Literary Speculation

    Metaphors can be more elusive than they may seem, and there have been countless times in which a story just flies right over my head. Kurt Vonnegut has done this many times, but again, I attribute this to my life experience, or lack thereof. As we grow intellectually we start to see things that we never even remotely thought possible or never had any interest in because we couldn't grasp them, but once we become aware we see that they really aren't that difficult to understand at all.

   In Vonnegut's "A Man Without a Country" most of the stories are his personal experiences throughout his life dealing with things as they seemed to him. He was very humble about trying to recall information of his past. To a lesser extent I can see this, but if I reread the book twenty years from now, I bet it'll be clearer.

    Sometimes these stories convey ideas about the future of society that, if understood, are cogent beyond belief! Ray Bradbury was particularly good at this, and his work has really made an impression on me. A great example was a short story he wrote about a late night walk where he and a friend were just walking for a breath of fresh air (as fresh as it gets) and were questioned by a passing police officer as to why they weren't back home. It's as though their very presence anywhere outside the confines of societal expectations is subject to suspicion. This kind of stuff is really quite terrifying. While my experiences thus far may not be quite as extreme, I often am questioned for things I do simply because they're "too far out" for many people to readily understand. This needs to stop, but will it? Really makes you think, doesn't it?

Diversity in Science Fiction

    This is the good stuff. This is what excites me about sci-fi writing, seeing how it intertwines with our own reality. The idea of our positions in reality as used for the content of our stories creates a certain sense of tact for readers and allows them to better immerse themselves in it. It would seem to me that science fiction has become aware of itself and became something more in the process.

    The idea of creating a setting that was believable is very important, especially for a story trying to convey itself realistically, so it would make sense that its roots can trace back to real-world experiences. On the other hand, it does need to break new bounds somewhere, lest it be more non-fiction. This is something I'm just in the process of learning, but I think I can appreciate its complexity and usefulness. I am looking forward to seeing how my work will evolve over time as I garner life experience and a better understanding of worldly affairs.

    One of the best things I did, probably accidentally, was that the time line dates back to the very beginnings of my writing abilities, and while it is a chronology of events narratively, it is also a chronology of my improvement. When I realised this, I began to see similar instances more and more often. It's amasing how often we inject ourselves into our work unintentionally, but somehow it all makes sense when you draw connections.

Cyberpunk

    As long back as I recall, there was the Matrix, everyone has seen this movie. The idea of interfacing with a cyber-generated world in which any of our wildest dreams were made manifest through simple thought seems preferable to any hum-drum reality we live today. I am familiar with Johnny Mnemonic in its basest form, I remember fun films like The Fifth Element which had cyberpunk motifs.

    For me, cyberpunk represents the idealist views of a consumer nation, where things are represented in the most widely available medium imaginable, an international network of some sort. Recently I saw the remake of Total Recall, in which anyone can walk into a kiosk and essentially download a series of memories into their minds which are tailor-made to seem like their best vacation experience. I think fantasy reality is more appropriate, but doesn't sound as good I guess.

    While the Total Recall remake was tolerable, my favourite use of the genre has to be Deus Ex,  where bionics have become a commercially available product and your character is a security guard whom has wound up in some corporate conspiracy to illegally augment humans for profitable gain. There is more to it, much more. I suggest a look into it. I've long been interested in bionic enhancement, combining the human form with machinery to achieve greater feats beyond the fundamental limits of human capability and endurance, it's such a great topic for expansion in any fictional or realistic setting!

Tales from the Multi-verse

    Let me begin by saying this is probably the most difficult aspect of storytelling I've ever attempted to understand. As a reader of Kurt Vonnegut and Ray Bradbury, the issues of social speculation and conventional application of human study are far more complex than many readers would be able to grasp. I accept this challenge...

    Science Fiction appears to be the most influential aspect of my life and everything I do or think about. Such as it is, I try to use my influences to the best of my ability to explore not just that things work, but why they work and how. There is clearly a profound effect on the genre of science fiction revolving around these principles, I believe this was the case in the 60s, when people wanted to understand the applicable nature of reality to the stuff they read. Writers like Asimov, Heinlein, and Clarke are known as the "big three" in the genre because they redefined it, and made it something real to think about.

    Science fiction is now designed to make viewers think and accelerate their imagination by convincing them to see things that are not only possible, but even likely. Everything else, such as a war with extraterrestrial bugs, machine men, plasma rifles, etc. is just seasoning. The scientific and sociological aspects are the meat. These things are (to me) what makes great science fiction storytelling, although the look on Luke Skywalker's face when he discovered Leia was his sister was still pretty funny.

Space Operas

    Like Magic Realism and such, I wasn't familiar with the subgenre of space opera, but now that I am, I can see that I have been exposed to it longer than I can remember. It makes plenty of sense to me that I've seen it as much as I have, since long ago, I was a attracted to things that show the operatic, such as Gundam, Star Wars, Star Trek, Battletech and the strangely satisfying Titan A.E. which are all fine examples.

    I can appreciate its scope and the sense of adventure it portrays, bringing desirable motives and character to a narrative where such things may not realistically work out. It has had a profound influence on my life over time, and has enabled me to work more character and excitement into what would probably be a stagnant setting. The romantic qualities help characters seem more relatable and three-dimensional as they deal with all sorts of problems large and small. Further made possible by talented actors and screenwriters.

    The film "Forbidden Planet" was great insight to the world of the space opera in that it shows all the tropes clearly enough to see it in many other works. At least the reason it seemed to work for me was that it was an older film that I watched with the appropriate mindset. Some would say it was Star Wars or Star Trek, but those films I haven't seen in long enough a time to really appreciate the opera aspect. With new knowledge I do look forward to watching such films and series with great enthusiasm!

Fantasy and Fantasy Gaming

    Ah, video games, where do I begin? I can't say many of them were fantasy games, but I got my fill regardless. My brother who played Everquest, and countless friends who have subsumed themselves with the omnipresent World of Warcraft. I couldn't get into the actual game simply because I never had the patience or the tolerance of being called "n00b" every five seconds. I still have a deep appreciation for the fantasy genre and its quirks, but being the science fiction type, have mainly preferred technology over magic.

    Fantasy works have constantly appeared over my life and have taught me much about establishing character in ways I've never thought possible. Something about fantasy that never ceases to amaze me it the very tactile quality that it has as far as characterisation goes. Again traveling back to Warhammer, there is this medieval aesthetic in which technology is highly advanced, but is fading away due to the haptic mistakes of historians and the deteriorating technology that remains from a long-forgotten age.

    It's really neat how mysterious everything is and even a rifle or suit of armour has its own origin story and unique history. These sorts of things inspire me greatly to write more and more, putting character wherever I can. While I'm not entirely sure how well this translates to games like WoW or Everquest, I can at least confirm the multiplayer quests that groups of friends embark upon to uncover greater spoils or bragging rights among the international community, which essentially fulfills the same purpose, and as for storytelling, it allows players to create their own legends. Great stuff!

Magic Realism and Mythic Fiction

    By nature I'm a highly critical person, sometimes too much for my own good. I often pick apart fantastic details even if they don't need to be, but I will let them pass if they earn their place in the context of the narrative and don't simply just wave their hand and expect me to accept them. Magic realism has long been a part of my own work for a very long time, and I never even realised it until just recently. I know my work is less than perfect and as time goes on I'll see more and more errors in my work, but that's alright.

    It seems to me that magic realism has a lot to do with bending the ideal conventions of storytelling and using them for narrative effect. Many franchises I've followed utilise this in some fashion, such as Warhammer 40K, Halo and even Call of Duty which has moved onto the modern-fictional bandwagon akin to most (if not all) Michael Bay films. Halo is actually the best example I can possibly think of because of how literal it is. 

    Writers have gone through painstaking lengths to define just about everything there is in the universe for the last decade of its existence, almost to near pretentiousness. Every now and then, especially with the release of Halo 4 they seem to get even worse.

The Novel of Spiritual Education

   I was raised in an environment where the concepts of good and evil were well established and clearly defined for me. Even now as an adult, the two are still clearly visible as a result of my conditioning. Whenever I read write, draw or dream, that duality is present, but I don't forsake it, since it has it's place in narrative structure. I enjoy creating a story where characters are faced with adverse conditions and must traverse them to survive or "continue."

   I feel that a story doesn't necessarily need an antagonist to be progressive or to convey moral sensibility. As long as there is some vital clue to being a better human.

   I have a small roleplaying session in which we are faced in the narrative with moral issues and must then figure out how to deal with them appropriately and at the same time think about the consequences of our actions. The idea of moral exploration is important so that one can choose their standing and defend it.

The Gloury of Escapism

    Tolkien put it best when he said that escaping to fantasy was for the average person as escaping jail was to convicts, and I couldn't agree more. Reality is a fact of life and everyone must live in it, but to what extent? The typical parents will condition children to live in a cold and boring reality, eschewing creativity in favour of something more concrete. To them it's preparation. To me it's murder.

    I was fortunate to have parents that respected my realm and mindset, even if they didn't understand it or didn't agree with it. I moved from story to story and game to game in search of the "perfect one." In the end it was never made so clear as to create my own. A universe complete with planets, locales, factions, and characters, all with their own history and part. 

    For the last decade I've been working on it, using video games as an engine just for the action aspect, where all the narrative, character, and motivation was mine to command. I'd play the game, but often completely ignore the story it had in favour of mine. I hope that doesn't sound too selfish, but I never really liked to idea of playing games for the sake of enjoyment. For example, I'd play Halo, then later play Rainbow Six. Obviously neither of these games have anything in common narratively. Well, through my own story, I can tie them together, since I made up my own technological setting, whereas Halo's and Rainbow Six's are vastly different. I hope that helps thin the ice a little.

    I've done this sort of thing for so long that it has become second nature to me, and I can now do it effortlessly, sometimes I don't even realize it when it happens. I hope Tolkien would be proud.

J-Horror and Malice

    Ghost stories have a great appeal, being so deeply rooted in the unknown. Constantly people wonder about the supernatural and how to prove or disprove its existence, yet to no avail. I somewhat hope that it remains this way, so that stories like these will not lose their intrigue. 

    It wasn't until Warhammer 40K where my fictional spectrum began to accept magic and supernatural elements where technology and science were dominant. I'm very happy that it has broadened this way, because it has opened so many new doors for narrative expansion and to fill my world with mystery and appeal in ways not previously possible.

    Kwaidan was certainly interesting to me in a sense that it was well-told, conveyed, and no doubt true to the folklore. Pulse was quite startling with the lingering entities that seemed so ponderous and malicious just by their movement alone. These stories conveyed vengeful spirits wonderfully, both in character with their stoic expression and cold delivery, and atmospherically with snowy tundras and dystopian urban landscapes. They are often made scarier by pitting them against everyday citizens with no defense against something so ethereal.

Vampires, oh man, vampires

    I grew up in my life with minimal exposure to vampires, and apart from small bits here and there, I had little to go from. I was a little weary of the concept whenever it crept up, especially at Halloween, since the blood-suckers were one of the foremost examples in Halloween culture, at least when I was a kid. It would seem that Halloween has taken a turn from scary to sexy as of late, and that brings me to my point: vampires are no longer scary.

    In 2003 the Underworld film came out and I'd say it largely redefined the cultural image of the vampire. I rather enjoyed it despite its flaws, it removed the concept of the villainous vampire yet preserved it. There was a love interest akin to Romeo and Juliet with a little lemon twist here or there. Soon thereafter came many other movies, books, and shows centered around the legendary vampire.

    Apart from Underworld, a bit of a guilty pleasure, I've never been much for vampires. This is because of the melodramatic overtones that often follow them wherever they go, and the disconnection from most semblances of the tangible. The brooding loner of the night, not really for me. I've seen it far too many times that I can predict the narrative in my sleep. In leu of this I still have a sort of admiration for the earliest attempts to reinvent the genre, because I'll never argue with a fresh start, especially with the stagnation that has infected the media these days.

Zombies

    Ooohh, the zombies. Where do I begin? The ceaseless undead that everyone seems to look so forward to as though it were a preferable reality to the shitty one we have now. What confuses me is that we're already in a zombie apocalypse. Politically brainless individuals herd and govern masses of brainless, heedless undead about their merry way. My only suggestion at this point is revel in the cultural variety, don't take religion too seriously, DO NOT brush off politics whether you like it or not, and be compassionate to your fellow man, but don't let them use you.

      No amount of planning will save you from zombies, whether it be by disease or bioweapon or by ignorance and stupidity. Things rarely ever go according to plan, and as far as I'm concerned, the best zombie plan is to have a sharp wit. There are so many adaptations of the beloved corpses, but how can we be certain which is the correct theory? What if all or none are correct? What will you do then? And even so, how long do you truly expect to survive something that millions could not? Food for thought.

A Picture of Dorian Gray

   Well, where to begin with this one! I've not been privy to philosophical fiction as profoundly as this, but ultimately this is where I want to be! A Picture of Dorian Gray has so many parallels to contemporary culture it's simply beautiful, and how I wish I could have lived, or at least visited, times a century ago.

   I do believe many people imagine a perfect life being one where they can go out to raves ever night and have lots of sex and partake in every narcotic imaginable all to the obnoxious tunes of dubstep music. Not my ideal life, though I'll freely admit I've always been a little curious. Such an extreme example of living is not without long-term risks, however, as Dorian Gray soon proves to us. Hedonism is a powerful quantifier, as you indulge your senses more and more, these sensations become increasingly pale and worthless, thus requiring greater measures of excess be found. Eventually the hedonist will become an insatiable waste of flesh and abmentality and all vestiges of sanity erased.

   There is my reason for not indulging such lifestyles. Well, that and my sheer hatred for pontificating egos, which hedonists naturally have. I often find myself subduing my inner monstrosity in order to keep myself from doing something that would otherwise be dangerous. Maybe that's why I seem like such an outsider and an observer of events. I've always been one of those.

The Future of Comics

    Nothing can really be said for certain, especially in this tempestuous day and age, but one can predict, and time will tell. Certainly the advent of the internet and portable media has made comics and animation much more convenient and accessible, but my concern doesn't lie in the medium so much as the quality. I feel as though life is accelerating culturally and may become detached from nuance and subtlety where one must stop for a moment and take something in. Some things just can't be rushed. 

    I do aspire to reach a point where I can be recruited to illustrate a 200-page graphic novel and not feel overwhelmed by the prospect. I aspire to illustrate like my favorite artist. All those things that inspire me are right there in my mind as I reap the present and anticipate the future. I hope that my preference for traditional over digital won't be disregarded. I don't think it will. I do look forward to learning digital, and find that if anyone wants to survive, they should learn all aspects of their field. We'll see how things turn out! I'm ready for it.

    Never will I allow the prospect of wealth interfere with quality work. I can't stand the sell-out ideal as that isn't who I am as a person. I'm not trying to say that I'm better than anyone. I'm just trying to say that I don't like profit or financial gain to be the motivating factor when it comes to narrative progress. Such stalwart principles are appreciated in my book.

Revisited: Motion Comics

    Every now and then I run into motion comics, an amalgamation of abbreviated animation sequences arranged in separate panels like conventional comic books. It's like reading a comic that has ADHD, kinda. Because of their slightly animated nature they cannot be printed, only watched on television or on a computer. Unless you enjoy the tactile quality of printed paper, this shouldn't be much of a detriment. They are often the choice medium when converting a written story to visual format. Which may account for the myopic nature of the comic, but that still doesn't answer for motion comics that are not based on any prior work.

    A good friend of mine, Craig Smith, and I discussed motion comics as an independent medium worthy of calling itself a comic. I sent him a link to a particular example of motion comics at work entitled: "Halo: The Mona Lisa." About an hour in length, I felt that this was the epitome of what a motion comic aims to be. In our discussion, he mentioned that apart from lip-syncing, it was essentially a fully animated piece. At a glance, that's devastating, because why would you want something that is partially animated? He also mentioned that one of the great things about conventional comics is that you participate in the narrative by visualizing what goes on between panels, thus creating an experience of your own. In motion comics, however, this is done for you thereby eliminating that personal involvement. 

    I agree with everything Craig said. This specific style of storytelling is far too simplistic to create a lasting impression. All it can amount to is being a curious supplement.

Comics as Contemporary Literature

   Recently it would seem that comics have become much more common than they've been in the past. The digital world has certainly made the proliferation of comics much easier. Most people nowadays read some form of comic anyway. Web comics are very popular, and many go to see movies based on comics. As time goes on, people move and do at a faster pace, and as such, ideas of entertainment will reflect this.

   As of today there are plenty of legendary works that define the medium of comics as literary marvels and as culture and technology advance, there will certainly be no end to it. People are fascinated with stories about the surreal and the fantastic. People also loves good visuals to enhance the narrative. Comics clearly can provide both. While comics are sometimes considered to be lesser in stature to a more formal source of entertainment, such as the paperback novel, it would appear that this is more of a personal preference. Comics are widely spread and very much appreciated by any demographic. 

   Comics exist as any genre with wildly varied appearances and lengths and with the advent of motion comics, games and film may now include sound and movement. There is no limit to the versatility of the craft other than those who create it. My only concern is that the prospect of business will hamper the quality of genuine craft.

Reconsidering the Superhero

    Besides the awesome art style or nifty premise a story might have, it needs to have substance to really draw me in. The Authority and V for Vendetta are my best examples, although I've heard a lot about Watchmen being even better. I become fully involved with a story when its characters thoughts or the conflict in question challenges my thinking. I already know the characters are having it tough, now I want the story to go out of its way to make my life a crisis. Make me work for that sweet and satisfying end! Or better yet, leave it ambiguous so that I can figure out how it may have ended!

    For me a shallow attempt at a hero story is the classic brooding Mary Sue-type character that is barely worth spitting at who suddenly obtains superhuman or alien abilities, then he becomes a symbol for hope and freedom and the human will to persevere. I've had enough of that!  Far too many characters have virtually the same origin stories and it wears on me quickly. Alan Moore's characters tend to be more down-to-earth in their behavior and personality. They have introspective thoughts and character flaws, which makes them much more accessible. Sure his stories are grittier, but that's the idea! It's a big bad universe, and in a world where there should be batshit carnage, why not make it appear so?

   Something else that bothers me are resurrection and reboots. Actually, as far as comics be concerned, I'm not sure there's a difference between the two. I like a story to move forward, regardless of events that occur. I find it very enjoyable and clever when writers manage to pull a character through even though he/she should be utterly spent. Because of this outlook, reboots are a lazy excuse for a lack of creativity. Either that or money is more important than quality storytelling.

   Since I find myself leaning more toward anti-heroes as more relatable characters, I've comes to classify characters as one of two archetypes: Soldiers and Superheroes. Judge Dredd, Batman, Black Widow and V being soldiers, and characters such as Martian Manhunter, Superman, Hulk and Thor being superheroes. Within these two concepts you typically have either technology or magic. Most often their separate, even if they're both present in a given continuity, but occasionally they can blend. I prefer technology, since machinery and guns are one of my personal aesthetics, and it usually has a practical explanation that I can research and accept. Now I'm not saying that superheroes don't have plausible explanations for their abilities, but as far as I know, there are far fewer. I like the common men stuck knee-deep in the trenches with no way out. I want to see them find their way out or die trying!

Stereotypes in Comics

Racism has always made me feel unclean whenever it turns up. Depending on the message it can be used strategically for dramatic effect or to make a point, which is fine, but it takes subtlety and understanding to execute it properly. I have read authoritative fiction in which racial slurs were very effectively used in context, and as long as there is appropriate context, the mere presence of a racial remark can be ignored.

Will Eisner speaks of the necessity of stereotypes in comics to communicate a mood or message. While his argument was valid during his time, it would seem that now things are less back and white. Contemporary graphic literature is much more interpretive and no longer needs to rely on such blatant symbolism (such as the good gun and bad gun). While part of his argument does remain it's given more toward a philosophical perspective that allows the reader to decide for themselves whether something is "good" or "bad."

Recent films such as the Transformers movies and Cop Out were good examples of cheesy stereotypes employed for cheap laughs. I'm not so easily amused. I found those films quite irritating with the gratuitous attempts at humour to the point where it started to anger me. Whether it was racially insensitive writing or the simple fact that the jokes sucked I cannot say. In either case, it's still stereotype and I'm tired of it.

Despite all we covered in class that day, racism never comes up in my work as a problem to be dealt with. If it appears in my work I work carefully to use the idea to enhance the story in a dramatic way, or I omit it entirely, and even then, it only appears so often. I don't want one concept to receive emphasis of so many others. For me the most common stereotype to deal with is the Mary Sue character. I can't stand them. It is these characters that helped drive me away from anime, actually. They're far too powerful, too brooding, and all too common. It's as though I have to go extra lengths just to make sure there aren't any in my work, but like I said earlier, there can be a time and place for these sorts of things.

Autobiographical Nonfiction

As much as I keep fictional stories for myself, nonfictional stories are often given to life. I've learned that experiences in life are like scars and that while they are often ugly in their own right, they all can speak in your favor.

I may not be any original saying this, but I was that outcast in middle and high school. Constantly I was ostracized by my peers for being outlandish. I never viewed myself as different, never really wanted to be. I just wanted to exist, so finding a suitable circle of friends wasn't difficult. We always spoke of our futures and what we aimed for in the long-run. It's amazing how such beautiful stories are wrought from simple discussion.

Autobiographical non-fiction is pretty much just that! Writers delve into their experiences and share them with us in all their raw and sugar-free splendor. Something I prefer, actually, is to tell it like it is. Some of their stories are very similar to what I'd ask someone or myself such as: "What would it be like to be a woman?" or "Where can I find out about problems I've had my whole life that I've only recently discovered?" These writers and artists set out to ask these very same questions and then answer them in their own way while leaving you with enough room to put yourself in their position, especially if you are coming from the same beginning i.e. Blankets.

Anime, Manga and Japan

Ten or eleven years ago anime was an underground trend known only to a few promiscuous nerds. I was one of them, because the powers that be willed my communion with the now-dubbed wiiaboo subculture.

I've read a few manga, watched countless anime, and while not being a fan of it, have a sizable reservoir of knowledge associated with the craft. I grew away from anime/manga purely as a cosmetic preference, and I have no objections to the wide-spread acceptance of the form. The world abroad loves it, and I would be foolish to denounce it simply because it may not appeal to me.

One being used to what we consider to be a conventional graphic format of reading left to right and top to bottom is entirely different from the way it works in Japan, and yet similar somehow. In some ways it's a little easier on the readers. I mentioned that our comics work from top to bottom, but the English language is a horizontal one. Japanese is vertical, and as such, the images are arranged vertically along with the vertical format of the printed books themselves. This is quite enjoyable, and makes for a punctual experience.

It often annoys me when a graphic novel or comic (though less often so) incorporates a massive wall of text. It's a visual narrative, so the text should be kept to a surmountable limit. Manga appears to be very good about keeping that balance.


- Cameron

Motion Comics

For a long time I've been at odds with the very notion of motion comics. Are they necessary? Probably, probably not. The aim of the comic artist is to capture the essence of movement with a static image, conveying what has come and what is to come by emphasizing a single frame of character. Motion comics, to me, are simply this concept taken literally.

I prefer to interpret these things as the artist saw them in their basest form. I don't want the process lain before me like someone is holding my hand to do it. It's like the difference between Christianity and Atheism with Agnosticism in between - it seems to me that the motion comic doesn't know which one to be. Motion comics should be treated as a fascinating supplement to the medium, not a possible vestige for supplantation. Motion comics are dependent on a comic reader's ability to follow an arranged series of panels and composition, much less so than traditional comics. This guidance may or may not help veteran readers figure out new ways to enjoy comics, or new readers learn the way comics work. Like I said, it's a supplement, nothing more, not that it's a bad thing.

The Comic Book

To me the continued narrative is an essential aspect of storytelling. We begin with some sort of encounter or conflict and observe a character or several as they strive to reach a goal. This series of events that leads to an outcome fills the air around us with suspense, and of course we love it. We love drama! The exaggeration of dramatic storytelling creates a larger-than-life scenario that we can immerse ourselves in and satisfy that craving for that over the top experience.

Where the comic strip typically lives in the amber of the moment, a continuous narrative surrounds a character with a sense of purpose and gives them some long term objective that may give us hope to one day overcome some adversity in our lives.

With this in mind, I have been writing, in longhand, a manuscript for the last twelve years. I wouldn't even consider it 1% complete. Not finished, but complete. Fully established as a universe of its own. This, however, isn't what I want to talk about. What I really want to talk about is the idea of continuous narrative and how I came to realize its importance to me.

My universe began with a very simple concept, as ideas often do. A few close friends and I frequently played Ghost Recon Island Thunder over Xbox Live for some time and had exhausted the game's potential for entertainment. Eventually we came up with something to rejuvenate our excitement. The three or four of us decided to continue the story ourselves, making up our own enemies and environments. Engineering our own characters and sending them off into the depths of hell to return grizzled bitter bastards who'd seen it all!

Over the last twelve years these men and women have reached new understanding, interacted with countless other characters, fought in almost every conceivable type of battle, and had honed their trades to the utmost efficiency as they struggle to survive the ruthlessness and lethality of their dark and gritty reality. These characters are how we see ourselves if this really were our reality. Whenever I refer to my character in conversation, I speak of him in the first person sense, referring to him as "me" not "he." While this sometimes compromises the momentum of conversation, I have to qualms about doing it. This is how I envisioned myself in my universe. Why create a fictional reality if you won't excercise the unique advantage of participating in it?

I am about 600 years of age and am now on a campaign to help one of the friends I began this endless journey with discover the secrets of his past. Together we will face the odds of this hostile universe and learn what we must. But what will happen after then, if we succeed? Who knows! Though I doubt we'll be content to ignore it!

Maus - In Medias Res

Buy this work. That's all that need be said. Nothing will bring you closer to experiencing an event than the raw recollection as told by someone who survived it. I'm sure Spiegelman's tolerance for pain is through the roof, being able to sit there and listen to this inane ranting. Despite that, I can see that he learned much of it.

Something I believe is that there is no better training than fighting to survive, so when it was mentioned in class today that survivors of such atrocities as Auschwitz and the Holocaust are typically cold and unwelcoming in the extreme, I'm not so quick to render judgement. I don't know what such horrors are truly like, and hopefully I never will, but I can imagine what they're like, and Art does a spectacular job painting that image for us.

His use of animals to represent different ethnic groups is a welcome change from what I'm used to. It forced me to try and feel things from another perspective, which is exactly what Art had to do when he interviewed his father. Maybe Vladek sounded like a cat when he poured out so much information. It's entirely possible that such vivid and horrifying memories were too much to take in all at once, so it was bound to sound like incoherent babbling sometimes. Not to mention the raw emotional effect it might have had, hence the name of the first volume: "My Father Bleeds History." It's truly a powerful thing. I believe it deserved the Pulitzer Prize.

When you've found yourself in a hell such as the Nazi genocidal crusade, you'll learn things that you never expected to. This raw pragmatism that Vladek was venting is only the aftereffect of what he had to become in order to survive the deadly conditions of his internment. I don't blame him at all for his behaviour. I hope he finds his peace at long last.

Hopefully works such as this will serve as a reminder to mankind and hopefully such terrible events won't ever blight the world again. Despite this, we do live in a world where it's profit against humanity, and all I can ask is: what side are you on?

Rogue Trooper - My Personal Anthology

Science Fiction is my lifesblood, pure and simple. A nice futuristic setting where anything goes is right where I'll be, and 2000AD has never disappointed. For the last thirty-five years, they have provided thrills and more. Rogue Trooper was my personal favourite.

Set in the fictional death-world of Nu-Earth, an entire planet lain waste by nuclear and chemical weapons, two political factions known across the stars as the Norts (reminiscent of Nazis) and the Southers (the alleged good guys) wage and endless war for supremacy. Nu-Earth is located just outside a black-hole, which is able to transport ships from one part of the galaxy to another, and because of this, the world is strategically essential to both sides. Unfortunately, due to the incessant warfare, the air is a poisonous fume, the waters are now corrosive chemicals and save for a few dome-cities, the landscape rendered desert stretching as far as the eye can see. Under these conditions the forces of both sides are forced to fight wearing environment suits to survive. Air and replacement filters can safely be added to the tally of things on supply lists.

However, the Southers have developed a way to turn the tide of the war in their favour. Their scientists have created the Genetic Infantrymen, or G.I.s. These genetically engineered super-soldiers were developed to survive the hellish conditions brought about by the war. These shirtless, blue-skinned men and women were supposed to win the war, but this was not to be.

One of the Souther generals had other plans and sought personal gain by selling crucial information to the Norts. Aptly named the Traitor General, he grants the Norts knowledge of the G.I. regimental deployment. This allows the Norts to set up an ambush.

In the ensuing massacre every G.I. is killed except for one, the eponymous Rogue, who has managed to escape the fight and collect the data chips from three of his comrades and installed these chips into the various items he carries. One is interred within his helmet, dubbed "Helm." Another in his rifle, named "Gunnar." And the last in his multipurpose backpack, called "Bagman." Together, this four-in-one squad must seek out revenge against the Traitor General who sold them out. To accomplish this goal, however, they must undertake their own way, thus earning Rogue his name. Along the way they thwart many Nort schemes and learn how to deal with the hellish world that the must call home.

Rogue Trooper is without question my favourite comic to date. It's simplicity and flavour is gritty and dirty, but not so much so that it loses all semblance of reality. The comic takes many turns toward humour and revels in it. New characters are introduced. Some live, and some die. Rogue and the gang are there for all of it, and they must cope with the reality from which the cannot escape, no matter how much they want to.

Something that makes me laugh a little is that Rogue earns his name before the massacre that nets him his soloist reputation. Nonetheless the comic is a lot of fun to read and if you can hunt down the trade paperbacks, I recommend it if your into science fiction. Though this comic is certainly not for everyone, as it can drone a little. Sometimes the buildup can take a long time, and even for me that is a lot to buy. No pun intended.

Underground Comics

This day the first page of an underground comic featured two grotesquely disproportionate people fucking. Immediately I knew this comic didn't care about my feelings toward certain subjects. I don't care either. These creators don't know who I am, they're just in a pure, untainted creative reverie.

Much of the illustrations are crude, but also brutally honest in their conviction. They tell it like it is, which is rare these days. All of the sugarcoated shit is completely unnecessary. Robert Crumb's work was quite enjoyable to see as I'm not easily offended by sexual content or inappropriate dialogue (not that there was much anyway). I welcome the nice change from the norm of reality. I certainly hope there's more to come.

What I've read so far is great stuff! Take it all and rub it in their faces!

Blankets, Contracts and Relations

Philosophy has always been a strong part of my life, even before I knew what it truly was. Craig Thompson's vivid and brutally honest recollection of his own beliefs and the secession with a way of thinking he had been borne into really captured a similar experience of my own. 

I was raised into a way of thinking that I initially had no say in. Recent years have really gotten me thinking about whether or not it was truly right for me. Eventually, after much reasoning and self-reflection, I had decided that way of life was not for me. My parents were less than pleased. It took much courage and  determination to convince them that I was not willing to accept their way of thinking in certain ways, and eventually they accepted my philosophical stance.

Raising someone to believe a certain thing about life or death before they ever have a chance to analyze it for themselves is no way to teach someone. Such a method implicates fear, and I have no room for fear, not anymore. 

I can say without question that this exclusion was the most difficult decision I have ever made, though I made it wholeheartedly and truthfully. I do not regret my decision, and I feel like a much happier person and a more resilient one at that.

Like Plants We Grow

Almost every Friday for the four years I was in high school, my father and I would journey to our local Steak n' Shake for dinner. We very much enjoyed these days, and I miss them greatly. However, there was one thing I truly hated at the time, and that was waiting for the food. Oh, that dreadful wait. It felt like trench-warfare, trudging through knee-deep mud and losing strength with every passing moment.

Alas, there was a solution to my plight! Comic strips were that solution, and I read every single one of them, and oddly enough, they were just enough to pass the time. As each occasion passed, I'd grow fond of a certain few strips, such as Pickles, Get Fuzzy, Marmaduke, Family Circus, Curtis, Lio, Rose is Rose, Hagar the Horrible, Luann, and of course, the legendary Peanuts. These are but a few that I remember fondly. And every one echoed back to my inner id and my ascension to adulthood.

Peanuts lent an ear to childhood by personifying its emotions. It showed me the importance of life and all the subtle nuances that turn up. Peanuts reminded me to appreciate those moments, such as Friday evenings as Steak n' Shake.

Luann always made me chuckle by illustrating just how childish and trivial high school can be (and often was). Pickles with its passive and calm essence and art style. Family Circus with its jovial depiction of childhood, especially my own, because I would often interpret things to mean something completely differently, and even if I was wrong, I still liked my meanings more.

Nowadays I'm a cynical, bitter bastard who likes the sting of battle and a riveting plot that seems to go on forever. English comic, 2000 AD sates my appetite quite well with the notorious Judge Dredd, the enigmatic Shakara, and my personal favourite, the blue-skinned Rogue Trooper.

I'm truly privileged to be a part of this ever-expanding world of illustrated narrative, and as tumultuous the industry may be, I would have it no other way.

Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud

Looks like I'll be reading this many times over the course of my life! I've heard of Understanding Comics many times but never thought much of it, probably too busy, or simply forgot. Now that I've had a chance to sit down and read it, I feel enlightened.

Comics are what I want to do, simply put. I enjoy every aspect I know about comics and aspire to learn much more. Since this book is illustrated like a comic, that messages become much clearer in context. It's truly a work of genius.

Some ideas I am familiar with, but am able to look at them in a new or enhanced way, such as simplified images. Logos are simplified images, they are carefully crafted visual representations of a professional service, and we're meant to interpret that service at a glance, which is why the logos are so simple, but after learning that the more simplified an image is the more range it can cover in a worldly sense, I see now that there is much more.

Thank you very much for sharing this with us, it should undoubtably be a required reading for anyone in a media-arts major.

Une Semaine de Bonte by Max Ernst

Scene 1: "What a marvelous creature! How triumphant you are, standing upon your declaration!"

Scene 2: Donning a feathered cloak, the man has assumed his new identity and has come to some sort of     realization...

Scene 3: Having taken his first victim, this sinister figure infiltrates the young girl's funeral to relish in the family's mourning

Scene 4: During an autopsy, the good doctor has revealed a loaf of bread to out feathered protagonist. There may be dire consequences...

Scene 5: His fourth act of evil has been dealt to yet another unfortunate young lady. The scum taunts the fates by shouting to the heavens. His trademark seal, the common rooster, stands ever posthumously amidst the lady's corpse.

Scene 6: The next day our feathered fiend continues his inane dancing. To the common observer, the killer has enchanted a beautiful young lady. Those of us watching, however, that he has merely enraptured his next victim.

The Arrival by Shaun Tan

     Honestly, I didn't think much of the Arrival before reading it, and now that I have there is new-found confidence in my little world. My first semester at Ringling was filled with stress, I truly felt like the "stranger in a strange land." It was more discomfort that I bargained for, but that's the best way to learn. There is no better training than fighting to survive.

     Following our innocent character as he journeys to a distant land to preserve what is most valuable, and all along the way he meets many others with varied backgrounds and tribulations to share. Soon the character realizes that he's not alone in the world, but rather, a part of it.

     This alienation exquisitely illustrates the anxiety and torment the character goes through as he struggles to acclimate himself to a new way of life. However, he soon finds out that he's not lost, and he finds the life he sought. Shaun Tan's use of value, emphasis and emotion reminds us to remember our past but not to dwell on it with sorrow. He shows us in many ways, both grand and subtle, that everyone has a unique tale to tell and that we should be proud to share it.