Welcome, dear readers, to our regular letter column; a series of missives from and to the internet, delivered by a series of tubes. We welcome your comments and questions. About anything! We’ll answer it, and at least one of us will take you seriously. Maybe.

Your questions can be about comics. But that’s really just because we’re a comics site (IN THEORY) and we feel obligated to remind you of that. But really, you know where our real passion is: James being objectively correct about a wide variety of subjects and Brandon claiming ignorance about those topics because he’s hitched his wagon to comics. In fact, you might say that the only reason we’re encouraging questions about non-comics topics at all is to artificially inflate James’ sense of expertise while degrading Brandon’s. You might be right, who knows. You might have to ask a question about that.

You’re welcome, internet.

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Josh (@joshyeg) asks: Will you ignore this question too, Brandon?

James: For the record, this is my favourite type of question. First, it takes something I have said as the gospel. In this case, it was that not asking your questions for Nathan Edmondson’s appearance on the podcast this week was the result of Brandon giving me the “time to wind it down” gesture and me LISTENING FOR ONCE BECAUSE I AM NICE, and not our mutual forgetfulness that totally didn’t happen. Second, I love that it is aggressive towards Brandon. Seriously, go back and look through these. My two types of favourite questions are things that either embrace my interests in rejection of Brandon or focus on Brandon but in a negative way. That’s canon.

Brandon:

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Laury (@OTOC_Laury) asks: The Manhattan Projects: what’s the consensus? I’m… unsure.

James: I like it. It’s got a great elevator pitch (“what if the Manhattan Project was just a cover-up for the mad science the government was really doing?”), some really detailed and expressive art with a killer colour palette and a very Jonathan Hickman-ian focus on complex storytelling. I’m a little behind on it right now, but it remains my total jam.

Brandon: It’s also a great, meaty read. Each issue accomplishes a lot and moves the plot quickly, but I find that even as I jump in and check on the series somewhat randomly (in between bouts of catching up on the series as a whole when time permits me to read the comics that I actually want to read), I can understand what’s going on, even if the “why” has a few bits of information missing. Anyway, if you’re still thinking on it, you can read the first issue for free here. (Oh! And if you do, please let us know your thoughts. Even if you didn’t quite like it, getting your reaction will help us recommend things that you might key into more directly.)

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Britny (@britl) asks: How does one take the perfect selfie? Can you provide an example? Preferably of yourself.

James: Man, I’m not the selfie police! I don’t really care how people take selfies; I’ve seen good ones that obscured the telltale arm, that embraced it by going full-on mirror and everything in between. Take what photos you like and don’t worry about what people think! As I understand it, that kind of taking control of your own image however you want is the great progressive spirit of selfies.

Also, all my selfies were on my old phone, so it looks like they are gone to the wind and/or saved by their datestamp on my Dropbox account and man, I am never gonna go through all of those things.

Brandon: This is still my favourite selfie of myself.

As for the perfect selfie? I would say it’s one taken against the backdrop of another selfie that you took of yourself.

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Brittany continues: What is a typical day in the life of Brandon/James?

James: For a weekday:

6:30am - Alarm goes off.

7:00am - Get up, shower, get ready for work

7:50am - Stop for a coffee on the way to work

8:00am-4:15pm - Work

5:00pm - Leave work after dicking around on the computer catching up on tabs I meant to read on my lunch hour and didn’t.

5:30pm - Get home

5:30pm-2am - Read, watch TV, write, eat dinner, etc

2am-6:30am - Give in to the base human need for sleep.

Brandon: Hmm. Whelp, this definitely changes from day to day, as my schedule differs quite a bit, but here’s a basic outline:

7:00am - Alarm goes off.

7:20am - Danica gently wakes me (if I didn’t actually get up and/or am pinned under a cat who is snuggly and purring)

7:30am - Make muttery sounds that Danica pretends to understand until she trundles me off to the shower.

7:45am-time I have to go to work - Make tea, cat wrangle while Danica smooches me good-bye and we say mushy stuff to each other.

Work - Comics comics comics comics resentment of anyone who stops at the Magic counters comics comics comics

Home-9 or 11 - Comics, TV, snuggles, reading

And then sleep! It’s a pretty awesome life.

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Scott (@scottowilliams) asks: What do you like best about living where you do? The least?

James: Are we talking just our individual homes or Edmonton itself? For my home, I like the location and the view, but not the actual management of the property. For Edmonton, man, there’s a lot I love. I like that the climate has a nice long winter and a summer that rarely gets too hot. I like the burgeoning culinary culture, as well as the amazing arts scene. I live right near the edge of the largest contiguous urban river valley park area in North America, which is awesome. After decades of being idle, the downtown area where I now live is vibrant and exciting. The roads are primarily organized on a numbered grid, which means it’s extremely easy to find your way almost anywhere in the city if all you have is an address. It’s home and I love it.

At the same time, though, urban development for a long time was defined by unchecked urban sprawl, which means it’s as big as New York but with a population density that’s thirty times less. This has created an emphasis on motor vehicles, and the transit system is underdeveloped that it can be difficult to get by without owning a car. If you take the transit system, there are constant delays, the bus operators are frequently rude and bad at their jobs and the train system services only about 1/4 to 1/3 of the city. The previous city council was dead set on getting a fancy new arena for a hockey team, to the tune of $600M given to a billionaire, which jeopardized transit expansion plans until the provincial government, who were in the middle of a massive scandal that ended up costing the premier her position, eventually gave in. And speaking of politics, while Edmonton is often considered to be the left-leaning bastion in an otherwise entirely conservative province, it’s still very conservative, partisan-wise, and it can be easy to think that my vote will never really amount to much here, where my very mainstream politics are often treated as fringe commie nonsense. That said, I still love my city, and I’ll always work to have it be better.

Brandon: The best thing is Danica. Also, that it’s not Central Alberta. The worst? Definitely the politics, but again, that’s not as bad as Central Alberta.

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Scott continues: What is your favourite non-December holiday?

James: Halloween, easy. It’s in the autumn, my favourite season, where the weather is cool and the leaves are colourful & crunchy. There’s a lot of candy all around. There are a lot of fun costumes. I get an excuse to watch Dracula movies. Halloween is preeeeeeetty great.

Brandon: Free Comic Book Day.

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Scott goes on: Who has done the best since their brief run on SNL: Jenny Slate, Casey Wilson or Michaela Watkins?

James: Right off the bat, I’m taking Jenny Slate out of contention, just because she’s the most recent SNL evictee of the group, and while I like her a lot, she’s still arguably coming out of that; she’s had some great guest roles and has been hired to write the new Looney Tunes movie, but I still don’t feel like we really know what she’s capable of. Similarly, I think that Watkins, while she’s my favourite part of Trophy Wife (a show I am on the record looooving), she’s only finally now really breaking out post-SNL, just like Slate. Casey Wilson, on the other hand, starred in a network TV series (Happy Endings) for three seasons, wrote/produced/starred in a movie that was received well on the festival circuit (Ass Backwards), is starring in an upcoming digital series (The Hotwives of Orlando), sold a TV pilot to NBC and is starring in another TV pilot from one of the Happy Endings creators. All three of these women are awesome and are only gonna get better, but Casey Wilson just seems to be a little bit farther along the post-SNL journey than the other two.

Brandon: Yup, Casey Wilson all the way. Though bonus points for all really showing how much they didn’t need the show.

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Scott gets frisky: What is your go-to dance move?

James: Drop to the knees, bounce back up, repeat. Perhaps with a drink in my hand. There were several weddings last year where people asked me the next day how my knees were doing, as a result. And the answer? Spectacular, thanks for asking.

Brandon: Something weird and jangly, with a lot of arm movement. Or this one.

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Scott gets serious for a second: What is your favourite ancient civilization?

James: The Celts, because that’s from whom a lot of my ancestors were descended.

Brandon: The Germans. They had good ideas about camping.

Yeah, that joke isn’t going to come back and haunt me at all…

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Scott plays God: If you could resurrect any Game of Thrones character in exchange for any other, who would you trade?

James: Okay, so, uh, SPOILER WARNING FROM HERE ON OUT.

…

…

Well, first, I’d bring back Ned Stark. That’s not for any actual story reason, of course; I think the point at which he dies is well-picked and serves an important narrative purpose in that series. It’s the signal to the reader that this isn’t the story of the good guys triumphing over evil; it’s the story of a world where being too noble is a liability, and where living morally comes with a price. Ned’s death is basically one half of the series’ thesis (the other being the revelations about Jaime Lannister’s backstory). I want Ned Stark back, but that’s really only because the Starks are my favourite characters and I really enjoyed Sean Bean’s portrayal of their patriarch; it’s one of the main things that solidified my interest in the series.

As for who I’d kill to bring him back, well, that’s hard to say, because I kind of like the purpose most of the living characters, even the evil ones. Especially the evil ones. Really, I’ve just gotta think of a boring character, and while I like how things are going in the books, I’d probably have to say, based on the third season alone, Theon Greyjoy. Put him out of his misery. Put that storyline to rest, because in the act of turning his multi-book disappearance into an entire season of gross stuff happening to a dummy, I kind of lost interest.

Brandon: Uuuuuh, what James said. If only because I’ve experienced FAR less of the series than he has, and have no idea who else has died.

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Scott asks the same thing except for comics.

James: Man, that’s really hard to say, because I kinda don’t mind death in superhero comics. And, unlike Game of Thrones, it doesn’t mean I won’t see them again, because Heaven and Hell are literal places, and resurrection is pretty common. Most of the people I don’t want to be dead won’t stay that way, and the ones who will (Uncle Ben, Gwen Stacy, etc) should probably stay that way for narrative purposes. I’d probably bring back Gert from the Runaways, and kill the Punisher to get her back. I mean, Frank Castle murdering his way through Hell, facing guys he put there? That’s kinda boss hogg.

Brandon: Oh jeeze, Gert. Yes, yes, a thousand times Gert, the best of all the Runaways. Of course she had to go. And I’d probably kill Batman to do it. Yeah, I said it.

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That’s it for the one hundred and thirty-third instalment of Um, Actually. Check in every Monday and Thursday for a brand new column. If you have anything you’d like answered, hit up our contact page! If you submit anything via Twitter – to @blogaboutcomics, @Leask, or @soupytoasterson – remember to include the hashtag #UMACTUALLY so that we don’t lose it. Remember: you can ask us anything. Seriously, anything.