In the ongoing documentation of the journey of creating Sons of Fate (LEGACY), wanted to discuss idea of emotional content with in the comic industry. After all, with out emotion how would there be conflict? There has to be some sort clash of ideologies between two forces to spark what we pick up and read everyday and read right? Without some sort of emotional base how can we have conflict?
LET’S JUMP IN. There isn’t as much emotion happening in comics today. Don’t get me wrong, its still there and there are a lot of creators who execute this idea in their comics, but between the SHEER NUMBER of comics that get published (mainstream and independent), that idea has dwindled greatly.
Before I get started let me say that I DO NOT consider comics to be something created to mindlessly entertain: style without substance if you will. Some of the most deep and engaging stories I’ve EVER read were comics books. Books in their own right have the magic of the reader imagining the world as they read them, but comics come with a visual interpretation that come along with the story. Like books comics CAN have a range of age appropriateness in mind, but at the base there should always be an engaging and at its core emotionally ground floor whether it be a story of revenge, love retribution, or even everyday affairs.
In creating Sons of Fate I wanted to do just that. I want the reader to know and understand not only what is going on, but also WHY it is happening. For me the only way I can do that is to have an emotional core. I want my character to feel, I want the STORY to have feeling. I said before, without feeling, what’s the point? If the story can be tied to an overall reason, all the other things fall into place. That reason is usually from an circumstance or instance that sparks emotion and sets that story into motion.
So, the other day, I got to a point in drawing Sons of Fate story that moved me emotionally. I knew it was coming, after al I wrote the story as well, but to finally put pen to paper became very hard to me. WITHOUT SPOILERS I will say that it was a sad moment. More than that, it was an emotionally pivoting point in the storyline. I was bothered to execute the illustrations that I created in the writing process, but was something necessary to keep the story going. It wasn’t done for shock value or just to add a twist for “twits sake”, it was necessary. As an illustrator of comics, I drawn a ton a number stories and I never experienced that before. It was powerful. And more importantly I don’t think it was because I WROTE IT, but then again it is because I wrote it. What I mean by that is my overall outcome is for the reader to sympathize ( or even empathize) with what is happening. If I can do that, then I’ve done my job as a storyteller. I think I did….. I hope I did.
LET’S JUMP IN. There isn’t as much emotion happening in comics today. Don’t get me wrong, its still there and there are a lot of creators who execute this idea in their comics, but between the SHEER NUMBER of comics that get published (mainstream and independent), that idea has dwindled greatly.
Before I get started let me say that I DO NOT consider comics to be something created to mindlessly entertain: style without substance if you will. Some of the most deep and engaging stories I’ve EVER read were comics books. Books in their own right have the magic of the reader imagining the world as they read them, but comics come with a visual interpretation that come along with the story. Like books comics CAN have a range of age appropriateness in mind, but at the base there should always be an engaging and at its core emotionally ground floor whether it be a story of revenge, love retribution, or even everyday affairs.
In creating Sons of Fate I wanted to do just that. I want the reader to know and understand not only what is going on, but also WHY it is happening. For me the only way I can do that is to have an emotional core. I want my character to feel, I want the STORY to have feeling. I said before, without feeling, what’s the point? If the story can be tied to an overall reason, all the other things fall into place. That reason is usually from an circumstance or instance that sparks emotion and sets that story into motion.
So, the other day, I got to a point in drawing Sons of Fate story that moved me emotionally. I knew it was coming, after al I wrote the story as well, but to finally put pen to paper became very hard to me. WITHOUT SPOILERS I will say that it was a sad moment. More than that, it was an emotionally pivoting point in the storyline. I was bothered to execute the illustrations that I created in the writing process, but was something necessary to keep the story going. It wasn’t done for shock value or just to add a twist for “twits sake”, it was necessary. As an illustrator of comics, I drawn a ton a number stories and I never experienced that before. It was powerful. And more importantly I don’t think it was because I WROTE IT, but then again it is because I wrote it. What I mean by that is my overall outcome is for the reader to sympathize ( or even empathize) with what is happening. If I can do that, then I’ve done my job as a storyteller. I think I did….. I hope I did.
Anyway on a lighter note, I wanted to give you a little sneak peek of the pages I call “ the pages of 10,000 brushstrokes. I had a TON of fun with these pages. It was something so obvious, yet a “situation” I’ve never drawn before. Figuring out how to do it, I looked back at the past greats, in particular FRANK MILLER. Thanks Frank, for the inspiration! Gonna end it here with a sneak peek of Sons of Fate (LEGACY), in particular, one of the pages of 10,000 brushstrokes. Thanks again for listening( or reading). See you soon.
On another note, Daredevil on Netflix is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!THE PINNACLE of what comic media brought to television SHOULD BE!!!!! True to the core of that story.
Story, …STORY, STORY!!!!! Thanks again Frank.
Story, …STORY, STORY!!!!! Thanks again Frank.