Imprinted Image: A New Home the week of March 29

I commit to parasocial relationships

Welcome to Imprinted Image, my newsletter. If this is your first time here, thank you for joining me. On most Mondays I break down how comics work in a way that gives insight to seasoned wizards and new comics apprentices alike. I call this Divining Comics, because it’s an attempt to understand the magic behind things. Wednesdays are new comic days, and I’ll tell you about some of the new books to hit the stands at your local comic shop . This is the Marvelous Market.

But today is Friday, and this is where I, Spike Stonehand, take off the mask and resume life as mild mannered Stephen. Last Saturday, I moved across town. There is something surreal about seeing all of your possessions compressed and placed in boxes. This is especially true part way through the packing process, when you can’t comprehend how you’ve put so much away but it seems like so much still needs to be done. I’m in the next phase now, where I slowly decompress. Old things need new homes, and the opportunity to change things up is ever-present. Do I want to put those tchotchkes there, when before I had them grouped with these things? How should I organize all of my books? Now will be easier than ever to reorganize, but it is hard to approach such a thing systematically.

I’ve also finally made the move from renting an apartment to renting a house. My new place is almost one hundred years old, in a group with some of the oldest in the area to still be around. It’s near to downtown and has plenty of places to go within walking distance, but I guess I need to get in better shape if I want to take advantage of that. The sounds are new and interesting. Instead of the noises of people above, below, and beside you at all times that you get in an apartment, the noises I hear are now the noises of the city. A train runs nearby. The dumpster truck comes early enough in the morning to wake me up before my alarm. Neighbors cut their grass and feed the feral cats that wander the neighborhood, making dogs bark. Even though this house is on a quiet side street, I feel much more connected to the living, breathing city. I’ll keep you updated on what else I find here.

Is there a word for a group of Links? Maybe we can call them a Port of Links, as they take you to other sites across the web sea

Let’s get the Smash Quarterly kickstarter going! The art is all done so back this so that the artists get that money.

Cartoonist Ed Piskor is accused of making inappropriate sexual comments to a 17 year old, among other unsavory things. As someone who recently wrote about one of his comics and shared many of his Cartoonist Kayfabe YouTube videos, this is very disheartening. Please listen to the women who this happened to.

The next two items are some experimentations by Marvel. The first good, the second, well, you can decide. Marvel is, in addition to having an “R-rated” version of their summer event comic Blood Hunt, trying out similar “Red Band” covers. While much of the move to add blood and gore to comics is a shallow attempt at making comics “adult” and titillating, more freedom in how stories can be told at the megacorp comics will lead to better stories being told.

Marvel also is offering NFT comics. I barely understand why someone would want a collectible comic put in a slab and graded such that they can’t read it, but can only display it. I definitely don’t understand why someone would want a “collectible” digital comic. That’ just 1s and 0s bro. This is in addition to the many, more substantive critiques of NFTs.

To round out the controversy block, multiple DC artists are accused of using so-called “artificial intelligence” in their published artwork. I’m skeptical that these batches of technology are truly that intelligent or can ever get to the level at which they can replace art production, and that’s before you get into the ethics of using them. Comics companies need to get ahead of this and create clear policies surrounding the use of generated images in their comics.

I was recommended a new podcast that I immediately binged during my aforementioned move: The Black Casebook. Every episode, Walt the host uses a Batman story to explore the broader history, philosophy, and politics that make up the narrative. Learn about Ra’s al Ghul and Orientalism, Clayface and the dark history of Hollywood, and how Tom King’s controversial run interacts with Algeria and the history of the CIA.

Comicbook crowdfunding platform Zoop is crowdfunding…themselves? You can own a share in Zoop. Learn more with this interview with Zoop CEO.

Letterer and writer Aditya Bidykar writes what seems to be the first piece in a retrospective on the Krakoa era of X-Men comics. Aditya’s blog is full of insights, and this piece is no exception. It’s fair,a capturing the excitement and the problems at the start of the era. I expect we’ll see many such similar pieces in the months to come, now that Krakoa seems to be ending.

I have a couple of weeks of SKTCHD and Off Panel to recommend. David Harper interviewed Kieron Gillen about the end of his time at Marvel and his return to creator-owned comics, interviewed Katie Cook about her time writing licensed comics and her venture into Webtoon, wrote about how much he enjoys the current run of Fantastic Four comics, how creating comics changes how you read them, and an exploration of the relationship between comics and podcasts.

Finally, Bob Beerbohm, a comic historian and pioneer of the comic book specialty shop model, passed away this morning.

Question of the Week

I will modify here a rhetorical question I asked earlier: how do you organize your books? This can include your bookshelves and your floppy comics. I would love to steal your great ideas.

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