Ganzeer. My new favourite writer
I've been a subscriber of Ganzeer's newsletter Restricted Frequency, and a fan of the Solar Grid for a good few months, and as I try to get into the habit of writing more, it seemed worth sharing why in a quick post.
Restricted Frequency is an unalloyed joy to read
In the last few newsletters I've learned about Egyptian satire, how different paper affects the art you create when when you work digitally , about weird crank driven arcade games, the collapse of the ancient world and Concept Pop, thousands year old political graffiti, and most recently, Rainbow Egg Salad, all written in an engaging, human voice.
It's long enough to feel like you're getting your teeth into something and coming away smarter, and intellectually richer, but not so long that it feels overwhelming.
The solar grid
Also Ganzeer's current serialised comic, Solar Grid, is a sci-fi story, that I'm finding feels fresh the same way reading Transmetropolitan in the late nineties/early 2000's felt. I touches on climate change, migration, militarisation of police, romance, and there's a kickstarter going for a full print version of the series:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ganzeer/the-solar-grid-a-graphic-novel
If you're not sure it's right for you, you can download a low res version of the first issue of The Solar Grid for free here.
Working with the web as a medium
I also love the little touches of flare in what you might call the microcopy in the newsletter - having a reply address as shout@ganzeer.com, and when you buy the comic online - the interplay between the subject lines and from: addresses in the emails, and the rhyming - there's a sense of playfulness in the writing which is infectious, and I rarely see online.
Anyway, that's why I like it. Now you know where it is, so have a look yourself.