Despite not caring for the "Quintesson War" storyline very much, I'm liking where everyone landed in the fallout from those events. I think Darak and Solila off the Great Ring and in cahoots with Pythona.
My final issue! All the way to 300 with these guys. Hats off - still the best reboot of anything I've ever experienced.
I finally caught up on this earlier in the month and spoke about it HERE. As I ready myself for this final issue, I'll just say this is also a contender for best of the year. So nice to travel back to the Vertigo 80s with ol' tall, green and swampy.
The penultimate issue before whatever #50 is going to do to change the series. Loving these "young Erika" stories, but ready to get back to the here and now.
The final of Chris Condon and Jacob Philips' first Ezra Cain mystery. Hoping there will be more down the road, although these will undoubtedly read better as trades, so I may refrain from buying any more of this particular series monthly.
I dug the atmosphere and overall storyline for Brutal Dark, and I've said it before and will continue to preach - we need more stories to remind the world that nazis and nationalism are bad. Especially now, when there's a growing number of people in our culture afraid to talk about the unpleasantness of the past.
Another that will easily ride out the year in my top five.
The finale of this wonderful aquatic horror mini-series! Oni still going strong.
Watch:
I'll admit I watched this trailer not expecting to care one way or the other about this flick. It feels a bit like that strain of Horror that includes titles like Afaid and Megan 2.0. That said, there's a jump scare here, though, that made me laugh out loud. In a good way!
Also, what I did not notice at first - this is directed by Rob Savage, and I quite enjoyed both Host and The Boogeyman, so I'm in.
Playlist:
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Blood Lust
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Shapes of Midnight (pre-release singles)
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Nell' ora blu
Melvins - (A) Senile Animal
Carlos Rafael Rivera - They Will Kill You OST
Secret Chiefs 3 Traditionalists - La Mani Destre Recise Degli Ultimi Uomimi
Pilot Priest & Electric Youth - Come True OST
Zombie - Shape Shift
Boris/Merzbow - 2R0I2P0
Mastodon - Marrow Deep (pre-release singles)
Spotlights - Alchemy for the Dead
Holy Fawn - Death Spells
Ozzy Osbourne - The Ultimate Sin
Card:
From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.
• Seven of Swords
• Knight of Pentacles
• XIII: Death
Big change brought about by successful ambition. No idea where to apply that in my life, unless it's telling me my ambitious trek to abstain from beer until at the very earliest November 5th to help my liver recover will pay off. And by pay off, I mean grant me the rest of my lifetime happily drinking pints (maybe not every night anymore, though...).
Holy cow! New QOTSA and it features Nikki Lane! No idea if this heralds a new album on the horizon, but it's been a few years since In Times New Roman, so I'm guessing we'll see something sooner than later.
NCBD:
Great pull this week, with a couple of last-minute surprises!
Still walking that road to SIKTC 50. Digging this series - LOVE this cover - but as I've mentioned before, I'm in need of a reread all around to really cement some of the finer points of the rather intricate continuity that runs between all these books.
I cannot believe that, after re-reading the entire series last week, it ended up timed to coincide with the release of a new Rachel Rising one-shot!
The climax to our introduction to the energon-fueled Dire Technology of Crystal Ball. Smart money says this issue ends with Destro making a deal with the lord of illusions, but we'll see.
Tracking to be in my top five of the year. I LOVE If Destruction Be Our Lot. So much!
Crap! A reminder that I completely forgot issue 2 of Chris Condon, Charlie Adlard and Andrew Enrich's Of the Earth! I mean, I walked into Rick's last month expecting it, but apparently their copies were damaged, and I guess they never got more.
As has become my inadvertent habit, I just read the previous issue of Savage Sword a few days ago, so it was no surprise to find this slated for today. I don't know exactly how that happened, but I have kind of marveled at my unconscious mind's accuracy with this pattern.
Here's another one I didn't see coming! New Last Ronin one-shot! Interesting, as just before seeing this, I decided to cancel my TMNT pull for this month's number 20, which is actually the 300th "Legacy" issue. I hate all this Legacy counting, but whatever, at this point I'm used to it. I will, however, still be picking up one-offs like this.
Watch:
I so want this to be good. I was a weekly BEE Podcast listener for years before Ellis surprised everyone during the pandemic by reading his work-in-progress The Shards every week, and I've listened to those broadcasts at least twice since. This is the perfect Ellis novel to adapt, in my opinion. There's just one thing giving me pause.
Ryan Murphy.
I was never a die hard AHS fan; I love the Hotel, Roanoke and 1984. I jumped off Coven after three episodes, was mostly happy with the first two seasons, and had mixed feelings about Double Feature. Whatever the Cruisin' knock-off season was proved the last straw for me, and watching all the low-brow, tabloid series he's pumped out since (with the exception of The Beauty), I just can't help but feel hesitant about this.
We'll see on August 5th, I guess. I'm really hoping it works, though. Ellis is one of my favorite Authors, he's written some of my favorite novels - The Shards is one - and there's not an adaptation out there that I favor.
Help me Ryan Murphy, you're my only hope.
Playlist:
Steve Moore - Jimmy & Stiggs OST
Yerusalem - The Sublime
Windhand - Grief's Infernal Flower
Mastodon - Once More 'Round the Sun
Spotlights - Alchemy for the Dead
Ennio Morricone - Black Belly of the Tarantula OST
Boards of Canada - Inferno
Ghost - Skeleta
Oranssi Pazuzu - Muuntautuja
Mastodon - Emperor of Sand
Mastodon - Marrow Deep (pre-release singles)
QOTSA - Easy Street (single)
Spotlights - Seance EP
Card:
From Jonathan Grimm's Eldritch Lace Tarot, which you can buy HERE.
• Five of Cups
• Knight of Swords
• Four of Swords
Grief. Drive. Rest.
I haven't talked about this yet, but last Friday I was diagnosed with Fatty Liver Disease. It's actually not as severe as it sounds, but I have to stop drinking beer and really change my diet for the next several months to allow my liver to heal. After that, I'm planning to scale the drinking back. I've been doing 2-6 beers a night for over 20 years, so this really isn't a surprise. And it's a lot better of a diagonsis than the scare that led up to this suggested. I can stop when I need to - K and I just did a three-week hiastus in March - but the thing is beer is my nightly ritual. I don't chase intoxication, I just LOVE beer. Good beer, of course. But part of that love now means I have to let it go for a while, so we can be reunited when I'm healthy again.
All my jokes about Keith Richards' liver have come home to roost.
Also of note, found this card face up in the deck after I laid out the cards above, figured that was worth interpreting.
In light of the reading above, I'm reading this as growing pains, as I have many.
