Thompson Heller: Detective Interstellar #2 hits shelves today! Since issue one had a bit of a delay, that means there’s only a 3-week gap between issues 1 and 2. We’re very proud of this issue and think it’s a step beyond the first. This story is titled “Who Killed Elbee?” - and it’s an investigation into the killing of an artificial life form; it’s a standalone story but develops relationships established in the first issue.
Ronins and Birds
Recently, two of my closest collaborators and comic-world friends just released stellar new work.
The two episodes (plus a bonus prologue) of Renton Hawkey’s Ronin Digital Express are now on Webtoons - it’s a post-apocalyptic samurai-western-cyberpunk - a little bit Star Wars, a little bit Mad Max, a little bit Akira Kurosawa, and a whole lotta fuckin’ awesome. Be sure to check it out & subscribe to be alerted when there are new episodes.
Chasin the Bird: Charlie Parker in California by Dave Chisholm is a bright ray of comic incandescence - a graphic novel celebrating the centennial of jazz legend Charlie Parker. It’s told as a series of vignettes, a Rashomon-like series of narratives, and it brings to life a specific period of time and place and makes music come alive on the page. It’s now available for order direct from the publisher, including a beautiful deluxe edition, and it will arrive in comic shop on Dec. 9th!
Radar Pings
The fourth season of The Crown maintains the series’s high standards for storytelling and exquisite period-specific production detail and gorgeous cinematography. The show continues to do a marvelous job of making every episode a singular unit of story and entertainment, while weaving in longer themes and character arcs. The standout fifth episode of the season, “Fagan,” is my favorite - a relatively arcane event that non-Brits will find surprising.
Evidently I’m in Anglophile mode, as I’ve been diving deep into the rabbit-hole of British TV Game shows. Would I Lie To You features Peep Show’s David Mitchell among dueling panelists who try to ascertain the veracity of a given story. 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown brings panelists into a match of wits involving word and number games. Both shows feature hysterical improvised banter from their brilliant contestants. For some sample clips, check out the panelists uncovering this mystery person or Mackenzie Crook’s Orchidometer.
Superlative Tweets
On the Podcast…
Latest episode of Milton’s Comics & Culture Radar podcast features Rick Quinn talking about his bundle o’comics and his newest comic, “Chameleons”. It was a fascinating discussion and covered a lot of terrain. It’s my most-downloaded episode to date, and with good reason - it’s Rick’s pod debut and he has a keen analytical mind when it comes to comics and writing.