April 4 2019

Tone:

I have seen ‘scary ‘ pre-code horror comics; emo sort of horror ambiance – with or without gore, the dialogue, reflects apprehension, terror, and the narrative builds upon a series of terrible events, or acts, to a tragic outcome.

Overall, the tone seems to be like an opera tragedy. People die, there is suffering, there is injustice, and the viewer feels sort of bummed out for the characters, and the event, and the story – though poignant – maybe not a place the viewer wants to return to.

Halloween vs. Mortal Kombat

I’m not averse to having a tone that is ‘scary’ or terrifying, when it serves the plot/characters, but I’m not ‘ That ‘ interested in emo-horror narratives: Halloween costumes, and haunted houses – old school ghost stories, and terrible shocking short stories.

I am interested in athletic, barely clad, vigorous youthful bodies, depicted, in medieval sword and sorcery, with explicit gore, nudity, as something that is not hidden, in the course of ‘historical fiction’ type stories of nations warring; with elements of sci-fi, super heroes, and some Halloween costumes.

Especially exploring the events of aboriginal people, and the invading civilized colonists whose treatment of them may begin as xenophobic, and genocidal, to intermarriage, and integration.

But the core of the presentation that I am interested in, is a tropical locale, jungles, forests, outdoor locations, in a fantasy world, built with attention to detail ( such as Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman’s DragonLance, Death Gate Cycle, – and literally all their novels; Tolkien’s work; Robert Howard – Conan – Red Sonja and such ).

Original characters/world

I am interested in doing ‘some’ fan art of Cavewoman, Belladonna, Red Sonja, DC/Marvel, Golden Age Jungle Girls, Conan, LOTR, MTG, WOW, ect,… But more interested in creating my own body of work. Todd Macfarlane’s unique combination of elements from Deathlok, Venom ( which he created- minus the suit, which was a fan art contribution), Batman and Spiderman, is an example of a how a body of work, can contain elements from beloved characters, yet be a copyright protected brand he has carried for decades: Spawn.

It seems vastly more rewarding, to go a few extra miles, and provide an original way to tell my original stories; with characters and names, that I don’t have to be concerned about copyright issues; and make my own characters, in their own world.

3 years in the making – I am finally getting to the stage where I feel comfortable with some original characters. I am anticipating having illustrations to represent these characters, and not long from having the ‘ scope of the characters (costume, abilities, storyarcs) and quality of presentation, suit my limitations.

Stories and Graphics

I like the idea of an upbuilding, bright toned world, that is otherwise vanilla, in narrative and relationship, and dialogue, except for the ‘adult’ situations they encounter. And the pre-code scenes and panels, and epic sequences which result from what could appear as an ordinary, unexciting sentence on paper.

Different from porn, in that their stories are irrelevant, contrived or insincere, and serve the porn scenes; which are standardized, predictable, and ubiquitous (in my opinion).

There is no reason to have nudity/ pre -code scenes, take place in a vacuum – or some overzealous emo-halloween narrative; that is monotone. With positive messages and thoughts expressed, there is more range. Not a response to censorship or coding for palatability- I find drama, with fantasy elements, epic quests, and general sci-fi adventure/mystery/ spiritual allegory more interesting.

A maximum variety of physiques is what I aspire to artistically. Dialogue, positive quotes, can simply be skimmed through for the nudity or pre-code scenes appearing throughout; a neutral background, gives it a frame of reference, that sets a range of experience, from tranquil to lurid.

Rather than a monotonous flatline of lurid to lurid; The Skyrim animation is an example: in the opening cinematic – the seconds of gore, are mostly novel, because its unexpected.

What if Rulah saw the pre-code horror scenes, with the explicit gore of Belladonna, but maintained it’s sort of upbeat sitcom, serial adventure tone. And the nudity/gore, which are stigmatized in mainstream comics, weren’t presented as the focal point, but more like the ubiquitous presence of jungle foilage? It’s just there.

What if the focus was the characters and the plot? And it was as least slightly more interesting or coherent than average, and one could read the entire book, and have an idea to ponder, in addition to the gore and nudity.

Thank You for Contributing to a Rarefied Genre

I want to use original characters, story, and bring something creative, and new for the genre, and viewers.

I have appreciated art of this genre for years. I feel an onus, to contribute something; being an artist/writer myself. This project is the realization of that.

Thanks for your interest in this endeavor. Joining, positive comments mean a lot in this solitary, task. When someone subscribes, it seems magical. I really appreciate everyone’s contributions and participation in this Pre-Code Renaissance of

Lurid Max