Superman, Nirvana, and Conan walk into a bar...
Three links I think you'll enjoy... and two I hope you do
A potpurri of links for you today, plus we dig into the Metropolis Mailbag for my thoughts on your thoughts on my thoughts on PSYCHO.
Three Links I Think You Might Enjoy…
First up, since I’m loving it so much:
The latest episode of Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend finds the ex-talk show host interviewing the surviving members of Nirvana (as well as producer Steve Albini) about the making of their classic album In Utero.
If you’re a process-junkie like me, you’ll enjoy all the making-of minutia… but I admit, my favorite part is hearing about the epic prank they pulled on The Lemonheads’ Evan Dando.
Listen here:
This next link should make you feel better about your comic book habit:
CBS Detroit reports on a man whose family hated his hoarding ways… until he died and they discovered he’d left them a goldmine of a comic book collection.
Watch here:
And since the latest BLAZING BLADE OF FRANKENSTEIN is live, here’s a pretty great Twitter/Ex-Twitter?/X? thread on the publishing history of Conan the Barbarian:
…and two more I HOPE you do:
It’s almost Halloween, which means NIGHTMARE THEATER 3-D is almost here.
Last week, I gave you a little peek at our variant cover by Conor Hughes.
This week, I wanted to show off our standard cover by Steve Bryant and Jason Millet:
We are going live on Halloween--that's Tuesday, October 31, and we'd love to see you there.
We'll have plenty of early bird specials the first few days, so if you want to be among the first to find out when we launch and you haven't already...
CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW NIGHTMARE THEATER 3-D
Not only did Steve and Jason provide our standard cover...
And not only do they have a story in the anthology, which is shaping up to be another creeptastic collection...
But you may recall they also provided a cover for my other book on Kickstarter right now:
If you’ve already backed, thank you! And if you back both NT3-D and BBoF, drop us a comment on the Frankenstein page that says, "Shelley Poe Stoker sent me" and we'll send you a little extra horror in your package.
If you haven’t backed yet, but meant to, click on the cover above, or...
CLICK HERE TO BACK BLAZING BLADE OF FRANKENSTEIN
Metropolis Mailbag, part 1:
Speaking of BBoF, Frequent Frier Richard Boom asks:
Will this be a miniseries? Just curious how many isues to count on :)
Great question, Richard!
The original story bible clocked in at 7 episodes. Initially, I wanted to make this something I could pitch to publishers, so I toyed with the idea of shortening it… but the story is just too epic to tell in one mini.
Now that Kickstarter has provided a viable alternative to traditional publishing, I’ve broken it up into two arcs: the first will be four issues. After that, I may release the second arc as two double-sized issues to wrap it all up.
But if the public demands more? Well, we could tell stories in this universe for a long, long while.
Only time (and sales) will tell!
Indie Bonus Bundle
Speaking of speaking of BBoF, we just unlocked our Indie Bonus Bundle, meaning everyone at the Digital Deluxe level and up gets free PDFs from a roster of great creators. Just added: books from Christie Shinn, Greg A. Elysée, Kathryn Calamia, Phil Falco and Farhan Qureshi.
More to come with every 50 backers we get! Latest update here:
Metropolis Mailbag, Part 2:
You had thoughts about my thoughts on PSYCHO… and I have thoughts.
Tom Leveen writes:
Thank you for this, Clay. Wrath of Khan, the more and more I watch, the better and better the script and entire film become. Would you say all these elements work unilaterally for all formats - comics, novels, etc?
Thanks for reading, Tom! I've never been huge into Star Trek, but Wrath of Khan sucks me in every time. Amazing what they pulled off with the resources they had.
Some of the "lessons" are definitely medium-specific (the score, use of v/o, etc.), but I think the idea that every aspect of the final product "matters" translates across mediums. The rest I think absolutely applies.
For what it's worth, the movie is a pretty straight adaptation of the novel--enough so that Hitchcock reportedly said screenwriter Joseph Stefano contributed nothing but a few bits of dialogue. The biggest obvious difference (to me, anyway) is that the Master of Suspense uses the medium of film to great effect by lengthening the shower scene and its aftermath, and that's part of the reason it's so memorable.
But Bloch's short and to the point version works well for the novel. The whole book is taut pulp storytelling--highly recommend reading it!
Karl Kesel sez:
I remember the first time I watched PSYCHO— on a small TV in one of the Carriage House rooms/"dorms" of the Joe Kubert School. I'd heard about PSYCHO, but went into it cold.
Oh. My. GOD!
I cannot describe to you how disoriented and lost I was when Marion dies. The main character is… dead?! I'd never seen anything like that, didn't even know how to process it. Thankfully, that was when Arbogast enters the movie. A take-charge I-got-this-under-control sort of character I KNEW would solve the mystery.
UNTIL HE DIES, TOO!
PSYCHO left me reeling, in the best ways possible. An unforgettable movie.
Thanks for posting that memory, Karl!
I'm a little jealous you got to experience it not knowing anything about it. Having already read the novel, the major plot points had been spoiled for me, but I can only imagine the shock you felt seeing it cold…
Finally, Party Mixologist Luke writes:
"Psycho" is an excellent film. It's among my top five favorite Alfred Hitchcock films ("Rear Window" is numero uno). Have you seen its sequels? While they're not on the level of "Psycho," they're actually better than I expected.
Love REAR WINDOW and I’m a big fan of the PSYCHO sequels as well. II is my favorite of the bunch—it's an engaging mystery with a great performance by Anthony Perkins. Maybe one twist too many and some effects that don't totally hold up today (I first saw it on basic cable, edited for television, and I actually think that’s a more effective cut), but it’s a worthy sequel.
III is a strange beast whose whole doesn’t equal the sum of its parts. Because there are loads of great parts in this weird box-office flop. First time director Anthony Perkins borrows heavily from the Coens’ Blood Simple, even going so far as to hire Carter Burrell to do the (excellent) score. It’s beautifully shot, Jeff Fahey is a hoot, and Perkins turns in another brilliant performance. Plus there are so many fantastic moments: a memorable opening line, Norman’s on-screen introduction is classic, and I think Alfred Hitchcock would’ve appreciated the ice machine bit. But the kills feel like afterthoughts, with little suspense. Director Perkins is clearly more interested in the human drama. In the end, it’s like Tennessee Williams wrote a 1980s slasher flick.
I haven’t seen IV since it came out… but I did happen to be at Universal Studios Florida one week while they were shooting it, and I snuck onto the closed set and ran up to the house (before getting tossed). So, if nothing else, I have that fond memory of this flick! And I remember being happy to see Henry Thomas getting some work (in those days before Mike Flanagan put him to great use).
Anyway, I could go on about these movies forever, but a) you’re probably already bored to death, and b) Substack says I’m hitting my limit. So without further ado, here’s…
Two For the Road
Because I’m obsessed with streaming services and their lack of profitability, my eyes jumped out of my head when I saw that AppleTV is jumping to $10/month—effectively doubling in price from one year ago:
https://variety.com/2023/digital/news/apple-tv-plus-increases-monthly-price-1235768060/
Somehow I don’t think Ted Lasso would approve.
But I hate to leave you on a downer, so here’s some good news:
Until next time,
Clay