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Long John

Losing Every Thing Changes Everything

The Long John Primer, Part 4

Jun23
by DBethel on 23 June 2014

The first week of Long John updates hangs overhead and, naturally, I begin to worry.  I want to explain everything before the first page updates; I want to immerse every reader into Long John’s world from the get-go; I want you to know everything about everybody with all the research and changes that have happened since I started putting this thing to paper.  But that’s not how stories work.  I only dole out pieces at a time.  Some pieces you’ll never see, and that’s okay.

What I will do, however, is let you in on a little bit of the background, inspiration, and motivation that has made Long John what it is.  For the last four days, you have been getting chunks of what helped make Long John into the comic it is (or will be).

4.  The Western Factor

I can’t write a primer for a western comic without discussing westerns.  However, it is last on the list for a reason.  I love western movies, but Long John is influenced more by my interest and research into the actual West rather than by fictional versions of it.  That’s not to say that there aren’t some westerns that don’t evoke a similar tone of what I’m going for and, thusly, have influenced Long John.

When it comes to westerns, I’m rather picky and am mostly a Clint Eastwood devotee.  From his filmography, the one that probably fits nicely alongside Long John is High Plains Drifter.  It’s a weird movie, in the sense that it’s uncomfortable, but also “weird” in the literary sense––the bizarre events of the movie seem to be resolved through spooky and supernatural means, but a perfectly logical explanation could also work–we just don’t know.  It’s a great story where everyone in it is rather despicable, but that’s what makes it stand out.  High Plains Drifter is a moral tale, drenched in metaphor and thematics and is a must-see even outside of the Long John context.  Another important aspect that links this movie to Long John is that it was filmed at Mono Lake, where Long John starts.

Yeah, High Plains Drifter is a weird movie. Source: IMDB.com

Yeah, High Plains Drifter is a weird movie. Source: IMDB.com

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The Long John Primer, Part 3

Jun22
by DBethel on 22 June 2014

The first week of Long John updates hangs overhead and, naturally, I begin to worry.  I want to explain everything before the first page updates; I want to immerse every reader into Long John’s world from the get-go; I want you to know everything about everybody with all the research and changes that have happened since I started putting this thing to paper.  But that’s not how stories work.  I only dole out pieces at a time.  Some pieces you’ll never see, and that’s okay.

What I will do, however, is let you in on a little bit of the background, inspiration, and motivation that has made Long John what it is.  For the next two days, you’ll be getting chunks of what helped make Long John into the comic it is (or will be).

3.  The Hammett Factor

Long John isn’t a mystery in the strictest sense; the crux of the story isn’t finding out “whodunit.”  It’s a mystery in the sense that Dashiell Hammett wrote his “hard boiled” detective stories.  These stories are less about finding out what happened and are more about an escalation of events––usually unpleasant ones.  The cacophony of lies, violence, and mystery pile upon each other until it all falls apart and Hammett’s hero (usually a stoic badass) is left standing alone amid the ruin.  In that sense, Long John is very influenced by Hammett.

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The Long John Primer, Part 2

Jun21
by DBethel on 21 June 2014

The first week of Long John updates hangs overhead and, naturally, I begin to worry.  I want to explain everything before the first page updates; I want to immerse every reader into Long John’s world from the get-go; I want you to know everything about everybody with all the research and changes that have happened since I started putting this thing to paper.  But that’s not how stories work.  I only dole out pieces at a time.  Some pieces you’ll never see, and that’s okay.

What I will do, however, is let you in on a little bit of the background, inspiration, and motivation that has made Long John what it is.  For the next four days, you’ll be getting chunks of what helped make Long John into the comic it is (or will be).

2.  The Kurosawa Factor

Among my friends and family, it’s well-known that I am a huge fan of the Japanese director, Akira Kurosawa.  Well, that’s actually a bit bold.  More specifically, I am a die hard fan of his 1961 samurai film, Yojimbo.  Usually, when asked, I say that Yojimbo is my favorite film of all time.  That’s how dear it is to me.  And while Long John is not a re-telling of Yojimbo, it’s hard to discount that there will definitely be Yojimbo-esque elements popping up throughout the story.  The influence of Yojimbo was further driven in when considering how many Westerns and western cinema it influenced (more on Yojimbo’s influence in tomorrow’s post).

An example of Kurosawa's stark composition in Yojimbo. Source: Wikipedia

An example of Kurosawa’s stark composition in Yojimbo.  Source: Wikipedia

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