Fantasy
The big allure of epic fantasy for me has always been the wonder of being introduced to and exploring (whether it’s in comic books, novels or movies) new worlds of wonder and magic. It’s the old chestnut of ‘escapist fantasy’ that allows me to– at least for a short time– be transported to a place that’s out of the ordinary…. where there’s always a new discovery or danger around every corner; where the rules of my normal, everyday life don’t apply; a place less….. mundane. That’s the reason I gravitated towards comic books so strongly as a child… and why I started drawing my own comic book adventures. I wanted to be able to put down on paper images and characters from my own budding imagination… and that eventually led to a pursuit of making drawing comics a life-long career. I’m very lucky to have had the success I’ve had in my chosen profession. I understand that, don’t get me wrong. But I can’t help but feel that so many of the comics being produced today by the ‘majors’ have lost their sense of wonder. That feeling I had as a child that I was being introduced to new worlds and characters that were so far out of the ordinary that I couldn’t HELP but be fascinated has been lost. The heroes of that time have been grounded. Their lives are just as mundane as my own anymore. Sure, I might not be able to stick to walls and spin webs…. but other than that, there’s not much difference between me or any other comic book character these days. My ‘adventures’ with my computer problems or chiropractic visits or urinary tract/bladder infections (a story for another day….) aren’t that much less interesting as what happens in your average comic featuring folks who– although they wear colorful costumes– don’t seem to do much out of the ordinary. More often than not, they tend to stand around having conversations about unimportant things about as much as I do in any given day. It tends to diminish the enthusiasm that I have for what I get to do for a living. I STILL LOVE IT, yes. But I could love it so much more if more of that imagination that the folks who created these characters could be harnessed by the folks who are writing them these days. Hopefully one day, that can happen.
Sooner rather then later, please.
And so my thoughts can’t help but drift back to a time when I was able to employ my imagination to a more personal endeavor. I still think about TELLOS often. In the 12 years (or so) that I’ve been drawing comics professionally, my time working on that book was, perhaps, the happiest and most creatively fulfilling. I might not think so much about that time if it weren’t for the constant reminders I get from folks I encounter. Whether it’s at shows I attend around the country (well, mostly east coast….. I don’t go out west much anymore) or via email forwarded through this site– or, as recently, during my interview with Fabrice Sapolsky for COMIC BOX magazine that I mentioned last post. He asked me if I ever had plans to get back to new TELLOS material. He told me that TELLOS was still enormously popular in France and that new adventures would be sure to meet with success. And so, even though I’ve been contemplating creating stories that I would control 100% by myself….. I can’t help but think that I might still try to make some time– somehow– for something TELLOS related. The problem is finding that balance between paying the mortgage and getting the work done. But KOJ, JEREK, SERRA and the gang keep worming their way into my thoughts.
This is Entry 168.
Mike