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Gustav Carlson @backwoodgoat.bsky.social · 11h

Can't do too many comics that are period pieces. I keep losing hours looking at pictures of old projectors or what have you. At what point it leaves research and moves into just weirdly relaxing is anyone's guess.

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Reposted by Gustav Carlson

Gustav Carlson @backwoodgoat.bsky.social · 2d

Hello friends! The digital edition of Backwood Folk #1 is now available at an introductory price of $2! That's a 48 page drm-free comic full of ghost town gossip, lights in the sky, and strange shapes behind the trees. Should be great for some seasonal reading! Available at giftshop.backwoodfolk.com

A white hand holds a broken skull among a field of pink flowers. A man in a suit emerges from the skull to greet a mockingbird. A woman and man cling to the side of the skull.

A horned goat watches from afar.

BACKWOOD FOLK by gustav carlson
ISSUE 1: Wake Up Mockingbird, Stay Awhile

Comic page from Backwood Folk 1. A man smoking a pipe on his deck in the Arkansas Ozarks. Before he exhales a smoke ring as a skeleton. A wild woman blows a kiss, sending the dust of the skeleton into the night sky.

Comic page of Backwood Folk. Benedict pointing at GPS in car and driving past a large goat.

dialogue
Ben: "According to this I should be here already.
That's on me using modern tools in old places.
And there he is. The king of old places himself.

Hello Hieronymus. How long do goats live? No idea."

On the front porch of a general store Chester pins up lost dog pictures. The Three Whittlers whittle away and chat with him. The smallest whittler named Herbert carves a skeleton.

Claude: Lose that Dog of your's again, chester?
Chester: Dunno if she was around long enough to be considered found.
Art: One of them young ladies in Uncle Foe's Flock mentioned seeing a Beagle.
Chester: Ah shoot. I don't wanna deal with them tonight. The've been real riled about some thirteen stars nonsesne.
'We will ascend and leave our bodies behind for alien hermit crabs'
Martha had patience for them. I do not.
Herbert: Say, you're a fellow geezer. what story did your folks tell you about Fiddler's Cave?
Chester: We both know I'm from Sheboygan.
Herbert: So you don't know any of the stories?
Chester: Figure I'm about to.
Herbert: Lemme tall ya about the Phantom's Fiddle!

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Gustav Carlson @backwoodgoat.bsky.social · 2d

Been considering rereading those! The Singles Club especially landed at the exact right time in college to be pretty influential on me.

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Gustav Carlson @backwoodgoat.bsky.social · 2d

You can also check out a free preview of the first scene of Backwood Folk's first issue right here! www.backwoodfolk.com/backwood-fol...

Backwood Folk #1 Preview: JAYBIRDS - Backwood Folk

the story continues in BACKWOOD FOLK ISSUE ONE:WAKE UP MOCKINGBIRD, STAY AWHILE Benedict Carpenter has returned to his home in the Ozarks after twelve years in The City. The small town of Po’Dunk, Ark...

www.backwoodfolk.com

Gustav Carlson @backwoodgoat.bsky.social · 2d

Hello friends! The digital edition of Backwood Folk #1 is now available at an introductory price of $2! That's a 48 page drm-free comic full of ghost town gossip, lights in the sky, and strange shapes behind the trees. Should be great for some seasonal reading! Available at giftshop.backwoodfolk.com

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Gustav Carlson @backwoodgoat.bsky.social · 3d

I clearly need to have read Pynchon like a decade ago.

Gustav Carlson @backwoodgoat.bsky.social · 3d

I feel like I’m always doing way better on both the financial and creative ends when I’m not solely in dialogue with other comics (or really contemporary genre fiction) as I am anything else. Obviously this is probably helped by my insanely local focus but still.

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Gustav Carlson @backwoodgoat.bsky.social · 3d

I don’t have a lot of novel comic hot takes. Though a lot of us indie folks often exist in a rut of trying to sell books to a very disinterested comic audience when it could focus on a way larger audience of people who could have your comic as their very first.

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Gustav Carlson @backwoodgoat.bsky.social · 3d

We cover some local lore favorites in the first episode. And to play fair I even go into my own experience with something mysterious in the woods of Newton County. bsky.app/profile/walt...

We Always Lie to Strangers: An Ozarks Podcast @waltspodcast.bsky.social · 3d

EPISODE 1: BIGFOOT CAMP. Where we ask the question "Is there even a tradition of Bigfoot in the Ozarks?" Gus tells his own story with the mythical creature and we explore regional figures such as the Giant of the Hills and Smokey Joe! Find WE ALWAYS LIE TO STRANGERS wherever the podcasts grow!

A boy scout encounters a hairy wild man in a scoutmaster uniforms in the wilds of Newton County.

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Gustav Carlson @backwoodgoat.bsky.social · 3d

I have a lot of funny things happening this month in the area of monsters in the Ozarks. This is one of them!

We Always Lie to Strangers: An Ozarks Podcast @waltspodcast.bsky.social · 3d

Gus takes over the podcast this October and explores the history of Bigfoot and the hairy bipeds who hunt him in the Arkansas, Ozarks. WE ALWAYS LIE ABOUT BIGFOOT. A Four Part Miniseries from We Always Lie to Strangers!

Four boys around a camp fire recording a podcast. Bigfoot looms behind them.

WE ALWAYS LIE ABOUT BIGFOOT

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Gustav Carlson @backwoodgoat.bsky.social · 5d

Lot of people crash the plane trying to land at “beloved contrarian” too I figure

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Gustav Carlson @backwoodgoat.bsky.social · 5d

I have never gone to the mall to be friends with the owner of the mall.

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Gustav Carlson @backwoodgoat.bsky.social · 5d

Like hanging out at the food court in the mall talking with friends and the owner of the mall is at the next table over loudly saying outdated punchlines trying to fit in.

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Gustav Carlson @backwoodgoat.bsky.social · 6d

Taking over podcast hosting duties for the month, and will be introducing a lot of Bigfooter history and concepts to our unsuspecting podcast audience with the grace and gusto of a ten year old who read a new book.

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Gustav Carlson @backwoodgoat.bsky.social · 8d

Got menaced by Jason during a tv interview.

Me in pink lighting in front of Jason Voorhees. From Pinpoint’s 2025 Nightmare on Block Street.

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Gustav Carlson @backwoodgoat.bsky.social · 8d

Manically throwing myself at a hundred dream projections at once lately. This is either the seeds of a career finally coming to bloom after over a decade at it or a very complicated ritual to keep myself from doomscrolling. Either ways I'm sure the burnout won't be significant!

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Gustav Carlson @backwoodgoat.bsky.social · 8d

The local lore keeps going global

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Gustav Carlson @backwoodgoat.bsky.social · 8d

Living in Wal-Mart country adds a fun extra level of personal animosity towards the Wal-Mart Nostalgia AI video.

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Gustav Carlson @backwoodgoat.bsky.social · 11d

Probably a great sign when even the Razorbacks fans start saying sportsball!

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Gustav Carlson @backwoodgoat.bsky.social · 11d

Yeah like I enjoy my wife’s work trips for the duration of “time to put on a sicko movie!” before scrolling through every option and going “dang she’d want to see that sicko movie too”

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Gustav Carlson @backwoodgoat.bsky.social · 11d

Made a joke last year that my new career goal was to be a talking head in a cryptid tv special or documentary. Might have to get a new joke.

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Gustav Carlson @backwoodgoat.bsky.social · 13d

Being a guy who talks about monsters is becoming a very fun little sidequest to being a guy who draws monsters.

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Gustav Carlson @backwoodgoat.bsky.social · 14d

Almost always younger unmarried guys too. Always said in a way that feels like it’s pantomiming adulthood. Well a very stupid idea of it anyways.

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Gustav Carlson @backwoodgoat.bsky.social · 14d

The only thing I unequivocally do not like about married life is the amount of dudes who immediately see it as permission to make ball and chain jokes.

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Gustav Carlson @backwoodgoat.bsky.social · 16d

Gunna have to rewatch The Leftovers if it continues!