Evolution: #7

I can see now that the world has evolved, too. So much it can’t even see the threat inside it. Everyone pretending that all this is normal. An entire planet gone mad.

When I read this quote in Evolution this morning, it captured how I have been feeling about the world lately. Much has changed and evolved in the last 20 to 30 years, and very rapidly, both for good and bad. But many of us are so caught up in the frenzy that we are unable to take a step back and get some perspective on the radical changes that our world is experiencing. I speak from experience. I was caught up in the frenzy of change, but have lately been making a conscious effort to slow down, practice some mindfulness, and filter out some of the chaotic noise that is accompanying all that is occurring. Doing so has allowed me to begin to see my role in the world a little more clearly, and help me navigate these turbulent waters.

Take a few moments to slow down and reflect today. It is important to do so. Cheers.

Evolution: #02

This graphic series is good so far. The story demands attention from the reader, since it basically weaves three storylines together around a central plot. I suspect that the creative team will eventually weave this all into a grotesquely intricate tapestry of science fiction horror. I’m looking forward to how the tale will progress.

Because of the structure of this tale, it is difficult to critique it, since the story still feels fragmented (in a good way), and feels like the characters are still being developed and the background story established. But there is an interesting passage regarding evolution that is worth sharing.

Evolution never stopped. There are still changes happening all around us. Bedbugs disappeared for almost 50 years, then came back with a vengeance, aided by a new exoskeleton and a faster metabolism. Moscow dogs that learn to ride the subway, knowing which stop to get off at. Cardiologists whose exposure to x-rays increased the hydrogen peroxide levels in their blood, leading to more glutathione, which helps protect them from radiation. Fundamental changes on a cellular level. The ones we know about. There are new species we’re still discovering. People living in remote, extreme areas, who never see a doctor, never mingle with civilization. Evolution used to be slow, methodical. A defensive measure to adapt life to new conditions. Now it’s fast, brutal and playing offense.

What I find interesting about this passage is that it is very plausible, especially when you consider how rapidly things change in our highly technical world. Everything moves faster and faster, so it stands to reason that evolution would also have to speed up to keep pace with global changes. Consider how fast viruses and bacteria mutate now, exhausting our antibacterial resources. It certainly is worth exploring through sci-fi literature.

Thanks for stopping by, and keep reading interesting stuff.

Evolution: #01

I recently went with my older daughter to the local comic store. While we were there, she pointed out to me a new comic called Evolution. She was very excited because she had done an internship at Skybound and was tasked with reading the early scripts for this graphic tale. She strongly encouraged me to buy it, saying it was really good and I would like it. There were two installments available, so I purchased both.

This first issue piqued my interest. There is not a lot to write about, since it is basically some background story and the introduction of the principal characters. My daughter told me that there are three story lines woven together and that it will get very good. I’m looking forward.

I will share a quote from Christopher Sebela, one of the writers, which is included at the end of this issue. He shares about how the socio-political uncertainty of the 1980s influenced his interest in horror and ultimately served as inspiration for this story.

Horror is about the personal apocalypse, the destruction of a human body, of a group of friends or a family or the very idea of safety. It’s about the things you trust the most betraying you, standing over you with an axe in its hands, unable to be reasoned with or avoided. With EVOLUTION, we’re setting out to destroy all of that and more, building a world where nothing and no one can be trusted, where even our bodies themselves don’t belong to us. For a kid who used to stay up late watching horror movies my mom never knew about and who spent his days wondering when the air raid sirens would go off and we’d all be vaporized into shadows, this book has been a lifetime in the making for me.

That’s all I have to share for now. I may have more to say after I read issue #02. Cheers!

The X-Files – Issue 16

After swinging back and forth about this comic, I’ve decided it is time to let it go. I cancelled my standing order, and reading this issue affirmed that it was the right decision.

Although the writers tried to make the story relevant by adding snippets related to the tensions with North Korea, as well as issues with the current administration, the story is fragmented and fails to hold my interest. It’s somewhat sad for me, because I really love the X-Files and I have been a follower of the graphic series since its inception; but after several years, the creativity has dried up, in my opinion. And it doesn’t matter how many vague insinuations you weave into a story in an attempt to appeal to the conspiracy mentality, if there is not a cohesive story line, then it just does not work.

I honestly hope that the creative team concludes this series soon and focuses their efforts on something else.

The X-Files – Issue 10

I keep swinging back and forth in this arc. Sometimes I want to just stop reading it, but then it proves just interesting enough to keep me reading.

This was one of those issues. It is somewhat choppy; artwork is OK, but not great; and the storyline is fuzzy at best. But it draws on the Iran-Contra scandal, which I feel has gotten buried and lost in an age of memes, flashy click-bait, and sensationalism. And for that alone, I am glad I read this.

There is a great passage where Mulder recounts the key points of Iran-Contra, which I feel is worth sharing.

“Iran-Contra was an appalling, almost impossible to believe travesty of constitutional subversion. It had everything. Arms sold to the Iranians, our ‘80s-sized enemy, to pay ransom for American hostages being held in Lebanon. Money, in turn, funneled to arm rebellion against elected leftist governments and to fund illegal Central American wars. A direct assault on both sovereignty and democracy. We’re talking about assassinations and indiscriminate destruction of land and history. Death squads became common. Men securely positioned within the highest levels of our government were later exposed as running a for-profit shadow operation trafficking in narcotics, influence, and violence.”

It seems like ancient history, but it was really not that long ago. So even though our social and political landscape is shifting at an ever quickening rate, I think it is important that we don’t lose sight or our history.

The X-Files: X-mas Special 2016

Tis the season for the annual X-Files X-mas issue, and this one was mildly entertaining. It is basically an adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” where Mulder is visited by ghosts of Christmases past, present, and future. Overall, it’s pretty silly and not really worth the $7.99 I spent on it, but the smoking man as Jacob Marley (Morley – ha ha) almost made it worthwhile.

There was one quote that I found interesting:

I find encouraging one’s imagination often leads to a purer understanding of the reality that informs it.

Many people look at fantasy and imagination as an escape from reality, but I do not see it that way. Imagination allows us to perceive the fabric of the universe, which reality rests upon. There are some things that can only be glimpsed through the imagination, but that does not make them any less real than what we perceive with our ordinary senses.

Anyway, that’s all I have to share about this graphic novel. It’s pretty mediocre, but if you are a die-hard X-fan like myself, you might find it entertaining.

Cheers!

Hellboy and the B.P.R.D 1954: Black Sun

This tale is told over two issues, which I read consecutively. It’s kind of a cross between Indiana Jones and the X-Files, with Hellboy fighting Nazis who have reverse-engineered an alien craft and built a fleet of saucers which they plan to use to conquer the world and establish the 1000-year Reich.

Overall, the story was very entertaining, well-written, and the artwork was great. There were also a couple themes that were addressed that I found particularly interesting.

In the first installment, when Hellboy arrives with his field partner in the Arctic, the partner, who is black, is met with racial disdain.

Oh. Didn’t think they’d be sending a colored.

What I found most striking about this short scene is that while the U.S. was fighting against an enemy that was claiming racial superiority, people in the U.S. also had their prejudices and biases. And as proven by recent events, these prejudices are still thriving in our society.

The other part of this graphic tale that resonated with me was how myths and legends are used as symbols for aspects of human consciousness.

There are, of course, countless legends about the hollow earth, and hidden passages that connect one pole to the other. I had assumed these to be a metaphor for the hidden recesses of the human mind, but they may have been a material reality.

I am reminded of the classic Journey to the Center of the Earth. I have not read the book (yet), but watched the film numerous times as a kid, fascinated with the idea that hidden below the surface of the earth was an entirely different world, populated by dinosaurs. Now as an adult, I understand the metaphor. The center of the earth is a symbol for the center of our brains, the primordial root of our consciousness, the primal animalistic part of our psyches that exists in the amygdala within the limbic cortex. The dinosaurs symbolize our collective lizard brains, a residual that we never lost through our stages of evolution.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

The X-Files – Issue 6: Came Back Haunted, Part 1

I love when graphic novels explore current and relevant themes. This issue begins with an Arabic refugee who blows himself up, not as an act of terrorism, but because of some unseen supernatural forces. Hey, this is an X-Files story. But what I found most fascinating was the exploration of what it is like to be a refugee, to pack up what little you can carry, and flee with your family into the unknown.

But I feel it is important for people to understand these are people fleeing from extremism and war. A man like Qasim packed up his family before dawn and prayed they wouldn’t be discovered by fighters on the road, or bombed from the air as they ran. He risked all he had, trading pride for survival like so many before, as he led them toward what he hoped was a better life.

Many of the people my organization helps have endured incredible hardships. Crossing the Aegean Sea to reach Greece, many refugees fleeing middle-eastern strife witness children drowning when the overburdened boats their parents traded all they had of value for passage on capsize and sink. Those who survive the passage are soon met by overwhelmed local populations, stretched economies and resources—as well as the patchwork of international-aid distribution struggling to keep up. From there, they travel thousands of kilometers across the continent—mainly on foot—where they are met by protests and abuse and all manner of terrible conditions. For those who endure this journey, only hope sustains. Only the want to provide and do better for his children moves a man to undertake such a trial.

I lived in Florida during the Haitian refugee crisis, and I still vividly recall the hostility with which they were met. I knew someone who bragged about throwing rocks at a boatload of Haitians as their boat approached the shoreline. I personally had the utmost respect for the Haitian people and went with them to demonstrate at the INS office against the forced repatriation.

Most of us have no idea what it must be like to risk everything to escape a situation that is so dire that remaining is not an option. I hope that I never have to experience this in my lifetime.

The X-Files Origins #2

As I read this installment in the series, I happened upon a quote in the Dana Scully storyline that caught my interest.

When I die, I hope to leave behind more than just a bloodstain. I want my life to mean something… to make the world a better place. And I hope I will have a friend who will care enough to find out what happened to me.

This is a thought that haunts me to this day. When I attended my father’s “memorial service,” the only people who were there were myself and a close friend. It was truly sad that a person could live an entire life and die alone, forgotten, erased. I think that is one of the reasons I write and that I try to do some good in the world. When my time comes and I flash back over my life in that instant you often hear about, I want nothing more than to know that my life somehow mattered, that I contributed in some small way to the betterment of society and that I made a difference in the lives of those I care about.

Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read my thoughts, and I hope that you all find the strength and courage to do something meaningful.

The X-Files Origins #1

I’ve been reading the X-Files graphic series for a while now, and as much as I love the X-Files, it was starting to feel a little bland, like they had run out of ideas and were struggling just to keep things going. But when I heard about the Origins series, my interest was rekindled. I felt that the idea of a graphic series exploring the formative years of Mulder and Scully when they were kids had potential.

Anyway, I finally got around to reading the first installment and I was very happy with it. The issue is actually comprised of two stories—one about Mulder when he was a teenager dealing with the abduction of Samantha, and the other about Scully after her family moves to San Diego. The issue has two covers, which I like. You start on one side, read that storyline, then flip the comic over and start reading the other one. Structurally, that really worked for me.

Both stories captured my interest right from the start. There is a great balance of new material combined with characters and references to the original television series. The result is something that is fresh yet familiar. The artwork is good and the panels work well in helping drive the storyline.

On a personal level, I related to this tale because, like a lot of kids, when I was younger I was fascinated with mystery and detective stories, and my friends and I would go around the neighborhood in search of “cases” to solve. And that is the real strength of this graphic series—it taps in to the feeling we had growing up, learning to navigate a world full of mystery and danger. I’m looking forward to reading the rest of this series.

Cheers!