Fully Chaptered Recordings of Last Week's Livestreams Now Available!
Plus notes on the comics and wines, but of course. And two NEW Livestreams happening this week! *pant, pant*
Two Upcoming Livestreams this week!
GO HERE and select to be notified when we go live!
GO HERE and select to be notified when we go live!
Previous Livestream Recordings, Fully Chaptered + Show Notes!
Patrick Coyle and Bixby Grant: Private Eye
(Fully clickable chapters when you go to the video on YouTube.)
We discuss Patrick's creative journey, the evolution of Bixby Grant, and pair some kick-ass wines with it! Get your copy of BIXBY GRANT: FANGS AND BRIMSTONE #1 here.
Dallas' Wine Pairing
Conde de Albarei Albariño, Galicia, Spain
Varietals: 100% Albariño
Origin: D.O. Rias Baixas
Vineyards: Valle Del Salnès
Total Acidity: 6.5 grams/liter
Residual Sugar: 3 grams/liter
Alcohol: 12% by vol.
Tasting Notes: From the cool “green” coast of Spain’s northwest, Condes de Albarei Albariño (“Alvarinho” in Portugal) is a complex blend of flavors that fits perfectly with the blend of old-timey wholesomeness and modern noir thrills that make up Patrick’s Bixby Grant comic. Made from 100% Albariño, this wine has a rich, vibrant mouth feel. Varietal aromas of tropical fruit (pineapple) and citrus aromas (oranges), with a hint of white flowers (orange blossom).
Dave's Wine Pairing
Grenache Gris "Orange", The Blending Lab, Paso Robles/Los Angeles, California
Grenache is a red wine grape that also comes in two primary mutations, Grenache Blanc and Granache Gris
Grenache Blanc is a green/white grape, and produces wonderfully fresh, citrus-forward whites with high acidity and a touch of body.
Grenache Gris is a grey and pink colored grape, that when soaked on the skins produces a prettily-colored “orange” wine with a perfect balance of tannins, minerality, and intensity, with an “oily” body that allows the flavors to sit on your tongue and offer a lengthy finish.
The Blending Lab here in LA and based out of Paso Robles currently offers Grenache Gris in three ways: a pure white wine (so no skin contact), a rose (where they take the white wine and soak it with a touch of Touriga Nacional skins), and an “orange” where they soak the Grenache Gris on its own skins.
The “orange” is the perfect pairing, though any of the above will work well enough. The orange offers flavors of nuts, honey, dry citrus rinds, and sour dough notes. Beer lovers, if you love sours, this is the Wine for you!
Patrick's Comic and Beverage Pairing
THE SIXTH GUN by Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt (Oni Press) https://www.amazon.com/Sixth-Gun-Vol-Deluxe/dp/1934964840
Paired with…“rotgut” whiskey!
That’s not a brand, obviously, but here’s a thread to find everyone’s “favorite” rotgut! :D
Charlie Stickney and Kevin Joseph Talk Glarien and Tart
(Fully clickable chapters when you go to the video on YouTube.)
Two of the biggest and most respected names in indie comics join us TOGETHER for one epic midday chat. We talk Glarien: Origins #1-3 and Tart HC Vol. 3, but with the four of us crowding into a single streaming room, expect many a tangent and diatribe, 'natch.
Get your own copies of Charlie's Glarien and/or White Ash.
Get your own copies of Kevin's TART Hardcovers. (And if you're in time, you can get the "Digital Catch-Up" of everything up to the present in digital, message Kevin and he'll send you issues 1-3 right away. If you don't like them, you can cancel before being charged at the end of the campaign.)
Dallas' Wine Pairing for Glarien
Sterling Vintner's Collection Pinot Noir
Sterling is an “everywhere” wine - you can find it virtually everywhere. Grocery store, drug store, big box store, liquor store, wine shop, you name it, you can find this bad boy, and for something like $7 - $10, too!
Cherry and cranberry on the palate with a touch of integrated oak. Fine tannins, all easy-going enjoyment, very little to upset even the most sensitive of palates. A blend of Pinots across all of California. This is bulk made stuff, but when done well, it can be worth the modest price tag.
Dave's Wine Pairing for Glarien
Pineau d'Aunis aka Chenin Noir
A red grape predominantly used in blending in the Loire region of France, lately single varietal expressions have been trickling out and gaining popularity. Light in color and body, with strong white pepper and floral notes, it’s a bit unlike any other red I’ve ever tried. But this is not the most common grape to stumble across on a retail shelf, so as backup I also included:
or
Clare Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Australia
Cab Sauv from the Clare Valley - one of the coolest climates in Australia - can express similar properties, white pepper, florals such as violets, bell pepper, gentle black fruits, and a minty finish.
Charlie's Comic and Beverage Pairing:
TAB Soda - 2x the Caffeine like Jolt!
Tab came before Jolt, it was the OG extra-caffeinated soda, PLUS was “Sugar Free” and “0 Calories”, so it was an OG “diet” soda, too! Women of the times flocked to it, my mom included (it was marketed as the “working woman’s soda” for a spell), so Tab was a staple in my household. They briefly made a “caffeine free” version, but that was discontinued long ago.
DEADLY CLASS by Rick Remender, Wesley Craig, and Lee Loughridge, published by Image Comics
Kevin's Comic and Beverage Pairing:*
Kombucha Tea Kamikaze Blend (a mixture of whatever he had lying around! I’m not 100% sure I can actually recommend this!)
NINECROW OGN by Dora Mitchell (gorgeous 172-page original graphic novel)
Halloween Book Club Livestream w/ Brian Hawkins
This was a super fun one, though also a super late one, so no one joined us, boooo. But that was for the most part expected, given how late it was on a bloody Monday. But such is trying to aim for Halloween and having adults who are parents get an hour free to guest spot.
We discuss Brian’s THE VINEYARD horror comic - a single volume that explores a family-run winery in Virginia, who’s success and incredible tasting wines *might* stem from regular sacrifices to the god Dionysius! When the family splits on whether to continue or not with their homicidal behavior, all the ‘cides come home to roost: homicide, matricide, patricide, fratricide, you get it.
We of course paired the book with Viriginia wines ;)
Dave did Norton (a hybrid created in Virginia!) and Chardonel - a hybrid of Chardonnay and Sylvan Blanc, that Dave thinks is frankly better than Chard. Yes, even the good Chard.
The best Chardonel I’ve yet had was the Reserve from the family-run Narmada Winery in Virginia run by wife-husband duo Sudha and Pandit Patil:
As I joked on the show, if anyone is sacrificing to Dionysius in order make unreal wines, these mofos are the ones!
Dallas went with semi-sweet to full-on sweet Petite Manseng from Virginia. Just not the perfectly dry kind, which is…pretty taster’s choice.
We then discussed NICE HOUSE ON THE LAKE from DC Blck Label and the feature film NO ONE CAN SAVE YOU from Hulu/Fox, a neat double feature where the same basic concept is executed in two extremely different ways.
My favorite part of the discussion was when we dove into how different people love different kinds of other people. Dallas couldn’t stand a character that was just like him, and I adored this character, which makes sense as Dallas is my best friend! But we also all disagreed on who we could or couldn’t stand in the Nice House ensemble cast - different strokes for different folks.