The Epoch of Incredulity!

Young Sigismundo Celine from The Earth Will Shake

BEHOLD! The cover for Tales of Illuminatus! "The First Trip" by Fraser Geesin! This is our first trade paperback and collects issues #1-3 :))) Available for pre-order as part of our Kickstarter campaign here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bobbycampbell/tales-of-illuminatus-3-opus-chao

ITEM! QUICK HITS!

STRETCH GOAL:

Since we hit our original funding goal so quickly, I figured I'd add a stretch goal to our KS campaign, namely this!

If we can fulfill the law of fives and hit 5K I'll add back a cut storyline called: "The Killing of the King Ritual / 1,000 Points of Lights" to THE FIRST TRIP Trade Paperback :)))

(I'll admit it currently seems unlikely that we will reach this goal, as the KS appears to have plateaued, but there's plenty of time left on the clock, and I do indeed dare to dream!)

MAYBE DAY:

In an effort to simplify my life and finances it looks like my proposed Maybe Day celebration in Berkeley, CA will have to wait for less harsh times, but! An east coast venue has been secured - and details are forthcoming <3<3<3.

(I did eventually find the perfect venue and premise for the Berkeley event, something that would likely actually bring people out, so it remains simmering on the back-burner.)

The main reason I was willing to acquiesce on brute forcing a west coast event is because...

SMALL PRESS EXPO:

Todd and I will returning to the Small Press Expo this year! Having secured one of the most coveted tables in all of indie comix, where we will be debuting Tales of Illuminatus! The First Trip!

This will be the capstone event of our current campaign. All roads lead to SPX!

ITEM! All Tomorrow's Parties

Had a great convo with Matt Thompson of Critical Hit Parader :)))
READ IT HERE: https://criticalhitparader.substack.com/p/the-velvet-underground-of-writers

ITEM! Catching up w/ AP Strange!

Another lovely wide-ranging conversation within which AP and I solve all of societies problems in a neat, tidy, little bow. You're welcome!

LISTEN HERE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-ap-strange-show/id1772544593?i=1000767038411

ITEM! PRAISE WHO IN THE WHAT NOW!?

Similar to our campaign for TOI #2, I'm trying to share non-spoilery excerpts from the upcoming issue, such as Mr. Dobbs' cameo here!

A skeleton key for the confused: https://bsky.app/profile/bobbycampbell.net/post/3mlbvynefks2b

ITEM! Peter J Carroll - Dove Sta Memoria

“The most original, and probably the most important, writer on Magick since Aleister Crowley." - RAW on PJC

Liber Kaos, Liber Null & Psychonaut were rocket fuel for my imagination. I studied with him at the Maybe Logic Academy (I did the enclosed art for his course) where he pushed & challenged me in very valuable ways. <3<3<3
https://www.specularium.org/blog/the-wizard-has-gone

In the first week of class Pete Carroll had us perform an "Illumination Ritual" according to a script he provided, this was my interpretation: https://weirdoverse.com/weird-comix/lux-natura/

ITEM! Not Just a Review

A celebration of Evan Dorkin and the inevitable heartbreak of comic books </3</3</3

I really like how this one turned out.

READ HERE: https://www.comicbookyeti.com/post/nerd-inferno-the-essential-evan-dorkin-review

ITEM! Crazy Uncle EZ

An excerpt from a much larger conversation surrounding Ezra Pound and the problems of art v artist.
Bobby Campbell on the 'Ezra Pound problem'
READ IT HERE: http://www.rawillumination.net/2026/05/bobby-campbell-on-ezra-pound-problem.html

ITEM! Seeking The Stone
(A quick personal anecdote)

Last week I found myself in the emergency room for the second time in 6 months with a kidney stone blockage, in excruciating pain and nausea, while the hospital is ridiculously overworked and understaffed.

Talk about a compassion building exercise for the suffering of the world! Five hours in the waiting room, frozen in torment, while folks in even worse shape than I continuously pour in, and the healthcare workers metabolize ungodly quantities of stress and emotional plague.

When I finally made it back to the treatment area I'm sharing a room with a poor soul that appears demon possessed, wailing in agony and violently vomiting for three hours straight, as a nearby TV ominously narrates exposition about the formidable Hantavirus, like a cheesy afternoon B movie.

Hard to come out of that experience with anything but radiant love and respect for our heroic and angelic healthcare workers, who regularly withstand maximum intensity, for whomever happens to need them the most.

One of the more readily apparent indictments of our collective priorities is that despite desperately needing more and more people to fill these roles, we make it prohibitively expensive to pursue this path, and needlessly unpleasant to remain upon it.

Nothing revelatory there, of course, but just adding another stone to the towering consensus that things need to change.

In lighter news, here's the current batch of foster kittens! Awful monsters, each worse than the last!