Chew - Script and Pages

Recently the Alter Ego Comic Cast talked to John Layman, the creator and writer behind Image Comics' crazy book "Chew." It is the tale of Detective Tony Chu, who happens to be a Cibopath. Not sure what that is? That's because it's completely nuts, and totally out there freaking awesome and fun.

A Cibopath is someone who receives telepathic flashes - images, sounds, feelings, smells, tastes - of whatever he or she eats. Yeah. I won't go too far into explaining this, but allow you to seek out the first issue and find out exactly how weird and fun this idea can be.

What I can do, though, is post three pages of John Layman's script from issue number two of "Chew," along with the finished art for the pages, minus dialogue. I've always loved comparing script pages with finished art, particularly in books that are written by one person and illustrated by another. The process of creating a book with two separate minds involved intrigues me to no end, and this is one way to get a unique glimpse into how exactly these awesome things called comics are made.

Huge thanks to John Layman for providing the script pages and final art work, and for doing an interview over on the Alter Ego Comic Cast. *NOTE The interview will be posted HERE*

When selecting the pages to showcase I tried to select a few that would feature a strong sense of panel progression in order to show exactly how good storytelling should work in comics, along with pages that may feature ideas or mechanisms that might seem difficult to translate into images. The artist for "Chew," Rob Guillory, demonstrates in these pages - and the rest of the comic - how to tell a good story utilizing both the words supplied by the writer, and the images supplied by a pencil or pen.

(I had to break the script pages up into two separate pieces, so you'll have to utilize multiple windows. Sorry. Also, click on the images to make them bigger.)

Millennium City - Where's My Zeppelin?

Valentine's Day is great. I'm not going to poo-poo it, as that is somewhat in vogue nowadays - or has been since the beginning of the holiday, anyway - but rather I'll talk about why it's awesome. (Yes, if you don't have a significant other, Valentine's Day sucks. Move along.)

New books. New DVDs. New things that stimulate the mind (and body!), and inspire us to do things! Whatever these things are, we will take what we receive on Valentine's Day and move forward into the future, turning those seconds and minutes and hours into the present!

This year I will be doing this with the help of one man, one of the most romantic and eloquent men on the face of this here blue and green orb we live on. I will be within the world of his creation, a technicolor palette come to life, radio serials playing in the background, and fat dirigibles punctuating the skyline.

Happy Valentine's Day Alan Moore.

- • -

About three years ago I bought a trade-paperback from the comic shop I go to/work at/live in, and it has sat inside a box since then, unread and unloved. I've looked at it a few times, but only its cover, the hard edges of its spine, its descriptive back panel that wants to lull me into reading the inside despite the number on that well-formed spine. Instead of a large, black "1" it is labeled with an infuriating "2."

Up until Valentine's Day I haven't been able to read anything regarding Tom Strong, Alan Moore's pseudo-composite of Doc Savage and Superman, but my lovely girlfriend got me the first collection of Tom Strong, and after eating the dark chocolate orange cake she made me (freaking AMAZING), I read the first issue of Tom Strong.

Alan Moore is perhaps completely misunderstood. Some of his books are impenetrable constructions of narrative that leave the reader feeling like he or she is jumping into the middle of a tale that has unfolded for years before their entry into the world he - and his artists - have created.

That's part of the fun, though. There's somewhat a sense of disconnection right there at the start, but it's more internal than anything, a fear that you won't know what the hell is going on. Moore wants this, and somewhat depends on the feeling of history inherent in his writings. You can't freak out. Just read, and be confident that you will reach that comfortable place where the story settles down around your mind, the two mingling and creating that sought after feeling of complete and total involvement.

I got the "Deluxe Edition" of Tom Strong volume one, which means it's hard cover, forty dollars, and contains some form of special features. I flipped toward the back to see what exactly these were, hoping for script pages, and was disappointed to see a few sketches, maybe some cover images, and NO scripts.

After my initial disappointment over having gotten the "Deluxe Edition" and finding out it isn't all that deluxe, I started to read. First, the introduction of sorts by Moore himself. This introduction is more of a history, a mixture of fact and fiction that helps to build the world before you've seen a single image of it - outside of your mind - and starts to work toward whittling away at the feeling of confusion that may be threatening your reading experience.

Tom Strong was born on a remote tropical island, lived the first ten years of his life within a compression chamber with a heightened gravity - about five times that of Earth - and emerged as a physically impressive specimen, his intellect equally as impressive due to his father being a genius, and his mother an emotionally receptive and loving person.

He lives within a world that was most likely somewhat present in certain minds in the 19th century. Tom Strong has a daughter he names Tesla, a reference to the great scientist/inventor/imaginator Nikola Tesla, whose mind was constantly churning, putting things into the world that could have taken us to the place occupied by Tom Strong's fictional Millennium City.

We didn't arrive there, however, but here, where we currently live. There are large cities, metropolises with towering buildings and technological breakthroughs that could have been wonders. Mostly we seem to inhabit a place short on wonder, lacking the verve of a setting where everything seems possible, and actually is.

In his introduction Moore references a patent clerk resigning in his fictional world in the year 1899 because, "...everything had already been discovered or invented." This wasn't true for his creation, and is certainly not true for our world either.

Gantz: A Feel Good Story

Dark Horse Comics isn't exactly known for pushing the envelope when it comes to mature content, but there is one title under the publisher's name that can be said to do just that, although it doesn't originally hail from Dark Horse.

"Gantz" is a manga that has 27 volumes published in Japan, and is only now bleeding into American pop-culture thanks to Dark Horse. Not only is there an anime of the manga, but they are now venturing into the realm of the silver screen, as the live-action film is under way currently. Here, thanks to Topless Robot, is a freaking awesome picture from the set. I doubt they'll be able to achieve ALL of the nudity the book has in it, or ALL of the violence, but we can count on some of both making it onto Japanese screens, and then eventually onto American computers.

The Daytrippers Stop By For a Chat

I'm a co-host on a podcast, the Alter Ego Comic Cast, and we normally just sit around and try to make each other giggle with stupid crap. I guess occasionally maybe some people listen, and if you're one of them you might be interested to know that Tuesday night, February 9th at 8 p.m. EST, and all day Wednesday, the 10th, you can tune in to the Alter Ego Comic Cast to hear an interview with creators Gabriel Bá and Fabio Moon, the men behind the fantastic comics "Daytripper," "The Umbrella Academy," "BPRD: 1947," and "De: TALES."

Issue number 3 of "Daytripper" is out Wednesday the 10th, and if the snow hasn't trapped you anywhere, go pick up a copy.

Paying Too Much Attention: Lost and Me (Me and Lost)

* I've already done a few entries of Paying Too Much Attention over on the Alter Ego Comic Cast Facebook page, located here. They're located under the "Notes" section, if you're interested. *

Making a list of the "greatest" anything is a fool's task. The world has just gotten over an onslaught of these with the new year's arrival, but it's not necessarily contained within that period of time. After witnessing the creation of so many lists recently I came to a conclusion: humans love to make lists. You know who loves making lists the most? Nerds.

We'll list our favorite anything, our least favorite anything, list after list of what turns us on or off, and no matter how successful one list seems there is always another in the works.

I only bring it up because the premiere of "Lost" finally happened, and I want, so desperately want, to call it the greatest maxi-series of all time, but I know the kind of weight held by those words, and don't sling them around lightly.

- • -

When "Lost" premiered I was a very different person. Not drastically, I guess - for instance, I still cared about all of the things I do now - so my experience with the show wasn't what it is now. I can actually remember lying on my bed, flipping channels and accidentally witnessing the plane crash from the pilot episode. The sound was perfect, the visuals were exciting, the acting was sharp, and I felt as if I were there, on the beach with these poor souls.

I changed the channel. There was no mental mechanism controlling my hand, it just happened. My only description for why this happened is on that particular night I had no desire to see or read or do anything that required brain functions.

Later, the DVD had been released, and I'm not even sure what made it appear on my radar. As far as I can remember now, the series wasn't registering for me at all, and if anything I started to care - or at least think about caring - because a friend started talking about how great it was. I borrowed his DVD, and asked how long it would take before I was hooked.

"Dude...first episode," he said.

Five years, five DVD sets, hours of conjecture, guesswork, theorizing, and just plain nerding out, the show is coming to an end. The first episode of the sixth season proves to me that this whole "Lost" experience is having a huge effect on me, far more than any TV show ever has in the past, and possibly - just maybe - more than one will in the future.

It's a unique experience, because aside from being completely entertained by the show, it's also giving me a good sense of storytelling, the pieces fitting together wonderfully. A large number of writers - and every other role inside the movie/TV business - are working together so seamlessly, operating at such a level of success that is normally not seen.

I've been able to separate my enjoyment of the show into two categories, almost dividing my mind up, allowing it to exist on separate planes. Even after the last episode is aired, and secrets revealed or explained, I will return to this show and watch it again and again. It's good Sci-Fi, drama, comedy, action; it has, and will continue to teach me how to be a good viewer (a skill easily transferrable to other mediums: reader, listener, etc.), and it will help me understand the makings of a good story.

Maybe one day I'll do a Paying Too Much Attention that actually discusses the show and its plots, but right now I'm much more content with what the show is doing to me.