A Beginner’s Guide to Cheap Thrills in the New Depression

I’ve been working my butt off this month, between law school and writing to pay the bills. I might have some exciting things to announce before the year is over, but lately I haven’t had much free time or money. Rather than feeling down about it, I thought I’d tell you a bit about the things (and people) that have kept me entertained on a $0 budget. A lot of these folks rely on donations or merch sales to continue making great stuff, so although there’s a lot of enjoyment to be had for free, support them if you can.

WEBCOMICS

One of the first things I had to do when I realized my budget needed tightening was to stop buying my weekly stack of comics. I’m woefully behind on my favorite ongoing stories like Brian Wood’s DMZ and NORTHLANDERS and Ed Brubaker’s CRIMINAL, and I’ll have to buy the trades sometime down the line. However, I’m still a dedicated reader of several webcomics. Topping my list is Achewood, by linguistic genius Chris Onstad, who manages to put the funniest, most improbable words into the mouths of his cats, robots and alive stuffed animals.

For ongoing storylines, it’s hard to beat John Allison’s charming, quirky Scary-Go-Round. Although it runs off on exciting tangents from time to time, you can basically rely on it for tales of various monsters, ghoulies and British people. The younger generation of SGR characters is especially great right now, as schoolyard fight-challenges are accepted and zines are printed.

I also read Questionable Content, a tale of love, hipsters, coffee and sex jokes by Jeph Jacques. It’s funny, but hardcore readers have started to care more about the relationships between the characters than about the punchline. It’s also completely awesome to see how far Jeph’s art has come from the first strip to the current ones. If you read the archive, you’ll kill an afternoon and come away impressed.

Warren Ellis writes a weekly webcomic called FREAKANGELS. The art by Paul Duffield is brilliant, and I think the story is up there with some of Warren’s best work. In brief, it’s a post-apocalyptic scenario where kids with powers protect the few available resources despite their dueling philosophies and complex relationships with one another. You can read it for free every Friday, or buy the first trade (out now).

BUSTED WONDER is a gorgeous fable of sorts, an online graphic novel by Kieron Gillen (of Phonogram infamy) and Charity Larrison.

Corey Lewis pointed me to a manga called Bakuman that seems to be translated weekly by fans. It’s about two kids who aspire to become famous manga creators, and sometimes it’s just what I need as a struggling writer. There’s a lot of hard work and intense competition, and it’s easy to get invested in it and then have to wait a week for the next chapter.

Corey’s own weekly comic, Seedless, is about some badass battlin’ grapes. Seriously. Grapes. Check it out.

PODCASTS

Podcasts are another awesome source of free entertainment. As more podcast novelists start to get published, you can show your support by buying their books. I’ve got a copy of Scott Sigler‘s Infected, and the sequel, Contagious, is on my Christmas wishlist. In the meantime, though, Scott continues to put out great stories for even the brokest of the recession-wracked masses. Nocturnal, his fast-paced novel that pits cops against monsters on the streets of San Francisco, is wrapping up soon. The second to last episode was released today, and I can’t wait to see how this thing ends. Also, even if you can’t afford Christmas presents this year, Scott’s got something for you: the 12 Days of Sigmas. He’s going to be releasing a dozen consecutive days of podcasts, including the kickoff to Contagious.

I’ve mentioned Scott on this blog before, along with his nemesis and main competition, J.C. Hutchins. If you haven’t listened to J.C.’s 7th Son Trilogy, you’re in for hours upon hours of compelling listening. Clones hunt the man they were cloned from, who also happens to be behind the murder of the President, and the action only picks up from there. Don’t miss it.

Just this week, I’ve started digging into Matt Wallace’s Failed Cities Monologues. These are stories set in a dystopian future, in a city divided along class lines, and with a very loose grip on any kind of law and order. That’s the Failed Cities part, the Monologues part is in the format. One of eight different characters narrates each episode, giving you a comprehensive view of the different factions within the Failed Cities, and their schemes and motivations. From the get-go, you know this story is going to be badass: it opens with street preachers who follow the Steel Gospel and patrol the streets with their batter-sticks, doing the job of the cops who were driven out of town. Hell yes.

On the non-fiction side of things, I never miss The Bugle. John Oliver (who you may know as “that British guy from the Daily Show) and Andy Zaltzman (who may be even funnier) deliver the week’s top stories in this one-of-kind audio newspaper for a visual world. Highlights include a weekly list of segments that won’t air because they’ve gone “straight to the bin,” and the recurring “Hotties from History” feature. Additional highlights include Andy’s hair. It’s fantastic. If you follow news at all during the week, your weekend fix of the Bugle may not inform as much as it entertains. That’s fine, though, because it entertains a lot.

I have already written a blog post about You Look Nice Today. It continues to be the funniest thing to listen to after sex. Or before, during or after Chinese food. A recent episode featured general knowledge wizard and man-about-web John Hodgman, who is probably weary of being referred to as the PC from the “I’m a Mac” ads, but is the PC from the “I’m a Mac” ads just the same.

Thinking Allowed, from the BBC, is a short burst of consistently thought-provoking research, presented in a way that informs without talking down to the listener. As ever, I was pointed to this podcast by Momus, who has expanded on topics from the show to create some excellent blog posts.

In conclusion …

Just because we’re in a recession and living on donated ramen doesn’t mean life has to suck. If you’re making something you love, keep making it. It sounds sentimental, but other people might be counting on it to get them through a tough time.

Image from Sad Guys on Trading Floors, the official meme of the recession.