There’s always a final issue in comics — it’s pretty much a narrative guarantee (the full CAPS title is also a guarantee) and this is the last in the Sequential Wednesdays series. I’m not “dying” or falling into the 4th dimension with my trusty cyber-pooch in tow — just heading off to kingdoms unknown. While attending New York Comic-Con, I was able to grab a quick word with some folks at Multiversity Comics and they asked me to pitch them a column. I did just that, to apparent success, so that’s where I’ll be devoting my time. The column will be a bi-weekly series of posts called Cross-Canon about the climate of the comics-creation world, often littered with interviews.
I’ve never properly experienced the final issue of a comic series — I either started reading when a series was already complete or had stopped reading before the ending occurred — but finales in comics have always been a bizarre construct. Since most superhero works are utilizing wildly popular properties — they’re not going to really die, but that doesn’t necessarily distance an ending from being meaningful — there’s always the promise of more new and different tales weaved around a similar incarnations of this or that character. Obviously, in the comics genre not everything is capes and not everyone is narratively immortal — it’s, again, the possibility of mortality that makes final issues so fascinating. It’s when the pulp rings clearest and you see the clash of narrative intent and probable outcome described in portent text above the cover art. The only series I’m actively reading that I know will be ending soon after a very long run is Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham’s Fables, set to complete on issue #150 in early 2015 — we’ll see how that affects my perspective. I’m looking forward to it, but very apprehensive.
Amazing Stories has been quite an experience for me. I never considered the idea that I could write a successful series of posts about comics (despite how much I talked about them in real life) — but, hey, apparently it’s something I can do. Super thanks to Morgana for showing me this space and introducing me to the possibility of online blogging platforms. Due to my association with Amazing Stories I had a platform to expound on some awesome topics and the ability to interview some rad folks — I’m quite thankful for it. A lot has come out of something I mostly used as a way to keep track of what books I was excited to pick up week to week, so that’s something and a half.
I’ll still be around, I’m planning a monthly column on film and media culture called “Title Bump,” as that’s a subject I won’t be able to properly address at Multiversity.
The first post for my Cross-Canon column went up on Monday: an interview with Faith Erin Hicks about her new trilogy, The Nameless City.
You can contact me via email or on twitter.
See You Space Cowboy,
Zach
Pulls
My pulls for 11/20 are:
- Harley Quinn #0 by Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Conner & Darwyn Cooke
- Wonder Woman #25 by Brian Azzarello & Goran Sudzuka
- Fables #135 by Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham & Russel Braun
- The Wake #5 by Scott Snyder & Sean Murphy
- Samurai Jack #2 by Jim Zub & Andy Suriano
- Sex Criminals #3 by Matt Fraction & Chip Zdarsky
- Bravest Warriors #14 by Joey Comeau & Mike Holmes
I’m looking forward to your new column, both here and at Multiversity. Congratulations again, Zach. <3