Joey Esposito

January 31, 2014

Pawn Shop Love

It’s been a long time coming, but the graphic novel that Sean Von Gorman and I Kickstarted back in 2012 is finally done and about to go off to the printer’s. Kickstarter backers have received their digital copies (if you haven’t, there’s an update for backers-only on the KS project with a link to download) and some members of the press have gotten their review editions.

I’m also pleased to say that the print edition will feature a foreword by die-hard New Yorker, class act, and writer extraordinaire, Adam P. Knave.

If you happened to miss the Kickstarter, you can currently pre-order the book from my online store and it will ship after the Kickstarter folks receive their copies.

Much to my delight, response has been quite flattering so far. Thank you all. I wanted to post some of the love we’ve received, if only to remind myself that the two years it took to get this book out the door was worth it. Here’s what some awesome people are saying:

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January 8, 2014

“Beautiful Things Don’t Ask for Attention” — Some Thoughts on The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Full disclosure: I haven’t read James Thurber’s 1939 short story by the same title nor have I seen the 1947 movie. While I plan on doing both eventually, this is all about Ben Stiller’s version. I loved it and think it’s something everyone — particularly those of us that are hunkered down at our desks behind computers all day — should go and see. There are spoilers for the whole movie in here, just so you know.

The premise is something we can all relate to, I think, especially those more interested in the world(s) inside of our heads than the real one outside of our window. Walter Mitty processes negatives for the soon-to-be-defunct Life Magazine, assisting world famous photojournalist Sean O’Connell in his documentation of Earth without ever actually leaving the confines of his dank little office. When Sean’s negative for what is going to be the magazine’s final cover is lost, Walter breaks free of his stifling, droning life and tries to hunt it down in Greenland, Iceland, and Afghanistan, following Sean’s trail and encountering a number of characters and adventures along the way.

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December 20, 2013

My Favorite Albums of 2013

2013 was absolutely amazing for music. So much good stuff hit this year, from old favorites and new discoveries, that putting together my favorites for the year was actually legitimately difficult. The way I narrowed it down was essentially determining which records I went back to over and over and over again since they released. There are some notable omissions that at the start of 2013 I would’ve expected to be sure bets for favorites of the year –the new Pearl Jam and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, for instance.

I created Joey’s Best of 2013 Playlist on Spotify, if you’d like to check out 27 of my favorite songs for the year (in an effective playlist order, not ranked), nearly all of them from the ten records below and the honorable mentions that follow. I also included my favorite tracks for each record on the list if you want to give ’em a listen, and the other links all lead to digital downloads on Amazon.

Read on!

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September 2, 2013

Top 25 Nine Inch Nails Songs

This week marks the release of Hesitation Marks, the first Nine Inch Nails record since 2008’s The Slip — which we all assumed was the last hurrah for Trent Reznor in his NIN incarnation. Thankfully, that isn’t the case, and here we are! I’ve been listening to the new record for the past week and it doesn’t disappoint. Production-wise, it calls back to The Downward Spiral while making a significant step forward for the evolving sound of Nine Inch Nails (just take a listen to “Everything,” a song that wears its Joy Division love on its sleeve).

To celebrate Hesitation Marks, I decided to do the impossible task of ranking my top 25 NIN songs. A couple of qualifications: no covers (so “Physical” and “Dead Souls” are absent, I’m afraid), no remixes, and nothing from Ghosts (simply because that record is basically a symphony and should be consumed as a whole).

Here we go!

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July 18, 2013

Captain Ultimate, My New Book from Monkeybrain Comics

Hooboy, this was a hard one to not talk about. So, as announced today from San Diego Comic-Con, I’m doing an all-ages superhero book with the wonderful Monkeybrain Comics called CAPTAIN ULTIMATE. It’s written by me and my pal Benjamin Bailey, with art by Boykoesh, colors by the (recently Harvey Award Nominated!) Ed Ryzowski, and letters by Adam Pruett.

I won’t say a whole lot about it here, for two reasons: 1.) there’s going to be a crazy amount of interviews and such going up today across the web that I’ll be posting, and 2.) we’ve built a crazy awesome official blog for the book: captainultimate.wordpress.com!

There will be a bunch of neat stuff there, including previews (here’s a preview of issue #1!) and cool story-based stuff. At launch, we’ve got some fun character bios and what not that will be updated as the issues come out. We’ve got lots of stuff planned, so check out and subscribe to the Captain Ultimate blog for more info!

Our first issue is on sale now, and it’s a mere 99 cents on Comixology, so please give it a whirl. If you read it and you like it, tell your friends and subscribe so you never miss an issue!