Bombs for Robots

Sure. Why not?

“I had a guaranteed military sale with ED-209! Renovation program! Spare parts for 25 years! Who cares if it worked or not?” 

(If this is truncated, click through to read the full thing on the web.)

Kelly Sue: Goodness gracious. Happy holidays, friends! Where to even start?

Social Media

Twitter’s been in a user ROI decline for years now, but Musk’s stewardship has hacked the slope into a cliff. Save for RTs, I’ve largely moved off; I deleted the app, but haven’t nuked my account yet and I keep asking myself why, what do I get out of it? What needs are being met? Could I get those needs met elsewhere?

My answers won’t match yours so I’ll spare you that walk-through but I’ll share a quick snapshot of my experiences of some of the alternative tools in case you want to check them out:

• Instagram. Despite the facts that a) I’m an old lady and I can’t figure out many of its features and b) it’s part of Meta… I still like Instagram. It’s Tik Tok for olds or something. But while I’m not planning on leaving Instagram, I am in the market for something text-based and simple.

• Mastodon. This one is frequently described as a decentralized and open-source version of Twitter. I tried it. Folks who are more tech-savvy than I am seem to love it. I… don’t. Get it. I don’t get it. (Toward the end of this conversation Gene Ha and I had with John Siuntres/Wordballoon about Historia 2, Gene read us a Tweet about Mastodon that perfectly sums it up and made me LOL.)

• Hive. ComicsTwitter set up camp on the Hive app fast and it was great for a bit. I don’t actually engage with comics conversation on Twitter much—excepting the obligatory marketing hype posts—because I frankly find most of those conversations either bad faith, ill-informed or (more often) excruciatingly dull. ComicsHive looked to be forming from a more interesting genetic stew, but security concerns put the kibosh on that real quick. Not sure if it’ll recover.

• Post.news. My money’s on POST as the best bet if such a thing as non-malignant Twitter is even possible. The “problem” at present is that they’re being thoughtful and slow about their rollout and so you have to get waitlisted and the user base is still relatively small. There are very few comics folks on there as of yet, but it’s rich with journalists, mannered pundits and academics—and pet pics!—so it’s already a better news feed than “the bird app.” If you’re on Post, let me know?

Other communication/community options include:

• Substack. It seems to me that if I’m going to invade your inbox, I better offer some real value so I tend to think of newsletters as long-reads. Subsequently, Matt and I try to include thinking and recommendations in addition to information about our projects. That means what Substack offers as a tool is entirely unlike what a microblogging platform offers. It’s also awfully one-sided. People do respond/comment, but there’s very little and it never seems to spark conversation or connection between readers (readers conversing with one another, I mean), which is a fail.

• Community. I’m on Community, which means if you can text me at (503) 738-1029. (Briefly: I have several lists there. You join a list by texting a keyword to that number — use MILKFED for info about Matt and my work/appearances, BGSD for the occasional motivational/nurturing “Shark Mom” text, and/or VISIBLEWOMEN for updates on that initiative.) I think Community is incredibly well-designed and potentially powerful, but for something called “Community” it’s pretty much the opposite of that? I mean, I can text you as a group, you can reply to me individually and then I can text you individually, but because of the nature of texts, you can’t see or talk to each other. It’s also expensive (for me — it’s free for you unless your carrier charges you for texts) and I don’t use it often enough or well enough to justify for much longer, I’m afraid. We’ll see.

• Slack/Discord. I’m on various communities on both, though I feel decidedly too old for Discord. For reasons I can’t quite explain, the design feels assaultive, like it’s coming at me from Geocities in blinking AND scrolling comic sans text. On the other hand, I love Slack for work and project-specific channels or workspaces, but it’s apples and oranges as far as a Twitter alternative goes.

What’s working for you? Have your communities scattered?

Oh god. This reminds me I need to put updating Milkfed.us on my list for next year.

Onward—

Project Updates

Tori Amos Little Earthquakes Book and Signing

It took something like ten years, but I finally got to work with fellow-Portlander Ben Dewey! (If you don’t know Ben’s work, you are missing out. His Tragedy Series is one of my favorite things ever.) Ben and I have a short story inspired by the song “Leather” in the new Z2 Tori Amos art book.

As is entirely predictable, I’m a huge Tori fan. Her lyrics feel both effortless and deeply true. Couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve seen her live — I’ve literally lost count. (I’ve gone at least twice by myself. The only other artists I’ve ever seen on my own are Mike Doughty… and The Jacksons Victory Tour, when I was 15.) And I’ve got two stories in the Comic Book Tattoo!

Anyway, Editor Rantz Hosely hit me up to do the Little Earthquakes project and I politely explained that as much as it hurt me to pass, I was drowning and couldn’t make it happen. He ignored me and sent deadlines and asked who I wanted to work with. (It didn’t go down exactly like that… but damn near.) If it was anyone else I’d be livid, but for Rantz and Tori, I was like, “uh, Ben Dewey, please?” And of course now I’m so pleased that I got to play and I love our gross little tale.

We’ll be signing copies this Saturday at Books with Pictures Portland, from 5-7pm.

Historia

If you’re not familiar, Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons is the DC Black Label book I’ve been working on since… oh good lord, my first email on the subject was to Mark Doyle in August of 2017. Oy. Moving on—

The concept is a history of the DC Amazons from the perspective of the Amazons—and I love it with my whole ass heart. Phil Jimenez (who I also love with my whole ass heart) drew Book One, which covers the creation of the Amazons, and his influence and intellect inform the series throughout. Oh, and Book One won an Eisner last year!

Book Two came out earlier this year and my creative partner there is the Gene Ha. (Here’s the link to that Wordballoon interview with Gene and I again.) Gene’s incredible and one of the most divinely professional people I’ve ever met. His book covers the formation of the 7th Tribe and Hippolyta’s rise to power, and it includes some jaw-dropping ambiguous images.

And to bring the (first?) trilogy to a close, Nicola f**king Scott joins the team. Check out her Hera on the cover (colors by Annette Kwok):

I’ve learned so much from working with each of these three and I am DYING for you to see what Nicola has done with the heart-wrenching and action-packed war between the Gods and the Amazons.

Nicola’s previewing her take with introductions to individual Amazons on her Instagram feed here.

Historia 3 can be in your hot little hands on December 27th, hallelujah. Please let your local comic shop know you want them to hold a copy for you. (I’ll make the drive to Books with Pictures Eugene to sign copies on the evening of December 30th. Details to follow.)

Oh! And Modern Mythology has prints of Phil’s art from the book available for sale here, but hurry if you want one — the two versions of the Goddess spread are already sold out. I predict the Hera spread will sell out next.

(With the big finish of the arc coming out in roughly three weeks, I should be doing more Historia promotion, but I’ve got ten projects on my plate at the moment and parenting and daughtering and dog-momming and Christmas prep to do and I’m running on proverbial fumes. That said, I did sit down and talk to Geek Sensei a bit ago and I expect that’ll be up soon. Have you seen him? DUDE IS ADORABLE.)

The Historia 1-3 collection will be out in June of next year; specifically 6/6/23.

Parisian White

A rhyming future, where art is life, and life is expressed in the language of color. Carmine, a particularly deep red, is produced from the bodies of a South American parasite. French Green is so full of arsenic that it functions as a rat poison.  Parisian White threatens death to anyone so foolish as to open a tube. Pigments are words and weapons — precious, expensive, fiercely guarded and fought for. When combined with the right talent, pigments can capture, transform, or destroy your world. 

Parisian White got announced at AMC. Couple things about that —

1. Some of you might remember that Parisian White was previously announced at Image—five or six years ago, I think? The book didn’t end up coming out and that was 100% on us and not on Image. I love Image, I still think they offer the best and only true creator-owned deal in the industry and we spoke to them and got their okay before making the deal with AMC.

2. Even so, announcing a book that never dropped was a source of embarrassment for me, so I asked AMC if we could hold off on their announcement and maybe just drop the finished book Beyoncé-style instead. They were not into that, alas.

3. Aaaaand AMC just had a bunch of layoffs. So I don’t know where we’re at or what’s gonna happen. I’ll let you know when I know? Hard not to feel like this book is just doomed, which is a huge bummer because working with Bill is an actual bucket list thing thing for me.

4. I guess… Stay tuned?

Bitch Planet

Yes, more Bitch Planet is coming. No, I cannot tell you when. There’s actually a lot to be excited about, but nothing I can safely say in public as of yet.

In the meantime, if you want to read some scholarly work on the book, you can download Beyond the Icon: Asian American Graphic Narratives here and read Chapter Three: “Bitch Planet's Meiko Maki is down for justice!” by Jeanette Roan, Associate Professor, History of Art and Visual Culture Program at the California College of Art.

And if you just miss the brilliant Valentine De Landro, you’ve got good taste. The man is a gift in every way. You can follow him on Instagram, but he doesn’t post much.

(If you are shopping for a Bitch Planet reader for the holidays, there’s a lovely collection of jewelry at Badali.)

Pretty Deadly

The first three trades of Pretty Deadly—the Shrike, the Bear and the Rat—are out and we’ve only got two more arcs to wrap this up. If you’ve never heard me try to sum this series up before it goes like this —

It’s a story about stories. The first arc is a Weird Western that thinks about death, the second arc is a War Comic that thinks about luck, the third is a Noir Comic that thinks about Art, the fourth arc will be a Romance Comic that thinks about Love and Loss and the final arc will be a [XX] Comic that thinks about Hope. The “[XX]” isn’t some kind of code — that just means I don’t have that genre figured out yet. I keep being tempted to refer to it as a “literary comic.” Never mind that I have no clue what that actually means. Anyway, I need to confirm with Emma, but I think we’ll start working on Book 4 next year.

In the meantime, consider this mention a tease for a little amuse-bouche to definitely come next year, a gift from Big Alice. 👀

If you’re a Pretty Deadly lover, make sure you’re following Emma Ríos on Instagram. You can pick up prints here.

(If you are shopping for a Pretty Deadly reader for the holidays, Badali has a cuff with one of my favorite moments from the series on it.)

Adventureman

A CATACLYSMIC ADVENTURE DECADES IN THE MAKING! In this WILDLY AFFORDABLE TRIPLE-LENGTH FIRST ISSUE, revisit how the legend of the greatest pulp hero of them all, ADVENTUREMAN, ended in a heartbreaking CLIFFHANGER with our hero facing execution at the vile hand of his ultra-nemesis BARON BIZARRE on the eve of the MACABRAPOCALYPSE...or did it?!? Eighty years after his apparent demise, single mother Claire and her Adventurefan son Tommy seem to be the only two people alive that remember the thrilling ADVENTUREMAN sagas...but from that memory burns THE SPARK OF RESURRECTION! WHERE HIS STORY ENDED...HER STORY BEGINS!

The second hardcover collection of Adventureman by Matt Fraction, Terry and Rachael Dodson and Clayton Cowles is out! YAY!!!

You can get ADVENTUREMAN, VOL. 2: A FAIRY TALE OF NEW YORK at your local comic shop or at any of a number of different stores in the “Buy” menu of the Image page here.

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE END OF THE WORLD? For Claire Connell, it means inheriting the legacy of legendary pulp hero the Adventureman. Now, Claire's learning that fighting Adventureman’s fights means she's the one who must face Adventureman’s foes, past AND present…

Good Trouble

My partners¹ and I have been keeping busy over at Good Trouble Productions but this is getting long and I'm not sure how much I'm allowed to share just yet, so let me just point out that you can download the Lowndes County Freedom Organization Comics for free on our site here and join our mailing list. (Don't stress -- I don't think we've sent a single GT newsletter yet; we're not going to clog up your inbox.)

You can also download two of our Good Trouble comics for free on the WeTeachNYC website here.

VisibleWomen

With Twitter going fascist, we’re going to have to rethink the #VisibleWomen initiative. Luckily, that was already in the works. We’ve got a gaggle of talented volunteers who are pitching in to transform #VisibleWomen into something different—bigger and better—with the goal of lowering barriers to entry in the comic industry for women and everyone else.

If you want to lend your talents to our team next year, hit me up with your skillset and how much time you think you might be willing to give? You can reply to this email or email me through the contact link at Milkfed.us.

If you are a comics pro who submitted one of the 86 videos I collected for the project last year, THANK YOU. You efforts have not been in vain and we’ll be in touch with updates in February. (If you know what I’m talking about and you want to submit a video or another video, it’s absolutely not too late. HMU.)

Awakening

I think most of you know that I spent the last two years working with Michael Curry Designs, Silent House and the Wynn on their new stage show AWAKENING. (You might have seen me gushing about the dancers on Instagram?)

Though I’ve got a BA in Drama, I haven’t used it as it was intended in 20 years or so. I had no idea how much I missed it. I’m so proud of the show and if you find yourself in Vegas, I hope you’ll check it out.

Links and Recommendations

Oh, heavens. I’m “nearing email length limit” so I’m going to cut and paste some of the rest into a template for the NEXT email. I do want to share these links with you though, and we can talk about them later.

Kickstarters

• Betty’s new album is up on Kickstarter! I love them. Do you love them? Let’s all love them and get their next album made. (What’s your favorite Betty song? Mine would be a toss up between “It Girl” and “(I Don’t Like) Kissing You.”

• All-Negro Comics 75th Anniversary Edition! The first anthology of Black characters created by Black cartoonists is remastered for today's readers and beyond.

Atlantic Progress Summit

• There’s an option to attend the Progress Summit online and it appears to be free to do so? I went ahead and registered.

Podcasts

I listen to a LOT. Here are three that I’ve enjoyed recently.

• Articles of Interest

• Death of an Artist

• Off-Panel

Misc

(No affiliate link or kickbacks on any recs here, these are just things I like or am interested in. YMMV.)

• Have we talked about these perfumes before? I love them and I love reading about them. I thought this ad copy was incredible and then Fraction pointed out I should also scroll down and read the review. Why yes, I did order a sample.

• Sentence diagram prints.

• Moccamasters are on sale!! We’ve had ours for literally 20 years and it still works as well as it did on day one. I love it.

• Uh…

• How Long Can the Biggest Streamers Resist Aggregation?

• As nerdy as it is, I’m working my way through the fundamentals class at Process Driven.

• Seamwork memberships are also on sale!! I miss sewing, man. Haven’t had the time lately and it bums me out. Sometimes I just flip through fabric stores online at bedtime and dream about what I want to make next.

Okay, I’m out —

Kelly Sue
Yr Shark Mom

1. Andrew Aydin, Matt Fraction, Valentine De Landro, Vaughn Shinall and John-Miles Lewis.