Imagination Gallerys, Bachelor Parties, and Old Promo Posters that Exist in the Present!

Lately, I have been having these flashes occurring immediately before falling asleep and waking. Visions of art never seen in the walk of life; only hanging in the gallery of imagination.

These pieces possess majesty that cannot be captured by canvas or computer. They are creations that even the deconstructive processes of my mind cannot begin to untie. The pieces are gorgeous and instill a sense of mystery long missed by me.

Why do I bring this up?

Because it was on my mind, and I felt the need to write.

Now, I must create. Again, as in every time, I know not where to start, but feel comfort in the knowledge that starting anywhere will bring me somewhere.

Also, here is some art made for some bachelor party t-shirts:



The bachelor party was phenomenally fun. Lot's of good times had by all.

And here is an old promotional poster for "World of Rando" before it was called WoR, and before we realized we should launch it ASAP:


The story is still called "Magic Mirror," though I'm unsure why. The idea behind the "Anti-Ruin Rune" is to create a magical mark that can resist decay and decomposition. Of course, when created by the hands of a savvy business man, this means that a massive, magical corporation can be built up around him. But, that's not what the story is about. So yeah, go read World of Rando!

More next time?

Neil Gaiman

#1 Neil Gaiman

Close your eyes and let your mind fall back into a pleasant slumber. Do you see the dark robed man standing ahead of you? He goes by many names: King Morpheus, Dream, the Sandman. Yet he has only one creator. Neil Gaiman.



I end this list of creators with a man who stands without a doubt to be one of the greatest storytellers of our generation.

Gaiman was born in England and grew up reading tales from the finest storytellers of the era; wordsmiths such as Lewis, Tolkien, Lovecraft, and Poe. He started his own writing career as a journalist, gradually moving his way into fantasy fiction, and then comics. Gaiman's first foray into comics came writing the critically lauded Marvelman series after contemporary comics mage Alan Moore decided to leave the series.

Yet, why is this writer at the top of this list? What has he done that is so great?




The short answer is "everything." I'm not saying that everything Gaiman has ever written is golden. Nor am I saying that his stories trump all others. To fully explain, let me continue on to the long answer.

Before there was art, there was story. Before there was writing, there was story. Story is such an inherent part of human nature, that it has evolved into other aspects, such as religion and politics. No religion would be anything without the mythological stories that fuel belief, nor would any politician get anywhere without control over what stories hit public ears. In many ways, story can be seen as what makes humans human.Without it, where would the creative spirit be?



So how does this relate to comics? Comics can be strictly an art medium, with people experimenting with form and function to deliver a new experience. Comics can also be a tool for education and information, conveying complex ideas in easy to understand biblio-visual narrative. Regardless of how you use comics, they are still a story-telling medium. Without the story, why would you need the art OR the words?



Neil Gaiman, from my perspective, understands this. To call storyteller a profession may be belittling it, because the role of story in humanity is so much more important to our cognitive and evolutionary development. Without stories, there would be no need for books, or films, or comics, or television. Even journalists and teachers would be out on the streets if story did not exist.Yet Gaiman writes with a mastery that allows you to both see the truth and mask it from you. His mercurial correspondence to the world dances fancily without losing any sincerity. His pen, alongside those of his peers, allows the world to continue its mechanical crawl towards singularity.



With that, let King Morpheus rule over this kingdom. Let the bishops proselytize and the politicians smile for the camera; for if they did not exist, something else would, because story rules us all.



Lesson Learned: Regardless of style or medium, story is king!

Bonus Lesson: Minnesota is just as good a place as any to make comic books.

Jack Kirby

#2 Jack Kirby

I wish I could say that Kirby was an influence of mine from early on. Unfortunately, when I was a kid, I thought of him as an old, lower tier artist. It wasn't until college, when I started reading more about the creation and origin of comics that Kirby's glamor started to make any sense.



Kirby wasn't the best draftsman. If you wanted realism, Kirby was not your man. What he lacked in fidelity, he made up for in dynamic layout and fantastic spreads. Kirby didn't recreate life. Kirby reinvented life. He turned the boring and mundane into the bold and miraculous. His pages were crammed with more cosmic action and divine adventure than even modern cinema can recreate. To read but a panel is to get pulled into a wondrous world of of gods and monsters. The art from his hand is like a trap meant to capture the imagination.





Yet he wasn't an artist.

Jack Kirby did not view himself as an artist. Rather, he saw himself as a husband and a father, working to provide for his family. He would start at the top right corner of his drafting paper and draw until he reached the bottom left corner. He didn't work to create pieces of art, he worked to create a life for his family. In doing so, he was able to save the comics industry and reinvent it over and over again, over generations. Kirby was not obsessed with one particular genre of worked, but told stories that touched upon both the earth and the heavens. His street characters showed the grace of gods, while his gods possessed the fallibility of men. His influence can still be felts generations later amongst artists the world over.



Jack Kirby wasn't an artist.

He was a god among men who worked for the betterment of others.



Lesson Learned: Hard work and persistence pays off.

Mike Mignola

#3 Mike Mignola



I don't remember when it was exactly. I just remember sitting in bed, reading Wizard, seeing the cool guy with the trench coat and goggles.



Yes, I thought they were goggles. Many people did.

Regardless, it would have been years ago.

In those days, the only access to comics I had was via gas station magazine racks. They weren't found in my hometown gas stations either. Only on road trips with my family could I find comics. There was also a cardboard box filled with old comics given to me by an older kid who felt he had grown out of them. That was where the issue of Wizard came from: already a few years old by the time I read it. So really, Hellboy wasn't new. Hellboy wasn't exactly an established property like it is now, but it wasn't new. However, it was new to me. Probably the first non-superhero comic I was aware of, and I couldn't even page through it because what interstate gas station would have copies of Dark Horse comics.

It wasn't until years later, my freshman year in college. I had weaned myself off comics previously, but just like any habit, it found its way of getting back into my life. It was during this period that I was finally exposed to Hellboy. The first movie was going to be out in a few months, and Seed of Destruction already had the big sticker advertising that fact on the cover. Maybe I was a poser for reading a series because it was being made into a film, but in actuality, I wanted to uncover that mystery presented to me in my early adolescence. I wanted to find out what that trench-coated guy's deal was.

Spoiler Warning: Hellboy isn't wearing goggles. They're horn stubs, sanded down to prevent unnecessary goring.

***

Mike Mignola cut his artistic teeth drawing pages for the Big Two. At Marvel, he did projects like Alpha Flight and Rocket Raccoon. At DC, he was allowed to play with some of the higher profile characters, such as Batman in Gotham By Gaslight or Superman in Cosmic Odyssey.




Yet Mike never felt entirely comfortable drawing these titanic characters. He grew up reading HP Lovecraft and Robert E Howard, and was more interested in folklore and ghost stories than masks and secret identities. Really, Hellboy was his dream project, and the fact that Dark Horse let him do it was a phenomenal break, considering how finicky an audience can be towards stories that are far removed from capes and criminals. But he did it. Mike made Hellboy. And people rejoiced. Later, Hellboy became a franchise, spinning off tertiary stories about Abe Sapien, the BPRD, and even the "mythical" Lobster Johnson.



***

At a time where many fans were growing ill of continuous exploration of the superhero expanse, Hellboy shone like a beacon in the dark. It acted as a sigil granting other artists the confidence to go ahead with their own stories, regardless of how lacking it was of spandex. What started out as a small, creator written and drawn story, has become a multi-tome epic that has not only spawned two feature length films, but also numerous spin-off books. Many artists, independent or otherwise, cite Mike Mignola and Hellboy as inspiration for their own titles. All of this, and it still continues to feel fresh with each new story arc.




Mike Mignola did not change his style of drawing to conform to industry standards. He did not write the same stories that had constantly been seen as best sellers. Mike Mignola went against the grain, and persevered. Mike Mignola did all this, and he was all the better for it.

Lesson Learned: Do what you want, and the fans will come to you.