You see... I've been kicking around some new ideas web-comic for a little while now. I do have some web-comic / artistic credentials, although my other project is kept separate from this blog in order to maintain its completely apolitical nature. But this new one would be HIGHLY political, so I'm thinking about doing it under "Niceguy Eddie" rather than my other pseudonym.
The reason I bring all this up is that I have a kind of stylistic question for y'all. Let's say, for example, that one is writing a work of fiction about, say, a vast Left-Wing Conspiracy to assassinate, for example, Rush Limbaugh and other high-profile RW Icons and Personalities. (No, that's not really what this ides of mine is all about, I'm just using that as a non-spoiler containing example.) Purely as a point of style, would it be better (IOW: less cheesy) simply to refer to these characters as their real world counterparts...
(Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Rielly, Sean Hannity & Glenn Beck)
or to use a substitute that's a pretty obvious allusion to their real world counterparts...
(Skip Harbaugh, Will O'Malley, Sam Haggerty & Ben Glick)
or are both options equally crappy, and names should be used with no real-world affiliation...
(Tom Williams, Joe Smithson, Ed Hanson &
...even thought the story is supposed to take place in the present day 'real' world, and the identity of some of the background characters involved IS significant, from both a story standpoint and a political one. (And would save me a lot of otherwise unnecessary exposition.)
I'm just curious what you think. I may post some of the early development work here, though I don't think I'll put the final comic here. (I'll link to it though, of course! LOL) And I'm still a bit way from being able to really get started anyway. But this is kind of a critical point so I figured I'd see what you all thought about it. (The names thing, not the overall idea, which is not quite as I described above anyway.) That's not to say that I'll necessarily TAKE your advice, LOL, but I would like some food for thought on the matter, if you don't mind!
Thanks!
And uh... don't hold you're breath for the first page or anything. I'm having serious software issues at the moment, and that's before factoring in that my current web-comic is drawn in a very cartoony style and I'd LIKE to do this one in a more realistic style. Which... I've never done before. Also, I'm entirely self-taught. So I've got a bit of a way to go yet before I can eve start any serious character designs, let alone start in with the story. BUT, just so you know I'm not completely hopeless (but at the same time, so you also have some idea how far I need to go) here's a couple of faces I skecthed out just now.
Male, in profile, female, straight on:
So... I can do it, but... this isn't quite what I'm envisioning. So we'll see how it goes. I am serious about it though. My other project can't go on forever, and there are two others that I REALLY want to do. One that I've kicking around since college (seriously - it will have been in the back of my head for over 20 years before I even start it!) and this one.
I've actually thought of some stuff where I'd say to myself... "This would look really cool in a political cartoon/comic strip."
ReplyDeleteThose are some nice pictures by the way. I learned everything I know from a guy on youtube named Mark Crilley. If you want, look up his videos.
It might come down to whether your project is more like Tom Tomorrow or the West Wing.
ReplyDeleteIf you're going for satire, reality has you beat. If you're going for seriousness, I'd do the no clear resemblance approach. It'll help focus on the essence of the situation -- things that will still be true 20 years from now. And no interesting villain can possibly be as stupid as today's conservatives.
@Dradeeus - Thanks.
ReplyDeleteMister Crilley's name comes up a lot in the kinds of discussion. He's been mentioned as couple times in the comments section on my other strip, and the sketches above were done while watching one of his tutuorials. I'm a pretty big fan of his videos. So... I'm 'in trining' now, I guess you could say. LOL.
@Steeve - It's not Tom Tomorrow, but it's hardly West Wing either. (There are super-natural / spiritual elements to it.) And the villain... well, if anything, the villain is sort of the protagonist... It's kind of a twist on the old 'power corrupts' theme. I see what you mean about the 'timelessness' factor though.
So counting DW's vote that's two for the 3rd case. Oh, and it might be worth mentioning that all the real wolrd exaples are really only used towards the beginning. Once the actual story gets underway, they're only mentioned fleetingly, if at all.
Thanks guys.
Anyone else?
You've got real talent for drawing. DON'T WASTE IT ON POLITICS!. If you decide to do it,however, go for Steeve's suggestion of " no clear resemblance approach".
ReplyDeleteWhile I'm not a fan of that particular art style, so my opinions would be horribly skewed, the story idea (possible plot to kill RW icons and personalities) is very interesting - not sure whether it would be good to idea to use their real names, but I would think it would be good to prove a point - the right-wing have no problem fantasizing about the deaths of Obama or Pelosi. I would also think that using their real names would push certain buttons of those supposed constitution-lovin' conservatives who claim they love freedom of speech...
ReplyDeleteI am reminded of an idea that I had - one of many tangents I had when talking about politics with my brothers - that involved an assassination plot for against the conservative justices, because after all, that would give the President the opportunity to appoint a full bench of liberal justices that can steer policy the law for a generation... but I like the idea of losing Limbaugh, O'Reilly, and Hannity more...
@Kevin,
ReplyDeleteInteresting points. And actually, the "plot" goes beyond just RW Media. Targets would include media, politicians, certain religious leaders, SC Justices and Certain Industry Lobbyists as well. A real CLEAN SWEEP so to speak to start out, and then exploring what might happen next.
@Duta (and others),
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the kind words, and your perspective. However, I THINK I'm going to use real name up to a point (the point where the stroy actually diverges from 'real world' history) and from than point on use either made names or allegorical ones. But we'll see. Sometimes things don't look (or read) the same on paper as they do in your head.