{"id":4621,"date":"2019-05-14T16:15:17","date_gmt":"2019-05-14T20:15:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bandsiusetalike.com\/biul\/?p=4621"},"modified":"2019-08-10T19:57:04","modified_gmt":"2019-08-10T23:57:04","slug":"in-bad-shape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bandsiusetalike.com\/biul\/in-bad-shape\/","title":{"rendered":"In Bad Shape<\/i>\u00a9"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Howdy, pardners! Watch me jump this gun!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I can’t keep it a secret any longer. I’m in Bad Shape<\/em>! Seriously Bad Shape!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

This of course has a dual meaning. First, it means that I’ve arrived at what you’d call a low\u00a0point.<\/em> These things happen when you are an “underground” artist; in fact, Facebook kindly reminded me that I’ve been in serious Bad\u00a0Shape<\/em> for a year to the day. <\/div><\/p>\n\n\n

[Me<\/em>] Holy shit. I’m out of food, I just went to the hospital, and I’m broke. I’m already in debt and I’m probably going to die.<\/p>

[Facebook<\/em>] Hey, check this out; you said almost the same thing exactly a year ago.<\/p>

[Me<\/em>] Wow. Maybe death is preferable.<\/p>

[Facebook<\/em>] Ha, you said that too!<\/p>

[Me<\/em>] Now I don’t now what to say.<\/p>

[Facebook<\/em>] At least you have a computer now, right? <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

That’s right! My mercurial old laptop shat the bed one year ago<\/em>. It barbecued a brand-new hard drive that contained much important work, even though I possess two<\/em> external drives, for the explicit purpose of backup. Now I use a tiny flash drive, with no easily-compromised discs or spindles. I only learn from loss. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because I’m in Bad\u00a0Shape\u00a9<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second and more important meaning behind those italicized words is this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year, I have been working towards the launch of a new <\/strong>
title.<\/strong> You can probably guess what it is by now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Logo design revised 8\/8\/19, changing the “e” to an “E”. Told you it was subject to change.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I haven’t just been freaking out over money, or rent, or quality of life. I’ve been freaking out because I’m putting a new comic book imprint together. It’s not 100%<\/em> new– longtime BIUL<\/em> magazine readers will recognize the name from the flip-side of the 3rd issue– but it’s the first time I’ve branched off from the titular franchise in many years.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As usual, I’ve experienced a fair share of opening night jitters.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of 2018 I made a decision. Any future issues of Bands I Useta Like<\/em> would return to a focus on music. The non-musical comics and features would appear, or continue, in their own anthology, where they could be allowed to breathe. A title where I could play looser with the medium than before, closer to Bagge’s Neat Stuff<\/em> or Ware’s Acme Novelty Library.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This is the cover as of August. I am pretty much satisfied with it. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

You should only recognize three characters on that cover; the rest are all new. Well, the duck is related to Orville from Sordid Hollow<\/em>, but that’s yet to be proven by DNA, and may just be superficial resemblance. But that’s clearly Shel Softballz (elderly cartoonist) and Tony Fabuloso (repugnant comedian) in that turd-stained Supra, meaning that their sagas shall continue in the pages of Bad Shape<\/em>. John’s Arm appears at the top, thumb-up, which means that the many tales of Atro City can at last be told. When I watched my movie<\/a> for the first time in ten years to record a commentary, I was dumbfounded by how many loose ends I left flapping in the breeze, like so many exposed nerve endings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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