For many years there was no store near me that I could go into without being patronized or downright insulted. As a result, I've never really been comfortable in a comic book store.

Which is why I started using a by-mail pull service in the first place.

All I can say is thank goodness my libraries stock a lot of e-editions of graphic work so I can keep trying new things.

But little independent work shows up there, which is sad.

I ordered almost every first issue that looked interesting & found many great writers & artists to follow.

Much harder to do that today, for me at least.

Plus I read more widely thanks to dd getting into manga when she was ~10 & me following along.

As a reader you then run into the discoverability problem. In the 1980s and 1990s, when I was getting comics from Diamond using their pull service, I literally got a thick catalog of everything on offer that month.

So what part of your audience do you serve? Who's going to buy enough books to keep the lights on?

And I don't know how much teenage me would have been interested in a superhero with a kid. I mean, part of what I loved about Batman and Robin was the tension between them as heroes vs them as family. But I didn't really want to see Bruce being a dad, kwim?

I think there are readers who don't want that, though. I mean, my dad stopped reading comics in the 1970s because they weren't rewarding him emotionally any more. He didn't want to read about heroes struggling with addiction, for instance.

I don't read anything as it's coming out. I get ebook compilations from the library. And mostly look for things that are reasonably self-contained.

Thing is, in those days, if you didn't read every part of Secrets Wars or whatever, you were fine.

Now, not so much.

I started reading Batman and Superman when I was 6 (thanks, dad) and was a massive fan literally for decades.

But even then I opted out of most crossover events & just read whatever appeared in the books I followed.

There were movies I skipped bc of lack of interest in the characters and at this point I basically feel locked out.

Which is what happened to me with comics too. I still read graphic stuff but almost no superhero books.

I remember getting burgers with chips when I was a child. Sometimes I'd put a layer of chips on top of the burger (I'd add them to sandwiches too) for the crunch.

Early fries were generally steak fries rather than shoestring. Still love a good thick fry.

I want to echo this. Never used it while on staff, do not use it as a freelancer.

When you hire me, you get me.

This Is Just To Say

I have turned off
the AI features
that were in
the update

and which
you were probably
hoping
to monetize

Fuck you
they were stupid
so unnecessary
and so annoying

PM folks: Do I know any librarians at New York Public Library? Please DM me. I've got a question!

Plot twist: Rare books worth $3 million stolen decades ago resurface in Manhattan One collection of letters poet John Keats wrote to his fiancée includes eight handwritten letters, including the first ever letter he wrote to her.

Cool news.

gothamist.com/news/plot-tw...

Pa. court recognizes ‘reproductive autonomy’ as a right, strikes down ban on public funding for abortion In a 4-3 ruling, the Commonwealth Court found that abortion access is a fundamental right guaranteed by the Pennsylvania Constitution.

"Pa. court recognizes ‘reproductive autonomy’ as a right, strikes down ban on public funding for abortion"

"In a 4-3 ruling, the Commonwealth Court found that abortion access is a fundamental right guaranteed by the Pennsylvania Constitution."

Gift link:
share.inquirer.com/gnJEtT

Company and snacks.

I'm gonna be honest I think it's probably bad that we're trying to give this extremely obviously nazi company all of our health data.

For years now, women have said this.

Note to Democrats: Stop punching left. The left is fighting mad and the words we use are "Fuck ICE" and "IMPEACH" and "SHUT IT ALL DOWN." Maybe you'd get somewhere if you used those words, too.

That is my general practice.

this is like a miracle

Because people seem to think I put regular anti-Zionists on my Nazis list, I’m gonna use this thread from now on to show why I’m adding people

I'm sorry you have to see all that, and I thank you for doing it. I just see bits and pieces.

Link to the ruling. I am not sure I’ve seen a judicial opinion with this many tweet screenshots in it before storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Grilled cheese with tomato

2 eggs over easy, rye toast

Cheese and tomato omelet

Steak fries with all of these unless I trust the onion rings.

OMG spider spider!!! So beautiful!

bsky.app/profile/pecu...

Big pretty ring