Tales of Syzpense #23
A Haunted Girl launches, some non-Syzygy reading recommendations, and some comics-related exhibits
A Haunted Girl Appears
I talked it up a few newsletters back — most notably here, where you can get a good look at all the covers and some interior pages for the first issue — but I had just a bit more to say about the series, which launches this week, just ahead of this weekend’s New York Comic-Con.
In general, it’s been great working on this series alongside its creators, but I’ve been specifically impressed by the work Ethan Sacks has done to bring attention to both the series and also to its resonant theme of mental health awareness. In developing the series alongside his co-writer/daughter Naomi, whose past struggles with mental health are the foundation of the series, he’s done a lot to bring awareness to that topic. They both have.
Earlier this week, Mashable featured this interview with Ethan and Naomi, where they discuss the comic, their efforts to involve both the American Foundation for Suicidal Prevention (which will have a piece at the back of each issue) and also to bring in sensitivity readers to ensure that the discussions of suicidal ideation and other related topics are handled properly.
Ethan and Naomi appeared in a segment on CBS News this morning where they further discussed the comic and these related topics.
I should also mention that the comic doesn’t hit these topics in a preachy way, and the story itself is a fun tale with plenty of creepy genre elements, but the way the creators have kept the non-fiction elements behind the story as a front-and-center part of the discussion about the series has been great to see.
Anyway, A Haunted Girl #1 (of 5) is in stores tomorrow. My advances arrived over the weekend and there’s a lot of story in each issue. I hope people dig it.
And for anyone who’s attending this weekend’s New York Comic-Con, Ethan, Naomi, and artist Marco Lorenzana will be appearing at the con and at some NYC area shops to sign copies of it this week, too. This’ll likely be the only chance to catch all three creators in one place but Ethan will be signing at some other shops across the land, too:
Book Recs
There’ve been a number of great new graphic novels released this month (as every month), three of which particularly stood out to me:
First, Comics for Ukraine, assembled by editor supreme Scott Dunbier and offered through crowdfunding site Zoop, arrived.
Now, I worked alongside Scott for something like a decade. I know what great books he makes. And I was still blown away by the caliber of talent he assembled for this book, all the proceeds of which benefit Ukraine charities. I mean, the book has a new Howard Chaykin American Flagg story in it! A Walt Simonson Starslammers tale. And they, and all the stories and creators involved, do a masterful job telling fictional stories that nevertheless make pointed commentary about the damage caused by Russia’s needless aggression. The stories make the case for continued aid for the Ukrainian people without doing so in heavy-handed ways. It’s a fantastic book even without the cause it serves but even moreso for the good that this book accomplished in that regard, too.
Also arriving this week was Daniel Clowes’ latest Fantagraphics graphic novel, Monica. Like so much of Clowes’ work, it features characters who feel both surreal and completely real, stories that span decades, and some wonderfully bizarre and unexpected turns. To say too much about it would detract from the reading experience, so I’ll just say that like Clowes’ best works, it’s both bleakly realistic about people and their intentions and just hopeful enough to leave you feeling energized after reading it. Clowes is always unlike any other cartoonist work and when he’s good, like he is here, his work is just captivating to take in.
Equally bizarre in its own way, but with an underlying sweetness, is the new Abrams ComicArts graphic novel by Mutts cartoonist Patrick McDonnell, The Super-Hero’s Journey.
This one is a sweet but deeply weird journey through McDonnell’s comic-book-influenced psyche, and it puts on paper the kind of images that tend to float around inside the heads of many of us who were weaned on comics — visuals that blend our realities with the comic book visuals that are part of our DNA. McDonnell works in actual clip art and panels from the 1960s Marvel Comics he loved as a kid and enhances the pages with his own art, as he explores not only the influence comics had on him as a kid but also the right lessons to be taken from the superhero comics we grew up on. It’s a lovely and resonant book.
Finally, it’s not another graphic novel but instead is a prose book coming in early 2024: Duane Swierczynski was kind enough to send me an advance of his coming California Bear crime novel and it’s a blast in the kinds of ways that Duane’s books always are: full of uniquely great characters, inspired by and commenting on headlines and real-world events, and containing a few completely unexpected turns along the way.
Again to preserve the book’s surprises, I won’t discuss story details but the official description of the book (out on January 9, 2024) is this:
A witty new thriller from a "great storyteller" (Michael Connelly), California Bear follows four unlikely vigilantes whose decision to take justice into their own hands pits them against the villain behind California’s coldest case.
"Fresh, exciting, and brilliantly unpredictable." —James Patterson
NONE OF YOU ARE SAFE
“KILLER”: Jack Queen has been exonerated and freed from prison thanks to retired LAPD officer Cato Hightower. But when guilt gnaws at Jack, he admits: “I actually did it.” To which Hightower responds: “Yeah, no kidding.” You see, the ex-cop has a special job in mind for the ex-con…
THE GIRL DETECTIVE: Fifteen-year-old Matilda Finnerty has been handed a potential death sentence in the form of a leukemia diagnosis. But that’s not going to stop her from tackling the most important mystery of her life: Is her father guilty of murder?
GENE JEANIE: Jeanie Hightower mends family trees for a living, but the genealogist is unable to repair her own marriage. And her soon-to-be ex may have entangled her in a scheme that has drawn the bloody wrath of…
THE BEAR: A prolific serial killer who disappeared forty years ago, who is only now emerging from hibernation when the conditions are just right. And this time, the California Bear is not content to hunt in the shadows…
From two-time Edgar nominee Duane Swierczynski, California Bear is clever, moving, and surprising as it takes aim at the true crime industry, Hollywood, justice, and the killers inside us all.
The Girl Detective is especially going to stick with you but the whole cast of characters is a blast to get to know.
Graveside Spinner Rack
It’s certainly not too difficult to load up the spinner rack with horror-themed covers this time of year. So one way to take a more targeted approach is covers that feature, say, coffins (of which I’ve gathered a few) or grave markers and headtones (of which there are a whole lot more). I’ll tackle coffins at a later time but for now, if you want a spinner full of images set in cemeteries and featuring characters fighting near, snogging next to, or clutching to gravestones, well, happy to oblige.
Not enough? You want more? Okay, then:
There are plenty more besides these, but running more of them might be, well, overkill…