I read this piece by Aubrey Hirsch on Roxane Gay’s The Audacity yesterday titled “How To Be A Woman On The Internet” - and the opening line is: “First, if you can help it, don’t be.” And, well, I’m not sure I’ve ever read anything more true. I got a good rueful chuckle out of it.
The best new comic I'm currently reading is still James Tynion IV, Alvaro Martinez Bueno, and Jordie Bellaire's The Nice House On The Lake from DC Black Label.
My favorite superhero movie...oof...it's really hard to choose between Thor Ragnarok and Captain America: Winter Soldier, but I feel more Ragarok-y these days, so gonna go with that.
The song I have DEFINITELY listened to the most in 2021 is Olivia Rodrigo's good 4 u.
Hi. I’m david/code (the same literally everywhere).
The Good Asian
Batman Begins
Either “No Sidewalks” by Mixtape for the Milkway (a Jeremy Messersmith Project), “Over the Ocean Call” by Lizzy Mcalpine, or “kyoto (copycat killer version)” by Phoebe Bridgers (this is Michael Walsh’s fault)
I’m Ryan Jablonski ! Everyone calls me Jabo though. Real life and internet life. (Jabo616 on most of my games)
My favorite current book is Black Cat I think. McKay is so f-n good with Felicia!! I almost went with my normal answer of X-Men- but it’s impossible to break it down into an individual titles because the teams have weaved SUCH AN AMAZING STORY!!! #mutantandproud
Logan is prob my fav. Movie makes me cry every time… like the animated Transformers does 🤦🏻
Song is a tough one… but I discovered Nothingmore this year and have really dove head first onto their entire discography. It’s very NuMetal, and that’s 👍 for me!!. Second place- Choke by The Warning- those kids are really really badass! \m/(-_-)\m/
I just finished a long read of Immortal Hulk by Al Ewing and Joe Bennett, and holy crap is that amazing as hell. As a guy who's read just about every Hulk comic ever over my life, that book is just amazing. Al took the Hulk concept and just made it the perfect psychological horror book, and I'm looking forward to the wrap-up in two weeks.
Favorite superhero movie will always be Superman II. But I also love the whole MCU, not just for what it is, but for what it gave to me- a fantastic way to spend time with my girlfriend. My ex hated superhero movies, and so I never watched them for the past decade, and I never fully grasped just how wrong that was. My girlfriend is awesome.
As for music, it's really about what albums I'm playing. I've been keeping Nirvana's Live and Loud on constant rotation lately. I'm fascinated with bass lines lately.
I have a couple of Facebook groups where I am active, and I feel safe to express my opinion there after years of being part of the community (it also helps I am the admin for one of them). I do a YouTube show with a friend (Krisis who is also here), and I also share my opinions there without feeling any pressure cause Krisis runs a tight ship when it comes to comments section. Still I got some comments about how I am racist to white people for saying X-men is written by white men so I am having hard time as a POC woman to connect to this “minority metaphor”. But otherwise I don’t share opinion anywhere where it’s hard to maintain any control of conversation or have to put in extra mental effort. It feels like too much coming in at once like the last page of your comic here.
My favorite new comic is probably Declan Shalvey's Time Before Time.
My favorite superhero movie is definitely Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The music, the fight choreography, the 70s-esque thriller aspects, and the emotional bonds between Cap, Natasha, Sam, and Bucky all make for the perfect film. Some other, non-MCU top favorites include X-Men: First Class, Spider-Man 2, and The Dark Knight.
A song I've played over and over in 2021 has been Dua Lipa's "Love Again". So good!
1. Best new comic: Really enjoyed Ram V's Many Deaths of Laila Starr and Si Spurrier's Way of X.
2. Best superhero movie ever: Endgame or Winter Soldier in a toss-up, followed by Batman Begins.
3. Most listened-song in 2021: Genesis from the WandaVision soundtrack and then a tie between good 4 u, by Olivia Rodrigo and Love Story by Taylor Swift, which are my 8-year old daughter's first two car song requests.
1) I don't really follow NEW comics that closely since the old CSBG shut down. Everything is a deep dive on Marvel Unlimited and DC Infinite. So, it is all 'new to me'. On that front, I fell weirdly in love with The Phantom Stranger from the 60s-70s. The premise made no sense, but it had great characters.
2) All-Time has to be Superman: The Movie. It hit at a moment in my youth that went deep and it sort of connects to my real life in strange, quasi-magical ways to the extent that I believe that sort of thing.
3) Music? Obviously, that is heavily influenced by having kids who have grown up post-monoculture. Their mixes are weirdly heavy on ELO and Queen, plus video game themes.
1. My choice for "favorite" changes a lot, but the Ms. Marvel: Stretched Thin ogn is definitely up there. So is the current run on Thor and the now concluded run of Jane Foster: Valkyrie written by Nadia Shammas, Donny Cates, and Torunn Gronnbekk respectively.
2. Black Panther. No question.
3. (It's a tight race between so many songs, how do I choose) uhhhh ... hmmm. I've listened to Palace by Hayley Kiyoko a lot this year
Current favorite comic: I recently caught up on Zdarsky’s Daredevil run and am really loving that.
Favorite superhero movie: mmmm, right now I’d probably say Ragnarok. It’s just so dang good and Valkyrie’s entrance may be my favorite character intro ever.
Song I’ve most listened to is probably Be Sweet by Japanese Breakfast.
I had a hellacious week both professionally and personally, and so just caught up on FOUR (!!!!) newsletters from you this afternoon. I couldn't subscribe fast enough! I'm somewhat leery about this great substack comics experiment...but if there's any voice that would sway me to lend support, it's yours, Kelly.
Anyway! My introduction
1) I'm pawpaw72546 on Twitter, mostly just pawpaw on Discords and other social and chat sites.
2) My favorite comic series since I got back into comics circa 2015 is Lazarus, from Greg Rucka, Michael Lark, Santi Arcas et al. I believe you're a fan of this one too, Kelly!
3) Spotify Stats don't lie, my most listened to song of the last 6 months (and therefore probably most listened to of 2021) is You Stupid Bitch by Rachel Bloom from the Crazy Ex-Girlfriend soundtrack
Looking forward to seeing how this all shapes up over time!
Fair's fair. I'll go first!
I'm Kelly
The best new comic I'm currently reading is still James Tynion IV, Alvaro Martinez Bueno, and Jordie Bellaire's The Nice House On The Lake from DC Black Label.
My favorite superhero movie...oof...it's really hard to choose between Thor Ragnarok and Captain America: Winter Soldier, but I feel more Ragarok-y these days, so gonna go with that.
The song I have DEFINITELY listened to the most in 2021 is Olivia Rodrigo's good 4 u.
Hi. I’m david/code (the same literally everywhere).
The Good Asian
Batman Begins
Either “No Sidewalks” by Mixtape for the Milkway (a Jeremy Messersmith Project), “Over the Ocean Call” by Lizzy Mcalpine, or “kyoto (copycat killer version)” by Phoebe Bridgers (this is Michael Walsh’s fault)
I’m Ryan Jablonski ! Everyone calls me Jabo though. Real life and internet life. (Jabo616 on most of my games)
My favorite current book is Black Cat I think. McKay is so f-n good with Felicia!! I almost went with my normal answer of X-Men- but it’s impossible to break it down into an individual titles because the teams have weaved SUCH AN AMAZING STORY!!! #mutantandproud
Logan is prob my fav. Movie makes me cry every time… like the animated Transformers does 🤦🏻
Song is a tough one… but I discovered Nothingmore this year and have really dove head first onto their entire discography. It’s very NuMetal, and that’s 👍 for me!!. Second place- Choke by The Warning- those kids are really really badass! \m/(-_-)\m/
I just finished a long read of Immortal Hulk by Al Ewing and Joe Bennett, and holy crap is that amazing as hell. As a guy who's read just about every Hulk comic ever over my life, that book is just amazing. Al took the Hulk concept and just made it the perfect psychological horror book, and I'm looking forward to the wrap-up in two weeks.
Favorite superhero movie will always be Superman II. But I also love the whole MCU, not just for what it is, but for what it gave to me- a fantastic way to spend time with my girlfriend. My ex hated superhero movies, and so I never watched them for the past decade, and I never fully grasped just how wrong that was. My girlfriend is awesome.
As for music, it's really about what albums I'm playing. I've been keeping Nirvana's Live and Loud on constant rotation lately. I'm fascinated with bass lines lately.
OMG that is hella relatable.
I have a couple of Facebook groups where I am active, and I feel safe to express my opinion there after years of being part of the community (it also helps I am the admin for one of them). I do a YouTube show with a friend (Krisis who is also here), and I also share my opinions there without feeling any pressure cause Krisis runs a tight ship when it comes to comments section. Still I got some comments about how I am racist to white people for saying X-men is written by white men so I am having hard time as a POC woman to connect to this “minority metaphor”. But otherwise I don’t share opinion anywhere where it’s hard to maintain any control of conversation or have to put in extra mental effort. It feels like too much coming in at once like the last page of your comic here.
I’m Charles.
To answer the three questions
1) Strange Academy (with The me you live in the dark a close second)
2) Logan
3) More by K/DA
Hey, I'm Michael!
Favorite new comic - probably Blue and Gold because I'm a long time sucker for Booster and Beetle together haha
Favorite superhero movie - it alternates between GOTGV2 and Winter Soldier, depending on my mood.
I've been on a real Dave Hause kick lately and his new single "Sandy Sheets" has been on repeat a lot for me.
Stacyswirl here.
My favorite new comic is probably Declan Shalvey's Time Before Time.
My favorite superhero movie is definitely Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The music, the fight choreography, the 70s-esque thriller aspects, and the emotional bonds between Cap, Natasha, Sam, and Bucky all make for the perfect film. Some other, non-MCU top favorites include X-Men: First Class, Spider-Man 2, and The Dark Knight.
A song I've played over and over in 2021 has been Dua Lipa's "Love Again". So good!
Hi, I'm Jon Auerbach.
1. Best new comic: Really enjoyed Ram V's Many Deaths of Laila Starr and Si Spurrier's Way of X.
2. Best superhero movie ever: Endgame or Winter Soldier in a toss-up, followed by Batman Begins.
3. Most listened-song in 2021: Genesis from the WandaVision soundtrack and then a tie between good 4 u, by Olivia Rodrigo and Love Story by Taylor Swift, which are my 8-year old daughter's first two car song requests.
Hi, I am Dean.
1) I don't really follow NEW comics that closely since the old CSBG shut down. Everything is a deep dive on Marvel Unlimited and DC Infinite. So, it is all 'new to me'. On that front, I fell weirdly in love with The Phantom Stranger from the 60s-70s. The premise made no sense, but it had great characters.
2) All-Time has to be Superman: The Movie. It hit at a moment in my youth that went deep and it sort of connects to my real life in strange, quasi-magical ways to the extent that I believe that sort of thing.
3) Music? Obviously, that is heavily influenced by having kids who have grown up post-monoculture. Their mixes are weirdly heavy on ELO and Queen, plus video game themes.
Hello, my name is David and here are my choices:
1. My choice for "favorite" changes a lot, but the Ms. Marvel: Stretched Thin ogn is definitely up there. So is the current run on Thor and the now concluded run of Jane Foster: Valkyrie written by Nadia Shammas, Donny Cates, and Torunn Gronnbekk respectively.
2. Black Panther. No question.
3. (It's a tight race between so many songs, how do I choose) uhhhh ... hmmm. I've listened to Palace by Hayley Kiyoko a lot this year
Hi, I’m Dani.
Current favorite comic: I recently caught up on Zdarsky’s Daredevil run and am really loving that.
Favorite superhero movie: mmmm, right now I’d probably say Ragnarok. It’s just so dang good and Valkyrie’s entrance may be my favorite character intro ever.
Song I’ve most listened to is probably Be Sweet by Japanese Breakfast.
I had a hellacious week both professionally and personally, and so just caught up on FOUR (!!!!) newsletters from you this afternoon. I couldn't subscribe fast enough! I'm somewhat leery about this great substack comics experiment...but if there's any voice that would sway me to lend support, it's yours, Kelly.
Anyway! My introduction
1) I'm pawpaw72546 on Twitter, mostly just pawpaw on Discords and other social and chat sites.
2) My favorite comic series since I got back into comics circa 2015 is Lazarus, from Greg Rucka, Michael Lark, Santi Arcas et al. I believe you're a fan of this one too, Kelly!
3) Spotify Stats don't lie, my most listened to song of the last 6 months (and therefore probably most listened to of 2021) is You Stupid Bitch by Rachel Bloom from the Crazy Ex-Girlfriend soundtrack
Looking forward to seeing how this all shapes up over time!
Matt here.
1) favorite non-1979semifinalist book is Fire Power from Image by Kirkman and Samnee. (Also Wonder Girl and anything by Mark Russell)
2) Fav superhero film - the Nolan Batmans. Probably Dark Knight the best but I feel like I enjoyed Dark Knight Rises more than others did.
3) Overlord by Dirty Projectors? Or really any of the songs from the 5 EPs they released last year.
Thanks!
Hi there, my name is Liron.
Favorite comic book is probably Daredevil. That Zdarsy!! But whenever a new Brubaker-Philips book comes out it’s that.
Favorite super hero movie is Into the Spider-Verse.
I had Views by Noga Erez in a loop for a while.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Od8LTTBY5E4
Andy Ford
1. Radiant Black by Kyle Higgins, Marcelo Costa, Natalia Marques, and Becca Carey
2. The Dark Knight (2008)
3. The Observatory version of Casting Such a Thin Shadow by Underoath: https://youtu.be/Y9k_YshuGII