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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