For some reason, I almost never discuss something I'm working on with anyone. I don't know whether it's because I fear early criticism, or simply that I want the work to stand on its own, without people having a preconceived idea of what it is.
Francois on the other hand, will speak readily and at length about his (or my) upcoming projects with almost anyone who's willing to listen. Is one of us more right than the other? I don't know, but I've decided that maybe my reticence should be tempered somewhat by openness. With that in mind:
My upcoming self-published comic is entitled "Ochre Ellipse," a phrase I chose solely for its
intrinsic beauty. I'm not sure how long I'm going to keep working under that title; right now I have a three-issue "story arc," so to speak, in mind. Themes to be discussed: youth, growth, inevitability, determinism, puissance, power, control, truth, honesty, nature. What I want to do is to build up a sort of lexicon of symbols which represent each of these ideas, so that they would be well-known to the reader in the same way that the tropes of a "
Peanuts" strip are familiar, immutable constants.
One way I want to do this is to lay out a series of charts or graphs of different types to explain each metaphor. I did something like this in my comic about myself for the "
Family Style" zine:
I've been reading
Edward Tufte, and trying to understand the best way to display and design information. But can you chart an abstraction? Can you graph a metaphor? And if so, what's the best way? Am I on the right track?
