RIP Jeffrey Veregge, your style was magnificent

Check out his website and just... be in awe

RIP Jeffrey Veregge

Alternate cover for Seven’s Reckoning issue 4. Cover art by Jeffrey Veregge, 2021.

Beloved artist Jeffrey Veregge has passed

Beloved artist Jeffrey Veregge has passed #comics #comicbooks

Celebrated artist and writer Jeffrey Veregge has passed away his which has announced by his wife Christine Veregge on Facebook: We’re heartbroken to share the devastating news that our beloved Jeffrey passed away unexpectedly this morning from a heart attack. Our family is in shock and trying to process this unimaginable pain. For 1025 days he fought lupus like the superhero we knew him to be.…

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IDW Tales Of The Hasbroverse! Retro ROM By Jeffrey Veregge

Jeffrey Veregge’s Iron Man cover.

In the link you will find 75 free roleplayable icons of Kushala, a Marvel character, in the book Spirit Rider (2021). Written by Taboo, and drawn by Paul Davidson and Jeffrey Veregge. 

Please note that the character is Apache, and that native cultures are closed. Please do not appropriate and use any aspects of Apache culture while portraying this character if you are not Apache yourself.

These icons are sized 150x150px, and I ask that you do not resize them under 100x100px for accessibility. If you apply a psd to these, be careful not to whiten her skin. Like/share if you plan on using.

Inspired by @indigenousrph​ month of Native resources!

Ethnicity: Apache Sexuality: undefined (as far as I know) Other: N/A

It's All in the Execution

Hello again! 

Today is the Trans Day of Remembrance. It caps off Trans Awareness Week. It's a somber occasion. And, content warning for gun violence, hate crimes, injury, and death, this year it is particularly somber as we're reeling from the tragedy at Club Q. It is doubtless that these two incidents are connected. And so today we remember Daniel Aston, as well as the others who were killed. We remember the countless other trans lives that've been ended prematurely. This is going out awfully late into the evening, but please take some time to mourn and grieve and hope for peace and justice for those we've lost. 

In terms of practical action, tell a trans person you love them. Maybe send them some money. You can also donate to the Colorado Healing Fund. Or Trans Lifeline. Or the Transgender Law Center. Share this map of informed consent HRT facilities. Follow up with your representatives on any anti-trans legislation in your area. Advocate for your communities and be willing to protect the people in them, by force if necessary. 

To get the other serious matters out of the way up top, there are a few comics creators who could really use your help right now. My friend Jeffrey Veregge was diagnosed with Lupus last year and is still hospitalized and his family needs assistance. Tess Fowler and Chris Gutierrez are currently dealing with their own medical emergency. And those are just the ones directly on my radar. 

And, finally, our attention turns to Owasso, Oklahoma, where a public school library did one of the dumbest things I can remember hearing about in recent memory: at one parent's complaint about one book, Blankets by Craig Thompson, the school pulled ALL the graphic novels from the shelves for two months and are planning on returning them and adding new ones, but only after every single book is examined page-by-page by an adult who can flag any possibility of sexual or other offensive material. I can only hope that Tim Reiland's daughter grows up to be a more thoughtful individual than he is and that the people in charge of this library are reminded of their duty to present challenging material. 

With that all said, I'd also still like to talk a bit about the execution of thematic goals in your work, but if you're too drained, I get it. You can come back later. 

This year, Becca and I have been seeing a lot of horror movies. In college, I started getting more into horror and now it's probably the genre most likely to get me into a theater. So far, the two best horror movies we've seen this year are neck-in-neck: Pearl and Barbarian (with X, the other movie in Ti West and Mia Goth's trilogy landing as a solid 3rd, and TBH, we still haven't seen Nope though that's on the agenda for the coming week). I could and will gush about Pearl and X at some point soon. I'll also throw in a good word for House of the Devil, which I feel is a very closely related movie, also by Ti West. Sorry, getting distracted already! Anyway, the point is that A LOT of the movies we've seen this year have been thematically very similar, including those two. But the other three perfectly illustrate a sort of Goldilocks scale of execution of an idea. 

The Poppa Bear of the group is Men. I know this movie's very divisive. Some people quite like it for reasons I can't explain. Like Poppa Bear's soup which was too hot or his bed which was too hard, Men was an unpleasant experience. The premise is Alex Garland read a couple articles about feminism and decided he should make a movie about how scary men are to women, forgetting that he already made that movie, Ex Machina. A traumatized woman working through a violent incident in her life goes out to a small English town and all the men in town are portrayed by one actor (an actually impressive feat, but not so much so as to outweigh the movie's flaws) and she thinks she's going crazy because they're all one guy and then the last third gets supernatural, but more importantly, super stupid. "Men are scary" is a really simple theme to build a story on and a worthy one because they are (see above). But one of the things that makes men scary is that they are capable of so much in the real world. That's what Men forgets. Sure, it recognizes that men abuse women physically and emotionally, particularly through gaslighting, but one of it's biggest failings is that as the story continues, the horror becomes removed from that reality. Is it gaslighting if all the men look the same because they're actually played by one guy and also are after you personally? What's the deal with the big "horror set piece" of the story being all the men who are the same guy birthing each other out of the mouth and other assorted made-up holes? It's clearly chosen because there're historically strong connections of womanhood and childbearing (reinforced by the ultimate arrival of the pregnant friend), but uhh... other than her friend being pregnant, it has no bearing on the main character's lived experience. It's just seeing a man do a "womanly" thing like giving birth that's "scary". And that's not scary, nor is it particularly smart commentary because it doesn't actually have anything to do with why men are scary. Anyway, do yourself a favor and don't watch Men. It's the pits. You can watch Ex Machina instead. Or maybe you could watch...

The Momma Bear of the group is Don't Worry Darling. Another divisive movie. This one's debatably a "horror", it's more psychological thriller, but I think those're inter-related enough to count. Like Momma Bear's bed, it's not firm enough. The premise is Harry Styles and Florence Pugh live an idyllic 1950s-esque planned community, organized by the mysterious Chris Pine. While Harry, Chris, and the other men go off every day to work on a mysterious project, the women are restricted to the community and to lives as housewives. But all is not what it seems... Spoilers: The men? Slightly scary. Unlike Men (BTW, hate that as a title because it makes talking about other men in the same analysis so hard), rather than turning the systemic oppression of women into a tête-à-tête between one woman and one many-man, it actually explores things on the levels of real communities and the power dynamics that men have both historically exercised and that many men seem to still fantasize about. Genuinely, the highest praise I can give this movie is that the female-gazed horror is a male-power fantasy. It indulges in the reasons why men act the way they do and in doing so actually gives it a reason to be scary. In terms of it not being firm enough, it's a bit unevenly paced and toned, so the stakes don't really feel material for most of the movie--there's too much mystery about what's going on that even when the audience knows something is wrong, they don't feel that the danger is imminent. It's a solid 6.5 or 7 out of 10, but again, you'd probably be better off watching the director's other movie, Booksmart. Or, you could watch... 

Barbarian is a movie you should go into with very little knowledge. The Baby Bear of the group all you need to know is that it is just right. Nah, but like, if you usually check content warnings before horror movies, do that, otherwise, the only description you're getting from me is a woman of color shows up at her AirB&B only to find that it's already occupied by a man claiming he rented it who invites her in to sort things out and from there things happen. And, hey, that premise--already more realistically scary than either of the other two because that's shit that could actually happen. It is a complex movie that manages to actually have something to say--and was written and directed by one of the Whitest Kids U' Know (which I just found out, the twists keep coming with this one!). But, suffice to say, by the end of the movie, you'll get that men are scary and why and have that layered with so much more. It's a masterpiece of filmmaking and of using your story--the location, the cast, the pacing, the plot elements--to tell a cohesive story that not only covers the thematic message you want to convey, but embodies it and grows into something more as it continues. 

This is going awfully long again, so let me conclude with two last things. 

1. The live reenactment of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip by Alec Robbins, Grace Freud, and friends was AMAZING. Some of the funniest comedy I've ever had the pleasure of seeing live. If the TV show had been half as good as this one-off reenactment, I actually think it would've lasted more than a season. I don't know that anyone will ever be able to see it if you weren't there, but it was magical! 

2. Becca's got their last artist's alley of the year on Tuesday. It's NiteNite Night with Biz Baz Club and New Motion Brewery. There'll be artists selling cool stuff just in time for the holidays and karaoke! Becca's going to have some new merch debuting! It'll be a good time! I'll be there too, but only to help Becca. More info in the image! Hope to see you there! 

Pic of the Week #2: As promised with the other post this week, here's a not great picture I took of Tiansheng and I cuddled on the couch when Becca was out of town earlier in the week. He's cute! 

We desperately need to talk about how VERY white the transformers franchise has been. Most of writers have been cishet neurotypical white folks, especially with the comics gaining more popularity ever since idw. Tf has only had ONE black artist (Mark Bright) and that was during the freaking Marvel days. One native artist (Jeffrey Veregge) whose only done covers as of now, and Don Figueroa, their one south east asian who they notably been pretty much screwing over for a while.

There's also the tone deafness that idw has brought with the Decepticons i.e. oppressed group who fights back turns evil & into oppressors themselves. There's also Grindcore which is all I'm going to say. Along with the Autobots starting out as this small rebel force but as time went on, writers started making bad the Decepticons and don't even get me on the weird "good race bad race" sh*t thats still going on somehow

Fuck.

Beloved #NdnGeek and Marvel artist Jeffrey Veregge dies at 50

Jeffrey Veregge—who left this plane of existence with a “Rez-ume” (as he referred to it) with a flood of public art and murals, comic book works, shows and galleries and museum exhibits and truckloads of awards and recognitions—has tragically died at the age of 50.

Jeffrey Veregge referred to himself as the #NDNGeek in many of his contributions to the literary world and as a writer. He was also a member of the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe.

Jeffrey Veregge-re emlékezünk

Fiatalon, 50 éves korában ragadta el a sors Jeffrey Veregge művészt, aki képregényborítóival és később a G.I. Joe Classified Spirit dobozgrafikával végleg beírta magát a nagy G.I. Joe család lapjaira a nevét. A Marvel és IDW képregények alkotóját a családján kívül művésztársai és rajongói is gyászolják. forrás: Full Force / X Nyugodjék békében!

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Alternate cover for Seven’s Reckoning issue 3. Cover art by Jeffrey Veregge, 2021.

September 2023 Reading Update!

Wild that it's already September! Feels like my reading is finally returning to normal after the busy end to last year and buying our house this year.

Following my new monthly update format plans, I'll cover what I finished reading last month, what I'm currently working through, what I plan to get to this month, and some new and upcoming releases that sound cool! So as it's a Long Post ahead, I'll give you a break here.

August Reads Mini-Reviews

Trans-Galactic Bike Ride ed. by Lydia Rogue - 3.5 stars

The stories in this anthology varied in quality a bit, and some felt a bit young for me, despite not being YA per se. Still a good time, with a few especially memorable romps. Full review here.

Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection Vol. 1 ed. by Hope Nicholson - 4.5 stars

Great all around collection! My personal favorites were "Ochek" by David Robertson & Haiwei Hou, "Coyote and the Pebbles” by Dayton Edmonds & Micah Farritor, and “Home” by Ian Ross & Lovern Kindzierski & Adam Gorham & Peter Dawes.

Babel by R.F. Kuang - 4 stars

This was very much My Shit, but also could have benefited from being a duology or even trilogy instead of one book. I loved how stuffed it was with etymology and history, though some might find that more dense a read than they'd like. The shift from the relatively slow, observational pace of the beginning to the tense action after about 300 pages can be a little jarring. And I wish we'd had more fleshing out of the other characters and their relationships, as well as time spent to take the commentary on empire and colonization back further. As my first R.F. Kuang read, it was very enjoyable, though.

More detailed review on Goodreads or The StoryGraph.

Moonshot Vol. 2 ed. by Hope Nicholson - 5 stars

It felt like the project really hit its stride here. Lots of great stories and art. My favorites of the bunch were “Worst Bargain In Town” by Darcie Little Badger & Rossi Gifford, “Water Spirits” by Richard Van Camp & Haiwei Hou, and “Journeys” by Jeffrey Veregge.

Current September Reads

Back down to the appropriate number of reads: The Library Book, The Physical TBR Book, and The Project Book.

Moonshot Vol. 3 ed. by Elizabeth LaPensée, Ph.D. & Michael Sheyahshe

As with the previous volumes, more comics, illustrated stories, and artworks by Indigenous creators. This time edited by past contributors! Over halfway through, so it won't take long to finish.

Lone Women by Victor LaValle

Things have gotten intense in ways I didn't expect it to go (not a negative!). About a third of the way through, should be easy to finish this month.

Speaking Bones by Ken Liu

Had some neat revelations and some frustrating mistakes on the part of characters who should've known better so far. Only at p. 142 out of 1047. 💀

Additional September Plans

White Cat, Black Dog by Kelly Link

This is on its way to my local library branch, so I'll be picking it up soon! It's Kelly Link's new story collection, just released this March. I look forward to more of her strange and wonderful works.

Loot by Tania James

Mentioned in my previous update, when I received it from the publisher's Goodreads giveaway. Going to start it once I finish Lone Women.

Upcoming Releases

A Crown So Cursed by L.L. McKinney (September 19th)

Third book in the Nightmare-Verse series, inspired by Alice in Wonderland stuff. I'm not always into YA fantasy, but I've been having a great time with this series!

The Pomegranate Gate by Ariel Kaplan (September 26th)

Adult historical fantasy set during the Inquisition, featuring Sephardic Jewish folklore. As Toba's people flee rather than forcibly convert, she's separated and ends up in a realm of powerful beings. Naftaly seeks to rescue her, encountering even more dangerous secrets along the way. Warning that it is the first in a series, and word on the street is that there's a cliffhanger ending.

So that's what's going on this month for my reading. If you read this far, know that I love you! 💕

Please consider a donation to the JEFFREY VEREGGE ( spectacular Marvel artist ) recovery fund - whilst most of the world has had a rough few years, Jeffrey and Christina have been fighting tooth and claw https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-jeffrey-veregge-with-medical-expenses https://www.instagram.com/p/CipULnuM0Gw/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

1865: Settler superstitions about “Indian Superstitions” about earthquakes — Chinook Jargon

This “our Indians” thing sounds real, real patronizing… “Thunderbird and Whale had a terrible fight.” Illustration by Jeffrey Veregge (image credit: …1865: Settler superstitions about “Indian Superstitions” about earthquakes — Chinook Jargon

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