Fight the future



Actually, snorting a solvent-soaked rag will only open your mind to one startling insight: that the snorting wasn't a very good idea.



Even in this confusing modern age -- cheese in a can? -- there are many things that I'm confident you can enjoy.



There is a new Pillows album. It has a very similar feel to their Good Dreams album, which you may recall I heartily endorsed, but it is easily the better of the two discs.



There is season five of 24. Six episodes in, it still hasn't started sucking yet. Maybe the writers try harder for the odd-numbered years than the even-numbered ones. Or maybe it all goes to hell next week. Either way, this first quarter has been 24 at its very best.



There is a (relatively) new collection of Ultimate Spider-man. I love this series. It takes one of my favourite characters and builds him up with the kind of elaborate plotting, extended character arcs and general cohesiveness that only a unchanging creative team can bring. Nearly 100 installments in, Bendis and Bagley are still at the helm, and the series maintains a narrative unity that is incredibly rare in its genre.



And finally, there's DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore, which is one of the best-value books you'll ever see published by DC. For the price of the old Killing Joke and Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow trades alone, you get those two stories and a whole whack of other stuff from one of the most respected writers in comic history. DC's trades tend to be kind of overpriced, but this one is a major steal.



Tune in on Friday for a "very special" edition of Sam and Fuzzy!



Sam Logan

Soak it up



I am back from my trip! Claire and I both had a good time spa-ing it up. It's not the kind of thing that I would usually do, or the kind of thing that I would pay the substantial amount of money required to do again, but as far as free trips go I can't complain!



I am behind on my email. Months behind. I think it's time to admit that I've crossed the point where I can continue to respond to every email that I get. Sigh! But I'll keep trying to do my best. Now if only I could figure out when I'm going to be able to plunge through this half-a-year-old backlog...



Sam Logan

Billy the mutilated bunny, living in dead dead ditch



Pirate and Alien is a new webcomic with much to admire. It's charming, well drawn and almost completely devoid of anything you could describe with the word "edgy." It's just fun. I mean, I think it is.



Have a good weekend, everyone! I know I will. I get to hang out at an overpriced mineral spa because Claire won a free trip for the two of us! I can't remember the last time I didn't do any work for an entire weekend -- serialized cartooning is a harsh, unrelenting mistress. But this weekend, if I try to squeak in even a minute of comic drawing, I'm pretty sure Claire will murder me. It's kind of sad that I need my relaxation to be enforced.



I will return on Monday, well rested and ready to go with another comic. See you then!



Sam Logan