#organising catch-ups and my brain is like 'thinking about them?? happy chemicals for you!!'

[phe-purple-parade]

I'm just a wee bit queer for my friends

[queer-cosette]

The terrible tale of the Demon Roommate

Have I told you guys about Demon Roommate? I’ve probably mentioned her before in side notes but I don’t think I ever compiled the full story.

So, Demon Roommate (who from now on I will call DR) was not my roommate, but was the roommate of three of my friends from college, who we will call Jenny, Nicole and Daphne. DR from the getgo had not set herself up as a nice person; Daphne at the time was on anti-depressants, and upon seeing the pill container in their shared space, DR told Daphne she didn’t think Daphne should be taking anti-depressants because they changed the chemicals in your brain. Daphne’s response was obviously

So DR had not made a great first impression.

As a side note, DR did not like me because I once threw up red wine on their hall carpet while drunk and she had to clean it up. However, given what happened later, this was a minor bit of karma biting her in the ass.

So just before christmas, my best friend who we’ll call Grace was having some difficulty with housing issues. She’d had her own Demon Roommate - a family ‘friend’ who began locking her out of the flat until 10pm, yelled at her for not doing things she’d already done, and eventually kicked her out right before tuition was due. Grace couldn’t afford her own place at that point, and was couch surfing until Jenny, Nicole and Daphne offered her a semi-permanent spot on their couch until she could get something sorted. Jenny, Nicole and Daphne had two other roommates besides DR, and they had both agreed. DR was the only one who didn’t want Grace staying on their couch, but was overruled by the fact that she was the only roommate who went to a different college. Grace was only 16 at the time, and DR would have happily refused her a place to stay. (I was commuting from a city on the other side of the country, and so obviously wasn’t a viable option for Grace to stay with.)

And so, with her five roommates pretty mad at her for being willing to let a 16-year-old sleep rough, the war began. DR’s first move as soon as Grace had her own flat was to move her boyfriend into her bedroom. He stayed there for the rest of the year - except weekends, when they would go to his place. Yes, he owned his own place, but insisted on staying in the cramped student flat. Not only was it illegal according to the lease, but we’re 90% sure he was subletting his own place.

She and her boyfriend would smoke in her room (against the lease rules), smoke weed in her room (super against the lease rules), and would have his friends over to smoke weed in her room (MEGA against the lease rules). Afterwards, DR would steal the other girls’ food out of the fridge because of her munchies. She and her boyfriend would also cook seafood in the main room, and would leave their pots dirty for days. Jenny snapped after the third day of a reeking prawn pot, and cleaned it for DR, who then had the gall to complain that Jenny had used the wrong sponge and ‘next time’ needed one that wouldn’t ruin DR’s pot.

Then there was the cabinet. DR’s boyfriend came home one day with an antique cabinet he’d got for ‘a really good price’ and put it in the main room, because there ‘wasn’t enough room in DR’s bedroom’. The cabinet had not been discussed with the other roommates. I saw it, and it was not what you’d call ‘compact’. They filled it with protein shakes and tomato juice (what for? DR was the least physically active roommate in that flat) and when Nicole complained on behalf of the flat about it being too big and having nowhere to put their things, DR and her boyfriend, instead of getting the hint and removing it, offered to get another one.

That was when the girls had enough, and complained to the building manager. The management agreed to organise a random inspection, to try and catch DR with weed or with her boyfriend in the apartment. Both the weed and the boyfriend managed to avoid the first random check, but DR was not happy about it and made it known through loud and whiney complaints. I’m pretty sure the boyfriend would have got physically threatening if he’d had the guts, but he was dealing with five trained ballet dancers, all of whom were fully capable of kicking his head off if the fancy struck them. Another random check was planned, but by then it was the end of the year, and too late to really do anything about it. Jenny moved to London, Nicole decided to take a year out, and Daphne switched to different college that had on-campus dorms. I don’t know if the other two roommates ever got rid of DR, or if DR moved out on her own.

The point of me telling this story might be hard to see at first, since there’s no real catharsis. DR never got pro-revenged or even petty-revenged (unless you count me refusing to give her a cupcake one time). The point is, sometimes people are assholes for no apparent reason other than they weren’t held enough as a child. Also, always ask for a random room inspection at the first annoying illegal shit your roommate pulls; it’s not worth waiting for something worse.

[thenthdimension]

My Top Ten Comics of the Year List because the one from Vice Sucked

So vice has released a list of its top ten comics of the year that was only eight entries long because apparently comics were so bad this year that eight was as many as they could manage. This really frustrated me, mainly because their problem was with the quality of comics (which I thought was great) and not the behaviour of individuals and organisations within the industry (a lot of which was very bad). I am not going to link to the article because if you want to find it you can but I am not going to help you. I am however going to give my top ten list which I realise a lot of other people have done in reaction to the article but I’m just too annoyed to do nothing.

Some caveats before I start, firstly I am just someone who likes comics and I have not read 90% of the stuff that has come out because I am not a) rich or b) someone who receives comics to review. Secondly I am a white/cis/het man and my comics reading is not as diverse as I would like but I do want to work on that this year. Thirdly some of these will be graphic novels, some individual issues and some on-goings. Finally this is in no particular order, feel free to skip past entries you have not interest in and please check to the end of the list to see if something catches your interest. If one person reads one comic because I did this that is a huge win.

Aliens Dead Orbit by James Stokoe

James Stokoe is one of the best cartoonists working in comics today. Most of the books he works on are top to bottom his work, writing, pencils, inks, colouring, lettering the whole bag and that is the case here. The details in his panels is incredible as you can see here but only when it needs to be. When he needs the readers eye to move quickly across a page to show speed or to make show a lot happening in a short space of time the detail drops without losing any of the skill. Also I just love his colouring the warm lighting contrasting with the cold metal of the ship and dark blacks of space and the aliens themselves. This is not a complicated or deep story that going to tell anything new about this universe its just excellently told and looks fab.

Kaijumax: Season 3 by Zander Cannon with colour assists by Jason Fischer

This is a prison comic where the prisoners are giant monsters, I really don’t know what else you want me to say about this. At its best it can be disturbing, funny, exciting and you will never know how much you could care about a giant satanic Goat. That goat is the Creature from Devils Creek and his is the best story line this season, I was honestly upset and some of the things he had to go through. I obviously recommend going back and reading the previous two seasons but this is the best Kaijumax has been and I cannot wait for season 4.

Doom Patrol Written by Gerard Way, Pencils by Nick Derington, Inks by Tom Fowler, Colours by Tamara Bonvillian and Letters by Todd Klien

The lead singer of My Chemical Romance writes one of my favourite comics. That’s a weird thing to say but then comics are weird and this comic if full bore weird. Coming from DC’s Young Animal line which is basically Way’s baby this is technically a book about a team of superheros but really its well developed characters dealing with whatever mad thing happens that month. But as much as I enjoy the madness and Ways writing Nick Derington is the best thing about this book. There was an issue that had guest art by Mike Allred, who I love, and all I wanted was for Derington to come back. Plus that madcap writing means he gets to draw some incredible looking stuff. Also one of the main characters has sex with their anthropomorphised cat.

The Wicked + The Divine Written by Kieron Gillen, Art by Jamie McKelvie, Colours by Matthew Wilson and Letters by Clayton Cowles

It was never going to be ok. That’s basically the motto of this book and this year has shown you how true that is. Every 90 years the cycle repeats normal people become gods and will not live past 2 years, this time they also became pop stars. Wic Div has been going for a couple of years now and it just keeps getting better, the characters are so real and who they are is brilliantly reflected in the art. It will break your heart but it will also have dying to read the next issue. Plus they have started doing specials which show glimpses of the past pantheons. Its currently on issue 34 so its something of a commitment but it rewards that commitments and the collections come out with a decent regularity. Oh if you are a tumblr person do not look at the Wic Div tag unless you want SPOILERS.

Copra #31 by Michel Fiffe

Fiffe is another top to bottom cartoonist and he also self publishes Copra, so this is proper indie comics. Copra is a Suicide Squad fan comic that’s almost consistently better than the actual Suicide Squad comic. A team of mercenaries and criminals do the jobs no one can admit to and treated as expendable by those who put them in harms way. Its art and action comics all at once. This issue focuses on Castillo who as you may be able to tell is somewhat like the Punisher and its just a great example of what makes Copra great. I could see Fiffes art not being for everybody but its 100% for me.

Southern Cross written by Becky Cloonan, Art by Andy Belanger, Colours by Lee Loughride and Letters by Serge LaPointe

Southern Cross is like an Aliens movie directed by John Carpenter filtered through H.P. Lovecreaft. Put on some synth-wave, prog rock or cosmic metal and enjoy a horror comic that’s also a huge amount of fun. The first arc was Alex Braith booking passage aboard the Southern Cross to find out what happened to her sister. This years second arc takes us to the rigs on Titan where the mystery of whats going on deepens and we find out more about the life in this universe. Can’t recommend it highly enough, plus some of the space suits have Jason masks, which makes me very happy.

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl # 26 The Zine Issue by Ryan North, Erica Henderson, Rico Renzi and many, many more

I cannot list all the creators please go look them up. Squirrel Girl (she has the powers of both Squirrel and Girl) is a comic that is always a huge amount of fun and this issue is the zine that Squirrel Girl has put together with her friends to raise money for all the public buildings superheroes destroy. It features a feel good inspiration comic written by a nihilistic brain in a jar, Cat Loki, a quite touching story about Wolverine and a sentinel and a Galactus comic written and drawn by Jim Davis the creator of Garfield. You can read this all by itself and still enjoy it so its a great place to find out if Squirrel Girl is for you which it probably is because Squirrel Girl rules. Eat nuts, kick butts. 

Mister Miracle #4 Written by Tom King, Art by Mitch Gerads and letters by Clayton Cowles

Mister Miracle is one of the New Gods. Mister Miracle can escape any trap. Mister Miracle is depressed and recently tried to kill himself. This twelve issue mini series is going to show up on a lot of best of lists this year and that’s totally justified. But of the five issues released so far I believe this, The Trial of Mister Miracle, is the best. Every great about this series is crystallised here, the 9 panel grids, the quite unflinching look at depression, the art that expertly mixes the fantastic and the mundane and the incredibly sharp writing. I haven’t seen a better example of a character who is entirely correct but also completely wrong.

Savage Town written by Declan Shalvey, Art by Philip Barrett, Colours by Jordie Bellaire and Letters by Clayton Cowles

Cartoonists get a lot of props for being able to handle every aspect of creating a comic book and there are some great examples on this list. This comic I believe is the best example of how a great team on a book can be just as effective as a great cartoonist. Its Limerick near the turn of 2000, Jimmy Savage is the leader of a small gang and trouble is heading his way. I love that one of the best crime comics this year is about an Irish city and comes from a majority Irish team. Its also great to see a comics writer writing Irish accented dialogue that doesn’t read like its out of Darby O’Gil and the Little people. And its a great story too, I really hope there is some kind of follow up as I’d really love to come back to this town and these characters again.

My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness by Nagata Kabi

This year I decided to start reading more manga (Japanese comics) and I decided to start with this which was a bit of an odd choice but one I do not regret. This true story can be difficult to read because it is true. Nagata was this lonely, this isolated, this depressed and the really had this struggle with their sexuality. The depression they felt was crippling and while a lot of things I could relate to, especially berating yourself which I used to do a lot, I really had no idea. I have always considered myself as decent person who understood that depression was something that could paralyse a person but until I read this I don’t think I truly considered what that meant. The sense of isolation and loneliness is so strong I honestly don’t know how they got through it. And then they recounted it with such a great sense of humour and didn’t shy away at all. I feel like I am not explaining this well, I don’t read lot of things like this and maybe I don’t have quite the right vocabulary. Just know that this is the most affecting piece of media I came across this year. If I know you IRL please ask to borrow it because I would love to hear what other people think of it.

And that’s it, those are the ten best comics I read this year. You can find all of these on comixology, amazon and good comic book stores. If there is something you’d be interesting in reading and you don’t know how to get a hold of it ask me and I’ll see if I can help you find it. Comics a great and anyone who kind find ten great ones in a year is not looking hard enough or is a pretentious prick. I know for a fact there is stacks of great stuff I didn’t get to read this year. Its all out there, you just have to look.