#t. casey brennan

[ultrameganicolaokay]

Vampirella Archives Volume 3 by Archie Goodwin, T. Casey Brennan, José González, Doug Moench, Esteban Maroto, Luis García and more. Cover by Sanjulián. Out in August.

"A NEW BLAST FROM THE PAST!

Dynamite continues to expand its archival library with all-new trade paperback editions showcasing Vampi's early adventures from the pages of Vampirella Magazine!

This third volume of the Vampirella Archives features some of the Daughter of Drakulon's most memorable stories, including the classic yarn '…And To Be a Bride of Chaos' as well as her unforgettable encounter with the O.G. vampire in 'Dracula Still Lives!' Also collected are a host of rare and vintage tales not seen in print since their inception, including 'Vampi's Scarlett Letters,' 'Vampi's Feary Tales,' and 'Vampi's Flames.'

Showcasing a wealth of work from some of such acclaimed creators as Archie Goodwin, José Gonzalez, Steve Englehart, Doug Moench, Estebon Maroto, Richard Corben, and many more, The Vampirella Archives Volume Three trade paperback collects issues #15-21 of the magazine's original run, all reprinted at their original magazine trim size and encased in an iconic cover by master artist Sanjulian."

[balu8]

Vampirella #19: Shadow of Dracula

by T. Casey Brennan and Jose "Pepe" Gonzalez

Warren

[quotelr]

Poor animals! How jealously they guard their pathetic bodies…that which to us is merely an evening’s meal, but to them is life itself.

T. Casey Brennan

[weirdlookindog]

A Stranger in Hell

by Esteban Maroto (art) / T. Casey Brennan (story)

from Eerie #38, February 1972. source

[ultrameganicolaokay]

Vampirella #18 ‘Dracula Still Lives!’ and other stories (1972) by T. Casey Brennan, José González, Esteban Maroto, Don McGregor, Don Glut, Félix Mas and various. Edited by James Warren. Cover by Enrich Torres.

Vampirella #18, June 1972, cover by Enric Torres

[duckprintspress]

A Rainbow of Queer Books for Pride 2025: Turquoise

HAPPY PRIDE 2025! For Pride this year, we’re changing up our usual rec lists. Instead of doing books with specific identities or themes, we’re focused this time on cover color! Throughout the month of June, we’ll be doing 8 rec lists, each with covers inspired by one of the colors of the original Gilbert Baker Pride Flag. We drew a little additional inspiration from the meaning behind the color and why it was included in the original LGBTQIA+ flag (in this case, turquoise = magic), but we prioritized color over meaning. The contributors to this list are: May Barros, Rhosyn Goodfellow, Linnea Peterson, Tris Lawrence, Sebastian Marie, Shannon, Rascal Hartley, and Nina Waters.

Journey Home by May Barros

Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

The Salt in the Sea by J.D. Rivers

Our Dreams at Dusk by Yuhki Kamatani

Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse

Like Real People Do by E.L. Massey

Like You’ve Nothing Left to Prove by E.L. Massey

Deadendia: The Broken Halo by Hamish Steele

The Pairing by Casey McQuiston

A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall

Celestial Monsters by Aiden Thomas

Running Close to the Wind by Alexandra Rowland

Submerged by Vita Ayala

Artifice & Access: A Disability in Fantasy Anthology by Ella T. Holmes

In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone

Twilight Out of Focus by Jyanome

Thousand Autumns by Meng Xi Shi

If It Makes You Happy by Claire Kann

Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli

Many Drops Make a Stream by Adrian Harley

The Wicked Bargain by Gabe Cole Novoa

Jo: An Adaptation of Little Women (Sort Of) by Kathleen Gros

Before I Let Go by Marieke Nijkamp

Find these and many other queer books on our Goodreads book shelf or buy them through the Duck Prints Press Bookshop.org affiliate page.

Join Book Lover’s Discord server to chat with us about books, fandom, and more!

[greencreekwolf]

favorite reads from this year

tagged by the love of my life @spaceprincessem

i actually read a lot of exceptional books this year so picking was hard but these 12 are my absolute favorites (and are in no particular order)

salt kiss by sierra simone (the greatest start to a poly romance with fantastic smut)

beach read by emily henry (i was swept away and also cried an awful amount)

silver under nightfall by rin chupeco (a threesome between two vampires and a vampire hunter, need i say more)

dark heir by c.s. pacat (AWWOOOOUUUGGGHHHHH)

the serpent and the wings of night by carissa broadbent (one of the best vampire/fantasy enemies to lovers ive ever read)

margins by landry brennan aka @rewritetheending (such a beautiful wholesome romance, truly one of the most lovely stories ever)

a dowry of blood by s. t. gibson (it's about dracula's lovers. brutal and gory and messy and delicious)

happy place by emily henry (this made me feel so many things that i was sure i would explode)

in my dreams i hold a knife by ashley winstead (everyone on this was so fucked up and it was delightful. also VERY hot)

funny story by emily henry (this made my heart fucking glow)

we could be so good by cat sebastian (the fucking prose !!!!!!!!!!)

the pairing by casey mcquiston (i haven't finished this one yet but i already adore the shit out of it. it's made me so hungry and horny)

tagging @colonoscopys @shitouttabuck @bigfootsmom @honestlydarkprincess @hippolotamus @rewritetheending @leothil @zahlibeth @midsummersmorn @lonelychicago @bekkachaos @bucklavaa @spotsandsocks @chronicowboy @lemonzestywrites @try-set-me-on-fire @shyaudacity @onward--upward and anyone else who wants to share! please tag me i wanna hear about all the books <3

[tardis-stowaway]

Books I read in 2023

I completely fell down on keeping track of books I read this year as I went, but I decided to try listing my 2023 reading as best as I can remember so I have some record of it. This list includes middle grade, YA, and graphic novels, but not picture books (I have to read a lot of those for professional purposes) or fanfic. Text categories include both print and eBooks. They're alphabetical by author within each section.

New Reads: text

Adult -Borderline by Mishell Baker -Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold -Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold -Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher -The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher -The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune -The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal -Sword Stone Table: Old Legends, New Voices. Edited by Swapna Krishna and Jenn Northington -My Roommate is a Vampire by Jenna Levine -A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske -Red, White, & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston -Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse -Thirteen Storeys by Jonathan Sims -Witch King by Martha Wells

YA -Twelfth Grade Night by Molly Booth (graphic novel) -In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan -Strange Grace by Tessa Gratton -Nimona by ND Stevenson (graphic novel)

Middle Grade -The Impossible Destiny of Cutie Grackle by Shawn K. Stout -The Last Hope in Hopetown by Maria Tureaud -Bea Wolf by Zach Weinersmith (graphic novel)

New reads: audio -Bad Cree by Jessica Johns -Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle -Black River Orchard by Chuck Wendig

Rereads: text -Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire -A Local Habitation by Seanan McGuire -An Artificial Night by Seanan McGuire -I reread several Murderbot Diaries books at some point within the past year and a half, but I really can’t recall if it was 2022 or 2023.

Rereads: audio -Dracula by Bram Stoker (as performed in Re: Dracula. It may be a podcast but it had the full-length novel text so I'm counting it)

My favorites of the new reads were probably Nettle and Bone, The Hollow Places, Nimona, and In Other Lands. Yes, that's two T. Kingfisher books in my top four. This was my first time reading her books, but I will definitely be seeking out more; she's fantastic. Weirdly, I don't think I read a single nonfiction book this year, which is something I'd like to change next year.

Any of these you're interested in and want to know more about? Or any here you've read and want to chat about? Any books you loved this year that you want to shout about?

[locustheologicus]

5 Ways to "Fix" The Catholic Church

A must watch video for promoting the Catholic mission and making it relevant to the challenges we have experienced. Fr. Casey offers a five step reform that the Church should address. In the secular and plurasitic world we live in we need to change the way that the Church responds to the needs of those we encounter. Our own Bishop Brennan promoted a small book that affirms many of these strategies titled “From Christendom to Apostolic Mission” where the author, Msgr. James Shea, promoted developing a “clarity of identity and understanding concerning the aims of the institution among all its member.” 

Proclaim Redemption: An outsider may not see the salvific story of Jesus from the litugy we celebrate. Bible studies and faith sharing seem to be ways that the evangelical churches have been able to promote the message. How does Jesus change lives and allow us to be wounded healers for others. 

Emphasize Universality: All are welcome, the Catholic Church has always allowed other cultures to express the salvific message and liturgy in a ways that is meaningful for people of different ethnicities and cultures. Being united does not mean that we have to be uniform. Fr. Casey wants us to not fall into tribalism and idolatry where we judge other ways of celebrating the Mass. The Holy Spirit allows our Christian spirituality to be diverse. So long our values and liturgy is consistent with the Kingdom of God message we should be open to how it is celebrated.    

Overhaul Formation: This is key. Fr. Casey uses a favorite term for me called ongoing formation. Our sacramental focus has not been able to allow young adults to see their Catholic identity as a process of discipleship. We need to have programs that allow adults to always be fed by the Word of God and allows them to express their discipleship in community with one another.  

Heal Wounds: Fr. Casey puts great emphasis on the sex-abuse crisis but I would say that this step should complement point number three and five. the Church and its leaders should respond to Pope Francis’ call to “smell like sheep.” Fr. Casey goes on to push this analogy further, “If Bishops want to win back their people and the moral authority they once had, maybe they can try selling their palaces, living amonst the poor and showing that they can be true shepherds that care about the weak and forgotten.” A Church that heals wounds must recognize itself as broken and truly penitant while being in solidarity to all who can recognize their own brokenness and accompany them with a spirit of healing.      

Mobilize Missionaries: This is the call for evangelization or if you like, a new evangelization. Here he echoes much of what  Msgr. Shea promotes in his book. The missionary spirit is at the heart of our discipleship and we do this through our response to social issues and spiritual emptiness. This is where the Church must function as a field hospital to recharge before going out and evangelize our world by our presence (example) and service.    

These five points allow us to adjust how the Church promotes its mission in a way that responds to the secular and pluralistic society we find ourselves in. Fr. Casey uses the metaphor of the Church as a "Field Hospital." A guiding metaphor that Pope Francis has used to address the way the Church should see itself in renewing its mission in our society. This metaphor is borrowed from the early church, which Msgr. Shea suggests is where we need to go to find examples of being Church in times such as these.

The "field hospital" church serves a slightly different purpose for Fr. Casey but it's goals remain consistent. Pope Francis takes the model put forward by St. John Chrysostom and Gregory the Great where the Church is a place of spiritual and social healing from the turbulence of our society. The Church must be seen as a place that treats the wounds of the economically poor, the socially marginalized, and the spiritually desolate. It heals through the power of God's great love for all people, a love that can only be recognized through our own witness of God's mercy and beneficence. Fr. Casey offers a slightly different emphasis, suggesting that the "field hospital" Church needs to be a place of retreat and healing for Christian missionaries in the world, a sacramental and communal place where we can recharge our own spiritual batteries as it were. The "field hospital" Church can and should serve both functions. 

In visiting our apostolic and patristic origins, it would serve us to remember the three ways that Augustine and Aquinas (two of our great theological powerhouses) would have us teach the faith and argue our theological principles in the societies they lived in. Bernard McGinn describes this in his exposition of Aquinas and the Summa Theologiae. 

Hence, sacred teaching argues in different ways for different audiences. In the case of those who do not accept revelation, it can only rebut arguments that the articles of faith are totally incoherent or contradictory. With those who accept revelation, but have gotten some teaching wrong ("the heretics" for Thomas and his contemporaries), it can argue from the articles held in common to the truth of those under dispute. Finally (and most important), foe believers, its arguments make manifest the implications of faith, following the Augustinian program of "faith seeking understanding." (McGinn, pg. 61)

The first approach of teaching is exhibited by modern apologist like Bishop Barron and John Polkinghorne when they respond to atheistic and scientific community on the intelligibility of our faith tradition. You see me and other social ministers like Rev. William Barber II who often use the second approach when addressing the concerns of Christian nationalism and other modern “heresies.” Fr. Casey and the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises can be credited with promoting the third approach as they attempt to deepen the faith of believers.  

The clergy and all the ministers of the Church, including its social ministers, should consider how to organize these five points and when to apply the three forms of theological education/formation and argument in how we promote the mission of the Church in our secular and pluralistic society.

[mitchbeck]

WOLF PACK WEEKEND RECAP: APRIL 15th, 2024

By: Alex Thomas, Hartford Wolf Pack HARTFORD, CT—The Hartford Wolf Pack have punched their ticket to the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs. The club is heading back to the dance following back-to-back victories over the weekend, its first consecutive victories since early March. With three games to go in the season, the Wolf Pack will look to lock up seeding and set the tone for a showdown with one of three division rivals. Friday, April 12th, 2024, Vs. Springfield Thunderbirds (5-3 W): The Wolf Pack snapped a six-game overall losing streak, five-game skid at home, and four-game losing streak head-to-head against the Thunderbirds on Friday night. The victory also officially clinched the Wolf Pack a spot in the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs. Riley Nash and Mathias Laferriere traded goals in the opening period before the Pack took control of the game in the middle stanza. Alex BelzBelzile'sg-range shot beat Colten Ellis at 6:41 of the second period, giving the Pack a lead they never lost. Jake Leschyshyn tipped in a Nikolas Brouillard shot at 10:30 to make it a 3-1 game; then Blake Hillman made it 4-1 with a shot through traffic at 18:18. The T-Birds struck twice in 81 seconds to make it a 4-3 tilt early in the third period. Mikhail Abramov converted on a breakaway at 6:34, then Adam Gaudette took an excellent feed from Joseph Duszak and potted his 41st goal of the season at 7:55. The Pack killed the clock in the final minutes with suffocating defensive play and plenty of offensive zone time. Louis Domingue then sealed the deal at 19:37, hitting an empty net for his first career goal and the second goalie goal in Wolf Pack history. Sunday, April 14th, 2024, Vs. Charlotte Checkers (5-2 W): For the first time since January 10th, 2020, the Wolf Pack claimed a regulation victory on home ice against the Charlotte Checkers on Sunday. The win snapped an eight-game losing streak against the Checkers overall and a six-game skid on home ice dating back to October 29th, 2022. Casey Fitzgerald opened the scoring for the visitors just 43 seconds into the second period, scoring on a beautiful individual effort. The goal, FitzFitzgerald'srth of the season, marked the seventh time in eight meetings that the Checkers struck first. The Pack responded with a powerplay goal at 9:06, as Adam Sýkora fired a shot into traffic that eluded Spencer Knight. The goal was SýkoSýkora'shth of the season and first in ten games. Brett Berard then snapped a shot by Knight from the left-wing circle on a five-minute powerplay at 14:33, giving the Pack their first lead in six games over the Checkers. Initially, the call on the ice was no goal. At the next stoppage, the officials reviewed the play and determined that the puck hit the back bar and rocketed out, giving Berard his team-leading 25th goal. Adam Edström scored the game-winning goal at 16:28, converting a shorthanded breakaway for his tenth goal. Edström waited out Knight before lifting a backhander over the goaltender for the club's tenth shorthanded goal of the season. Jaroslav Chmelař made it 4-1 3:55 into the third period, scoring his first professional goal on a breakaway. At 6:36, Berard found Brennan Othmann at the back door, making it 5-1. After a nifty feed from Berard, Othmann tapped his 19th goal of the season into the net. Rasmus Asplund scored at 13:13 to make it a 5-2 game, but two late penalty kills by the Wolf Pack cemented the clubclub'sst victory against the Checkers this season. Quick Hits: - DomiDomingue'sl on Friday night was the fourth goal scored by an AHL goalie this season. He joins LavaLaval'sauss Mann, Wilkes-Barre/ScraScranton'sx Nedeljkovic, and RockRockford'sson Stauber. - His goal was the second goalie goal in Wolf Pack history. AHL Hall of Famer J.F. Labbe accomplished the feat on February 5th, 2000. - For the first time since the 2010-11 and 2011-12 campaigns, the Wolf Pack have clinched a Calder Cup Playoff berth in back-to-back seasons. - On Sunday, forward Kalle Väisänen became the seventh player to make his AHL debut with the Wolf Pack this season. - Thanks to his goal on Sunday, Berard sits second in the AHL in goals by a rookie with 25. He trails only Josh Doan of the Tucson Roadrunners. Doan has scored 26 goals this season. The Week Ahead: - Friday, April 19th, 2024, Vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (7:00 p.m., XL Center, $2 hot dogs & $2 drafts, Fan Appreciation Night) - Saturday, April 20th, 2024, @ Springfield Thunderbirds (7:05 p.m., MassMutual Center) - Sunday, April 21st, 2024, @ Providence Bruins (3:05 p.m., Amica Mutual Pavilion) About OVG360: OVG360, a division of Oak View Group, is a full-service venue management and hospitality company that helps client partners reimagine the sports, live entertainment, and convention industries for the betterment of the venue, employees, artists, athletes, and surrounding communities. With a portfolio of more than 200 client partners spanning arenas, stadiums, convention centers, performing arts centers, cultural institutions, and state fairs around the globe, OVG360 provides a set of services, resources, and expertise designed to elevate every aspect of business that matters to venue operators. Service-oriented and driven by social responsibility, OVG360 helps facilities drive value through excellence and innovation in food services, booking and content development, sustainable operations, public health and safety, and more. ABOUT THE HARTFORD WOLF PACK: The Hartford Wolf Pack has been a premier franchise in the American Hockey League since the team's selection in 1997. The Wolf Pack is the top player-development affiliate of the NHL'NHL's York Rangers and plays at the XL Center. The Wolf Pack has been home to some of the Ranger's newest faces, including Igor Shesterkin, Filip Chytil, and Ryan Lindgren. Follow the Wolf Pack on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. HARTFORD WOLF PACK HOWLINGS Read the full article

[ultrameganicolaokay]

Creepy Archives Volume 9 by Gardner Fox, Tom Sutton, Steve Skeates, Gerry Conway, Dave Cockrum, Luis García, Félix Mas, Mike Ploog and many more. Cover by Sanjulián. Out in November.

"Creepy Archives Volume 9 features the prime cuts fresh from the chopping block of horror, fantasy, and science fiction served up by a sterling set of slaughterhouse chefs including Richard Corben, T. Casey Brennan, Tom Sutton, Steve Skeates, and many more. This era of Creepy featured the influx of talented Spanish artists such as José Bea, Jaime Brocal, Luis Garcia, Martin Salvador, and Felix Mas, whose work would bring the standard of illustration in comics to new highs. Collects Creepy issues #42-45."

[xtruss]

Norma McCorvey, Jane Roe in the 1973 court case, left, and her attorney Gloria Allred hold hands as they leave the Supreme Court building in Washington, DC. April 26, 1989. Mark Reinstein/Alamy

Sandra Day O’Connor and the Reconsideration of Roe v. Wade

A legal journalist considers the intersection of abortion rights and the Justice’s Supreme Court career.

— September 10, 2021 | Linda Greenhouse

By the time Sandra O’Connor came to the court in 1981, there was a fire raging about Roe v. Wade, which had been decided just eight years earlier. Now, why was that? My research tells me smart, strategic people around Richard Nixon in the Republican party thought, aha, we’ve had a really good run with the Southern strategy—to play the race card and peel the white Democrat voters in the South away and turn them into Republicans.

How about a Northern strategy? We’ve got a democratic party in the north filled with Catholic voters, urban, ethnic. We can inspire them to become Republicans if we go hot and heavy on abortion. Richard Nixon could not have cared less about abortion. The Republican party historically, for a number of years, had been the party of the equal rights amendment and of women’s reproductive rights.

What happened in the years after Roe was not a natural evolution, as many people think. It was cultivated. It was a party realignment that was carefully stage managed.

It wasn’t until 1980, with the platform that Reagan ran on seven years after Roe, that the [Republican] party said, we are committed to the right to life, and we’re committed to finding judges who will fully respect the right to life, which was code language for who would overturn Roe v. Wade. It was still incipient at the time that O’Connor arrived.

Akron v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health

Nobody knew what her views were, but the right to life crowd knew was she wasn’t marching along with them. So she got some frantically programmed questions at her Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, and she just played it very straight. She said at one point: I don’t support abortion; abortion is abhorrent to me, but I’m not a woman who’s about to get pregnant. So she really played it very smartly.

From her first several years on the court, one would have thought, here’s somebody that’s going to be a rock Republican conservative judge. She was way over on crime. She was very, very skeptical of affirmative action. She was skeptical of Roe v. Wade.

Her first public [Supreme Court] opinion on abortion came in the Akron case in 1983 [Akron v. Akron Center For Reproductive Health]. She had been on the court for two years. The Akron case served up to the court a series of abortion restrictions that really challenged Roe v. Wade [including requirements for: all abortions performed after the first trimester to be done in hospitals, parental consent before the procedure could be performed on an unmarried minor, doctors to counsel prospective patients, a 24 hour waiting period and that fetal remains be disposed of in a "humane and sanitary manner."]. The court reaffirmed Roe, and O’Connor dissented, [saying, “I believe that the State's interest in protecting potential human life exists throughout the pregnancy.”]

It was obvious there were four justices opposed to that, and there were four justices fully for that. And everybody assumed that O’Connor was going to be also fully for undercutting Roe. But she wouldn’t go along. She wrote a separate opinion, deciding the case very narrowly. She said there may be time in the future to deal with the bigger, deeper issue, but that time has not arrived.

Planned Parenthood v. Casey

In 1992, it really did look as if the court was about to overturn Roe v. Wade, because Justice Brennan had retired, replaced by Justice Souter. Thurgood Marshall had retired, replaced by Clarence Thomas. There was no longer the original Roe v. Wade majority. They were gone.

So the case came to the court. Like all of these cases, it came as a set of restrictions that, in this case, the state of Pennsylvania had imposed on access to abortion. But there was a real effort, actually by the pro-choice side to get the court to focus on the big issue. Why? Because 1992 was a presidential election year, and President Bush was running for reelection against Bill Clinton. The pro-choice side thought, okay, if in June of 1992, in this Casey case, Roe v. Wade is overturned, we’ll have one hell of an election issue.

It’s not that [the pro-choice side] wanted it to be overturned. They were afraid it was going to be overturned in the quite immediate future. And so, if that was going to happen, let it happen when the election in 1992 could become a public referendum. So there was just a lot of noise surrounding this Casey case. The case was argued in April of ’92. And from the argument, things were not looking very good for the pro-choice side.

Last day of the term in June of ’92, everybody troops up to the Supreme Court. Usually, you don’t know when a Supreme Court decision is coming, but it was the last day of the term, and Casey was the last undecided case, so everybody knew this was the day. I mean, I remember going into the courtroom thinking, okay, you know, I’ve been writing about this issue for 20 years, and now it’s going to be over?

But famously, three Republican-appointed justices, Justice O’Connor, Justice Kennedy and Justice Souter, held the balance of power in the case. They were joined on the left by Justice Stevens and Justice Blackman. And they reaffirmed the right to abortion. They didn’t reaffirm Roe v. Wade, per se. They changed the standard to a standard that O’Connor had been advocating for some years, the undue burden standard. If there’s a restriction that has the purpose or effect of cutting off a woman’s access to abortion, that burden is undue.

O’Connor-ism

It was an example, really, of kind of O’Connor-ism in a sense of we can do what makes us feel comfortable. There are things we don’t like about Roe v. Wade, but there’s things we really don’t like about just getting rid of it. And so this is what we’re coming out with. And this is what has basically held since 1992.

Her strength as a justice was not to be swayed by the rhetorical dressing that cases often come in, one side or the other side. She looked beyond the rhetoric for the facts that would indicate how the case should be decided as a dispute, not as a billboard, not as a voice of the ages. We’ve got a dispute before us. We’re going to solve it. We’re going to not necessarily settle it. We’re going to solve this case. I think that was her strength, and it’s not all that common on the court.

Our interview with Linda Greenhouse has been edited for clarity. Greenhouse is a New York Times contributor and co-author of The Burger Court and the Rise of the Judicial Right.

[gameraboy2]

"When this is done, Vampirella, I swear I will have my revenge!"

Dracula Still Lives! Vampirella #18 (1972) Art by Jose Gonzalez Written by T. Casey Brennan

[comicsxaminer]

Editor’s Note: This story was originally intended for publication by The Miami Herald but any tale by T. Casey Brennan (a prolific writer of classic Vampirella) is one worth reading. AN INVITATION TO A MICHIGAN COMIC-CON, WRITTEN IN BLOOD AND TEARS by T. Casey Brennan

This is the story of a coming comic book convention in Michigan, and why people who read the Miami Herald should attend. No – This is the story of Nisa Ozbay and Trisha Posner, girl detectives, and how they almost solved an old mystery.

On Sept. 15, 2018, Monroe, Michigan will hold the Monroe Comic Con, the last because the far larger San Diego convention has been awarded the name, and the greatest because it solves so many mysteries and Miami Beachers risked their lives and careers to put me there, back where I belong, a celebrity writer, where I could – THIS time – tell. Maybe it began when former Miami Beach mayor Alex Daoud signed a Proclamation declaring January 1989 “T. Casey Brennan Month in Miami Beach”, or maybe it began in December, 1962 when I first toured Miami Beach, at the age of fourteen, with my late parents. Ominously, as I feigned sleep, I could hear the twelve chimes of a clock, somewhere nearby, announcing 1963. Where there should have been vacation joy, there was sadness, and where there should have been hope, there was fear: this was 1963, and I was already caught in something, along with my parents, both Michigan school board officials. But comic cons are about fun, and in July of 1969, I suppose, the fun began when the now famous comic book publisher, Warren, presented “Family Curse”, written by me, in the July 1969 comic book title, EERIE.

Soon I was a celeb comic book writer guest at comic book conventions in New York, Detroit, and Toronto, much like this one which is to come. And before that was a fanzine published by a now dead collector named Bob Butts, later to become famous for restoring one of the Batmobiles — in 1964, while we were both still in high school, he gave us the first T. Casey Brennan comic, published in blue on a mimeograph: “Captain Democracy”. So he had been thrown unknowingly into the maelstrom of my early comic book collecting days. My late parents had been Michigan school board officials caught in the web of an osteopath and hypnotist in Port Hope, Michigan, who claimed to be a part of the CIA’s Project MKULTRA. He had demanded a weekly presentation of all my mail from the other comic book collectors, all early teens like myself. In 1953, my kindergarten teacher had promoted me immediately into the first grade so when I entered the ninth grade in Peck High School in 1961, I was thirteen years old. The next decade, the seventies, would introduce me into the world of comics in a far different way — as a writer of sad romantic tales for a number of titles, CREEPY, EERIE, VAMPIRELLA, HOUSE OF MYSTERY, etc. I signed autographs at conventions and published comic book stories, articles and books all over the world.

I’d almost forgotten about my dad’s awful hypnotist who wanted all my letters then, and i had thoroughly forgotten the other part, where they flew me to Dallas and made me shoot. When I was hit by a car and lived a double life in Ann Arbor (street person, comics/JFK celebrity), Nisa Ozbay, a long-time Miami Beach resident and Turkish heiress, found me, helped me get renewed ID and social security, and paid for my rent after I had been homeless for YEARS. That was 2010, and she said she wanted to draw my stories – not the usual comics I’d written, but my JFK memoirs. So when, in July, she met the famous JFK authors, Gerald and Trisha Posner, she immediately called me about it, then had a near deadly accident just after. Ironically, the Posners were my Facebook friends, and had even helped promote a Detroit appearance by my band a few years back. Three more near deadly car crashes followed for Nisa, who had saved me from the streets in 2010, the same year Bugliosi’s JFK book RECLAIMING HISTORY listed me as #8 on page 1496, on a list of possible JFK shooters. Just before the meeting, and subsequent car crash, I had proposed that the Posners initiate something I called Truthergate. Trisha Posner and I had discussed it through emails. Well, at least they didn’t crash Nisa’s car with Trisha Posner in it, since I really like her. But this was the story of a comic book convention, coming soon, and not of the dangers they all faced, the Posners (riding in the car just before), the mayor who made the Proclamation — or even of my still-born plan of Nisa Ozbay and Trisha Posner, girl detectives, who would, at last, through me, solve the JFK assassination. Just an announcement of my coming appearance at the Monroe Comic Con September 15th, in Monroe, Michigan.

A New Short Story By T. Casey Brennan Editor's Note: This story was originally intended for publication by The Miami Herald but any tale by…

[vegance]

Jeremy Bentham (1780) // T. Casey Brennan // Jonathan Safran Foer (2009)

[duckprintspress]

Celebrate Bisexual Awareness Week with 18 Awesome Books with Bi Characters!

September 16th to 23rd is Bisexual Awareness Week, culminating in Bisexual Visibility Day on the last day! To celebrate, we cooked up a list of our 18 favorite books featuring bisexual characters!

The Rules and Regulations for Mediating Myths and Magic by F. T. Lukens

Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Guardian by priest

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

Unmasked by the Marquess by Cat Sebastian

Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli

Heartstopper by Alice Oseman

Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell

In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan

When the Stars Alight by Camilla Andrew

You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi

Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake

Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail by Ashley Herring Blake

Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake by Alexis Hall

The Heartbreak Bakery by A. R. Capetta

Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake

What are YOUR favorite books with bisexual protagonists? Tell us so we can get our read on even more!

This post was compiled with contributions from numerous Duck Prints Press contributors. We’ll have another post coming out on the 23rd, with Duck Prints Press publications featuring bi characters!