Radiant Comics

Let me tell yo about my adventures with a leaky washing machine. My sister had just put a load of laundry into the washing machine when I stepped up next to the machine and saw water coming out of the back of it. I think I said, out loud, “That’s not good.”

Just last year my brother in law helped me fix the very same washing machine so I decided to open it up and take a look. I had to consult some repair videos to refresh my knowledge of where the first two screws to take off were. They’re in a hidden tricky spot but I got them out. Then two more screws/bolts had to be taken out so I could flip the washing machine’s lid up. I started the machine on a fill cycle and sure enough it was leaking. The same part we replaced a little just a year ago.

The part is called an injector valve and it’s a little rubber tube that expands and contracts as the water fills the machine. Just like last year the tube had a hole in it so water sprayed out of it. By the way this is an old Maytag washing machine. The first injector valve lasted for thirty years but this second one little over a year. I guess they don’t make them like they used to.

At least it seemed like it was going to be an easy fix. I ordered the part and it would arrive the next day. It was easy enough to put in and when I started to fill the washer everything was fine. So I put in a test load of laundry and listened to the washer fill. And then nothing. It didn’t turn on and spin after filling. Oh, no. I now had a washer full of wet laundry that wouldn’t work.

I spent the next bit of time fishing out my clothes and then bailing most of the water out of the washer. Turning in on would fill the washer up again but it still wouldn’t spin so I looked online for some repair videos. The first thing that came up was that the timer could be bad. I opened up the top panel on the washer to look at the wiring of the timer. I turned on the timer for a moment and sparks flew.

That’s when I called my brother and law and he told me I probably just had a wire touch metal and made an arc. Then he told me to check the fuse box. Sure enough I threw a breaker. That calmed me down but that was enough for me for the day.

But before I finished I looked one more time on the internet. The odds of the timer going bad at the same time as the injection valve were minimal. I thought it had to be something else. Besides the timer is a $200 part (the injector valve is a $10 part) so I didn’t want to buy one.

A bad lid switch was another idea I saw and a lightbulb went off in my brain. I hadn’t heard the switch give its soft click when I was opening and closing the washer. I looked at the lid and the spot where the button is that presses up against the lid was empty. I thought there was a good chance the lid switch was knocked out of its spot. But it was getting late and I figured I’d check it in the morning.

The next morning, about 6:10 AM, before I’d even had my breakfast, I decided to check the switch. I took out the two screws holding on the top and lifted up the lid. I think I didn’t pull the washing machine far enough away from the wall and the lid bumped up against a hose and the hose broke. The metal fitting on the hose snapped right in two.

Water started gushing. It was an open faucet on full blast aimed right at the floor. I tried turning the knob (right above the hose) but it was so encrusted that it wouldn’t turn. I ran to the house’s water shut off and turned off the main water valve. But then there was still some water coming out of the washer’s faucet. I took a gallon plastic container, cut a couple of holes through the neck of it, tied ropes through the hole to make a handle, and then looped the handle around the faucet to catch the falling water.

With no water hitting the floor it gave me a moment to think. These hoses were forty years old. Another time fixing the washing machine with my brother in law (it was a leaky pump) we were going to change out the hoses but thought the better of messing with old hoses so we left them in place. Still I bought a couple of hose back then. Now I just had to find them.

Y’know when you keep something in one place for years but then for some reason you change that place but you still remember them as being in the first place? That’s what I did with those hoses. I knew I moved them out of their spot they were in for years but I didn’t know where I moved them to. It took me twenty very frustrating minutes to find them.

Meanwhile back at the washing machine faucets I could suddenly turn them off. I didn’t do anything special. I just tried turning them every so often and one time they turned smooth as silk. There was no great breaking of a seal they just turned. This was very helpfull and I turned the house water back on.

As I was putting in the new hoses I remembered back to my brother in law saying that the new hoses needed washers. I think that was another reason we didn’t put them in. But that made me buy a small bin of plumbing washers to keep in the garage. Luckily I knew right where that container was and I put the washer onto the hoses. Nice!

At first I only replaced the broken hose. Then I thought that the unbroken one was probably going to go sometime soon so I decided to change that one too. With them hooked up I could finally check the lid switch. Sure enough it was knocked out of place. It’s a mechanical switch made up of two parts that slid along each other but the two parts were not together. Luckily they slide right back in place. I then tested the washer and it would spin!

That’s almost the end because as I went to inspect the hoses with water running through then I noticed the fittings were leaking and even spraying water. These new hoses had small 90º curve in the fittings. A little copper tube was on the end of them between the part you screwed on and the hose itself. I think it was to help them fit into tight spots. I reseated the fittings and that cut down on the leaks but it was still not perfect.

After five minutes of messing with the fittings I had enough. I went and ordered new straight hoses. They’re only about $15 a pair and I was done struggling with those other new hoses. Maybe there was some special way they went on but I didn’t care anymore.

By the way this all took place between 6:15 AM and 7:30 AM on a Saturday morning. It all started before I even had my breakfast. I was just going to look for a moment. And here I am now waiting for some new hoses. I hope there are no more surprises.

Here is the update. I got my hoses, put them on, and ran a wash. No leaks. Everything is working fine. One note: it’s a good thing I had plenty of teflon plumbing tape. That’s the stuff you wrap around the threads of the faucet before you screw on the hose. That keeps the thread from leaking. It took me longer to get the hoses on right than I thought it would but it’s all good now. I ran an uneventful wash and now have clean clothes.

This week I’m continuing my list of comic books on my pull list. Last week I went over the continuing series and this week I’m going over the limited series that I have set aside for me.

Limited Series

Arcadia – I really like this one. It’s going twelve issues and is done by the Miranda brothers. I never heard of them before this but it’s a sci-fi story about a future where all the humans are dead but there are some artificial humans who are still around and trying to figure out who they are and what their purpose is. Some really poignant stuff in here.

Babs: The Black Road South – The second installment in this six issue tongue in cheek barbarian story by Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows. The lead is a female barbarian but the way. This is the fourth or fifth minis series that I’ve bought by this creative team. They are automatically on my pull list these days.

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees – So far there have been two miniseries in this series with a Halloween one shot coming up.It’s a serial killer story drawn with what looks like live stuffed animals drawn in a classic children’s book style. It’s fun and scary.

Concrete: Stars Over Sand – Paul Chadwick’s “Concrete” is back in a new minis series for the first time in ages. Concrete has been on my pull list since the 1980s so this one was a must buy.

DIE: Loaded – The second volume of “Die.” A half dozen people are trapped in a world that’s based on RPGs. They really don’t want to be there (most of them) but can’t easily get out. This volume is tinged with sadness. The people are really being tested.

Dog Tag – A six issue mini series of done in one WW2 stories. I’d call it traditional rather than ground breaking but it’s well done.

Everyone Loves a Jewel Thief – A writer who is having trouble writing his next book decides to pull a jewel heist so he can write about it. Of course things don’t go as planned. I’m s sucker for heist stories and this one is fun.

Faceless and the Family – We’ve got a second volume of Matt Lesniewski’s weird story about a bunch of weird people having weird adventures. And the art is really weird too! It’s all up my alley!

Folk of Dooney Hollow – I just got the first issue of this Jeremy Huan written horror story. I usually follow his work so I jumped onto this one.

Forged – A magazine size comic that’s a sci-fi story about the far future where The Forged are an elite all female group of soldiers. They eventually have to betray their own god-empress to save the universe. Terrific art.

Fort Psycho – A new twelve issue story written by Matt Kindt, whose work I usually follow, about a bunch of GI Joe types who have been retired to an isolated island. But the equivalent of Cobra Commander might be hiding among them so a dude is sent in under cover to seek him out.

Grendel – Matt Wagner’s got another Grendel mini series for us. I’ve been buying these since the 1980’s.

Innards – A six issue horror story that’s about to wrap up. A bunch of people have to live and work in a mine so for inside the Earth that they have to be teleported there. But they might be trapped down there with a monster. Of course they are!

Karman Blade – This is the third Ian Bertram drawn miniseries that I’ve bought. I really like his art and the stories are usually good and weird. So far in the one issue this one is kind of mythological. There is a guy who finds a sword and has to kill a god with it.

Lazarus Fallen – This is the “Lazarus” series that I’ve been following for years getting wrapped up in a final miniseries. I think it’s on hiatus right now but I expect it to come back.

Of the Earth – Charlie Adlard (he drew most of “The Walking Dead”) is killing it with the art on this series. He doesn’t get enough praise and notice in the comic book world. This is a horror story about a young woman, who is running from something, going to stay at her grandmother’s. Except there is a monster who lives in an oil well at her grandma’s place. Scary stuff ensues.

Ofiusa – Only the first issue of the latest Guillem March project is out. I’m not even 100% sure what it’s about besides a dude trying to hook up with two different women at two different points in his life. He’s rich, young, and good looking so I think he’ll succeed. Lot’s of beach nudity too.

The Patron – This one is the story of an art dealer with a murderous scam. He finds young artists, has a show of their work, and then kills them to grow the value of said work. Now a cop with a murder board is onto him.

Regicide – A wise man/sorcerer type recruits a peasant who is big and strong to help him kill the king. Lots of monsters are in their way.

Seven Years in Darkness – This is another one that is a series of minis series. It’s about a wizard school where only three of the hundred students will survive to graduate. I guess it’s a horror story.

Shaolin Cowboy: Staying A.I.Live – The latest by Geof Darrow. His intricately detailed art and long action scenes are the draw. The story of the Shaolin Cowboy is just an excuse for the art to exist.

Six of Us – Another with only one issue out so far. A murder mystery where the setting is among the retired cast of a “Friends” like show. I think it was the Chandler like character that got murdered.

Solomon Kane: the Lion Errant – This is the second Patrick Zircher written and drawn Solomon Kane miniseries and it’s the best Solomon Kane adaptation that I’ve read. The first volume was good too. The art is terrific.

Strength and Ash – This is a stand in for any Stefano Cardoselli drawn minis series. He’s been drawing a lot of stuff over the last three years and I’ve been buying them all. He’s good and has a fun and strange style that I like.

There you go. A whole bunch of comic book miniseries that I’ve been buying lately. A little snapshot of summer to fall 2026.

This week I thought I’d do a write up on what’s on my comic book pull list. There are all the comic book series that my local comic shop automatically orders for me. I’ve broken it down into ongoing stores and limited series. The limited series usually run around six issues and there is a lot of turnover of them on my pull list as they end. Some of them continue in other limited series. They are not quite ongoing series and not quite one volume stories. This week I’ll write about the ongoing ones.

My Pull List Part One of Two

Ongoing Series

Assorted Crisis Events – A relatively new comic on my pull list this one is a series of stories about regular people caught up in major multiverse events. It’s all about what happens to the little guy after Thanos snaps his fingers and wipes out half the universe. Each issue is a done in one and it’s really good. Written by Deniz Camp and drawn by Eric Zawadzki.

The Big Shakedown – I just got the first issue of this one. It’s drawn by my friend Scott Koblish (we used to work together at Marvel back in the day) and Tim Seeley and Jordan Blum are the writers on the book. I guess you could call it a post apocalyptic detective noir comic. With only the one issue out so far it’s tough to nail it down but I enjoyed it.

The Beauty – There is a TV show made out of this one. Volume one ran 29 issues and they’re up to about issue 8 in volume two. It’s about an STD that makes you beautiful. Volume one had a lot of different type of stories in it but volume two sticks more to the tone on the TV show (though it’s not the same story). There is more conspiracy and spy type stuff in volume two. It’s good. Written by Jeremy Haun and Jason A. Hurley and drawn by Ema Lupacchino.

Creepshow – A horror anthology that has two 10 page stories an issue. It’s really a series of limited series and volume 5 issue 1 just came out. I like the scary stories.

Department of Truth – This one has been going for a few years. What if people believed an urban myth so much that it became true and rewrote history? That’s what happens in this world. Lee Harvey Oswald runs the DOT and tries to make things work in the USA’s favor. But others are out to make the truth work in their favor too. Written by James Tynion and drawn by Martin Simmonds.

D’Orc – A fun fantasy book about a half-orc, half-dwarf character who the whole world is out to get because there is a prophesy that he will bring about the end of the world. Orcs and dwarves are always warring with each other anyway so he doesn’t fit in. By Brett Bean.

Feral – A book about cats trying to survive the rabies apocalypse. It’s sort of a zombie story. Written by Tony Fleecs and drawn by Trish Forstner and Tone Rodriguez.

Godzilla – This is a stand in for the zillion Godzilla books out there today. I’m not a huge Godzilla fan and certainly don’t buy most of them but it seems I’m always picking up a Godzilla comic or two.

Hammerfist – Only one issue of this grind house comic about a low rent assassin is out but I’m down for issue two. We’ll see from there. Not sure if it’s a mini or an ongoing. Written by Rick Remender and drawn by Steve Epting.

Ice Cream Man – A long running horror anthology with your host the Ice Cream Man. A fun book. Each story is a done in one and they also come out with some fun side projects like a story told with an actual deck of cards. Written by W. Maxwell Prince and drawn by Martin Morazzo.

Invincible Universe: Battle Beast – A spin off of Invincible. Battle Beast is a character who is searching the universe for someone strong enough to kill him in battle. It’s a fun book full of bloody fights with huge monsters. Written by Robert Kirkman and drawn by Ryan Ottley.

Love and Rockets – The classic Hernandez Brothers book continues with its stories about their long running characters. Two masters at work. Jaime Hernandez and Gilbert Hernandez.

M1 Monster Racing League – I’m loving the Jae Lee artwork on this one. His layouts are innovative and beautiful. The drawing is nice too. The story is about an L.A. Teenager who moves to Japan with her father and gets involved in racing. The story is secondary to me to the way Jae Lee draws it. Written by Robert and Lily Windom.

Mind MGMT: New and Improved – The first volume was 35 issues and this is volume two of the spy story. Lots of fun and intrigue as the spies have weird powers that they use in their spying. Volume one was one of my favorite books and this one looks to be two. By Matt Kindt.

Monstress – Another long time series that’s as good as ever. I just read and enjoyed issue 64. It’s a fantasy series about a world where a whole bunch of different groups are warring with each other. It’s like a long fantasy novel and has an intricate plot with lots of characters. Pick up the collected editions and give us a read. Written by Marjorie Lui and drawn by Sana Takeda.

Palooka-Ville – This one started out as a comic but now is a series of hardcover comics. It keeps the same numbering as the comic but is technically not a comic book anymore. It’s by the one named cartoonist Seth where he serializes his graphic novels. It is a a long time favorite of mine. You can get the graphic novels “Clyde Fans” and “It’s a Good Life If You Don’t Weaken” that were originally printed in Palooka-Ville.

Psychodrama Illustrated – This is a solo book by Gilbert Hernandez who is one of the brothers who does Love and Rockets. It’s pretty much the same as his stuff in Love and Rockets. Same characters and such. I think he’s more prolific than his brother Jaime so he has more stuff to publish.

Radiant Black – A super hero book that has been around for a while now. They’re up to issue 42 but there are actually 48 issues in the series due to some half issues in the 20s. It’s a fun book that I’ve been following since the start. Written by Kyle Higgins and drawn by Marcelo Costa.

Rogue Sun – This one has had 34 issues and is in the same Universe as Radiant Black so it’s another superhero book. A teenager inherits the mantle of a super hero (Rogue Sun) from his estranged father who died. Now the ghost of his father gives him advice as he fights evil. Another solid book. Written by Ryan Parrott and drawn by the one named artist Abel.

Savage Dragon – I have 280 issues of this comic so you know that I enjoy it. I stated reading it at issue 70 and went back and bought the early issues to complete the set. Its creator, Erik Larsen, always tries to keep it interesting. I enjoy reading it month after month.

The Sire: Aftermath – Another book that I like to follow because I know the publisher and creator of The Sire, Mike Dolce. We used to play touch football back in the early 2000s. It’s a fun superhero book that is continuing but it published in mini series. It’s got a 1990s vibe to it.

Spawn – I started buying Spawn a few years ago because it was the last of the $3 comics. It’s since gone up to $4 but I’ve enjoyed reading it so I stayed with it. I actually gave issues 315-350 to a student of mine a little while ago so it’s not one I plan to reread but I still like it. The latest Spawn creative team is writer Matthew Rosenberg and artist Stephen Segovia.

Tales of Wonder – I think this one might be a limited series but only one issue of it has come out so far. I’ve been buying whatever Steve Scroce draws in recent years so I’ll count it as continuing for now. The first issue was just okay but I’ll stick with it.

White Sky – A post apocalyptic book where the survivors are hunted by ghosts. I, and others, have compared it to “The Waking Dead” but it’s more supernatural than that. It stars a teenage girl and her father as they try to survive. I like it. Written by William Harms and drawn by JP Mavinga.

W0RldTR33 – This one has been going for 21 issues and it’s a cyberpunk story about a group of people trying to save the world from the under-net. That’s a weird life form that lives under the internet. It’s a fun, visually interesting comic. Written by James Tynion IV and drawn by Fernando Blanco.

Here is a final few that I put in the “Are they still making these?” category.
Are They Still Being Published?

Usagi Yojimbo – I’ve been buying Stan Sakai’s rabbit bodyguard comic since the 1980s. It’s been coming out in mini series in recent years but I haven’t heard news of a new one in a while.

The Goon – Eric Powell has been working on various things over the last few years so I don’t know when he’ll be getting back to his flagship character.

What’s the Furthest Place From Here? – This one has had 22 issues but I don’t remember it actually ending. I wonder if they’ll be more? Written by Mathew Rosenberg and drawn by Tyler Boss.

Saga – This one has had 72 issues and I know is planned to be around 100 but I haven’t seen new ones in a while. It’s gone on long hiatuses before so it may be on one. Written by Brian K. Vaughan and drawn by Fiona Staples.

Next week I’ll go over the limited series.

I’ve made up my mind that I’m going to pause my “Dreams of Things” series of comic book covers when I hit number 350 in favor of doing another series called “The Acid Ram.” Right now I’m doing both of them so that means I finished one of each this week. Since I just finished “Dreams of Things” number 341 yesterday I thought I’d give it a look.

First of all this one has a bit of my “Side of the brush” inking in it. When I use the brush in my regular way I pull it across the page and make a smooth thick to thin line or a regular even line. On the large figure on this page I dragged the tip of the brush sideways to make a jagged line. It’s something I do when I want a piece to have a different look than my normal way of inking. Often I make the whole cover with the side of the brush technique but in this one it’s only part of the cover.

The first colors that I laid down are the green/blue stripes at the top. For some reason this popped into my head immediately. Often this happens to me. I look at the black and white piece and imagine what the colors might be and then one of colors becomes obvious to me. In this case I wanted it to look like a stripped sky.

After putting the sky in I was left with a bit of a conundrum. The background of the pyramids could also be a sky. I’ve put two skies in a piece before so I could do that again but it didn’t seem to be the right was to go. I decided to go with some yellow and then decided that it wouldn’t be sky but it would be a cloud of dust. I think I also made the line between the sky and dust a little rougher. At first it was smooth. Rough is dustier.

After coloring in the upper area of dust I colored the lower area too. At first I thought about making it another color but then liked the idea of a lot of dust. It would make the whole cover a little dusty. The dreamworlds I draw usually aren’t this dusty.

After the dust was in I added some green in the middle. The little bit of land/mountains behind the main character’s neck came first and then the green boxes in front to the pyramids. The green boxes were colored with grey first and then green on top of them. This gives it a dull green look.

Here I had to pause. I usually color my background pyramids (I use them a lot) a neutral brown but I already had a lot of yellow/brown in the dust. After some contemplation I decided to keep the pyramids brown but keep the browns darker than the dust.

With all that brown on the page I decide to go for even more brown so next I colored the rolling hills on the bottom. I actually have quite a few brown markers so I used some shades that I hadn’t used yet plus a couple I had used already. This might be the most brown I’ve ever used on a cover. But I think it works.

The tiny bit of green on the bottom was an obvious call so I went with it. A few jagged grass covered hills.

I think I did the figure in the background next. Orange hair, pink and light blue face, red and blue shirt. I hadn’t used any red yet and the blues tied in with the sky on top so these choices came fast.

Then I decided to make the eye on the cone thing purple. I scumbled the purple on because wanted a bit of roughness to it. Then I added a little smoothness to it with the green done in short top to bottom lines. Since I made the green behind it dull I knew I could use some bright green here without them visually blending together. Since I made the sky a green/blue I knew that I could use a bright blue for the eye itself. The wavy lines make it look a little bit bloodshot. It gives some worry to the creature.

I saved the main figure for last and colored her head and face next. I used a scumbling technique on her face to match the black line. Some pretty standard stuff. Caucasian skin, magenta head dress, purple/magenta eye piece, and yellow/orange hair. This all went down smooth and easy.

Next came her shirt and I switched marker types for this. The rest of the drawing was done with my dye/alcohol based markers but for the shirt I wanted my pigment/water based markers. I’m not even sure why except that it seemed like a good idea.

The first three Pantone pigment based markers that I bought (before I got the 99 marker set) were a basic red, yellow, and blue. The three primary colors. So now when I think of using the three primaries I think of these three markers. I think that’s what brought me there.

I colored the shirt with the three markers and I made used the color in patterns. Basic stuff. I also used a darker red alcohol marker in places for some variety. I even mixed the red and yellow markers in a couple of spots.

The final thing I did was to add a little more black like into the shirt for some additional texture. All those tiny little shading lines in the shirt weren’t there until the end. They make the vibe of the figure a little bit rougher over all.

So there you have it. Number 341 is done and scanned in. I would say that I only have nine more to go but there could be a few more. A lot of comics, especially big round numbered issues, have more than one cover. I think I made about six different covers to issue number 300. So I might be doing a few extra alternate covers for issue number 350. Only nine to go might mean fifteen. We’ll see when I get there.