Friday, July 14, 2006

Many Tongues, One Empire

New page up, more Guide to Xrox. I'm working on the next bit of the Guide, about the Ithdanes of the North, Eina's people. I like the Ithdanes. They are tremendous fun!
Which reminds me, many of you have asked "How do you say Eina's name? Is it pronounced 'In nah', or 'EE nah'?" I've always gone somewhere in the middle, "E In Ah", but as we've no Ithdanes to ask, I suppose any one could be correct. So, as your Emperor, I have decreed the First official Election in the Fandom Empire!! Everyone send in your votes for how you think Eina's name should be pronounced and that will be the official pronunciation, as well as establishing a guide for the dialect of the entire Ithdane people!!
Pretty cool, huh? I wouldn't call us a democracy, but as you all know, I adore hearing from you and I think your loyalty, devotion, and curiosity has warranted a little audience participation.
Bryon has been in touch this week. It's always a good sign when you get an email, ANY email!, from your artists. Bryon is actually asking me technical questions, which means he's at least trying to give the impression that he's hard at work on BRMX 2. (Just kidding Bryon! I know how much you want to unseat Peter as the #3 Citizen in the Land of the Future) (Alas, he'll have to settle for #3 as my adorable wife Angela is #1 and the Once and Future Empress, Willow, is Citizen #2. Blood is thicker than India Ink and all that).
James has hinted that there might be a new page of Xrox #2 when I visit him this weekend (in a few hours in fact). As you've all noticed, he's posted two new pages of Seven Arrows on his own site. Perhaps he's shaken off the Malaise?
Speaking of plagues, I have become aware of new strain of Slack in great Poptropolis. You may have heard of ADD, which is a vulgar way of putting it. I prefer to think of it as an Enlargement of the Mind's Eye...for lack of a better word.
It's a tricky business as one often doesn't realize that they fighting off an illness. It clever attaches itself to other systems in the cognosphere and might result in a killer winning streak at Diablo II, say, or a productive morning updating your MySpace account, and then, when a diagnosis is taken, you realize "Hmm, that new page of Xrox 3 hasn't changed much in the past week."
But, as they say, "Knowing is...um...real good." Or something.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Long time fan tired of old time schtick

I'm constantly looking for a comic that delivers a dense, mature, complex story.
A comic who's content is the rival of any renowned prose work. An "adult"
comic. A comic "for the masses", that is, for nonfans. And as much as
I enjoy the comics I've found, they rarely fit this description. The Oni Press
books are definitely non adventure genre, and they are widely accessible, but Scooter
Girl and Blue Monday are still comical stories about teenagers. Scott Pilgrim is
loads of fun, made more so by the round iconic art style, but in the end it's also
about young people dating and throws in some over the top fighting scenes. Mind
you, I gravitate toward the science fiction and adventure stories and take great
delight in Promethea, Tom Strong, Top 10, Planetary, etc. but what audience do they
strive for? Isn't the bulk of the crowd still in their 20's? As you all know, I'm
NOT in my twenties. Isn't there a comic or comics that I can truly claim as written
for my age group?
Granted, "dense", "mature", and "complex" are subjective
terms and difficult if not impossible to define. I would put Blankets in this category
but hold it in question because the main character is in high school. Goodbye Chunky
Rice is similarly layered with meaning and even more poetic and touching as a story,
but is it helped or hindered by the iconic art style and anthropomorphic characters?
They say Maus is that much more accessible because it is anthropomorphic. Is Maus
the best we've had to offer the world at large?
Perhaps anything by Los Bros Hernandez. The art is elegant and the stories edgy,
complex and hold nothing back, and they cover a wide range of characters in all
stages of life.
Of course there's a separate track in the artistic merit of a comic. Chris Ware
offers brilliant visual experiences but leave something to be desired in the storytelling,
I think. Is is enough that a comic be visually complex?
Discuss.

Friday, July 07, 2006

Faith in the Empire

In order to quell the impending riot in Land of the Future I have made an update to my website. Poor James is still lost in the fever dreams of Artist's Malaise and I am, though a great Emperor, sadly unable to fill his mighty shoes. In order to quench your appetite for all things Fandom, I have posted some pages that I had thought to release later on. There are some notes taken from the unpublished (and still in the works) Guide to Xrox. A little info on races, places, faces, that sort of thing. There are several pages on the Mydgians, though the other pages have less text and more images. If James isn't any better by next week, I'll post the next installment.
Also, under the BRMX branch of the Empire, I've posted some of the sketches Bryon Vaught has sent me for Battle Royal MX #2. I'm sure by now you've all been to his website and are familiar with Bryon's tight, dynamic pencil work, but what you haven't seen is what happens when that pencilwork is married to the hip style of the Empire!
Send James a cyberhug and wish him over his Malaise quickly. And send one to Bryon as well. He's the father of three now, you know.
And as usual, keep those cards and letters coming! Without your constant feedback I would long ago have succumbed to the advanced stages of Artist's Malaise and have melted into a pool of Slack!