331: Talk about something you used to love.
Something I used to be really into - and I mean really into - was comic books. I'd read any kind I could get my hands on - the classic superhero ones, sci-fi, fantasy, whatever. I was a fan.
I don't just mean a comic book fan like the kids who go around buying DC and Marvel comics so they know what they're talking about when they go to see the newest movie. I mean the "in their twenties, hangs around in comic book shops all day discussing the intricacies of the characters" kind of fan.
Yeah. That was me.
My parents never liked the habit - dad said it was a waste of money, mom thought it was going to isolate me socially - but I was at the age when I'd just as soon say "screw 'em". By the time I got out of the house, got self-sufficient, I was way too hooked to care.
When I first got the idea in my head to write Supernatural... or, actually, when I first had prophetic visions shoved in my head, I wanted it to be a comic book series. I could see it all in my head, clear as day, and my prose had never been anything to write home about. Problem was, neither was my art. I looked into finding an artist, but they never got the character designs exactly right.
Well, now I know why - I had real people in mind, and I couldn't describe them well enough for the artists to match - but at the time it was an annoying delay that forced me down the prose road. And here I am, an out-of-work novelist instead of an out-of-work graphic novel script writer. Big difference.
But, I don't know, maybe I'd still like comic books if I'd gotten Supernatural published as one. Or maybe working in the field would have disillusioned me, or something. Regardless, I'm not nearly as into comic books as I used to be.
Why?
Well, they just seem so... realistic now. What's the point?
Chuck Shurley
Supernatural
336
I don't just mean a comic book fan like the kids who go around buying DC and Marvel comics so they know what they're talking about when they go to see the newest movie. I mean the "in their twenties, hangs around in comic book shops all day discussing the intricacies of the characters" kind of fan.
Yeah. That was me.
My parents never liked the habit - dad said it was a waste of money, mom thought it was going to isolate me socially - but I was at the age when I'd just as soon say "screw 'em". By the time I got out of the house, got self-sufficient, I was way too hooked to care.
When I first got the idea in my head to write Supernatural... or, actually, when I first had prophetic visions shoved in my head, I wanted it to be a comic book series. I could see it all in my head, clear as day, and my prose had never been anything to write home about. Problem was, neither was my art. I looked into finding an artist, but they never got the character designs exactly right.
Well, now I know why - I had real people in mind, and I couldn't describe them well enough for the artists to match - but at the time it was an annoying delay that forced me down the prose road. And here I am, an out-of-work novelist instead of an out-of-work graphic novel script writer. Big difference.
But, I don't know, maybe I'd still like comic books if I'd gotten Supernatural published as one. Or maybe working in the field would have disillusioned me, or something. Regardless, I'm not nearly as into comic books as I used to be.
Why?
Well, they just seem so... realistic now. What's the point?
Chuck Shurley
Supernatural
336