‘Please Commit A Crime.’
Preliminary sketch of Michael Pemulis from David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest.
Yes, preliminary means there’s way more coming.
The Story So Far
That right there, to your left, was pretty much every day living with a MacBookPro, out of warrantee, with only one working fan. Even surfing on the damn thing caused it to crash every few minutes, so just try and imagine what it was like to letter, spot blacks, hell just scan in three strips a week. Reviews were written in Google Docs with fingers crossed, music was played via the trusty offboard iPod and headphones. A SoleusAir fan ran full blast next to thing 24/7, cooling the laptop that itself sat on two Stephen King paperbacks on each side to keep the bottom somewhat ventilated. And then add in summer on a third floor apartment.
Boy, it was the god damned worst.
But now I’m sitting in front of a fantastic 20″ iMac (and yes, you damn well know I’ll be getting AppleCare this time), and I’m typing this and my iTunes is playing and Mail is open and last.fm is running (oh hai!) and everything is as smooth as goddamned silk.
So, hopefully, with such little constant pressure, I’ll actually be able to get back to the little things, since it won’t take every ounce of energy I have to keep from shooting a laptop in the throat. Today I brought back Your Panel Of The Week, and in the coming days I’ll be posting my CBR reviews again, revisiting some of the Great Pages In Comics History, and taking regular peeks behind the scenes of everyone’s favorite comic strip, The Rack. And hopefully a lot more besides. (After all, I am supposed to be reading plenty of Infinite Jest and watching plenty of LOST this summer, right?)
Here’s hoping.
(Editors Note: I desperately wanted to feature the New X-Men panel of Xorn healing Cyclops, where he says, famously (to me anyway): “Sometimes you just don’t know how bad you feel until the feeling’s gone… I figured I was just run down.” Sadly, it’s tucked in the hardcover on the most unscannable fold of all time. Turpin up there was a backup, but does a fine job.)
Your Panel Of The Week: 07.01.09
From Batman & Robin #2 by Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, Alex Sinclair, and Patrick Brosseau
OUCH.
I could not think of a better panel with which to signal the return of this long missed feature on this long last updated site. Frank Quitely’s work on this issue was without a doubt among his (if not just flat out his) best work, and it was tough to pick just one, but no panel kept coming back to my mind after reading it as much as this one. It’s just so elaborate, so well thought out, so detailed.
I didn’t even realize he was holding the pinky and thumb until the second time around.
-
Benjamin Birdie
Suddenly kind of aged, Benjamin lives in Queens with his cat. His Master's Degree in Creative Writing has helped him immensely with his primary responsibilities of drawing things.
He can be reached at benjaminbirdie (at) gmail (dot) com.
And do feel free to follow him on Twitter.
-
His Comics
Every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, this charming comic strip by myself and Kevin Church receives a sparkling new installment. A Comic Strip About A Comic Shop.