Since Eternal Brink is the first comic story of its kind, there may not be an immediate understanding of how it works. Here’s a brief guide.
There is an ongoing story that is an overlay of my life. Think of how Buffy attended school during the day but slayed vampires at night. Now imagine Buffy was real. That is my situation. I am living my life while telling this story of what is happening to me (that is the fantasy element meeting my reality).
Here’s a general order of how the story works.
- I write the story.
- I adapt the story as my life plays out (e.g., if I take a trip to another city, you might see it in the story)
- I take photos. The photos are either real or staged. Real photos are typically something I come across such as waking up to snowstorm, or something I do in life, such as having dinner with friends. Staged photos are needed to move the story along. Every once in a while, I get together with the “actors” (my friends) and we film (photograph) our actions. The photos are taken with an iPhone.
- The photos are converted into comic book format. There is little to no editing.
- The photos get published onto the Eternal Brink Instagram account.
- Next to each photo, the narrative is written from my perspective. For those who don’t have Instagram or prefer to follow on the web, this website re-publishes the content. The frequency of publishing is a little random. It is based on how many photos are ready to be published and how much of the story that goes with each photo has been written (this stuff is very time consuming, so please be patient as you await the next part of the story).
- Feedback from readers can guide the story. Readers can submit photos along with ideas for how they can participate, to try to become part of the story.