Posted in: Comics, Comixology, Current News | Tagged: comixology, Scissor Sisters, thought bubble, wags

Scissor Sisters' Scott Hoffman Reveals A Playlist For His Comic, Wags

Bleeding Cool has a look at a musical playlist curated by Scott Hoffman (aka Babydaddy of Scissor Sisters) for his new monthly comic Wag.

Published Tue, 31 Oct 2023 12:57:07 -0500

by Rich Johnston

Comments

Previously, Bleeding Cool debuted the character designs for Scott Hoffman's first comic series Nostalgia. We've now got a look at a musical playlist curated by Hoffman (aka Babydaddy of the band Scissor Sisters) for his new monthly comic Wag. The first issue launched last month on the 5th of September, and issue two is also out now from ComiXology Originals. Which, yes, is still a thing. They'll be sponsoring the upcoming Thought Bubble Festival in Harrogate. More about that in a minute.

The news was announced at his panel: Music and Comics Collide, moderated by friend and fellow creator Phil Jimenez at San Diego Comic Con, drawn and coloured by Juan Bobillo, letters by Steve Wands, with covers and design by Rian Hughes.

"I think the pandemic got most of us considering the possibility of our post-apocalyptic fears becoming a reality," said Hoffman. "This dystopian anxiety felt especially poignant to me in a time when global connectedness/national fracturing, conspiracy theories, continuing breakthroughs in neuroscience/neural implanting/our understanding of consciousness and the whiplash caused by runaway advances in AI leave most of us with more questions than answers about how to navigate our frantically changing world."

"Wag, a loner in a post-apocalyptic world, hears voices in his head. Could it be some kind of implant from the days before everything collapsed, or has he been slowly losing his mind ever since the pills ran out? With the aid of an ever-growing band of oddballs, Wag sets out on a quest to discover the source of his troubles – confronting strange and deadly enemies along the way."

As a writer/producer, Scott has worked alongside Jason with artists such as Bryan Ferry and Kylie Minogue as well as Demi Lovato, Melanie Martinez, Tinashe, Chris Brown, Ariana Grande, and FRENSHIP (whose "Capsize", which he co-wrote, has earned over 550 million streams on Spotify alone). In addition, he has written original music for films including Kill Your Friends and has scored The Great Indoors for CBS and Hoops for Netflix. So when he tells tells Bleeding Cool his playlist for Wag… it deserves its own subhead.

Wag Music Playlist by Scott Hoffman

"Juan (Bobillo) actually requested a playlist quite early in the process to provide inspiration for the art. It was an interesting task, as I knew I wanted to make a work that felt poetic and moody, even if it stuck to the conventions of a futuristic adventure with rising action and suspense. A lot of the work in this list may feel more ambient than urgent, but that's just the way I like it."

North Druid Hills to Atlanta by The KLF – I love the KLF, partly because they were geniuses at world-building. Pulled from their "Chill Out" album, this track is essentially a road trip set to music, or perhaps the sound of a road trip AS music. Synthesizers, bird sounds, sci-fi ambience and hints of pulsing beats: that's Wag.
Meet the Friends by M83 – This entire album (DSVII) is like a dream from my childhood. It brings me back to an era of sad cartoon films and staying up late watching grainy sci-fi, just one part of a "lost" culture I wanted to think about when envisioning the world of Wag.
Pacific 1 by Christopher Willits – Christopher Willits makes awesome, theatrical soundscapes that nod to the ambient tradition. I love playing cinematic music while I write, and this is twisting, ethereal and hopeful.
Soil Festivities: Movement 1 by Vangelis – Haunting sci-fi from one of the world's best sound visualists. Vangelis instantly pulls me into his worlds, and as a writing tool that's invaluable. This track has such a relaxed beauty, but underneath it all is a ticking, impending urgency that, perhaps, is a great definition of drama.
NightChatter by Incorporeal Visions Deluxe – Ok fine, this one has birds too, but it made the playlist for more than that. I credit the vaporwave genre for allowing me to think of music as a kind of purgatorial memory, blending sounds of our past into a postmodern pastiche that floats away from context completely. That's what the future is, right?
Broken Glass Arch by DjRUM – As I've said before, I love music that makes me feel a certain way, and DjRUM creates worlds of innovative, inexplicable sound. This track is a great example of what DjRUM can do, presenting evolving, emotional soundscapes that lurch into and narrowly escape chaos.
Jelmore by Bon Iver – This song sounds broken and, at times, artificial, but all the while rooted in emotion and resignation. A big theme of Wag is how the memory of technology can haunt and absorb us, and I feel it here.
Detroit People Mover by Squarepusher – I feel like there's an ongoing genre of electronic music that approaches my generation's nostalgia in ways that film and tv can't. I'm not sure why that is, but perhaps it's the lack of visuals to break the illusion. This song feels like yet another lost soundtrack from my childhood.

Scott Hoffman will also be at Thought Bubble, including the following panel on the Saturday, the 11th of November, by which time issue 3 of Wag will be out.

11th November, 12:15pm-1:15pm – From Pitch to the Page Saturday – Panel Room 1 Queen's Suite –

Join bestselling cookbook author Kim-Joy (Turtle Bread, Bake Me a Cat), up-and-coming artist Abigail Jill Harding (Parliament of Rooks, Ask For Mercy), renowned writer and letterer Richard Starkings (Elephantmen, Barnstormers, Ask For Mercy), Eisner Award-Winning and Harvey Award-Nominated artist Tula Lotay (Barnstormers), debut writer Scott Hoffman co-founder of the multi-platinum selling rock/disco/glam/pop band Scissor Sisters (Wag, Nostalgia), and superstar artist Jock (Book of Evil, Snow Angels) as they discuss inspiration, the creative process, and their most recent collaborations. Moderated by Graeme McMillan

11th November, 4-5:30pm–Comixology Originals Signing in the Signing Area, The Fourth Hall