Patience is a character trait I admire tremendously in others but have yet to cultivate in myself. I get antsy waiting at red lights and emit an unbroken hiss of curses as the line of my candy thermometer completes its interminable to crawl to “hard crack.” So when I’m hip-deep in the slush pile and something not only captures my full attention from the first line but sustains it in a way that makes me slow down because I want to linger, that delights me with unexpected imagery or carries me effortlessly along with a distinctive
voice—that’s a fast and sure acceptance. Most issues have one or two pieces like that. This one has six, plus gorgeously unsettling cover art.

Issue 131 is a thing of weird beauty.