What I Think About Stuff-chronicles Of Wormwood

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Why, Mister Burrows! Thank you for the nightmares!

The Chronicles of Wormwood Or Blasphemy, done right.

When considering matters of faith, you should approach them with a certain degree of caution. Not because faith is something inalienable and unchangeable, immune to philosophical scrutiny, but because the religious crowd possesses a great number of zealots, who tend to view philosophical analysis on their religion as an offense.

The religious nerd is the most dangerous kind of nerd.

To question matters of faith is not the privilege of the atheist solely. Every person that follows every tenet, dogma, creed or cult reaches a point in their lives when they look up at the heavens mid-prayer and go:

“That’s all well and good, oh Lord, but what’s up with [insert sensitive, inflammatory or morally ambiguous matter of faith here]?”

“Just…just hear me out, ‘kay?”

Christianity is a religion that centers on the Apocalypse, the Eschaton, the end of the world in general. Even though this is not its main focus and the entire New Testament instead tries to provide some advice and guidance to the flock in order to help them run their lives a little bit better, popular culture and the Japanese tend to skip all that inspiring, spiritual shit and go straight for the fireworks.

It’s funny how nobody ever stops to consider that Armaggedon stands for EVERYONE FUCKING DIES HORRIBLY.

This misdirection has been built up so huge that Christianity has been equated (even among the faithful) as a religion of regret and guilt, its prayers an endless apology to God, which in turn is being exploited by every manner of bastard.

Some people follow the tide that the bastards have set up and become bastards themselves. Others fight back, but it’s a battle they fight on their own, never once daring to voice their dissent.

A chosen few cry out their battle cry and turn their conflict into art, which in turn they use as enlightened fists with which to smash the bastards’ noses. Garth Ennis is one of them

Irishman. Comic book writer. Angry as fuck.

Irish born, Garth Ennis is a fountain of vulgarity and storytelling expertise that’s hard to find anywhere else on the planet. His work is thick with blasphemy, depravity and dick jokes used to promote greater, far more controversial themes.

And the man knows how to write great fucking dialogue. When I said how I would cherish the chance to rip his dialogue pump from his carcass to build my monstrous comic book writing gestalt, I wasn’t kidding. His characters engage in simple, funny and meaningful exchanges that actually serve to contribute to the story, never once requiring unnecessary prose or thought balloons.

Also, creator of the most sympathetic Satan in fiction.

His stories, despite their complexity and depth, focus on the straightforward struggle of good and evil and his characters are archetypical champions of each side. His work is simple, but not simplistic. It’s easy to follow and it’s rich in depth.

Garth Ennis’ work in comics is legion, but he is most renowned for Preacher (the series that dealt with the responsibility of God toward Man) and for his most recent success, the Boys, which took the same idea on a completely different direction and pitted man against OverMan.

Garth Ennis’ work focuses on morality, on being the best kind of person you can be in a planetful of assholes, of going against the rules set by society and making your own.

Chronicles of Wormwood, along with Preacher, showcase these themes perfectly.

But before I move on to the review itself, let’s talk about the art, shall we? The miniseries was drawn by Jacen Burrows.

Pictured here providing cunniligus to the universe.

There’s one thing I learned by studying Mr. Burrows’ work in this minseries and that’s that he has seen Hell or at the very least, experienced it. I don’t honestly care about the hows and they whys of such an occurrence (although I’d wager they involve several goats, books bound in human skin and lots of sacrificial daggers made blunt by excessive use), but goddamn I’d love to take a trip into his mind and take some pictures!

Then proceed to get the fuck out before the flesh-roaches and cock-demons force themselves on me and eat me alive.

His artwork is grotesque, it’s violent and it pretty much seeps off the page and enters your bloodstream through your fingers, making its way into your brain in a few seconds. By the time you’ve seen the Hell covers, it’s already too late, son.

And now, for the actual review:

Meet Daniel Wormwood:

He hates mornings, just like you!

Born of a mortal woman and the Jackal, Danny is the proud owner of a New-York based television station with controversial programs, a prized bachelor with a healthy and long relationship with a wonderful woman.

He’s also the Antichrist, whose birth heralds the End Times. Which is why he keeps getting pestered by his dad…

Satan:

They’re not getting along all that well…

The Lord of the Pit, dissatisfied with his son’s life choices and his adherence to living out his life protecting the disgusting Earth Monkeys from the horrors of the impending Apocalypse is a detriment to his plans.

Danny would have had to go through this crap alone, if it hadn’t been for his best friend and ultimate wingman…

Jesus:

This scene makes me smile and feel like shit at the same damn time.

What would the Antichrist’s birth be like without the second coming of Christ? Sent to Earth to guide mankind and save them from themselves, Jesus went ‘Nope. Better idea’ and instead tried to involve himself in politics and peaceful protestations, receiving crippling head injuries for his troubles.

Like Wormwood, Jesus has turned his back on his dad and has refused to go along with this Apocalypse crap. But there’s one more faction that has just as much to lose by this postponement of the catastrophe…

The Holy Roman Catholic Church (specifically its newly inaugurated Pope, Jacko the First):

Tha’s roight, mate.

The forces of the Lord are destined to win this battle (as ordained by John the Prophet), therefore it’s in Pope Jacko’s best interests to eliminate Wormwood and take Jesus out of the picture, so he can bring about Armageddon. 

But war on this case makes for strange bedfellows and…

No. No, I’m not giving you a summary. It’s a story about the end of the world and small conflicts and vulgarity and the ultimate clash between good and evil and in my opinion, it’s the best comic book miniseries dealing with the Apocalypse I’ve read so far. I have absolutely no intention of spoiling it for you.

What I will do, is give you the traditional best/worst points comparison and let you decide for yourselves whether it’s worth the purchase. So off we go, listing my most favorite bits:

·         Chronicles of Wormwood takes the most worn-out, tired concept in fiction and gives it a new twist:

The end of the world is one of those ideas that has been done to death. Fiction has been killing us all off with viruses, nuclear weapons, stellar furnaces, rips in space-time and copious amounts of zombies in every possible setting since the 19^th century

Yes, there is a meteor-annihilates-everyone story by Edgar Alan Poe. Was that your mind blowing up in the background? (#)

Of those themes, the Apocalypse is by far the most ridiculously abused one. The final battle between good and evil might be timeless, but there’s so many ways it can be done before you start feeling sick at the stomach at the mere mention of the next shitty pretentious iteration

Pictured: the symbolism that broke the camel’s back

Chronicles of Wormwood chooses instead not to focus on the conflict itself, not making any mention toward the great battle and avoiding great big spectacles and tedious clashes of angles and demons. What it does instead, is show you what is worth fighting for:

People. Plain old, boring, wonderful people.

This theme alludes to Dogma, which was obviously a very important influence to Wormwood with one notable exception:

·         Chronicles of Wormwood succeeds where Dogma fails:

Dogma  was a movie that sought to reinvent the Apocalypse, the supernatural struggle for the fate of mankind, the hidden and important bits on the Bible, while at the same time showing the audience that the world is indeed worth fighting for.

Dogma, however, degenerated into a circus of supernatural entities shooting the shit about halfway in. 

It also wasted its George Carlin capability.

Chronicles of Wormwood doesn’t do that. In just six issues, it details the supernatural factions, presents the stakes, outlines the roles of the battle and resolves it. Satan (and Jacko’s) motivations are detailed in two-page splats. Heaven is presented in a single issue. Hell as well. We meet the rest of the very important players in the conflict and then BAM!

Beers at the end of the world.

Which brings me to my very next point, being…
 

·         For an atheist, Garth Ennis writes him a wicked afterlife:

\

None of us can claim what the lands beyond the Pale our like and none of us should. And how could we? All our references come from unreliable sources and the very fact that death is an inevitable fact of life (wrap your head around that) makes the matter all the more incomprehensible.

The matter of our ultimate destinations is not a light one and needs to be tackled very carefully, even by the faithful. Which is why I was amazed when I saw Garth Ennis (who isn’t exactly known for his subtlety toward religious matters) present an ambiguous definition of both planes of metaphysical existence.

Here’s Heaven, according to Garth Ennis:

Oh shit, son! There’s nothing here you can argue with!

And here’s Hell:

That’s Jesus, crying for the people he couldn’t save from Hell.

And now for the weaker aspects of the series:

·         Loose the Garth, spoil the tale:

I mentioned before how Garth Ennis uses vulgar means to tackle large and intelligent themes and succeeds for the most part. Preacher, for example, had scenes like this:

The end result of constant DC scrutiny on Ennis’ work.

This is mild shit compared to some of the stuff Garth Ennis gets away with in Chronicles and in The Boys. You see, back when Garth Ennis was making the Preacher, he was held on a short leash and he still produced the raunchiest, most violently intelligent comic book of its time.

But that was Vertigo. And Vertigo is a cruel, harsh mistress. Now, imagine him moving from Vertigo to Avatar (a much smaller comic book publisher), where he is given absolute free reign over his work. Can you imagine what happens next?

Preceding panels edited due to poor taste.

The Heaven issue is wonderful, beautifully drawn and intelligently written and it’s almost spoiled because of a scene that…well…didn’t belong there. In fact, it hurt the narrative in order to crack a topical joke on a crime that hurt both sides of the conflict it references. I’m not trying to be politically correct here: I just think that no one deserved this shit in the first place, both in fiction and in the real world.

·         Babs:

Babs is a supporting character that caught my eye since the minute she showed up.

Shit girl, I’d buy you a goddamn brewery!

She’s not only hot, but she’s also knowledgable, able and immediately presents herself as a useful and powerful ally to Wormwood’s cause.

And then she goes away so she can make a brief cameo toward the end and that’s it. Which is a bloody shame, really because Garth Ennis can and does write strong female protagonists. Though her absence does not hurt the story, her presence would have made it even better.

·         The Ending:

This happens:

Go buy the fucking comic book, son…

Why? Was it necessary? Was this helpful to the story in any way? Did it help? 

Nope. That was just Garth Ennis, being Garth Ennis.

You know what kind of dish Chronicles of Wormwood would be if it was a dish? It would be something familiar, plain and easy to make.

Like pasta with plain tomato sauce, bit of onions and pepper.

 It would be something that you’ve had a million times and right when you’ve thought you’ve had enough of it, your parents serve it to you on a Sunday dinner and for the first time since you were a kid you rediscover the flavor and you realize why you fell in love with it. Oh sure, there would be a tinsy bit of carton from the tomato sauce box that grandma accidentally dropped in, but it would be a minor inconvenience.

You’d eat it and then savor it and then talk to your friends about it though no one would want to hear because they’ve each had pretty much the same experience and know that words can’t do it justice.

Of Gods, Men And Overmen, Part 2-the Gods

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 â€Every time I try to talk to someone it's ‘sorry this’ and ‘forgive me that’ and ‘I'm not worthy...’ funniest. God quote. Ever.

Of Gods, Men & Overmen, part 2-The Gods

We all know of gods and pantheons; of celestial bureaucracies and heavenly courts. We also know that every culture (no matter how primitive or advanced) has come up with deities or has associated divine patrons to almost every aspect of life.

The question is, why do that? Why choose to personify and name lightning, or the sun, or even darkness? Why bother with giving disasters or random occurrences human characteristics and agendas of their own? I've already mentioned how mankind cannot exist in a spiritual vacuum but that alone is not enough to explain why gods were invented in the first place.

In order to approach this matter rationally, we need to consider this not from the perspective brought to us by theologians, but by atheist scientists. You see, there is a theory, presented by Richard Dawkins, called God’s Utility Function.

This theory; presented in his book, the River Out of Eden; states that God (or gods, pick anyone you like), does not appear to have a utility function. That means that any and all existing divine intelligences that have created/are running the world don’t appear to have built the world in a manner that everything has a distinct and clearly defined purpose. Dawkins claims that there is too much mindless violence and an uneven distribution of resources (food, water, bitches, whathaveyou) in every ecosystem to prove any clearly defined purpose or function.

Ancient civilizations were as aware of this fact as we are (albeit in a much more limited fashion) and were experiencing this kind of cosmic injustice and lack of purpose in their daily lives as well. They could not quite comprehend how or why anything was happening. In their short, horrible and harsh lives, they did not possibly have the time or the means to work their way of thinking around these events. They refused to comprehend that the world was (and in some ways still is) cruel, so they chose their next best option.

The asshole in the sky.

They chose to personify the world around them so they could have someone to blame for their misfortunes or thank for the daily bounty. They chose to give names to the creator of the heavens so they could praise him for keeping the world afloat and they made up a whole genealogy for the elements that tormented their daily live, just so they could condemn them at their choosing.

Because gods were the first spiritual tools ever invented, they were used as sponges to soak  any blame and as beacons to lead us through the darkness.

Naturally, as humankind evolved further mentally and built its civilizations, gods grew in complexity; and so did their tools. With each new spiritual and mental aspect presented, mankind attributed another face, name and genealogy to a new god whose sole purpose was to fill that specific function. That is why the Greek Pantheon had Hermes, the trickster god and why the Aztecs had Ixtab, the goddess of suicide among their midst. 

Sometimes, gods were plainly integrated from various cultures into a belief system ( as was the case in the Roman Empire) just so they could update their spiritual arsenal with even more stuff they thought they needed. Was this a case of rampant spiritual consumerism? Did our ancestors (as we, in our day and age), pray to and collect gods they did not need simply for the fun of it?

Or had  human society reached a critical mass of societal stasis? Had we collectively come to a point where its spiritual extension had grown so damn convoluted it was almost collapsing under its own weight?

If the advent of Christianity is any indication, then the answer to both the above questions is “yes”. We had reached a point where our gods had become so many and unwieldy and served no purpose whatsoever, while in the actual world, our society had reached a point of collapse. This led to people slowly being drawn away from the old gods, feeling that they were wasting their hopes and their faith in this form of religion and sought an alternative. 

They sought someplace else to invest their faith. And gods without faith aren’t really gods now, are they? Like us, they cannot exist in a spiritual vacuum. This brings us to the matter of belief, or faith.

What is faith? There are myriads of definitions, one for each existing religion (and even more), so for simplicity’s sake, let’s define faith as: “The mental tenacity of adhering to a way of thinking despite any and all indications to the opposite”.

In many ways, this makes faith synonymous to hope, which is considered by many philosophers to be a viable substitute for it. But enough philosophizing! Let’s get down to rationalizing faith via geeking:

It is a common trope in fantasy fiction and fantasy RPGs

And in some cases, in ridiculous and unnecessary D&D handbooks

that gods are not in and of themselves omnipotent beings. That despite their power and glory, they are directly dependent on their worshippers and that it is their faith that keeps them alive (if you want to read more on the matter, go read Small Gods right the fuck now). If no tribute is paid to a god, if no prayers and sacrifices are made in his/her/its name, then the god ceases to be. We have seen this happen in the course of our history. In fact this would support the idea that gods are spiritual tools.

But faith doesn’t consist entirely of prayers, sacrifices and burning incense. It’s also supported by a much larger infrastructure of priests, temples and worshippers that collectively make it work. Because, you see, faith is not only the force that sets the gods into motion and keeps them alive. It is also the foundation of the very society that supports them. 

I mean, don’t get me wrong, Athena is an okay gal, but you don’t honestly think this was built just for her sake now do you?

Make no mistake:  gods don’t just serve as a handy means for us to rationalize the universe. They are also a tool for societal reference. In the same way that the growing complexity of gods reflects the complexity of the way of thinking and the culture they were spawned in, the adherence to their tenets serves to keep that society in order.

Sure, nowadays human society has evolved beyond the idea of requiring a religious doctrine to keep us from killing each other, but it wasn’t so back then. The gods served as a means to set up taboos and behavioral norms, as well as ways of thinking that allowed the continued survival of this society.

In the Greek Dodecatheon, for example, gods took it as a personal insult when sacrifices were not regularly performed in their name and rained fire (or some other equally horrible misfortune) on those that went against that doctrine. A specific example: Achilles, after finally killing Hector, chose to drag his corpse around Troy. This was a direct violation of the burial customs and so the gods intervened to destroy Achilles for his hubris.

The most powerful man of his time, brought down for not adhering to proper burial standards. Sure, when presented like that, it sounds downright ridiculous, but it’s really not: it’s an example of a fable enforcing a cultural law by presenting the repercussions of breaking a  taboo.

Speaking of fables, let’s move on to the meat of the matter:  mythology. What is the purpose of mythology, besides making boring stuff (like adherence to the laws and keeping society from tearing itself apart) look cool?

And/or inspiring awe in the hearts of the faithful?

If faith is the lifeblood of the gods, then mythology is their bones, organs, cartilage and the very skin that holds them together. It is the thing that gives them a distinct, coherent form and also breathes life into them.

It was mythology that made Brachma lord and master of the universe and it was mythology that made Odin the All Father. It’s mythology that set Hephaestus as the eternal underdog and killed and resurrected Osiris. It is the work of storytellers, seeking to entertain an audience by giving them glimpses of the lives of the immortals, each providing his own perspective and adding new twists to the original narrative.

Does this remind you of anything?

Serialized retellings of a story with new details and acts of heroism or villainy added to the narrative? Nope, doesn’t ring a bell.

Mythology also allows us to look into the interaction between men and gods and the role they played in their lives at the time. Case in point: Homer’s Iliad.

The Iliad serves to present two points about the culture that spawned them. Firstly, that the gods were seen by the Greeks at that time as meddling, selfish creatures; an entire pantheon of super-powered tricksters, meddlers and all-around vengeful pricks. Their actions affected the 10-year war for Troy, giving rise to heroes and then tearing them down.

On the other hand, however, the gods are not blamed for their meddling, not even once. With few exceptions, none of the characters in the Iliad ever curses or spits at the gods. They hardly ever antagonize them. This is because mortals knew that there was no point in blaming the gods for their follies, because deep down, they considered themselves responsible for their own mess.

After all, none of the gods ever actively played a role in dragging this war into a decade-long elimination round.

This acknowledgement of lack of divine fault was a common trope in the old way of thinking. After all, gods are just there and we pray to them just to make sure, because the world is, all things considered, an overall shitty place. Despite their immortality and considerable powers, gods remain a bunch of wreckless bastards and we can’t really hold them accountable for every horrible thing.

When omnipotence came into the fray, however, this idea could no longer stand. The gods, who were once sets of tools and free of blame, now became one multi-purpose, ever present machine that ran the universe. Suddenly, man was living under the scrutiny of a single intelligence that, despite its considerable power, chose not to interfere.

This was an expression of a radical shift in tone. Once again, our spiritual expression became one of distant admiration and object terrible repercussions, like the natural forces that plagued our ancient ancestors. The advent of monotheism meant that we, as a culture, wished to start over again and begin our climb across the treacherous landscape of spirituality anew.

And we did it, even if it took us about 20 centuries, by researching ancient civilizations and gleaning their secrets, adapting our findings to our old way of thinking. The 19^th century saw a rise in spirituality (which was, in essence, a remixing of old world religions and tenets, sprinkled with current conspiracy theories). Slowly but surely, we once again began to bridge the gap with our gods and tried to turn them into more manageable, quantifiable repositories of faith.

This was not the result of a return to the old ways. None of us were willing to go back to dancing naked in the forests, sacrificing sheep and dying of the common cold. What we wanted, instead, was far more ambitious. 

We wanted to bring our gods to a level where we could begin to emulate them.

This change took place mostly in the 20^th century, through fiction. The integration of old world mythologies into our TV shows, our literature, our videogames even, suddenly turned the ancient masters of the universe into household names. Xena would punch the living crap out of Ares every Saturday evening and Shiva fought Visnu with laser guns in the Lord of Light, we smashed Zeus’ face against a rock in God of War.

As always, there were some…unfortunate byproducts along the way.

Some people consider this to be a perversion of ancient literature. I call this integration. You need to be able to make fun of something, to turn it into an everyday symbol, before you can begin to emulate it.

We have come a long way since we feared the lightning enough to think of it as intelligent. We have crossed millennia thinking that everyday occurrences are the direct result of meddling higher powers. But right here, right now, we know deep down that we only have ourselves and the seemingly random procession of cosmic and everyday events to blame. And given enough time, we’ll even get over that.

So what is the purpose and the function of gods in our day and age? Why do we even need them, in this time of overall rationality and scientific advancement? Why do we even keep them alive in our minds, in our popular culture, in our everyday language?

Because we haven’t become them yet. But trust us, we’re getting there.

I got your immortality man, I swear! I just need a couple centuries to get it all up and running!

The 2013 100th Blog Post Special!

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StarChildren and SpaceBurgers by Lionel Kokkinis.

LOOK AT MY FUCKING AWESOME BANNER.

LOOK AT MY NEW FUCKING BANNER AND MARVEL AT HOW FUCKING AWESOME IT IS!

IT WAS MADE BY THIS SEXY TALENTED MOTHERFUCKER.

eh does comissions and doesn't afraid of anything.

CLICK ON HIS FUCKING PIC TO VISIT HIS PAGE.

On another, less flamboyantly Caps-Locked note, this is Shapescapes' 100th post! As such, I will use this auspicious number to do one of those masturbatory posts bloggers are wont to do about themselves, so I can brag about shit I got done last year:

So here goes the...

SHAPESCAPES 2012 ACHIEVEMENT LIST or IT COULD HAVE GONE BETTER BUT AT LEAST IT DIDN'T GET WORSE.

*joyous bleeping*

I got shit published:

Ever since I remember myself doing anything even remotely interesting (i.e. the age of 11), I recall wanting to write stories. Or, to be more specific, I remember realizing how awesome stories and the process of turning the swirl of ideas and raw chaos in your skull into a comprehensible whole that you can project to others actually is.

I always wanted to be able to put down the images and the exchanges that took place in my head, but I never actually got down to it until I was 16. And what did I do? I wrote 200,000 words worth of fan fiction.

It was pretty fucking terrible, too.

It wasn't until i was 18 when i began an earnest attempt to actually sit my ass down and right, thinking "yeah, I should probably try to get my shit published", commencing my year-long attempt to write the GREATEST GREEK FANTASY EPIC OF ALL TIME.

It fucking bombed halfway through (mostly because it was garbage) so I set off to write the GREATEST GREEK SUPERHERO FICTION EPIC OF ALL TIME which also bombed, because it was a half-baked idea that still hasn't settled.

During that time, I started working on a silly little comedic project which I called "The Chronicles of Choppinstan" (Τα Χρονικά της Καφριλονίας). It did have some...moderate success (by internet standards) but it was never finsihed, because I thought of it as too low-brow for my tastes.

What followed was a 5-year hiatus from writing, during which I felt like crap the entire fucking time and threw myself to tabletop roleplaying as a means to make me feel better. It was until 2011 that I decided to actually do something about my passion, when I started work on the first book of the Sisyphan Scriptures-The genesis of the Alef (Σισσύφιες Επιστολές-Η Γέννηση του Άλεφ) which i am currently uploading here in chapter format and I'm in the process of translating into English.

It wasn't until 2012 that i realized that I was barking up the wrong tree and I decided to try my luck with writing in the English language. Oh, it was going to be hard as balls, but hey, what was the worst that could happen, right?

Besides getting visciously mauled by dogs?

Get On with it, for fuck's sake!

So I started working on some of my stuff and I tried my hand at pretty much everything, which in turn yielded for me a few (and cherished) publications in the English language.

True to form, the Universe granted me my wish (which was the chance to write and publish children's stories) by having my very first fairy tale in English "Something In the Sandbox" accepted for publication by Open Hearts Publishing. I got to write the story of the queen of the playground, of the subtle uprising of her subjects and the banes of wantonness.

Then, Schlock! Magazine did me a favor and published a story I wrote, belonging to mys econd-favorite genre of literature, called "LeftOvers", where I told the tale of a man who got what he had coming.

Static Movement picked my story, "Under the Staircase" where I got to see the apocalypse through the eyes of a child and write about scar tissue on the human soul, the kind that grows into you and forces you to grow around it, instead of the other way round.

Round that time, EveryDayFiction.com did me a solid by accepting my flash story "Treading the Grass" where I wrote a letter in the approximate style of a revenge driven, methodical psychopath in 12th century Japan. (And you can read it here: www.everydayfiction.com/treading-the-grass-by-konstantine-paradias/)

Black Cross Productions liked my superhero story "Blue Oceans, Yellow Sands" sometime near the end of the year and I can't thank them enough for letting the Overmen that have been bounding across my skull loose, if only for a while.

And, last but not least, I got to publish my very first e-book in English! stone Cold Countenance started as a doodle, expanding constantly in my hand from the very first sentence and radiating outward toward every possible direction, until it was about 200 pages long and yearning to be let out. But you can go check out the rest on the relevant blog page.

What I think about 2013-I don't know man, but I know it's not gonna be shit.

With all that said, I'd like to wish all of you wonderufl people a wonderful, happy and productive as fuck year, with joyous occassion all around!

From me to you, here's to a 365-day long orgasm that will engrave a smile onto your face!

Here's looking at you, you tasy, glorious bastard.

What I Think About Stuff-an Interview With Joseph Nathan Weisman

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Yet another reason to hate clowns...

An Interview with Joseph Nathan Weisman Or And now for Something Completely different…

I have come to view Facebook as a mixed blessing these days. On one hand, it is slowly turning into a mimetic machine, seeking to pound our internet presence into one cohesive mass of conformity.

"Freedom is the freedom to say that your internet name is BuffaloWarlock69. If that is granted, all else follows."

On the other hand, however, you get to meet some awesome people who add you because you’ve added a guy they know. Case in point, Joseph Nathan Weisman.

I knew Mr. Weisman through his work, as I was clicking my way through the bad parts of youtube one wonderful August evening, where I watched his horror short, Jim in the Box.

As you can see, it made no impression on me whatsoever.

So when Joseph added me on Facebook, I jumped at the chance to get a better look at his work and to get him to share with me his ideas and opinions on his work, both regarding Jim in the Box, as well as a whole.

For those of you among the uninitiated, Joseph was the Editor and Co-Owner of a comic book miniseries/Graphic Novel, titled LILLIM (published by Image Comics and Distributed Digitally by Graphicly)

Where he tackles a number of mythologies at the same time and comes out (miraculously) unscathed.

And is currently in the process of releasing his first series, Zombie Family:

Click here for zombie-based social commentary

With that in mind, let’s move on to the actual interview:

Kostas: Let's start off with something easy: At which point in your life did you discover you wanted to make movies and write comic books more than anything else ever?

JNW: Movies came first. I was a Junior in college at Michigan State (3^rd year in school), 8 credits away from a degree in Hospitality Business, when I took “Intro to Film” as an elective. We watched “Casablanca” (as cliché as it might be) and I went home, dropped all my other classes and added Film as a major. I received my BA in English with a concentration in Film Studies, still 8 credits short of a second degree in HB…all within 4 years of college. What I thought would be a lax year of partying turned into an intense education on writing, criticism and Mise-en-scène. Comics came later as my former business partner (Ian) and I would do extra work to make money on the side, all while starting our company…it also gave me a lot of time in “Holding” to read scripts and when I didn’t have a script to read, I began borrowing Ian’s comics to kill time; however the more comics I read, the more I was amazed with the adult content and dense storylines. From there I was hooked.

Kostas: What would you consider to be the main focus of your work, both in film as well as in comic books?

JNW: It’s always about story telling for me. I love good stories and I want to tell good stories. I like working with other storytellers; whether it’s producers, directors, writers, editors or artists. For “LILLIM” which I was the Editor, which is much like a Producer when it comes to Indie books. I really enjoyed working with writers (Ian and Shaun), the amazingly talented artist from China known as “Matrix” (who I discovered), as well as publisher Image Comics (and later, through digital, Graphicly). It was a great experience and definitely helped my development skills as a Literary Manager and Creative Producer. 


Kostas: And speaking of comic books, how did you break into the business?

JNW: Since moving to LA I’ve been to 10 San Diego Comic-Cons and counting. Not to mention numerous other genre and comic book conventions/events. Honestly, it’s all about networking and being persistent…at least it was back then. Now, with digital distribution anyone can get anything they want out there…the hard part is still getting someone to give it some attention and share the work with others. It’s very hard to make money in comics, but it’s a great way to SHOW your story as a means to an end (TV/Film adaptation). Sadly for “LILLIM” at the time “Thor” was green-lit and the Studio that was looking at “LILLIM” came on to distribute “Thor”, which killed the project. Hopefully in time “LILLIM” will get another shot at the big-screen, It’s not just a Norse Mythology story…it’s a deconstruction of all human Mythos, focusing more on Biblical mythologies, rather than Norse.

Kostas: Which part of the creative process of making a movie, do you consider being the most fun part to do? 

JNW: Directing is the most gratifying. I was hooked once I made “Jim in the Box” and reconfirmed my love for it while making “Zombie Family.” There’s just nothing like envisioning something in your mind, committing it to paper, sharing that paper with others, building that envisioned world in the real world (sets, to casting talent, to special effects, to music, etc.), and then seeing it all come to life on screen…exactly (if not pretty damn close to exactly) as you originally envisioned it. It’s absolutely an amazing thing. If I could draw or paint or sculpt or sing or play music, I would…but for some reason, I seem to be able to direct. Now, all that said, it all starts with the idea and turning that idea into a story. So, if I can’t direct or I’m not the right director for the project (which is most of the time), I’d say the development process is the most fun part…and definitely a lot less stressful! 

Kostas: Which part of moviemaking is it that actually makes you wish you didn't want to have to do it in the first place and would rather force someone else to do it for you, even if it meant dragging them from their hair kicking and screaming across the street?

JNW: Raising money independently or even trying to set up a Studio movie. You go from being an earnest storyteller to an elixir salesman. That aside, Post-Production is tedious work from encoding to editing to VFX to sound to delivery…it’s a bitch, but someone’s got to do it. I commend those with the patience for Post.

Kostas: Now, on to some actual questions concerning your work: Zombie Family is a sign of the pop culture of our times and its morbid fascination with zombies. Why do you think we're so obsessed with zombies in our video games, our literature, our movies, even? What is it about zombies that makes them so damn popular, in your opinion?

JNW: Zombies have always been a platform for social commentary. Zombie Family is no different. I wanted to get this weird family into a world where they would obviously stand out, but no one can quite put their finger on why they stood out. They kill when they feel their identity is threatened (i.e. being called a Zombie), but the irony is that sometimes (if not often) it’s done innocently, which reverses the commentary further as to suggest that even those of us who are sensitive to prejudice may be overact from time to time in the face of ignorance or miscommunication. The hope is to have an outlet to mirror society in a humorous manner, all while delivering positive themes. The web-series sets up these characters for an old-school style of humor that has something to say about morality, societal functions and human moments.

Kostas: If there was one thing-great or small-that you could change about the zombie mythos in general, what would that be?

JNW: I don’t think it’s my place to necessarily change anything or even suggest such a notion. It’s important that people get to say what they want to say without fitting into a box…even if that box is Zombies. There’s room for all expression through art and that includes Zombie stories and worlds. Monster stories in general are usually about the things within ourselves we find terrifying projected onto something physically horrifying and how everyone in that world reacts to seeing that horror embodied.

Kostas: And now for a look back to one of your earlier works: how would you describe your experience as a producer in Red & Blue Marbles?

JNW: R&BM unfortunately was a heartbreaker for me. Ian (writer/producer) and Shaun (writer/director) had another script called “Mildew” that we all loved and wanted to get made. When that project fell through, Ian and Shaun wrote R&BM to do on a much smaller budget. Still the project was very ambitious in scale. Ian and I began to have discrepancies over our partnership contracts and as “Red & Blue Marbles” moved into Production, Ian and I moved apart. I helped with development as well as getting some talent involved and working with the casting directors to cast the leads. Meanwhile, Ian and I were barely on speaking terms. I was only on set for a few days during the shoot and had no involvement with post-production. Now, I’m back involved to shop “R&BM” with my relationships in Hollywood, but things between my best friend of 15+ years was lost, so this movie still harnesses a lot of personal emotion for me. It ended up coming out well, after a lot of personal sacrifice from all of us, maybe most of all from Shaun (he was left to finish the film more or less on his own). I hope “R&BM” finds a home soon, it deserves to be seen. It’s a good story.

Kostas: So I watched Jim in the Box, went to bed and woke up in the middle of the night in the middle of a nightmare with clowns force-feeding me insects. Not that that's a bad thing. What was the most awkward/extreme response you received, regarding this movie?

JNW: Heh, there’s been a lot of them. People really are freaked out by clowns! I think the funniest was when I had gone on a couple dates with this girl and for our third date we were going to a concert about an hour outside of LA. I picked her up and during the entire ride she was barely talking and distant. We got to the show and she slowly loosened up. Later, after we had been going out for a while, she told me that that night, before I picked her up, she Googled my full name and found “Jim in the Box.” She was horrified that I was going to kidnap her and torture her once I got her in my car. I guess once we got to the concert, she felt more comfortable. I asked her why she didn’t cancel the date and just not get in the car, if she was so worried. She said with a smile, “because I kinda liked it…and you’re a good kisser.”

Kostas: The entire world is swarming with zombies! You only get to pick one weapon, one movie and one book to take with you inside the super-secure bunker you set up just before this! Which ones do you pick?

JNW: This sounds like a question I’d ask on my pod-cast (quick plug for JNWBUZZCAST coming soon!). Hmm, let me see. I’m a second degree black belt and pretty good with a Katana, so I think that would be my weapon of choice. For a movie, if I were locked up alone…I’d want to take “Casablanca.” If I haven’t gotten sick of it after well over fifty viewings, I probably never will. Lastly, one book…of course it would be a Graphic Novel and definitely “Watchmen”. A true masterpiece.

Wanna see more Weisman? Why not visit his facebook page and bug him when the next Zombie Family episode is coming out?

Too much work? How about his twitter @JNWBUZZ  @ZombieFamily1  @JNWBUZZCAST)?

  
Or maybe you’d rather listen to his podcast which will be available in the Fall of 2012 at: www.JNWFILMS.com.