Category Archives: Comics

Nightmoor: The Lady de’Kay

Lady de’Kay is a combination of the old lady (Miss Havisham) in “Great Expectations” and the Lady de’Winter of “The Three Musketeers”. She’s a crafty old lady who looked beautiful at one time, but time has taken her toll.

The Lady is a widow. Her husband was the first Mayor of Night-Moor. She lives alone in a big old Victorian house, except for her one servant. The grounds and the house are unkept, and she lives a very reclusive lifestyle. She still shows up to big political events, but for the most part she avoids people. Everything she does is in the memory of her husband.

Most contact with the Lady is through her lawyer (name still to be decided). He carries out the Lady’s wishes in the world of people & creatures. In some respects, she has her own political agenda, that she uses her vast wealth to carry out.

Towards the end of Lord de’Kay’s career, he was surrounded by political scandal — so much that he took his own life shortly after he stepped down from office (to this day, the Lady strongly doesn’t believe the “rumors” surrounding her husband, but holds firmly to the belief that he was a saint & saviour of Night-Moor). He was a drunkard & did beat her, but she’s willing to forget about such things in light of his death (or some twisted, illogical love/hate she has for him). Overall, he really wasn’t a good man, but she tolerated/loved/respected/hated/despised/etc. him.

She has the classic victim mentality. She to be both pitied & feared, sympathize for, yet repulsed by. She’s a classic tragedy figure. …probably the most complex character in Night-Moor.

In the early days, the Lady was a social climber — she married for wealth & prestige. She has a lot of ‘old money’ & all psychological make-up that ‘old money’ implies — snobbishness, servants, dreams of the good-old-days, life-was-simplier-back-then, she was the head of many social events, she founded many of the social activities & the arts in Night-Moor, one of the leading pioneers of Night-Moor, she knew her place as a lady & didn’t question it, brought up in (& surrounded by) tradition, etc.

Nightmoor: An Alphabet

A is for apple, that grows on the trees,
B is for bats, that fly on the breeze,
C is for cat, that is black as night,
D is for demon, that hide out of sight,
E is for eels, that go in a witch’s brew,
F is for frogs, that go with it too,
G is for ghost, that moan and wail,
H is for haunt, something they do very well,
I is for ink, that gets spilled on the page,
J is for Jack, who hangs in a cage,
K is for kids, that play with a mouse,
L is for Lady de’Kay, who hides in her house,
M is for moon, that shines like silver,
N is for night, so cold, you shiver,
O is for owl, his feathers are brown
P is for Peter, the mayor of our town,
Q is for questions, we ask before we sleep,
R is for rats, that go “squeak, squeak, squeak”,
S is for skeleton, who has a big grin,
T is for town, that Peter lives in,
U is for umbrella, the winds blow from the west,
V is for velvet, used to make a pretty dress,
W is for witch, who turns frogs into stones,
X is for xylophone, make of skeleton bones,
Y is for yell! A scream of delight.
Z is for … well… ‘Z’. My darlings, let’s call it a night.

Interesting Stories

Today as I was driving into work, I started thinking about what stories do I like the most. What has captivated my attention to keep watching (in anime and TV series) or reading in comics…

From the masterful story teller, Alan Moore, I learned about framing/book-ends — start with one story, show how it leads into another story, then close it out with the original story; tying the two stories together with reference to similar subject matters, a play on words within the exposition, or visuals leading from the first story to the next (ie. zooming into the eye of an character in the first story, switching in the next frame, then zooming out from a different character in the next story). Alan’s background details not only foreshadow things to come, but added atmosphere, depth. His ability to tell multiple stories, where one story thread feed into the other kept me engage.

Alan’s villains also had dimension. Time was given not only to create depth in his heroes, but the bad guys were more thoughtful, twisted.

Switching to anime and a little bit, TV, there are certain stories that I really love. Most of them tend to be Isekai (異世界, “different world”), but with the overall story, the characters are very likable, you want them to succeed, you become invested in them quickly — then something happens and you as the audience despair. The first few seasons of Game of Thrones was like that — you wanted the Starks to win, but then the father is killed. Or for Rob to be happy in love on the battle field, but then the red wedding. But with GoT, after awhile, it became cliche to kill off a characters you became emotionally attached to.

In anime it’s a little different. There tends to be a villain that seem over-powered at first, that comes into the story punching you in the gut. Or the villains are arrogant, weaselly, no more than high-school bullies, but then they pray on some the weaker, timid, shy. You see it coming like a freight train down the tracks, but can’t stop it… In many cases, it’s a change of atmosphere, the visuals are darker, the music switches and you get that sinking feeling in your stomach, that whatever happens, it’s not going to end well.

Nightmoor: Apples, Mirrors and Love

So in the stuff we had in storage up north, I found a notebook containing ideas for a comic series I wanted to write — it was a little NMBC like, but different… I tried mythology building, played with symbolism, flesh out a few characters, created a town named Nightmoor, set up land marks, introduced elder-gods, etc. Even tried to outline a few simple stories… I obsessed over the mythology, trying to create something Halloween familiar, but not a rip-off of NBMC.

One story was to pull from an old victorian Halloween superstition about apples and mirrors, but more of an older lady, sipping tea in an empty bar, mid-day, sitting at a table near a mirror, cutting up and eating an apple. She is met by her friends — what seems like a common Tuesday afternoon affair — and they pick up from where they left of from the week before with talk… Secretly, the friends knows what she’s doing, the nine apple pieces, the quick glances into the mirror between bites. They tease her from time-to-time during the conversation — very subtilely at first, but as time reaches the point of calling it a day, they call her out on it, chiding her on her childish beliefs… but something unexpected happens…

The intent was set forth a few characters to play into stories later. The tea gathering conversation would give the reader insight into the town of Nighmoor and the local gossip. The twist was to tie the story up into a nice bow… or set the stage for something more sinister… I also like the idea of digging up an almost forgotten about superstition for the basis behind a story.

I should actually take what I wrote and expound upon it, giving it more details… adding tone and atmosphere; drawing upon authors I like to tell a more complex story.

The Green

Once upon a time, I created a web-site called The Green dedicated to DC’s anti-superhero Swamp Thing. I had a few collaborator that sent me content. It talked about the comics, the animated series, the TV show, the movies, and the toys. I wanted to build a comic book database with pictures, summaries, synapses and reviews, but I was learning PHP at the time and was trying to figure out the best way to build it, while failing to add data to the DB. I still have all the image files somewhere and some old static pages…

With the advent of streaming services and the success of Marvel’s complex stories via the MCU, DC is trying to tap into the zeitgeist by producing Titans, Doom Patrol and now Swamp Thing. After there’s been a few episodes released, I’ll start watching it; in the mean time I’m avoiding reviews. I have mixed feelings about it… could be all horror, without Alan Moore’s poetic words in the background to help frame up each episode. Or could follow in the foot steps of it’s former series… which didn’t really appeal to me — felt more like a B-rated horror flick. And to be honest, I don’t think any of it will capture Alan Moore’s run on Swamp Thing… Or I could be wrong and smarter people than me are doing just that.

Anyway, more later…

UPDATE: Well, maybe not… Looks like the series might have been cancelled.

Doom Patrol

The more I read Grant Morrison’s work, I find myself in a suspended state of discontent. I’ve read some of this Batman work, Animal Man, JSA, Filth, Supergods and found it to be ok… Some of it is hit-or-miss with me. And I think part of my problem is, I’ve compared his work too much to Alan Moore, since most critics tend compare one against the other… I’ve fallen into this trap too.

I’ve watched Happy! and found myself liking this dark, creepy, surreal world Morrison created (I haven’t started Season 2 yet). The translation from graphic novel to tv worked. Morrison’s worlds tend to be fucked up, no sugar coating, or no ultimate force of good — either you’re ignorant, or depraved. His heroes tend to be just as depraved as the villains, but at some point, some imaginary friend helps them in finding a moral compass and do what’s right… ish.

I’ve read reviews where they summarize Morrison to be a two-bit, shock-artist that lack substance… The latex fetish scenes just just reinforce this idea. But every once in awhile, Morrison has nuggets of good ideas.

When I started Doom Patrol, I suspected the show runners would source Morrison’s work for stories; and I didn’t know how I’d feel about that or how well it would translate to a tv series. And to be honest, it hasn’t disappointed. Similar to Happy!, the main characters suffer from past wrong-doings. The shock-value is there, but might be toned down (being a DC property).

I like the idea that the super-villain exists outside the 4th dimension in the “white space”. It allows for interesting (funny) commentary on the show and characters itself. The show plays on chance and happenstance in some interesting ways (similar to another show I’ve been following, Milo Murphy’s Law)…

What am I watching/reading?

26620I’ve pretty much stopped watching traditional TV — I DVR a few shows like Gotham or The Muppets, but don’t feel the need to watch them immediately. I’m thinking Game of Thrones might be the only show I’m looking forward to… Or the 2nd season of Daredevil.  Mostly in the evenings, I’ve been watching Anime, like Dimension W, Assassination ClassroomBoku dake ga Inai Machi (ERASED)Musaigen no Phantom World, and Dagashi Kashi… I have to say, ERASED has been my favorite, followed by Dimension W.

I’ve got a few books that I should finish, but I’m not finding the motivation to.  I read the occasional graphic novel… My comic pull consists of Swamp Thing, Saga, Astrocity, James Bond, Sandman Overture, , and the occasional book by Alan Moore.

Tampa Bay ComicCon

Last weekend I got to go to Tampa Bay ComicCon with a few friends. The line was short on Sunday and I think the rain kept people away until later in the afternoon — the crowds started to pick up around lunch time. I managed to pick up a few trade paperbacks, got a autograph copy of Brat Pack from Rick Veitch, and some comic artwork from a local artist, Brian Reedy.

Here’s some images from my trip to Tampa Bay ComicCon: