"I was happiest when I was working for myself. Setting my own goals. Improving my own skills... nothing matters more than the art."

In the sci-fi comic series Injection, writer Warren Ellis puts together a supergroup — there's a badass monster hunter, an eccentric detective a la Sherlock Holmes, a chill superspy, an anti-authority hacker/programmer, and a reluctant wizard. Ellis loves playing the supernatural as science we don't yet understand, and Injection is one of his best-realized works in this vein. It's troubling in the macabre, sci-fi horror way that Ellis excels at, and it's frequently funny, especially in the bits with the eccentric detective.

The visual storytelling, between Ellis and artist Declan Shalvey, is smooth and straightforward while keeping things exciting. Shalvey also has a keen eye for nuanced facial expressions, which is vital in a story as character-focused as this. Colorist Jordie Bellaire handles mood and atmosphere superbly. And these three do some harsh, electric action sequences together.

The second collected volume of Injection just came out, and they're still serializing it in monthly comic books with breaks between each volume. I recommend starting with the first collection if you're interested.

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I've been listening to Moon Duo's albums Circles from 2012 and Shadow of the Sun from 2015, plus their EPs Escape (2010) and Killing Time (2009).

Moon Duo makes dark, infectious, propulsive music that combines the swirling colors of psychedelia and vast landscape of electronica with tight, disciplined rhythms. They pack in a lot of sound. Their flavor is reminiscent of The Velvet Underground by way of The Black Angels and Tamaryn (and probably a fistful of modern psychedelic bands I'm unaware of).

High energy drone music. Sprawling acid rock played by samurai.

The guitarist is a member of the band Wooden Shjips, who I need to look into. Moon Duo is described as a side project for him, but you never know when someone will find your side project before your regular gig. (I heard Dean & Britta before I heard Luna, after all.)

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My weekly sci-fi comic Flesh Machine returns with new pages today. A year into the series, we're partway into the military section of the story, a little ways into act three of five. Things are going to get worse for Lucy before they get better...

You can find the whole story so far at michaelavolio.com.

Thanks for reading!

Michael Avolio