Unimaginable Future

 Published on Jul 31, 2012 by soulpancake

I sometimes feel like an anachronism.  When I was a kid I dreamed of a time when anime was on prime time television and Saturday mornings, where comic art became more about color and movement and less about line, pose, and silhouette, where one could have easy access to both forms without being lost in piles of stapled paper and stacks of vhs tapes.  And now here we are watching anime streams, or downloading entire seasons, reading comics on our tablets or phones, with access to an infinite library.  Anime style rendering has been in mainstream comics for over a decade, and more new artists are pushing the boundaries of traditional pencil/ink style and pure color and digital techniques.  One thing I didn't even consider was the internet giving rise to it's own comics community.  In short, this is the future that even I couldn't have imagined.

So I'm looking into the new Defenders comic.  I've heard some great things about this Matt Fraction guy whom Dustin Harbin has been working with on Casanova for a few years.  I also have yet to watch Blue Exorcist or follow up on Guin Saga, but I did recently pick up Composing Pictures and Hellboy Library Edition vol. 1 and Dungeon: Zenith vol. 3.  I've watched a ton of Flapjack and Gravity Falls, got through the first ep of Motorcity, and spontaneously sleepwatched Blade of the Stranger precipitated by these cool production sketches in my tumblr feed.  I read The Condiment Squad in it's entirety(?)!

David Aja does art I like to see in mainstream superhero comics.  So does Drew Alderfer.  Marcio Takara's art is simply eye candy!  Lauren Pettapiece makes comics and food look so easy!

This Eureka 7 opening compilation reminds me of an anime I dreamed up as a kid.  Maybe I should go find my old concept notes.


Uploaded by LongLiveYourLife on Nov 28, 2009


This past week we lost Chris Marker.  A good friend from my childhood also passed away.  May your souls rest in peace and paradise for all the hardwork you've done and the joy you've brought those around you.

I was pondering the idea of being the conservator of a comics and cartoons library.  I've never heard of one, but I think there is so much material out there, and so many people dying to read and study, it should be a reality.  Is there one at SVA or CCS?

As a late note I have to mention I watched the second Mars landing, and it was great.  At the time people were swooning and rooting for "Mohawk Guy" Bobak Ferdowsi.

People were talking about how we sent an unmanned rover millions of miles away in a relative hair breadths distance from it's intended target, and broadcast a high definition feed of it all on a 14 minute delay all around the world.  Truly we are living in a future nobody could have accurately imagined.