December 4, 2006
[zeit-gusted] 4:58 PM
I believe in the creative collective consciousness, and living in LA you're keenly aware of it. Every person I know has conceived something that, as it turns out, was conceived 2 seconds earlier by someone else. They may not be exact mind you, but when it comes down to a bare bones 30 second pitch, if you can't drastically make something sound different than something else then its D.O.A. (This still does not explain the oddities of Antz, A Bug's Life, Volcano or Dante's Peak).
The fall out of from suffering this zeitgeist is that you automatically loathe whatever is standing in the way of your idea. My friend Luke felt this way about Heroes, and Boy regards Harry Potter with so much contempt it baffles me. My moment with zeit-gust came two years ago when I had an idea of setting a series in Manhattan and having people who were thinly veiled fairy tale doppelgangers. I was all amped up until I found Vertigo's Fables, written by Bill Willingham which is about ... actual fairy tale characters expelled from their lands and taking up residence on a magical block of ... Manhattan.
After years of faux-hatred and coveting of James Jean's cover art, I caved and bought 1001 Night of Snowfall, an original Fables anthology featuring art by some of my favorite artists. The next day I tracked down fellow-geek Acker and now have the first 7 collected volumes sitting on the shelf. I am addicted.
Here's what else I'm currently buying on a regular basis: Action Comics, The Walking Dead, Detective Comics, Astonishing X-Men, Doctor Strange: The Oath, X-Men, Civil War, Ultimate Spider-man, Fantastic Four, Wolverine, Wonder Woman, Superman: Confidential, New Avengers
One of my design instructors once said that design is rarely original if ever. What makes the design unique is the individual...or something to that affect.
Any-hoo, I think possibly where I was going was related to your new york fairy tale and it not being original....no worries. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman could be argued as a creative twist on a similar story... or perhaps Im retarded.
I havent done anything profound with this "insight" so I guess it should be taken with a grain of salt....or however that saying goes. How about a comic based off old sayings.
Grain of Salt Man...Ok its not 'The Tick' but what is?
Good Luck with the Geists!
Thanks for the link to James Jean.
His sketch books are to die for...figuratively.
I faux-hate him too...that over-talented little.....
You should be reading Castle Waiting. You should, you should, you should. Fantagraphics just realized a gorgeous hard cover collection of the series to date in prep for the new issues (which are currently up to #3). Aspects of Bone, aspects of Fables, aspects of greatness. Plus I need other people to read it so that I can guarantee it won't get won't get cancelled out from under me.
Posted by: Cully at December 5, 2006 2:59 PMDeep impact ~ armageddon.
Nintendo ~ Sega.
Peter Pan ~ Lord of the flies.
i concur with what you design instructor said, i am a big fan of the quote "it's not about a 'new' idea, it's about a 'good' idea."
