'Zine Banal Nightmare

My last job was stressful and shitty, and one of my favorite ways to unwind from a long day of work was to get incredibly stoned and watch the increasingly-inaccurately-named History Channel’s Ancient Aliens series on Netflix.  For the uninitiated: one of the core tenets of the show is that artists throughout history have hidden hints of extraterrestrial visitation in their works, kind of like the Da Vinci Code, but with aliens and somehow stupider.  Pictured above is a much-touted example, submitted as Exhibit A, “The Madonna with Saint Giovannino”, artist unknown (suspected to be Domenico Ghirlandaio), 15th century.

Anyway.  It’s a way, way dumb show but it’s fun to watch if you’re pretty high and want to blow an hour intellectually slumming it.  I didn’t take it very seriously.  UNTIL RECENTLY, THAT IS

This is Bruegel’s Fall of the Rebel Angels.  It’s one of my desktop backgrounds, downloaded in breathless anticipation of the High Holy Night of Halloween.  I’m typing with the active window on the left side of my screen when I’m suddenly drawn to one of the figures in the lower right portion of the painting.

The fish/insect thing, with the claws… what is that, and why… why does it look so familiar…

oh my god.

REAPER!

REEEEEEAAAAPER!