To infinity and beyond

A few words before we start

March is Doubt land issue 2 Month

issue 2 of “Doubt-land” is on sale now for just £1 a copy via eBay to anyone in the world

Just click the link below
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160751571676#ht_574wt_1118

Doubt land is my re-envisaged version of Jim Steranko’s lost / overlooked Outland movie adaptation, which has never been reprinted in English and is very hard to get hold of and is on sale at a bargain price

To infinity and beyond

Is where Woodrow Decker finally manages to go in this weeks next completed page of 2001:-

Infinity has itself already been seen and experienced in the the mind shattering journey through the monolith

Now Woody himself makes the slow journey to beyond in a magnificent 9 panel grid

His mysterious companion disappears after the first panel and Decker is left on the journey alone

with the road getting steeper and higher as Decker himself drastically and radially ages

Finally here we see Decker's tenacity and his actual fight for survival as he refuses to give up and keeps on going until it becomes a complete physical impossibility and his body refuses to react

But Decker's mind remains and at last the monolith looms overhead ready to usher Decker through the next stage of transformation

As with the previous page, it is important to note that the entire experience is a artificial reality created precisely to foster Decker's evolution to the next stage of this process and that in the comic, this is something much more recognizably human or a human experience unlike the 2001 movie which could arguably be said to be cold and distant at best

We never get to see what would be at the end of the road that Decker was traveling down, so the message is clear its not about the designation but the journey taken to get there

The journey in question is the story contained within this issue, which now has only one more page in which to unfold and complete

What will the conclusion be?

If you have been reading regularly there are quite a number of threads I have left hanging the central one being:-

What was the point of the first half of the story - featuring "he who hunts alone" in  relation to the second half featuring Decker here, what is message about evolution

What is the message about mankind his ancestry and his future

In short what was this issue all about

Perhaps by now you will have formed your own opinions

I certainly hope so, One thing I am have definitely been hopeful about is to try to get you all to think a lot more about comics, rather than say just reading n issue in 5 - 10 minutes and then mostly dismissing it (something I have been known to do myself)

My own conclusion will of course come next week following Decker's rebirth…

Of course this weeks blog title is a quote from Toy Story - which was irresistible to use given that Decker is referred to as Woody on the page reproduced!

Home on the range with some southern comfort

A few words before we start

March is Doubt land issue 2 Month

issue 2 of “Doubt-land” is on sale now for just £1 a copy via eBay to anyone in the world

Just click the link below
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160751571676#ht_574wt_1118

Doubt land is my re-envisaged version of Jim Steranko’s lost / overlooked Outland movie adaptation, which has never been reprinted in English and is very hard to get hold of and is on sale at a bargain price

Home on the range with some southern comfort

Is where Woodrow Decker appears to be in this weeks completed page of 2001

This page I think makes a very interesting contrast with what Kubrick decided to portray in the movie

In the movie after Bowman goes through the monolith he arrives in what at least in part resembles a very posh hotel (we find out much later in the book "sequels" this was actually a hotel Bowman stayed at once) but at the same is mistakenly odd

with ultra bright white floors walls and ceilings all of material quite out of place of a hotel

The message being reasonably clear - this is not real

In the page above Decker starts in space suit which just mysteriously vanishes and then is transported back to a place that could be straight out of a book featuring Tom Sawyer - the same message - this is not real applies

Possibly even more so as it kinds of stretches credulity to suggest that what depicted existed recently in the time frame of the Woodrow's part of the story - it could either be his very young childhood or literally just a story he heard as a child being re enacted for him

In both the movie and the comic the intention is for the actual metamorphosis post  the inter galactic travel of vast distances (which is what the journey though the monolith appears to represent) is to offer the comfort of familiarity

The movie one could argue could be said to be rather cold in this aspect, Bowman is left on his own to age rapidly only meeting him self across generations of each age range in transition

Whereas the comic features a true southern character (who reminds me of "Reb" Ralston from Sgt. Fury and his howling commandos) who is warm, welcoming and provides both a focus and a sense of direction for Decker

In the comic one could argue that this sense is showing more interest in Deckers humanity to make this effort and also of course this is more direct and understandable storytelling

The movie is an enigma or if you prefer possible endless enigmas inside each other

What this comic is - i will leave for now as there only a few pages left to go

It is interesting to note - that at least in my eyes this is the first real scene that really gives any deeper definition to Decker himself, circumstances before this point did not allow that space which is a bit of a shame as it would be an interesting character stay to know the character more full both pre and post monolith

Still things are looking up Decker and the mysterious "Bill" are on the long and winding road

or is decker being lead up the garden path

Lets find out - Next week

Postscript

Where egos dare
Yet more detail about something i did appearing in an exhibition appears at the link below and there is a SPOILER ALERT - of what could be the NEXT project on this blog…

maybe… possibly…  you never know…

http://comixstripped.blogspot.com/2012/03/images-degrading-forever.html

Sights that stagger the mind and assault the senses!

 A few words before we start

March is Doubt land issue 2 Month

issue 2 of “Doubt-land” is on sale now for just £1 a copy via eBay to anyone in the world

Just click the link below
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160751571676#ht_574wt_1118

Doubt land is my re-envisaged version of Jim Steranko’s lost / overlooked Outland movie adaptation, which has never been reprinted in English and is very hard to get hold of and is on sale at a bargain price

Images Degrading Monthly
Debuting for the first time, I am proud to present Images Degrading Monthly! In this landmark issue in all new never before seen articles I feature the art of Marcia Mihotich, Sarah Lightman  I review “Tangles” by Sarah Leavitt and for the first time I will reproducing Kirbys 2001 with 4 pages of art and words!

Everyone can have a FREE copy – Images Degrading Monthly Digital Subscriptions are open now, just send me a email to robin.barnard@ymail.com and I will email you back your free copy

Sights that stagger the mind and assault the senses!

Is what both we and Decker to get to see on this next completed page of Jack Kirby’s 2001:-

In the second ground breaking 4 panel spread in this issue alone, the scope and breadth of storytelling used in these 4 panels itself is staggering and all contain a real sense of artistic beauty

The drawings alone could be presented on their own without any dialogue and admired by themselves as fantastic works of art

The fact that such power and beauty is poured into the central point (or one could argue the whole entire reason) of the story truly underlines the ability of Jack Kirby as a story teller

Firstly Decker becomes like a comet, blazing its trail towards us in a race with other comets all heading in one direction at a speed that only one can guess

Next we are behind Decker who could be in free-fall above an utterly alien and ravaged landscape as the sun of an unknown planetary system crosses the horizon, Decker heading towards the surface

Then Decker is almost a grain of dust within a dust storm surrounding an impossibly large and totally alien creature

The last panel shows Decker has had his world turned completely inside out not sure where up or down is or even if they apply as his face is locked eyes wide open in a soundless scream

These panels can actually be looked at in almost any order they could even be a different point of view of the same scene, this is clearly not reality after all

It is here where at least I can finally see or understand what was motivating Kirby to work on 2001 in the first place, the question of is there something more than just man, and if so what is the next level

Is it gods like in the fourth world saga?

The eternals

Or something else completely

And if so how does man get to that stage?

All making the message that there is bigger and bolder future for mankind if we can hang in there long enough and refrain from killing each other

This is Kirby’s cosmic works taken to the next logical state that of transfiguration of something that’s clearly a man into …

Well let’s see

There are two infinitely better considerations of this page at the Kirby museum web site – enjoy!

http://kirbymuseum.org/blogs/dynamics/2012/03/07/kirbys-technological-sublime/

http://kirbymuseum.org/blogs/dynamics/2012/03/08/kirbys-technological-sublime-part-2/

Postscript

The ego has landed
Apparently I might just feature on a podcast  or even in a exhibition  - Though you need sharp eyes and open ears (or is that the other way around) to notice either, hey thats why i am telling you about them!

Honestly thanks to all involved, its certainly more than I deserve!

March Madness/Between a rock and yet more rock

Ah, March – Month of the mad March Hare, and of course I am suitably mad myself (but I don’t have a hat, fortunately)

March is Doubt land issue 2 Month
After a very successful debut at the London Super Comic Con where copies sold like hotcakes, I am pleased to offer issue 2 of “Doubt land” for just £1 a copy via eBay to anyone in the world for the rest of March

Just click the link below
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160751571676#ht_574wt_1118

Doubt land is my re-envisaged version of Jim Steranko’s lost / overlooked Outland movie adaptation, which has never been reprinted in English and is very hard to get hold of and is on sale at a bargain price

Images Degrading Monthly
Also incredibly popular At the London Super Comic Convention (200 copies given away) was the first issue of Images Degrading Monthly!

Well it is FREE, after all – and everyone can have a FREE copy – Digital Subscriptions are open now, just send me a email to robin.barnard@ymail.com and I will email you back your free copy

The first issue of Images Degrading Monthly will be released in 7 days’ time on the 8th March, so get your email sent between now and then to get your copy

Images Degrading Monthly is 16 pages, of which nearly 50% is all brand new and never before seen content, all about comics, art and creativity so get your copy now!

Between a rock and yet more rock
Is exactly where Decker is stuck in this week’s next completed page of 2001:-

Last week Decker narrowly avoided being eaten alive (one presumes) by “The Life on Mars” / BEM who had instead killed his companion Mason

Then all of a sudden there is a rather inexplicable and convient rock slide which stops Decker (or presumably us) from thinking overmuch about his situation and instinct takes over as he runs for dear life

Already we have the third example of emphasis being put on ingrained survival instincts being of more importance than any of the knowledge or the technology developed in all the years in between “he who hunts alone” and Decker

Firstly Decker and Mason decided to carry on despite their Space ship burning into flames, next Decker attacked the “Life on Mars” with a  rock a totally pointless gesture born out of shock and frustration, now Decker is totally blindly running for his life away from a rock slide, with no time to even think about where he is going

And lo, in front of Decker just so happens to be a rather conveniently placed (and active) monolith

Which he completely either ignores or accepts as being safe and continues right into it

But that just does not make sense.  It would be acceptable if the Monolith has just been black and therefore not that visible or just not seen by Decker at all, but even in a blind panic and possibly even more so anyone would change direction from anything that would be in the way of the path of flight.  It is in fact that exact instinct which allows Decker to survive the rock slide which compounds this

Of course the reason why I am fixating on this point is that this particular moment or sequence of events lead to Decker’s entry into the monolith and all these events have been happenstance

If Decker had run the other way there would have been no monolith in that direction, If Decker had been in front of Mason he would not even be alive right now

It’s not just this but also I am struggling to see what in Decker’s personality is worth transcending as was David Bowman’s, Bowman as pointed out last week reawakened his long forgotten survival instinct in a survival of the fitted against machine based artificial intelligence in the form of HAL, whereas there has been no such transformation for Decker, if anything almost the opposite

The credulity is stretched further by seeking a connection, any connection between this part of the story and the first part with Decker being an ancestor of “he who hunts alone” a fact that is reinforced in the last dialogue box

Still we have a few more pages to go maybe we will find out some more answers in those?  One can only hope

London Super Comic Convention Show Report

Hopefully you will already know that Images Degrading Forever spent this weekend at The London Super Comic Convention at the ExCel in London Docklands

And it was a really great event. It is the first time I have ever been to an event of this size in any capacity, let alone behind a table as a exhibitor and it was a non-stop thrill ride!

The number of people coming through the door was staggering, almost as staggering as the diversity, if any more proof was needed that what was formally a cult is now mainstream, this was most certainly it

And all these people certainly got their money worth with a fantastic range of creators, with none other than Stan “The Man” Lee in his first official visit here since the 1970’s topping the bill.

I was literally just behind the likes of David Lloyd, Kieran Gillen, George Perez and Bob Layton and that was just the tip of the iceberg!

Saturday was absolute manic and I only managed to have a look around briefly before it started to get busy

Saturday Small Press Discoveries

Afroella

http://kromatroncomics.tumblr.com/ 

People I know

http://www.timothywinchester.com/

Wired

http://www.emancipationstudios.com/

The other discovery this weekend was “cosplay”! The number of people dressed in costumes was staggering and they all had taken some real time and effort in making some great costumes

Saturday Cosplay Highlights

Scarlett Witch and Valkyrie

“Classic” Sandman

Rouge

The Scarlett Spider

Sunday was a bit quieter to start off with so managed to get around a bit more, also there was much more room for creators to discover and talk to each other, which was great

Sunday Small Press Discoveries

Vampire Free Style

http://www.neptunefactory.com/pages/vampirefreestyle.html

Afterlife Inc.

http://www.jonlock.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=97&Itemid=68

Fallen Heroes

http://unseenshadows.com/

Space Babe 113

http://www.spacebabe113.co.uk/

Shadoko

http://www.inanimateobjectives.com/Shadoko.html

Spandex

http://spandexcomic.wordpress.com/

Sunday Cosplay Highlights

Two Face

Lobo

Hope, Logan and Psylocke with Kieran Gillen (Having a story conference about A V X? )

It was a really great two days and the sense of fun just filled the whole building!

I think i am relatively safe in saying there will probably be another one of these events next year, if so it comes highly recommended

Of course a number of great things happened for me just by being at the event as well, but I am sure I will talk about them later, for now lets focus on everyone else for a change, all of whom together made this an event to remember - thank you everyone!

Thrown to the wall

Before we start two reminders...

One of which is rather long, the next page of kirbys 2001 does follow below - feel through to scroll down to that if you wish

I love February as it is:-

Doubtland Issue 1 Month - Doubtland is my redrawn and re-envisioned version of Jim Sternako's Outland - and I even got to hear from Jim himself!

This item is on sale here :- http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160727755477

Now only £1 a issue!

The "Feedback competition" is now closed. Thank you to everyone who made a contribution, especially Ryan Cecil Smith!

London Super Comic Convention

This Weekend 25th and 26th February 2012 at the Excel Centre in London Docklands, Images Degrading Forever will be at its' very first big comic event - The London Super Comic Convention

When i say big, well do not take my word for it, have a look at the list of people at this event http://www.londonsupercomicconvention.com/guests/

Quite what i am doing there is anyones guess! (hiding in a corner most likely)

Anyway - this is what will be on offer at the IDF table:-

FREE advanced show special preview copies of Images Degrading Monthly - Yes, this is the all new title and replacement for Images Degrading Forever weekly. This is a 16 page publication nearly half of which is brand new and never seen before material and will also contain in print for the first time Kirby's 2001 from the beginning

You will not have to ask for a copy I will most likely offer to put one in your hands just for walking past!

I have a lot of copies of this to give away so you will be in with a very very good chance of getting one of these

I will have around 10 copies of Doubtland issue 1 and another 10 copies of the advanced show special preview of Doubtland 2 both on sale at £1 each.

I will have around 10 copies of Images Degrading Forever Collected Edition Volume 1 also on sale at just £2 a copy

Plus a selection of A3 posters and Hand drawn artwork which will be FREE on a first come, first served basis, if you want one of these items come to my table as early as you can manage. I will offer preference to anyone actually purchasing something!

I will also be tweeting live on the day - so keep an eye on @imagesdegrading if you are unable to make it on the day

For those of you who can't make it to the event, Doubtland 2 will be on sale in March at the same price for the entire month.  Images Degrading Monthly will also be available for FREE digitally, existing subscribers will automatically get this.  To subscribe, just email me at robin.barnard@ymail.com and I will email back a PDF the week after next

There will also be a distribution of print copies of Images Degrading Monthly to Orbital comics the week after next

Thrown to the wall

Is what happens to Woodrow Decker in this next completed page of 2001:-

Last week, Woodrow and his colleague Mason decided to go exploring, even though their space ship had burst into flames (Don't ask).  Mason had the hard luck to be grabbed by the tentacles of a very bug eyed monster indeed.  Deckers reaction was this was to grab hold of a rock and start to hit the "life on mars"

A instant regression to both primitive behaviour and indeed primitive tools, which on the surface seems ineffectual…

Mason meets his untimely end in the very first panel…

Then our friendly B.E.M. hits back at Decker, so his efforts was not as ineffectual as we thought.  Decker is thrown to the wall barely conscious

Mason is dragged down into the pit the "life on mars" came from - Decker recovering just in time to see the B.E.M. disappear - presumably to devour Mason (though this not made clear one way or another)…

But how does this fit in with the first half of the story?

Decker was confirmed to be the multi great grandson of "he who hunts alone" last week, but does not appear to have inherited any of his traits as a consequence.

Decker so far appears to have been a combination of rash and or lucky. He is only still alive as Mason was a few feet closer to where the B.E.M. was which certainly does not seem to qualify as survival of the fittest.

If Decker had produced some futuristic weapon and killed the B.E.M that would be a different matter…

This at least to me seems to be a fairly fundament point. In the 2001 movie, David Bowman was a bit of a nobody, very passive and almost indifferent - whereas Poole seems to be suspicious and more likely to act.

Its Poole who HAL kills first, Bowman only kills HAL as he has no other choice, but in doing so proves that man is still more superior than the tools he has invented  a genuine survival of the fittest.

One wonders what the outcome of the movie had been if HAL had been the only survival - presumably HAL would have gone through the monolith to be transformed as well?

Whatever the outcome may be here in this comic There is no similar elevation or re awaking for Decker…

But Decker himself doesn't get a moment to think or consider his actions as the entire landscape starts to disintegrate

And once again we ask will he survive and what does all of this actually mean?

Some of the answers will be here next week…

Images Degrading Forever Weekly 23
Its the penultimate issue as Turk crashes to the ground and the all-new text essay "lost in translation" comes to an end. Subscribe now and you will also get the first issue of Images Degrading Monthly when it comes out

To subscribe, just email me at robin.barnard@ymail.com

Life on Mars?

Before we start two reminders...

I love February as it is:-

Doubtland Issue 1 Month - Doubtland is my redrawn and re-envisioned version of Jim Sternako's Outland - and I even got to hear from Jim himself!

This item is on sale here :- http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160727755477

Now at less than half price! only £1 a issue! The printers finally dropped their prices and I am passing all the savings on to you!

and The "Feedback competition" is still on, more  details are here  ...


London Super Comic Convention

In just over 2 weeks on February 25th and 26th 2012 Images Degrading will be at the London Super Comic Convention - http://www.londonsupercomicconvention.com/

Watch this space next week for a full announcement, including the reveal of the brand new publication due in March and available as a show exclusive preview!


Life on Mars!

That’s right it’s time for of those musical interludes, usually it’s a song with lyrics that have a parallel with the drawing in question, so without further ado here is the next completed page of Jack Kirby’s 2001:-

And yes, the song that came to my mind on seeing this page is David Bowie’s “Life on mars”

The song itself is nothing to do with space, science fiction, Martians, or bug eyed monsters though despite how alien Bowie himself may appear to be.

In short summary the lyrics of the song are a recount of the many things wrong with society exaggerated and rounded off with the statement if this is how bad things can get then life on mars does not seem so far-fetched, as to live in the reality Bowie is describing is hopefully more fiction than fact (just as life on mars is), but as ever it is up to us to make a choice that will actually stop this fiction becoming real.

Rather profound for a gloriously operatic piano driven ballad, but presumably that’s the entire point

The parallel between this song and the page of Kirby’s 2001 that I saw was of course on the third panel – where the question as to if there is indeed “life on mars” in this piece of fiction gets answered with a very resounding yes

As to my eyes the creature in question has a very clear ancestry from pulp science fiction from the 1950’s and 1960’s.  Kirby himself drew lots of these kinds of pulp stories for National Comics (better known these days as DC) and of course Marvel, so it’s understandable to a degree.

But to coin a phrase, did the monster have to be quite so bug- eyed?

Well it fits in very well with what I have established so far, that very much unlike the movie, 2001 the comic purposely does not reside in any reality, it is clearly marked as fiction by its many inaccuracies, things that could not have happened for real in the past, but quite possibly could have happened in a parallel universe, presumably one where the monolith actually resides.

Like the Bowie song, most science fiction tends to serve as a cautionary tale, by showing you the predicted outcome if thing continue in certain direction.

2001 is dealing with the lofty concept of evolution combined with a prediction of the future, so the question becomes, what does the story being adapted tell us?

We pick up from last week with Decker and Mason still bickering, yet despite their situation (they are now stranded as their ship has burst into flames) they decide to go exploring – at which point the omniscient narrator interjects that Decker, now a confirmed direct descendant has the drive for discovery, but has lost the will to fight

Leaving aside the burning question as to what the connection between “he who hunts alone” and Decker is in the story for now as we are soon confounded further

As Decker does indeed fight back, when Mason by sheer bad luck of being in the wrong place gets crushed by “the life on mars” – but interestingly not with anything technology based like a laser or something similar but with the rather telling rock

It is almost as if by being in a high stress life or death situation, Decker reverts to more primitive and immediate reactions, which is exactly the case in reality

It is interesting to mirror this conflict with “he who hunts alone's” conflict with “the others” earlier on, as they are almost complete opposites

It obvious to us readers that a rock is not going to make much of a difference, so Mason is clearly not going to survive and Decker’s own survival is very much in doubt, how will Decker get out of this situation?

Find out, next week

Images Degrading Forever Weekly issue 22
We are down to the last few issues of IDFW! This week we continue Frank Millers and Klaus Janson's Daredevil with "Teetering on the edge of greatness" in which Turks inevitable fall from grace becomes complete and also an all new never seen before essay "Lost in Translation" in which I discuss the line between a writer and someone literally translating a forgein language comic