Veitch’s run is different from Moore’s, much less 2000AD, but it did serve as a prototype for what DC would try to make with the Vertigo imprint.
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Cool
i finally read Distant Ruptures, that CF minicomics anthology. i actually hadn’t read much of his before despite being a fort thunder fanboy, maybe less of it just made it to europe for some reason? i think i read Powr Mastrs 1 and William Softkey And The Purple Spider a while later. the thing is that for me they are terrifying comics. i think it’s easier to identify the lowkey humour and weird yearning in mat brinkman’s little guys wandering around infinite dungeon zones, or the wild ranginess and heart in brian chippendale’s if’n’oof, or the more immediately funny ben jones stuff. it always felt like the world in CFs stuff was somehow colder and more unsettling - the sharp geometry layouts, all the stories abt people encountering charged objects or doing something without really realising and then going through bizarre bodily transformations and disappearing. the characters who all have the vibe of like a stranger that you fail a communication check with - staring, laughing at their own private jokes, abruptly turning away, seeming both vaguely malign and just checked out.
it feels like getting to the minicomic stuff was what finally made a lot of it click for me, both the power and excitement in the drawing itself - from all these semi-narrative one-offs and experiments - and also the slightly pained or sad sense of the world. characters have moments of channelling awesome, terrifying energy that sometimes prompt them to megalomania, or the hardened expertise of a GI Joe guy, but mostly remain solitary interlopers in a void world filled with cops. and the moments of expansive imagination and perception are real and exciting but take place in a world where they vanish and leave nothing behind. something abt that combination can be very moving esp in (waves hands vaguely) the current situation… but also there’s just lots on every page to look at. love this guy’s outfit.
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All my comics from the Fantagraphics sale arrived. I am positively giddy 
Trots and Bonnie
Weeks ago, I got the New York Review Comics collection of Trots and Bonnie. It was an incredible read, a one-of-a-kind run that I think would be banned if more people were aware of it. It was drawn for about 20 years by Shary Flenniken. The protagonists are a 13-year-old and her talking dog. It’s drawn like a 30s era Sunday. The characters are obsessed with sex.
They talk about it. They talk about how to do it. They do it. If this were written by a man who assumed this was how women thought, it would be the worst shit imaginable. Instead, it’s written in a confessional sort of way that’s very liberating.
The interview and artist commentary at the end are so worth it.
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I guess I should share one example so that you don’t just take my word for it
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this has a campaign now
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sharp-eye/sharp-eye-issue-1
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At 10:30 p.m. ET, Felker-Martin said she received a phone call from DC Editor in Chief Marie Javins, who told her: “The story of the issue’s release had gone from being celebratory to something that DC and Warner Brothers couldn’t stand behind or defend.” When Felker-Martin asked why this was the case, she says that Javins replied, “That any kind of promotion of violence or harm is unacceptable to them.”
“I said that I’ve listened to Charlie Kirk being an overt Nazi for years of my life, and I had no regrets for what I said about him,” Felker-Martin said.
A DC spokesperson confirms that Felker-Martin was informed of the book’s cancellation in a phone call on Sept. 10, and that Javins was among those on the call, though the spokesperson did not offer further specifics as to the content of the conversations.
Others in the comics world have been less reticent to speak out about the firing. Writer David Brothers wrote of Felker-Martin’s cancellation on Bluesky: “Comicsgate ran wild for years, nurtured by people in comics who really should’ve known better because it kept them relevant or lined their pockets, but this right here is the line to draw? not when your own staff was getting harassed and hassled? C’mon son.”
Writer and academic Roxane Gay, who has previously worked for Marvel Comics, wrote on her own Bluesky account: “It’s an absolute shame that DC fired Gretchen Felker- Martin for exercising free speech. … Every writer here should be decrying this because we have to stand up for each other! This is ridiculous.”
For her own part, Felker-Martin said that she regrets that the rest of her creative team had been drawn into this situation, and that she had spoken privately with them following the book’s cancellation. For DC, however, she remains blunt. Referring to herself as “a more disposable person,” to the publisher, partly due to her transgender identity, she cited instances of what she feels were other controversial writers given more leeway by the publisher, noting specifically two high-profile former writers of Batman, Tom King (a former employee of the CIA during the Iraq War) and Jeph Loeb (accused in 2020 of making disparaging comments about Asian actors on television shows he produced).
“Frankly, I feel that they were interested in my cachet as a transgressive horror author,” Felker-Martin said. “And the moment that became politically and politically disadvantageous for them, they cut and ran.”
She expressed that while she would be very surprised if they offered her work again, the point would be moot, as she would not accept it. “I have no desire to be part of any organization that wants to pretend that people like Charlie Kirk are decent human beings who deserve respect,” she said.
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SPX 2025
Not pictured: the 3D poster I accidentally left on the pay-for-parking kiosk.
Wow, okay this time we bought too much. I don’t think I need to buy comics until 2026. I think I’m good. The man holding a bunch of Breakdown Press books wanted me to buy more. He said, “you’re going to be kicking yourself when you can’t buy these anymore.” He’s probably right! But also, I have other needs!!
Some stray thoughts about my bounty:
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four of these books were translated by Ryan Holmberg, wow! Baby Boom, I Wish I Was Stupid, Flashpoint, and My Gorilla Family. These are also the books I’m most excited to read!
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the most expensive book I got was Goodman Beaver. Denis Kitchen was selling it among a bunch of other old underground comics.
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the cheapest book I bought was $1 and the man sold it to me we the rest of the trilogy. I think he could have been charging more for all of that!
My sister came with us this time and I was really happy she could. We got pizza-inspired Palestinian manoushe that was quite nice. I say pizza-inspired because they had like, halal pepperoni and mozzarella cheese. Rockville has so much good food.
We stayed long enough for Carousel, a live-reading of comics that 5 different artists did. Those artists were mostly pretty cool, but one was really mean for some reason. I’m not going to say who it was…their comic was good, but they were too mean. I can’t read it in good conscience.
I chatted with Brian from Bubbles for a bit and he said that he wants to do Bubblescon 3, but they won’t have any grant money. They can’t put anyone up in hotels, so they might only have local guests. I still can’t wait for whatever happens.
This is my second year seeing frog farm at SPX. They’re really funny, really chill. They have a mascot named critter.
Here’s critter:
Okay, I’m going to try to write about these comics a little as I read them. 
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Baby Boom is my favourite comic, like ever.
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I wondered whether mine had shipped yet, and saw that their main page has this banner at the top. A good sign, I hope.
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I also think if you happened to purchase a pre-order, you won’t get your shipment until it’s released. I haven’t heard anything official about that, but it makes sense since you only pay one shipping cost.
I went to two comic centric functions this weekend and I can attest that James O’Barr and the Perry Bible Fellowship guy are polar opposites personality wise.
Made the strategic call to wear a Cool Jimmy shirt instead of a Megg one and maybe that affected things.
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My Fantagraphics box arrived yesterday. I got a couple books that had been on my list and one impulse purchase:
I read the first volume last night. The art is excellent and the story is interesting. (It’s biographical and I have no idea how embellished it is.) Apparently Manara finished this comic right before he turned 80 years old.
Edit: Odd that the two covers are almost exactly the two SB background shades.
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I’ve been reading my Fantagraphics and my SPXs.
Kramers 9 was a little disappointing. I just liked 10 so much! I’m going to look for a copy of 8. That’s the PictureBox one. It looks so beautiful. Flipping through this anthology reminded me I once owned a volume of RAW. That was a really cool collection of comics right there. Who knows where it is now?
Tank Tankuro was amazing. I never thought I’d read something like Shigeru Sugiura but here it is. The author retired into Buddhism later in life. He seems like a cool guy.
Baby Boom is just beautiful chaotic scene after adorable quality playtime. It was so nice to read I thought the author must have just had a baby or something, but he was just spending more time with his friend’s kids.
My Gorilla Family is kind of like, “what if Suehiro Maruo was really stupid?” I mean that with utmost praise. Each story is five pages long and ends on such a wacky gimmick. I was howling at 5 in the morning.
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hahah this is basically how i felt when you were posting stuff in discord and why i got really excited over it so yeah it is a super compliment imo
I love the saluting emoji, I really overuse it
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Read the first two volumes of The Power Fantasy, it’s real good. I’m a sucker for The X-men when it’s messy, interpersonal drama heavy, and political and this is very much that book but without you know the actual X-men.
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I’ve seen random pictures from Philippe Druillet’s 1960s-70s Lone Sloane books over the years without knowing what they were. I recently found out and picked up this book.
Here’s a sample page:
I think I’m going to have to read all of them.
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I have that! some of the pages were a bit too heavy on the black ink