#Enigma (1970)

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

𝔈𝔫𝔦𝔤𝔪𝔞 (յգԴօ) 𝔞𝔯𝔱 𝔟𝔶 𝔇𝔞𝔳𝔦𝔡 𝔄. ℌ𝔞𝔯𝔡𝔶

[misterdtour]

Micronauts #36, “This Battlefield Earth!”

To celebrate the news of classic #Marvel #Micronauts #comics getting reprinted in 2024, I'm looking back at one of my favorite Micronauts comics.

Rom got the spotlight last week, now the Micronauts get their turn. Continue reading Untitled

[anokha-swad]

Space Debris-Gaspra 951 - YouTube

[goryhorroor]

What are some underrated horror films? I have watched all the popular ones and need more! Thanks!

mentally prepare yourself because im ready to give a gumbo list (this has been sitting in my inbox because i had to ask all my friends and this is the list we came up with):

curse of the demon (1957) the serpent and the rainbow (1988) paranoiac (1963) the old dark house (1932) countess dracula (1971) golem (1920) haxan (1968) island of lost souls (1932) mad love (1935) mill of the stone women (1960) the walking dead (1936) the ghoul (1933) tourist trap (1979) the seventh victim (1943) ganja & hess (1973) dead of night (1945) a bay of blood (1971) let's scare jessica to death (1971) alice sweet alice (1976) the deadly spawn (1983) the brain that wouldn't die (1962) all about evil (2010) black roses (1988) the baby (1973) parents (1989) a blade in the dark (1983) blood lake (1987) solo survivor (1984) lemora: a child's tale of supernatural (1973) eyes of fire (1983) epitaph (2007) nightmare city (1980) slugs (1988) death smiles on a murderer (1973) intruder (1989) short night of glass dolls (1971) the children (2008) alone in the dark (1982) end of the line (2007) the queen of spades (1949) the housemaid (1960) tormented (1960) captain clegg (1962) the long hair of death (1964) dark age (1987) the crawling eye (1958) the kindred (1987) the gorgon (1964) wicked city (1987) baba yaga (1973) 976-evil (1988) bliss (2019) decoder (1984) amer (2009) the visitor (1979) day of the animals (1977) leptirica (1973) planet of the vampires (1965) lips of blood (1975) berberian sound studio (2012) a wounded fawn (2022) matango (1963) the mansion of madness (1973) the killing kind (1973) symptoms (1974) morgiana (1972) whispering corridors (1998) dead end (2003) infested (2023) (this just came out but im adding it) triangle (2009) the premonition (1976) you'll like my mother (1972) the mafu cage (1978) white of the eye (1987) mister designer (1987) alison's birthday (1981) the suckling (1990) graveyard shift (1987) messiah of evil (1987) out of the dark (1988) seven footprints to satan (1929) burn witch burn (1962) the damned (1962) pin (1988) horrors of malformed men (1969) mr vampire (1985) the vampire doll (1970) contracted (2013) impetigore (2019) eyeball (1975) malatestas carnival of blood (1973) the witch who came from the sea (1976) i drink your blood (1970) nothing underneath (1985) sauna (2008) seance (2000) come true (2020) the last winter (2006) night tide (1961) the brain (1988) dementia (1955) don't go to sleep (1982) otogirisou (2001) reincarnation (2005) mutant (1984) spookies (1986) shock waves (1977) bloody hell (2020) the den (2013) wer (2013) olivia (1983) enigma (1987) graverobbers (1988) manhattan baby (1982) evil in the woods (1986) death bed: the bed that eats (1977) cathy's curse (1977) creatures from the abyss (1994) the dorm that dripped blood (1982) the witching (1993) madman (1981) vampire's embrace (1991) blood beat (1983) the alien factor (1978) savage weekend (1979) blood sisters (1987) deadly love (1987) playroom (1990) die screaming marianne (1971) pledge night (1990) night train to terror (1985) the devonsville terror (1983) ghostkeeper (1981) special effects (1984) blood feast (163) the child (1977) godmonster of indian flats (1973) blood rage (1980) the unborn (1991) screamtime (1983) the outing (1987) the being (1983) silent madness (1984) lurkers (1988) forver evil (1987) squirm (1976) death screams (1982) jack-o (1995) haunts (1976) a night to dismember (1983) creaturealm: demons wake (1998) the curse (1987) daddy's deadly darling (1973) nightwing (1979) the laughing dead (1989) the severed arm (1973) the orphan (1979) not like us (1995) prime evil (1988) the monstrosity (1987) dark ride (2006) antibirth (2016) iced (1988) the soultangler (1987) twisted nightmare (1987) puffball (2007) biohazard (1985) cameron's closet (1988) beast from haunted cave (1959) the she-creature (1956)

[garadinervi]

Lillian F. Schwartz, with Kenneth C. Knowlton, Enigma Tests, (screen print), 1970 [Lillian F. Schwartz & Laurens R. Schwartz Collection, Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn, MI. © Lillian F. Schwartz, Kenneth C. Knowlton]

[mwseo]

WERNER HERZOG (1968 - 2019) [subtitulos]

1968 Signs of Life

1970 Even Dwarfs Started Small

1972 Aguirre, the Wrath of God

1974 The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser

1976 Heart of Glass

1977 Stroszek

1979 Nosferatu the Vampyre

1979 Woyzeck

1982 Fitzcarraldo

1984 Where the Green Ants Dream

1987 Cobra Verde

1991 Scream of Stone

200 1 Invincible

2005 The Wild Blue Yonder

2006 Rescue Dawn

2009 Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

2009 My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done

2015 Queen of the Desert

2016 Salt and Fire

2019 Family Romance, LLC

[fashionbooksmilano]

Exhibit A Guy Bourdin

Samuel Bourdin- Fernando Delgado

Foreword by Luc Sante, Essay by Michel Guerrrin

Bulfinch,/Little Brown Publ., Boston NY London 2001, 208 pages, 38x29cm, 81 four col. & 19 duotone phot., ISBN 0-812-266 9 X

euro 150,00

email if you want to buy booksinprogressmilano@yahoo.it

Guy Bourdin's surreal and erotic imagery filled pages of international magazines throughout the 1970s. Within the medium of fashion photography, he gave shape to a dark and intriguing vision that exerted lasting influence on the international style scene and altered the contemporary aesthetic. Bourdin rarely allowed his work to appear outside the pages of the magazines, and there has never been a book published devoted to his remarkable legacy. He remained an enigma, shunning publicity and becoming reclusive. After his death the French government seized all his work for non-payment of taxes and it was thought a book would be impossible. However, published under the guidance of Bourdin's son, Samuel Bourdin (who put his affairs in order and enabled publication) and creative director Fernando Delgado, Exhibit A presents for the first time a comprehensive look at the range and depth of Bourdin's photographic work, from the mid-1950s until his death in 1991. The images herein represent the highlights of his career - including his work for Vogue Paris and his revolutionary advertising campaign for Charles Jourdan shoes. Bourdin is featured and canonized in every history of commercial photography for a style described by one historian as the 'look of an era, glamorous, hard-edged with implied narratives and strong, erotic undercurrents'. Vogue became a playground for him, the magazine's double-page spread allowing him to indulge his fantasies. He constructed narratives and small scenarios; inventive, shocking and erotic they only served to nurture his own macabre and dangerous persona. A biographical essay by Michel Guerrin, photography critic for Le Monde, will provide a long-overdue look at Bourdin's career. Writer Luc Sante (author of American Photography 1890-1965 and New York Noir) contributes a foreword. Exhibit A: Guy Bourdin is a landmark volume; these compelling images are as provocative today as they were over two decades ago, and they have left an indisputable mark upon contemporary photography and the visual arts.

19/10/24

[justforbooks]

Paul Auster, American author of The New York Trilogy, dies aged 77

The writer of The New York Trilogy, Leviathan and 4 3 2 1 – known for his stylised postmodernist fiction – has died from complications of lung cancer

Paul Auster, the author of 34 books including the acclaimed New York Trilogy, has died aged 77.

The author died on Tuesday due to complications from lung cancer, his friend and fellow author Jacki Lyden confirmed to the Guardian.

Auster became known for his “highly stylised, quirkily riddlesome postmodernist fiction in which narrators are rarely other than unreliable and the bedrock of plot is continually shifting,” the novelist Joyce Carol Oates wrote in 2010.

His stories often play with themes of coincidence, chance and fate. Many of his protagonists are writers themselves, and his body of work is self-referential, with characters from early novels appearing again in later ones.

“Auster has established one of the most distinctive niches in contemporary literature,” wrote critic Michael Dirda in 2008. “His narrative voice is as hypnotic as that of the Ancient Mariner. Start one of his books and by page two you cannot choose but hear.”

The author was born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1947. According to Auster, his writing life began at the age of eight when he missed out on getting an autograph from his baseball hero, Willie Mays, because neither he nor his parents had carried a pencil to the game. From then on, he took a pencil everywhere. “If there’s a pencil in your pocket, there’s a good chance that one day you’ll feel tempted to start using it,” he wrote in a 1995 essay.

While hiking during a summer camp aged 14, Auster witnessed a boy inches away from him getting struck by lightning and dying instantly – an event that he said “absolutely changed” his life and that he thought about “every day”. Chance, “understandably, became a recurring theme in his fiction,” wrote the critic Laura Miller in 2017. A similar incident occurs in Auster’s 2017 Booker-shortlisted novel 4 3 2 1: one of the book’s four versions of protagonist Archie Ferguson runs under a tree at a summer camp and is killed by a falling branch when lightning strikes.

Auster studied at Columbia University before moving to Paris in the early 1970s, where he worked a variety of jobs, including translation, and lived with his “on-again off-again” girlfriend, the writer Lydia Davis, whom he had met while at college. In 1974, they returned to the US and married. In 1977, the couple had a son, Daniel, but separated shortly afterwards.

In January 1979, Auster’s father, Samuel, died, and the event became the seed for the writer’s first memoir, The Invention of Solitude, published in 1982. In it, Auster revealed that his paternal grandfather was shot and killed by his grandmother, who was acquitted on grounds of insanity. “A boy cannot live through this kind of thing without being affected by it as a man,” Auster wrote in reference to his father, with whom he described himself having an “un-movable relationship, cut off from each other on opposite sides of a wall”.

Auster’s breakthrough came with the 1985 publication of City of Glass, the first novel in his New York trilogy. While the books are ostensibly mystery stories, Auster wielded the form to ask existential questions about identity. “The more [Auster’s detectives] stalk their eccentric quarry, the more they seem actually to be stalking the Big Questions – the implications of authorship, the enigmas of epistemology, the veils and masks of language,” wrote the critic and screenwriter Stephen Schiff in 1987.

Auster published regularly throughout the 80s, 90s and 00s, writing more than a dozen novels including Moon Palace (1989), The Music of Chance (1990), The Book of Illusions (2002) and Oracle Night (2003). He also became involved in film, writing the screenplay for Smoke, directed by Wayne Wang, for which he won the Independent Spirit award for best first screenplay in 1995.

In 1981, Auster met the writer Siri Hustvedt and they married the following year. In 1987 they had a daughter, Sophie, who became a singer and actor. Auster’s 1992 novel Leviathan, about a man who accidentally blows himself up, features a character called Iris Vegan, who is the heroine of Hustvedt’s first novel, The Blindfold.

Auster was better known in Europe than in his native United States: “Merely a bestselling author in these parts,” read a 2007 New York magazine article, “Auster is a rock star in Paris.” In 2006, he was awarded Spain’s Prince of Asturias prize for literature, and in 1993 he was given the Prix Médicis Étranger for Leviathan. He was also a Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

In April 2022, Auster and Davis’s son, Daniel, died from a drug overdose. In March 2023, Hustvedt revealed that Auster was being treated for cancer after having been diagnosed the previous December. His final novel, Baumgartner, about a widowed septuagenarian writer, was published in October.

Auster is survived by Hustvedt, their daughter Sophie Auster, his sister Janet Auster, and a grandson.

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[hypnotisedfireflies]

Interstellar Overdrive

A Tess x Joel bodyguard/boss AU set in the 1970s whew

His fingertips brushed through the curtain of hair hanging to her waist. Dressing like a goddamn hippie with motivations that were resolutely square. A capitalist muckety-muck playing dress-ups with the beautiful people. Tess had some goddamn nerve and he wanted every last piece of her, Duke’s warnings be damned.

Because Duke was right – he’d never met anyone like her before. And maybe by getting a little closer he could unravel the enigma, because he’d meant what he’d told Duke – one woman was, essentially, the same as another. There were a finite number of parts people could play. And she was just playing one of them, concealing it a little better than most.

Tess whispered again in his ear: “You answer to me, now.”

Chapter One now on AO3! HNY!

[apolesen]

Inspiration for anyone writing fic about Garak, Cardassia & the Obsidian Order!

Please feel free to add your own suggestions in reblogs, tags and replies!

Cambridge Spies (2003) Mini-series about the Cambridge Five, a cell of Soviet agents in Britain. It starts in the 30s and goes all the way up to the 50s, and explores themes of loyalty, queerness and friendship. At the centre of it all is the conflicts between the characters’ values, what they are asked to do and the lives they want to live. 

Enigma by Robert Harris (1995) Novel. Two codebreakers solve a mystery at Bletchley Park, with far-reaching implications. A really atmospheric book with really interesting characters, including some really subtle and neat queer stuff. (There is a film adaptation, but I don't think anywhere near as good as the novel.)

The Hour (2011-2012) TV show about a tenacious TV reporter who helps to launch a new kind of news show, but who then gets dragged into a spy mystery, turning him into an amateur detective. 1950s Britain, Cold War paranoia, class divisions and state censorship.

The Game (2014) Mini-series about a group of MI5 agents who are trying to find a mole in their group. A spy thriller where you’re not sure who you can trust, set in a very bleak 1970s Britain. 

[unknownworlds4]

As we near the end of pride month, I would like to celebrate a number of LGBTQ+ figures that may be unknown to some.

Alan Turing (1912 - 1954)

Alan Turing was British mathematician, cryptologist, and computer scientist who is credited as the founder of modern computer science and artificial intelligence. During World War II, he worked for Britain’s Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, leading the effort to decrypt German naval intelligence. Turing created a number of methods and devices that helped crack the German Enigma Code and allowed the allies to read German intelligence and allow allied ships to avoid U-Boat ‘Wolf-packs’. Turing’s work was pivotal in helping the allied victory in the war. Sadly, Turing was arrested in 1952 for homosexual acts and convicted of ‘gross indecency’. He accepted chemical castration as an alternative to prison. In 1954, was found dead from suicide by cyanide poisoning. It’s believed that Turing’s work helped shortened the war by several years.

Harvey Milk (1930 - 1978)

Harvey Milk was a politician and the first openly gay man to serve in public office in the United States. Milk moved to San Francisco in 1972 and took up residence in the Castro District, a neighborhood that was heavily populated by lesbians and gay men, and opened a camera store called Castro Camera. Milk became involved in politics because of civic issues and policies that drew his ire. Homosexuality was still heavily persecuted in the city at the time. In 1973, he announced his declared his candidacy for city supervisor. However, he faced a negative reception from the established gay political scene and lost the election. He lost his second election two years later. By this point, Milk had become a leading figure in the gay community, known as the “Mayor of Castro Street”, and had allies that included Mayor George Moscone, Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, and future Senator Diane Feinstein. Finally, in 1978, Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, inaugurated January 8. During his tenure he was involved in a number of issues including childcare, housing, and police reform. Sadly, he only served eleven months in office before he, along with George Moscone, was assassinated by former supervisor Dan White, who was against many of Milks policies. Today, Harvey Milk is considered an icon of San Francisco and a martyr of the LGBTQ movement.

Rose Cleveland (1846 - 1918)

Rose Cleveland was the sister of U.S. President Grover Cleveland and, as such, acted as First Lady of the United States from his inauguration until he married Frances Folsom in 1886. After leaving the White House she became a teacher, writer, and lecturer in Indiana. At age 44 she started a romantic relationship with wealthy widow Evangeline Marrs Simpson. They exchanged numerous letters, some with explicitly erotic imagery. The relationship cooled after six years after Simpson married Episcopal preacher Bishop Henry Whipple, despite Cleveland’s protests. After Whipple died in 1901, their relationship resumed. Cleveland and Evangeline moved to Bagni di Lucca, Italy in 1910, where they cared for Evangeline’s ill brother and settled there after his death. They lived there together until Cleveland died during the 1918 Influenza Pandemic. After her death, Evangeline wrote “the light has gone out for me…the loss of this noble and great soul is a blow that I shall not recover from”. Evangeline died in 1930 and is buried in the cemetery in Italy next to Rose. Many of their letters remain an important part of LGBTQ history.

Andy Warhol (1928 - 1987)

Andy Warhol was an American artist, director, and producer who was a leading figure in the pop art movement of the 1950’s to 1970’s. This movement focused on combining fine art with elements of popular culture, hence the name pop art. Warhol’s paintings focused on mass produced consumer goods and celebrity portraits. Warhol’s most famous pieces include Campbell’s Soup Cans (1962), Green Coca-Cola Bottles (1962), Marilyn Diptych (1962), and Mao Tse-Tung (1972). He also directed and produced experimental films including Empire (1964) and Chelsea Girls (1966). His New York City gallery, The Factory, was a popular gathering place for artists, musicians, actors, socialites, and celebrities. In 1966, he became the manager of rock band The Velvet Underground, which became the house band of The Factory. In 1969, he created Interview magazine, which features interviews with celebrities, artists, musicians, and other creatives. Warhol lived openly as a gay man before the gay liberation movement and had a series of male partners. He said his sexuality was a major influence of his work. Warhol died on February 22, 1987 due to complications from a gallbladder surgery. Andy Warhol is regarded as one of America’s most famous visual artists.

Gladys Bentley (1907 - 1960)

Gladys Bentley was an American blues singer, pianist, and entertainer during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920’s and 1930’s. Her career took off after performing at Harry Hansberry’s Clam House, a well known gay speakeasy in New York City. She gained popularity as a black, lesbian, cross dressing performer. She performed in men’s clothes and was backed up by a chorus of drag queens. She sang with a deep, growling voice, and took popular songs and added her own raunchy lyrics while flirting with women in the audience. Despite being openly lesbian in the beginning of her career, she later started wearing dresses and married during the more conservative 1950’s in order to adapt to the mindset of the time period. Bentley died of pneumonia in 1960 and is remembered as an icon of both the LGBTQ and Black communities.

Willem Arondeus (1894 - 1943)

Willem Arondeus was an openly gay Dutch artist and writer who fought for the Dutch resistance against Nazi occupation during World War II. Prior to the war, he wished to work as an artist, but he found very little popularity, so he turned to writing instead. After Germany occupied The Netherlands, Arondeus joined the Resistance Movement, publishing underground periodicals and forging documents. His most famous endeavor, was his involvement in the bombing of the Amsterdam Civil Registry in 1943. The Civil Registry was established following the German invasion and occupation of the Netherlands in 1940 and was used to keep records of all residents of the country and identified those who were Jewish, resistance members, and those who could be called up for forced labor. On March 27, resistance members, including Arondeus, entered the building by disguising themselves as police officers and sedating the guards. They then piled all the documents on the floor and set of explosives. They fire department delayed putting out the fire and then doused the whole building with water. 800,000 ID cards were destroyed in total. Unfortunately, someone betrayed Arondeus and he was subsequently arrested, tried, and sentenced to death. Before his execution, his last words were “tell people that homosexuals are not cowards”.

Gilbert Baker (1951 - 2017)

Gilbert Baker was an American artist and designer who is the original creator of the LGBTQ Rainbow Pride flag. He joined the anti-war movement in the 1970’s where he met, and became friends with, Harvey Milk. Milk commissioned Baker to create a flag that could represent gay pride. Using the American flag as inspiration, Baker hand sew the original flag, which had eight colored stripes (two more than the modern version). Each color represents a different aspect important to the gay community: (from hot pink to violet) sex, life, healing, sunlight, nature, magic, serenity, and spirit. The flag was first flown in San Francisco on June 25, 1978, for gay pride day. Baker died in 2017, and is regarded as a major figure in the pride movement. Today there are many different variations of the Pride flag, with each one representing a different group from the gay community

Larry Kramer (1935 - 2020)

Larry Kramer was an American playwright, author, film producer, and gay rights activist, who worked to bring awareness to the AIDS crisis in the 1980’s. He began his career writing scripts for Columbia pictures, winning an Academy Award for the 1969 film Women in Love. After witnessing the disease later known as AIDS spread among his friends, Kramer became involved in gay activism. In 1982, Kramer co-founded Gay Men’s Health Crisis, now known as GMHC, which provides social services for those infected with AIDS, along with testing, legal assistance, and mental health support. It’s currently the largest AIDS assistance organization in the world After, growing frustrated with the government paralysis and apathy towards gay men, he wanted to engage in further action, so in 1987, he helped found the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP). ACT UP is a direct action protest organization that works to change legislation and public policy to end the AIDS crisis. ACT UP soon had chapters in cities all over the United States. The movement then spread internationally, with separate movements being established in other countries including the United Kingdom, Canada, France, India, and Germany. In 1992, Kramer wrote the play ‘The Destiny of Me’, which follows a character from his 1985 play ‘The Normal Heart’ seeking experimental treatment for AIDS. The play was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. The Normal Heart debuted on Broadway in 2011, and was adapted into an HBO movie in 2014. Kramer died of pneumonia on May 27, 2020.

Bessie Smith (1894 - 1937)

Bessie Smith was an American blues singer, nicknamed the ‘Empress of Blues’. She was the most popular female blues singer of the 1930’s. Smith stated her career busking in the streets to help her family financially. In 1912, she auditioned for a music troupe that included blues legend Ma Rainey. She was originally hired as a dancer. Smith began her solo career at the 81 Theater in Atlanta, Georgia. She signed with Columbia Records in 1923. She made 160 recordings for Columbia, accompanied by some of the most famous musicians of the day including Louis Armstrong, Coleman Hawkins, Fletcher Henderson, and Sidney Bechet. She became the highest paid black entertainer of the day. Throughout her career, smith was apologetically herself, having affairs with both men and women. Some speculate her bisexuality was hinted at in the lyrics of her songs, including ‘boy in the boat’: “when you see two women walking hand in hand/Just look ‘em over and try to understand/They’ll go to those parties/Having the lights down low/Only those parties where women can go”. Sadly, her career was cut short in 1937, when she died at the age of 43 due to injuries sustained in a car accident enroute to Chattanooga, Tennessee. Her funeral was attended by more then 5,000 people. In 1989, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with an entry saying her reign was “definitive, unprecedented, and glorious”.

James Baldwin (1924 - 1987)

James Baldwin was an American writer who gained critical acclaim across multiple forms, including essays, novels, plays, and poems. In 1953, he published his first book ‘Go Tell it on the Mountain’, a semi-autobiographical novel which tells the story of a young African American man who grew up in Harlem, New York City, and his relationship with his family and the Pentecostal Church. In 1998, Modern Library ranked the book 39th on its list of 100 best English language novels of the 20th century. In 2005, Time Magazine included the book in its list of the 100 Best Novels from 1923 (when Time was first published) to 2005. In 1956, Baldwin wrote ‘Giovanni’s Room’ whose main character was a gay American man living in Paris, France, who began an affair with an Italian bartender named Giovanni, whom he met at a Gay bar. Gay and Bisexual men are also frequently featured in his other works. His unfinished manuscript Remember This House was expanded and adapted in the 2016 Oscar nominated documentary I Am Not Your Negro, which won the BAFTA Award for Best Documentary. His 1974 novel ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’ was adapted into a movie in 2018, which won Best Supporting Actress for Regina King at the 91st Academy Awards, where the film was also nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original Score. King also received Best Supporting Actress at the 76th Golden Globe Awards and 24th Critics Choice Awards. Both the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute included it in their top 10 films of 2018. Today, James Baldwin is considered one of the most famous LGBTQ writers in American history.

[ufonaut]

WELCOME TO THE FOURTH ANNUAL COMIX OF THE YEAR EXTRAVAGANZA!

I've grown very fond of this little tradition we've started here, and it's nice to get a chance to showcase all the books I've read and loved and could shout about from the rooftops. This year I've read 140 completed series out of a total of 474 over all completed series (as always, that's not counting single issues or current ongoings!) and I've come to expand my physical collection to 735 issues -- that's more than any previous year!

It's been a really great year, from getting to see my first article published in print and getting to write a couple dream articles for a magazine that's meant the world to me to getting to visit Graceland & Memphis with some of my best friends in the universe and then getting another two weeks with my beloved best buddy @slaapkat right here in London! I also feel like I've gotten more into the local comics scene and grown more confident as the true real fanboy I am.

The JSA's renaissance also remains a miracle to me and the definitie highlight of these past two years. Without further ado, here's this year's favourites:

Justice Society of America (2022) #8 In a November 2022 interview, Geoff Johns said: "to me, he's the most iconic character in the Justice Society of America. […] To me, Alan Scott is the main character." Right then and there, I knew we were in good hands. I have loved this series from day one and I still love it like nothing else in the world but this particular story might be the best single issue I've read this year -- it feels like coming home, it feels like the first time we've seen the real Alan Scott in so long. There's something very special about the few occasions team books have allowed a spotlight to shine on Alan alone, more so when he's found himself the heart of the story. This issue with its gorgeous art and picture-perfect characterisation feels like just the thing I've spent so long searching for.

Slam-Bang Comics (1940) It's hard to explain how the funniest comic you've ever read is a wildly obscure Fawcett publication that lasted six issues in 1940, but that's precisely what the Diamond Jack stories in Slam-Bang Comics are to me. Diamond Jack is early absurdist comedy, Diamond Jack is a case study in what made the Golden Age sincerely and genuinely the medium's best era -- its endless room for innovation, the lawless approach of creators building a new art form from the ground up. On the first page of his first appearance, we learn Diamond Jack was given a miraculous gem by an "old magician": this is all we ever learn of our hero. In the third panel of that same page, he dares a pair of robbers to shoot him. It only gets better from there.

Enigma (1993) An eight-issue miniseries about an ordinary guy whose favorite 1970s obscure comic book character seemingly comes to life with all that implies and in the process of investigating this bizarre series of events with the help of the original series' writer, he also comes to terms with his sexuality as a gay man. It's the single most compelling, complex, meaningful book I've ever read. It's also the very first explicitly gay mainstream comic, and it might as well be the only one for its radical no holds barred approach to sexuality (on-screen gay sex included, a complete rarity in this era of sanitized intimacy).

A Contract with God (1978) Widely acknowledged as the world's first graphic novel, Will Eisner's classic anthology certainly lives up to the immensity of its legacy. As the man himself writes in the introduction to the 2000 edition, "I realize I was really only working around one core concept – that the medium was an art form in itself. Unique, with a structure and gestalt all its own, this medium could deal with meaningful themes. Certainly there was more for the cartoonist working in this technique to deal with than superheroes who were preventing the destruction of Earth by supervillains." Four stand-alone tales make up the book, all following Jewish characters living in the same New York tenement in the 1930s, all based on Eisner's childhood recollections and impressions. I remember crying, really crying, at that first story and then laughing uproariously at the next and so on. There's really no way to express just how special this book is without reading it for yourself.

Seven Miles a Second (1996) Published posthumously, Seven Miles a Second is David Wojnarowicz's autobiographical graphic novel detailing the last years of his life before his AIDS-related death. It's urgent, angry, hard-hitting, bleak, and a sincere mandatory read for any gay person interested in our history. It made me sob like few things have. In the here and now, it's surreal to think that DC Comics had published this in the mid-1990s under its Vertigo imprint -- it's often surreal to me that we used to have genuinely daring gay comics published by one of the 'big two', and we've been left with less than a shadow of comic books' former self. Still, the few we have are some of the most significant to have ever graced the medium.

Catwoman: Selina's Big Score (2002) This is a funny one. I'm not a library-goer but while wasting time at the library down the street early this year, I ran into this big collection of all of Darwyn Cooke's Batman stories -- they're great, they're always great because Darwyn himself was a giant of the industry, but Selina's Big Score was one I hadn't read before and it's ended up being something of a life-changing chance encounter for yours truly. Something about this little book utterly changed the way I look at Selina Kyle as a character. I'm a big crime fiction buff, there's no denying that, but it's the subtext that makes the book; the exploration of the cold, hard, mean way Selina navigates the limitations imposed by her gender and social class. It's something else, it's really something else.

Parker (2009) And speaking of cold, hard, mean things. Darwyn Cooke's Parker is something of a package deal with the above, Selina's man friday in Big Score is named Stark and undoubtedly based on Richard Stark's Parker. That's how I got here, but I certainly never left. Months and months later, Parker's still on my mind as one of the most compelling characters I've ever encountered and one of the most beautiful, right-up-my-alley series in existence. Darwyn's four graphic novel adaptations are masterpieces in their own right and I cannot recommend them enough to anyone who's willing to listen but I'm also forever grateful that they've introduced me to my ongoing obsession with Stark's actual novels -- one of the few pieces of fiction I've been genuinely blown away by in recent times. "Rough, macho stuff but tight and exciting, too" is what a blurb on the back of one of the books says and I couldn't agree more, and I can't say I've ever found anything else so uniquely suited to all my interests.

Stargirl: The Lost Children (2022) I'm not the biggest fan of sidekicks or original characters, or children. Yet, somehow, this series won me over in a heartbeat. Geoff Johns has a truly uncanny ability to make a new character feel like they've been here for decades; in this particular case, the so-called Lost Children mix so well with actual Golden Age characters that their introduction betrays nothing except a genuine passion for and knowledge of 1940s comics. Geoff's work has been some of the best of the modern era for a long while now but this one's really a beautiful and beautifully self-contained little story hitting some great emotional beats.

I Die at Midnight (2000) On New Year's Eve 1999, a man decides to kill himself by swallowing too many pills after a bad breakup. Immediately afterwards, his ex decides she wants to reconcile and he's sent into a mad-dash attempt to save himself without her finding out about his impending death. Misunderstandings, frustrations, lies and hare-brained schemes ensue. It might not sound like the makings of a comedy but I Die at Midnight ranks up there with the funniest books I've ever read, I've spent this last year making my way through all of Kyle Baker's DC work and it's certainly tough to choose a favourite but there's simply no other book that captures his delightfully offbeat humour quite like this one.

Silverblade (1987) One thing's clear: 1987 was a magical year for DC Comics. I don't think there's a single year in the industry's entire history that's produced more hits or better books. Silverblade's a special one though, it's the Sunset Boulevard of comics. If there's anything I love half as much as crime fiction, it's anything dealing with Old Hollywood, throw in a heavy dose of gaycoding and it's the book for me. I read this one very early in the year but it left a lasting impression and I've definitely come to consider it something of an all-time favorite.

SPECIAL MENTION:

Flashpoint (2011)

Blackest Night (2009)

Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan (2012)

Face (1995)

Jay Garrick: The Flash (2023)

A History of Violence (1997)

Batman: Death and the Maidens (2004)

You Are Here (1999)

Stuck Rubber Baby (1995)

V for Vendetta (1988)

[sciencestyled]

Galactic Guesswork: The Bizarre Hunt for Dark Matter and Dark Energy

Welcome, intrepid explorers of the cosmic carnival, to the most mind-bending show on this side of the Milky Way: the enigma of dark matter and dark energy! Imagine, if you will, that our universe is like a ginormous cosmic burrito, and we’re only tasting the spicy salsa without even realizing there’s a whole fiesta of flavors hiding underneath. Yep, that's right – about 85% of the universe is this mysterious stuff called dark matter and dark energy, and we’re still figuring out what on Earth (or in space) it all means!

Now, grab your metaphorical popcorn, because this rollercoaster starts with the mystery of the universe's missing mass. Picture the early astronomers like Galileo and Newton as the original Ghostbusters, looking for all the visible stuff in the cosmos. Fast forward to the 1930s, when Fritz Zwicky, with a name that sounds like a retro comic book hero, noticed that the galaxies in the Coma Cluster were moving around like kids hopped up on sugar. He figured out there must be something invisible giving them a gravitational push. Voilà, dark matter was born – the invisible hand in the cosmic cookie jar!

Enter Vera Rubin in the 1970s, the real MVP who confirmed that galaxies spin way faster than they should if only visible matter was in play. It’s like if you saw a frisbee flying through the air and realized it’s being propelled by an invisible jetpack. Thanks to her, we know dark matter exists, even if it’s as elusive as that one sock you always lose in the laundry.

But wait, the universe had more tricks up its sleeve. Enter stage left: dark energy, the Beyoncé of cosmic phenomena – fabulous, mysterious, and always in the spotlight. In the 1990s, astronomers noticed that the universe isn’t just expanding, it’s doing so at an accelerating rate, like a YouTube video buffering at hyperspeed. This was thanks to observations of distant supernovae, which, much like surprise guest stars on a TV show, gave us unexpected clues about the universe's plot twists. And thus, dark energy was thrust into the limelight, making us question everything we thought we knew about the universe.

Now, let’s get to the juicy part: what exactly is this dark stuff made of? Scientists have thrown around more theories than Marvel has superheroes. Dark matter might be composed of WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles) or MACHOs (Massive Astrophysical Compact Halo Objects). And if those acronyms sound like characters from a sci-fi buddy cop movie, you’re not far off. These particles are like the undercover agents of the universe, working behind the scenes to keep galaxies spinning and the cosmos in order.

Dark energy, on the other hand, might be the universe’s version of anti-gravity – a force that’s pushing everything apart. Think of it as the cosmic equivalent of your favorite cartoon character running off a cliff and somehow staying afloat. Scientists have cooked up theories involving quantum fields and vacuum energy, but pinning down dark energy is like trying to nail jelly to a wall.

To hunt down these elusive entities, scientists have rolled out the big guns – and by guns, I mean colossal detectors and telescopes. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is like the universe’s ultimate science fair project, smashing particles together at ludicrous speeds to see what secrets pop out. Space telescopes like the Hubble and the upcoming James Webb are the cosmic paparazzi, snapping pics of the universe's red carpet events to catch dark matter and dark energy in action.

But even with all this high-tech wizardry, detecting dark matter and dark energy is trickier than convincing your parents that video games are educational. We’re talking about stuff that doesn’t interact with light, making it essentially invisible. It’s like trying to catch a ninja who’s also a ghost. Yet, with every experiment and observation, we get a smidge closer to understanding these cosmic ninjas.

Now, what does all this mean for science education and our understanding of the universe? Buckle up, because this is where it gets wild. Dark matter and dark energy aren’t just footnotes in the cosmic story; they’re the plot twists that change everything. They shape the structure of the universe, influencing galaxy formation, cosmic microwave background radiation, and even the ultimate fate of everything we know. It’s like discovering that the secret ingredient in grandma’s famous pie recipe is something you’ve never even heard of – it changes your whole perspective.

The implications are profound. If we crack the dark matter and dark energy codes, we could revolutionize our understanding of physics, potentially leading to new technologies that make today’s sci-fi look like child’s play. Imagine harnessing dark energy to power spaceships or using dark matter as the ultimate stealth tech. The future could be stranger and more fantastic than any blockbuster movie.

In conclusion, the quest to unravel the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy is the ultimate scientific odyssey – an adventure filled with intrigue, discovery, and mind-boggling revelations. As we continue to probe the cosmic shadows, each piece of evidence brings us closer to the truth, turning science education into a thrilling narrative that rivals the best Hollywood thrillers. So, stay curious, my fellow cosmic detectives, because the universe has many more secrets to spill, and we’re just getting started on this wild ride through the dark!

[tsalala]

Mother Leopard bloodline chart from 1975 to present, from Londolozi official website.

The Mother Leopard defined and guided Londolozi's story. It's hard to believe that before the 1970's leopard viewing was scarce, these animals were considered elusive, skittish and would keep well out of sight. Being an animal that can become invisible when it does not want to be seen, meant that they remained a sort of enigma. All of this was about to change on one fateful day in 1979 when a young female leopard was found at Londolozi that did not run from humans. Although still shy and uncertain, she tolerated their presence and it was this gift that gave the Varty brothers the assurance in their belief that respect, care and veneration for the wild could indeed be a viable new kind of business model.

(…) It was John Varty and tracker Elmon Mhlongo that then spent the next 12 years of her life following her, documenting the Mother Leopard's movements and trials through film. This resulted in the first documentary of its kind; The Silent Hunter. JV and Elmon Mhlongo captured many moments that had never before been witnessed before let alone filmed. They managed to capture the first ever footage of leopards mating, a sighting which we are privileged to witness in person now in broad daylight. Over this period they saw numerous cubs too as she had no less than 9 litters in her lifetime. It was this time with her and her offspring that rangers and trackers began to learn how to habituate the young leopards. Slowly an incredible kinship with wild leopards formed.

Since then Londolozi has enjoyed generations of, almost unrivalled, leopard viewing in the heart of one of the most wildlife-rich reserves in the world. The lineage of that original female is still being followed and recorded in the current population of Londolozi's leopards.

Currently we are viewing seven generation descendants of this leopard, which include the Three River 2:3 young male and the Tortoise Pan 4:3 male. The average number of offspring successfully raised by a female leopard in her lifetime is 3-4, to date the most successful female on record is the Mother Leopard herself, who raised no less than 12 cubs to independence!

— Jemma Thorpe, “44 Years – The Legacy of the Leopards of Londolozi” (March 2023)

[garadinervi]

Lillian F. Schwartz, with Kenneth C. Knowlton, Enigma Test, 1970, Artists' proof [Lillian F. Schwartz & Laurens R. Schwartz Collection, Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn, MI. © Lillian F. Schwartz, Kenneth C. Knowlton]

[bigfootbeat]

Bigfoot Hotspot in Arkansas

Arkansas has always been a popular destination for Bigfoot fans due to its thick woodlands and untamed landscape. The state's abundant biodiversity and vast wilderness, which provide the perfect environment for the possible existence of such a monster, draw researchers and intrepid explorers alike. The Fouke region in Arkansas is one of the most well-known locations for Bigfoot sightings. Early in the 1970s, this small hamlet became well-known due to stories of the Fouke Monster, a localized Bigfoot. The Legend of Boggy Creek, a movie based on the stories, popularized the cryptid and raised awareness of the region across the country. Over the years, several locals and tourists have reported seeing a big, hairy, ape-like creature that lurks in the swamps.

Another hotspot outside of Fouke is the northern Arkansas Ozark Mountains. The isolated valleys and thick woodlands make for a perfect backdrop for Bigfoot sightings. Numerous campers and hikers have claimed unusual tracks, mysterious noises, and even sightings of a tall, bipedal creature. The untamed terrain and large wilderness areas hinder widespread human penetration, fueling speculation about the potential existence of an undiscovered species. Another source of Bigfoot mythology in Arkansas is the Ouachita Mountains, which straddle the western part of the state. There is a combination of wide fields and deep woodlands in this sparsely populated area. Campers and outdoor enthusiasts have reported seeing a creature that fits the Bigfoot description over the years. The area's natural beauty and isolation attract researchers seeking evidence of the elusive species. Another significant area is White County, where reports of several sightings have occurred. Witnesses frequently report finding enormous, human-like footprints and hearing odd vocalizations. The local landscape, a combination of streams and woodlands, provides a feasible habitat for such a species.

The group of enthusiasts who frequently plan trips and get-togethers contributes to Arkansas's position as a Bigfoot hotspot. These gatherings frequently consist of group hunts in the most frequently reported hotspots, presentations of the evidence, and discussions. Even though there are doubters, the prospect of possibly seeing a mysterious species in the wild captivates many people. In conclusion, Arkansas is a wonderful place to see Bigfoot because of its varied landscapes and rich folklore. Isolated wilderness regions and intense local curiosity sustain the myth of Bigfoot in Arkansas. Regardless of one's belief system, the sightings and legends add to the state's distinctive cultural fabric and entice tourists who are keen to solve the enigma.