Four Taylor Swifts and a Funeral
An ode to clickbait
1.
Hey,
I know you’re super-busy trying to figure out how Taylor’s gonna get from her concert in Tokyo in time to see the Chiefs play the 49’ers in the Super Bowl in a couple weeks.
(Will she somehow manage to land in Vegas, even though the airport is not accepting any more planes that weekend? Or will she have to fly to Los Angeles and then drive the rest of the way?? IS THERE A CLOSER AIRPORT SHE CAN LAND AT???)
But I want you to rest easy knowing that artist Mick Beyers and I will have no such problems getting to our big event that same weekend, when we’ll be appearing at the Atlanta Comic Convention.
This massive three-day show should be pretty epic, judging from the list of celebs attending:
I’m extra stoked to be doing a show in the city I called home for many years.
And not just because I’ll be loading up on more beer from Cherry Street Brewing Company, Smokey & the Bandit-style…
…well, OK, mostly for that reason.
But I’m also excited to possibly see you there.
We’ll have DREAMQUEST, NIGHTMARE THEATER, BLAZING BLADE OF FRANKENSTEIN… plus the whole FRIED/MCCOMICS Library.
So whether you’re ITP or OTP, brave that (in)famous traffic (unless you can fly, like say, a hawk or a falcon) and come on down to the Georgia World Congress center, where we’ll be presenting a united front for all comics fans. It’ll be an absolute dream.
(Did I get all the ATL sports teams in that paragraph?)
And if we won’t see you at the con… if, say, Atlanta is not convenient to you…
Taylor is LITERALLY traveling back in time to see Travis play in the Super Bowl.
What’s your excuse?
2.
My last missive of 2023 got a lot of responses, both in the comments and via direct message, and there was only one I’d categorize as “completely batshit insane,” so thanks!
Since we left off, I’ve had my head down working on a few things, namely a short for Rob Multari’s NIGHT WOLF series (details coming soon!) as well as my entry for an upcoming volume of Travis Gibb’s CTHULHU INVADES series.
But it hasn’t all been work!
Caught a few flicks over the break (standouts: MAY DECEMBER and THE HOLDOVERS.)
Also started streaming Hulu’s FLEISCHMAN IS IN TROUBLE, which, much like Mrs. Fleischman, makes me want a crap ton of $$ so I can afford to live in NY again.
And I absolutely devoured the first book in Mick Herron's Slough House series, SLOW HORSES, about a group of screw-ups at MI5 (and the basis for the Apple TV+ series of the same name). After that, I tore through book 2, DEAD LIONS, and have already made significant headway on the third book, REAL TIGERS.
(Shout-out to Evie and the Helsings’ Steve Bryant for putting this series on my radar.)
In case you’re interested in such things, this profile of Herron in the NY Times is a great read, giving hope to late bloomers everywhere.
(That link’s behind a paywall, but I believe this New Yorker article, by Wonder Woman biographer Jill Lepore, isn’t.)
Anyway, AFAIK, Taylor Swift does not work for MI5, but a significant portion of the internet—and at least one former presidential candidate!—believes she’s an agent of the Deep State and is only dating Travis Kelce so he can go to the Super Bowl and win it, which would perfectly set up Taylor to endorse Joe Biden.
Which is a completely normal sentence to type in 2024.
3.
But December/January wasn’t all just reading and watching movies/TV!
I also lettered BLAZING BLADE OF FRANKENSTEIN #3, and I’m happy to report that barring catastrophe, it should be ready to go to the printer later this week.
And David Schrader and I have been hard at work sequencing NIGHTMARE THEATER 3-D, which is coming out pretty darn swell if I do say so myself.
(NT3D backers—look out for an important update soon regarding the schedule.)
And when I wasn’t doing any of that stuff, I was watching football, like most of America.
And if you, like me, are obsessed with streaming services and their lack of profitability, you may be interested in this next bit…
First, let me explain something. The NFL just did something historic.
It “televised” a playoff game exclusively on a streamer.
Peacock, to be exact.
The Swifties/Dolphins, to be exact.
And that game was the MOST-STREAMED LIVE EVENT IN U.S. HISTORY!
Which sounds super-impressive.
Until you realize that it was the LEAST WATCHED PLAYOFF GAME THAT WEEKEND.
It only pulled in about 23 million viewers.
The KC Swifties’ next game, televised on CBS, an actual TV station?
Averaged 50 million eyeballs.
Look, I love streaming. It’s super convenient and makes me feel like I’m finally living in the future I was promised in THE JETSONS.
But that’s a lot of viewers the NFL and their advertisers gave up.
Live sports is pretty much the one thing most of America still tunes in for in big numbers. The last bastion of what used to be called the monoculture.
And the NFL fumbled it.
Which makes me kind of wonder if they’re looking at exclusive playoff deals like the one they made with Peacock and saying, “We are never ever getting back together.”
Like, ever.
4.
Meanwhile, the threat of AI isn’t just hovering, Ultron-like, over the comic book industry.
AI was a huge sticking point in the recent SAG/AFTRA strikes, and no one did a better job of outlining the issues than noted coder, computer science major, and my first love, Mallory Keaton.
Anyway, now some asshats have created a whole “new” George Carlin special, more than 15 years after he died.
(No, I’m not linking to it. Instead, here’s the classic set where he explains Bigger Dick Foreign Policy Theory.)
George’s daughter Kelly Carlin is suing, and frankly, more power to her.
AI is definitely something we need to get ahead of before we’re all living in THE TERMINATOR, going back in time like Taylor Swift to see our man play at the Super Bowl, but accidentally impregnating Linda Hamilton and setting the whole thing in motion in the first place.
(On the other hand… maybe we can get AI to watch all these streaming shows that no one watches? That should keep them occupied for a millennium or twelve.)
Oh, and speaking of Taylor, she’s now the victim of AI—AI nudes, to be exact.
X/Formerly Twitter/Eff-It-I’m-Still-Calling-It-Twitter recently shut down searches of the pop star due to the pics, which riff off her high-profile romance with Kelce.
And if that just makes you say, “Guys are gross,” well—
OK, you’re not wrong.
But it’s not only dudes who are naughtily fantasizing about the romance of the century.
A new erotica e-book was recently pulled from Amazon, presumably due to legal concerns.
Its title?
The audience for erotica is predominantly women.
So…yeah. Fifteen yard penalty, ladies.
Automatic first down.
A Funeral
Speaking of down(er)s, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the passing of my Aunt Linda, a wonderful woman who once bought me a bunch of Spider-Man comics.
(She’d still be wonderful even if she didn’t, but that just made her wonderfull-er.)
One thing I learned at her funeral is that she often repeated the motto: “Good, better, best. Never let it rest. 'Til your good is better and your better is best.”
Which, honestly, is a pretty good motto to live by.
And an especially good motto to make comics by.
(Which reminds me: Mick, do you have those corrections?)
Anyway: thanks, Aunt Linda, for the Spider-Man comics and everything else you gave the world.
Your good was better and your better was best.
The rest of you: thanks for reading, and Happy 2024!
See you in Atlanta?
Clay
P.S. This week on the ComixLaunch Podcast, I interview Mad Cave Talent Hunt winner Sarah Cooke. Give it a listen by clicking the photo below:
Good. Better. Best. May your Aunt Rest in Peace. And may your family find comfort and love in her memory.