(click to embiggen)It’s Friday! The third Friday in October. Halloween is coming fast, and I’m still nowhere near ready.
My immune system seems to have finally kicked the upper respiratory infection just in time that I didn’t have to skip another unrelated medical test that I have to undergo every few years. That was Thursday morning. Now that I’m on insulin, they insist that this procedure can’t be done in the afternoon (I have do it before taking any insulin that day), which meant that my husband and I were taking an Uber to the clinic at 6:00am (my husband doesn’t drive, and because general anesthesia is involved, I couldn’t drive for 12 hours after) and our friend Jeri Lynn picked us up when I was done. So Thursday started earlier and then I spent the majority of the day sleeping off the meds. Which all makes my usual work-from-home Friday quite convenient.
Which brings us to the Friday Five: the top five (IMHO) stories of the week and five videos (plus my blog post).
This has not been a great week. A second, much shorter round of antibiotics does not seem to have taken care of my respiratory infection, but my next two schedule medical appointments are within the week yet have nothing to do with that, and I’m not sure I want to try to squeeze another one in there.
Which brings us to the Friday Five: the top five (IMHO) stories of the week, top five sci fi/fantasy/science stories, and five videos (plus my blog posts).
And once again we find ourselves at a Friday. The first Friday in October. October is the tenth month of the year, though it’s name in Latin means the eighth, all because of two Caesars who wanted to immortalize themselves in the calendar.
This has not been a great week. I can’t tell if I’m having a relapse after the antibiotics were finished, or if I’ve caught another cold. Meanwhile, we have leapt into autumn. One day the overnight lay and daytime high were just slightly higher than average for this time of year. The next, both temps were 20 degrees below that, so that our averages are more like the end of October/beginning of November. If I weren’t muzzy headed from the illness, I’d find something poetic of symbolic to infer from it. But I’m just happy the work week is nearly over.
Which brings us to the Friday Five: the top five (IMHO) stories of the week related to queer people, top five sci fi/fantasy stories, top five science stories, the bottom five stories related to the future of the nation ,and five videos (plus notable deaths and my blog posts).
(click to embiggen)It’s the final Friday in September, the month in which superior people are born. It is also the week of my second 29th birthday—and my husband served up an awesome cake on the day.
Other parts of the week have been less fun. Especially if one has been paying attention to the news and one cares about the rights and lives of women or queer people.
Which brings us to the Friday Five: the top five (IMHO) stories of the week related to queer people, the bottom five stories related to the future of the nation and five videos (plus my blog post).
Another in my series of posts recommending web comics that I think more people should read.
Nerd and Jock by Marko Raassina This is a silly webcomic about a Nerd and Jock who are good friends and like to have fun together. Frequently the joke of the strip is to take a cliché about jocks and nerds and twist it in some way. It’s cute. I happen to really like cute and low-conflict stories sometimes. If you like this comic, consider supporting the artist on Patreon.
(click to embiggen)Assigned Male by Sophie Labelle is a cute story about a transgirl (we meet her at age 11) and goes from there. Some of the strips are more informational or editorial than pushing the narrative forward, but they are in the voice of the main character, so it’s fun. The art style is cute, and the story occasionally goes on fun tangents. I’ve been following it on Tumblr fro a while. The artist also has a Facebook page of the site, and is in the process of moving to a domain of her own (though currently it still doesn’t have the actual comic strips available). I mention this so you will not be put off by the words “old website” she’s added to the banner. I haven’t been able to locate a Patreon page for her. She has been talking about an upcoming book of the comics.
Comics I’ve previously recommended: Some of these have stopped publishing new episodes. Some have been on hiatus for a while. I’ve culled from the list those that seem to have gone away entirely.
Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu is the story of Eric “Bitty” Bittle, a former junior figure skating champion from a southern state who is attending fictitious Samwell College in Massachusetts, where he plays on the men’s hockey team. Bitty is the smallest guy on the team, and in the early comics is dealing with a phobia of being body-checked in the games. He’s an enthusiastic baker, and a die hard Beyoncé fan.
“Manic Pixie Nightmare Girls” by Jessica Udischas is a hilarious web comic that tells of the adventures of Jesska Nightmare, a trans woman trying to make her way in our transphobic world. The comics are funny, insightful, and adorably drawn. The sheer cuteness of the drawing style is a rather sharp contrast to the sometimes weighty topics the comic covers, and I think makes it a little easier to keep from getting bummed out to contemplate that the strips aren’t exaggerations. If you like the strip, consider supporting the artist through her patreon.
Life of Bria by Sabrina Symington is a transgender themed comic that ranges from commentary to slice of life jokes and everything in between. Even when commenting on very serious stuff it remains funny—sharp, but funny. It’s one of the comics that I would see being reblogged on tumblr and lot and I’d think, “I ought to track down the artist so I can read more of these.” And I finally did. And they’re great! If you like Symington’s work, you can sponsor her on Patreon and she has a graphic novel for sale.
Stereophonic by C.J.P.“Stereophonic” by C.J.P. is a “queer historical drama that follows the lives of two young men living in 1960s London.” It’s a very sweet and slow-build story, with good art and an interesting supporting cast. But I want to warn you that the story comes to a hiatus just as a couple of the subplots are getting very interesting. The artist had a serious health issue which was complicated by family problems, but has since started posting updates to his blog and Patreon page, assuring us that the story will resume soon. If you like the 300+ pages published thus far and would like to support the artist, C.J. has a Patreon page, plus t-shirts and other merchandise available at his store.
The Young Protectors: Engaging the Enemy by Alex Wolfson begins when a young, closeted teen-age superhero who has just snuck into a gay bar for the first time is seen exiting said bar by a not-so-young, very experienced, very powerful, super-villain. Trouble, of course, ensues.
“Deer Me,” by Sheryl Schopfer tells the tales from the lives of three friends (and former roommates) who couldn’t be more dissimilar while being surprisingly compatible. If you enjoy Deer Me, you can support the artist by going to her Patreon Page!
Madeline McGrane is a cartoonist and illustrator who is from Wisconsin and lives in Minneapolis. She posts vampire-themed comics and other art on her tumblr blog. My favorites are the vampire comics about three child vampires. They’re just silly. Her black and white comics are minimalist and really work well with her style of humor. Her color work is a bit more complex. If you like her work and want to support her, she has a ko-fi.
The Junior Science Power Hour by Abby Howard. is frequently autobiographical take on the artist’s journey to creating the crazy strip about science, science nerds, why girls are just as good at being science nerds as boys, and so much more. It will definitely appeal to dinosaur nerds, anyone who has ever been enthusiastic about any science topic, and especially to people who has ever felt like a square peg being forced into round holes by society.
Scurry by Mac Smith is the story of a colony of mice trying to survive a long, strange winter in a world where humans have mysteriously vanished, and food is becoming ever more scarce.
And I love this impish girl thief with a tail and her reluctant undead sorcerer/bodyguard: “Unsounded,” by Ashley Cope.
Fowl Language by Brian Gordon is a fun strip about parenting, tech, science, and other geeky things. The strips are funny, and he also has a bonus panel link to click on under the day’s strip.
The Last Halloween by Abby Howard is the creepy story of 10-year-old Mona who is reluctantly drafted to save the world on Halloween night. This is by the same artist who does the Junior Science Power Hour. She created this strip as her pitch in the final round of Penny Arcade’s Strip Search, which was a reality game show where web cartoonists competed for a cash prize and other assistance to get their strip launched. Though Abby didn’t win, she started writing the strip anyway. If you like the comic, you can support Abby in a couple of ways: she has some cool stuff related to both of her strips in her store, and she also has a Patreon.
Last Kiss® by John Lustig Mr. Lustig bought the publishing rights to a romance comic book series from the 50’s and 60’s, and started rewriting the stories for fun. The redrawn and re-dialogued panels (which take irreverent shots at gender and sexuality issues, among other things) are syndicated, and available on a bunch of merchandise.
“Champion of Katara” by Chuck Melville tells the tale of a the greatest sorcerer of Katara, Flagstaff (Flagstaff’s foster sister may disagree…), and his adventures in a humorous sword & sorcery world. If you enjoy the adventures of Flagstaff, you might also enjoy another awesome fantasy series set in the same universe (and starring the aforementioned foster sister): and Felicia, Sorceress of Katara, or Chuck’s weekly gag strip, Mr. Cow, which was on a hiatus for a while but is now back. If you like Mr. Cow, Felicia, or Flagstaff (the hero of Champions of Katara) you can support the artist by going to his Patreon Page. Also, can I interest you in a Mr. Cow Mug?
Private I, by Emily Willis and Ann Uland is a comic set in 1942 Pittsburgh in which queer gumshoe Howard Graves is trying to sort out a collection of bewildering clues and infuriating eccentric suspects. It’s an interesting take on a lot of noir tropes. It handles the queer elements well—being outed or caught by the wrong people can spell the end of not just one’s career, but possibly life–without being all grim-dark. If you like the comic and want to support the creators, check out their Ko-fi.
The Comics of Shan Murphy As far as I can tell, Shannon Murphy doesn’t post a regular comic on the web. But among the categories of illustration on her site are comics. Her art styles (multiple) are really expressive. And she just writes really good stuff. If you like her work, considered leaving a tip at her ko-fi page.
The Young Protectors: Legendary by Alex Woolfson. This is just a new story arc for the Young Protectors comic recommended above. However, Alex is changing up the artists he’s working with in this arc, and the focus is decidedly different. This new arc begins by exploring the changed relationship between our protagonist, Kyle (aka Red Hot) and one of his teammates, Spooky Jones. The story is NSFW, although unless you are a patron of Alex’s Patreon, you see a lot less of the explicit artwork. It isn’t porn, per se, and it isn’t a romance. If you check out the page, you’ll see that Alex has written several other comics, some of which are available to purchase in hard copy. And, as I mentioned, he’s got a Patreon account.
If you want to read a nice, long graphic-novel style story which recently published its conclusion, check-out the not quite accurately named, The Less Than Epic Adventures of T.J. and Amal by E.K. Weaver. I say inaccurate because I found their story quite epic (not to mention engaging, moving, surprising, fulfilling… I could go on). Some sections of the tale are Not Safe For Work, as they say, though she marks them clearly. The complete graphic novels are available for sale in both ebook and paper versions, by the way.
Note: Usually when I do one of these posts, I include the slightly shorter reviews of all the comics I’ve recommended previously. I do periodically go through those lists and remove comics that have vanished entirely. For now, I’m leaving in those that have stopped publishing new episodes but still have a web site.
But the list is getting awfully long, and I’m not sure how useful the older links are. I’m still thinking about it. Feel free to comment if you have strong thoughts on the topic.
It’s the second Friday in September, the month in which superior people are born. I must point out that while it is only the second Friday, tomorrow is the third Saturday, so in some ways it is later than you think.
It has been a very busy and interesting week. Not just in my personal life. I had a very hard time keeping this week’s selection as short as it is.
Which brings us to the Friday Five: the top five (IMHO) science fiction stories of the week, the top five science stories, five stories about horrible things, five videos, and notable obituaries (plus my blog posts—five of them this week, which is the first time in a while).
I meant to do another simple Friday Five this week, just five stories and no more. But then things happened. A lot of things, and the Constitutional crises are just piling up. There was also a lot of interesting science news and other cool stories, so there are several sets of five links below.
Which brings us to the Friday Five: the top five (IMHO) stories of the week, the top five science stories, five stories about things falling apart, five stories about people behaving badly, five videos, and notable obituaries (plus my blog posts).
I was very tempted, since this is a fifth Friday, to do five sets of five types of stories. Except that the last several weeks I’ve been doing between two and four sets of five links, which is really stretching the concept. It’s also anti-thetical to the reason I switched from calling my weekly round up “Friday Links” and starting calling it “Friday Five.” Yes, I have bookmarked a bunch of news stories this week, but making myself narrow it down to only five stories and five videos means I spend a lot less time prepping this post than I used to.
Which brings us to the Friday Five: the top five (IMHO) stories of the week, the top five videos, notable obituaries (plus my blog posts).
ETA: The original post included an image (with credit to the cartoonist), that had been shared elsewhere with credit. I didn’t research closely enough to realize that the people who have been sharing the cartoon had altered the text. So I changed the image accompanying this post.
(click to embiggen)It’s Friday! August is nearly over. Wow!
The evil smoke came back. I spent much of the week wearing a breathing mask when I was outside. And the temperature was higher than usual most of the week, again. We’re supposed to get rain this weekend. I suspect it won’t be enough to take out the wild fires. Fortunately, we have more masks, now. So if the smoke comes back we’ll be ready. And if it doesn’t, we’ll be ready for next year.
Which brings us to the Friday Five: the top five (IMHO) science stories of the week, five sci fi stories, five other stories, five queer stories, and the top five videos (plus my blog posts).
The Price of an Evangelical Christian Soul. “Donald Trump brought Evangelicals to a high mountain overlooking America and told them it could all be theirs—and all it would cost them is their souls. In the dizzying storm of a Presidential campaign and all that was laid out before them, this seemed like a bargain.”
Cher – SOS [Official HD Audio] (I pre-ordered the album, so so far I’ve been getting the singles about an hour before the official audio is released on YouTube…):
Font Folly 