To Bring You My Backrooms

From her 1994 masterpiece, To Bring You My Love. 

I've felt drawn back to several 90s female artists recently, and PJ Harvey is a big one. I don't remember when I first heard To Bring You My Love, but I know it was an instant "all-timer" for me. That said, it's also one that takes me to a very specific inner place, a place I don't often necessarily find myself drawn to these days. Lately, though, I'm all about it.

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NCBD:

Another fabulous Wednesday pull from Rick's Comic City in Clarksville. Let's take a gander at what will be waiting for me after work:

For whatever reason, it feels like it's been months since the last issue of Thundarr. Excited to get back into this, as there's potentially some really interesting stuff going on in this book. 

Here's a surprise - the unreleased "Swamp Thing meets Jesus" by Rick Veitch and Michael Zulli finally sees the light of day as a four-issue series starting this week and published monthly for the next three months. Reminds me a bit of when Vertigo made a big deal about finally releasing that Constantine story that caused Warren Ellis to bail on the book after only two thin trades worth of what could have been a long and completely brilliant run. For as groundbreaking as they wanted to be perceived as back in the late 80s, I don't think DC had fully acquiesced to Karen Berger's autonomy until after Sandman proved the brand. 

We come to the end of the Sssilent Missions event with a Firefly issue. No better way to end things, in my opinion. Like Copperhead, another of my all-time favorite characters. 

Another facsimile edition for Larry Hama's original ARAH series, this time issue 14, which I believe is the first appearance of Laird Destro!

One thing I learned years ago is to stay the hell out of comic shops on Free Comic Book Day, which is this coming Saturday. So I'm not sure I'll actually be able to walk away with this, or if I should just wait for the not-free version that drops next Wednesday. 

J.G. Jones and Phil Bram's dustbowl epic Dust to Dust finally comes to a conclusion with issue 8, and I'll be jumping in and rereading this one from the start sooner rather than later. I reread the first half a few months ago, but have held off on the subsequent issues due to publishing delays. I want a full-on, one-sitting reread on this one. 

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Watch:

While I now approach all YouTuber-turned-Filmmaker Horror movies with a certain degree of trepidation, I finally saw the trailer for Kane "Pixels" Parsons' Backrooms from A24, and I have to say, I'm excited and hopeful. This looks fantastic. I've expressed my fascination for the YouTube version of Backrooms here previously, and this film looks like the consolidation the admittedly sprawling episodic series needs to really lock in its power. Also, the inclusion of such a top-tier actor like Chiwetel Ejiofor adds significance, as does having Mark Duplass on board. 

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Playlist:

Weird Studies - The Only Possible End: On Donna Tartt's The Secret History

Weird Studies - Lost and Never Found: On the Blair Witch Project

Steve Moore - Jimmy & Stiggs OST

Deadguy - Near-Death Travel Services

Poe - Hello

PJ Harvey - To Bring You My Love

D'Nell - First Magic

Steve Moore - VFW OST

John Carpenter w/ Alan Howarth - Prince of Darkness OST

Deafheaen - Lonely People With Power

The Cure - Pornography

Cold Cave - Cherish the Light Years

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Card:

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

• IV: The Emperor

• Two of Pentacles

• VIII: Strength

Structure, collaboration on a project, and instinct. 

I have lingering questions about a particular collaboration, and I think I just got my answer. Well, the cards don't answer questions; they just point you to the answer you already know. 

Evil Dead Burn

Have we talked about how the Butthole Surfer's lost album, After the Astronaut, finally sees release next month on Sunset Blvd Records? This is one that, back when Napster was a thing, I used that platform to find as many of these tracks as I could and assemble the closest thing I could figure was the actual intended release as possible. Now I finally get to have this on vinyl? Damn!

I actually dug out my old burned CD and compared it to the track listing - looks like I got pretty freakin' close!

Pre-order After the Astronaut for a June 26th release HERE.

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Watch:

Evil Dead Burn. I am going to go out of my way to avoid this and every other trailer for this film between now and July 10th, when I plan to plop my arse in the theatre and wait for  Sébastien Vaniček's entry in the ever-expanding Evil Dead Universe. But I watched this twice and really dug it, so now I'm excited.

I get old school 80s Exploitation videos just from the opening shot of the house here. Reminds me of Don't Go In the House, or House at the Edge of the Park. And the entire sequence plays like something out of a Puppet Combo video game. Vaniček's Infested was in my top five of 2024, so when I saw his name get attached to this, my excitement began. This 'trailer' only ramps that up. I just hope that what happened to Evil Dead Rise doesn't happen here. The total saturation of that film's trailer just killed so many of the otherwise insanely disturbing images. Let's not do that again, okay?

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NCBD:

Pretty big week. Let's go grab some comics!!!

Sharkticons and the pit of judgment? I'm still not sure I'm feeling the Quintesson War being as big a deal as it purports to be, but I'll show up for that on the cover, no problem!

This Spawn: The Dark Ages book by Liam Sharp has been a gorgeous reminder of what comics can be. I'm still stoked at all the Wrightson-worship with Sharp's character design, and honestly, this has been a pretty cool ride. One more after this. I can't say I'm invested in the story, but I'm enjoying the hell out of it regardless.

The second issue of The Peril of the Brutal Dark felt like it took twice as long to reach my hands as it actually did, so that definitely means this book has me. Outer Dark Crime Noir? How can that go wrong? especially in the hands of the That Texas Blood creative team. The short answer is, it can't. 

I really dug both the Baroness and the Crimson Guard silent issues. The Zartan was so-so. But Copperhead getting his own issue? One of my all-time favorite Cobras, who really has not had hardly any 'screen time' since his creation over 40 years ago. Color me super jazzed.

One more after this! I have my bet on who is going to walk out of this alive, so let's see if I'm right.

I finally did that one-sitting reread of Event Horizon: Dark Descent and really liked it, so when I saw we're getting another chapter, this one a sequel to the film, I couldn't help but add it to my pull list at Rick's. I dig the fleshing out of the EH story, and am super curious to see what they do with this new chapter. 

Easily the weirdest comic I've read in some time, I can't wait to get into more Death Fight Forever!

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Playlist:

Steve Moore - Jimmy & Stiggs OST

Grotus - Mass

Grotus - Luddite

Garbage - Eponymous

Marilyn Manson - Mechanical Animals

MC50 - 10xMC5 Live

John Carpenter w/ Alan Howarth - Prince of Darkness OST

Massive Attack - Mezzanine

Blut Aus Nord - Hallucinogen

Boards of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest

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Card:

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

• Nine of Pentacles

• Knight of Cups

• XVIII: Death

Finish it. Don't drown in self-satisfaction, but recognize and celebrate the win. It will lead to the next thing.

New Music From Genghis Tron!!!

 

From the forthcoming album Signal Fire, out June 12th on Relapse Records. Pre-order HERE.

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NCBD:

Here's my NCBD pull for Wednesday, 4/15/26:

Thus far, I love this adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's The Thing on the Doorstep. 

I'm not really sure why we're side-stepping the next issue of Ordained to do a zero-issue one-off for the hitman called in to take out Father Roy, but I dug the first two issues of the regular Ordained series, so by all means, toss in a few one-shots. This feels like it might have been inspired by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon's Preacher series, the way many of the characters had one-shots or mini-series; it just seems like, after only two issues, this is a bit premature. Either way, I paid to see a Priest kick Mob arse, and I've no complaints so far, so let's deep dive the man that I'm assuming is a total badass.

Another Bad Idea book. There was a preview of this one in Ordained #2, and honestly, seeing David Lapham and Bill Sienkiewicz's names attached, this could be a Rainbow Bright series, and I'd probably pick it up. 

A silent Zartan issue? That worked really well back in G.I.Joe ARAH #85, so I can't wait to see what Hama and team do with it here.

Pivoting back to Scarlett and Storm Shadow? This reminds me how much I'm digging this book and don't really need the reliance on "Ninjas" that the original ARAH book did. Still, I feel like, although this book started off lukewarm, it's kind of hit a stride, so I'm cautiously optimistic here.

After reading last month's Batwoman #1 by Greg Rucka and Dani, I picked up the DC Compact edition of the run this new book continues, named Elegy. I didn't love it the way I love some of Rucka's stuff, so I'm hanging onto my sub for this new chapter for a month or two more, hoping it really grabs me

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Playlist:

Mountain Realm - Stoneharrow

Mountain Realm - Shadowlorn

Blackbraid - Nocturnal Womb EP

Melvins & Napalm Death - Savage Imperial Death March

Boards of Canada - Geogaddi

sunn O))) - Domkirke

Metallica - Kill 'Em All

Type O Negative - Dead Again

Type O Negative - World Coming Down

Plague Bringer - As the Ghosts Collect the Corpses Rest

Mercy Girl - Closer EP

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Card:

First spread since returning home from my trip, I thought since I've been using my mini-Thoth while away, I'd come home and plug back into the legacy deck. 

• 4 of Disks: Power

• Prince of Swords

• 10 of Wands: Oppression

Establishing a power base is great, but once done, something has to navigate how you use that power. Will without intellect can go awry, as it is as raw a force as nature offers, only on a human scale. Things go wrong when Will is ruled by Earthly desires. Read: There has to be something bigger. 

Julia Ducournea's Alpha!!!

Writing this Tuesday at 11L12 AM CST. Starting my first morning on the Southside with Black Sabbath's Paranoid. This is a regular ritual when I return to the soil from whence I came - Sabbath helps me reconnect to this area; I literally feel the harmonization singing in my blood. 

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Watch:

Yesterday, my Horror Vision cohost Missi and I hit a local big-box to see Julia Ducournau's new film, Alpha. I walked in knowing NOTHING and, as usual, that was the best way to go in.

Alpha is an arduous journey that had me squirming and contorting in my seat for its entire run time. The subject matter was a surprise to me, as was the unrelenting twist of the mundane into horrific body horror beyond almost what I could stand. It's not a gory film or a disturbing film in any capacity I could have expected. My elevator pitch would be, "Requiem for a Dream done by David Cronenberg if he were French." That's a bit of a cop out, but most elevator pitches are. Suffice it to say, this will easily be one of the 'best' films I see this year. 

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NCBD:

I am out of town, and so I won't be bringing any of my books home to read this week. I will be swinging into Amazing Fanasy sometime this week, so there may be an addendum post, but here's all the great stuff I will have waiting for me upon my return to Clarksville:

I said this on a recent episode of Drinking with Comics, but it kind of blows my mind that for as long as I've been a devoted, weekly comic reader (since July of 1986), forty years on, most of my pull list are titles based on 80s childhood IPs that I love.  There have certainly been titles for all of these characters running most of those forty years, but it wasn't until Robert Kirkman (of course) acquired them that I actually started reading them. 

Continuing the longest-running continuity the Turtles have ever had! I know they zeroed out the count back in 2024, but I still look at this by the 'Legacy' number, which would be issue 177. And while there's definitely a modicum of status quo creeping back in (Splinter's alive (I think), the four brothers are back together as a team (I think!), all the Jenika and mutanttown characters have been moved to their own books (which I don't read), I'm still pretty pleased with how this is going.

On our way to issue 50! No lie - I'm going to have to reread a lot of these "history" issues, but that's fine. SIKTC remains a modern, non-childhood favorite. In fact, my childhood might not have made it out of this book's world alive!

Tim Seely, Ryan O'Nan, Paolo Armitano and crew's Pretty Hate Machine will be my first comic from Mad Cave Studios, and how could I not buy this? Look at that cover - gnarly! And then, what was the other eye catcher... oh yeah. The title! Naming comics of movies/novels off of popular music titles is a tricky gambit, but I will give this one a fair shake because... finger knives!

Speaking of needing a reread to reorient myself, year. That's this one, too. Regardless, can't wait to jump back in and reexperience all the steeping paranoia and terror that is The House At... series.

Last week's Baroness one-shot that kicked off the month-long Silent Missions "Event" exceeded my expectations by a mile. I've always loved the Crimson Guards - especially Larry Hama's CGs with their plastic surgery, swappable domestic identities - so I'm fully expecting this to be on par.

And we close this week with the latest issue of Larry Hama's long-running ARAH. Last issue was probably my favorite Joe comic in a long time, and that makes sense. I dig the more fantastical elements of the Energon Universe Joe book, but nothing beats that time-tested Hama realism. While I haven't read this book since circa 1991, coming back to it with issue 300 showed me that some more SciFi elements had snuck in here, too, and it's always great to get something that reminds me of why I loved this book as a kid.

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Playlist:

Black Sabbath - Paranoid

Black Sabbath - Technical Ecstasy

Blood Mother - The Night Fires (single)

Gylt - I Will Commit A Holy Crime: Tandem

Young Widows - Power Sucker

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Tender Prey

Jozef Van Wissem - Praise Shall Sound From Shore To Shore... (single)

Afghan Whigs - House of I (single)

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Card:

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

• VII: The Chariot

• Pince of Wands

• Princess of Wands

Fast action results in swift and positive results.

Doves Vs. Yeti

 

Doves have a greatest hits coming out, and that's great. I'm not really a greatest hits guy (there are a few), but this... what the hell is this track? I mean, recording session at St. Benedict's Abby? This is GLORIOUS!

You can order the best of HERE. Or, my advice, seek out their albums and get to know their music that way. 

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NCBD:

Light week, which is fine with me. 

The past two issues of this book have been incredible, especially when you consider it costs only $2 more than most books from the big 2. 

I skipped most of the GIJOE team-focused silent issues from a few months back - I think I only picked up the Beachhead one - but the upcoming Cobra-centric issues are a must! First up - that sexy, leather-clad terrorist herself, Anastasia DeCobray, AKA, the Baroness!

There appears to be a reciprocal relationship between how much I don't like the cover of an issue of this series and how good that issue is. Issue four was a book I nearly passed on, and it ended up being the best single issue of a series I've read so far this year. If that's any indication, this should be a fantastic issue!

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Watch:

Here's one of the flicks I'm going to be attempting to get tickets to for Friday's Beyondfest line-up.

I know nothing about this (didn't watch the trailer), but I'm intrigued by the little I've heard.

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Playlist:

Steve Moore - Jimmy & Stiggs OST

Steve Moore - VFW OST

Cold Cave - Cherish the Light Years

sunn O))) - Domkirke

sunn O))) & Boris - Altar

Tangerine Dream - Sorcerer OST

Anthrax - Persistence of Time

sunn O))) - Loser

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Card:

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

• 9 of Disks: Gain

• 7 of Disks: Worry

• XIV: The Sun

The ebb and flow of Earthly assets disappear in the blinding light of understanding. 

Was in the mood for some old school, mid-career Slayer, and this is what I landed on. From their 1990 album Seasons in the Abyss, the last good Slayer album, in my opinion. But what an album it is!

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NCBD:

Here are all the titles in my box this NCBD, 3/25/26:

I'll admit that, thus far, Quintesson War feels a little underwhelming; however, that may just be a product of a slow start and the 30-day spacers between issues. We've certainly had hordes of Sharkticons, Quintesson Baliffs (they should refer to these as "Bulls") and some pretty massive battles, so I'm not sure what I'm whining about. This is issue 4 of 6, so we'll see how I feel when this is all said and done and I can re-read in a burst. Regardless, it's still pretty awesome in general, even if it doesn't live up to my expectations.

Still the biggest surprise of the year - I'm actually reading and enjoying a Spawn book. That's 100% because it's a Liam Sharp project, and it's brutal and beautiful and crazy.

Prohibition-era, Outer Dark/Weird Fiction Gumshoe Detective serial? I'm here for it. Loved the first issue as a set-up, so let's see where Condon and Phillips take us!

Speaking of Weird Fiction, Jeff Lemire's Minor Arcana continues to build up a whole lot of strange infrastructure with excellent characters, a fantastic setting, and plenty of mystery! I love a good "slipping into another world hidden alongside our own" kind of story, and this is that through ang through. I think. That's another thing - I'm not sure I can pin down what exactly is happening in this book, and that only adds to the intrigue! Keep 'em coming, Mr. Lemire!!!

The facsimile edition of one of the 80s GIJOE: ARAH books I never caught in the wild! This bridges a series gap in my collection, without beating my wallet to death. Win-win!

The first issue of Death Fight Forever was fucking CRAZY! We talk about it on Drinking with Comics HERE. I'm pretty psyched for issue 2! Let's see more of that coke-snorting snake man!

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Watch:

For my 50th birthday yesterday, K and I went and saw Project Hail Mary. As I mentioned last week, I just finished reading the book, and as an introduction to Andy Weir's writing, this was a blast. How'd the movie hold up as an adaptation?

Well, this might be K's favorite movie of all time now, she says. A really solid adaptation script by Drew Goddard, who really distills things into a cinematic format from a book that really hinges on prose, so no easy feat this one. Something special for sure. Overall, the story works better as a novel, but the film is solid, and I'd encourage anyone interested to see it on the big screen. There's some "Wow" factor, and the heightened presentation really makes the emotions go big.

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Playlist:

James Brown - Hell

Low Cut Connie - Hi Honey

Jackie Wilson - Radio Station (Apple Music)

Low Cut Connie - Private Lives

Drug Church - Prude

Gwar - Scumdogs of the Universe

Mr. Bungle - Eponymous

The Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust

Ozzy Osbourne - Diary of a Madman

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Card:

Sticking with one card from the Thoth for today's Pull:

• Knight of Wands - Bringing light and new vision into the world. Translation: Stop celebrating and get back to writing!

New Music from Gnarls Barkley

Calling it now - there's almost no way anyone will release an album I love more than the new and totally unexpected Gnarls Barkley record that landed out of nowhere (from my perspective, at least) on March 6th. I caught wind of this last week, and have been unable to stop listening to it multiple times a day. Talk about coming from out of nowhere for a win!

You can order a copy from the group's webstore HERE.

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NCBD:

New Comic Book Day pulls for Wednesday, March 18, 2026:

I enjoyed the adaptation of Lovecraft's seminal short story in issue one of this mini-series, and I'm looking forward to seeing how the rest of the story progresses toward its inevitable ending. Or rather, how exactly we reach that ending. 

I LOVE that this cover was created sensitive to the HUGE change that occurred in Transformers 30, a book that literally floored me. Is this the beginning of an Autobot/Joe team-up? If Duke can get over himself, we might just get that.

We've winnowed away most of the killers and have a few spunky civilian survivors. Deals and agendas abound with the power elite behind the massacre and things are heating up for a final confrontation most will not walk away from. Need context? Check this book out! One of my favorites of 2025, we're poised to hit ground zero in two issues, so heads should really start to roll now...

And last but not least, Greg Rucka is writing a new Batwoman series and I am here for it. I don't really know anything about this character other than I've always dug this design. I did read some of the JH Williams III series from back in... I don't know, 2012, maybe? That was 100% about the art - I couldn't tell you anything about the story. With this new series, I'm here for Rucka. After recently reading his Lois Lane miniseries in TPB form and loving it, I'll follow this man to hell and back. 

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Watch:

Since we did our annual St. Paddy's celebration/State of Grace viewing this past Saturday, this evening we rewatched John Wright's Grabbers. 

"Residents of an island off the coast of Ireland learn that the only way to survive an invasion of blood-sucking aliens is to stay drunk." 

I originally saw this back circa 2019 for an episode of The Horror Vision. I really dug it that time, and did so again. The FX are mostly CG, but that's forgivable when you consider the size of this production and how much goddamn heart it has. Here's a trailer.

I can't stress enough what a good time I had with this one again. Wright's later film, Unwelcome, made my best-of list for 2023, and that's a very different kind of film, thus showing that Jon Wright is a filmmaker to keep an eye on. He doesn't currently have anything listed as "upcoming" on IMDb, but tonight was a good reminder to check in more often. 

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Playlist:

Gnarls Barkley - Atlanta

James Pants - Welcome

Pixies - The Night the Zombies Came

Atticus Derrickson - Black Phone 2 OST

High on Fire - Luminiferous

High on Fire - Electric Messiah

Steve Moore - Jimmy & Stiggs OST

Tangerine Dream - Sorcerer OST

Jóhann Jóhannsson - Mandy OST

Godflesh - Purge

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Card:

Setting aside Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot (which you can buy HERE.) for another Thoth pull:

• XV: The Devil

•  Two of Wands: Dominion

• Queen of Wands

Two Queen of Wands in a row? What's she trying to tell me? I read this simply as don't believe what they tell you, avoid the patriarchy and focus on love. Feels like this is a spread for america, not me. Either way, two Wands and ol' Scratch tell me to trust myself, not what others say. Definite work-related spread. 

Hit Play, For Today

 

This past Monday morning, it was raining when I woke up. It wasn't just raining - it was raining in that not-quite-winter, not-quite-spring way, where the sky was grey but still bright, the air was nippy but not cold, and the world outside seemed both decayed and renewed. In other words, a perfect morning to throw on some music by The Cure. My go-tos in this situation are 1982's Pornography or 1986's Disintegration. There's always an offhand chance Seventeen Seconds might beat one of those two out, and Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me is a rarity, but one that lives in my heart. I hardly ever go to the singles compilation Standing on a Beach, primarily for two reasons:

• 1) I don't generally love compilation albums - I'd rather get to know the entire albums the songs originally appeared on.
• 2) Early Cure - as in the first few years - is not my go-to with the band. I prefer the dark A.F. Pornography and the evolutionary climb that occurs between that and Disintegration, the former being what I would describe as Proto-Industrial, the latter being perfect downbeat Pop. 

Monday, however, it was indeed Beach that I pulled from my CD shelves and listened to from start to finish. I don't think I could accurately express how this listening affected me. Not nostalgia - an outlier or not, I have history with this record - but a new appreciation for the first singles by the band. This lead me down a brief rabbit hole with 1979's Three Imaginary Boys, the band's debut record and one that, while I've listened to it, I have never owned it. 

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NCBD:

Every issue of Matt Fraction and Jorge Jimenez's Batman title turns out to be pure joy, and that's something we could all use a little more of in our life. 

The end of issue #1 proved to be a total WTF? so I can't wait to get into this one. Jason Aaron was definitely the dude to go to for this relaunch of such a classic 80s property.

Finally - the finale to Zander Cannon's Sleep! If you're reading this, you know the last few months were not easy to wait for this conclusion, but we're finally here, and, as much as I want to see how this wraps up, I am sorry to see this one go. This was my #1 comic of 2025!

I still haven't done that re-read on The Nice House on the Lake since it came back for the second half. I'll have to get on that soon. 

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Playlist:

The Cure - Standing on a Beach

Faith No More - Angel Dust

Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables

Jello Biafra and Melvins - Sieg Howdy!

Melvins - Houdini

John Zorn - The Big Gundown: John Zorn Plays the Music of Ennio Morricone

Melvins - The Crybaby

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - F♯ A♯ ∞ 

Rob Zombie - The Great Satan

Melvins & Napalm Death - Tossing Coins Into The Fountain Of Fuck (single)

Foxy Shazam - Eponymous

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Card:

One card from the Thoth deck because it's late and I'm tired.

Fight to impose your Will on the world around you.

This is interesting. I've been thinking about Magick a lot again. It's been some time since I actively practiced, but I'm feeling a pull. Is this an acknowledgement?