Artistic Origins

Slum Village - Fall In Love

This morning I had finished reading Batman: The Killing Joke. It's my second time reading it proper, the first was when I was about 10 years old and it still has the same potency as it did then, but this time with more relevance due to natural "maturity". I read the Deluxe Re-coloured edition and personally I prefer the original colourisation even though the new one has more focus on the philosophical theme of duality with its subdued colour schema.

I remember reading it for the first time, having had nightmares and being unable to sleep due to the horrific acts the Joker executed; his minions, scary "freaks" of nature only glorifying the sadness that is normalcy. The colours in the original had such an impact on me when I was growing up that I realized only today that the artwork by Brian Bolland and colours by John Higgins have really influenced the way I shoot photos. Obviously I'm no genius like these guys, but somehow to know where certain aspects of inspiration come from is reassuring.

Alan Moore is obviously a comic writing genius and although I would never like to meet him in person I really do value and love his comic book work (along with millions of others). I've read only a handful but it's enough to make me feel so passionate about comics again after all these years. Of the last month I've read the current Batman series which included Zero Year, Death of the Family as well as Astro City (1996), Batman: The Long Halloween, Daredevil: The Man Without Fear (both Frank Miller's and Kevin Smith's stories) and I'm currently reading Batman: Hush. After reading Hush I'll be on to Alan Moore's Swamp Thing. Very exciting stuff. I'll go and pick up Hellblazer after I get through that saga.

Prior to this resurgence in comic book love, the major works that made a huge mark on me were Watchmen, 300, The Sin City series (clearly my want to read them were inspired by the movie adaptations), Batman: Year One and Batman: Year Two, Superman: World Peace, The Dark Knight Returns, Weapon X, Spiderman (Todd McFarlane's issues), and a whole bunch of Image Comics and Dark Horse comics.

The Killing Joke is major for me.