To the Empire's ultimate weapon...
Chapter 9. Things that go BOOM in the night... and the early morning...
Watching things blow up!
My cat!
Stuff I did write- Black Mask goes on vacation!
Stuff worth supporting- Silver Sprocket!
It was the 4th of July this weekend. While that may not mean a lot to some of you, to me it means I get to sit on my roof and watch my neighborhood almost blow itself up. In the past it has been a pretty raucous event. The home fireworks community of Harlem are nothing if not thorough. But then last year, in the height of the NYC lockdown, the 4th of July fireworks became something else entirely. Just pure unadulterated chaos as every block was launching explosive projectiles of all types into the night sky at all hours. Last year I set up a projector on my roof and watched Overlord while huge fireworks went off shockingly close to me. It was great.
This year it was much more subdued, which is definitely a good thing because of pets and people who have a hard time with loud noises. But it was still pretty chaotic. I tried to take some good pics but, it turns out, it’s really hard to take good pictures of fireworks. Especially if you are a bad photographer, such as myself. I think this is the best I got.
And then a NYPD helicopter showed up and hovered over my house for 45 minutes like some kind of bummer version of Close Encounters. They didn’t stop the fireworks but they sure were no fun. Anyway, I hope all you Americans had a nice long weekend if you got one. And for any foreigners who read this… umm… Sorry we act like this.
With my ears still ringing, I figured I’d share this thing I fell in love with the other day. An English company called C.R. Brock and Company was buying fireworks from Japanese manufacturers in the 1910’s and 20’s. To show the public what they were offering they requested the Japanese manufacturers make these amazing illustrations to be placed in catalogs. Such gorgeous design work in each illustration.
Decided to cash some old paychecks I had laying around so that my darling and very real cat Shutterstock could buy himself a new pressure cooker. But look what he did when I gave him the money!
Fucking moron.
Out this week is the third chapter of THE JOKER PRESENTS: A PUZZLEBOX. Why didn’t I tell you this was coming out last week? Because I forgot. But have no fear, because it won’t sell out. Why not? Because it doesn’t exist! Well, not physically at least. The book is available right here from Comixology or right here from the DC UNIVERSE INFINITE App (where it comes with a bonus 6 page story)!
I’m really excited about this one. Myself and my series partners Jesús Merino & Ulises Arreola are joined by the amazing Keron Grant for a story about Black Mask and a very special guest. I could tell you what the chapter is about or I could show you a few pages and let you realize how amazing Keron is yourself. And look at that sweet Chip Zdarsky cover. Love that guy.
And remember, this will be in comic shops starting in August. Well not this. Each issue will feature 2 chapters, so this being chapter 3 will be in issue 2. Confused? Good. Tell your local comic shop.
Speaking of local comic shops, very much not local to me comic shop SILVER SPROCKET was recently robbed. If you aren’t familiar they are a great comic shop / indie publisher in San Francisco. They publish a lot of amazing comics by folks I am a big fan of like Liz Suburbia, Ben Passmore, Jenn Woodall, Liz Prince, and others. But their online shop also carries a ton of great indie stuff. To help them make up for the stuff that was destroyed and stolen in the robbery you should consider placing an order from them here.
That’s it for me again. Have a great rest of your week. Take time to read some comics.
Stay safe. Take care of each other.
-Matthew Rosenberg
NYC 7/7/21