The Dune series is exceptional, but I had spread it all out so much I spent a good amount of time on the Wiki trying to remember things. Ultimately, I’m really happy that I finished the (original) series.
My interests are Sci Fi, so I’ve been reviewing a number of “best of” lists and reached out to the r/printSF Redditors to get advice. My next book (being delivered today) is The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin. The Redditors that I spoke with were all VERY big on this book and I’m really excited to read it (and equally excited that it’s much shorter than any of the Dune books, haha). Only 22 more books to pick out and read after that one (and I’m going to peruse these comments to get some ideas)!
Congrats on the win, Andrew, and for making some solid headway on your admirable resolution.
I know I usually recommend more esoteric, “independent” comics/books, but this old nerd isn’t immune to the power of corporate-fueled nostalgia.
Sorry, I forget which comic artist raved about this on Instagram, but if you’re a fan of lavish 1980s commercial illustration and/or fun-filled propaganda for America’s military-industrial complex, you have to check out The Art of G.I.JOE: A Real American Hero Omnibus Hardcover:
Produced with an almost psychotic devotion to detail, this oversized omnibus includes beautiful prints by gifted painters like Hector Garrido, an Argentine-born American illustrator whose name I’m grateful to now know.
A lot of very talented creators put a lot of (sometimes subversive) work into our plastic playthings, and I really enjoyed looking back at it all with “fresh” eyes.
Speaking of which, when I was back home in Cleveland over the break, I pulled a few dusty old tomes off my childhood shelves that I thought might be of interest.
How many of you Gen Xers had this one?
Whoa, I had no idea that this formative tale was written by Andrew Helfer, who I eventually met when he was an editor at DC Comics. Check out that murderers’ row of artists, too.
(And sorry for the sliced-up pages; ever since I was little, I treated comics like activity books whose panels were meant to be cut out and rearranged to suit my own demented narrative impulses. Plus ça change…)
I’ve been able to find some non-vandalized copies of this book online, but none still has the all-important READ-ALONG AUDIO CASSETTE that was originally included in a plastic sleeve on the back cover:
I would guess that my cassette is still inside one of these near-indestructible machines, which was probably sold at a garage sale decades ago:
Look, I’m mortified to be this guy, but in the off-chance you happen to own a copy of that tape (elaborately produced with multiple voice actors and full score, if my fallible memory is correct), I’ll happily trade you a signed copy of the first printing of Saga #1 for it.
You can hit me up in the comments, or email our intern Genesis directly at: explodinggiraffesubstack (at) gmail (dot) com.
For the rest of you, your Question of the Week: What pop culture from your past are YOU most nostalgic for now?
Genesis will randomly select at least one commenter to receive a signed book, and for this wistful installment, let’s go all the way back to a series I started writing twenty (!!) years ago:
Mystique is a reluctant 007, Professor X is her M, and Forge is Q. Pretty fun stuff. I just wish my name weren’t the only one on the cover of this collection, which contains some killer work by artists including Jorge Lucas, Michael Ryan and Manuel García.
Anyway, after the jump, I’ve got several more delightful comic-related books from my halcyon days (including one that I now realize was a massive influence on Exploding Giraffe) to share with those of you in The Tower.
Everyone else, please keep bravely trudging towards tomorrow, and we’ll see you back here next Monday for more free Spectators.