Backstory: Rubber Justice
Hey there, you can call me Rubber Justice.
It's hard to pinpoint what set off the chain of events that led me to be one of PinkKyptonite's humbled new writers, but my unhealthy fixation with comics probably has its roots in my childhood obsession with art.
Sketching and painting had always been my passions as a kid. At the tender age of seven, I drew my first comic starring myself and my younger cousin, practicing my cursive in those oh-so-tricky speech bubbles. In it, my prolific drawing had given me ultra-flexible arms, and my cousin's soccer prodigy had granted him super-powered legs. And we were from Jupiter. So the army of Teletubbies we fought in that issue didn't stand a chance.
During the summers I spent in my parents' motherland of Portugal, I turned to translations of European big names, the likes of Asterix, TinTin, and Uncle Scrooge comics to get new drawing subjects (Shout out to the Portuguese gaygamers, the both of you!). I came back to the States and picked up some older Deadman and Superboy to keep the comic-love coming, but all the explosive panels and intricate pencilwork just didn't match Hergé's charm. Like most preteen boys at the time, I turned instead to Dragonball and Pokémon manga. Though I've let off on the Japanophile bandwagon since then, I thoroughly enjoyed manga's emphasis on characters. There was some commonality between it and the European flavor, they all felt instantly classic.
My appreciation for superhero comics would come much later, in high school, when I had to read Watchmen for Junior English. The work, which probably holds a lot of meaning to all fans of the industry for several reasons, stuck with me because of its ability to show the importance of the text when juxtaposed with the art. The written half of comics suddenly mattered, and so I traded the redheaded detective TinTin and his retired captain cohort, for Kate Kane as Batwoman.
In my limited international experience, I noticed that even if audiences differ across international borders, the appeals to the reader are universal. Comics have the added benefit of a visual language that all peope can use to further their understanding of a particularly good story.
So I hope I've provided enough flame fuel for when you comment on my reviews. Or if you're anything like me, you'll be wondering If TinTin was gay, would Captain Haddock be a top?
Rubber Justice
Posted to New Writer on 15 October 2009
· Comments (0)
Other stuff like this: artwork, Asterix, Nostalgia, Tintin
Post a comment