End of the month again. Man there’s been a lot of things going on that take up so much of my time I wonder how people can enjoy themselves.
Needing To Market On A Shoestring
What needs to take up a lot of my time is my comic The Wire Fence. On Sunday, I went on a podcast called “All New, All Different Number One Comics” to talk to a “Daniel Abuse” and advertise the comic. Judging from the release schedule, the episode will release on Wednesday (on Stitcher) or Thursday (on Apple). I had a good time on the podcast despite yammering my words a couple of times when describing my comic. Funnily enough, I had an easier time talking about other stuff like Oppenheimer and Barbie. It’s a lot easier to leave background details for the Wire Fence on a post like this. Better chances to sound less awkward I guess.
But at least Dan liked what he saw in the preview pages. I’d say Raquel Kusiak’s art helped do that by a huge margin. Dan tried to get her on the show too, but I wonder how much of a language barrier there was between them. I mean, that’s what happened between us. But I’ll take her again over pin-up artists. Nothing against them, but I prefer more than just poses in my content. That’s why I picked Victor Alpi for (what was supposed to be) a variant cover; just cuz it’s flashy a pose doesn’t mean it was made without understanding the characters. Mass short-term attention is no substitute for longer lasting impressions.
I can’t afford to just throw money around at this time. I’m actually undergoing physical therapy and the co-pay can get expensive. That’s not even including the skin doctor visit last week.
I’m not even sure where to advertise for a good price. Facebook hasn’t always been great, Twitter is going through rebranding, and I don’t have a credit card to use Pinterest. Don’t tell me I can use Debit, I tried and it wouldn’t accept it. I could try Tailwind like I said but I had a lot of stuff on my plate.
How To Turn A Stressor Into Ads
Including but definitely not limited to review requests from Mad Cave Studios. I love these people and the bold directions they go, but I got so much content to review the past few months, I was on the verge of burning out. Sure I enjoyed a lot of this stuff, but writing the reviews took more effort than I’m used to. Sometimes it wasn’t even comics, just their news press:
Granted, the newsletter was easier. But I put so little enthusiasm into my latest review post, that barely mattered. Not getting paid for this stuff didn’t help (not even a tip on my Ko-Fi), so I decided to reach to the people in charge of these messages to spread the word about my comic. I don’t know how many of them pre-ordered the Wire Fence but I’d like to think this as well as Halloween Team’s All-New, All Awesome Comics, Warp Hustler’s Unlikely Heroes, the Punk Taco team, and Gustaffo Vargas have enough followers to at least drive some interest.
But not Mase Corgan, not for his reputation or followers. But because he already had a lot going on when he sent me a request to review Hooters of Heroism. I didn’t wanna burden a guy like him, especially when he and the artists gave me something not so serious to have a little fun with.
Do Only Ablaze Care About Foreign Comics?
The only non-review post I did on Gutternaut was about Czech Comics. And it looks like a lot of people didn’t care. Frankly that’s the story of a lot of comics that people can’t read. But then again, it’s better to have something you can share about down-the-line when something of the sort comes up than try to quickly capitalize on a trend. Which is why I need to review something before November. It’s not even as a request or an upcoming release, it’s something I backed on Kickstarter about something I already talked about. For some reasons, audiences only pay attention to things on certain days. Data sure does stink doesn’t it?
What Do I Do To Escape From Burnout?
X Marks This Spot
This month I read (about) four eras of the X-Men. Gotta say though, it was a lot easier to read Age of Apocalypse despite the gimmicky artwork compared to Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Roy Thomas’ early stuff. But there were plenty of good stuff despite the old X-Men’s reputation. Jean and Cyclops were probably the best parts with how their relationship develops, plus Jean was very much everybody’s equal despite how flirty everybody was with her… including Bobby. Yeah, Stan and Jack were kind of flying by the seat of their pants.
Iceman’s main flaw has always been redundancy. Since the early days he was a token, from being an everyman to comic relief. I don’t even wanna bring up what that means today. Only that some of his more leading stories were told before. But who did better is up to the reader. Because frankly Bobby’s only high marks were in the Simonsons’ X-Factor. And the only thing people remember about that is Cyclops, Jean, and Angel.
Angel meanwhile was that sophisticated pretty boy, Roy Thomas did him a little better than Stan by making him a hotheaded daredevil. Who sometimes finds himself in over his head, something that led to him becoming Archangel in X-Factor. Can you believe that the Simonson’s called pre-Archangel a “Mary Sue”?
But Beast at this time is probably why he stuck around for so long. He did the comic relief and sophistication angles a whole lot better in addition to his dynamic acrobatics. Because when you’ve bigger than average hands and feet with a nickname of Beast, sounding and being intelligent is a way to prove everyone wrong, including Hank’s self-doubts. That’s why his transition to mad scientist in modern times is so tragic, he ultimately proved those doubts right.
Still it all helped me appreciate Grant Morrison’s run. I realized that Emma’s diamond form was a tribute to Scott’s origin story with a villain called Jack-O-Diamonds; so yeah that wasn’t a left field thing for someone to fill in for Colossus. Plus, Magneto acting like a megalomaniac compared to the well-intentioned extremist there was also a tribute to those days.
Gotta give props to Neal Adams’ art for that last stretch of Roy Thomas’ run. Made going through things so much easier, including whoever wrote Sauron’s inner monologues. It gives that meme: “But I Don’t Want To Cure Cancer! I Want To Make People Into DINOSAURS!” a couple of legs, a villain who really just wants to revel in villainy. Not the cartoonish trolling it’s made out to be.
Meanwhile Age of Apocalypse was a love letter to X-Men as a whole. People stayed in character despite the What-If scenarios that changed them. Like Havok being influenced by his insecurities. As well as the tragedy where despite some considering accepting things as they are, it ultimately just couldn’t happen. Not even because of the status quo, but the weight of the baseline X-Men’s importance. So going out on a high note is important for this crew.
Stuff I Have Lying Around
Then there are other things like Top 10’s Compendium. This super police procedural shows how Alan Moore does an ensemble cast and treats the surreal parts of superhero fiction seriously. Not by ripping them a new one, but by reveling in it all. Before he gives it all to whoever wants it more like his co-creators Gene Ha and Zander Cannon.
As for the digital front, Doctor Strange Sorceror Supreme, the series from the late 80s is generally more entertaining than the Omnibuses I’ve read about material from the 60s or 70s. Still has some slow parts, but still good enough to satisfy before I go into next month’s Hoopla.
My Hoopla
I have a Hoopla account mainly to read comics. But maybe next month I should consider watching something through it called The Legend of Hei. A video I watched highly recommends it, saves money and in English unlike Crunchyroll and I can’t find where its being played on Neflix for my VPN.
As for comics, this month I read the first deluxe album of The Department of Truth. Equal parts fascinating in immersing yourself in how conspiracies can affect people as well as distressing implications when it comes to being a writer.
Then there was the stoner political satire of The Scumbag that’ll stick with me for an important lesson I took in making the Wire Fence. Always have a layman, not someone deeply entrenched in a niche, including your own. Because the more you cut yourself off from the casuals, the more you’re going to go deaf from an echo chamber.
Atom: The Beginning’s fifth volume continues a very entertaining manga as it develops a soul. It serves as a worthy prequel to Osamu Tezuka’s Astro Boy, not just with its Easter Eggs but a comparable atmosphere.
Finally, Eight Billion Genies Deluxe Edition explores humanity’s nature that are equal parts tragic and heartwarming. It’s the kind of series that asks you to reread and rethink your life if you had the opportunity to make it and other people’s better. There’s so much nuance that go into decisions that it never comes across as preaching, by empathetically connecting with people who have trouble expressing what they want with words.
Netflix: I Kept You Going For A Reason
Over the weekend, I had to give myself a reason why I still had a Netflix account. Luckily I found one to help with my choice paralysis.
The second season of Baki Hanma: Son of Ogre revels in the absurdity of trying to be the strongest fighter in the world. Seeing alpha male aspirants trying to take on a caveman is given layers. Some want to achieve their ideal selves, others want to shake off their doubts. They get all of that and the humility that allows them to be better people. As well as the title character Baki giving his opponent a bigger chance to reflect on what he wants than just survival despite every barrier that exists between them.
I should probably consider going back onto MAX and watching the rest of My Adventures With Superman.
I’m On Mastodon!
…Why?
I got the idea from a Facebook discussion I was in. Someone brought up how Social Media should be a public utility with tax money backing it. By I brought up something from a Wisecrack video about how social media ought to be more like Wikipedia, a utility that people back on donations rather than let politicians use loopholes to send political campaigns to my spaces. They liked that idea and when I searched for social media backed by Non-Profits, Mastodon popped up!
So yeah, it’s not the hottest topic compared to Threads or Hive. Plus it’s got some stuff it has to work out before it can compete with formerly known as twitter. But when Blue Sky is a private club that you have to be lucky somebody will share a link with, might as well get on somewhere else.
Also I’m on two servers: mastodon.social and comics.town. It’s not that easy to post since most services only include built-in shares to the big socials. Plus it’s a lot easier to edit from a laptop than it is from a smartphone.
Best Games I Play
Speaking of, my smartphone is mostly for utilities and reading. But I do play games on it when I feel like it. The ones I play daily are Contra Returns that I have brought up on several points and Pokemon GO. While Contra is something I’ve invested too much to back out of, Pokemon Go is one game I’m going to play cause I like it.
Before my podcast interview, I tried out the new Routes feature and while I got lost on the way back to my car, the map on the app still helped navigate my way. When I was passing through some woods on the way back, it felt like I was the player character in one of those Pokemon games, just enjoying the trip and the scenery with wild Pokemon all around. If I didn’t already have a way to make walking a bit more worth the effort, this was it. Plus unlike so many app games like Contra Returns, you weren’t pressured by the game to make micro-transactions to succeed. All you need are the bare essentials.
Also I’ve got that crossing game that’s basically Frogger for offline play. I can’t exactly bring my Switch to certain places, even when I want to finish with Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Next Month’s Forecast
August will be a busy month. In addition to advertising the comic before the 6th, I turn 30 two days before that. So I might have to consider holding off on more reviews like Whisper of the Woods (no later than September 25th). I just wanna do what I want at that point.
As for another post that I’ve been working on for a long time, the World Comics will get a small section for Nepal. That also means a section might turn into a Gutternaut post. But I don’t have time to check which one.