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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Latest read, Ashenden (1927) by W Somerset Maugham; Ashenden is a British secret agent assigned missions by R, a retired colonel. The novel is episodic, a series of missions in Italy, Switzerland, Russia, & more. Clearly Maugham influenced Fleming (both writers were real life operatives). #BookSky

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

This week's #SundaySentence is from Graham Greene's The End of the Affair

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

The other guys tire when he hit the curb across the street. He was flyin'.

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

There probably isn't a universal answer to that. I'll name someone I would, if I were a publisher, just throw the keys to and say take any car in the lot. Nathan Fox:

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Latest read, July's People (1981) by Nadine Gordimer; an alternative history in which apartheid is violently overthrown & whites are subservient to blacks. Maureen & her children, white, now work under their former black servant July, whom they thought of as a friend. He has other feelings. #BookSky

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Why do you get tamales for lunch and we don't? Because I am the master. That sucks. I say we leave a hairball in the middle of his bed.

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Think of Peanuts. Wouldn't really work if it had been drawn with realistic looking children and animals.

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Mentioning Carl Potts. Carl is not as known as an artist as you would think he would be because he was also a writer and editor. But Carl knows his stuff.

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

20th C literary writers, post Joyce, often wrote coarse passages. Marquez, Eco, Mailer, Gordimer, Updike, Fuentes--thousands of examples; signaling "this is an honest, frank work-- you can trust me to tell it like it is, I'm not pretentious, no matter how cerebral or lyrical I get later".

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I'll take that as a compliment of my son-in-law's picture taking skills and their dog.

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Latest read, The End of the Affair (1951) by Graham Greene; A writer realizes he still loves a woman he once had an affair with but, when she dies, convinces her husband she did not need a Catholic service, though evidence suggests she was becoming increasingly Catholic. Exquisite prose. #BookSky

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Latest read, Tarra Khash: Hrossak! (1991) by Brian Lumley; Tarra, a steppe-dwelling barbarian (Hrossak) adventures on the world of Theem'hdra, encountering vampiric lamia, temple guardians, evil wizards, & Lovecraftian beings. Unabashedly embraces Howard, HPL, Dunsany, & Clark Ashton Smith. #BookSky

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Meiko Kaji (star of Lady Snowblood) struttin' through the subway in the 1970s.

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

This is the death scene of our generation. It transcends genre. #TCMparty

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

She's bathing the dog. It's a hippie commune here. #TCMparty

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

"Let me show you something that will make you feel young as when the world was new." "Here? The others will be back any minute." "Not THAT." "Oh " #TCMParty

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

2 dogs, 1 cat, 1 enterprise and not much room #TCMparty

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

The other Moby Dick/Ahab/Khan paraphrased quote: He tasks me. He tasks me and I shall have him! I'll chase him 'round the moons of Nibia and 'round the Antares Maelstrom and 'round perdition's flames before I give him up! #TCMParty

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Kirstie Alley had the right look for a Vulcan. That's about the only thing I have to say about Kirstie Alley. #TCMparty

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Okay, Eric, we want you to kill Cornelius and Zira. This won't hurt my career? Nah. Besides, there's always soap operas. #TCMParty

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Latest read, The Matter of Seggri (1994) by Ursula K. Le Guin; in this sf novella of (roughly) Renaissance era gender-reversal, males are rarely born, and therefore protected, pampered (& ignorant) studs, while the women are the productive, educated, sexually free members of society. Great. #BookSky

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Latest read, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (1760) by Laurence Sterne; famous, hence over-analyzed but that's mostly "cock & bull". It's simply fun, wry, about life (& writing), full of anecdotes & digressions. Don't concern yourself with plot, Sterne doesn't. Loved it. #BookSky

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Barry Lyndon by William Makepeace Thackeray. Not the movie version, in which Kubrick changes him. elicits sympathy for him, but the book. A perfect example of the villain who doesn't see himself as a villain.

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Show me a comic page you love; no explanation needed.

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Here's a tip if you want good interaction with artists. If you're going to make a glib comment, say "That's terrific! I love it!" or something. Then tell your joke. Because artists work hard and they're sharing-- and a joke makes them feel taken for granted. Awesome, Dr. Strange, Chris!

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Tristram Shandy is so playful. This is written in 1760. I can see why it's considered significant, especially with regards to humor in fiction.

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

I'm such a Lit nerd that I'm laughing out loud at Tristram Shandy. Sterne breaks the fourth wall, accusing the reader of not paying attention and of glossing.

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Can't express how much Conan & Solomon Kane saved my interest in making comics. And the way in which I'm doing it, with creative control & trust. Always loved sword & sorcery. Bought all the REH paperbacks I could find, as well as the Conan, Kull, & the rare Solomon Kane comic. Everyday is a blast.

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Latest read, Inez (2000) by Carlos Fuentes; a music conductor, Gabriel Atlan-Ferrara, is the unreliable narrator in this story of lifelong ambition & unrequited love. Fuentes himself is ambitious. He believes in the grandiose, tumultuous literary novel. That can falter but it can also soar. #BookSky

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

The city crumples like a burning page. Run, without crown, without scepter; no one will realize that you are the king. There is no night darker than the night of fires. There is no man more alone than one running in the midst of a howling mob. Italo Calvino, Under the Jaguar Sun #SundaySentence

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

It's like a Mel Brooks movie: "Sir, since we legalized porn, the men have no will to fight. They're all spunked out!" "Then send the porn to the Russians!" "They already have porn, sir!" "Then why aren't they spunked out?!" "Have you seen the Russian women, sir?"

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

this is who you had to buy weed from before legalization

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Latest read, The Kreutzer Sonata (1889) by Leo Tolstoy; on a train, a bitter man, Pozdnyshev, explains why he murdered his wife. I initially thought this would reveal the hypocrisy of a madman's misogyny but Tolstoy bizarrely backs Pozdnyshev's arguments. Great, compelling, yet wrong :) #BookSky

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

I drew them in a panel. I guess I don't miss them That much :) They aren't common in the books I read or with a lot of the artists I'm reading. (not that I don't have favorite artists who draw them)

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Latest read, Under the Jaguar Sun (1986) by Italo Calvino. Gourmands eat a special dish in Mexico, a mistrustful king is lured by a song, and 3 characters, separated in time, follow an alluring scent. Calvino passed away before completing this book of the five senses. Still, it's terrific. #BookSky

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

A contender for originator/popularizer of the diagrammatic horizontal panel would be Carmine Infantino, especially his Flash comics.

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

So I was sketching a page layout and stopped, distracted. Started making a list of my favorite comic artists (whatever disorder causes someone to list favorites, I have it). Anyway, I ran out of room.

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

If you have not seen Nick's work in Dead Romans, track it down:

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

I am thrilled Nick Marinkovich is getting well-deserved attention for his Solomon Kane covers also. He's fantastic.

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

When something works, it works. I've used the same approach many times. Almost an 'always works' for layout.

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

A panel that was key to John Byrne's success is this horizontal, diagrammatic panel establishing character position & relationships to each other, allowing for movement and text, and not taking up much space. He must have done this a hundred times. Keeps a story clear & running like a clock.

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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Here are some faves. No intellectual bent, just books I love.

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