Overview
And here we are, November at last! Welcome one and all to the new month, hope your October was nice and macabre for all the right reasons.
I won’t beat around the bush as far as production is concerned. Development on Issue 7 and the comic are marching forwards as always, though a little slower than I’d like on account of me moving! Juggling everything has gotten hairy at times, but soldiering through it all is the name of the game around here.
Before we continue, big shoutout to the wonderful The Lord Otter for his review of our 2022 Annual Collection! A solid, even-minded assessment of the first year of 365 Infantry, warts and all. Thank you for the kind and constructive words!
From the Frontlines
By God, where the hell were all of these when I needed them!? Yes friends, the indies are at it again, and at it again in full force. As a reminder before we go into the new stuff, Michael Tierney’s Orphan of the Shadowy Moons is still crowdfunding on Kickstarter with just 3 DAYS LEFT! If you want some old-school sword-and-planet action, that’s the place to be.
Before we get into the big recommendations, I also want to make mention of cover design work I did on Revenge of the Vampire by Anthony Joseph Buffa
Buffa’s latest book promises grindhouse thrills as a 30-something drug-dealer gets reacquainted with an old friend from out of the past who has certainly changed since they last met. You can find it on Amazon in paperback form.
Glow in the Dark — Here is a fellow I am delighted to see again. Philly-based synth project See Thomas Howl popped up right around the time I was cooking up my own synthwave goodness in high school. Glow in the Dark proves that the man hasn’t lost an ounce of his ability to dish up infectious hooks wrapped in slick production. Specially stylized vinyl-effect CDs are on preorder alongside the digital album, which hits electric shelves on November 16th. Happy to have you back, Scott.
Butch Killigan #1 — Major thanks to the wickedly prolific JD Cowan for the tipoff because HOLY SHIT do we have a live one! From the breathlessly overactive mind of animator and illustrator Sven Stoffels comes a cyberpunk action comedy cut clean from the mold of classic 80s copdom with a fresh dose of humor and gonzo electricity. Join tough D.E.A. detective Butch Killigan and his straight-laced partner Poncho as they go in way over their heads with a mysterious cabal trafficking in even stranger contraband. This comic promises to be 116 pages of five-alarm kickass and I’m liable to believe them. Get it while it’s hot friends, campaign ends December 1st.
And Hell Followed With Him — I’ll let the man himself, Mage Leader, sell you this one with his own description. This debut western adventure is available in both eBook and paperback form:
“Reverend Elijah Sheffield is a man of disparate talents. Every Sunday he serves as a circuit-riding preacher, traveling between the towns of the untamed West to deliver the gospel. Between sermons he is a bounty hunter, a hired gun who brings evil men to justice. He is skilled both in the pulpit and with his pistols, but he is about to face a challenge unlike anything he has encountered before. One of the towns on his route is in grave danger, held captive by a corrupt mayor and a gang of bandits. Worse yet, the brigands are led by a man from Sheffield's past, one who knows the dark truth behind his abilities. In an adventure inspired by classic tales of the Old West, Sheffield will stand against impossible odds in an effort to either save his flock or be sent to meet his God.”
Streetwise Caviar
This Week’s Playlist: Crimewave
I am a massive fan of what I like to call the urban crime thriller. A very special breed of crime cinema that started in the late 60s with movies like Bullitt and television series like Ironside before dominating the box offices with classics like The French Connection and well-worn characters like Clint Eastwood’s Inspector “Dirty Harry” Callahan. It was a world of rawness, grit, blurred moralities, but capped off with stylish, sexy, and electrifying jazz-based scores.
This is a playlist that captures the sound of that era, give or take a few outliers, like John Barry’s delectable theme for The Ipcress File or latecomer Fabio Frizzi with a track from the 1980 Lucio Fulci crime thriller Contraband. Loaded with jazz, funk, and other assorted influences, it’s ten tracks of music to strike a match to and watch a lit fuse burn. Do enjoy.
Byte of the Week
To be perfectly honest, this is going to be an ICYMI segment. Didn’t have time to do a second story for the week, so I’m redirecting you all to our little Halloween special, “Reflections in Digital Eyes”
We catch up with the spirit of Jon Aegel as he reflects on the ghastly task he has taken to within cyberspace: eliminating those ACES has marked as “unworthy.” He is quite the executioner, but all it takes is one gruesome mistake for ACES to relieve him of the task. Read on to learn what’s like to kill from the “comfort” of the Artificially Controlled Eco-System…
As always, May God Bless You and This Force. See you next time!
Cheers, Jacob!
The Ipcress File is an under-rated movie 👍