Author: Graeme McMillan

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There’s A Great Big Crack

When I was in Scotland last month, my electronics decided to try to commit suicide.

It started on Sunday morning when I managed to drop my phone while taking photos on my walk around Greenock; I’ve gone… however long I’ve had cellphones (two decades? More? Let’s go with more) without dropping my phone and damaging it, but that streak came to an end when it fell and the screen lowkey shattered on the top left, with cracks extending all the way down. Oh no, I thought, this might be trouble. Maybe I’ll have to get the screen repaired or maybe replaced.

Any question about that “maybe” was resolved when, less than two hours later, I dropped it again in the apartment I was staying in, making all the cracks significantly worse. I got online on my laptop and made an appointment in the local Apple store to get it repaired… and then, on rising after doing so, immediately tripped on the power cable for the laptop, throwing it across the room, putting a 30 degree bend in the part of the cable that connects to the laptop — thankfully, it still worked — and scratching the laptop up pretty badly.

That evening, I dropped the phone a third time, taking a solid chip out of the screen.

I was telling my sister about the first few events that evening, and she pointed out that, on the last trip to the UK in April, I plugged my phone into a wall socket, only for the socket to literally explode and destroy the charging cable in the process. (As well as the power adapter I was using at the time.) “Maybe you’re cursed when it comes to using anything in the UK,” she suggested. It was beginning to feel like it.

The next day, I went to the Apple Store and paid an extortionate amount of money to have the screen replaced; it didn’t take that long and, honestly, was a pretty straightforward process. When I left the Store, I tried to log into my phone… and I couldn’t. It refused to recognize my thumbprint. I rushed back to the Store and panicking, asked what was happening. “Oh, you just need to input your thumbprint again for the first time, we forgot to do that before,” they said. “Why are you so upset? It’s okay. It’s not like it’s broken or anything.”

I didn’t want to sound too out there, arguing that all of my electronics had been trying their best to convince me otherwise recently.

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The Comics of November 2023

There was a point, as I approached the end of my stay in the UK, where I was convinced this would be the month where I read the last comics of all. I’ve shared before that travel tends to lead to me reading less for whatever reason, and I returned to the US midway through the month, with only around 40 entries on this list — less than a third of the month, usually. How could I make up that shortfall, I asked myself? Surely, it was impossible…! Ah, but jet lag and insomnia combined to save the day in one sense, even if my exhaustion might have argued otherwise…

  1. Superman (2023) #8
  2. Titans (2023) #5
  3. Titans: Beast World – Evolution #1
  4. Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #21
  5. Catwoman (2018) #59
  6. Green Lantern: War Journal #3
  7. Nightwing (2016) #108
  8. Predator (2023) #5
  9. Kingdom Come #s 1-4
  10. The Wicked + The Divine #s 7-22
  11. The Wicked + The Divine #s 23-26
  12. The Wicked + The Divine #s 27-45
  13. The Wicked + The Divine: The Funnies #1
  14. The Wicked + The Divine: 1839 #1
  15. The Wicked + The Divine 455 AD #1
  16. The Wicked + The Divine: 1923 #1
  17. The Wicked + The Divine: 1373 #1
  18. The Wicked + The Divine Christmas Annual #1
  19. Phonogram #s 1-6
  20. Phonogram: The Singles Club #s 1-7
  21. Phonogram: The Immaterial Girl #s 1-6
  22. Best of 2000 AD Vol. 5
  23. Young Avengers (2013) #11
  24. Transformers (2023) #2
  25. Young Avengers (2013) #s 2-5
  26. Fantastic Four (2022) #10
  27. Young Avengers (2013) #s 6-15
  28. Action Comics #1059
  29. Green Arrow (2023) #6
  30. Titans: Beast World #1
  31. Batman (2016) #140
  32. Birds of Prey (2023) #4
  33. Titans: Beast World Tour – Metropolis #1
  34. X-Men (2021) #25
  35. Astonishing Iceman #1
  36. Titans: Beast World Tour – Waller Rising #1
  37. Justice Society of America (2022) #7
  38. The Flash (2023) #3
  39. Judge Dredd: Poison (Rob Williams/PJ Holden 2000 AD serial)
  40. Dreadnoughts Vol. 2
  41. Where The Body Was OGN
  42. W0rldtr33 #s 1-5
  43. Star Trek: The Next Generation (1989) #s 11-12
  44. Shazam! (2023) #6
  45. Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville #4 
  46. Batman/Santa Claus: Silent Knight #s 1-2
  47. Suburban Glamour #s 1-4
  48. Titans: Beast World #2
  49. World’s Finest: Teen Titans #6
  50. Danger Street #12
  51. Immortal X-Men #14
  52. The Amazing Spider-Man (2022) #31
  53. Avengers (2023) #4
  54. Batman & Robin (2023) #4
  55. Titans: Beast World Tour – Gotham #1
  56. Guardians of the Galaxy (2023) #s 4-5
  57. SWORD (2009) #s 1-5
  58. X-Men: Regenesis #1
  59. Uncanny X-Men (1963) #544
  60. The Helltrekkers
  61. DC’s ‘Twas the Mite Before Christmas #1
  62. Action Comics #1060
  63. Uncanny X-Men (2011) #1
  64. Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight (1989) #101 (Wagner/Ezquerra!)
  65. Uncanny X-Men (2011) #s 2-20
  66. Avengers vs. X-Men: Consequences #s 1-5
  67. Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight (1989) #s 172-176 (Wagner)
  68. Seven Secrets #s 13-18
  69. Tales of Suspense #s 57, 60, 64
  70. Avengers (1963) #16
  71. Marvel Team-Up (1972) #22
  72. Marvel Tales #100 (Hawkeye story only)
  73. Avengers (1963) #189
  74. Marvel Team-Up (1972) #92
  75. Marvel Fanfare (1982) #3 (Hawkeye story only)
  76. Avengers (1963) #223
  77. Marvel Team-Up (1972) #95
  78. Hawkeye (1983) #s 1-4
  79. Captain America (1968) #317
  80. Marvel Fanfare (1982) #39
  81. Solo Avengers (1987) #s 1-6
  82. Hercules: Prince of Power (1982) #1
  83. Solo Avengers (1987) #s 7-12
  84. Essential Judge Dredd: Tour of Duty Vol. 1
  85. Solo Avengers (1987) #s 13-17
  86. Wonder Woman (2023) #4
  87. Batman/Santa Claus: Silent Knight #3
  88. Hercules: Prince of Power (1982) #s 2-4
  89. Batman: Off-World #2
  90. G.I. Joe (1982) #1
  91. Mosaic Prelude #1
  92. Mosaic #1
  93. Solo Avengers (1987) #s 18-20
  94. Avengers Spotlight (1989) #21 (Retitled Solo Avengers)
  95. Hawkeye (1994) #s 1-4
  96. Marvel Comics Presents (1988) #s 159-161 (Hawkeye story only)
  97. Hawkeye: Earth’s Mightiest Marksman #1
  98. Silver Sable & the Wild Pack (1992) #s 1, 23
  99. Silver Sable (2017) #36
  100. Not Brand Ecch (2017) #14
  101. Spider-Man: Fear Itself (1992 OGN)
  102. Webspinners: Tales of Spider-Man #s 17-18
  103. Hawkeye (2003) #s 1-8
  104. New Avengers: The Reunion #s 1-5
  105. Hawkeye & Mockingbird #s 1-6
  106. Widowmaker #s 1-4
  107. Hawkeye: Blindspot #s 1-4
  108. Avengers: Solo (2011) #1
  109. Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #s 1-3
  110. Green Lantern (2023) #6
  111. West Coast Avengers (1984) #1
  112. Doctor Who Magazine #s 596-597
  113. West Coast Avengers (1984) #s 2-4
  114. West Coast Avengers (1985) #1
  115. War for Earth-3 #s 1-2
  116. Teen Titans Academy #13
  117. Suicide Squad (2021) #s 13-15
  118. The Flash #780
  119. Dark Nights: Death Metal – The Last Stories of the DC Universe #1
  120. Dark Nights: Death Metal #s 1-2
  121. X-Men: Red (2022) #14
  122. Daredevil (2022) #14
  123. Alpha Flight (2023) #1
  124. Uncanny Avengers (2023) #1
  125. Dark Nights: Death Metal #s 3-4
  126. Dark Nights: Death Metal Guidebook #1
  127. Dark Nights: Death Metal – Trinity Crisis #1
  128. Dark Nights: Death Metal – Speed Metal #1
  129. Dark Nights: Death Metal – Multiverse’s End #1
  130. Dark Nights: Death Metal – Robin King #1
  131. Dark Nights: Death Metal #s 5-6
  132. Dark Nights: Death Metal – The Secret Origin #1
  133. Dark Nights: Death Metal – The Last 52 #1
  134. Dark Nights: Death Metal #7
  135. Infinite Frontier #s 0-6
  136. Justice League Incarnate #s 1-3
  137. Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #22
  138. Nightwing (2016) #109
  139. The Knights of Pendragon (1990) #1
  140. Superman (2023) #9
  141. Titans: Beast World Tour – Central City #1
  142. Green Lantern: War Journal #4
  143. Justice League Incarnate #s 4-5
  144. Justice League (2018) #75
  145. Justice League: Road to Dark Crisis #1
  146. Dark Crisis #s 0-3
  147. Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #s 4-7
  148. Dark Crisis: The Deadly Green #1
  149. Dark Crisis: The Dark Army #1
  150. Dark Crisis: The Big Bang #1
  151. Doctor Who: The Fourth Doctor Anthology (collection of all the old Marvel strips)
  152. Titans: Beast World #3
  153. Titans (2023) #6
  154. Green Arrow (2023) #7
  155. Justice Society of America (2022) #8
  156. Action Comics Annual 2023
  157. The Penguin (2023) #s 4-5
  158. Amazons Attack (2023) #3
  159. Batman/Santa Claus: Silent Knight #4
  160. Avengers (1963) #s 305-310
  161. Shazam! (2023) #7
  162. Avengers (1963) #s 311-318
  163. Justice League (2018) #59
  164. Avengers (1963) #s 319-325
  165. Avengers (1963) #s 326-333 (The entirety of the far-too-short Larry Hama run)
  166. Wild Dog #s 1-4
  167. Wild Dog Special #1
  168. The Knights of Pendragon (1990) #s 2-8
  169. Marvel Team-Up (2004) #s 1-13
  170. Marvel Team-Up (2004) #s 1-13
  171. Dragon’s Claws #5
  172. Suicide Squad (1987) #s 1-4
  173. X-Force (2019) #44
  174. Jean Grey (2023) #1
  175. Death’s Head (1988) #s 1-7, 9-10
  176. Death’s Head: The Body in Question OGN
  177. Fantastic Four (1961) #338
  178. Sensational She-Hulk (1989) #24
  179. The Amazing Spider-Man (2022) #32
  180. The Invincible Iron Man (2022) #9
  181. Suicide Squad (1987) #s 5-8
  182. Secret Six (2008) #s 1-2
  183. James Bond, Agent of SPECTRE #1
  184. Secret Six (2008) #s 3-5
  185. Doctor Who: Four Doctors #1-5
  186. Doctor Who: Supremacy of the Cybermen #s 1-5
  187. Secret Six (2008) #s 6-8
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Wheeeeeee Biddly-Bum, etc.

I’ve been trying to unpack my joy at watching the recent return of Doctor Who, the “Star Beast” episode that pretended to be an anniversary special but was, really, just an old romp of silliness that took up an hour of television.

Part of it is, simply, that I really love Doctor Who, and have missed seeing the show for awhile; even before the recent break in broadcasting/reboot, I’d kind of lost touch with the show during the Jodie Whittaker era due to a combination of Big Life Events and not feeling particularly enamored with the writing at the time. (Really, I feel bad for Whittaker for that very reason; she was very charming in the role, but the scripts weren’t there for her.)

There’s also the fact that, in a lot of ways, “The Star Beast” was a joyful restatement of intent: a declaration that Doctor Who as a show is going to be silly, sentimental, and kind, all of which are increasing rarities in science fiction television. Russell T. Davies has plenty of failings as a writer — particularly as a writer of Doctor Who, where he tends to overindulge in the silliness and sentimentality, judging by past experience — but his focus on characters, and his affection for his characters is something that everything from The Mandalorian to Star Trek: Discovery could learn from.

It helped that “The Star Beast”’s gimmicky ending relied on something that is (unfortunately) political, especially in the UK: a non-binary character and their self-belief and the power that comes from that. Does that make me “woke,” or a “SJW” as they used to be called, to say that element appealed to be so much? So be it, but it did, especially imagining the more uptight, conservative parts of fandom getting upset as a result. It was a small moment of seeing Davies realize the power of the platform that Doctor Who grants him, and perhaps part of his (to my mind, far superior) Years and Years or It’s a Sin coming to the fore, unexpectedly.

Whatever the reason, watching Doctor Who with the family on a Saturday evening made me impossibly, excitedly, happy. Here’s to feeling this over and over again as the show continues its run in the coming years.

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They May Not Mean To, But They Do

For whatever reason, I didn’t really take photos of my wandering around Glasgow on Monday morning, as I had done with Gourock and Greenock the couple of days prior; maybe because it wasn’t so early, and therefore more busy? Or that I’d had to take a train to arrive there, and therefore it felt more like a destination than a dérive? (In that there were things that I wanted to do in the city, as opposed to wandering for the sake of wandering as had been the case the two days prior, it was more of a destination, I suppose…)

Nonetheless, I found a similar sense of disorientation in Glasgow as had met me in the last two towns, despite having been there just a few months prior. (We made it there in April, and even got to walk around the west end a little; today’s wandering was far longer, and more widespread.) I walked in the directions that felt like muscle memory, only to discover locations had closed, moved, or in one case, the entire building just didn’t at all anymore. Instead, there was a passageway into an external courtyard that wasn’t there the last time I’d looked.

Even places that did still exist were different, in surprising ways: Had that building always been that color? Was that road always closed off to traffic coming in that direction? What is the “high level” of the train station, when it seems like ground level to me? And so on.

There’s been so much that I’ve enjoyed and appreciated about the Scotland stay this time around — not least of which, I stepped away from work for four days, which I very, very much needed — but perhaps my takeaway from the whole thing is that very clear sense of You can’t go home again, because so much has changed. Which only makes sense — it’s been 15 years or so since I’ve been to most of these places, and that’s a long time — but, at the same time, it underscores the ways in which I don’t belong here anymore. (If I ever did…)

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He Leaves An Awful Hole, Doesn’t He?

Wandering through my hometown for the first time in more than a decade was an emotional, disorienting experience. I found myself surprised by just how beautiful it was, and in ways that I’d either taken for granted or else never even noticed when I lived there: how open the skies felt (smaller buildings, for the most part), how close I was to the river and the beautiful mountains just across the water. This was all background noise when I was growing up, of course, but after decades of city living — and I love living in cities, I should add — I found myself surprised and touched by what I was seeing.

Similarly, I got genuinely emotional seeing the house I grew up in again; I’d prepared for this back in April but didn’t manage to make it on that trip, so I’m not quite sure I expected the actual, audible gasp that I made on seeing the house again, and the flood of feelings and memories and thoughts that came with it. (They’d painted the storm door! It’s white now, as opposed to black, which just felt odd. And there’s a side stairwell because the one house has been split into two apartments, but otherwise… it’s where I spent almost 20 years of my life. It held power, and I wasn’t ready, really.)

Perhaps the strangest thing, though, was going downtown again. Downtown Greenock was never a happening spot for hepcats, but I had my internal geography based on particular memories, particular locations… and they’re almost entirely gone now. That’s probably to be expected, given that it was almost 20 years between visits… but at the same time, they’re gone and replaced by vape shops, or a multitude of To Let signs. There was a block where every second storefront was a bookmakers (that’s a betting shop, not somewhere that makes books, for those who don’t know); what I knew as a bank had been replaced by a funeral services planner. It all reminded me of something, but I couldn’t put my finger on what until I saw what had been a big grocery store when I was a teenager had become a food bank that it struck me: it was as if Bedford Falls had become Pottersville. Clarence, what am I supposed to do…?

I had walked into town in a sad, lonely melancholy mood — this was Day 11 of the trip, after all, and even though I was visiting family, I missed my family back home, and I missed home, too — but there was something about this dérive that recharged me and made me feel more grounded both in where I’d come from, but also where I am these days in life, too. I couldn’t even begin to explain why, but it was true, and I was grateful for it.