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.