I’ve basically dedicated my life to the pursuit of stories and story-telling. Without stories, everything falls apart. A lot of people try to dismiss fantasy as being escapist or childish. Well Tolkien himself said, “Fantasy is escapist and that is its glory.” You can never diminish the power of storytelling, no matter the genre. Fantasy, especially, has had an enduring value to the human spirit. It’s part of the common mythological heritage of man. It’s how we’ve made sense of the world for thousands of years.
A good friend of mine, Joshua, is a Presbyterian. I once joked that Presbyterians were the Dwarves of the Christian world because they like “long hymns, dark beer, big meals, and large beards.” Recently, my friend lost his father to a mysterious illness. While processing his grief, he kept returning to my joke about Presbyterians being dwarves. Strangely, that helped him a lot. He thought about how his father was dwarf-like in many ways, and he kept returning to Durin’s song: “But still the sunken stars appear In dark and windless Mirrormere There lies his crown in water deep, Till Durin wakes again from sleep” Gimli sings this song as they’re passing through the Mines of Moria. To Joshua, it was a reminder that his dad is now in a much better place, and that the light still shines in the darkness.
In America and apparently in Britain as well, we are in a time of great darkness and chaos. The riots, the pillaging, the destruction; it all seems like nothing could ever go back to the way it was. In the movie, The Two Towers (it’s been so long since I read the book, I don’t remember if it’s in there or not) Sam Gamgee gives a speech where he talks about the “stories that really mattered”. He reminds Frodo that even the darkness will eventually pass and a new day will come. That’s the enduring value of Tolkien’s work, and why we keep going back to it. Even this present darkness will pass, and a new day will come, and its light will shine all the brighter.
The most important stories are the stories we tell ourselves. What’s your story? I’m probably going to get in trouble for this, but I really do think that part of the problem with our society is that we’ve told ourselves the wrong stories for too long. You tell someone they’re the victim long enough, they’ll believe it. They’ll allow themselves to be victimized over and over again because that’s what they’ve been told and what they’ve always told themselves. We need to stop telling that story. Are there barriers to success? Yes. But with the proper determination, no barrier is truly insurmountable. You push through, no matter what gets in your way. You owe it to yourself to ignore the haters and keep going. Never let anyone make you a victim. You are a warrior, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
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Some people ask “Ian, what are some books that you’d recommend sci-fi/fantasy fans?” Actually, no one has asked me this, however, I’m going to tell you anyway, because I can. This list isn’t exhaustive, and it doesn’t cover ALL the books I’d recommend, but these are some of the books that ave most influenced me as a writer and reader. On some other occasion, I’ll publish a list of books I’d recommend to the comic/graphic novel audience, and then some for budding artists. The Black CauldronThe Chronicles of Prydain were a high fantasy series by Lloyd Alexander. I refer to them as “The Lord of the Rings for people with short attention spans” which is by no means an insult. All of them are good, but the best in my personal opinion is The Black Cauldron. I have never seen the animated Disney version, but from what I’ve heard, it’s nothing like the book. The book is actually good. But don’t take my word for it; read it yourself. A Wrinkle In TimeThis Scifi-fantasy novel was pretty influential on me as a teen. It had a certain “something” that resonated with me. I don’t have a name for it. It was very eye-opening and enlightening. I very much enjoyed it. I don’t know about the movie, I haven’t seen it yet, but the book is good. L’Engle wrote several other novels in the series, but none were as good as the first. That Hideous StrengthThe third book in C.S. Lewis’ Space trilogy happens to be my personal favorite. It was a huge influence on the development of the Sword Bearer. It’s a seminal work of Cosmic Fantasy. The Worm OuroborosThis is an early pre-Tolkien high fantasy book about a war between two nations on a fantasy version of the planet Mercury. Written in 1922, this book was praised by C.S. Lewis and Tolkien as a great work. It’s a bit of a challenging read, given that it’s written almost entirely in 16th century English. If you’re familiar with the King James Bible or the works of Shakespeare, you’ll pick it pretty quickly. I’m still reading through it, but so far I’m really enjoying it. The Children of HurinThis underappreciated work of Tolkien’s tells the story of Turin, a warrior exiled from his homeland by the Dark Lord Morgoth, and sent to wander Middle Earth. Arthur C. ClarkeI’ve been a fan of Clarke for years. He was one of the first science fiction writers that I really enjoyed, particularly his short stories. I tried one of his novels once; he took too long to get to the point, but I have a regrettably short attention span. If you’re into scifi, or want to get into scifi, look no further.
Well, I did it. I completed Chapters 1 & 2. Twice. Why did I do this? Well, when I first started Legend of the Sword Bearer, I looked at it as sort of a hobby, really. I didn’t put as much work into the art and writing as I could have. I gave it a good effort, but I think I could’ve done better. That and I’ve learned a lot of skills since then. Going back and fixing my errors simply made sense. Chapter 2, on the other hand... well, there was no excuse for that. The art was simply lazy. I made silly mistakes that could’ve been easily avoided had I actually the effort in. Oh well. Lesson Learned. I thought I’d post some comparison photos, so you can get a sense of what I changed. The new pages are on the left, the old on the right.
I was going to post a vlog like I normally do every week, but due to the amount of traffic now clogging our poor, overworked internet servers, I’ll have to update y’all via a text format.
I’m not gonna lie, I’m kinda freaked about this coronavirus thing. I laughed it off, and I joked and shared the memes just like everybody else, but crap just got real. This ain’t. Thank God, there are no known cases near where I live, and let’s hope it stays that way. I’m not gonna lie; I’ve struggled with mild medical anxiety for a long time. It’s not as bad as it used to be, but it’s always there. I don’t want to get sick; I don’t want anyone getting sick. But we’ll make it through. The government and doctors are doing all they can, just sit tight and wait it out. I’m gonna repeat everything that you’ve probably already heard. Don’t go out unless you have to. Keep your distance. Isolate yourself if you’re sick. And for pity’s sake WASH YOUR HANDS!!! If there’s one good thing that’ll come out of this, people will finally take hand washing seriously. I dearly hope... But enough about that. I’m almost finished with the changes to Legend of the Sword Bearer Chapter 1, and I’ll be posting it for free here so anyone can read it. It’ll be nice to have something fun to read during self-isolation. The weather is absolutely fantastic today. Nice warm sunshine, not too cold, and no wind. Today I heard a falcon calling. There’s a mated pair that nests in the maple trees every year. I don’t recall hearing them this early in the season though; they normally don’t start until April. They make such a racket, screaming practically from dawn until dusk! I’ll be able to till my garden soon, I hope. As long as it doesn’t snow again. I’m looking forward to that. Getting back to the earlier topic, please don’t panic. There’s every reason to be optimistic. From the doctors I’ve read recently, we’re coming to the other side of this. Fatality rates are dropping, and soon enough, we’ll have this under control. Thanks for reading, and stay clean. When I set out to write Legend of the Sword Bearer, I really only had considered three different species; humans, elves, and gods, and maybe some dwarves if I needed them for something. But as I wrote, some other creatures appeared, so here’s a detailed description of the beings that occupy the Sword Bearer universe. Elves
Gods
Werewolves
Dwarves
Hobgoblins
Hobgoblins usually live in small family bands. Hobgoblins have no government to speak of; each family is led by the patriarch. Most of them answer to Robin Goodfellow, though he rarely orders them to do anything they don’t already want to do. Hobgoblins are peaceful folk, preferring pranks and tricks to warfare, but they can be formidable warriors. Hobgoblins are generally friendly toward humans; if you have one in your home or garden, they will perform small tasks in exchange for food and drink. They enjoy mushrooms, root vegetables, porridge, rabbit stew, spiced cider, music, and dancing. Hobgoblins are not to be confused with boggards- feral hobgoblins. Ogres
Soldiers
Trolls
GiantsThe giants were an ancient race of huge humanoid monsters that once wandered the cosmos, spreading death and destruction wherever they went. They devastated primeval Earth, as well as several other worlds in a cosmic war with the elves. Their only aim was chaos for its own sake. They were large and brutish, but also fiendishly intelligent. The elves eventually destroyed most of them; the rest they banished to the Realm of Ice behind a barrier of powerful magic. They still dwell there, awaiting the day when they can break loose and begin spread destruction again. Conqueror Wyrms
I must confess, while I’ve taken a lot of inspiration from Star Wars, I don’t think I can rightly call myself a fan. I’m committing geek heresy here, but I’m just not all that interested. I see myself as an outsider to the franchise. Real Star Wars fans dislike the sequel trilogy. I don’t feel the sheer disgust that seems to exude from them when you bring up the series; as though the Original Trilogy was some great masterpiece, and this is an impostor. I was baffled, to be honest. I’m not saying that the new trilogy is the greatest thing ever, but I’ve enjoyed it. Yes, even the Last Jedi. I didn’t understand why other fans were so adamant that it was terrible.
The other day, I found out that the Jedi are basically kidnapped as children so they don’t form emotional attachments. I thought to myself “That’s terrible. No wonder the Sith are so angry.” My next thought was “Wait, they’re the bad guys!” and that’s when I realized I’m not a fan at all. If I lived in the Star Wars universe, I’d be either a Mandolorian or a smuggler. Actually, if we’re being realistic, I’d probably be a moisture farmer or a starship mechanic. If someone asked me whether I was on the side of the First Order/Empire or the Jedi, I’d just say “neither. You all suck.” and drink my blue milk in peace. Star Wars was around a lot when I was a kid, and I certainly did watch it, but I didn’t really understand it until I was nearly an adult. For whatever reason, I just wasn’t all that interested; which is odd, considering starships and swords were my bread and butter. As I thought further, I’ve only watched the Original Trilogy all the way through only a couple of times. I’ve never even seen Episode III. I watched a season of the Clone Wars, and then somewhere along the way lost interest. I’ve never read the novels and I’ve only read a handful of the comics. Meanwhile, I’ve watched Firefly at least four times, and the Lord of the Rings over and over again. At this point, calling myself a Star Wars fan would be disingenuous. Now, don’t get me wrong; I don’t dislike Star Wars either. I’m just sort of indifferent. And you know what? That’s OK. Let other people enjoy it. Let them revel in it, but don’t ruin it for the casual movie-goers like myself. At the end of the day, it’s really only a movie. Well, here we are, at the close of the year 2019 AD. It’s been a big year for Legend of the Sword Bearer. I got the first three volumes published on Amazon and Google Play, and the fourth is currently being published on my blog. We finally solved part of the mystery of West Thorndyke. We finally get to see Bran and company depart on their epic quest. We finally know who Malcolm Masters is and what he’s up to. Bran took the sword from the stone.
I want to personally thank all my followers for helping me make this happen. I’m literally nothing without my fans. You push me to be my best. Looking back at some of my older work, I realize how much I’ve improved, just in the last year. While the Prologue and Book 1 weren’t “bad” I look at them and see where I’ve improved since I started drawing Legend of the Sword Bearer a few years ago. I’ve pushed myself to improve every time I put pen to paper. I’ve tried harder to draw every chance I get, and it’s clear that my art has gotten better, while at its core, it’s the same art that it always was. So what’s happening in 2020? Well, I will certainly be improving my artwork, that’s for certain. Book 4 will conclude soon, and I’ll get to work on Book 5. If I stay disciplined, I can get started on Book 8 by this time next year. Stay tuned, follow the Legend, and have a happy New Year! Character design isn’t something I spend a lot of time thinking about, to be honest. Typically, when I think of a new character, my fevered brain automatically conjures up an image of what that character should look like. That doesn’t always happen, though. Occasionally, I do find myself banging my head against the drawing board, hoping that maybe, by the process of osmosis, the idea will magically appear on the paper. This is usually doesn’t work. When I do sit down and draw a character, I have to take into account that their look should say something about who they are. It has to reflect their personality. What’s their ethnicity? Are they introverted or extroverted? Where’d they grow up? Are they the type of person who cares about their appearance? Are they a hero or a villain? How old are they? Those are the questions I have to ask myself when I’m designing a new character, or redesigning an old character. Usually, I pick a celebrity to base my character on. Bran, for example, is meant to look a bit like Scottish actor Iain De Caestecker. His hair, however, was an innovation on my part. Or perhaps it was his part. His wardrobe reflects how important tradition is to him. He wears a kilt to honor his father and his sweaters are based on actual British gansey patterns. I used my mother as a consultant on Bran’s look. She’s a professional knitter and designer, and if you’d like to commission her to make a similar garment, you can find her here. Other characters I based on people I know. Orla’s look, for example, I based on girls that I’ve known (who shall remain nameless to protect the innocent). But her personality is very much based on Amy Pond from Doctor Who. Lastly, there are characters just sort of pop out of the ether and really aren’t based on any particular person in appearance. Daphne’s an example. I literally made her up on the fly. I didn’t have any idea what she was going to be like until later. I decided early on that she would not be ethnically British; Britain is becoming more ethnically diverse, and I thought the story should reflect that, though making her look Asian, especially around the eyes, can be difficult. I also think it’s important to have an ethnically diverse cast because we live in an ethnically diverse world. Some people get accused of virtue-signaling when they add other ethnicities to their cast, but that isn’t always the case. In my case, it was done purely for the sake of a good story. And that’s the bottom line: character design must serve to drive the story. If the character’s design doesn’t drive the story, then it’s not worth a hill of beans. It’s been a long time since I’ve published a blog. This is partly because I’ve been working feverishly on Book 3 of Legend of the Sword Bearer. These things don’t happen overnight, you know. I also don’t want to give away any spoilers. It’s hard writing and drawing a graphic novel series because I have a plot, with a beginning, middle, and end, and sometimes I get those confused.
I like to compare it to the TV show Doctor Who. If you’ve never seen Doctor Who, the Doctor is a time-traveler, who’s been at it for a very long time. He sometimes gets the order of events mixed up, especially when it concerns other time-travelers. Sometimes he’ll meet another time-traveler and start talking about events that have not yet taken place. That’s often how I feel with my audience. It’s been hard to keep track of what I’ve already published and what I haven’t. Sometimes I want to write a blog post about something and I think “wait, I haven’t introduced that character yet.” It’ll be easier when I publish Book 3 because I’ll have introduced almost all the characters by then. Speaking of which, introducing a character is a pretty important function for an author. If you’re an author, you’ve probably known the character for years. You know their likes, dislikes, their form of dress; your audience doesn’t know that information. You have assumptions about your character which your audience doesn’t have. You have to decide how you’re going to tell them. You can’t give them too much information, or they get bogged down. You can’t give them too little or they’ll simply lose interest. Many times, I might even say most times, it’s good to keep a character mysterious. Readers like a good mystery most of the time. It helps build suspense. It’s usually best to reveal that information over time, so your audience gets to know the character. However, if you’re like me, sometimes characters pop out of the ether, and I’m finding out this information as I’m writing it. Sometimes I’m just as surprised as the audience! I must say, I almost prefer that; it’s more exciting to me as an author to have a brand new character that I know almost nothing about. |
AuthorI'm Ian Wilson; an eccentric comic artist, just telling a story.
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