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In just a few years, Jordan Peterson has risen from little-known psychology professor at the University of Toronto to pop cultural icon and bestselling author, boasting millions of followers and just as many haters. His book, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, which claimed the masculine spirit is under assault and espoused basic tenets such as clean up your room and get your house in order, became a sensation in 2018, particularly among young men who flocked to hear his lectures worldwide.

In an age dominated by political correctness, Peterson has taken contrarian stances on topics such as white privilege, the gender pay gap, and the enforced use of gender-neutral pronouns. Hes been deified as an intellectual superhero by his fans and demonized as an alt-right villain by the left. Just this week, it emerged that the progressive writer Ta-Nehisi Coates may have used Peterson as the inspiration for Nazi supervillain Red Skull in his new Captain America comic book. (Peterson called the likeness smears and urged his followers to buy a limited edition poster featuring Red Skull paired with something I actually said and added that 100 percent of the proceeds would go to charity.)

His latest book, Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life, weaves together a diverse range of ideas, including from Nietzsche, the Bible and Harry Potter, and was an instant No. 1 New York Times bestseller when it came out last month.

And yet, in the past year, Peterson has faced one of the biggest trials of his own life. After his wife Tammy was diagnosed with a rare form of kidney cancer, he was prescribed sedatives to calm his anxiety, only to find himself dependent and experiencing the horrifying side effect known as akathisia, which causes an inability to stop moving along with a sense of doom, panic and suicidal thoughts.

Peterson disappeared for a year as he went to Russia, then Serbia, for treatment. (The Sunday Times wrongly claimed he had schizophrenia.) Last summer, he returned to his regular self on his daughter Mikhailas podcast, where he was welcomed back by millions of fans.

A couple of weeks ago, I met with Peterson, 58, for almost three hours on Zoom, where he appeared in top form, speaking about ideology, our modern culture, spirituality and his own continuous struggle with mental illness. What follows is an edited and abridged Q&A from that session ...

Many people on the left have critiqued your re-emergence and new book release as fraudulent and hypocritical given the degradation of your own life. How do you respond to the criticism?

Yes, right. Believe me, Ive tortured myself about that plenty and constantly ... I was very apprehensive about writing this book or certainly about releasing it ... But everyone is susceptible to [being] cut off at the knees at any moment ... You can protect yourself against that, to some degree, by putting your life in order, and by living properly, but that doesnt mean that youre fully protected from it. We all die, we all get sick. If we cant communicate with anyone who doesnt get sick or die, then we cant communicate with anyone. Does that mean ... that we have nothing to offer? No, it means were also radically imperfect, that we should be careful, but were stuck with our inadequacies. I have my inadequacies.

A healthy dose of self-criticism is a common theme in your work. Have you come to realize any bad decisions you may have made which exacerbated your illness?

Yes, Ive looked at my contribution to it ... I took benzodiazepines, and that seems to have been ill-advised. Im very sensitive to benzodiazepine withdrawal. When I took them, I was really sick. I was insomniac for a long time, weeks, three weeks, I was freezing, I couldnt get enough clothes on. My blood pressure was so low I couldnt stand up. I was in absolute terror. I have no idea what happened. Then I went to the doctor and was prescribed this medication. I slept, and I felt better. I didnt think much of it. My life was very stressful at that point. That turned out to be a very bad decision. I wasnt aware of how dangerous this could be for some people.

Im curious how your suffering shaped your outlook on life and human existence.

The last chapter of my new book is be grateful in spite of your suffering. Its the right thing to do, to be grateful. Im not claiming this for myself. Its tightly allied with a kind of existential courage. Its a decision.

Im bitter, Im angry, Im resentful. (But) thats all victimhood. Its not helpful.

If you fall prey to resentment, and anger, and hostility, not even however rationalized, but however justified ... its not helpful.

Many, many days in the last two years, I truly believed that I would die before the end of the day. I just couldnt see how I could possibly be that impaired and live. It turns out youre a lot tougher than you even want to be sometimes ... Youre not that easy to kill.

One of the things one can do in a time of great hardship is to adapt a victimhood mindset. How have you dealt with the temptation to wallow in victimhood?

Im bitter, Im angry, Im resentful, all of those things. I shake my fist at God. Whats the justice in this? Trying to scour my conscience to see what Ive done wrong. Thats all victim. Thats all victimhood, but its not helpful. Im doing my best to drop that ... None of the victim responses have been productive for me. Ive tried to fight them off.

Why is victimhood status so attractive in our culture right now?

The first part of it is people dont necessarily regard themselves as victims. The activist types, they tend to regard themselves as spokespeople for the victims. They see an altruistic ethical motivation in that and regard it as admirable. To some degree, it is ... but those are important constraints ...

First of all, what makes you think that youre a spokesperson for the oppressed? What makes you think that you have that right? Why should anyone take you seriously? How do you know youve got the message right? Why do you think you have the solution at hand? How do you know youre not more dangerous than the problem itself? How do you know that your dark and unexamined motivations arent blinding you? ...

If you can just be a good person because you believe the right three things, how convenient is that? ...

You dont have to look at yourself and you have an enemy. Thats the part that scares me the most ... Now you have an enemy and that enemy is the cause of everything you hate. Now you have all moral justification to go after them, to hurt them, to stop them because theyre evil, and to elevate yourself morally as a consequence.

You have this unearned pathway to moral superiority thats actually dependent on your willingness to unfairly persecute based on your ignorance. Its terrible. Universities promote this, Well, you should be an activist. Thats essentially what every 19-year-old is taught. Its like, no, you shouldnt be an activist. You should get your own house in order, and then you should cautiously proceed to more difficult things if you dare.

Victimhood culture is most pronounced along the racial dimension. This is why perceptions like white privilege and oppressed minorities are so popular.

This is something that really bothers me about the radical left, you get your privilege, and you get to be morally superior because youre standing up for the victim. Its like you get to be privileged and a victim at the same time.

Its terribly socially divisive and its unbelievably hypocritical.

Anybody who stands up and says, Im a professor, the system that produced me was so racist or was so prejudiced that its racist, you just admitted [that] you have no moral claim to your position. Resign now.

If ... the system that produced you say, as a professor, is so systemically prejudiced, you dont have a valid claim. Youre actually an incompetent fraud.

We say that culture has no capacity for forgiveness. Yet, people have forgiven me. Im amazed.

Why do you think people in positions of influence are so quick to call our society as oppressive and bigoted when our society is one of the most free, liberal, open-minded, inclusive societies that has ever existed?

A lot of its ignorance. People dont know, for example, that up until 1880, 95 percent of the Western world lived below todays UN-established poverty line. We have no idea how much dramatic improvement has been made in the last 150 years and how absolutely godawful things were before that. We dont know that because weve never been hungry, for example, not for one day.

You look around and you see, well, things could be better, so theyre bad ... Well, bad compared to what? Certainly bad compared to a hypothetical ideal, but not bad compared to all extent historical comparisons.

Why is religion increasingly unpopular in society, particularly among the young?

Lets say youre an ideologue, and youve decided that the patriarchy needs to be smashed. What do you do? You go to protests. Thats smoke and fire. Its dramatic. If youre a young Christian, what should you do? Be good. Its a little vague ...

Theres danger in confusing your political beliefs and your religious beliefs, not noting that theres a difference between them.

What are the biggest ways your life has transformed over the past few years?

Its funny because since Ive been launched into the public eye, lets say, or launched myself or whatever, since Ive become notorious, my life has been very complex. The levity has declined, the playfulness has declined, and its really unfortunate. Im a very playful person. All I did with my kids was play with them, and laugh with them, and joke with them ... but since 2016, things have been complicated. To say the least. My daughter was extremely ill, my wife was extremely ill, and we thought for sure she was going to die. She had a cancer that only 200 people, only 200 cases have ever been reported, and every single one of those people died ... She lived on the edge of life and death for five months.

This is something that really bothers me about the radical left, you get your privilege, and you get to be morally superior because youre standing up for the victim. Its like you get to be privileged and a victim at the same time.

At the same time, I had this meteoric rise to public notoriety, fame, which hasnt slowed down at all. In fact, it seems, in some sense, to be accelerating ... My reputation was on the line in an international way, dozens of times. Generally, what Ive observed in peoples lives is if something like that happens to them once on a local scale, thats enough to traumatize them. That happened to me like every week. Its happened to me every week essentially, in multiple countries, for like five years.

People can look at that and think, He should have managed it better. Its like, OK, fair enough, you try it. See how you do. I dont even want to say that, because I wouldnt wish this on anyone. Im not complaining. You might also ask, Why do you think you have the right to continue? Because really, thats the question, Why do you think you have the right to continue?

I certainly doubted it profoundly. I thought, Ill get back on my feet, so I did some podcasts first. Its like, do people find this useful? Will they find it useful? How will they respond? Positively. OK, Ill do another one. How will they respond? Positively, so I think, Im either going to curl up and die, or Im going to continue, and so Im continuing.

Despite all your mental and physical struggles, how have you managed to return? What has helped you pull through?

That I was forgiven by my audience. Here I am this guy, Im a clinical psychologist, I got tangled up with benzodiazepines. Im talking to people about getting their house in order, and things collapse around me. The irony, its almost unbearable.

That was part of what made this so difficult ... not only the physical pain, but this absurd paradox. Yet, people have forgiven me. Im amazed. We say that culture has no capacity for forgiveness. You hear that about cancel culture and about people being eradicated for making one mistake ...

Ive been attacked in the press when people have gone after my reputation with all guns blazing ... being compared to Hitler, etcetera, etcetera. Yet, the support that Ive received has been continuous. Why that is, I have a hypothesis: I include myself in the audience of reprobates to whom Im lecturing. I dont assume that I abide by all these rules. There are targets for attainment, and hopefully, that has protected me at least to some degree, against the perception of undue moral superiority ...

The general public my viewers, readers, and listeners, lets say have been unbelievably loyal and supportive. Ive seen this outpouring of love at the micro-level within my family, and from my friends, and from people I dont know, but who I communicate with. It saved my life for sure.

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Jordan Peterson: Deadly effects of prescription drugs left me bitter, but I refuse to be a victim - New York Post

A careless comparison meant to skewer Jordan Peterson is backfiring in a big way.

The psychology professor expressed astonishment when Twitter followers alerted him to obvious parallels between him and the Red Skull, the supervillain in Marvel Comics Captain America franchise.

In the comics latest edition, published March 31, the masked evildoer leads men astray through online lectures. One panel shows the Red Skull promoting 10 rules for life and references chaos and order, apparent allusions to Petersons bestseller 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos and its sequel, Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life.

Writer and social commentator Ta-Nehisi Coates, whom Marvel hired in 2015 to write the Black Panther comics, is the current Captain America series author. While Coates hasnt acknowledged Peterson as the inspiration for Caps nemesis, the similarities are too on-the-nose to be mere coincidence.

Coates Red Skull is an information-age pied piper for disaffected young men whose mind-warping viral videos convert a legion of disciples ready to wreak havoc upon his command. Thats not a far cry from the bad-faith critiques of Petersons work that persist despite thorough debunkings.

Writing for online magazine Slates Brow Beat culture blog, Matthew Dessem describes Peterson as a self-help guru to the alt-right. In fact, Peterson is a steadfast opponent of that movement, who eschews the identity politics of the far right and the woke left with equal vigor and aplomb.

I think the whole group identity thing is seriously pathological, Peterson said during an August 2017 question-and-answer exchange.

Progressives bristle when he traces intersectionality to its inevitable conclusion: The process of differentiating people by their disadvantages and privileges can only be repeated so many times before you reach the irreducible number of one.

Regarding the individual as the ultimate minority may be anathema to the modern left, but it also obliterates collectivist canards on the right wings outer fringes. The Southern Poverty Law Center says alt-right adherents embrace white ethnonationalism as a fundamental value. Thats incompatible with Petersons appeals to personal responsibility.

Pundits who caricature Peterson as a gateway drug to white supremacy only beclown themselves, and Coates jumps into this trap with both feet, suggesting the self-help author or his supposed comic book alter ego is assembling an army of like-minded sycophants. In reality, Peterson addresses a diverse amalgam of readers and viewers who dont march to the same drumbeat.

Hot takes on the Captain America kerfuffle were similarly sloppy. A Daily Mail article reported that Peterson was angry to learn of the resemblance, while entertainment website Uproxx said he was downright pissed. Red Skull, thin skin, tech blog Boing Boing crowed.

While Petersons initial tweets expressed surprise at the discovery, hes clearly bemused rather than upset. Instead of objecting to the idea of Coates casting him as a villain whose Marvel origin story is head of Nazi terrorist activities trained by Hitler himself, Peterson took ownership of the character and promptly put him through reform school.

In memes shared on his Twitter page, the Red Skull now parrots Petersons philosophy of self-improvement. If you cling desperately to an ideology, or wallow in nihilism, try telling the truth, one reads.

The contrast between exaggerated comic book imagery of a red-faced, glowering menace and practical advice for leading a fulfilling life underscores the absurdity of painting Peterson as a malign influence better than a sober YouTube lecture or an exhaustive written rebuttal ever could. If Coates meant to make the professor a cautionary tale, Peterson turned the tables with pitch-perfect parody.

Twitter followers are in on the joke, too. One imagined Peterson as Lobsterman, a reference to the first chapter in 12 Rules that compares humans and lobsters physical response to defeat, noting that the mood-regulating hormone serotonin affects dominance hierarchies in both species.

Peterson embraced the lobster motif, tweeting an illustration of a red-and-black shield featuring a stylized six-legged crustacean fit for display on a caped crusaders chest.

Coates overlooked the downside to writing a rival into a timeless tale, rendering him immortal in a narrative sense. A villain can always become a hero; redemption arcs, after all, are as much a comic book trope as the heel turn.

Corey Friedman is an opinion journalist who explores solutions to political conflicts from an independent perspective. Follow him on Twitter @coreywrites.

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Comic villain just needed some therapy | Opinion | jonesborosun.com - Jonesboro Sun

Welcome to The Power of Song, Episode 2, our new podcast celebrating songwriting and the songwriters who do it. For this show there would be few better guests than the great Peter Case, a songwriter who started great and yet keeps expanding. As does his legacy.

Peter, like his pal John Prine and other genius songwriters, started writing quite amazing, brilliant and tuneful songs right from the start. First in his band The Nerves, then with his band The Plimsouls (most famous for A Million Miles Away) and then ever since on his solo journey. And like Prine, the greatness of Peter Case has been something which has been expanding incrementally over the years of perpetual great songwriting. Lest anyone still presume wrongly the great songs were some fluke, here is 30 years of seriously solid songwriting of all kinds to show you whats true.

Along those lines of preserving and celebrating the legacy of great songwriters, its heartening to know that the great director Fred Parnes has teamed up with songwriter-producer Chris Seefried to make a documentary about Peter, which has been in the works for several years. Fred is a serious music lover, as affirmed by his beautiful movie about The Persuasions, Spread The Word. No doubt this will be a great film, and expand further this songwriters legacy of powerful, inspirational and never-boring songs.

We did this interview back in May of 2019, a few weeks after his great 65th birthday concert at McCabes in Santa Monica (which Fred and his crew filmed for the movie.)

The first time I ever interviewed Peter was back in the previous century, more than three decades ago. Which doesnt seem possible, as thats a big chunk of time, and yet it seems like no time has passed. Since then weve had many more of these conversations (which I wisely recorded) about songwriting, music, art and all related issues. Which includes everything. As Tom Waits said, anything at all a songwriter absorbs he will someday secrete.

Yet every time, even if we speak for two solid hours, as we did during this interview we never reach the bottom of the well. Because its an endless conversation. Because, like all seriously great songwriters, hes serious about songwriting. But never has he concluded hes figured the thing out. Quite the opposite. But hes forever fascinated by the process, and by different strategies and routes, or as we call it here ways of tricking yourself into writing songs. Which, in itself, is both serious and a joke. Asked if he always falls for the trick, he said no. Which is when he has to invent a new trick.

And though he puts himself down for not yet cracking this code, its in that very journey that hes written amazing songs through the years, songs which do everything songs can do. He tells stories, he lifts our hearts and he shows us this world now in a way only a master songwriter can do. Had he figured the thing out 30 years ago, it seems hed never have written all these great songs. Because its all founded on the exploration itself: what he will find that he can bring back. Its not about expressing what he thinks at all. Its about realizing what the song is saying.

Youve got to keep going, he said, until you get to some place where its surprising you. See, I like to have a song that surprises me, and tells me something I dont know. I dont want it just to be what I think already, because I already know that.

Thats the essence of a true artist: to always be striving to reach beyond ones own grasp. Not to express ones own understanding, but to use the exploration of making art as a means of expanding understanding.

The brilliant psychologist-author Jordan Peterson, writing about art and artists, expressed this very truth:

The artist shouldnt be able exactly to say what he or she is doing, said Peterson. If you can say what youre doing, youre not producing art. Art bears the same relation to culture that the dream does to mental stability. Your dream doesnt say what its about, it just is. The dream is something that extends you beyond where you already are

Thats one aspect of many covered in our conversation, which you can listen to in our second episode of The Power of Song.

But first a few other highlights from the expansively compelling Mr. Case:

PETER CASE: Being a songwriter, if youre not famous or if youre not exquisitely successful, you have to go through a certain amount of heavy lifting just to even show up at the starting gate.

Ive heard that if you have great fame, for example, that theres a sense of weightlessness. .. because you dont have to convince yourself. The world is doing the heavy lifting on a lot of things.

Theres something the matter with me, because theres a whole side to my mind and my life that I dont have access to even now. Im kind of tongue-tied in the face of life

My dad, he used to go, What do you have to say for yourself? Because I got in trouble when I was a kid I went off the track.

What do you have to say for yourself? And cause of the atmosphere there, I didnt have a lot to say for myself I started writing poetry when I was a kid and songs on things. And I began to get this feeling that I would know what I think, and I would know what I felt when I wrote the song. Like I wouldnt really know what I was doing until I wrote it. And Im still like that. And so thats never changed.

And if I go through periods where I dont write, I really do become kind of alienated from myself. Theres something I lose. Its like I lose the trail. And so I write all the time, not even songs anymore. Im kind of a scribbler, and I got notebooks and I write all this stuff.

Somebody said that music enables you to feel things that you dont know you feel till you hear it in the music. If you listen to Blue in Green, by Bill Evans and Miles Davis and Coltrane, he has these chords.,..They used to tell you in school that happy songs are major key. So what is Bill Evans music saying? And its this mixture of emotions and all these different kinds of chords. And it reminds you of things that you could almost hardly talk about. But then when he says it with those chords, its really revealing. Thats what I mean, I suppose.

More here:
AUDIO: Power of Song, A Conversation with Peter Case - American Songwriter

This ended up having to be a double column and a bit late because I spent the last two weeks in self-isolation after a Covid exposure. Now Im back in the world (more or less Im under a stay at home order) and I got to catch up on two weeks worth of comics!

Best Comics of the Fortnight:

Beta Ray Bill #1 Ive loved Beta Ray Bill since I first saw him in Walter Simonsons Thor comics, and have long felt like hes criminally underused in the Marvel Universe. I was really happy to see that hes getting his own miniseries, and that its written and drawn by Daniel Warren Johnson, who is an incredible creator. This issue ties in with the King In Black event, as Bill attempts to save Asgard from a symbiote-covered Fin Fang Foom. Johnson does amazing work here Bill looks really cool, and he has a strong feel for the characters tragic side. He also recognizes how hes always stuck in Thors shadow. I enjoyed Johnsons recent Wonder Woman Black Label series, but feel like this might be an even better feel for his approach to art and storytelling.

Dead Dogs Bite #2 Tyler Boss is a really impressive creator who we dont get to see that much of (although he did draw the issue of Department of Truth discussed below). This series is whimsical and bizarre, and makes excellent use of Bosss unique sense of design. Basically, hes the Wes Anderson of comics, and I cant think of a better description than that. In this issue, Joe continues to search for his missing friend, and bluffs his way into the mayors office to try to learn where she may have gone. There are bizarre clues, and outsized characters all over the place. This book is a real delight to read.

Quick Takes:

Beasts of Burden: Occupied Territory #1 Its always a treat when a new Beasts of Burden miniseries launches. This one focuses on Emrys, the Wise Dog, who has been around for a very long time. He tells the usual cast a story from his adventures in the Second World War, involving a strange mystical threat. This issue has a real BPRD vibe to it, if Hellboy were a sheepdog, and its pretty enjoyable. Benjamin Deweys art is really nice, but I still find myself missing original series artist Jill Thompson.

Captain America #28 This issue was trending on Twitter briefly because Ta-Nehisi Coates has been basing some of the Red Skulls rhetoric on the work on Jordan Peterson, the internet mouthpiece. It tracks from what I know of Petersons philosophy, and I found this amusing, but Im also more than ready for Coatess Cap run to close. It has never been bad, but its also never really grabbed me the way his current Black Panther run has.

Crossover #5 This issue is over pretty quickly, as Donny Cates and Geoff Shaw move their characters into position for the arcs big finish. Our heroes find themselves outside the dome around Denver, with a war brewing between some tortured characters from the fictional dimensions and US forces. I like how Cates has pulled in characters from his previous series, and borrowed Madman to make this book work. Its a good read.

Decorum #7 Its been a while since Ive seen this book on the stands. Jonathan Hickman took a long time getting this story moving when the series started, and now, with only one more issue to go, he kicks things into overdrive, as Neha finds the egg that her order of assassins are looking for, and makes off with the being inside of it. As with every issue of this book so far, Mike Huddleston does an incredible job, using a wide variety of art styles across the issue.

Department of Truth #7 We continue to learn a little more about the Departments history, as younger Lee Harvey Oswald gets a lesson on the Men in Black from the very young Doc Hynes, whose research caught the attention of the Department back in the day. Tyler Boss provided the art for this issue, which was a nice surprise, as hes incredible. I like that James Tynion IV is taking some time to provide context to some of the wilder aspects of this series now, and continue to be fascinated by this book.

ENIAC #2 Bad Ideas premier title is really working for me. Matt Kindt and Doug Braithwaite have a pair of secret agents going up against a sentient computer program from the Second World War that has the ability and motivation to potentially destroy the world. Kindt has them jumping through hoops, trying to gain the information they need to shut the program down. This issue has them rescuing someone from a Russian prison, and we start to learn just how deep ENIACs tendrils really go. This is a very solid series, with a terrific backup story by Kindt and David Lapham. Im thankful that the store I shop at is one of the few in my area carrying Bad Idea books.

Far Sector #11 Things get really exciting in this issue, as Jo has to try to stop a coup that she is still having trouble understanding, and it looks like the City Enduring is ready to tear itself apart. Writer NK Jemisin has created an endlessly fascinating world in this series, and has spent a lot of time exploring its complex society, and its similarities to Earth, and now that shes at the point of wrapping things up, I worry that Im really going to miss it. Jamal Campbells art has been great in this book, and its my hope that these two are not done working together, or with Jo.

Fear Case #3 Matt Kindt, and Tyler and Hilary Jenkins have outdone themselves with Fear Case. I liked the previous Kindt/Jenkins collaborations (Grass Kings and Black Badge), but this series has a lot more going on psychologically. Two Secret Service men have been given a year to solve a case involving a package (aka the Fear Case) that has been passed around for decades, trailing death and destruction behind it. Now, with only a day left on the case, the two agents have differences of opinion, and neither are prepared for the Case showing up on the doorstep of one of them. This is a very suspenseful book, with strong character work. I really like it.

Fire Power #10 Its big fight time in Fire Power, so most of this issue is spent with Owen preparing for battle, and checking in with his family. Robert Kirkman and Chris Samnee keep this series kind of decompressed, but also spend a lot of time making the characters likeable and believable, so the balance is just about perfect. Theres a very cool scene with airships and fire catapults, leaving me convinced that this is Samnees best work ever.

Giga #3 I think that Alex Paknadel is one of the most exciting and interesting writers working in comics right now. Giga is a very interesting look at a future society where people live in, and worship, the bodies of giant robots. Paknadel puts a lot of effort into his worldbuilding (check out some of his other books, like Turncoat), and now that we are three issues deep into this Vault Comics series, we can start to see that pay off. I also really like the art, by John L.

Green Lantern #1 Here I am, checking out another new DC series, because I want to like them. Geoffrey Thornes little-read Mosaic was interesting, and this series looks to be spotlighting John Stewart and Jo Mullein (from Far Sector), so that caught my attention. Im not sure that this first issue did much for me. Ever since Geoff Johns opened up the entire emotional spectrum to power rings, Ive found the Lantern books to be a little overly complicated. This issue has someone disrupting the conclave of the new United Planets because they have beef with the Guardians, and that leads to some complicated trouble. I think Id like this book more if it was pared down, but at the same time, there are enough interesting things here to suggest I might want to check out the next issue, and see what Thorne really has in mind. Dexter Soy drew most of this issue, and its remarkable how much hes changed from his debut on Captain Marvel, where his art was scratchy and hard to follow, to being almost completely part of the DC house style. Im not sure I like it.

Hollow Heart #2 Paul Allor and Paul Tucker make things a little more mysterious in this issue, as we start to question whether or not Mateo is helping El, a deeply unhappy cyborg imprisoned in Mateos workplace, or is working his own agenda. Allor is pacing this series really well, and I enjoy Tuckers art. Vault keeps putting out these quiet winners.

I Breathed a Body #3 Things get ever creepier in this new issue, as Zac Thompson leans into the body horror of this series, and we explore how the death and livestreamed desecration of the body of a major influence starts to impact the people around him. Theres a lot more to it than that, and Im not sure Im fully grasping everything. This is a good companion to Thompsons recently finished Lonely Receiver, as he sets out to understand our relationships with our phones and social media.

Immortal Hulk #45 Lately, issues of the Hulk have only moved the story forward in tiny increments, but the quality of the book remains high, and there are so many moving parts in Al Ewings story, that I dont mind one bit. This series is the strangest Hulk story ever, but also one of the absolute best.

Marauders #19 Its Morlocks vs. Reavers in Lowtown, Madripoor, as the Marauders have been told to hang back. Its cool to see Marrow back in action, as this series continues to play with its cast. Sure, we see some members of the core team that we havent seen for a while, but its weird to me just how loose the structure of this series is. Its working for me though.

The Silver Coin #1 I love the concept behind this series. Artist Michael Walsh is partnering with a different writer for every issue, and Im guessing that they are all going to be horror stories like this one, centred around a particular coin. In this issue, written by Chip Zdarsky, its the late 70s, and a small town rock band is finding their audience drying up as the thirst for disco grows. The members of the band find an old silver coin in a box of stuff the guitar players mother left behind, and when he plays using it as his pick, his music moves to a new level. This is a solid story, and Walshs art is terrific. Im always happy to support stranger series like this, and am looking forward to the upcoming issues (with Thompson, Brisson, and Lemire providing future stories). I also like supporting local creators, and three of the people involved in this project live in or are from Toronto.

Strange Adventures #9 Were now three quarters of the way through this series, and I feel like we still dont know the scope of Adams crimes. We do see some of the worst things he did during Ranns war with the Pykkt, but now that Earth is at war with these aliens, public opinion stays on his side. I feel like Tom King might be taking jabs at the Mueller report in this issue, as the Justice League release their rushed and incomplete findings, and TV pundits view it as vindication, even while the League sees it as damning. This series is pretty complex, and I feel like Ill need to see how King sticks the landing to fully assess how I feel about it.

Suicide Squad #2 I decided to take a second shot at this book. Ive read the Future State Suicide Squad books since then, and am worried that this entire series only exists to set up that underwhelming story, but I liked this one. I have always liked Peacekeeper, and his ridiculous costume, and I also liked the dynamic developing between him and Superboy (they dont get along). I might pick up the next issue of this series too, because its drawing me in.

Tankers #1 I think Bad Idea is two for two with their second debut. Tankers is by Robert Venditti and Juan Jos Ryp, and the title refers to a group of soldiers driving large exo-skeleton suits for an oil company that has decided to secure its business by returning to the past and guaranteeing a solid future supply. Much of this issue is given over to people in outfits like the loader Ripley drove in Aliens, fighting dinosaurs, in a glorious amount of detail. Ryp has done great work with this book, and Venditti is having fun with the B-movie plot. I was also very impressed with the backup story, by Venditti and Jorge Monlongo, which has Abraham Lincoln entering into some sensitive negotiations with some aliens. Bad Idea comics are very well put together and attractive, and as much as the companys methods are tiresome, I do like what they are putting into the world.

Two Moons #2 John Arcudi and Valerio Giangiordano are really impressing me with this supernatural historical horror series. Virgil, the Two Moons of the title, is a young Pawnee man who was raised by whites, is about to be tried for killing a superior officer in the Union army, but is rescued by Confederates, of all people. There is a lot of mystery to this book at this stage, and Im very curious to learn more about where this title is headed. Giangiordanos art is detailed and very nice, and his supernatural pages have a lot of depth to them.

USAgent #4 Any good Priest miniseries is kind of like a puzzle box, and I feel like were getting closer to figuring out everything that is going on with John Walker and his sister in this series. I am very interested in the new USAgent, also known as The Saint, and his connection to Watanabe, the guy who has been tagging along with Walker. This is a good, unconventional series that actually makes me want to read more John Walker series, something I never expected Id see happen.

X-Men #19 We continue with the story of the three X-Men who went into the Vault a while back. Sync, Wolverine (X-23), and Darwin ended up spending decades in the sped-up world, and the story of how they spent that time is pretty cool. Jonathan Hickman keeps breaking up the narrative with infographics that fill in the gaps, and that keeps things moving smoothly. Mahmud Asrar is a great artist, but I feel like hes really been levelling up lately; this issue looks terrific. Im also surprised by how much Im starting to like Sync. I never really read Generation X, so I dont know much about him, but hes interesting in Hickmans hands.

Comics I Would Have Bought if Comics Werent So Expensive:

Avengers #44

Batman/Catwoman #4

Firefly #27

King in Black #5

Other History of the DC Universe #3

The Fortnight in Graphic Novels:

Dracula, Motherf**ker! Im a big fan of Alex De Campis writing, and the way she switches genres and approaches with almost every project she does. This short graphic novel has her looking at Draculas brides, in 1970s LA. The main character is a crime photographer named Quincy Harker, who ends up being pursued by the revived Dracula when he takes pictures of his latest bride after her death. Draculas original wives have thoughts about this. De Campi and artist Erica Henderson make this a psychedelic and lurid adventure into an LA that doesnt really exist anymore. Henderson has done some great stuff, but she outdoes herself here, making every page a delight. I do wish this was longer it just felt like it was getting underway and then it ended, but its a cool little project worth checking out.

Music of the Last Two Weeks:

Serpentwithfeet Deacon Serpentwithfeet has a lovely, minimalist approach to soulful pop music, reminding me a lot of Moses Sumney, although less ornate. This album is sensitive and warm, and showcases his voice very well. This whole album is about friendship and intimacy among men, and its incredibly warm.

Pino Palladino & Blake Mills Notes With Attachments Pino Palladino and Blake Mills are familiar names if you like to read liner notes carefully (which is not easy to do in the digital age). Theyve worked with a ton of artists I respect, and now have put out an album of their own instrumental music, collaborating with people like Chris Dave, Rob Moose, and the incredible Sam Gendel. This album of, I guess, jazz, is a little hard to define, but it is both thoughtful and it swings. I hope to see more from these guys.

Lana Del Rey Chemtrails Over The Country Club I only ever listened to Lana Del Rey starting with her last album, Norman Fucking Rockwell, but I loved that album. I was utterly entranced by Del Reys voice and sharp songwriting, which put me in mind of someone like Leonard Cohen. I had high hopes for this album, but came away disappointed. It feels like shes trying to recapture what worked best on NFR, but ran out of things to say. Everything seems a little derivative and formulaic. I guess thats what happens when you listen to big name artists though Its pretty, but its not making it to many best of lists at the end of the year.

Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders, & The London Philharmonic Orchestra Promises I love the music of Floating Points, who has joined with jazz legend Pharoah Sanders and the LSO to put together this meditative and beautiful piece of music. Usually, a Floating Points song builds slowly and cuts out quickly, leaving listeners with a bit of a jolt. For this piece, which is a single work with seven movements, he slowly builds on a theme, and lets Sanders do this thing over it, mostly on his saxophone, but also with his voice, as the orchestras strings help the music swell. Its perfect headphone music, and its quite moving. This is an early shoe-in for the ten best albums of the year, and I only wish Id get to see it performed live.

Str4ta Aspects I know very little about the history of the British funk scene, but I know that this album, co-produced by legendary radio dj Gilles Peterson, is pretty fantastic. It has a timeless sound and a great atmosphere.

A Winged Victory For the Sullen Invisible Cities This is perfect rainy day music. I dont know anything about A Winged Victory For the Sullen, but their ambient neo-classical album is deeply atmospheric and morose, but in a beautiful way. Its an interesting counterpoint to the Floating Points album that I wrote about above.

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The Weekly Round-Up #591 & #592 With Beta Ray Bill #1, Dead Dog's Bite #2, Fear Case #3, Suicide Squad #2, The Silver Coin #1 & More Plus 2...