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The Vast Sky.

I’m not sure I ever trusted birds. Not Crows or Ravens or even Doves. They seem to want to be so solitary so much the center of attention. I never really understood them. And I never really felt comfortable with them. I feel like the distance they fly is too far and not just the physical distance. But the overall gulfs that they place between themselves and others. I have my issues I know that. I am a fault line of flaws, like cracks in a mountain. I am imperfect and volatile like a red dwarf. Not yet a sun but still somehow a star all the same. I guess that is done with now. I need no crowds, while they bring Doves to life. I am a solitary star all who enter my space, won’t receive enough warmth or light to live under. Not if they themselves require the warmth of so many other suns.

"Is’nana: The Balads of Rawhead and John Henry review

Previously…
Welcome back to the Experience. I’ve been gone for a bit and while I was away a slew of dope new indie comics have come out. So I’ve decided to come out of retirement and give folks the real on what’s been happening in the indie comics scene. Today we have a treat for you all, a modern-day folk tale that was written by Greg Anderson Elysée. The enigmatic Is’nana in, the Ballads of Rawhead and John Henry.

Situation
Our story starts with a narrative…no that’s not quite right. Our story begins with a song about the legendary black folk hero John Henry. Framed during America’s bygone era the “steel-driving” man first clutches a hammer as a babe. He travels around the land swinging his mighty mallet, in the service of those who need help. We are flashed forward to the modern-day, where twin brothers Isaiah and Nathan move into their new South Carolina home with their father. Left grieving after a family tragedy the two seem constantly at odds, with Nathan teasing his brother about being overly sensitive. While moving in one of the porters tells Isaiah the story of Rawhead, the dancing skull and his partner in crime Bloody bones. At night the two boys come in contact with the child-stealing specters, but little do the monsters know the twins have a surprise for them. Back with our hero John Henry, who has found himself in a strange dystopian world where strange bipedal robots who hunt humans. He teams up with Is’nana to save a group of people caught in the cross-hairs of the machines and return them to their homes.

Story

Elysèe spins an epic tale of legacy and heroism in the Ballad of John Henry. Perfectly embodying the spirit of a man’s indomitable will, and desire to do good. From the past to the future, Elysée frames Henry as more reliable than any tool and sturdier than any metal, conjuring up thoughts of a steadfast and noble figure a real-life superhero.
Likewise in the Ballad of Rawhead and Bloody bones he expertly taps into the macabre legends of black Americans in the south. Using dialect from the Gullah people to conjure up visions of hoodoo boogie men that steal children at night. The twist at the end of the story reminds me very much of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman with a hint of Peter Parker thrown in for good measure.
Pictures

Walter Ostlie uses faded colors and line are to transport us to the past. Giving the reader a feeling that they’ve used an old photograph to peer into a part of American history that wasn’t particularly kind to black folks. The pallet throughout Henry’s adventure seems to indicate a story told in the past tense, even when taking place in the future. This adds a very folksy and dare I say epic quality to his tale as a whole and much like Henry its spares on words and heavy on action. Though the words that are there are lettered artfully by Andworld Design, the font like something out of journal written on old parchment paper. The Ballad of Rawhead and Bloody Bones is a very different affair, littered with sharp earthy browns and visceral reds outlining the change in tone from an epic adventure to a terrifying nightmare. Lee Milewiski and Kat Aldrich do a great job of bringing the monsters to life, with shaky line work that makes them look like a horrible fever dream. Even with this in mind, they manage to instill a little playfulness into ol’ Head and Bones giving us a notion that they may be evil, but they like to have a good time.

Real

This comic is an excellent example of African diasporic folk tales done right and with a great degree of care. From the language to the gestures Elysée knows exactly what he’s doing. The essay in the back of the comic, written by Professor John Jennings AKA Black Kirby, posits that Is’nana is Spider-Man for the black comics community; I’d go even further and make the claim that Is’nana is our Sandman or Morpheus king of dreams. I expect a lot from this creator, character, and universe in the years to come and I’m sure I won’t be disappointed.

Rating 5/5
You can find Is’nana at Comixology, Webwaycomics, Amazon, and Peepgamecomix

Bit by Bit

Digital currencies and what they could mean for the world.  
By Ra’Chaun Rogers.

Most Americans are not economists, and when the country’s economy took a nose dive, a majority of citizens decided on a few things one of them being that banks were evil. They control the exchange of money, as well as the livelihood of a lot of people and are not only capable of questionable actions, but in some cases pardoned for it by the government. What if the control and flow of money were put into the hands of people and what if that money increased in value over time? Well nowadays there is something called digital currency which has the potential to change the way we see finance.

In 2009 a man (or group of people) using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto developed the first digital currency known as “Bitcoin”, which among other things is beholden to no bank or government, but is monitored by a large group of individuals on a network known as “miners”. Most forms of digital currency were linked to the price of precious metal currency, making them fixed, but most have since then changed and now fluctuate.  The great thing about digital currency is that they cannot be controlled by any government, organization or sole person. The security of digital currency is also not a factor as the number of miners is so great that in order to tamper with the network a person would need a computing power higher than that of a large software company. Digital currency is perfect for transportation of currency out of countries that are subject to Capitol Control, since there is no red tape to go through.  The downside of digital currency is that if used on a wide scale certain deflationary digital currencies could lead to people hoarding money with the intention of making purchases at some undisclosed time when it’s worth a lot more than originally stated. Another issue is that people can choose not to accept digital currency for transactions, thus making them useless. The biggest problem with digital currency is that it fluctuates at such an unpredictable rate that it would be hard to use it as a mainstay currency for many transactions.  While it seems to be the emerging currency of choice to those in the Occupy crowd or by people living in countries that can’t transport large sums of money to other countries, its relative newness, and somewhat underground status doesn’t make it a likely candidate for replacing any form of physical currency.

In my opinion, digital currency is an interesting way to put the power back in the hands of people. The miners who operate and maintain the networks are regular people, which in theory is a heartening idea. However, a new problem arises when you switch your mode of exchange from one based on a hard to understand fiat system to one based on an equally hard to understand computer science system. The average person probably knows less about open source code than they do about interest rates. It would also probably require a lot of getting used to and maybe even some specialized instruction for normal citizens to understand. Of course, this is speculating that digital currency becomes a widespread and accepted medium of exchange, until then it will only be a novelty.

My first ever comic the Hierophants Back on Sale Digitally.

The Hierophants Digital

Marcus Ripley is following his families legacy as the Geist, New York cities one and only hero. However that all changes when the death of a young man sparks civilians into action and a new vigilante emerges and takes center stage.

In the year 2011 the world has come to a turning point. Change or be washed away in the coming cosmic tide. The architects of that change are the Hierophants, a family of celestial concepts born to bring humanity into an age of new wonders or the ashes of an old hell. Enter Marcus Ripley the cities one and only protector the Geist who will learn that his days of following his father and grand father’s footsteps are over. It now falls on him that will not only affect his family, but the fate of the very universe he lives in. He will soon learn that he must rise above the waves of fate, or be drowned in the undertow. Magic, Humanity, love and self-discovery await in this occult, noir thrill ride.

Maxwell’s Mini Reviews Swag Patrol# 1

I’m back and while I was gone I got to read a number of comics. One of those comics was “Swag Patrol” and while skeptical at first I decided to give it a shot. It’s the story of the Rashad, Maya and Chris, a trio of friends doused with a chemical concoction one day, while playing around in a high school chem lab. During the night each of them awake to find that they have been endowed with extraordinary powers. With the help of their science teacher Dr. Tre they struggle to understand their abilities and try to make a difference in the world.


Hits: 
 Story hopes to convey a positive message.
Misses:
–        Characters lack depth
–        Dialogue is laden with Exposition and Cliche
–        Scenes that are meant to expound on characters seem trite. Also things that are supposed to be character development are used as plot device.
–        Spelling errors throughout.
Rating: 1.5/5