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So Wake Up, Wake Up Now

“Days Left in Year.”

There’s a ticking clock that I face every day I’m working. It’s not that it’s necessarily counting down to anything important, but it’s right there, everytime I check in on the status of the day’s publishing schedule. We have this shared document that we all use to track where we are in terms of publishing, what stories need editing, and so on, you see, and at the top of that document is this traffic tracker that doesn’t just tell us how well we’re doing at that particular point, but projects out how well we’re performing versus the month’s goal, and offers up other little bits of information — including, for reasons too complicated to explain here, how many days into the calendar year we are at any given point, and how many days are left in the year.

I cannot explain why this “Days Left in Year” counter in particular catches my attention each and every time I’m on the page. It’s not as if I’m looking for that information at… well, almost any point of the day, really. For that matter, it’s not as if I even hold any special meaning in the end of the year beyond “I get some time off” and whatever level of superstition and sentimentality kicks in at that time each and every twelve months; nothing really changes, beyond we think about the new calendars that we should probably pick up. And yet, each and every time my eyes glance across that particular counter, I involuntarily pause. How many days are left in the year? my brain asks itself. Should I be more aware of this?

Even as I’m typing this, I’m aware that I do impart some odd meaning to the whole thing, and that I have been, subconsciously, counting down to something: the middle of the year. I don’t know why — literally nothing will happen when we hit day 183! — but somewhere in my brain, I have assigned it some kind of meaning, as if it’s a milestone that I can feel, even if I don’t actually understand it.

As I’m typing this, there’s still a few weeks left before we hit the halfway mark. Maybe I’m unintentionally imagining there’s going to be a point where it’ll be downhill from that point on, and the momentum will carry us all through. Check with me again when there’s only one day left in the year, perhaps.

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Liminal

Re-reading old Eddie Campbell and Ilya and Phil Elliott and Glenn Dakin comics recently has me thinking about zine culture as-was and the ways in which I’m missing an entire series of cultural touchstones from decades past that the internet replaced, before the internet itself became dominated by singular powerful forces that restricted the all-access nature it once had.

For example, the odd thrill of getting a zine or a small press comic in the mail, and holding it in your hands. (And seeing what, if anything, had also been snuck into the envelope as a thanks for buying.) Or the record marts, which happened every couple of months in some communal space or another and would just be filled with tables of crates, each one with albums and CDs and tapes of things you didn’t quite know about or know if you wanted but looked cool enough that you were willing to spend money on it. Or the weekly music papers that you bought for the reviews and maybe an interview or two but ended up finding new favorite writers in when they’d end up ranting about something you didn’t really care about but read, over and over, transfixed.

I feel oddly contrarian about what the internet did to everything, considering, you know, it’s how I got the career I have now and also why I moved across the world; the internet of the 2000s changed my life in practically every conceivable manner. But that’s not the internet that we have anymore, and what happened in the process between, say, 1990 and 2020 was that the alternate spaces that allowed non-mainstream culture to flourish and find an audience were wiped out and replaced by an online dream that itself got wiped away as the internet became more obsessed with control and profit. There are entire eco-systems and cultural streams that just aren’t there anymore, with nothing replacing them.

I read stories of how favorite creators got started and get sad that paths like theirs literally don’t exist today; I feel sad for today’s newcomers and outsiders who don’t have anywhere to make a name for themselves and find their people. Every now and then, I read a story (online, of course) about how Gen Z and Gen Alpha is abandoning the digital for the physical and all I can think is, it can’t happen quickly enough.

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The Creative Urge

Something I think about occasionally is what would have happened if my father has published the novel he was working on, off and on, for much of my childhood. Of course, in order to do that, he would have had to have finished said novel, which to the best of my knowledge never quite happened, but still.

My dad’s frustrated attempts to be a writer are something that comes up in my brain more and more often as I get older, for whatever reason. I honestly have no idea how far he ever really got in his attempts, and I certainly never read anything that he wrote in those directions. (That’s not entirely true; I did read the plays he wrote for the school he taught in, but they were… not that great, and I think intentionally so. I didn’t read any of his serious writing attempts, for want of a better way to put it.) I have vague recollections of seeing things in the office, stacked on top of any number of other papers, but I couldn’t swear to it that I’m remembering correctly or simply imagining it based on what I think I should remember, instead.

I wonder, sometimes, if there was a finished work — even a short story or several, as opposed to a novel — that was amongst the many papers we got rid of after his death, and if a great piece of art was accidentally consigned to the dump. Or, worse, a chance to better understand whoever my dad was by seeing the sides of him he didn’t let out in public or around his family.

That last part is what I really miss from never seeing whatever the work is, if I’m being entirely honest; not in any tragic sense of oh no, I never knew my father he was such a private man, but simply being curious what was there in the bits that we didn’t get to see for obvious reasons. Who knows what the world missed out on? Maybe he was a Scottish Donald Westlake in disguise, or simply someone writing kitchen sink drama punctuated by awkward sex scenes like so many Scottish men of a certain age. I can’t tell which would be more entertaining, from this distance, anymore.

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The Movies of May 2026

Surprisingly, I did manage to watch some movies in between my West Wing obsession, which I swear is lessening (no, really). Somehow, there was some genuinely great stuff in there too — the Bill Douglas trilogy on Criterion led to me rewatching If… which only gets better every single time I watch it — and, well, the three-part Kylie documentary on Netflix that I couldn’t resist: I’m a British man of a certain age, after all. (It’s a very funny documentary in that it spends two-and-a-half episodes on, like, a five year period and then goes, oh and then another three decades happened as if it’s an afterthought.)

Oh, and I saw Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu, a movie that is so determined to be “content” that it made me actively angry for a day or so afterwards. If nothing else, let’s embrace the fact that it evoked some kind of strongly-felt emotion in me…

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The Comics of May 2026

No, you decided to re-read all of the “Brand New Day” Spider-Man comics because of the new movie coming out, only to realize that — when you include the spin-offs and the tie-ins and everything — it’s something like 140 comics and also that these comics are somehow from two decades ago even though it feels like, maybe 10 years tops before you remember that you’re very old now. (They were more fun than I remembered, but also almost impressively light and throwaway in ways that are both good and bad; a fun trip down memory lane, if nothing else.)

Seemingly stuck in 2000s nostalgia, I also revisited Sleeper for the first time in… at least a decade, if not more. It’s funny to see how what once felt fresh and, well, “alternative” now reads like a template for the next decade’s worth of superhero mainstream, but pop will eat itself, as Clint Mansell knows all too well.

Highlight of the month, though, might have been this indie collection I’d forgotten I had: Absent Friends, which is a little 2004 collection of shorts from the late 1980s UK indie and small press scene by Paul Grist and Phil Elliott. It’s charming, understated, and very grounded and intimate and small in ways that it feels like comics just aren’t, anymore. I loved it not only because of what it was, but also because it underscored what I want from so many of today’s comics but rarely find. There’s an essay in there, somewhere.

  1. Batman (1940) #395
  2. Detective Comics (1935) #562
  3. Batman (1940) #396
  4. G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #s 307-315
  5. Strange Scales Infinity Comic #1
  6. Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) #93
  7. The Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #s 258-259
  8. Marvel Team-Up (1972) #s 145-146
  9. Detective Comics (1935) #563
  10. Batman (1940) #397
  11. Energon Universe 2026 Special #1
  12. 2000 AD Prog 2482 (Brink story only)
  13. Marvel Team-Up (1972) #s 146-150
  14. Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) #s 94-100
  15. The Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #s 260-262
  16. Web of Spider-Man (1985) #1
  17. New Titans (2023) #35
  18. Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man (2017) #3
  19. G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #s 316-317
  20. JSA (2024) #s 13-18
  21. Batman (1940) #s 398-399
  22. Detective Comics (1935) #s 564-567
  23. Batman Annual (1961) #10
  24. G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #s 318-319
  25. Flash Gordon (2024) #1
  26. Batman (1940) #400
  27. Justice League of America (1960) #98
  28. The New Teen Titans (1980) #6
  29. Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man (2017) #4
  30. Amazing Spider-Man: Family Business OGN
  31. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #s 546-548 (Start of Brand New Day era)
  32. Justice League of America (1960) #99
  33. G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #320
  34. SNAFU #s 1-3
  35. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #s 549-551
  36. The Adventures of Superman (1986) #500
  37. Action Comics (1938) #687
  38. Superman: The Man of Steel (1991) #22
  39. Superman: The Man of Steel Annual (1992) #2
  40. Justice League of America (1960) #s 100-101
  41. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #s 552-554
  42. Absolute Green Lantern #s 8-14
  43. Zatanna (2025) #s 1-2
  44. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #s 555-557
  45. The War
  46. The Amazing Spider-Man (2025) #28
  47. Captain Marvel: Dark Past #2
  48. Civil War: Unmasked #1
  49. Fantastic Four (2025) #10
  50. MutoManiac (Dark & Golden)
  51. X-Men (2024) #29
  52. Wonder Man (2026) #2
  53. Destination Kill #1
  54. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #s 558-561
  55. Black Market Presents: Tree App
  56. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #s 562-563
  57. Iron Man (1968) #108
  58. Star Wars (1977) #7
  59. Zatanna (2025) #3
  60. Justice League of America (1960) #102
  61. Superman (1986) #78
  62. The Adventures of Superman (1986) #501
  63. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #564
  64. DC/Marvel: Superman/Spider-Man #1
  65. Superboy & the Legion of Super-Heroes #247
  66. Justice League of America (1960) #103
  67. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #s 565-567
  68. The Champions (1975) #4
  69. The Avengers (1963) #s 164-166
  70. Zatanna (2025) #4
  71. Jubilee: Deadly Reunion #1
  72. Blackhawks (2011) #2
  73. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #s 568-574
  74. Zatanna (2025) #5
  75. Knight Terrors #2
  76. 2000 AD Prog 2483 (Judge Dredd and Brink stories only)
  77. Machine Man (1978) #1
  78. Transformers (2024) #32
  79. Judge Dredd Megazine #492
  80. Zatanna (2025) #6
  81. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #s 575-577
  82. Action Comics (1938) #688
  83. Superman: The Man of Steel (1991) #23
  84. Superman (1986) #79
  85. Superman Annual (1987) #5
  86. The Adventures of Superman (1986) #502
  87. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #s 578-580
  88. The Amazing Spider-Man: Extra! #1
  89. Zatanna (2026) #1
  90. Wade Wilson: Deadpool #4
  91. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #s 581-588
  92. The Amazing Spider-Man: Extra! #s 2-3
  93. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #s 589-591
  94. Knight Terrors #s 3-4
  95. Knight Terrors: Night’s End #1
  96. Titans: Beast World #s 1-3
  97. Titans (2023) #s 6-7
  98. Titans: Beast World #s 4-6
  99. Action Comics #1064
  100. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #s 592-594
  101. Amazing Spider-Man Family (2008) #s 1-6
  102. Secret Invasion: Spider-Man #s 1-3
  103. The Amazing Spider-Man Annual (2008) #1 (#35 overall but renumbered and then they resume the numbering for the next one?)
  104. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #s 595-599
  105. Dark Reign: Mister Negative #s 1-2
  106. Captain America (2025) #11
  107. Spectacular Spider-Man: Brand New Day #1
  108. Iron Man (2026) #5
  109. The Mortal Thor #10
  110. Ultimate Endgame #4
  111. Dark Reign: Mister Negative #3
  112. The Amazing Spider-Man Annual (2008) #36
  113. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #600
  114. The Amazing Spider-Man/Venom: Death Spiral: Body Count #1
  115. Black Cat (2025) #10
  116. Uncanny X-Men (2024) #28
  117. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #601
  118. Amazing Spider-Man Family (2008) #s 7-8
  119. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #s 602-604
  120. Green Arrow (2016) #s 18-20
  121. Action Comics #s 973-976
  122. Superman (2016) #s 18-19
  123. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #605
  124. Action Comics (1938) #689
  125. Action Comics Annual #5
  126. Superman: The Man of Steel (1991) #24
  127. Superman (1986) #80
  128. The Adventures of Superman (1986) #503
  129. Batman Eternal #s 3-4
  130. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #s 606-607
  131. Batman Eternal #5
  132. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #608
  133. Action Comics (1938) #690
  134. Superman: The Man of Steel (1991) #25
  135. Superman (1986) #81
  136. The Adventures of Superman (1986) #504
  137. Green Arrow (2016) #21
  138. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #s 609-610
  139. Daredevil (2011) #1
  140. The Defenders (1972) #102
  141. Batman Eternal #s 6-9
  142. Machine Man (1978) #2
  143. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #s 611-614
  144. Machine Man (1978) #3
  145. Web of Spider-Man (2009) #s 1-2
  146. Action Comics (1938) #691
  147. Superman: The Man of Steel (1991) #26
  148. Superman (1986) #82
  149. The Adventures of Superman (1986) #505
  150. Batman Eternal #10
  151. Daredevil (2011) #2
  152. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #s 615-616
  153. The Amazing Spider-Man Presents: Jackpot #1
  154. Web of Spider-Man (2009) #3
  155. Batman Eternal #11
  156. 2000 AD Prog 2484 (Judge Dredd and Brink stories only)
  157. Justice League Unlimited (2024) #19
  158. Batman (2025) #10
  159. Justice League: Dream Girls – A DC Pride Event #1
  160. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #s 617-620
  161. Web of Spider-Man (2009) #4
  162. Batman Eternal #12
  163. Superman (2023) #38
  164. Batman (2016) #163 (Much delayed last chapter of H2SH, and oof.)
  165. Machine Man (1978) #4
  166. Batman Eternal #s 13-14
  167. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #s 621-622
  168. Web of Spider-Man (2009) #5
  169. Daredevil (2011) #3
  170. Machine Man (1984) #1
  171. Batman Eternal #s 15-20
  172. Paradax #s 1-2
  173. Summer of Love (Full newspaper strip run)
  174. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #s 623-626
  175. Peter Parker (2010) #1
  176. Web of Spider-Man (2009) #6
  177. Batman Eternal #s 21-24
  178. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #s 627-629
  179. Peter Parker (2010) #2
  180. Absolute Green Lantern #15
  181. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #s 630-633
  182. The Many Loves of the Amazing Spider-Man #1
  183. The Amazing Spider-Man Annual (2008) #37
  184. Peter Parker (2010) #s 3-4
  185. Web of Spider-Man (2009) #7
  186. The Amazing Spider-Man Presents: American Son #s 1-4
  187. Peter Parker (2010) #5
  188. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #634
  189. Batman Eternal #s 25-26
  190. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #s 635-637
  191. Web of Spider-Man (2009) #s 8-12
  192. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #s 638-641
  193. The Amazing Spider-Man Presents: Jackpot #s 2-3
  194. The Amazing Spider-Man Presents: Anti-Venom – New Ways to Live #s 1-3
  195. The Amazing Spider-Man Presents: Black Cat #s 1-4
  196. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #s 642-647 (End of Brand New Day era)
  197. Dark Reign – The List: The Amazing Spider-Man #1 (I forgot this one Brand New Day one-shot!)
  198. 1st Issue Special #1
  199. Machine Man (1978) #5
  200. Web of Spider-Man (1985) #35
  201. Batman Eternal #27
  202. Justice League of America (1960) #104
  203. Sleeper #s 1-2
  204. Point Blank #1
  205. Wolverine: Weapons of Armageddon #4
  206. Ultimate Impact: Reborn #1
  207. Machine Man (1978) #6
  208. Point Blank #s 2-5
  209. Gen 13 (1995) #s 25-28
  210. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #648 (First issue of Big Time)
  211. The Amazing Spider-Man (2025) #29
  212. Venom #258
  213. Captain America (2025) #s 6-11 (Complete Doom’s Shadow storyline)
  214. Machine Man (1978) #7
  215. GAG! (2022) #1
  216. The Great British Bump-Off: Kill or Be Quilt #s 1-4
  217. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #649
  218. Osborn #1
  219. GAG! (2022) #2
  220. Machine Man (1978) #s 8-9 (End of the Kirby run)
  221. Red Hulk (2025) #s 1-5
  222. Osborn #2
  223. Red Hulk (2025) #s 6-10
  224. Fantastic Four (2025) #11
  225. Inglorious X-Force #s 4-5
  226. Sleeper #3 (And Elliott Smith’s “Miss Misery” is in my head as a result.)
  227. My First Paying Job as a Comicker (Eddie Campbell and Phil Elliott)
  228. Action Comics #1099
  229. Barbara Gordon: Breakout #2
  230. Justice League: Dream Girls – A DC Pride Event #2
  231. Cyclops (2026) #s 1-2
  232. Archie’s Madhouse #s 22, 24 (Sabrina the Teenage Witch stories only)
  233. Batman Eternal #s 28-31
  234. Brightest Day #s 0-1
  235. Sleeper #4
  236. JSA (2025) #20
  237. New History of the DC Universe: The Dakota Incident #1
  238. DC K.O.: The Kids are All Fight #1
  239. Sleeper #5
  240. Batman and Robin: Year One #1
  241. Brightest Day #s 2-3
  242. Marvel Fanfare (1994) #4
  243. Longshot (1998) #1
  244. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #650
  245. Sleeper #s 6-7
  246. 2000 AD Prog 2485 (Judge Dredd and Brink stories only)
  247. Batman and Robin: Year One #2
  248. Sleeper #8
  249. Pirate Corp$ (1987) #1
  250. Batman Eternal #s 32-37
  251. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #651
  252. Sleeper #s 9-12
  253. Sleeper: Season Two #1
  254. The Human Target (2021) #s 1-2
  255. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #s 652-654.1
  256. Batman and Robin: Year One #3
  257. Sleeper: Season Two #2
  258. Batman and Robin: Year One #4
  259. Sleeper: Season Two #3
  260. Batman and Robin: Year One #s 5-6
  261. Venom (2011) #1
  262. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #s 655-657
  263. Osborn #3
  264. Batman and Robin: Year One #7
  265. Sleeper: Season Two #4
  266. Batman and Robin: Year One #s 8-9
  267. Sleeper: Season Two #5
  268. Batman and Robin: Year One #10
  269. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #658
  270. Batman Eternal #38
  271. Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #31
  272. Venom (2011) #s 2-4
  273. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #s 659-660
  274. Fear Itself: Spider-Man #s 1-3
  275. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #s 661-662
  276. Sleeper: Season Two #s 6-7
  277. DC/Wildstorm: Dreamwar #s 1-3
  278. The Authority (2003) #1
  279. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #663
  280. Sleeper: Season Two #s 8-9
  281. The Infernal Hulk #7
  282. Sleeper: Season Two #s 10
  283. The Sentry (2026) #3
  284. The Ultimates (2024) #24
  285. Wiccan and Hulkling: Raid of Ultron #1
  286. X-Men (2024) #30
  287. Sleeper: Season Two #s 11-12
  288. Video Jack #s 1-2
  289. Justice League: Dream Girls – A DC Pride Event #3
  290. Cyborg (2023) #1
  291. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #s 664-665
  292. Osborn #s 4-5
  293. Spider-Man: Chapter One #s 1-2
  294. Hulk ‘99 Annual #1
  295. Video Jack #3
  296. Absent Friends (1980s Paul Grist & Phil Elliott shorts anthology)
  297. 5 (self-published Becky Cloonan/Fabio Moon/Gabriel Ba etc. anthology)
  298. Rock ‘n’ Roll (Moon/Ba anthology)
  299. I Have No Idea What I’m Doing (Meggie Ramm minicomic)
  300. I Still Have No Idea What I’m Doing (Meggie Ramm minicomic)
  301. Charlesh! (Maybe Jay Edidin? minicomic)
  302. Batman and Robin: Year One #s 11-12
  303. Video Jack #4
  304. Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1
  305. Spider-Man: Chapter One #3
  306. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #666
  307. Video Jack #5
  308. The Transformers: The Movie #1 40th Anniversary Edition
  309. 2000 AD Prog 2486 (Judge Dredd and Brink stories only)
  310. Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers (2026) #1
  311. In Your Skin #2
  312. Video Jack #6 
  313. New Titans (2023) #36
  314. Batwoman (2026) #4
  315. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #s 667-668
  316. Cyborg (2023) #2
  317. Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #2
  318. The Authority (2003) #2
  319. Cyborg (2023) #3
  320. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #s 669-673
  321. Avenging Spider-Man #1
  322. Scarlet Spider (2012) #1
  323. Venom (2011) #s 5-9
  324. Cyborg (2023) #4
  325. Batman Eternal #s 39-41
  326. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #674
  327. Daredevil (2011) #s 3-7
  328. The Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #s 675-676
  329. The Punisher (2011) #s 1-5
  330. Brightest Day #s 4-7
  331. Spider-Man: Chapter One #s 5-7
  332. Cyborg (2023) #s 5-6
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Slow Emotion Replay

I think I’ve mentioned before that I’ve been rewatching The West Wing, that liberal fantasy show from the late 1990s and early 2000s that was, during its run, one of the shows that defined “prestige network television” in an era where that definition also included both Friends and Will and Grace, so… well, you know. I think that says it all. I was a big fan of The West Wing when it first ran — those more innocent days! — and it left an oversize, unreasonable fondness for the works of Aaron Sorkin that have seen me watching both The Newsroom and, worse, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip on more than one occasion. (Yes, I am that person who has watched Studio 60 more than once.)

I dove into this West Wing rewatch with no small level of cynicism because, bluntly, history has not been kind to politics or the kind of “People are just goshdarn good deep down” fantasizing that the show is ultimately rooted in; I was lured in by watching Martin Sheen and Dule Hill talk about the show in March for work, and the fact that it was available on HBO Max and, honestly, I didn’t think I’d last more than a couple episodes. As I write this, I’m just starting the fifth season, so you can tell how that worked out.

A lot of what kept me around was the writing, of course. Yes, The West Wing has not aged well in many respects — not least of which is its unerring optimism in “America” as a concept, and Aaron Sorkin’s tendency to scold anyone who doesn’t live up to his stated ideals as expressed through whatever mouthpiece he’s writing at the moment — but the first couple of seasons still crackle with a writer realizing the freedom and scope a television show gives him to follow whims, and a sense of humor (and, bluntly, lots of I’d-forgotten-how-fun writer jokes, too) that are hard to resist. The show is sillier in its early days, and that’s a pretty good way for me to fall back in love with it.

What’s also got me this go around is seeing the show in its historical perspective. What changes between seasons 2 and 3 is, simply, 9/11 happens and you can feel that throughout the second half of Sorkin’s run as writer; he’s visibly knocked off course by it and the show changes in all these fascinating ways as a result, some of which were, I suspect, not even entirely intentional on his part. It becomes way more centrist in its outlook and there’s a lot more emphasis on “good Republicans” showing up, for one thing; it becomes more self-serious and far preachier, with more stories about terrorism, domestic and otherwise. You can see Sorkin get thrown off his game and struggle to find a new rhythm, and it’s neither graceful nor subtle, but all the more fascinating for that.

Things only get worse from here, of course: after Sorkin was fired, the writing plummets in quality and characters start acting wildly out-of-character. Will I bail before that happens, or stay the course? It depends how emotionally masochistic I’m feeling over the next few weeks, I guess — although the true test of that last point will come if I decide to follow up The West Wing with yet another Studio 60 run-through. Surely not. And… yet…?