by Alex Dueben

“It was bitter for all of us when Brandon Lee was killed”
– John Shirley

John Shirley may not be a household name, but for three decades he’s been an incredibly influential and prolific writer. He was one of the most important early writers in the movement that would later be called cyberpunk, and William Gibson and others have paid tribute to his influence. Shirley’s novel City Come A-Walkin’ and his later trilogy A Song Called Youth – which has recently been re-released in a single volume omnibus edition – remain among two of the best cyberpunk works ever published. Shirley is also an award winning horror and fantasy writer perhaps best known for novels like Demons, Bleak History, and Dracula in Love, and short story collections like Heatseeker and In Extremis: The Most Extreme Short Stories of John Shirley.

A singer/songwriter who’s fronted a number of bands and has written lyrics for bands including Blue Oyster Cult, Shirley is also a screenwriter who’s worked in film and television. He was the original writer on the movie The Crow and has written episodes of TV shows including Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Profit, “VR.5, Poltergeist: Legacy, Batman Beyond, and The Real Ghostbusters.

Shirley’s newest project is The Crow: Death and Rebirth, a comic miniseries released by IDW, the second issue of which has just been released. Shirley spoke with SG over e-mail to talk about his return to the concept of The Crow, which also marks his return to cyberpunk.

Read our exclusive interview with John Shirley on SuicideGirls.com.

by Lee Camp

It all seems to be coming together into one. 90% of our media is owned by only six corporations. Every movie is about a super hero, and we act like the President is the only lawmaker who matters. How much further can things condense? Are we headed towards a cultural singularity? An end point?

[..]

by Blogbot

Every week we ask the ladies and gentlemen of the web to show us their finest ink in celebration of #TattooTuesday.

Our favorite submission from Twitter wins a free 3 month membership to SuicideGirls.com.

This week’s #TattooTuesday winner is James Fanning a.k.a. @FanniPack with his night owl.

Enter this week’s competition by replying to this tweet with a pic of your fav tattoo and the #tattootuesday hashtag.

Good luck!

A few things to remember:

• You have to be 18 to qualify.
• The tattoo has to be yours…that means permanently etched on your body.
• On Twitter we search for your entries by looking up the hashtag #TattooTuesday, so make sure you include it in your tweet!

Check out the Tattoo Tuesday winners of weeks past!

by Daniel Robert Epstein

“Every good director makes his actor think every idea was his own creation.”
– Jeremy Irons

Jeremy Irons is best known for starring in the David Cronenberg film, Dead Ringers. But of course that was back in 1988, now Jeremy Irons is transporting us even farther back in time by starring in The Merchant of Venice which is directed by Michael Radford. Irons plays Antonio to Al Pacino’s Shylock.

Read our exclusive interview with Jeremy Irons on SuicideGirls.com.

LayTee Suicide in Lucid Lace Dream

• INTO: Man in a uniform, beaches, novelty Tees, Harley, huge sunglasses, Captain and Coke, modeling, art, meditation.
• NOT INTO: Conceitedness, Cry-baby boys, LOVE.
• MAKES ME HAPPY: Multi-colored hair, white chocolate, big earrings, candles/incense, relaxation, junk food, red lipstick, cleavage, high heels, first seasons of SNL and I’m talkin ‘70s, football (Steelers), skateboarding, and all XGAMES.
• MAKES ME SAD: Ignorant people, bad boob jobs, last episode of Golden Girls.
• HOBBIES: Tattoos, sketching, clubs every now and then, movies, photography, making clothes, sketching.
• 5 THINGS I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT: Ibuprofen, sketch pad/mechanical pencil, sunglasses, incense, and camera.
• VICES: Chocolate, alcohol, great smile, LA nightlife.
• I SPEND MOST OF MY FREE TIME: People watching, drawing and writing.

Get to know LayTee better over at SuicideGirls.com!

by A.J. Focht

A benefit in aid of the Aurora shooting victims is being put together by All C’s Collectibles, a local comic shop which is not far from the theater where the tragic event took place. There has been a tremendous outpour of support to help get the event off the ground. It will be held over two days on August 25th and 26th, and will include a silent auction and in store appearances by several fantastic comic creators. Many amazing supporters have stepped up and made donations towards the silent auction, including most of the major comic companies.

DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Dark Horse Comics, Image Comics, POW Entertainment, Top Cow Comics and many more have all made contributions. There have been some fantastic donations so far including a signed Amazing Spider-Man movie poster from Stan Lee, and a poster and guitar donated and signed by Scott Ian from Anthrax. Several comic artists have also given original artworks for the auction. These incredible items and more will be auctioned off on Saturday, August 25 at 6:30 PM. The silent auction will be located at a donated space in the Embassy Suites. All the proceeds from the auction will go to the Alex Sullivan Fund and the Aurora Victims Relief Fund.

Many prominent comic writers and artists have agreed to come out for an in-store signing on Sunday, August 26. Comic icon Steve Niles, author of 30 Days of Night, Dark Days, Criminal Macabre, and many more, will be in attendance. Dark Horse Comics legend and creator of Hellboy, Mike Mignola has been confirmed. Writer of the current The Invincible Iron Man run, Matt Fraction will also be joining, as well as All-Star Western artist Mortitat. More writers and artists have been in contact with the benefit and there are more appearances to be announced over the coming weeks.

Aurora Rise has begun to spread far beyond the city limits of Aurora, Colorado. There has been an overwhelming interest across the comic community to extend the event to future conventions and throughout other cities. So far, there is talk of branches at Dragon Con in Chicago, and even in the UK. There will also likely be a second event held in Aurora at a later date, probably mid-September, to accommodate more artists and writers who could not make it out for the first benefit signing. Volunteers associated with Denver Comic Con have set up Aurora Rise on Facebook, Twitter, and with its own website. They are currently working on setting up the infrastructure to expand the charity program through the Community First Foundation.

Related Posts:
Back Row Perspective Part 1: An Aurora Theater Survivor’s Message To The Media
Back Row Perspective Part 2: An Aurora Theater Survivor’s Message To The Politicians
Back Row Perspective Part 3: An Aurora Theater Survivor’s Message To The Online Community

by SG’s Team Agony feat. Jeckyl

Let us answer life’s questions – because great advice is even better when it comes from SuicideGirls.

Q: My girlfriend and I recently moved in together and everything was wonderful. Then, just over a month ago, a close friend of hers passed away. Since then, she has been sending slightly mixed signals that she wants us to some day get engaged and that she loves me and doesn’t want to lose me. However, she is nowhere near as affectionate as she used to be and is very irritable. I have tried talking to her about it, but it gets turned around and made into my fault. Is this the grief she is going through talking? Should I be worried that she is going to leave or that I’m not enough for her anymore?

Scared Lover from South Africa

A: First of all, my deepest condolences. I can’t imagine the pain and confusion you’re both experiencing right now.Grief is a complicated process and, after just a month, I’m afraid to say she’s barely scraped the tip of the iceberg here. You need to be patient. Death is a hard pill to swallow and she really needs you to be strong for her during this time. She is going to be extremely emotionally confused and you just need to go with it. Laugh with her when she’s happy, comfort her when she’s sad, and don’t expect her to make any sense for a while.


Her on-and-off behavior towards you may be just another way that she’s experiencing grieving. She’s realizing how short life is, so she wants to make that commitment. But she’s also experiencing the pain of losing someone so she’s likely terrified of going through it again. This could explain her bouts of coldness. Give her a few months to somewhat heal before having any kind of major relationship-changing discussion with her. She’s really not in any position to be making life-altering decisions right now.


I understand that her grief is taking a strain on you, and my heart really does go out to you, but you need to try and keep it together, for her sake. This really isn’t the best time to be confrontational. They say sometimes you have to put up with the rain in order to truly appreciate the rainbow, take this as a test of the strength of your relationship. If you can make it through this, you can make it through anything. And, honestly, the best thing you can do for her right now is to treat her the same way you always have, let her know she’s loved and that she isn’t alone.


How you proceed after this speed-bump is up to you, but I sincerely hope that your relationship manages to weather this storm intact.

Best of luck to both of you.

Jeckyl

Got Problems? Let SuicideGirls’ team of Agony Aunts provide solutions. Email questions to: gotproblems@suicidegirls.com