ill theatre narative

It was a nice run of strips, two week's worth before I lost my nerve.

To be honest when the storyline started I didn't really have much of a clue, just needed to get out of reality, and into some other world where things happen.

Of course, ever since last year I had this image in my head of leading an army of giant spiders to castle Bowlie whilst it burned, but I wasn't sure how to get there, just random exploring of the internet and chatting to Robster on MSN.

Damned MSN, there's something up with my internet at home, still can't get on MSN or check my email, well, I can use a webmessenger sometimes and I can pick up the email on my fancy new phone, but its not quite the same.

So when the call to return to Bowlie came through, it was a bit of a windfall for the webcomic storyline, seeing old chums again, talking to folk for the first time in years. Like the time travel webcomic from last month, there were tears in mine eyes.

Alas the internet is very different from real life. Some bits looks familiar and with the online presense some bits of real life feel more familiar. It was a weird evening when I wandered back into The Buffalo Bar, the place has the same colourscheme as the messageboard, same folk too, kind of.

Soon the crushing loneliness set in again, its still me under this mask, with the same fears and anxieties, and the same crazinesses.

God knows where the storyline was going, getting up to the blogger balloons to find them empty or something, crazy adventures floating around. I had this idea of visiting the secret garbage continent in the Pacific, welding together a load of lumps of plastic and starting a new civilisation.

Alas, I lost it. As an avatar of the matrix between real life and bowlie, I lost it, thought too hard and couldn't face going on.

It was only after I posted the thing with the balloons, that I realised I was back to the falling motif that I've used a couple of times before on ill theatre. Its like a default state.

So from the artist's side of things, it was a warm and rich world of castles, giant spiders, dinosaurs and balloons, familiar faces and unexplained stuff. But god knows what it looked like to a casual observer or even folk with some depth of perception, was there enough hinted at to flesh it all out. Whilst possibly only folk who were party to an obscure bowlie thread months ago would have got the spiders thing, what would anyone else make of it, just surreal adventure?

Where now?

Back in the office / factory / car, looking down at my coffee and trudging along until the next spark of inspiration carries me away.

Thanks for coming anyway, and thanks.