The Wonderful World of Was: February
Howdy, howdy!
Welcome to the inaugural edition of the Wonderful World of Was. Or, at the very least, the inaugural Substack edition, after some misbegotten attempts (the less said about those, the better). My aim is to get a newsletter out to you each month; to entertain you; to tell you about what’s happening; and to remind you I’m alive, in the vain hope that when my book releases, you’ll buy it. Even better: I’m new to this whole Substack shebang, so you’ll be front and centre when I inevitably screw this up.
For anyone following my website (wasauthor.com) or Twitter (@WasAuthor)—you may as well get used to me including links to my online shenanigans, I am here to push whatever I can on you (in a gentlemanly, unthreatening way). So, yes, I will be talking about the book I’m writing, but also about anything else that takes my fancy.
So without further ado, let’s get to the greatest newsletter you have ever read (or at least, I hope you will tell everyone is the best you’ve ever read—tag @WasAuthor with the hashtags #WasIsGreat, #BestNewsletterEver and #AllHailWas).
Peacemaker
Is Peacemaker the greatest show on television? I honestly have no idea; I don’t watch everything on television. Shit, I don’t even know if a show released on streaming platforms counts as “television,” even when I watch it on TV. But is it pretty fucking great? Hells to the yeah.
At the time of writing, I have seen the first six episodes, with the last two yet to air (there will only be one by the time you read this, but I haven’t gotten there yet), and this has to be about the best work of James Gunn’s career. Yes, you heard me: it is even better than that perennial classic, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. John Cena, with his tree trunks for arms, is on point as the titular Peacemaker, leading a brilliant ensemble including Freddie Stroma, Chukwudi Iwuji, Steve Agee, Jennifer Holland, Danielle Brooks (Orange is the New Black fans, rejoice: Taystee is back and she is fucking awesome) and Robert Patrick (Terminator 2 fans, take heed: the T-1000 is back, and he got fucking old).
As funny and violent as you would expect from a James Gunn movie, Peacemaker not only quadruples the films’ lengths, it also hits you square in the feels. If you’ve seen The Suicide Squad, you would have a fair idea of the show’s tone, and just how reprehensible Peacemaker is. But, damn, by the time you’re done with the show, you’ll actually care about the guy. A guy with a tragic past, adding perspective to his nature; a guy, upon seeing how reprehensible he is, tries to be less so. And a guy who is a beautiful pianist—John Cena truly was wasted on the WWE.
The opening credits have been widely circulated already, but if you haven’t seen them, check them out below (and if you have, take another look!). If the dance number doesn’t convince you of its brilliance, nothing will.
Black History Month
In the opening scenes of Peacemaker, a character points out that he disproportionately kills black people, and throughout the series, he needs to come to terms with his father being a white supremacist. Black History Month, while being based in the US, is a time where we can all—regardless of our location—remind ourselves to take stock and have a look at any biases we may harbour, which can range from anywhere believing in a superior master race to simple unconscious biases.
It is also a great opportunity to pick up a book by an African American author. Naturally, this is something we can all do over the other eleven months of the year, but let’s just count this as a reminder. Regardless of your ethnicity, reading something written by marginalised members of the community—or even those with a different background to you—is a great way of building an understanding of others; of fostering empathy; of gaining a broader insight and perspective on this world we all inhabit.
I recently read The Other History of the DC Universe—a comic book, because let’s not get too highbrow—written by John Ridley, the Academy Award-winning screenwriter of 12 Years a Slave. Set between 1972 and 2010, it tells five interconnected stories of marginalised superheroes (African American, Latin, Gay) throughout a combination of real world events, and the DC Universe’s fictionalised events.
If you’re a DC fanboy like me, you’ll appreciate the deep dive into DC’s history, with the timelines of these stories sitting with the politics of the time. But if not, this is still an interesting look at our society, and our collective treatment of those whom this society has deemed “the other.”
Till Death Do Us Party
Following on from Black History Month, Till Death Do Us Party stars the whitest of characters (it’s all in their surname: Lilywhite); those who, by simple virtue of being so un-marginalised throughout history, will claim to be marginalised by every attempt to recognise the less privileged.
Following a car accident, our evangelical protagonists end up in the last place they ever expected to set foot in: Hell. Here, they encounter demons (both those tormenting them from inside, and those physical manifestations torturing them from outside), various lost souls, and a gimp who may or may not be a former President of the United States of America (okay, spoiler alert: he is).
As you may gather, this book includes a healthy dose of old-fashioned blasphemy, but it’s all in the name of an epic adventure that sets the characters onto a collision course with the oncoming Rapture. While also looking at humanity’s ills, its gender relations, and how certain teachings from organised religion have contributed to it.
I’m currently in rewrites after undertaking a high level edit, where I’m aiming to be through Chapter 10 by the end of the month. If you’d like to know about my hack and slash from my previous draft, here’s a post I prepared earlier: Draft Three Runs Red.
Ai Weiwei
Ai Weiwei is a visual artist, a documentarian, an activist, and a political commentator. He has lived one hell of an interesting life, starting in the northwest of China, due to his father’s exile, and in more recent years, in various areas of Europe. He is a hero to many, and rightfully so, standing up for freedom of speech while standing against censorship.
Not only is the dude interesting and insightful, he is also an enormous kid at heart, maintaining a sense of playfulness after all the adversity he has faced over the years. The Guardian recently published a Q&A with him, where he discusses sincerity, his family, his spirit of resistance, and why he is like a cat. If you’re looking for an interesting, yet reasonably brief read, check it out!
My Readings
I touched upon The Other History of the DC Universe, and have also recently finished reading The Storyteller, Dave Grohl’s memoir. It’s not an entirely serious read, but is full of hugely entertaining anecdotes from his life and career. If you’re a fan of Nirvana, a fan of Foo Fighters, a fan of music, or, just like reading entertaining stories, do yourself a solid and grab a copy.
I’ve also recently started reading Kevin Smith’s Secret Stash, a visual history (with a shitload of words thrown in). So far, it’s enjoyable, with plenty of history, yet surprisingly dry. And fucking heavy.
And naturally, there are my book reviews. I’ve posted a few this month already and have plenty more to come (if you’re wondering why I’m only planning on making it through Chapter 10’s rewrites this month, it’s because I’m reading and reviewing so many freaking books!). Why not take a look, and see what some of the independent authors are putting out there. The world is far bigger and far richer than the big four publishers would have you believe.
You’ll also see that I’ve sold out! My new reviews include links to buy the book via Amazon. If you see something you like, why not click the link, save yourself the hassle of typing Amazon’s URL and entering its details in the search bar. Anything you buy in a session after clicking could throw, like, 25c my way, which is 25c less going to a corporation.
And if you’re on Goodreads, why not hit me up? Or at least stalk me and see what I’m reading? Please?
And lastly, if you happen to be an author with a book you’d like to pimp, the link above (repeated here) includes a handy dandy form you can complete. So come along, fill it out, add to my workload and tune into future editions of this newsletter (apologies, I really am going to be doing more of these) to read me grumbling about the lack of progress on my own book!
That’s a Wrap
And so endeth my very first word vomit on Substack. Have any suggestions about what you’d like me to touch upon in future editions? I’m pretty sure there’s somewhere on Substack you can tell me. Or you could always reach out via an old-fashioned web form.
TTFN,
Was