Mike Dawson
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A Year of Making Comics - Update 3 "1984 cont..."
🕑 Added 2023-01-10 17:46:02 +0000 UTC
I'm happy to share some new panels from the 1984 comic. I took a lot of the ideas and concepts I blurted out in the last update, and I think started to shape them into a comic that's starting to be interesting. I am particularly pleased about the "Authoritarianism Porn" turn of phrase. I believe in what I write about when I make comics talking about the rise of American fascism, but I'm also aware of the fact that while these anti-Democratic forces of illiberalism are indeed on the march, it's not exactly WWII Germany just yet. I'm glad to offer this small meta-critique of my own output.
I'm dealing with this strip with a mind towards a six-panel grid format, as I am planning on this piece appearing in print in the next 'zine I publish. Page one, the intro showing me standing next to the pickup with the Orwell Was Right sticker needed to be four panels, because I'll put a title on it, but this second page will be three rows of two.
Panel and page constraints help me with the writing. I pared down my basic "I re-read 1984" points into these six panels, and then the next page will shift into more Winston Smith stuff. I never actually saw the John Hurt 1984 movie, but it's funny to me to use that depiction as my point of reference.
I don't know if I feel good enough about this comic to try submitting it anywhere. I'm at that stage where I keep vacillating back and forth between, this sucks and this might be kind of clever. I'll keep going with it and see what comes. This feels to me like maybe it could fit in possibly at The Nib.
What Else?
Not a lot else to report. I have a school visit on Thursday which is great. I'll get paid to deliver an assembly presentation, and it worked out that the parents bought a bunch of copies of The Fifth Quarter from me directly, so I made a little extra $$$ that way. I am still waiting to hear something from my agent about the two pitches my publisher is looking at. I'm hoping there's some movement on that front soon. I really would love to get back into a long project again.
