The Message
Half a world apart (and in a simpler, 1980s pre-Internet, pre-cellphone time), two people find a way to communicate their feelings. Published in Street Music, an urban drama anthology published by Fantagraphic Books.
Story Notes
This one's embarrassing. Having no idea how to tell an optimistic human drama for adults, I tried obscuring the weak writing with design and form.
I was partially under the influence of Massart painting department professor Paul Celli. Besides fine art painting, he also taught a comic book studio/theory class. Celli's self-published series Ink Comics follows Paul Pally, a fictional version of himself trapped in a two-dimensional universe of his art. The characters and setting are essentially groupings of strategically placed but unrefined, self-aware ink blobs.
His constant critique of my heavily detailed work was, "Too much drawing." My primary goal was telling a wordless story with Ink Comics minimalism. On that basis, I begrudgingly admit it succeeds.
Dave Marshall, retro posting from Meltdown House, 02139