Rusty Banana Forge

During the ToyCon 2008 held just recently, I took part in 2 contests. This was one of them: The Talecraft Illustration Contest. Talecraft is a story creation card game. There are character cards and I chose the Monstrous Adolescent card to illustrate (I chose 3 character cards randomly and opted to go for that one.)

My initially study was #1. But then I realized that the whole point of Talecraft is to have players come up with unique story & character ideas of their own and not to be boxed in by the relatively limited view presented on any card.  So I essentially went more towards a fairly more surreal and expressive illustration - hopefully giving players more leeway in terms of their imagination.

I used a child soldier as reference. He had a pretty intense gaze.

This is a work in progress for the 2008 Ang-InK Catalogue.  Is it fair, good, or excellent? Any suggestions?

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This is a page from my current book project: Hold on Tight. It’s cute but this page was rejected, because the girl looked Chinese and over the required age of three. I can always use it for something else though. The project is due on September 10, 2007 - but there seems to be no end to the revisions.

While working on this project, I realized just how much of drawing anime/manga had penetrated my head. There were moments that I would use facial proportions and conventions thinking they’d be applicable to a range of races & faces, only to find out these were only suitable for Japanese & Chinese faces.

Miles undersea, a captain seeks his own justice for the tragic death of his beloved, instead God gives him a chance to experience mercy from the deep.

I wanted the captain in my story to be a father. Old enough to command a crew of younger men, but still young enough to be flexible to change and also to get worked up. Thoughts of Gene Hackman’s character from the Red October movie came to mind. But Gene’s character was a bit old for me. So also making the crew younger would help make the captain appear older.

Afterwards I needed someone for the captain to share words with, in order to immediately dispense the message of the 4-page story quickly within a page or two. So his daughter’s onboard the sub as well. A girl would stand out more onboard an all male 20-something crew.

The Japanese manga 漫画 version of Koji Suzuki’s Spiral (part of The Ring trilogy, illustrated by Sakura Mizuki), helped me peg a clearer vision of how I could get the story rolling. It begins with someone sinking into the depths, someone important to the lead character. So that became another character in the story. It’s more of a plot device really, it is to explain why the captain is hunting leviathans in the first place. This victim is the captain’s wife.

This story is a metaphor of how a Christian may react to tragic circumstances. In fact, as I was writing and illustrating the comic, I couldn’t help thinking about the Holocaust, the tragedy of 9-11, Christian soldiers losing their lives in Iraq, terrible deaths of Christian friends of mine, and of course the families left behind.

It’s very heavy for a person to carry the weight of such loss. This is a weight that can drag people down into the abyss of doubt & despair. But this doesn’t have to be the case, as the story goes.

I only have 4 comic book pages to work with. It’s therefore a challenge to have a story where the drama doesn’t jump. An example of this “jumping” is when a character goes from love to hate without passing through steps. For example: from love, to concern, to doubt, to irritation, to suspicion, to fear, then to accusation, mistrust, then to unforgiveness, to spite, to raging hate! A logical progression.

If repentance is involved the story, you can imagine how difficult it is for that to happen naturally and logically in only 4 comic book pages! Because there is something supernatural about repentance!

Besides the jumping… there’s a matter of how to make the readers connect to character in the story. I must say there are writers who are able to pull that off in 4 pages, but considering that I work in a fantasy setting (I love doing so) - it takes a little more effort. (I just add more talk balloons, unfortunately…)

My comic book story for the International Christian Comic Book Contest is done, but I need YOUR help! I need feedback on the story!!! You can find the 4 pages here:

Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4

Did it make sense? Does it flow naturally? Why or why not?
Thanks so much!

I am currently plodding through the 1st draft of my 4 page story for the contest but first I’d like to talk about how I developed my story concept:

1. Just started reading my Bible again for the second time around. And after reading the Book of Job, I’ve been inspired by it, not only about the circumstances that fell upon Job, but also to the reference to the leviathan. I recall posing the question to a Christian speaker that if the theory of evolution is not true and the world we live in relatively younger…. did Noah have dinosaurs in the ark? As I remember that question, I also noted that Noah didn’t need to put fish (and also large sea monsters) into the ark… duh.

2. I like underwater documentaries very much, couple that with my fascination with cryptozoology… these got me started. I went looking up further references to the leviathan and to dinosaurs. The NIV Bible suggests it may possibly be a crocodile. But that’s unlikely because of how other verses in the Bible describe the creature. We may find it unlikely that such creatures still exist today, but are we 100% sure they don’t? Half of the world’s waters go deeper than 3000 meters, much deeper than remotely operated marine vehicles can go.

3. I also did some rough research on Bible versus concerning comfort, justice, trials, waiting on God, God’s sovereignty. Anything to anchor the story into the Word of God. The meat of this process will be discussed in upcoming production notes.

4. Then off to Youtube to seek videos on possible creatures that may trigger further inspiration. I went through the Loch Ness Monster videos, but none of them were convincing. So I looked up other rare sea creatures (these can get pretty scary):

5. In order to make any undersea story unfold, I need an undersea venue to host the characters. I decided on a submarine of sorts, so as not to be too farfetched.

6. The captain of the sub would be a major character, and so I ask myself and walked with God for a story that could revolve around the captain. The research into the leviathan proved to be useful. I found metaphors between the leviathan and to chaos - even to the Devil. This ties in to the story of Job and to stories of how evil circumstances have taken so many good people I know or knew personally. Given my own metaphor for the leviathan, I am able to carry on the captain’s story a little more confidently. It is “Man vs. Nature” and “Man vs Himself”.

I’m presently conceptualizing my entry for the 2007 International Christian Comics competition. Most of it is happening in my head for now, with very few sketches being generated. Good writing notwithstanding, much of the story limitations and parameters I’ve raised seem to be dictating the DOs and DON’Ts. Hence, it is a wrestling match just to get the story down.

1 A big consideration is that the comic should fall within Christian discipleship and/or evangelism. This is actually mentioned in the contest rules. More often than not this would be to espouse Christian values and promote salvation through Christ. Practical application of these is always a winner. Pretty simple concept.

2 But I’m trying to avoid having those simple (yet essential) concepts dull the plot. That’s my second consideration. I don’t want to preach. I want to share what I have experienced in light of God’s truths. Experience alone is just a single-edged sword. Experience in light of God’s truths is a double-edged sword that has the potential to become a killer story.

3 Another parameter of mine is keeping a sense of wonder. Being the fantasy fan that I am, I will tell my story on comics taking whole advantage of the medium’s unlimited special effects budget!

And in terms of Christian themes, wonder comes in many ways. One could be the revelation of something new that you didn’t know before or had forgotten. Another could be exploring Bible themes & trivia in an exciting way - one that will catch the imagination and reasoning of your readers.

4 I would have to say however, that while miracles can happen, the mature Christian knows these follow obedience to Christ - and at times miracles don’t come at all!! Throwing a miracle into the plot (even in an Alice-in-Wonderland fantasy) can quickly rip your readers from the pages. They don’t have to be non-believers to balk at an unexplainable & irrational plot device. Miracles should not be dispensed haphazardly, they are pretty explosive. So I tell myself to hold the physics-defying miracles until I can convince the reader to expect them. (And I find it hard to do in 4 pages)

5 Perhaps the most obvious parameter in writing my Christian comic is that I have to be walking with God. I have to be in constant fellowship with him. If this story I am bleeding my brains out to create is going to be worth all the trouble, I have to know why I’m doing it (beyond the 1st- place-only prize money).

These are but 5 of the limitations & parameters I’ve assigned. I wish I had more experience in writing fiction, but what little I have - I put to work!

We at the Ang Ilustrador ng Kabataan have begun planning our next group exhibit. Since we are turning 16 years old, the organization has decided on a high school theme.

I enjoyed my experiences in high school. The best of which is exaggerated in this study of mine for the exhibit:

I studied in Xavier School. A school that clearly prides itself for its sportsmen and businessmen (not to mention “men for others”). So there is no art class during the high school years, we leave that behind in our grade school. It is therefore quite a sight to see an artist draw during high school - even more so if he draws a sexy teacher.

To the Inkies reading this, feel free to post your suggestions on the poses, composition and whatever else can be critiqued from this study. Thanks.