4 People: 1 Day — StevenErnest

"4 People: 1 Day"

Story by StevenErnest / Art by Boucrate

...The End...! Any feedback/comments/reactions are welcome!

[See Below for some Background Notes on the intent and meaning.]

SIDE-BY-SIDE FORMAT VIEW: Click or Tap to see the pages Horizontally...

NOTES:

1. Here's my original sketch for the design of the two-page splash finale'... ...Boucrate did an awesome job with my complex visual and textual intent. But perhaps some of my nuance inevitably didn't quite make it through:
I had a Yin-Yang imagery, with the Sun on the far left side, the Moon on the far right -- with the Earth in the center, illuminated half in light and half in dark.
The design was loosely based on several Tarot Cards: the Major Trump X, "The Wheel of Fortune" -- and XXI, "The World;" particularly with the four iconic characters in the corners:

NOTES:

2. On the next-to-last page, in the text on the left, I had the phrase: "Because of... economic globalization..." This has an unfortunate, and unintended, implication of "Globalization," which -- while I don't think it is necessarily a bad term, depending on the context -- is currently rather problematic in its political implications, i.e., the IMF, exploitation of workers, etc. Boucrate thoughtfully -- and wisely -- suggested an alternative wording: "international economies." This much more accurately gets my intended meaning across.

NOTES:

3. For the sake of completeness -- and because I'm overly detail-oriented -- below is a slightly different version of final two page finale'. It has has three words next to our characters in the four corners, describing each one's iconic, symbolic, and mythic meaning.

A work of art should stand on its own, of course, leaving the reader to find their own interpretation. However, a major reason I wanted to add this little description, is because the four characters are apparently "stereotypes" -- but I'm intending them as Archetypes -- which some people may not perceive.

I think this is especially important regarding the Muslim-American: I tried my best to present him in an authentic -- and honorable -- way. It's likely and understandable, of course, than some Radical Muslims may find his portrayal offensive. That's probably unavoidable. Early on, my collaborator Boucrate had reservations about including him, but I think it was necessary based on 21st Century events -- and to include as many facets and nuances of the conflicts and different points of view -- which are intricately linked to the "We are all one" global epiphany.

I thought that explaining his archetypal -- mythical -- meaning would put his portrayal in a better and more understandable perspective

This also applies to the other three characters: The Conspiracy Guy and the Glamour/Consumer Gal are obsessive and extreme in their own way. That's because they are looking for life's meaning and fulfillment in a misinformed (imho) manner -- by seeing Evil, NWO-type forces manipulating world events, or by trying to fill an inner emptiness with mindless consumption of consumer goods and focusing solely on outer physical appearances.

From a certain perspective, these people are "fanatical." And I expressly did not present the Muslim-American as such -- he was shown merely contemplating his own religious beliefs.

As the saying goes: "No one is a villain in their own mind." We are all looking for meaning, and the members of humanity find vastly different meanings.

(I suppose the modern hippie/punk/alternative guy is the most close to Boucrate's and my own beliefs... ^_^ )

N.B. #1: My collaborator, Boucrate, strongly disagreed with including those words of description. As he insightfully said, we need a sense of mystery and to not have every little thing spelled out. I quite agree, and I would not have felt this inclusion necessary if the story had been longer and more detailed; I was presenting the scenario in "broad brush-strokes," which is an effective technique, but also has its limitations.

So I hope my good friend is not too upset that I squeezed this detail in here, down below the finished work. And perhaps this will give future historians of literature and art much to contemplate... ^_^

N.B. #2: This version used the the phrase: "Because of... economic globalization..." which as stated above, was changed to "international economies."