Why Comics?

So I said previously that if there's a running theme among what I have to say concerning writing and characters and all that hub bub, it's that it's important to remember that you are creating a comic book/strip, not real life. What does that mean exactly, and why is it important? Well as it pertains to Dead Meat, as the idea and concept evolved, it went through a couple tonal changes as well. Initially I wanted to bring some grim reality to the concept, as the best movies in the genre did so well, seeing as I didn't know of any comics at that point that did such a thing. Then, someone beat me to it. At the end of the day though I'm glad they did, as it made me reassess my whole outlook on what I was doing, the medium in which I was working, and what I loved about it. I remembered the escapism that helped form the idea, and my love of extraordinary, flawed characters put into tense, extraordinary situations--characters who sometimes do things as utterly fantastic as the world in which they exist.

A teacher of mine once told me a story about a famous comic book creator who was once asked why he chose to work in comics. He proceeded to take a blank sheet of paper, dip his brush into some ink, and draw a circle on the paper.

"See that?" he said, "I've just created a universe. I've created all the worlds, all the people, every little tiny detail down to the color of the wings on the bugs, and it's all come from me." He then dipped his brush back into the ink, and with two movements of his wrist, slashed an X through the circle.

"And now I've just destroyed it."

When you play around in reality's world, you have to play by reality's rules. When you're making a comic, something wholly original, the only rules you have to obey are your own.