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All Over The World Tonight

Due to a combination of this year being my 50th birthday, a short burst of free time, and being inspired by someone else’s collection of old zines, I spent a couple hours recently looking through old files of work from… well, a long, long time ago. How long ago? If I tell you that most of the files were impossible to open because the platform that created them stopped being supported by their makers more than a decade ago, that might give you a clue. (Yes, it was a depressing discovery; I should have turned them all into PDFs when I had the chance.)

However, this dive into my own nostalgia did help me discover something I hadn’t realized, and which felt quite special, surprisingly: this month marks the 25th anniversary of the time the Scottish Arts Council paid me to go to Venice to visit and write about the Biennale for that year… which means that this is the 25th anniversary of the first professional writing gig I ever had.

That this happens the year I turn 50 — meaning that I have quite literally been a professional writer for half my life, which I genuinely hadn’t realized — feels quite the discovery, and an unexpected gift to me, the man who remains attached to signs and wonders and numerology despite not being good at math.

It’s a bit of a cheat to say that was the start of my professional writing career, maybe, despite it being technically true — I did, after all, get paid to go and write about the experience — it was close to a decade later before I got paid to write again, so maybe this counts as a preview of what was to come rather than the start of a career. (I had to move countries and spend some time in telesales before I really got started, as it turned out.) But I still remember how it felt to be told that it was happening, and the feeling that maybe people wanted to read what I had to say and how that felt like a responsibility and an honor and the start of something unexpected and important.

It was, even if that took awhile to arrive. I’m glad I realized it was the 25th anniversary while it was still the 25th anniversary, if that makes sense.

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Catching Up

“How’s your week been?” the message asked, entirely innocuously and genuinely; I was chatting to a friend on the work Slack and we’d been commiserating about something that had utterly failed to come together for reasons outside everyone’s control, and they asked the question. My first thought was to say, similarly genuinely, that I had no idea.

It’s become a running joke with friends to talk about how the way in which everything feels low key overwhelming at any given point these days; Jeff and I will check up on each other weekly and our calls are variations on, “Man, this week was a lot,” only for the other one to say something along the lines of, “Yeah, and wait until you hear about my week.” It’s not that we’re trying to outdo each other, as much as it feels as if things are just constantly, perpetually in flux and complicated. As the Scott Pilgrim blurb almost said, almost 20 years ago, “things just keep happening.”

How has the week been? It’s been full, no matter what week you’re aksing about. It’s had questions I’ve struggled to answer (increasingly so, since getting the new job), and it’s left me unable to take care of everything I needed to take care of — I now have a notebook where I made lists of all of these things that need to get done the next day and there’s at least one thing left off by the end of the week because who has the time — and it’s likely left me dizzy and dazed at the end of each workday while I struggle to get my head around everything… and, the strangest thing is, I think I might like it?

I know that’s counterintuitive and makes no sense. There’s something about the pace of it that feels curiously right, though, and almost enjoyable. Like something I’m learning, slowly but surely, to get on top of and master. There’s something about these weeks lately that I feel as if they’re teaching me some kind of skill that I can’t name, but want to understand and take advantage of. I can’t really explain what that means beyond that just yet, but that also feels part of the learning curve.

I get to the end of the week and feel exhausted. But it also feels like I’m getting closer to something in the process, whatever that may be. So it’ll do for now, no matter how tiring it is.

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Put the X in the box

I admit it; I am utterly obsessed with the UK general election right now. I eagerly pour over the news as it unfolds, with a tab open on my browser to live election coverage as I work. (Not that I actually check said tab all the time, because, well… work. But it’s there, as this constant reminder to just sneak a look and see what’s happening.) It’s not simply that I become unnaturally interested in election seasons in the UK and US traditionally — something I can and do attribute to my dad, who did the same thing; I have fond memories of him staying up to watch the returns every time there was a general election in the UK, him always being eager for things to change — but that, this general election in particular… well, it’s just wild.

There’s something about this one that’s just funny, for want of a better way to put it. (There has to be a better way to put it; there’s so much at stake in this election in the UK, just as there’s so much at stake in our election here in the US this year, too.) Think about the announcement in the first place, and how mishandled that was, with Rishi Sunak ending up drenched through and being drowned out by a sound system nearby. Think about the fact that one of Sunak’s policies was essentially a return of the draft, as if anyone would think that’s a good idea or something to convince young people to vote for you. Or that Sunak left D-Day anniversary proceedings early to go and do an interview and then asked people not to politicize it.

I’m sure that the other parties are also doing things, but that’s not what’s got me so fascinated. Nope, if this election has a story, it’s that the Conservative Party is running a campaign that is so utterly disorganized and unprofessional that it feels fictional — and holding my breath to see what this means when the actual voting arrives on July 4. UK votes have felt like clues about where the US is going to go for awhile, and I keep reading about how completely shambolic the Conservatives are in the UK and thinking, please let them be punished for this, please don’t let them somehow win despite it all simply because I need to think that maybe, just maybe, there’s a consequence to being so obviously inept and uncaring that could be reflected over here, as well.

Fingers crossed, right?

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The Movies of May 2024

I think I might be missing something off this list; I’m half-convinced that I watched another movie between Self-Portrait — hi, indie art films on Mubi! — and Saturday Night Fever, but I’ll be damned if I can remember what it would have been. Of note in this list: The Velvet Underground really doesn’t shy away from Lou Reed being a dick, wonderfully; Oppenheimer may be a movie that wrestled me into submission purely through exhaustion, because I’m not actually sure that it’s good, but I found myself warming to it by the end, somehow; Saturday Night Fever, which I haven’t seen in decades — I think I saw it on TV when I was a teenager? — is very much not the movie I remembered it being, to its benefit. (I also wonder if the UK television version quietly worked the rapes out of the movie; I certainly didn’t remember them…)

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The Comics of May 2024

Another month in which it looks like I read more than usual, but I’m not entirely sure that’s true; in fact, in the last half of the month, I arguably started reading less than I have for the past few months, but… well, again, the amount of crossovers between multiple series disguises that fact pretty considerably. (A strange thought is that I’ve read somewhere in the region of 100 issues of four different Superman titles in the past month or so; that’s a chunk of comics. Holy moley.)

  1. Superior Spider-Man (2023) #3
  2. Punisher (2023) #3
  3. G.O.D.S. #4
  4. Madwoman of the Sacred Heart Vol. 1
  5. Captain America’s Bicentennial Battles
  6. V for Vendetta #s 1-4
  7. Absolute Power Free Comic Book Day 2024 Edition #1
  8. Superman (1987) # 121
  9. Adventures of Superman (1987) #544
  10. Action Comics (1938) #731
  11. Superman: The Man of Steel #66
  12. Superman: The Man of Tomorrow #8
  13. Superman (1987) #s 122-125
  14. Adventures of Superman (1987) #s 545-547
  15. Action Comics (1938) #s 732-734
  16. Superman: The Man of Steel #s 67-69
  17. Scream! (1984) #1
  18. V for Vendetta #s 5-6
  19. Adventures of Superman (1987) #548
  20. Action Comics (1938) #735
  21. Superman: The Man of Steel #70
  22. Energon Universe Free Comic Book Day 2024 Edition #1
  23. Superman (1987) #s 126-127
  24. Adventures of Superman (1987) #s 549-550
  25. Action Comics (1938) #s 736-737
  26. Superman: The Man of Steel #s 71-72
  27. Superman: The Man of Tomorrow #9
  28. Superman (1987) #s 128-129
  29. Adventures of Superman (1987) #s 551-552
  30. Action Comics (1938) #s 738-739
  31. Superman: The Man of Steel #s 73
  32. Superman (1987) #s 130-131
  33. Adventures of Superman (1987) #s 553-554
  34. Action Comics (1938) #s 740-741
  35. Superman: The Man of Steel #s 74-76
  36. Superman (1987) #s 132-135
  37. Adventures of Superman (1987) #s 553-557
  38. Action Comics (1938) #s 740-744
  39. Superman: The Man of Steel #s 74-79
  40. Superman: The Man of Tomorrow #10
  41. Avengers (2018) #s 14-17
  42. Blade: Vampire Nation #1
  43. Moon Knight (2021) #s 12-18
  44. Bloodline: Daughter of Blade #s 1-5
  45. Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2022) #s 10-12
  46. Power Pack: Grow Up! #1
  47. Power Pack: Into the Storm #1
  48. Power Pack (1984) #62
  49. Power Pack Holiday Special (1992) #1
  50. Nexus (1981) #1
  51. Adventures of Superman (1987) #s 558-561
  52. Action Comics (1938) #s 745-748
  53. Superman: The Man of Steel #s 80-83
  54. Superman (1987) #s 136-139
  55. Avengers Inc. #5
  56. Incredible Hulk (2023) #8
  57. Spider-Boy #3
  58. Nexus (1981) #s 2-3
  59. Superman: The Man of Tomorrow #11
  60. Adventures of Superman (1987) #562
  61. Superman Forever #1
  62. Superman: Save the Planet #1
  63. Action Comics (1938) #s 749-751
  64. Superman: The Man of Steel #s 84-86
  65. Superman (1987) #s 140-142
  66. Adventures of Superman (1987) #s 563-565
  67. Supermen of America (1999) #1
  68. Blood Hunt #1
  69. Doctor Strange (2023) #15
  70. Invisible Kingdom #1
  71. Hellblazer #85-89 (Eddie Campbell run and first issue of Paul Jenkins’)
  72. Action Comics (1938) #s 752-754
  73. Superman: The Man of Steel #s 87-89
  74. Superman (1987) #s 143-145
  75. Adventures of Superman (1987) #s 566-568
  76. Superman: King of the World #1
  77. Superman 80-Page Giant (1998) #2
  78. Team Superman #1
  79. Free Comic Book Day 2024: Blood Hunt/X-Men #1
  80. Free Comic Book Day 2024: Ultimate Universe/Spider-Man #1
  81. Free Comic Book Day 2024: Star Wars #1
  82. Action Comics (1938) #s 755-760
  83. Superman: The Man of Steel #s 91-95
  84. Superman (1987) #s 146-151
  85. Adventures of Superman (1987) #s 569-573
  86. Superman (1987) #s 152-153
  87. Adventures of Superman (1987) #s 574-575
  88. Superman: The Man of Steel #s 96-97
  89. Action Comics (1938) #s 761-762
  90. Dead X-Men #1
  91. Superman: Y2K #1
  92. Superman (1987) #154
  93. Adventures of Superman (1987) #576
  94. Superman: The Man of Steel #98
  95. Action Comics (1938) #763
  96. The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special #1
  97. The Return of Superman 30th Anniversary Special #1
  98. Supergirl (1982) #20
  99. Bug! The Adventures of Forager #s 1-2
  100. Superman (1987) #s 155-157
  101. Adventures of Superman (1987) #s 577-579
  102. Superman: The Man of Steel #s 99-101
  103. Action Comics (1938) #s 764-766
  104. Superman (1987) #s 158-159
  105. Adventures of Superman (1987) #s 580-581
  106. Superman: The Man of Steel #s 102-103
  107. Action Comics (1938) #s 767-768
  108. Wolverine (2020) #42
  109. Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars: Battleworld #3
  110. Scream! (1984) #2
  111. G.I. Joe (1982) #s 35-37
  112. Superman (1987) #s 160-161
  113. Adventures of Superman (1987) #s 582-583
  114. Superman: The Man of Steel #s 104-105
  115. Action Comics (1938) #s 769-770
  116. Superman: Emperor Joker #1
  117. Barda 2024 FCBD Special Edition #1
  118. Avengers Assemble: Alpha #1
  119. Avengers (2018) #63
  120. Avengers Forever (2021) #12
  121. The Realist HC
  122. The Realist: Plug and Play HC
  123. Invisible Kingdom #s 2-6
  124. X-Men (2021) #31
  125. Doctor Strange (2023) #12
  126. Thanos (2023) #3
  127. Captain America (2023) #6
  128. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – The Illyrian Enigma #s 1-2
  129. All-Star Superman #s 1-2
  130. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – The Illyrian Enigma #s 3-4
  131. Swords of the Swashbucklers #s 1-2
  132. Avengers (2023) #10
  133. Invisible Kingdom #s 7-8
  134. Invisible Kingdom #s 9-12
  135. Swords of the Swashbucklers #s 3-4
  136. Avengers (2018) #64-66
  137. Avengers Forever (2021) #13-15
  138. Avengers Assemble: Omega #1
  139. Superman (1987) #s 162-165
  140. Adventures of Superman (1987) #s 584-588
  141. Superman: The Man of Steel #s 106-109
  142. Action Comics (1938) #s 771-774
  143. Green Arrow (2023) #12
  144. The Flash (2023) #9
  145. The Penguin (2023) #10
  146. Superman (1987) #s 166-167
  147. Adventures of Superman (1987) #s 589
  148. Superman: The Man of Steel #s 110-111
  149. Action Comics (1938) #s 775-776
  150. Alan Scott: The Green Lantern #6
  151. Green Lantern War Journal #9
  152. Invisible Kingdom #s 13-15
  153. Swords of the Swashbucklers #s 5-12
  154. Nexus (1983) #s 1-3
  155. Fantastic Four (2022) #17
  156. Wolverine: Madripoor Nights #1
  157. Scream! (1984) #3
  158. Alien (2023 vol. 2) #4
  159. Sensational She-Hulk (2023) #5
  160. World’s Finest Comics (1941) #81
  161. Detective Comics (1937) #s 1062-1069
  162. All-Star Superman #s 3-4
  163. Detective Comics (1937) #s 1070-1080
  164. Superman (1987) #s 1-4
  165. Action Comics (1938) #s 584-587
  166. Adventures of Superman (1987) #s 424-428
  167. Detective Comics (1937) #s 1081-1085
  168. Batman: Rebirth #1
  169. Batman (1940) #s 452-454
  170. Superman (1987) #168
  171. Detective Comics (1937) #756
  172. Adventures of Superman (1987) #590
  173. Superman: The Man of Steel #112
  174. Action Comics (1938) #777
  175. Superman (1987) #s 169-170
  176. Adventures of Superman (1987) #s 591-592
  177. Superman: The Man of Steel #s 113-114
  178. Action Comics (1938) #s 778-779
  179. Superman (1987) #171
  180. Adventures of Superman (1987) #593
  181. Superman: The Man of Steel #115
  182. Action Comics (1938) #780
  183. Batman: Our Worlds at War #1
  184. Green Lantern: Our Worlds at War #1
  185. Young Justice: Our Worlds at War #1
  186. Superman: Our Worlds at War Secret Files & Origins #1
  187. Superman (1987) #172
  188. Adventures of Superman (1987) #594
  189. Superman: The Man of Steel #116
  190. Action Comics (1938) #781
  191. JLA: Our Worlds at War #1
  192. JSA: Our Worlds at War #1
  193. Nightwing: Our Worlds at War #1
  194. Wonder Woman (1987) #172
  195. Wonder Woman: Our Worlds at War #1
  196. Superman (1987) #173
  197. Adventures of Superman (1987) #595
  198. Superman: The Man of Steel #117
  199. Action Comics (1938) #782
  200. The Flash: Our Worlds at War #1
  201. Harley Quinn: Our Worlds at War #1
  202. World’s Finest Comics: Our Worlds at War #1
  203. Scarlet (2024) #1
  204. Superman (1987) #s 174-175
  205. Adventures of Superman (1987) #s 596-597
  206. Superman: The Man of Steel #s 118-119
  207. Action Comics (1938) #s 783-785, 789-790, 801-805
  208. Batman (2016) #148
  209. Green Lantern (2023) #12
  210. Birds of Prey (2023) #10
  211. Action Comics (1938) #s 806-810
  212. Superman (1987) #s 179-180, 185, 189
  213. Superman: The Man of Steel #s 121, 133
  214. Adventures of Superman (1987) #611
  215. Action Comics (1938) #798
  216. Cobra Commander #5 
  217. Superman (1987) #s 177-178, 181-182, 186-187
  218. Superman: The Man of Steel #s 130-131
  219. Adventures of Superman (1987) #s 608-609
  220. Action Comics (1938) #795-796
  221. Batman (2016) #s 1-2
  222. Superman (1987) #226
  223. Action Comics (1938) #836
  224. Adventures of Superman (1987) #649
  225. Batman (2016) #s 3-4
  226. Batman: The Long Halloween Special #1
  227. Superior Spider-Man (2023) #4
  228. Transformers (1984) #1
  229. Batman (2016) #s 5-6, 9-10
  230. Superman (1939) #650-652
  231. Action Comics (1938) #837-842
  232. Batman (2016) #s 11-15
  233. Batman Annual (2016) #1
  234. Superman: New Krypton #1
  235. Superman (1939) #s 681-685
  236. Action Comics (1938) #s 871-874
  237. Supergirl (2005) #s 35-38
  238. Adventure Comics Special #1
  239. Batman (2016) #s 16-24
  240. The Flash (2016) #s 21-22
  241. Batman/Elmer Fudd #1
  242. Superman: Up in the Sky #s 1-6
  243. X-Force (2019) #49
  244. Alien: Black, White & Blood #1
  245. Incredible Hulk (2023) #9
  246. Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars: Battleworld #4
  247. GODS #5
  248. Daredevil (2023) #6
  249. Predator: The Last Hunt #1
  250. Guardians of the Galaxy Annual (2024) #1
  251. Spider-Man and the Secret Wars #s 1-4
  252. Deadpool’s Secret Secret Wars #s 1-4
  253. Archie Comics: Judgment Day #1
  254. Batman: Killing Time #s 1-3
  255. Batman: Killing Time #s 4-6
  256. Batman: One Bad Day – The Riddler
  257. Batman: The Winning Card (from Batman: The Brave and the Bold #s 1-2, 5, 9)
  258. Batman (2016) #s 33-36
  259. Falling in Love on the Path to Hell #1
  260. Action Comics (1938) #s 957-962, 1000
  261. Action Comics (1938) #s 963-966
  262. Batman (2016) #s 37-50
  263. Batman Annual (2016) #2
  264. Batman (2016) #s 51-85
  265. Batman Annual (2016) #4
  266. Batman/Catwoman #s 1-12
  267. Batman/Catwoman Special #1
  268. DC Pride 2024 #1
  269. Action Comics (1938) #1066
  270. Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #28
  271. Titans (2023) #12
  272. Nightwing (2016) #115
  273. Wonder Woman (2023) #10
  274. The Rampaging Hulk (1998) #1
  275. Seven Soldiers: Mister Miracle #s 1-4
  276. Final Crisis #1
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Teething Troubles

I was just telling Jeff last night — which means that he’ll know exactly when this was written, if he has uncanny recall for conversations that he didn’t realize were that important at the time (they’re still not) — that, when I was first interviewing for the Editor gig at Popverse, there was a lot of discussion over the fact that I’d have less time to write as a result; I would, as the job title suggests, be too busy editing with all that entails. I brushed away such comments, reminding people that I understood what the job title meant, and that I’m sure I’d still have to write a lot as an editor (if nothing else, Tiffany had in the role before me). What I didn’t say, but thought at the time, was that I’d still have this place to write for, and so therefore I’d be fine.

And then the first two weeks of the job came, and I was overwhelmed by them. It’s not that they were bad, in any way, but that there was so much stuff that I hadn’t really expected to take up my brain that was suddenly… just in there, and demanding attention. I was surprised by what I was spending time on, and how much time it was all taking, and I was surprised that there was just so much of it. Again, this isn’t a complaint, per se; I knew (roughly) what the job was when I accepted it, and the new bits were challenges that I am looking forward to mastering more than annoyances or things that make me want to hide under a table and never come out. It’s all just a learning curve, and it only makes sense that those first two weeks had a steeper curve and more learning, all things considered.

Nonetheless: two weeks passed, and I didn’t write anything here. (You didn’t notice, because I write stuff in advance; I’m good like that.) It wasn’t the only change in my schedule, or even in the way my schedule shapes up and shakes out — I found that my head would fill up on reading things, unexpectedly, or that I’d find some peace in scrolling through music on Spotify and listening to snippets before passing judgement, because it made different parts of my brain ping than the ones that were feeling a little bit overworked at the time. (On the plus side, I did find some wonderful music as a result.)

Again, all of these are minor adjustments and it’s early days, yet; more than anything, I’m fascinated by the butterfly wing effect of the new job: the things it impacts that I never saw coming, and learn through experience and suddenly realizing, oh, I’m not up for this after all anymore. I wonder what that’s all about? “We live and learn,” as Alanis Morrissette and so many others before her put it.