Working On The Weird Vector
And how one can use the comics medium to its fullest extent.
Morning from the red sands of Prince Edward Island. It’s humid as hell here today. This being an island and it being the dying days of summer - humidity is normal I guess. You’d figure I’d be used to it but after a decade away - it’s hell. I’m sooo sticky.
Anyway, you’re not here to get the rundown on my current body temperature (always moist). We’re here to talk about writing comics, watching movies, and reading the good stuff. The hope is that you will like some of the things I like and maybe even read some of the stuff I’m putting out into the world. Welcome to my livejour—uh…
Things have been good lately. Last week, after writing a whole post about finding a better work/life balance - I had a massive opportunity present itself. It’s insane how these things seem to happen as soon as you make peace with your current situation (I swear its a pattern... ). With these kinds of offers, comes a lot of research and tight(ish) deadline. Now I’ve got a mountain of reading material. It’s an overwhelming process. A lot of this input will amount to a flurry of condensed output. But it’s a cool blue-sky scenario that really just allows me to get me lost daydreaming about characters I love.
I’ve been keeping pages and pages of notes, allowing myself to just go off and imagine the wildest things without thinking of how I’ll actually make them work. Honestly it’s the part of this job I love the most. Even though I wanted to work over the weekend, I held to my word and spent it at the beach and in the yard. It was perfect.
I also managed to get a script out on time. Slowly but surely getting work out the door. Nowhere near my pre-pandemic output levels but I’m crawling my way back to productivity twenty pages at a time. Things have been a little wild lately. We’re still adjusting to life in the new place. Our movers were supposed to arrive two weeks ago with all our stuff - we’re still waiting. Which means no desk, no bedframe, eating with plastic utensils - it’s a whole thing. But we’re enduring.
Anyway, let’s get on with it. Short one this week (I promise). Next time, I plan to give a bigger breakdown on the projects I’m currently working on and what you can expect from me in the year ahead. For now though, we’ve got this. Here’s a handy table of contents:
Writing Craft: Frank Quitely on “3 things that can only be done in comics”.
Cal Flyn’s Islands of Abandonment
Zank on Cinema: Body Double
Some reading material and a playlist to get through the week.
Writing Craft
Frank Quitely on 3 things that can only be done in comics.
Recently, a viral Twitter thread about the De Luca Effect resurfaced. For those who don’t know the De Luca Effect is a technique used by the Italian Comic author Gianni de Luca that shows multiple perspectives of movement all happening (at different times) in the same space. It can be read immediately as one image or can be poured over and read as intricate sequence. It’s something that can only be done in comics and it looks like this:
Anyway, seeing the thread resurface made me think of this incredible TEDX talk from Frank Quitely. For those who don’t know, Frank is a Scottish comic book artist who frequently collaborates with Grant Morrison. He is easily one of the most talented artists in Western comics. If you haven’t read his and Grant’s run on New X-Men - we need to talk.
I highly recommend anyone who wants to write comics watches this video. It’s not often you get to see someone with such a mastery of their craft break down how they do what they do. Pay attention, take notes, think about how to give artists opportunities like this in your writing.
Islands of Abandonment
I don’t usually talk about a book before finishing it but I wanted to take a moment to draw attention to Cal Flyn’s Islands of Abandonment. I’m about halfway done right now and can’t put it down.
Flyn is an investigative journalist from Scotland who is interested in ecosystems that have been torched and then deserted by humans. We’re talking the Chernobyl exclusion zone, the ruined fields from World War I - that kinda thing.
This non-fiction novel documents Flyn as she roams these sites and documents what she finds. What’s profoundly interesting is how these “ruined” places have been completely reclaimed by nature. Call them accidental exercises in rewilding. Her insight and attention to detail combine to create a narrative that is completely engrossing and more relevant than ever given our current moment.
If we just left things alone - the world would heal in profound ways.
Zank on Cinema
WHAT I’M WATCHING, OKAY!?
BODY DOUBLE - Recently took in Brian De Palma’s excellent Body Double on the Criterion Channel. The film follows struggling actor Jake Scully who loses his role in a low-budget horror film after his claustrophobia thwarts shooting. His relationship falls apart and he finds himself without a place to live. A friend sets him up with a swanky apartment in the Hollywood hills where he can easily spy on his attractive female neighbours across the way.
To say any more would delve into spoiler territory but despite its schlocky veneer Body Double is a carefully crafted masterpiece that parodies and pays homage in equal measure. It’s a film in direct conversation with Hitchcock thrillers like Rear Window but manages to elevate the material into a commentary on filmmaking itself. The main performance is a little ham-fisted but De Palma’s script will keep you guessing. Go in knowing as little as possible and I’m sure you’ll be surprised. It would make a fantastic double feature with De Palma’s Blow Out.
Tiny Scabs
Cool barnacle-inspired glue seals bleeding organs in seconds. This is 100% going into something new I’m writing but I thought I’d share.
What Makes a Cult a Cult? From the New Yorker. A great read I highly recommend. I’ve been researching cults a lot over the last year for a new thing that’s coming in late 2022. Even if you have a passing interest in the psychology behind cults - this will blow your mind.
One of my favourite shows and one of the best comedies ever made Nirvanna The Band The Show is streaming for free on CBC Gem. If you haven’t seen it, I can’t recommend it highly enough. It’s utterly brilliant and way ahead of its time.
This week’s playlist:
Bye for now,
Don’t wait for things to get better. Take a day and get whatever’s inside you out.
Z - 08/25/21
That east coast humidity is no joke. I'm shirtless and sitting as close to our dehumidifier as possible, trying to make myself feel like I'm a human being and not some shambling swampy sasquatch.
Thanks for that Frank Q video. Hadn't seen it before and, not surprisingly, it's great.