FIVE FRIDAYS 004
GO DO RINSE REPEAT
First things first: close your F%$*&ING mouth when you chew.
I can’t help but imagine launching a flying scissor kick. I just want to give you the biggest beatdown I can. EXAMPLE:
Now that we’ve settled the truly pressing matters, let’s talk about how the week went.
Every idea I come up with—whether it’s a comic, a painting, a story, or a scribble on a Post-it—only has one real shot at becoming real: me. That’s all there is. There’s no magic productivity fairy, no algorithm, and no sudden wave of motivation. It’s just the calendar, the work, and the decision to sit down and get started.
1.
FWACATA #4 is nearly done and just needs some final touches. FWACATA #3 still has a few last commissions and packages to send out. I’m trying to decide whether to launch #4 in July or August, since July could mean a trip to Spain for my wife’s performance. I’d rather not spend a beautiful day overseas stuck to Kickstarter, refreshing it every five minutes like a raccoon at a slot machine.
In all of this, I have rebuilt my store and my apparel sales store, which is coming along, but what the hell.
Meanwhile, I’m fully immersed in rebuilding ZOMBIE YEARS and VIGIL. I’m planning to re-release the first five issues in a cleaner, standard comic-book format. Right now, I’m on page four of issue one, editing, redesigning, and having imaginary arguments with my younger self.
VIGIL is a bit more complicated, and I'm trying to clean up and redo many a page as we go, while restructuring and essentially rewriting the series. It’s funny how often Past Juan seems to tell Future Juan, “Good luck fixing this, idiot.”
Still, things are moving forward.
And that progress is what matters most.
2. The Old Internet Might Save Us
Lately, I’ve been thinking about how creators get discovered, and honestly, it seems like most don’t—at least not the way they used to. The internet used to feel like a neighborhood, but now it’s more like a casino. Algorithms have become these huge black boxes that decide what people see, what gets buried, and whether something you’ve worked on for months or years ever reaches anyone. You can do everything “right”—post at the right times, use the right thumbnails and hashtags, even joke about making a sacrifice under a full moon—and still get twenty views. Meanwhile, someone filming themselves eating drywall gets ten million.
So maybe the answer isn’t to keep trying to outsmart the machine. Maybe it’s time to look back instead.
I’ve noticed people like Ganzeer and YouTube creators like DAN DOES (I really enjoy model makers on YouTube) finding success by doing something refreshingly old-school: helping each other directly. They exchange banners, give recommendations, make personal introductions, and build real communities.
No algorithms. No paid ads. Just creators helping each other find new readers. I’m also thinking about starting a “Draw FUGLY” initiative, where artists can draw the character however they like and share it online. There are no winners, prizes, or judges, because it’s not a contest—it’s just a way to boost each other’s work. It’s a chance to show off your art, meet other creators, and have fun with the character. If you join in, post your art, tag it, link back to your own projects, and let people discover what you’re making. The goal isn’t competition; it’s community. The internet used to work like this all the time, with web rings, link exchanges, and creators helping each other grow. Maybe it’s time to bring some of that back.
So why not us? If you have a favorite creator, mention them in your reply to this email or just send me a link. If you know someone doing great work, recommend them to the group—just reply, and I’ll share your shout-outs in the next issue. Want to connect with other readers or find collaborators? Let me know in your reply, and I’ll do my best to connect people. Basically, reply to this newsletter with anything you want to share: links, recommendations, your own projects, or just a friendly hello. Let’s help each other spread the word like it’s still 1998. All it takes is a little push from a real person, not an algorithm.
Remember web rings? Remember when people linked to another website just because they thought, “Hey, if you like my stuff, you’ll probably like theirs too”? There was something very human about that. It wasn’t about optimization, money, or data. It was simply people sharing what they loved. The more I think about it, the more I believe the future is there—not in more algorithms, but in stronger relationships. Not in better metrics, but in better communities. Maybe the way forward is to remember that behind every screen is a real person, and people have always been better at finding great art than machines ever will be.
3. Every New Drawing Is a Door
This week, I came across something Warren Ellis wrote, quoting Picasso:
Picasso complained all the time. He hated getting up, grumbled about work, and thought everything was awful. But then he’d spend the afternoon painting. His philosophy was simple: every new drawing is a chance—an opportunity, a sale, an idea, a connection, a door opening. The only way to create new opportunities is to keep making new things.
That’s really all there is to it.
No secrets. No productivity hacks. Just doing the work.
Fucking amen.
4. Demons in the Machine
Lately, I’ve been deep in writing mode for REZ, which has led my mind into some fascinating and risky territory—specifically, computer daemons. For anyone unfamiliar, a daemon is a background process that quietly runs behind the scenes, doing its job while you go about your day, completely unaware. That sounds pretty occult, doesn’t it? Throughout history, every culture has had stories about invisible forces—spirits, angels, demons, ancestors, djinn, or whatever unseen intelligence your mythology prefers. Now, we have invisible digital entities working in huge electronic networks, making decisions, moving information, opening and closing doors, and shaping reality without us ever seeing them. If you explained modern computing to a medieval monk, they’d probably call for an exorcism. That’s where my mind starts making connections. What if the occult wasn’t replaced by technology but simply given a new language? What if all these massive AI systems, algorithms, and background processes are creating a modern mythology of invisible powers beyond our understanding? Don’t worry, I’m not saying Peter Thiel is summoning Beelzebub through a startup incubator, but it would make a funny comic premise. In REZ, this idea is turning into a conspiracy theory where “daemons” are both computer programs and supernatural entities, traveling through networks, data centers, and AI systems, finding new ways into the world through our obsession with building smarter machines. Somewhere between occult rituals and software engineering, there’s a horror story, and REZ is getting closer to it.
If you have any wild ideas, strange stories, or favorite examples of where technology and the supernatural meet, let me know. Want to brainstorm horror ideas or explore these themes together? I’d love to hear what this sparks for you. Reply to this email and let’s swap theories, inspirations, or just some weird tech folklore. We might come up with something great for REZ—or just have a fun, spooky chat.
5. The Garden
Finally, there’s my wife’s garden. The tomatoes are thriving, the jalapeños are growing, the beans are climbing, and the apricots are starting to ripen—all from a small patch of dirt that looked pretty ordinary just a few months ago. It’s amazing when you think about it. Maybe that’s the real lesson behind this whole newsletter: you plant something, water it, care for it, and then wait. That’s all there is. No shortcuts, no hacks, no algorithm. Just attention and time. Then one day, there’s food. Or comics. Or paintings. Or a life you’ve built, piece by piece, without even noticing. My wife is incredible at this. Not because she’s perfect—thank God—but because she truly makes me better. She calls me out when I’m being ridiculous, encourages my best ideas, and won’t let me get away with my worst ones. If you can, find someone like that. Someone who helps you grow, can move a couch without complaining, and gives great kisses. The world naturally drifts toward distraction and noise. The trick is to plant things anyway and show up every day to help them grow.
So here’s a gentle push: try planting something new this week. It doesn’t have to be a real garden—maybe it’s a sketch, a paragraph, a phone call, or a small project just for you. If you want a fun place to start, here’s a creative prompt for everyone: draw your workspace, no matter how messy or tidy it is, or write a six-word story about your day. If you feel like sharing, reply and let me know what you came up with. Give it a little attention. Check on it every day, even if it’s just for a minute. See what happens.
Be good.
-J