SHQ Crew Corner - August 2024

Name: Patrick (he/they)
Been With SHQ Since: 2019

It is I, Patrick. Wearing my Something is Killing the Children tee and holding a copy of Spectregraph issue 2.

📚: Now that the Krakoan era has ended in the X comics world, there is only one author whose comics I read as soon as they release, James Tynion IV. If you told me five years ago I would be into horror comics I wouldn't have believed you, but I'm obsessed. Something Is Killing The Children is absolutely my favorite ongoing series. SHQ gets the new issues in stock, but we try to keep all 7 of the trade paperbacks around because it's such a compelling series. Two hardcover collections are also available, and if you are as much of a SIKTC freak as I am, there are some fancy slipcase versions of these as well.

If monster hunting isn't your jam, I highly recommend Spectregraph. Christian Ward's prismatic fever dream art style is a perfect match for Tynion's eerie sensibilities. Angry cultists who keep to the shadows, a stressed out mother, and a clockwork house with plenty of haunting secrets, this series is the best that DSTLRY has to offer. Two issues are available so far and the final issue is out in September.

A Nice house by the Sea.

The Nice House by the Sea: I didn't intend for this to be a Tynion love fest, but you need to know that The Nice House By the Sea is finally here. If you have already read The Nice House on the Lake you have been eagerly awaiting the next series and we have plenty of copies of issue #1, in my opinion it's going to be even better than the first series. If you don't know what I'm talking about, stop by and pick up The Nice House on the Lake as soon as possible, available as two paperbacks or collected in a single hardcover.

The Concierge at Hokkyoku Department Store banner.

The Concierge at Hokkyoku Department Store: Newly available in English, this book is certain to charm. Akino starts a new job at a large department store and has to deal with quite a few strange requests from guests who just so happen to be anthropomorphic animals. Work stress has never been so cute. Sketchy volume 3 was also just releasaed, Lords of Dogtown meets Skate Kitchen in the idyllic Japanese countryside.

Still from I Saw The TV Glow (2024), there is still time.

🎞️: I’m kind of bad at movies. Back in the Blockbuster days I was there every weekend with my best friend, trying out everything. However as an adult movies have mostly been an after thought. Recently I’ve been making a concerted effort to try more movies and it seems to be going well. I tend to enjoy smaller character studies than whatever the big action movie everyone is talking about this year (unless everyone is talking about Alien: Romulus because I can’t wait to hit the theater for that).

One film I saw recently is still sticking with me, I Saw The TV Glow was a game changer. A full on love letter to David Lynch and 90s Nickelodeon, was was entranced during the film and have been thinking about it constantly for the last two months. Some recent favorites have been Sometimes I Think About Dying (Daisy Ridley has suicidal ideation working at a soul sucking office job) and Mother, Couch (Ewan McGregor has an existential crisis when his mother sits down on a couch at a quirky furniture store and refuses to get up).

Fever Ray takes a nap on a photocopier.

🎶: While probably not a surprise, I like the weirdo stuff. The Knife is far and away my favorite band (and by extension Fever Ray). I was lucky enough to see The Knife before they stopped making music and I’ve gone to see Fever Ray twice. I hope to see them many more times! Typically I listen to a lot of electronic music, with my top artist in that sphere being Boards of Canada. I tend to love the downtrodden so Tomorrow’s Harvest is my top album by BoC, but I listen to them all pretty frequently.

The cast of Futurama waves hello.

📺: Futurama has been my favorite cartoon since it originally started releasing when I was in high school. It's been a rollercoaster ride with repeated cancellations, but it's worth sticking around for. the new episodes have been just as funny and relevant as they ever were. While I can keep up with television a little bit better than I can with movies, I still am a bit behind because I don't really binge TV. I'm finally finishing the previous season of What We Do In the Shadows, and I can't stop laughing. Just watched the John Slattery guest episode and I genuinely can't get over how clever this show is. While I'm sad that the new season is going to be the last, I'm happy it's going out on top.

And since I am on a Tynion kick, I felt I should mention that Something Is Killing The Children is in the process of being adapted for Netflix. I know comic book adaptations can be a mixed bag but the show runners are the perfect people for this project. Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese really know how to create a world full of fascinating characters with lots of heavy emotions. Their first Netflix show DARK has been one of the only shows I have felt compelled to binge in the last 10 years. Not for the faint of heart (you have been warned), this show seems to start off like a Twin Peaks knockoff with the discovery of a child's body in the woods, but very quickly diverges into something totally different and incredibly sinister. Plus it has a top notch soundtrack, but maybe I'm biased because there is a Fever Ray song in season one. Happy viewing, you got this.

It's all happening. Something is Killing the Children title page for the script of episode 2 of the forthcoming Netflix series. "It was a project that won us over in the title. As you can see from the things we do, we love to kill children (laughs)."

SHQ Crew Corner - July 2024

Name: Chris (he/him)
Been With SHQ Since: 2018

Whatcha Reading?: One can't really start to explain the landscape of modern comics without mentioning Josh Pettinger's Tedward. Tracy Island is the final chapter for our favorite old-fashioned guy... or is it? Josh ain't gonna do you dirty like Lindelof did with Lost, ALL YOUR TEDWARD QUESTIONS WILL BE ANSWERED.

Helen of Wyndhorn is a floppy I’ve dug recently. Bilquis Evely is bonkers and one day I hope to properly pronounce her name. Manga-wise, Matsumoto's Tokyo These Days is a prime example of a master at work, and Yamada Murasaki's Second Hand Love is a Hamaguchi film waiting to be made. And, I'm still hanging onto Manuel Fior's Hypericum as my favorite graphic novel of the year. Good luck trying to knock that one off, other comics! 

Eyeball Candy: I know every Pat, Art and Tashi are going choo choo for the churro boys of Challengers, but what if we rewound to a few months earlier when Josh O'Connor was in La Chimera? I've been obsessed with filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher lately. Happy As Lazzaro absolutely took my asthmatic breath away and Il Pupille is a sweet lil short for the rascals in your life.

Back in January, subscriber Kyle W. introduced me to his movie "assignment" for the year which was to watch a film every week for every letter of the alphabet sequentially. For the year, you go through the alphabet twice exactly. The second cycle just started, and it's not too late to get on in it. A gaggle of SHQ buddies are already playing. Pop into the shop to let me know what you've been watching or find me on letterboxd and trash all my reviews. (Last week I watched Oshii's Angel's Egg, this week I watched Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F *shrug*)

Tunes: I'm old and I need people to tell me what new shit to listen to these days, but I have been enjoying the new Jessica Pratt album Here In The Pitch in the mornings and L'Imperatrice's Pulsar at night. All my music choices depend on time of day and weather.

As an aside, I'm making it a point to try to affect my final results for Spotify Wrapped this year. But as much as I try to force listen "cool" things, my Wrapped will inevitably be YMO and The Beach Boys AGAIN. 

TV Shows: I gotta admit House of the Dragon is stupid good, but there's no TV thing that eats into my life like Taskmaster UK. This has been a SHQ wide epidemic for a few years and this is an official call to all TM heads out there to chat us up (except for Dave, natch). I'm currently in the 6th series (of 17!!!) of my rewatch. We've seen a lot of different famous dudes come through the shop over the years but I've never flipped more than when Nish Kumar (Series 5) and Ed Gamble (Series 9) came into the OG SHQ. Jamali Maddix (Series 11) popped into Atwater not long ago as well. Lucy Beaumont, if you are reading this, please stop into TSHQ on a Friday sometime. 

SHQ Crew Corner - June 2024

Name: Jules (he/they)
Been With SHQ Since: 2011

Whatcha Reading?: I recently read both Barda and Bunt! by Ngozi Ukazu, creator of the delightful series Check, Please! All three are fantastic YA choices. For the new ones, Barda is a Big Barda origin story, great for fans of sci-fi/fantasy or superhero books. Bunt! is the story of a young woman trying to secure a scholarship to the art school of her dreams by starting a school softball team full of lovable misfits (great art by Mad Rupert).
For single issues, Ultimate Spider-Man has been super fun, as well as Ain’t No Grave, Uncanny Valley, The Boy Wonder, and Spectrograph.

Fresh Tunes: The absolute queen Tierra Whack has been around lately to promote her new album World Wide Whack, follow up to the incredible Whack World from 2018. If you haven’t seen the Whack World music video, do it now now now (or after you watch the Tiny Desk Concert above.)

Pride Month Movie Rec: I somehow had never seen Bound, which now seems silly to me because HOLY MOLY GINA GERSHOOOOOOOON IN THAT LEATHER JACKET. As a queer person, it was nice to see a movie where the characters’ gayness isn’t really a plot point? All genders in this movie could be swapped and it would still work. Plus, fun to watch Wachowski Sisters movies now through a post-transition lens.

Where Should I Eat?: As a classic diner fanatic, will usually recommend an old school spot when I can. Langer’s is the best deli left in Los Angeles. Grab a #19, add fries, you’re welcome for changing your life.

Latest Binge Watch: The Great Pottery Throw Down. Visual Xanax. British accents! A male judge who cries freely when overwhelmed by the beauty of pottery! Supportive yet competitive cast mates! Learn how toilets are made! It’s really got it all.