I guess it all really started with Comics

2008-04-10T22:46:00.000-07:00

Partially inspired by this article in Entertainment Weekly, I've decided to track down my own 'hook' issue of comic books.

While waiting for a flight out of Bogota, Colombia back in 1981 (visiting the vast extended family), we were in the main airport and I was probably a typical fidgety 8 year-old, and like some of the writers in the EW article I was bought a comic book to quiet me:

I'm certain this is the issue--involving Iron Man and and a damaged Submarine, and yes, I think, something to do with revenge-- that I read over and over while waiting to board, and probably during the whole flight. I still see the panel in my head: Iron Man is trying to hold the ship together, water is pouring over his armor, and he's straining--there's a close-up of his eye slot and the inking on the page is dark and intense... I don't remember the plot-- most of the writers in the article probably never revisited the comic in their adult lives-- but the impact was immediate.

A couple of years later, when I was allowed to roam on my own (back and forth to school), I discovered that the Newsagents (essentially a 7-11) sold comics on racks by the entrance...

I began to scrape together my allowance to buy whatever was interesting on the racks... We were several months behind the American issues in Oz (where I was living with my parents at the time)... At first it was G.I JOE, then came the X-MEN--specifically the Claremont/Romita Jr. run involving the Morlock Massacre, and THAT storyline is what really truly hooked me.

Romita's art--oddly neo-Kirby yet all his own style by this point--was the bait. The use of a comic--and more specifically the aspect of 'Mutant'-ism to address social issues of prejudice in a gritty-- in a realistic manner (Prof. X is assaulted at the end of the issue with bricks and bats) for an 10 year-old was the the real hook.

It wasn't until I was 11 that I discovered a PROPER comic shop that the hooks sunk deeper. It was a disorganized place-- I would go there in my catholic school uniform and browse through the stacks (yes, real stacks, no long boxes or anything) of comics arranged by series on the floor. I didn't realize it then but I was the youngest customer there; everyone was easily over 18... It was crowded and dim and some of the comics I uncovered had yellowed; the owner was a swarthy overweight man (with whom I had an ugly inexplicable falling-out many years later) who eyed me with some mirth every time I bought something (I was deeply shy and dough-faced)...

I think it was a combination of the medium and the process of acquisition that ambered the comics medium in my soul.

I dread to think how much money I spent in the next 20-plus years, and nowadays I'm waaaay behind what happens in the industry-- but thank Christ for the rise of the Graphic novel collection format... I can at least lag behind a year or two...

Anyhow. This is was the beginning.

Of storytelling; of art; of literature (Comics were my gateway to Fantasy & SF); of cognitive science (hemispherical processing of language & image, etc)...

Next time I'll post about the Zine nobody's heard of that lead me down the path of design and computer art...

A beginning...and a name

2007-12-13T19:05:00.000-08:00

It had to happen sometime; I've dabbled in Livejournal and on Social Networking sites, contributed to our bookstore blog, and now I have my own site.

Natsu Design is specifically for all art-related quandries and excitements. I'll attempt to highlight my continuing growth as a designer and artist, the good the bad, and the ugly...

Natsu is Japanese for 'summer' which in turn is English for 'Verano', summer in Spanish (confused yet?).

The central image for my banner and business card is the Monkey King from "Journey to the West," the Chinese folktale, whose 1970s Japanese TV version Monkey Magic is dear to my heart.
I spent many an evening as a boy, reheated dinner in lap, watching Monkey and Doctor Who back to back on the Australian Broadcasting Channel (the Aussie version of PBS, or BBC). My imagination was continually stimulated by the show's combination of action, special effects, off-beat humor, and sheer fun.

I hope to post on a regular basis and welcome any comments and *winces* criticisms anyone may have.