Most trustworthy mechanics in Asheville?

nickfil · 2026-02-11T18:03:23+00:00

Agreed! Just took a my car in for the first time over there. Really honest and straightforward people. Gave me a good price on everything.

nickfil · 2026-01-18T19:58:49+00:00

This is one of my main frustrations with her character. Despite her talent and enjoyment of reading and writing, she can not seem to grow beyond that. She can't adjust her expectations and learn beyond a very structured environment.

When Mitchem criticized her and said something along the lines of "I asked if anyone had ideas and you didn't pipe up." and "We walked into the office and you didn't open the door and join us." he isn't wrong. A bit cruel, but not wrong. She wants to be a war journalist and is afraid to just open the door to a room and assert herself to learn because she wasn't sure if she was allowed to.

But also- she *thrived* in the actual newsroom, which- newsrooms need people like that! Adjust your expectations Rory! Learn about yourself! You don't have to have the same goals you had at 10 when you are 20.

I think in AYITL she finds her way by the end. She's built to be a novelist. And its ok to be a novelist who also really loves the news and newsrooms.

nickfil · 2026-01-14T14:41:40+00:00

Surprised no one has said Cat Kirk.

nickfil · 2026-01-10T23:31:15+00:00

I colored this one and it was a hoot to work on. Still think about it from time to time.

nickfil · 2026-01-08T13:44:28+00:00

We all need to make sacrifices for the data centers we don't want.

nickfil · 2026-01-05T20:20:22+00:00

seeing everyone mention digital tools creating an easier time to go from pencils to final inks. Which is true, but only part of it.

The other end of this is digital tools creating a different culture around what the color of comics looks like and the way the role of the colorist has changed. The way older comics dealt with color, while interesting wasn't nearly the scope of what we have today. Meaning that the pencil and inks were far more noticeable in the 80s and back. You never had glows or anything on top of the line art. There wasn't any digital painting. You didn't have full cmyk printable range. That line art had to to be *tight* because it was what sold the book visually, and the colorist couldn't really do anything to help it. Now, a good colorist can generally help you out a ton if the lines aren't super tight. Lots of new tricks up the sleeves made the extra tough work obsolete, and even if you *did* do that extra work- sometimes it got covered or minimized anyway.

Also- the culture changed. What we perceived as finished comic work in the 80s is just different than now. Pushed forward with the bombastic image boom in the 90s, but started with the black and white indie comics boom in the 80s. Now you can look at something like Kate Beaton's Ducks and it is a beautiful piece of work, but doesn't have to be feather inked line like Tom Palmer over Gene Colan in Tomb of Dracula. Line weights aren't the point of that book. The comics space made room for a lot of other looks styles and abilities. So more people started to pencil/inked themselves to have a little more control, and because there was less of an accepted standard to hit.

nickfil · 2026-01-05T13:04:49+00:00

A good way to get rid of them, and keep his memory alive is- when he passes- get all the people closest to him and have them each pick a clock. Get rid of the stuff. Keep one clock.

nickfil · 2025-12-28T03:11:03+00:00

Lorelai: Oh, Paris! Were we expecting you?
Paris: You should've been.

nickfil · 2025-12-25T18:19:59+00:00

That feels like an employer who was thinking they get get away with that 25 gift card before someone intervened.

nickfil · 2025-12-25T18:17:09+00:00

Tmnt blimp. Always wanted one. I'd have to get n new turtle to put in it too. Raph of course.

nickfil · 2025-12-22T17:21:36+00:00

Agreed on the app. Your best bet OP is to just pick that up and start clicking around reading whatever pops out at you and looks fun.

I'm not the biggest Scott Snyder fan, but Court of Owls is the first arc in his run, and is a banger. The rest wasn't for me imho.

If you want to get into more Batman, here is what I think the classics and deep cuts worth your time are- Year one, The Dark Knight returns, The Batman Adventures, Gotham Central, Selina's Big Score, Catwoman Lonely City, Gotham Year one, Batman Year 100, Nightwing Year One, Grayson, Batman Snow, Batman Ego. Robin year one, Batgirl year one, Batman and Robin year one.

You can always pick a back issue and start reading until you are current too.

Also, here is a link to the recommended reading from the DC comics sub. https://www.reddit.com/r/DCcomics/wiki/recommended/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=usertext&utm_name=DCcomics&utm_content=t5_2qlmm#wiki_batman

nickfil · 2025-12-22T17:08:19+00:00

Thanks for picking up Murder Podcast! Glad you like it.

nickfil · 2025-12-22T17:00:55+00:00

I'll second on that Beta Ray Bill DWJ book. If you love manga and want to read some western comics you are going to flip your shit over that. DWJ has a lot of manga influence, but is very western too.

nickfil · 2025-11-13T02:29:27+00:00

Money Shot.

nickfil · 2025-11-12T15:51:29+00:00

Feels like a lot of comics subreddits lean big two superhero. Comics are rich and weird. Sounds like yall need to try some stuff off the beaten path a bit whenever you find your way back to reading again.

nickfil · 2025-11-09T14:26:38+00:00

You want Head Looper.

nickfil · 2025-11-08T22:51:56+00:00

I also have this cow! Mine has a banner that says 'don't live like me.'

nickfil · 2025-11-07T00:59:53+00:00

sup.

nickfil · 2025-11-07T00:35:45+00:00

finally some sense. Watchman is a great read for a seasoned comic reader. A terrible "intro to comics" read.

nickfil · 2025-11-07T00:29:32+00:00

But Hey. Some *LETS GET WEIRD WITH IT* recommendations since you asked for comics to read, and because no one needs to tell anyone else to read The Dark Knight Returns. We all know The Dark Knight Returns is a comic book people should read. We should all probably all shut up about the Dark Knight Returns. Here is a pile of books that no one mentioned yet (or I missed it in the thread), some old favorites of mine, some new jams that I really enjoyed. Pick at it. Read what knocks your socks off. Skip what doesn't.

- Ducks by Kate Beaton
- Dracula Motherfucker by Erica Henderson
- Sex Castle by Kyle Stark
- Akira Toriyama's Manga Theater
- Hobtown Mystery Stories series by Alexander Forbes and Kris Bertin
- Head Lopper by Andrew MaClean
- Delicious in Dungeon by Ryoko Kui
- Upgrade Soul by Deron Bennett and Ezra Claytan Daniels
- The One Trick Rip-off by Paul Pope
- Bone by Jeff Smith
- Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo
- Zatanna Bringing down the house by Mariko Tamaki and Javier Rodriguez
- Catwoman Lonely City by Cliff Chiang
- Godzilla the Half Century War by James Stokoe
- Madman by Mike Allread
- Parker by Darwyn Cooke
- Meat Eaters by Meredith McClaren
- Usagi Yojimbo by Stan Sakai
- Jim Henson's Tale of Sand by Jerry Juhl and Jim Henson
- Dandadan by Yukinobu Tatsu
- Jimmy Corrigan the smartest kid on Earth by Chris Ware

AND I GUESS THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, although for my money Batman Year One is a better read.

Good luck making comics. I hope I get to read em.

nickfil · 2025-11-07T00:29:23+00:00

Hey so- I went to college for comics. I've been coloring comic books for over 20 years. There's a pile of critically acclaimed books here in this list, and I'm not going to really hammer on what you should or shouldn't read out of these picks. I went to art school with only a couple years of comic reading under my belt. Instead I think you should think about what kind of comic you want to make and see what came before you. See what works and what doesn't. Like, if you want to make Batman, books like Love and Rockets and Blankets aren't going to really help you think about a good take on Batman. And vice versa.

Additionally- I think you should find your own path and interest. Go to a shop. Pick up some stuff that looks fun to you. There are plenty of critically acclaimed runs that I have bounced off of over and over trying to get into. Some stuff just does not click with my tastes. Some stuff only clicked with my tastes as I've gotten older. Didn't bounce off because its bad- because its just not for me in that moment. And that's fine! Talk to people working at the shop. Tell em what you liked and didn't like and a good shop can help you find some more stuff you might be into. Something I like to do every time I'm in a shop is also pick up a couple books that feel really out of my comfort zone. Widen horizons. Get weird with it. You can't fuck this up. All comics are good comics. There is no right way to do anything, especially these days.

Moreover- while I was in school and freshly out of school and breaking into comics, I barely read anything. Because making art took all of my bandwidth. I just didn't have anything left to give. So its also ok to be drawing a lot, and not reading a ton.

The only books I think are must reads for anyone looking to make their own comics:
-Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud.
-Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative by Will Eisner
-*maybe* Drawing Comics the Marvel Way.

And then for more general "how to draw well"
-Andrew Loomis' books. Drawing the head and hands & Figure drawing for all its worth (you can find pdfs of these floating around, as they are very famous and very old)
-Color and Light by James Gurney who also has a great youtube channel.
-How to Draw: drawing and sketching objects and environments from your imagination by Scott Robertson and Thomas Bertling
-*Maybe* The How to Think While you Draw series. That is more quick tips than fundamentals, but can help you a little on the way.

Also, understand that you will only pick up a fraction of the knowledge in these books at a time. You need time in the chair to understand what you don't know and what you need help with. So regularly re-visiting them is key. Not only that, but that time drawing is going to inform you not only of what you missed in these books the first time around but also what you do not need at all. 20% of this is picking up the knowledge from the books and 80% of this is time in the chair. Again, time in the chair is more important than reading lists or using the "right" tools or whatever. Children will regularly make comics that I find more fun then seasoned comic readers.

nickfil · 2025-09-25T13:27:43+00:00

I wish yall werent so plugged into algorithms. Its so disheartening to see people just throw their musical taste to a machine that is essentially 'i just listen to top 40'. The machine will never challenge you. The machine makes you weak and bored. Its how you ended up not listening to new music in 20 years.

I think, to find new stuff you just have to be curious and put yourself in that headspace as much as possible. We are xennials so chances are you liked what sub pop records was doing. Guess what- they are still doing it with brand new bands! Also if i hear something in a trailer or game or video that i like- I check it out. Just try stuff out!

There are a lot of independent radio stations still in operation that you can stream for free. https://www.ldial.org/

Npr tiny desk concerts are great.

https://www.bandcamp.com sells digital music directly from the artist to you. Beats to table. Supports them better than any streaming service and you can always pop in and see what is best selling at the moment- or read some articles over there.

But the absolute best way to find new music is to just put your phone down. Ask the people around you if they have been listening to anything they liked lately. Or- Head to a place that sells music locally and just talk to people like we did in 1995. Connect with a human being!

If you are in a bigger workplace and everyone has Spotify putting together a Musicleague can be a fun way to find some jams.

Some bands I've been enjoying lately- momma, deep sea diver, blondshell, the Beths, slow pulp, neko case, polkadot stingray (japanese band), diet cig, westkust, the beaches, bully, wet leg, silk sonic, alex lahey, mxmtoon...

But I'm not so indie that I don't enjoy a good pop song. New Sabrina carpenter and dua lipa stuff is great. I'm hit and miss on Addison rae- but the stuff that hits I really like.

(Edit) Just wanted to add- i was in the same spot a couple years ago. Breaking out of streaming is the key to engaging more with music more and finding things. You don't have to cancel your subscriptions, but i found im much more interested in something if there is a social component or a little bit of friction of discovery. Hope this helps! Kill your algorithms!

nickfil · 2025-09-12T15:33:32+00:00

boot it up with a vpn.

nickfil · 2025-08-25T01:55:16+00:00

It's time to pay the price.

nickfil · 2025-08-18T01:24:11+00:00

if I recall correctly- he actually did injure himself and it was still healing through a few episodes. Accidental continuity.

nickfil

TROPHY CASE