Dethroned Under a NCBD Haze

As the wait for the next Perturbator album announcement languishes on into June, I find myself drawing even more inspiration from his previous albums than previously. Which is really saying something because since discovering James Kent's music circa 2015, thanks to Bloody Disgusting, Perturbator and all of his side projects have become integral to my own creative process. 

In particular, 2019's Lustful Sacraments continue to fascinate and inspire me. There's such an amazing evolution here; not content to remain defined by a genre he helped popularize the modern version of, Kent has moved away from the sound of his earlier records and really begun incorporating new elements into his compositions. My two favorites of Kent's records so far remain this one and his 2022 collaboration with Cult of Luna's Johannes Persson (Final Light). Where I'd consider Dangerous Days and The Uncanny Valley to be the two best examples of modern "Synthwave," I'd say Kent's newer work is unlike anything I've heard prior. Oh the places these records take me!

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NCBD:

Here's this week's pull, with a side note that I'll be stopping at my shop in Chicago to grab some stuff as well.

The final issue of the gloriously resurrected EC's Horror Anthology series Epitaphs From the Abyss doesn't sting so much now that I've read Blood Type and realize Oni will be continuing this brand with full-issue mini-series anthologies, as well as the new anthology Catacombs of Torment, out July 16th.

Life is good for Horror fans. It's good for comic fans. And it's especially good for Horror comic fans!!!

The first issue of James Tynion IV and Michael Walsh's Exquisite Corpses was kind of a cross between Rob Zombie's 31 and 

Judging by this cover, one of the plot points of this book that has kind of irked me may finally be resolved with this issue. 

"The Horror Men" has proven a fantastic arc for the overall Phantom Road mythology. I love seeing some of this world's history, especially because it feels like learning about the start of this weird in-between place will carry over to big things when we move back to the current timeline with Dom and Bev.

I should finally be picking up my Z-News backlog this weekend when I'm in Chicago. Can't wait!

Another new book from Oni Press, this one sounds as though it's modeled after Phillip K. Dick's life, so I'm definitely giving it a try. Here's the solicitation from League of Comic Geeks:

"More than just a writer, more than just a science-fiction icon, Benjamin J. Carp was a cultural revolutionary. Across 44 novels and hundreds of short stories-including the counterculture classic The Man They Couldn't Erase-Carp pushed the boundaries of literary respectability for the sci-fi genre and his readers' perception of reality itself . . . until decades of amphetamine abuse and Southern California excess finally ended a mind-bending career that always just escaped mainstream success. He died in 1982. Until 2025 . . . when Benjamin J. Carp awakens, alive, in a burned-out motel on the fringes of Los Angeles. He remembers dying. He knows he shouldn't exist. Is he a dream? A robot? A ghost? A clone? A simulation? In his own time, Carp pondered all of these scenarios intensely through his fiction-and, now, as he treks from Studio City to Venice Beach and onward into the paranoid sprawl of 21st-century Los Angeles, he will be called to investigate his greatest mystery yet: himself. In the tradition of Philip K. Dick's A Scanner Darkly and Thomas Pynchon's Inherent Vice comes a uniquely fascinating and hilariously deranged excursion into the metatextual nexus where existence and oblivion, past and future, genius and madness, and glitter and grim reality all meet just beyond Hollywood Boulevard . . ."

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Watch:

Aaron Martin and Ian Carpenter's new series Hell Motel premiered on Shudder with two episodes yesterday and I have to say, so far, I love it! The setting, lighting and camera work are top-notch, as is the writing. There are some very intriguing plotting mechanisms at work here, and they made for a pretty thrilling two-episode premiere. We're going to be covering this weekly on The Horror Vision - first episode will drop next Monday, then every Wednesday thereafter (the show airs on Tuesdays). 

From what I've seen of the two creators' other series, the anthology Slasher, it appears to be a bit of a mixed bag. That said, I've only watched Flesh & Blood and two episodes of Ripper. I loved the former but did not care for the latter. I dig these guys' style overall, though; there's something of a Channel Zero-meets-AHS, with the influence of AHS being more dominant but little flourishes here and there that make me think of Zero. 

Top all this off with the fact that Adam MacDonald looks to be the series Director (he did the first two episodes but is listed as "Director" on the series' main IMDB page) and you've got a great schematic. And they deliver, big time. I watched episodes one and two TWICE today and found I liked it more the second time around. 

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Playlist:

Perturbator - The Uncanny Valley

Various - Learn to Relax: A Tribute to Jehu

Oranssi Pazuzu - Muuntautuja

Calderum - Mystical Fortress of Iberian Lands 

Perturbator - Lustful Sacraments

John Harrison - Day of the Dead OST

Tangerine Dream - Sorceror OST

Greg Puciato - Mirrorcell

Hangman's Chair - Saddiction

Young Widows - Power Sucker

NIN - Pretty Hate Machine

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• Nine of Swords

• Ace of Pentacles

• Eight of Cups

The Nine of Cups can denote Cruelty, Bad Dreams and/or Violence. Ace of Pentacles is a breakthrough in Earthly concerns, nad Eight of Cups is poison. Sounds to me like the Earthly breakthrough - i.e. success - may be arrived at through violence or poison. That's a scary sentiment; I've long held people who use violence or hurtful machinations as a way to get what they want are the definition of evil. I realize while typing this that this Pull is a reminder to tread lightly with certain people at work, as I deal with a lot of "Corporate People" and those are often the people who operate in this capacity.

Clean Up that Street Trash on Planet Death!

 

I rewatched Ryan Kruger's Street Trash sequel this weekend, and it put ten Althone back on my radar. LOVE this track. You can support the band at any of the links on their Link Tree HERE.

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Watch:

I'd been waiting for Writer/Director Joshua Erkman's debut, A Desert, since March. Co-written with Bossi Baker, these two gentlemen have indeed delivered what will no doubt be one of my favorite films of the year. Subtle, creepy, emotional and WEIRD in all the best ways. 

Plus, pretty sure this is the biggest role The Jesus Lizard's frontman David Yow has had in a film, and he NAILS it. A Desert is currently a $6.99 rental on Prime, and it is worth every penny.

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Read:

Another book I picked up last week at the comic shop* was something I stumbled across on the racks from a while ago - April 30th, to be exact. Planet Death issue 0:

When I found this, the cover and interior art immediately made me think of 80s-era Dark Horse Comics. Don't let this pristine jpg I grabbed online fool you - Planet Death 0 was printed on a wonderfully sturdy newsprint stock. One that, according to the afterward by the publisher, they actually had to seek out and purchase the entire stock to procure it. This is a wonderfully tactile reading experience.

Seeing the "Bad Idea" imprint name, I assumed I was supporting a local or super-indie book, and while this is indie, it's not 100% indie. The creator is Derek Kolstad, the screenwriter behind John Wick. So yeah, there's some inertia here. Apparently, this was the largest order for an indie comic since Image's fabled launch, with this issue bringing in 655,000 copies ordered. So much for helping the underdog!

Seriously though, I'd still consider this an underdog. Everything that isn't the Big 2 kind of is, and if you want to expand that definition's net a bit further, Bad Idea and Planet Death are still largely unknown and have no name recognition beyond the John Wick DNA. Still, as popular as the Wick movies are, there are very few Screenwriters who achieve the kind of recognition that can help carry a small comic company into the black. 

But Planet Death is cool, super cool, and while a lot of why I feel that way may be linked to nostalgia, I still think its gritty Cyber-Punk space marine feel will appeal to a lot of comic fans. The first issue lands July 9th, and I'll definitely be grabbing that. From there, the afterward makes it clear the subsequent issues will be released when they are complete and perfect, and that sounds great to me. I'm looking forward to this, but I don't necessarily want another monthly book, nor do I feel like this will require a regular schedule. The story seems like it will work on it's own terms. Here's the solicitation from League of Comic Geeks

"Millions of miles from home, hundreds of ships descend into the stormy atmosphere of a hostile frozen world. On board, an army of resolute men and women brace for the coming assault. They are an invasion force, on an impossible mission — destroy the devastating enemy weapon garrisoned below. Corporal Scott and his battalion are in the vanguard but the human forces are no match for their brutal alien adversaries. Scott’s battalion is dead within moments. He is its lone survivor. The landing force annihilated, the battle is lost. Against overwhelming odds, Scott dares the unthinkable — cross behind enemy lines, survive the lethal landscape, evade capture by ruthless enemies, resist natural predators, face human deserters and finish the mission singlehandedly. Locked in his suit of full combat battle armor, sustained only by what he can carry, and driven by Earth’s wrath, Scott must do by himself what an entire army could not. Destroy the weapon. Return home."

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* See? All that and I still ended up needed two days to talk about it all. 

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Playlist:

Faith No More - Angel Dust

Mr. Bungle - Eponymous

Deafheaven - Lonely People With Power

GBH - City Baby Attacked By Rats

LARD - Pure Chewing Satisfaction

Mothers of Invention - Freak Out!

ten Athlone - Street Trash E.P.

ten Athlone - Travelator

Amigo the Devil - Born Against

The Cops - Free Electricity

Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue

The Jeff Healey Band - Road House (The Lost Soundtrack)

Anthrax - Worship Music

Billy Idol - Rebel Yell

Judas Priest - Painkiller

Perturbator - Lustful Sacraments

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• I: The Magician

• Ace of Swords

• Three of Cups

The Spark of Essence. A Breakthrough of Intellect. Solid Emotional Outcome.

Sounds a lot like a three-step plan to get my ass back in gear. I've been slowly dipping my toe back into Shadow Play, but I've had a lot of distractions. This coming weekend is a trip to Chicago, after that, I'm calling it now: Full Immersion!!!

New Music from Ganser!

From Ganser's new album, Animal Hospital, out August 29th on the always wonderful Felte Records. Pre-order HERE.

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NCBD:

I've kind of unofficially switched to a M-W-F posting schedule here for the time being, and I'm still getting used to that. I'll use this as the reason I somehow forgot to feature my NCBD pulls in Wednesday's post - when I'm working on these a day or two out, it's easy to forget what day you're aiming for. Anyway, This week's pull ended up being considerable, so in this case, hindsight helps condense what otherwise would have been two consecutive posts.

Turns out, Batman: Dark Patterns is going even longer than I originally thought. This is the most consecutive months I've read a Batman book since Grant Morrison's run ended!

Already read this one - dark times for the Autobots, man. And more Bruticus! In fact, we have an all-out combiner battle with Bruticus and Devastator versus Superion! I can't even believe how this book taps into all my childhood play fantasies about the Transformers. 

More dark times for heroes. It's definitely in the air - I mean, art reflects life and looks at the world we live in. Some really interesting developments in this issue, and the bi-monthly release schedule is still really working for me, partly as a respite for the old wallet and partly as a suspense builder. 

This issue of SIKTC features some of the best trademark James Tyion IV dialogue. From the two clerks talking about mustache-shaving daydreams to the Jaws discussion, this one's all set, but holy cow - things are going to go off next issue!

The first issue was so-so for me, but I'm looking forward to sticking around and seeing where this pretty deft send-up of Black Metal culture goes. 

Once again - Oni for the win! A new Horror Anthology featuring Andrea Sorrentino? You don't need to say another word. 

But wait - there's MORE!!!

Earlier in the week, my good friend and frequent collaborator Grimm pointed me to the fact that Titan Books has been publishing a new Savage Sword of Conan magazine-sized book for eight issues now. I'm not a card-carrying Conan fan, per se, but back shortly after I discovered H.P. Lovecraft, I picked up a mass-market paperback copy of Howard's Tales from the Cthulhu Mythos and have long thought it one of the best I cut my Robert E. Howard 

Looks more like "Savage Sword of Danzig" to me!

This issue of The Savage Sword of Conan features six tales that all revolve around Howard's The Black Stone. THIS is my REH wheelhouse - The Black Stone is probably the short story that left the deepest impression on me from that Mythos paperback, and I think it's fantastic that writer Jim Zub is using it as a jumping-off point to weave the Black Stone through a myriad of Howard's characters - from the Cimmerian to El Borak to Soloman Kane. Granted, these stories just made me spring for a set of the spin-off Black Stone series on eBay, but that's fine. Just like so many other power-mad sorcerers, I'm willing to pay for more exposure to the titular monument. 

Issue eight was really what sparked my interest, as Grimm sent his joyous accolades for this series along with a picture from issue 8's The Wuthering:

'Nuff said! Seriously though, this entire book is gorgeous, and it was a real treat to discover the first story herein was drawn by Jason "Nameless" Burnham!

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Playlist:

Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

The Devil's Blood - The Thousandfold Epicentre

Marilyn Manson - One Assassination Under God - Chapter 1

Deafheaven - Lonely People With Power

Melvins - (A) Senile Animal

Thou - Summit

Deee-Lite - Dewdrops in the Garden

Black Sabbath - Paranoid

Big Black - The Rich Man's Eight Track Tape

Rapeman - Two Nuns and a Pack Mule/Budd E.P.

Killdozer - God Hears the Pleas of the Innocent

The High Confessions - Turning Lead Into Gold with the High Confessions

Metallica - Ride the Lightning

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• Page of Wands

• Two of Pentacles

• Three of Pentacles

Decisions about Earthly matters should be made from a place of strong support. What the hell does that mean, exactly? I'm far too tired to figure this out at the time of typing this, so I'll be staring at these cards all day on my desk. 

I hate when the pull interpretation comes out sounding like an exaggerated fortune cookie!!!

Hulk Smash Brand X

 

A friend recently turned me on to 70s fusion group Brand X, by way of their 1977 album Morrocan Roll. This is some intense stuff; I hear influences either given or received from Goblin (Morrocan Roll and the Suspiria OST were released two months apart in the spring of 1977), Genesis (according to my friend, Phil Collins was apparently Brand X's drummer for one album), and they definitely influenced one Les Claypool. The album starts a bit slow for my taste, but once we get to this, the fourth track, things really flip out, and it's pretty awesome to behold. 

Man, there was so much interesting music happening on the fringes of Jazz and Prog at this time. Not all of it is to my liking, but it's definitely worth exploring. 

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Watch:

That time on Lettermen when Iggy Pop told the story of how he met David Bowie!

I've really been enjoying having the ability to comb through classic NBC Lettermen clips on the Lettermen YouTube channel. This is just another example of the treasure available there. Props to the historians who curate, clean up and catalogue this stuff. 

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Read:

Re-reading Imperial #1, I find I'm not quite done pontificating on "Cosmic Marvel,' because my connections to it actually go further back than I realized when I wrote Monday's entry. 

While it's true that 1992's Infinity Gauntlet was my direct entry point to anything outside street-level Marvel,* I did get a more narrow taste of Cosmic Marvel with The Incredible Hulk.

I grew up as a big fan of Peter David's run on Marvel Comics' The Incredible Hulk. However, prior to David's run, series writer Bill Mantlo played considerably more with Cosmic stories for Marvel's green brute, and as a kid, I had a disparate number of these and they fascinated me to no end. 

In fact, I've come to realize that, just as Imperial begins with Hulk as our entry into the larger Cosmic conspiracy, the character has long been associated with intergalactic elements of Marvel's continuity and often had a hand in piquing my interest in that direction. 

These random issues from Mantlo's run did not make it out of my early childhood but were something I sought out in back issues later in life, so strong was the memory of them for me even into my adult comic book reading. And they hold up, especially the "Crossroads" stories from the late 290s-early300s of Incredible. They hold up so well, in fact, that Peter David returned to this era a few years ago with a Symbiote Spider-Man story that set Spidey in the Crossroads era with Hulk. A good time was had by all, I can tell you!

All that aside, there is one other Cosmic Hulk era I began to latch onto (well after the fact) and never finished but have gone back to now. That is none other than Grep Pak's Planet Hulk.

I bought the collected Planet Hulk back around five or six years ago, started it, but somehow ended up getting pulled away before getting very far. When the series was being published weekly, I was in an anti-Marvel/indie books-only turn, so I barely paid attention to it, despite the residual hype that coated the walls of the burgeoning online comic book community at the time. I'm not sure what prompted me to pick up the collection on Kindle when I did, but now that Imperial has captured me and spins somewhat directly out of the events of Planet Hulk, it's time.

This is total throwback, 70s Sci-Fi, and I think Bill Mantlo would be a super fan of this storyline. There are definite similarities, what with Hulk finding camaraderie with alien outsiders, similar to the Puffball Collective in Crossroads. The planet Sakaar serves as a melting pot for a number of alien races due to its proximity to the wormhole above it, and that adds a nice 70s Sci-Fi aesthetic, that kind of tribalism that is then mashed up with the rule of an evil Emperor. You can really see how Greg Pak designed this to be a timeless tale, and it does wonders for Hulk. This isn't the savage Hulk, or Joe Fixit, or Banner in a green body, but it sort of splits the difference between those first two iterations I mention and gives us a savage but brooding Hulk that can think as much as he can bash. This, too, is fun for everyone involved. 

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• Even Claremont's X-Men run stayed largely Earth-bound for most of my infatuation with it. I started Uncanny X-Men with the Mutant Massacre and from that point on, I don't think there were any Intergalactic stories until Lila Cheney showed up in issue 272 to pull the team into space to save Chuck. Hell, even the Brood made the trip to Earth (232-234)!

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Playlist:

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Nell' ora blu

The Clash - Sandinista!

Black Sabbath - Eponymous

Pink Floyd - Ummagumma (Disc 2)

Brand X - Morrocan Roll

Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

Black Sabbath - Master of Reality

SQÜRL - Live at Third Man Records

Turnstile - NEVER ENOUGH

Explode Into Color - Eyes Hands Mouth (single)

Blood Incantation - Absolute Everywhere

Ganser - Black Sand (pre-release single)

High on Fire - Live from the Relapse Contamination Festival

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• Ace of Swords

• King of Wands

• XV: The Devil

A breakthrough in intellect leads to a strong alternate philosophy on how to achieve a goal. 

Rebel Waltz Meet Imperial Predator

It occurred to me while watching Tony Hawk's "What's In My Bag" on the Amoeba music YouTube channel that it's been quite some time since I gave The Clash's Sandinista! a fair shake.

I had this on vinyl in a former life, and while I LOVE some of the songs on it, a double-double album or whatever it is just seems inherently ridiculous. Granted, London Calling is possibly the best double album ever (The Wall is better conceptually, but not necessarily when taken song-by-song), so if anyone was going to pull off an exponential attempt on the concept, The Clash was smart money.

However, Sandinista! always felt a bit too long, the 'sides' and even tracks often a bit too disparate. I mean, "The Magnificent Seven" to "Hitsville UK" to the idle reggae of "Junco Partner"? And that happens a couple of times, this kind of "reggae segue" that feels a bit forced. There are obviously reggae elements on London Calling, but it's all mixed into the songwriting in a way that those moments feel elegant and natural. They've always felt a bit ostentatious to me on Sandinista!.

My point here is it's been quite some time since I've actually listened to the record, and people change. So that's one of my current musical missions for the foreseeable future.

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Watch:

I had successfully avoided the trailer for Predator: Killer of Killers before its release this weekend,  so going into it blind the other night was a super treat! I'm pretty hard on animation - unless it's Cowboy Bebop or Transformers '86 I don't generally take to it. This, however, blew me away.

I will say, I preferred the animation in the first two segments, but the third one had HEART, so I was still completely "in." I love that we've had to travel almost 40 years to finally get good entries into the cinematic Predator universe. Sure, there are things about several of the other movies I dig, but overall, every movie after the original film has always been a disappointment. Maybe that's just because the original was so damn good, or maybe it's because, as a sequel, Dark Horse's Concrete Jungle has always reigned supreme in my mind. 

This four-issue mini-series is a perfect follow-up to the original film, and while it's clear it was a kind of road map for the eventual Predator 2, the film leaves out many of the best parts. Regardless of all this now-ancient history, Dan Trachtenberg has really proved to be the savior the franchise needed, and I can't wait for Predator: Badlands, due out later this year.

I think the best thing that ever happened to Predator was moving to different timelines and now, even different worlds like the Dark Horse comics did long ago.

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Read:

I ended up picking up more than I was planning to at the comic shop last Wednesday, but when I saw Jonathan Hickman had turned his attention to the cosmic end of the Marvel Universe, I was instantly intrigued.

I am well aware this is a case of me still pining for Krakoa-era X-Men, but that's okay. The cosmic end of Marvel has never really been my forte. 

Like a lot of 80s comics readers, I read The Infinity Gauntlet as it came out and fell instantly under its sway. This led to dabbling with The Silver Surfer around the same time (I remember the 50th issue being a big deal, but I no longer have that or really remember why). However, trying to keep up with 1992's Gauntlet follow-up Operation Galactic Storm* - a weekly event that ran through pretty much all the Marvel titles I didn't read at the time kind of broke me on the cosmic end of Marvel. I think at the time, my 16-year-old self thought this series was going to be my road into the bigger Universe, only I really didn't connect with any of the titles or the event in general, and I largely stayed away from 'cosmic Marvel' ever since.

Until...

Part of Hickman's Krakoa-era was Al Ewing's S.W.O.R.D. - a cosmic X-Men title that I adored and led directly into the events of Planet-sized X-Men and X-Men: Red, still probably the best Marvel series I've read in decades, and which definitely played with the cosmic end of things. 

It's the little I picked up in these titles that has me most interested in modern cosmic Marvel continuity and the first issue of Imperial delivered. There's no shortage on political intrigue here, but played across the stars, Hickman makes the old 'game-of-thrones' concept feel fresh and thrilling. The story encompasses a myriad of cosmic empires I know (Sh'iar; Kree-Skrull) as well as many more I don't (who are those Horse-people???). We also get some familiar faces for a newbie like me; Hulk mourning a son I didn't know he had, Nova and Starlord trying to head whatever is happening off at the pass, as well as a lot of folks I'm completely unacquainted with. So many agendas, so many allegiances - secret or otherwise - and two mysterious chess players who are (apparently) controlling everything. Oh yeah, and Wakanda involved in a nefarious plot to derail peace in the universe?

It's a lot, and I'm really only treading water with the continuity, but it's Hickman and it has a certain charge to it and I'm in.

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* Cringe at that title!

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Playlist:

Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

Black Sabbath - Technical Ecstasy

Ozzie Osbourne - Patient No. 9

Turnstile - NEVER ENOUGH

Damone - From the Attic

Turnstile - GLOW ON

The Dillinger Escape Plan - One of Us is the Killer

Mastodon - Once More 'Round the Sun

Television - Marquee Moon

Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers - L.A.M.F.: The Lost '77 Mixes

The Clash - Sandinista!

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• Page of Wands

• VI: The Lovers

• Queen of Cups

Inexperience can be overcome with partnership.

Deadguy - Knife Sharpener

 

From their first album in 30 years, Near-Death Travel Services, out June 27th on Relapse Records. I pre-ordered my copy from the Relapse Store the second I saw the announcement last month. Love these guys, and I love this video! The False Metal asteroid made me laugh out loud!

It's difficult to put into words the joy seeing Deadguy reunite instills in me. These guys were one of the few bands from the old Victory Records that made a positive impact on me. In fact, Fixation on a Coworker became something of a legendary album for my friends and I at a time when there wasn't a lot of metal besides Ministry or Mike Patton projects that we cared for. I've carried the CD copy Subculture Magazine sent me to review with me since I received it blind back in '95, and seeing them reunite last year in Brooklyn and now having a new full-length on the way in just a few weeks... it feels great. 

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Watch:

Despite an INSANE level of curiosity, I am abstaining from watching this trailer for now. I'm not sure I ever thought The Black Phone needed a sequel, but after reading a bit about this, I have to say, I'm in.        

I'm sure I'll see this a bunch of times at my local theatre, but for now, I'll push past it and hope I can just be surprised. I will say, in the little bit of the synopsis I read, they mention a "Winter Camp," and I thought that was an amazing twist on the Summer Camp trope. I'm curious if it's ever been done before. I brought it up at the comic shop and one of the guys mentioned The Lodge and The Shining, but while those are winter-based, they're not 'camps.' The more I think about this - and it will still require some research to confirm - this may be a one-of-a-kind concept here. 

Derrickson and Cargill - I really don't think this can go wrong.

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Read:

As K and I continue our rewatch of Daredevil, Season Two, my fascination with John Bernthal's rendition of Frank Castle has me jonesing to re-read some of the old 1980s Punisher comics I was obsessed with back in the day. So, Tuesday night after we finished Season Two, Episode 7, K retired for the night and I spent some time pulling out short boxes.

I'd forgotten that Stephen Grant wrote the original 1985 Punisher mini-series that served as the set-up for the ongoing one that kicked off in 1987. The ongoing was my introduction, but a large part of my catalyst for picking that up was seeing Mike Zeck's cover art on the wall behind the counter at my first comic ship, Worth, Illinois' Heroland (back when it was attached to the Post Office on Harlem and 111th). Mike Zeck is a criminally forgotten artist who did the art for two of my favorite series from the 80s - this Punisher mini-series and J.M. Dematteis' Kraven's Last Hunt, which I've waxed on about in these pages several times.

I eventually picked up all five issues of this mini at comic book shows scattered around Illinois - they used to host them at Knight's of Colombus Halls - and they quickly became prized possessions. It's been quite some time since I've read these, though, so it's great to go back to them now. 

The story starts with Castle behind bars at Rikers. A run-in with Jigsaw and a failed assassination during a prison break put Castle in the debt of an organization called The Trust. The Trust says they just want Frank to keep doing what he's doing and they'll fund it - but Frank knows there's another shoe bound to drop, and he's packing enough ammo accordingly.

It wasn't until a couple of years ago that an off-hand comment in something I read made me realize how inherently 'Right Wing' the concept of the Punisher is. Although, I'd argue there's an element of Common Sense here as well - Common Sense being my political predisposition in comparison to the two parties of nonsense we currently adhere to in this country. Still, there's no denying that the origins of this character - and certainly the early comics - leaned that way. Yet, just like Marvel has done with Frank's current incarnation in Disney +'s Daredevil: Born Again, there's complexity here that undermines this interpretation. 

That Marvel was able to 'take back' the Punisher logo in Born Again after its unfortunate "Scared Blue Line" association since that infamous photo of a cop's lock screen as he waits outside the Uvalde school shooting while children die is nothing short of a fucking miracle. Not everyone will agree with me on this, but I thought the fact that Marvel addressed this head-on in Born Again was ballsy, poignant and honestly took a lot of guts. I'd be curious to know how many Police officers started the show with a sense of excitement and then bounced once they saw the turn it took with Fisk's private army of corrupt police. The distinction here is perfect - a truly thin blue line that, just as in our reality, takes care to separate the good cops from the bad ones. Anyone offended would seem to be taking the wrong side from the jump.

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Playlist:

The Henry Rollins Show - The Stooges (2007)

The Henry Rollins Show - Marilyn Manson & Peaches

Danzig - I Luciferi

Ghost - Skeletá

Black Sabbath - Vol. 4

Brand X - Morrocan Roll

Ministry - Box

Black Sabbath - Sabotage

Jóhann Jóhannsson - Mandy OST

Perturbator - Lustful Sacraments

Deadguy - Knife Sharpener (pre-release single)

Greg Puciato - Mirrorcell

OOIOO - Gold & Green

Man Man - Life Fantastic

Butthole Surfers - Locust Abortion Technician

Murder Inc. - The Complete Murder Inc/Locate Subvert Terminate

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• Three of Cups

• IX: The Hermit

• Queen of Cups

The Strength of Two is equal to Three, especially after coming back from a lonely gestation period. Return to a realm of deep Love and Understanding.

Feast of Wire, NCBD

 

From Calexico's fourth studio album, Feast of Wire. This one is a masterpiece. Well, most of Calexico's records are, but as I listen to this track while typing these words, I remember exactly how I felt the first time Mr. Brown played it for me back in 2003. Which is fitting, as I'm listening to Mr. Brown's copy of the record, which he lent me during our previous record swap and I only just acquired a new turntable that easily plays 45 RPM. Now that I can play this, it won't be leaving my 'on deck' pile until we switch out again at the end of the month. 

Hot damn is this record fantastic!

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NCBD:

Last week I walked into Rick's Comic City in Clarksville and realized a kind of comic book apocalypse had come to pass: with Diamond now bankrupt and liquidated, their POS system, Comic Suite, is defunct. My Drinking with Comics co-host Mike Shinabarger had mentioned this was coming a while ago; however, I didn't fully understand the implications until last week. Stores now have no computerized way to assign books to customers' pulls, order specific books for customers, and a whole mess of other complications. So it's anybody's guess if I'll be able to pull down the books I flag each week, especially the upcoming new titles beginning over the next few weeks. Apparently, there's no good substitute for the software, either.

Here's what I'm hoping to bring home today:

Issue three of this creepy A.F. haunted house story that we now know is a lot more than just a haunted house story. 

This book is growing on me more and more. That said, I've just realized my copy of #1 is going for a pretty penny on eBay, and I have a rather gratuitous purchase on a loop in my head, so I may be parting with that.

The finale of this odd little book about the Jersey Devil, a subject I have long had a great deal of fascination for. I'm not entirely sure what the deal is with this book; i.e., is it based on actual historical figures that factored into the origin of the Jersey Devil myth, or if this is just James Tynion playing with history and folklore? Either way, I've enjoyed the book quite a bit. 

Mindbender's revenge. 'Nuff said! Love this cover. 

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Watch:

I'm not sure how I discovered this Captain Beefheart interview on Lettermen, but for whatever reason, it just felt right today:

 

It's crazy how much he looks like my Uncle Phil. Also, this is 1983, and before I watched the old NBC show that I became such a fan of in the mid-to-late 80s, staying up, watching it with my Mom (always Magnum P.I, and this). 

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Playlist:

Emilie Leviensaise-Farrouch - Censor OST

Jim Williams - Possessor OST

Stereolab - Instant Holograms On Metal Film

John Corigliano - Altered States OST

Calexico - Feast of Wire

Sqürl - Third Man Records Sessions

Exhalants - Atonement

Federale - Reverb & Seduction

Decalius - Dehumanizing Loneliness

Black Pyramid - The Paths of Time are Vast

Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

Amoeba Music What's in My Bag? - Tony Hawk

Comic Tropes - The Worst X-Men Run

The Clash - Sandinista!

Black Sabbath - Sabotage

Led Zeppelin - In Through the Out Door

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• Two of Pentacles

• XXI: The World

• Knight of Wands

Collaboration opens up new opportunities that will reshape and reinvigorate the Will.