25 | September | 2019 | Through the Shattered Lens

Ryan C.'s Four Color Apocalypse

Kevin Hooyman, of Conditions On The Ground renown, is a perfect choice for the Mini Kus! line — well-established as it is for providing a venue for individualistic, even idiosyncratic, artists to tell short-form stories (assuming they decide to even tell “stories” at all) — and his newly-released mini presented under the imprint’s imprimatur (okay, that was a bit redundant), Elemental Stars, may be #82 in the series, but damn if it won’t quickly become #1 in your heart.

In a dull pastel world populated by anthropomorphic animals/people/aliens/does it really even matter?, a group of neighbors that may or may not be actual “friends” search for the Crystal City that came to one one of them in dream — which may be no accident. Assuming such a city even exists, of course, and that is by no means a guaranteed proposition. But hey — the quest is the…

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Tragic Comic was a third third and final single to be released off of Extreme’s third album, III Sides to Every Story. This was Extreme’s last single to crack the UK Top 40, reaching #15.

The video for Tragic Comic features Extreme’s lead singer, Gary Cherone, trying to have the perfect date with his neighbor and failing in almost every way. Even when things look like they’re finally going right, she ends up falling down an elevator shaft. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find the name of the actress who played Cherone’s neighbor in this video.

As for Gary Cherone, he is probably best known for being Van Halen’s third lead singer. Cherone joined the band in 1996, replacing Sammy Hagar. He stuck with Van Halen for three years, recording one album with the band. Though Van Halen III was a success by most standards, it still didn’t sell as much as previous Van Halen albums and Cherone and the band amicably parted ways in 1999. If nothing else, Cherone is probably the only person to ever leave Van Halen on relatively good terms.

This video was directed by Paris Barclay. Today, Barclay is best-known as an Emmy-winning television director. Among the shows that he’s worked on: NYPD Blue, ER, The West Wing, CSI, Lost, The Shield, House, Law & Order, Monk, Numb3rs, City of Angels, Cold Case, Sons of Anarchy, The Bastard Executioner, The Mentalist, Weeds, NCIS: Los Angeles, In Treatment, Glee, Smash and The Good Wife, Extant, and Manhattan, Empire, and Scandal. Barclay also served two terms as the president of the DGA.

Enjoy!