You’ve waiting a long time for this, so I won’t even preface it with my usua…..
I was told to tell you this is a final-ish version. The great thing about posting these all online and giving you fine folks and your pretty peepers the first look is that we can take feedback and make revisions. Letting Skingirl get some air helps us a lot. She’s up and walking around now, and it really feels like we’ve summoned something real.
I am constantly being reminded of why this team is so good. Every. Damn. Page. They trust me and trust each other. Skingirl no longer belongs to me, or to any of us. We live to serve her now.
These fuckers are getting so good that they’ve decided to go back and edit page 1. Oh, how our standards have changed. And we’re not even half way done.
Since it’s been awhile, here’s the first three pages in sequence. We’re starting to see the story take shape.
First person who identifies the author of the poem our demon friend is reciting gets a special gift. Like…one-of-a-kind special. Like…so good you might wanna lick it, special.
Page 4 is “99% done.” Inks are dry on page 5 and 6. And 7 is being furiously conjured into existence as we speak. This takes a lot of nail-biting, nervous, self-doubt-inducing work. This kind of thing takes sacrifice. We appreciate your patience and your patronage.
(Wait until you see page 4)
Look, Listen, Support!
So I’m thinking of having a recurring section on these posts where I point to other creators I’ve come across doing awesome work. From underground art to small business owners, we need to support each other. I encourage you to spread the word about your friends’ art. Be a fan. Be their street team. Maybe I’ll call this section “Death to the Algorithm!”
George Crustanza
I have to give a shoutout to my friends George Crustanza, who recently released some vinyl for their hardcore album Billionaire Blastoff on Bandcamp. I received this puppy today, and it’s something special. Appreciate these wild-ass stickers too. (Every time you buy a record on Bandcamp, an exec at Apple/Spotify sheds a tear.)
elsehow
If you use the internet and have a brain, which I’m assuming both apply to you, dear Skinners, this is a must-follow Substack. I’ve repped it before, but it’s worth mentioning again. It will make you think, make you appalled, make you…dream?
“Any liberatory struggle will require a trustworthy communications network. That network will be an internet. But perhaps not this internet.”
Indulge N You Massage Artistry
I’m not one for massages usually, until I realized I dump more money into maintaining my car than I do my body. I’m always resentful when I take my car to the mechanic and I never feel very good afterward. Martina at Indulge N You is a body mechanic, a craftsperson, an artist of the highest order. If you spend any time in the East Bay and you have a body, I could not recommend her services enough.
Are you an underground film maker? A small business owner? Maybe you know a DIY Thai-Pizza chef? or a makeup artists, painter, whatever. Let me know and we’ll feature you here next time.
And before we say adieu…
If it has to be said, I support the WGA and SAG-AFTRA and their current strike. The streaming giants and studios are pathetic, talentless, suited behemoths who are exploiting the labor and creativity of people with actual talent, the people who actually work the long hard hours to make your entertainment. They deserve the fucking cash. They are owed their fucking demands. I also support the UPS workers, and the teachers and hotel workers who are striking or threatening to walk out. Collective action is our right as workers. I wish we lived in a world where shame still existed, where the magic hand of the market actually rewarded those whose labor props it up, but alas, such is the global capitalist system. The giant, monopolistic, monoculture cesspool is boiling.
“Capital is dead labour, that, vampire-like, only lives by sucking living labour, and lives the more, the more labour it sucks.”
Art will prevail. Poetry thrives in rot.
See you in hell, D.M. Sayres
YAYAYAYAYAYAYA SO COOOOL LOVE