Frank Gogol

The older I get, the more I become a “measure five times, cut once” kind of person. It makes scripting a surprisingly fast process—15 pages on day one. Not bad at all.

This looks great!

Jonathan Hickman doesn’t just write #comics — he builds narrative machines.

This is a quick and dirty breakdown of his Marvel work, phase by phase. Want the full deep dive (plus 3 big takeaways for creatives & builders)?

👉 Read the full newsletter: frankgogol.substack.com/p/how-jonath...

I've posted this question across a few platforms and both of these have consistently been rec'd. I liked but didn't love the first season of Silo, but maybe I should give it another chance. And the only reason I haven't see The Expanse is because I read the books, but maybe I should watch it.

Looking for TV recs. Shows I've enjoyed over the last couple of years have been:

- Severance
- Yellowjackets
- The Leftovers

Eerie sci-fi-ish shows with solid character work seem to be my jam. What fits the bill? What have I been missing? Let me know!

I wrote last week about how Hickman’s Marvel work isn’t just great #comics — it’s a blueprint for creative evolution. Tomorrow’s newsletter breaks down 3 big lessons I'm stealing from his approach.

Subscribe to catch it: frankgogol.substack.com

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Thanks in advance to anyone who takes a moment to offer up a title.

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Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl

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Heavy

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Crying in H Mart

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Between the World and Me

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Some of the books I am to visit or revisit include:

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Regarding different, POVS, I'd be interested in books like one that explores the importance of gun owners' rights from a balanced, honest perspective, rather than one that's a commercial for extreme beliefs about the Second Amendment.

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To build up my empathy muscle -- that ability to see and understand things from other people perspectives -- I'm planning to read more memoirs from voices and life experiences different from mine and POVs that challenge my beliefs.

So, I am looking for book recs that meet these criteria.

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Call for Recommendations:

Some nobody, nonsense person recently said that empathy is weakness and it's been really bothering me. But it has also inspired me to try to be even more empathetic.

Orson Welles: Warrior of the Worlds (graphic novel) A graphic novel about Orson Welles and his secret adventures protecting Earth from aliens.

Orson Welles fought two great battles:

🎬 One against *Hollywood*.

🛸 One against something **far greater**.

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🔗 orsonwellescomic.com

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They started longing for a simpler, more stable Spider-Man — the way people in the '70s longed for a calmer America after the chaos of the '60s.

Anyway, that’s my working theory. On to the final omnibus.

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I think something similar happened with the Clone Saga. The pace of change was just too much.

Even though the stories themselves were thoughtful, emotional, and (mostly) well-crafted, readers got exhausted.

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The pace was so fast and disorienting that people started longing for stability — helping fuel a conservative pendulum swing that shaped American politics for decades afterward.

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Then the 1960s hit — and change became relentless.

- Civil rights
- Vietnam
- Counterculture
- Assassinations

Every year felt like its own decade.

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For most of the 20th century, each decade had a clear identity:

- 1910s: War years
- 1920s: Roaring Twenties
- 1930s: Great Depression
- 1940s: WWII
- 1950s: Post-war prosperity

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The ground never stopped moving under readers' feet. It reminds me of a political/social theory about the 1960s.

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The Clone Saga shattered that rhythm.

Every few issues brought a new mini status quo shift:

Peter’s the clone. No, the Jackal tricked everyone! Wait — Peter is the clone. Or… maybe he isn’t?

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And the vast majority of stories in between did little, if anything, to truly alter the status quo. Spider-Man’s world was familiar and steady.

Readers could count on that stability.

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Before the Clone Saga, big changes in Spider-Man’s world were rare and spaced out. The Death of Gwen Stacy. Peter and MJ’s wedding.

Huge, status quo-changing moments — but years apart.

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And I think that’s the real issue: not that the Clone Saga was bad, but that it was too much, too fast.

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Big ideas about cloning, mortality, and self-worth play out across dozens of issues. It’s everything you’d want from a bold, modern Spider-Man epic — just operating at a pace readers weren’t used to.

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Peter’s core themes — responsibility, sacrifice, perseverance — are all deeply baked into this saga. From an editorial standpoint, it’s incredibly intricate and ambitious. Characters evolve. Relationships are tested.

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Yes, The Clone Sage is sprawling. Yes, it's convoluted. But it’s packed with real emotional stakes — about identity, legacy, and what it truly means to be Spider-Man.

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Re: What actually didn't work about the Clone Saga...

Two years ago, I started reading every Spider-Man story ever in order. This morning, I finished the third of four Clone Saga omnibuses — halfway through Ben Reilly’s time as Spidey — and I finally get why it turned people off.