The Swipe Volume 1 Chapter 22
The family member I mentioned last week is out of hospital and on the road to recovery. Relief is not the word to describe the way I feel. I know there will be more of this stuff down the line—age has an inevitable end point, and you can’t expect the things and people you love to be around forever. But for now, at least, I can enjoy the reprieve and let the world spin on as normal.
Wherever you are, whenever you are, however you are, welcome to The Swipe.
Rob is reading…
Dave Hutchinson’s Cold Water, the latest in his Coureur series of novels. Cold War tensions meet multiversal strangeness in a fractured future Europe. Dave writes tense, sharp spy stories with genuinely innovative twists. I recommend these books if you’re a fan of Le Carre and fancy something a little different.
Rob is watching…
Rabble Theatre’s production of Henry I, performed in the ruins of Reading Abbey. Where, legend has it, the bones of young Hal are interred. Now that’s what I call site-specific. Delighted to be able to grab ticket’s for tonight’s final performance before the show goes on a short tour. Let’s hope the weather stays kind, there’s no kinda roof on the place.
Rob is listening…
to Johnny Winter. Skinny, albino, half-blind—of course he plays the blues. I’ve always loved the ferocity of tone he strangles out of that Gibson Firebird and his incredible gravelly honk of a voice. Absolutely badass.
Rob is eating…
Home-made ragu over thick ribbons of manfredine pasta. It’s been a while since I spent a couple of hours noodling over a pan of sauce, tasting and tweaking as it murmurs away. Rich, unctuous and very moreish. Of course I made enough for the fridge for an emergency weekday dinner. No point in spending all that time and effort on one meal, right?
Rob’s Low-Key Obsession Of The Week…
This. Sorry.
Comics genius Joe Quesada recently launched a newsletter which, to no-one’s surprise, is warm, literate and funny. This edition, on how his dad helped his rise in the world of The Ninth Art, is incredibly heartwarming.
On the same kind of subject, Jeremy B. Jones’ eulogy for his grandpa has a quiet power—mirroring the kind of strength the man he writes about had. Sometimes you can take a long overview of a life and consider it well-spent even if it wasn’t filled with cannonballs and fireworks and wild adventure. Sometimes, peace and contentment is the real sign of success.
Where my calligraphy heads at? You are gonna dig this one. 16th century embellished black letter? Oh myyyy. Also, Fraktur is such a great name for a synth-pop band. BAGSY.
If an internet troll insists you ‘debate’ them on their pet issue, the smart move is to block (or better yet, mute) and move on. As the saying goes…
This year is the 45th anniversary of the launch of the Galaxy’s second-greatest comic—Starlord! Home to a couple of iconic strips in Ro-Busters, which would evolve into The ABC Warriors, and Strontium Dog. The Gutter Review examines the hard life and wild times of Johnny Alpha’s comrade-in-arms, vampire bounty-hunter Durham Red. Still appearing in the pages of 2000AD, Red is as unapologetically hardcore as ever. The girl’s gotta boogie…
Still on the Brit comic tip, Nicholas Lezard’s review of Michael Molcher’s I Am The Law reinforces the point made in the book—justice on the streets of the UK increasingly resembles that dispensed by the Mega-City Judges. If you’re not worried, you should be. Rishi Sunak’s invocation of Immediate Justice has Dredd’s fingerprints all over it.
More comics. Not sorry. Here’s a great interview with fumetti master Howard Payton. Chances are you’ve come across his work, especially if you read romance comics back in the day.
Language, as we never tire of mentioning in The Swipe, is an evolving entity, mutating to match the times and needs of the user. Check the way the people of South Florida are mashing Spanish inflections into English. Like it’s not complicated enough to learn already.
The Little Lytton is a celebration of the all-important first sentance in a piece of fiction. More specifically, it’s enjoying the moment when it doesn’t perform as expected. There are some delightful car-crashes on display. Read and learn, people, read and learn by bad example.
Sometimes, it’s worth letting your audience know where you stand on certain hot-button issues. I therefore go on record as offering a strong approve to every line of the following article. Line in sand drawn.
Lastly, let’s ease into the weekend with an hour of easy entertainment from Programme 4. Think a Rat-Packy, Sunset-Strip version of the kind of pastiche Peter Serafinowicz, Robert Popper and Matt Berry do so well. This is how TV should be. See you at Ramon’s Venetian Rooms.
I am well behind the curve when it comes to the world of modern pop. I try to stay informed but end up with a sense of underwhelm-ment. There are exceptions, happily. I’m delighted to see new work from Olivia Rodrigo, who I thought was a standout at Glastonbury last year. The new single is a doozy—great dramatic build and some wild skews in tone. The promo is great too.
See you in seven, true believers.
