Want an advance copy of SPECTATORS?
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Hi, how are things in your neck of the woods?
Brian here, and I was meeting some chums in downtown Los Angeles over the weekend when I spotted these masked young people charging up the steps of City Hall.
Gonna be an interesting summer, huh?
Seems like an excellent time for some globetrotting, so I’m happy to share that I’ll be doing several signings across the United States and Europe over the next few months, starting with San Diego Comic-Con this July.
Sorry that co-creator Niko Henrichon won’t be with me at SDCC, but he and I have several joint appearances in the works in support of Spectators, so please stay tuned to Exploding Giraffe for our complete schedules and more details.
Speaking of Spectators, Niko and I were honored/relieved to read this early review of our collected graphic novel from the fine folks at Library Journal, who wrote:
A visually ambitious, thematically daring, and powerfully unsettling supernatural romance that veers into incendiary social critique.
This physical edition of Spectators is slightly expanded and gently revised from the version you may have already read in serialized form online, and I can’t tell you how cool it is to finally be able to hold in my hands the last three years of Niko’s hard work.
Our 344-page hardcover will be in comic/bookstores this September (for just thirty bucks!), and Image Comics recently sent me a big crate of these softcover Advance Reader Copies.
If you’re interested in potentially receiving a signed copy of this “A.R.C.”, please let us know in our comments section (temporarily reopened to all readers):
Why would YOU like an advance copy of Spectators? Are you a retailer? Do you review comics/books online? Were you a founding or longtime member of The Tower who deserves a hard copy of the story you helped underwrite, gosh darn it?
Alternately, you can just let us know how your 2025 has been!
Either way, Spectators is the definition of “intended for mature audiences,” so this drawing is only open to readers 18 or older, please.
Our former intern Genesis the Exploded Giraffe has generously offered to come out of retirement long enough to randomly select a few commenters, and they’ll reach out for your mailing address if your name’s lucky enough to be chosen.
Changing gears, I was very sad to learn of the passing of writing legend Peter David, whose work had a tremendous impact on me growing up, a fact that I’m proud somehow made it into my sporadically accurate Wikipedia bio:
PAD was known for his sharp sense of humor, but I loved how fucking angry a lot of his work was.
He wasn’t just a devout fan of the fictional worlds he wrote about, Peter was also deeply engaged with the horrors of the real world, and he smuggled a lot of adult wisdom into his all-ages stories, even his work on licensed tie-ins (where a lot of authors might phone it in, but where PAD always gave everything he had).
I’m grateful that I got to meet him in person several years ago and fanboy out about how much offbeat series like Spider-Man 2099 and X-Factor meant to me. My deepest condolences to his family, friends, and everyone who loved him.
I was in a bit of a self-imposed media blackout while finishing a new screenplay, but I’m finally starting to catch up on my reading/watching/listening, and had three quick recommendations for you.
Author Joe Hill was kind enough to send me an advance copy of King Sorrow, his dementedly unconventional fantasy thriller about young people in late 80s/early 90s Maine who get into a spot of trouble, and do the only sensible thing to get out of it: summon a goddamn dragon.
I’m already halfway through this 877-page epic, and I’m loving every unpredictable interlude and batshit setpiece. King Sorrow belongs to one of my favorite sub-genres: a gigantic beast of a novel that’s as propulsive as the best short stories.
Sorry you’ll have to wait until October to read it for yourself, but you can order a signed/personalized copy right now.
Readers of Spectators will not be surprised to hear that I’m also obsessed with Dying for Sex, an FX miniseries about a woman who’s diagnosed with terminal cancer, and blows up her life to seek out her first real orgasm with a partner.
Crackling dialogue and sterling performances, especially from Michelle Williams. I know this subject matter isn’t for everyone, but I think you in particular reading these words right now will feel, like me, that it was made just for us.
Finally, I wasn’t familiar with the work of New Yorker cartoonist John Cuneo, but this cover (to a collection of some of the most “licentious” drawings from his sketchbooks) inspired me to pick it up.
Sure enough, the single-page comics in Good Intention are all hilarious, sexy, and/or unsettling. Highly recommended for my fellow weirdos.
Okay, time for me to get back to writing this new comic series for an old friend (while Fiona Staples is hard at work on our bonkers next arc of Saga, thanks for your eternal patience!), but I look forward to hearing what you’ve been up to in the comments.
Niko and I will check back in with the rest of you lurking spectators in a few weeks, so thanks again for letting us into your inboxes.
Peace,
BKV
Holy cow! So nice to hear from so many of you. While you’re waiting to find out whether or not you won from Genesis, I hope you’ll check out our favorite new Substack from brilliant writer Ruth McKee: https://momentofruth.substack.com/p/jacaranda-season?utm_source=post-banner&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=posts-open-in-app&triedRedirect=true
I FEEL LIKE NOAH THE WAY I NEED THAT ARC!!!