A perfect Sunday with... David Pepose
Eleanor and Park, amazing web-slinging and post-apocalyptic emotion
Every week, a top writer, artist, actor or creator reveals how they’d fill their perfect Sunday, sharing their favourite comfort reads, movies, food… anything that would make their weekend great.
Today, it's the turn of comic writer David Pepose!
David's perfect Sunday… brunch
There’s a little hole-in-the-wall brunch place near my apartment called Met Her At A Bar, and for such an unassuming, cosy place, they really do the best Sunday brunches. They’ve got an egg, cheese, and avocado sandwich that doesn’t sound like much on paper, but it’s so flavourful and perfectly balanced that it’s hard not to feel energised afterwards. (And if I’m feeling a sweet tooth, they’ve also got great Oreo waffles.)
David's perfect Sunday… read
My wife introduced me to Rainbow Rowell’s Eleanor and Park, and I thought that was a very sweet book, as someone who remembers what it was like being an awkward, comic book-reading teenager in love. Rainbow Rowell has such warmth to her writing, and she treats her characters with real compassion and adoration — I also just love her voice as a writer and a storyteller, it’s just very accessible and cosy, which is exactly what I want when I want to clear through an entire book on a Sunday.
An entirely different runner-up would be World War Z by Max Brooks, which I reread recently on my honeymoon — that’s a book that feels so visual with its prose, but it encompasses a wide spectrum of horror, humanism, and hope.
David's perfect Sunday… comic
Boy, this is a hard one! It always depends on my mood. I’d say Dan Slott’s run on Amazing Spider-Man is the kind of long-running storyline that is good to break up across multiple Sundays. With that run, Dan managed to really hit that sweet spot for Big Two superhero comics, in that it’s familiar enough to feel like comfort food, but it also managed to take some really fun and ambitious swings, whether it was Peter’s new job at Horizon Labs, or him stepping up his game in storylines like “Ends of the Earth” and “Spider-Island,” not to mention the absolute all-timer twist of “Superior Spider-Man.”
It’s engaging storytelling that not only gives me a Sunday boost leading into the next work week, but it’s also inspiring stuff that really pushes me to swing bigger in my own work.
David's perfect Sunday... movie
The first JJ Abrams Star Trek movie is probably one of my go-to comfort movies. I think it really influenced a lot of my writing, in that it’s very character-driven and incredibly accessible to newcomers — I didn’t grow up with the original Shatner Star Trek, but that movie really makes you understand Kirk and Spock and makes you root for them.
Beyond the fun time-travel shenanigans, there’s great character work, with excellent setup and some beautiful payoffs — like setting up Spock’s mother as his great weakness, which then winds up culminating in him giving up his role as captain to Kirk himself. Just a truly satisfying movie to me, lens flares and all.
David's perfect Sunday... TV binge
Boy, I’ve been doing a little bit of a TV cocktail as far as my Sundays are concerned. I start with The Studio, which is absolutely pitch-perfect and hilarious — as somebody who works in a creative field, I see enough common threads of the absurdities and well-intentioned mishaps going on with Seth Rogen’s character.
Then I chase that down with The Pitt, which I think is such a beautifully balanced and amazingly consistent show — the character work across the entire ensemble is genuinely astounding, and it takes all the willpower I have not to just binge my way through.
And finally, I bring it all home watching The Last of Us, which has such a wonderful sense of scale and emotion to it — I appreciate the level of commitment towards bringing post-apocalyptic Seattle to life, and the acting is always stellar.
David's perfect Sunday… podcast
The Off Panel podcast from SKTCHD’s David Harper is probably my favourite listen, in that he’s a very talented interviewer who always manages to get good answers out of his subjects. I can say from my own experience as a former comics journalist, between publishers understandably keeping their lips buttoned on news and the sheer fire hose of content being shipped every week, comics journalism often skews towards quick reactions versus deeper dives, but David always finds a way to make his conversations relevant, informational, and engaging.
David's perfect Sunday… album
I usually listen to my music piecemeal, depending on what energy I want to aim for when I’m writing, but the most recent album I listened to just to relax was Lake Street Dive’s “Free Yourself Up.” I love Bridget Kearney’s vocals; she really pours a lot of emotion and intensity into the songs, which all have some great concepts behind them. Beyond that, I’ve also wound up bouncing between playlists from Ted Lasso, which has some excellent needle drops, like Michael Kiwanuka’s “Light,” which is a genuinely beautiful song.
David's perfect Sunday… treat
Beyond chasing whatever deadlines I need to catch up with, the ultimate Sunday luxury for me is playing some video games. I don’t get to do it as much as I’d like, but if I really need to unplug, playing some Fortnite Festival is a great way to unwind, or I can scratch a retro game itch by playing Streets of Rage 4 or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge. Every once in a blue moon, I’m able to get into something deeper and more immersive, like Baldurs Gate III, Cyberpunk 2077, Life Is Strange, or The Quarry — I’m not an especially proficient gamer, but I love being able to interact with a truly compelling and visually engrossing story… as long as the game doesn’t punish me for trying to do so, that is!
Captain Planet and the Planeteers is out now from Dynamite Comics
EARTH'S ULTIMATE PROTECTOR RETURNS!
Five special young people have been empowered by Gaia, the embodiment of the Earth's spirit, with an aspect of our world's elemental forces: Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, and Heart. When the five powers combine, they summon the world's greatest champion - Captain Planet!
But before these would-be eco-warriors can combine their newfound abilities in pursuit of environmental justice, they will have to learn to trust each other - and with each member drawn from different (and sometimes mutually antagonistic) corners of the globe, that's easier said than done.
Unfortunately, time is not on their side. When Gaia is kidnapped, the inexperienced Planeteers are forced to come together - whether they're ready or not - to face the well-financed might of Lucian Plunder! Even with the five-fold power of Captain Planet on their side, will it be enough to stop the ruthless ingenuity of Earth's exploiters?
Find out in the all-new Captain Planet #1 from red-hot writer DAVID PEPOSE (Space Ghost) and acclaimed artist EMAN CASSALLOS (Vampirella) - featuring sustainable covers from MARK SPEARS, BEN OLIVER, CHRISTIAN WARD, and a special connecting series of covers for the first six issues from JAE LEE & JUNE CHUNG!
A former newspaper reporter turned Ringo Award-winning comic book creator, David Pepose has written for such titles as Savage Avengers, Cable, Fantastic Four, Hulk, and Punisher at Marvel Comics, Space Ghost and Captain Planet at Dynamite Entertainment, Speed Racer at Mad Cave Studios, as well as original series such as Spencer & Locke, The O.Z., The Devil That Wears My Face, and Ten-Ton Titan Terrier. Raised in St. Louis, David now lives in sunny Los Angeles with his understanding wife, their rambunctious terrier, and at least six deadlines.
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