CLOWDER #4

I present to you Clowder Chapter 4!

(This book is not for kids)

   (click the covers to read chapter 4)

A new story begins!

(Read Clowder Chapter 4 first before reading this entry, click the cover on the left to do so)

Click the cover to read Clowder Chapter 4!

After surviving four issues, we're finally here. This would be the finish line for The Cat Killers arc of

Clowder. The next chapter will be very different for it explores other topics that I actually cannot discuss yet! But it will be something for the fans of my work. You guys who have been supporting my works since the very beginning! Having said that expect the unexpected to happen on issue 5! So okay I can't say more without spoiling anything. You just have to wait and see when it comes out.

I've been very busy lately not just with indie comic book work but in a lot of stuff like art exhibits and poetry books. I recently launched Bunshin, a collection of 30 English and Tagalog poems that I wrote starting last year. It's two books actually, there is a Light Blue Bunshin which contains 30 Tagalog poems and there is also a Pink Bunshin which is filled with 30 English poems. Not to be mistaken as translations of the poems, the two books differ in language and content, because let's face it, there are some things better said in my native tongue. Tagalog, putangina hehe.

The books are still available at The Warrior Art Cafe in Cubao X so go and get your copy whenever

 you're there. You can also find there other indie comic books from Komikult including Clowder back issues.  

Hahaha! This is me trying not to talk about what's gonna happen next issue and ending up talking about something else entirely. It's cool, at least you can search for those gems while you're waiting for our 5th issue. I felt like I just poured my heart and soul this season. I had a lot of things released this year and there's more to come! I hope you guys stay tuned for the succeeding issues of Clowder and other titles we'll be releasing in Komikult before the year ends. It's Been quite a ride so far and we're just at the middle part.That actually goes for a lot of stuff without spoiling anything. Just getting you excited! hehe I know I am! So enjoy the ride and I hope to see you next issue when the battle officially begins!

Ganbatte! :)

Marius Black

Manila

July 23, 2015

For comments and suggestions write me at: mariusblackarts@yahoo.com

CLOWDER #1 Trailer

CLOWDER #3

I present to you Clowder Chapter 3!

(This book is not for kids)

(click the covers to read chapter 3)

Onward!

(Read Clowder Chapter 3 first before reading this entry, click the cover on the right to do so)

Click the cover to read Clowder Chapter 3!

Hey kids! If you’re reading this now and you have internet access, you can search on Youtube this song by Peter Tchaikovsky, Seasons, Barcarolle (June) Opus 37b, This is the same chords you see on the first page of the book. You can play it while you read or re-read the chapter for a more pleasurable reading experience. This is also the same for the last previous chapters. On the first book you can play Toccata and Fugue in D minor by Johann Sebastian Bach. On the second chapter the on page 1 and 2 . And on page 9 Chopin ‘s Waltz in A minor. I felt like I just gave you some cheat codes! Enjoy!

Some of the readers of Clowder find the imagery and story essence a bit dark, disturbing at the most. I hope this issue gives you a bit of a breather if you have been reading and you feel it’s going completely insane. That, in the midst of all that darkness, light awaits. I have to say much like my other works of fiction, all of them has been a transportation of therapy for me. Having to experience these events as a child gives you a bit of a heavy feeling. But in making these books, I have begun to feel better every chapter I finish. So far. So good.

Yes, as a kid, I totally got it wrong when I started killing cats for fun. Sometimes innocence can destroy you.  It wasn’t until my mother caught me killing an innocent kitten that I got enlightened about life. Yes, death is beautiful and so is life. To be alive is beautiful, we must all cherish life. Especially the innocent life, the ones who can’t take car of themselves. It is difficult but not impossible. To love is endless. One can love a person and a creature truly, both existing in the same time. Co-existence is the key.

CLOWDER #2

I present to you Clowder Chapter 2!

(This book is not for kids)

     (click the covers to read chapter 2)

A Cast of Cats

Click the cover to read Clowder Chapter 2!

(read Clowder Chapter 2 first before reading this entry, click the cover on the left to do so)

A cat’s perspective. That’s all there is to it. Yes, everything you’ve read on this issue is true, we hunted cats as kids. And it really felt like we were hunters in a city where there were more buildings than trees. As kids we just did things, we seldom really thought about the consequences and just go with the flow of  things we wanted to do as children. Our primal instincts naturally kick in and we forget all the preaching grown-ups taught us. We didn’t behave, we were noisy and we broke a lot of rules growing up, basically I was the “Problem Child” of our neighborhood, burning water meters, ringing neighbor doorbells and setting up pranks. But killing cats stuck with me like the stench of death.

I grew up never really forgetting all those innocent cats my group and I killed back then. I’m  against killing, but  I eat meat and at the same time I have a concept of preserving life as well. I mean, I’d kill for survival, for food. But back then I killed for fun. I liked killing as a child, and that’s not normal to say. To say the least, I eventually changed while I was growing up, it wasn’t easy to tame yourself not to kill. I still have this darkness in me which is safely tucked away, controlled and calm. Haha! No not really, I’m just saying that to make you feel better! Just kidding hehe. Anyway these are thoughts of mine can be surprising to hear or read, and I don’t want you to stop reading. This summary at the end of each chapter explains a lot about what’s really happening behind the comic book. It can help you to understand my point of view of why I killed cats and how innocence isn’t always something sweet. 

CLOWDER #1

I present to you Clowder # 1

(This book is not for kids)

     (click the covers to read the comics)

The Glaring

Clowder #1

(read Clowder Chapter 1 first before reading this entry, click the cover on the right to do so)

“WHAT DID YOU DO WITH THE CAT?!”

A woman shouting in disgust when she saw some test print pages of Clowder.

I was at a photocopying shop printing the first chapter of Clowder when all of a sudden I hear a woman  shriek in pain as her eyes glanced the artworks of the book. She added, “What did you do? It's bad to kill cats!!” I just smiled at her, I mean what could I say? Do I explain to her that, “Oh no miss,  it’s going to get better wait ‘til you see the succeeding chapters of the series”. But that would be a lie,  from here on end the series would just get darker. So scratch that, I just entertained her by showing the beautiful artworks also inside the book, after all, death is beautiful isn’t it?

Everyone knows that appearances can be deceiving, same goes for images. Yet only a few really understand what an image really means when one looks. Suffice it to say that we all are confused at what we see at times, some don’t actually get it at first glance or at all. We know nothing (thanks, George R.R. Martin!). That’s why some artists make comic books, because separate from the comic book art we need words to convey a message far from what we draw. So it’s equally important to read and to “see”.

It’s easy to be misunderstood when you’re discussing a delicate topic. Sex, violence, drugs, addiction,  life and death. And what do we know about life and death? Only a few survive death when we face it, and sadly not all of us live our lives to the fullest. No one really knows the answer, we observe life as we live it and as it is being lived by others as well. And as for death, well it’s the great unknown.  So this  here comic book you hold dearly in your hands, who probably thinks that the cover page is “cool”, “awesome” or “cute” that’s why you bought it, has now (after reading the book) most probably bitten off more than you can chew. Which is a good thing, I only wish to leave you in awe because it’s the only way I know how. Unless you know what dark goodness a guy named Marius Black has to offer already, but let’s say you don’t… I ask of you one thing. I would like you to trust me.

Trust in me that the story has got something good to say at least, in the beginning or up to the very end it doesn’t really matter  but there is sense to this unspeakable chaos. That even if a woman (in her mid 40’s) did shriek in horror, there is beauty and sense behind this that one can easily fail to grasp by just glancing at a couple of pages. I do not blame her reacting that way, she was so shocked, the “life” parts of the book was overshadowed. She only saw the death side of it, and one cannot  really tackle life without its counterpart. And in a way I actually wished she saw me (and yes even lectured me) years ago when I was a kid doing these horrible things. Maybe you’d be holding a different book and reading a different story right now, but that isn’t the case. The point is, we all need lessons, and we learn them in random, out of age, because there are way too many lessons to learn in this life time. This book has enabled me to share mine.

What’s the lesson you ask? I can only say, YOU HAVE TO KEEP READING! On to the next chapter!

Marius Black
Manila, August 1, 2014

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