Broken Frontier

Writing a regular column is like trying to feed Galactus’ deepest hunger – you have to keep one step ahead…

Only this time, I have been caught out, again. I am truly sorry, but due to a whole mish mash of cosmic circumstances, I can’t bring you the column I wanted to write this fortnight.

I am still waiting to hear back from a couple of creators and studios, some of which won’t be getting back to me for a while due to a series of unfortunate, and unpredictable events.

Industrial Evolution is not the first regular column I have written and Broken Frontier is not the first pop culture web site I have written for. So, coming into this, I tried to get on top of things, setting up as many interviews as possible, and hoping to bring you some exciting creator interviews and other articles of interest.

I have had email snafus and deadline issues and I guess this all comes as part of being a columnist for a site with the profile of Broken Frontier.

In hindsight, I would have kicked this whole thing off differently. It all happened so fast and within about 10 days from the initial email flurry, I was a columnist at one of the most prominent pop culture and comics websites.

I wasn’t ready and I am still playing catch up. As a writer of a fortnightly column, you are always playing catch up.

Industrial Revolution has proved to be an interesting beast over the last few months and I am still trying to understand what this column is all about.

If you look at the other columns on this site, they are all reasonably well defined:

Scott Hinze’s Guiding Lines has a clear purpose: the column exists to spotlight particular comics worthy of a reader’s attention.

Komic Sutra is JP Dorigo’s snapshot of pop culture through his sharp eyes and hilarious keyboard strokes.

Library of Babble is A. Dave Lewis’ exploration of scholarship and writing in the world of comics.

Write Handed is Mark Steensland’s excellent tour through the intricacies of story, and a must-read for any wannabe script monkey.

But what is Industrial Evolution?

When Mike Bullock handed this over to me, it was clear that there was no simple Oxford Dictionary definition of this column and its purpose. To be honest with you, six months in, I still haven’t cracked the code.

This industry doesn’t stop moving, and what I am seeking to do is to capture the odd freeze frame of an incredible, rushing blur of color and movement. Every time I try to wrestle with an idea, a creator or a theme, I hold it for a moment before it takes a life of its own and escapes me.

The best thing that Industrial Evolution has brought me is much, much more than an outlet for my insane ramblings. In the last few months, my eyes have been opened to whole corners of the industry, admittedly deep, dark corners, that I was never aware of before.

That is a good thing.

In my determination to find interesting people to interview and evolutions and revolutions to document, I have found myself straying far from those spinner racks hosting Marvel … I am picking up DC books for the first time in my collecting life and am in the ecstatic throes of discovering the wonders of small press.

So what? Why does that matter to you?

It matters because by becoming a better-educated reader, by becoming far better acquainted with the industry than ever before, I am contacting interesting creators, discovering unique stories and documenting small, incremental shifts that will change the face of comics.

In just the last fortnight, I have discovered a handful of indie creators who I will be interviewing for this column. I have also been building links with some up and coming creators who deserve their moment in the sun.

So, my attitude towards, and philosophy for, Industrial Evolution is changing. I have seen the future of this industry and it is in the BACK of Previews, if it is even in that magazine at all. It is on the internet, on the limitless number of message boards where dreamers congregate looking for collaborators to help bring their stories to life.

It is in the stories themselves, not just the wonderful and wacky tales that grace four color funny books, but the stories of the creators and the fans that the evolution is happening.

So, rather than this column being an indulgent stream of consciousness rant, it is a taste of what I hope to do with Industrial Evolution. I know the ride has been bumpy and uncertain thus far, and I can’t promise you that I know where I am going.

All I can tell you is that I will try my best to make it as enjoyable as possible until we get there.