Friday, April 17, 2009

What powers you?


Let's say you wake up one morning.

You know it's gonna be a bad day just by looking at your bedsheets. Just as palm readers divine the secrets of fate from the wrinkles in your hand, the creases in your bedfabric tell you that your day is going to suck. You don't know how or why you know, but you just do.

If you take one step outside that door, the world, the ENTIRE. INFINITE. UNIVERSE. is going to bend backwards and roar at your insolence; the fact that you have the gall to live. And because of this, the world is going to do everything it can to make sure that this error is corrected. That you do NOT get through the day alive.

So what are you going to do? Stay in bed and let time erode the fabric that ties you to reality?
Or are you going to kick the universe outta the way and scream like the human you are because dammit you are alive and you are NOT gonna die?!

Well, those are some pretty dramatic conclusions... but what I would like is to know what it is that keeps YOU (yes, you) living from day to day.

For me (and everyone else in my comic), it is the drive to make my dream a reality; to become a comic book artist. Not just any artist, but the best damn shonen manga artist in the west. That drive is what I call "astropower."

So... are you astropowered?


4 comments:

  1. hi josh. eldwen here (weigy's friend). nice blog man. so your dream is to become the best shonen mangaka in the west? hahah. never knew that. all the best to you

    and i feel that im in need for a little astropower recently

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  2. Ever since I graduated from SCAD I have been in a slump of working for financial gain and security just so I can afford life, and the things that help me enjoy it day by day. My love of drawing has always been my drive, my whole universe until the day I die, and I want it to remain so. I am in need of my own ~ASTROPOWER~!!! I know I have it, and I'm angry at myself for letting go of it in the face of the adversity of a job sapping me of all my energy and imagination that I always had infinite amounts of all my life, no matter the situation. Work, life, and everything else in between this oreo should have no bearing on my craft, and I will not allow anymore distractions to take my attention away from it. My love/practice for my talent and abilities is the reason I exist, this will be my drive to give my life the meaning I once knew, and wanted until I die. I AM A MANGAKA, AND I AM ASTROPOWERED!!!!!! NOW, AND FOR THE REST OF MY DAYS!!!! Now!!! TO DRAW UNTIL MY HANDS BLEED!!!!

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  3. You know, I kinda went through everything I had described in this post prior to E-day.

    There just seemed to be a lot of stuff piling up that wanted to prevent me from finishing the two pages I was working on. The pages themselves weren't stressing me out since there was no doubt in my mind that they were gonna get done no matter what, but I had to deal with a really nasty arguement concerning a roommate, and then some attending to some other responsibilites.

    Eventually the pages were finished and I headed to sleep at around 8 in the morning. I figured that I could waked up at noon and have the rest of that time to gather up some extra material at my leisure.

    I slept through my alarm and woke up an hour before my allotted apointment with the Viz Media editor, Eric Searleman.

    I wasn't too panicked, since I figured I had enough time to take a shower. As I was placing my pages into my portfolio, however, I noticed a huge inkblot covering a good corner of a bottom panel in page 1.

    I freaked out.

    I knew there was no way I could fix that up and make it in time to Norris hall in order to see the editor.

    It was at that moment that I really felt like I had lost my fight against the world. My reality was crumbling all around me and the power to make my dreams a reality was dimming.

    I was being drained of my astropower even as I furiously applied whiteout to my pages in a shocked stupor.

    Thank God my girlfriend was there to help me redraw the lines. And to nudge me in the right direction; out the door.

    I had mustered up enough resolve to kick the world aside one last time because goddammit, I waited 4 years for this moment and I'll be damned if I don't see this guy! I didn't care if he didn't like my stuff or told me it was unmarketable, I needed to hear an answer from him anyway possible. I needed to let him know that I exist!

    I singlehandely tore the lock off my bike and set my Ipod's playlist to "asphalt.graze." It was time to burn rubber.

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  4. I was pushing my legs into the pedals of my Schwinn Voyageur, sliding around the corner of the street like I was in Initial D.

    With my portfolio in hand and Guitar Wolf's Jet Generation blasting in my ear, I burned a trail headlong into traffic. Hey it was the shortest way there. I kept to the sidestreet, jumping to and from the sidewalk when possible.

    Without stopping, I clipped the tail end of a schoolbus as it passed in front of me and the lady behind the school bus called me crazy.

    I almost lost my balance when one of my pedals dragged on the street as I was rounding a corner.

    I was finally at Norris, but I had also gotten there just in time to have my appointment completely pass by. I'm sure someone else went in my stead.

    I can't describe the hours that passed then. Dejected, I loitered around Norris, knowing that I was now subject to the mercy of the waiting list.

    This time I couldn't fight or anything, all I could do was wait.

    The wait gradually wore away whatever resolve I had left.

    That is until, my friend Spenser popped by and was angry at the fact that I hadn't seen the editory yet. He didn't know that I had missed my chance already.

    When all the meetings were done for the day, a good number of girls who were waiting around had bum-rushed the editor who was by all means free to refuse entry. But Eric stuck around!

    I asked Spenser if I should go (home) or GO (see the editor).

    Spenser laughed and told me to go.

    We did this about three times total.

    And then I went inside the room.

    If it wasn't for the encouragement and support of my close friends, I never would have gotten to see this great opportunity to fruition.

    Without friends to help you when you really need it, even the strongest astropower can be shaken to its core!

    Our lives might be delicate, but so are our dreams!

    Friends remind you of you are and never make you lose sight of your dreams! With that trust, you can all aim for the top!

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