Last week, I was registering for a gym membership when a dude came up to the counter, livid. “I’ve been going here for the last six months, and it wasn’t until today that somebody told me I couldn’t do my squats barefoot.” The front desk attendant tried to assuage the man, assuring him that the policy was for his safety and that of other guests. No dice; the dude wasn’t having any of it. “You can expect to be getting a call from me later,” he said. “I want a refund for my last six months’ membership dues.”
What is up with people who insist on being barefoot? They’re everywhere! I’ve seen them at the movie theater; their crust-covered toes waving from underneath the aisles. I’ve seen them at the grocery store; their pink pads pounding down the frozen food section. I was taught at a young age to protect my feet. I don’t even like wearing sandals in public. Yet, there exists a sub-culture of bare-footed barbarians who parade their piggies on all terrain. Do these people not look at the ground? Do they not see the broken glass and gnawed-on chicken bones and dog poop that lurks on every sidewalk and street corner?
To be fair, I didn’t start looking at the ground until I started walking my dog at the beginning of the year. Keeping an eye out for things my dog might want to put in her mouth has opened my eyes to how gross the ground is - yet people want to walk barefoot!
Monsters. All of them are monsters.
I’ll host two events at the Alamo Drafthouse - LaCenterra this week. First, on Wednesday, March 27, at 7:30 PM, I’m hosting a Film Club screening of REALITY BITES. This Houston-shot dramedy is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. Ben Stiller directs a fantastic cast, including Winona Ryder, Janeane Garofalo, Steve Zahn, and Ethan Hawke. An aimless group of twentysomethings try to figure out their future. Tempted by a chance to sell out to “The Man,” this group of friends must decide how much their art and values mean to them. And how does love factor into the whole thing? It’s a great film that feels like a time capsule of the early ‘90s - both as a scene and Houston’s place in the decade. Buy tickets here.
On Friday, March 29, I’m hosting a screening of one of my favorite horror comedies of the last decade, THE FINAL GIRLS. Taissa Farmiga stars as a young woman mourning the loss of her mother. When she attends a rep screening of a film her mom made during the ‘80s, Farmiga’s Max is sucked into the movie and given a chance to reconnect with her mom. Unfortunately, the film in question is a slasher movie with a masked killer on the loose. The movie, directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson, mines horror meta-humor for all its glory (a much sillier version of SCREAM), but its real strength lies in its throbbing human heart. THE FINAL GIRLS is a movie about mothers and daughters, and I dare anybody with a heart to get through the film with a dry eye. Buy tickets here.
Tonight's a full moon, and this weekend marks the first anniversary of when I first started selling copies of WHERE WOLF to the public. Arooooo! It's been an incredible couple of years, and I'd like to keep the party going and continue to make more comic books. However, I need your help to do so.
If you've read WHERE WOLF, please consider leaving a rating or review on Amazon, Goodreads, The StoryGraph, or wherever you discover new books.
If you haven't read WHERE WOLF, please request a copy from your local library or buy a personal copy of your own directly from the publisher, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Brazos Bookstore in Houston, Ghoulish Books in San Antonio, or Whose Books in Dallas.
Your help and support will keep me in the funny book business - so thank you for everything!
I’m still working behind the scenes with Debora Lancianese and Jack Morelli (as well as editor Meredith Nudo) to finish the sequel. The entire script is written, and five chapters are fully illustrated and lettered. Another chapter is currently in the lettering phase, and the seventh chapter is almost done with the art phase.
I started sharing the first five chapters with friends to get feedback, and it’s been great hearing what people are responding to. While writing the first book, I discovered that Gwen Reed was one of my favorite characters to write. She doesn’t have a massive role in the first half of THE CURSE OF THE WHERE WOLF, but she comes back in a big way in the second half. You can see a low-res preview of art from a chapter exploring Gwen’s childhood in McAllen, Texas.
I watched MOLLI AND MAX IN THE FUTURE this past week, and the film was an absolute ton of fun! It’s basically WHEN HARRY MET SALLY but with mech fighting. It’s a sci-fi film about life in the far future, but it’s also about the last five years. It’s also about two people trying to grow into the versions of themselves who can find love. Zosia Mamet and Aristotle Athiras are super charming, and the film’s effects - basically DIY SFX done in front of a green screen - achieve maximum imagination for what seems like a minimal budget. I can’t recommend this rom-com version of FUTURAMA (which was often a rom-com itself, come to think about it) enough.
I read Patton Oswalt’s ZOMBIE SPACESHIP WASTELAND, a combination memoir, comedy book, and pop culture manifesto. Oswalt is one of the smartest guys working in comedy today, and his book (first published in 2011) clearly shows this. ZOMBIE SPACESHIP WASTELAND is about Oswalt finding his footing as a writer and creator, but it’s also a celebration of creativity and discovery. I really, really dug this book.
Finally, I finished watching the first season of TED: THE SERIES. A prequel to the Mark Wahlberg-starring comedies, TED follows a teenage boy and his magical talking teddy bear as they navigate the pitfalls of high school. It’s just as raunchy as the two Seth McFarland-directed movies, but - just like the films - there’s a tenderness to the story that helps compliment the dick and fart jokes. The real surprise VIP of TED is Alanna Ubach, who plays the Bennett matriarch, a woman who at first seems to be a dead-eyed house-making zombie but, as the show goes on, is revealed to be one of the most complex and caring characters in a sitcom I’ve seen in a while. It’s a fun show!