#HUDSON NEW YORK

[naylandblake]

[doshmanziari]

Hey, everyone.

In 2022, I wrote and illustrated a short comic book which I published and sold copies of at that year’s MICE. Entitled Adyton, it was a brief exploration of what I'd very loosely call the close encounter phenomenon, with an emphasis on the abduction aspect. Since then, I’ve wanted to expand on the book; but, as is usual for me, I have to ruminate on something for a long while until embarking on the project feels right. This recently happened, and I’ve decided to entitle what I intend to be my first complete and long-form graphic novel Can You See Behind the Moon? I’m not going to say where the title comes from, and will leave it to those who are more familiar with some of the paranormal literature to recognize its origin.

Over the years, I’ve made sputtering attempts at other graphic novels, but the lack of a clear narrative direction for one doomed it to oblivion (Underbrickers), while the creative momentum of the other seemed bound to a very particular timeframe (Grim Synergy). Differently, I see this project as encompassing ideas which, to varying degrees, are present within my mind every day, or every other day, and I do think it can be sustained by that persistence. If I were forced to speak in very general and perhaps reductive terms about Can You See Behind the Moon?, it is my attempt to explore possibilities implied by close encounters in a way which emphasizes a deep and occulted relationship humanity appears to have with itself, the cosmos, and what one might term the evolutionary impulse.

The first four pages you see here (not counting the cover) are recreations of Adyton’s first six pages. As should be apparent, the narrative is not linear. Like Adyton, the plot sometimes progresses according to visual resonances which can also be interpreted as conceptual resonances. For instance, the as-yet-unnamed young man’s finger-gun gesture becomes the transitional point for a reference to the so-called Kelly-Hopkinsville encounter, wherein guns figured prominently, and unusually.

To be clear, this work has been done very quickly, in the interest of submitting it to relevant publishers as proof-of-concept material, and so that I’m able to maintain a pace of a couple of pages every two or three days (while also producing “fine art” for gallery shows, to say nothing of various other side projects). But I also like the roughness of the drawings, and the color of the newsprint paper… so, the making of these has also carried with it pleasure and occasional surprise at the results. Since I’ve decided to work within a limited palette, I’m relying heavily upon the linework.

For Christmas last year, my partner — somewhat regretfully — got me a comic book about UFOs published the same year by Dark Horse. I write “somewhat regretfully” because she didn’t really like the look of it; and when I received it I had to agree: the art is so simplistic, mundane, and ugly that I don’t think I’ll ever do more than skim some of the pages (the author also seems to have only done the bare minimum of research regarding Betty and Barney Hill’s case). But I’ve used the book as a point of motivation: surely, if something that bland could get green-lit by a fairly well-known comics publisher, then my work stands a chance.

Another one of my particularities is that I tend to get through projects more quickly when I don’t assign their completion an arbitrary date, and also when I don’t make myself beholden to publicizing all of the progress. I don’t intend on making a Kickstarter or anything for this — unless it becomes necessary — so I’m not sure when I’ll be prepared to share more. But, the time will come.

Anyway — even if there’s not much here yet, thanks for looking!

[joshuallyman]

hudson, ny // 35mm

[the64thfloor]

JUNE 2024 - BEFORE THE INJURY (LMAOOO)

IG: @xkolbyxx

TWITTER/X: @xkolbyxx

[theragingmoon]

I'm listening to the audiobook version of Big Swiss and of course I'm looking up real estate in Hudson right now

[toyastales]

Hudson Yards, New York

[1976desire]

bob dylan & the band, woodstock, ny, 1967

[pro-royalty]

Shannon Thornton x Marsai Martin (NYFW’2023)

[emaadsidiki]

Hudson Valley At Dusk 🟠🔸🟡🔹🔵

[northameicanblog]

Little island, Manhattan, New York: Little Island at Pier 55 is an artificial island and a public park within Hudson River Park, just off the western coast of Manhattan in New York City. Designed by Heatherwick Studio, it is near the intersection of West Street and West 13th Street in the Meatpacking District and Chelsea neighborhoods of Manhattan. Wikipedia

[thesaurushouseofdesign]

Benjamin V. Wolf (Aka Wolfhouse) Residence,

Newburgh, New York’s Hudson Valley,

Designed in 1949 by Philip Johnson,

Restored by Jiminie Ha and Jeremy Parker

[60swonderland]

the band photographed by elliott landy at woodstock, ny, 1969🌟🌿🎻

[newyorkthegoldenage]

Looking out at the icy waters of the Hudson, with Manhattan in the background, January 29, 1936.

Photo: Associated Press

[nemfrog]

"Proposd tunnel under the Hudson River." Marvelous wonders of the whole world. 1886.

Internet Archive

[lionofchaeronea]

Title: A View of the Two Lakes and Mountain House, Catskill Mountains, Morning Artist: Thomas Cole (American [born England], 1801-1848) Date: 1844 Genre: landscape painting Medium: oil on canvas Location: Brooklyn Museum

[wgm-beautiful-world]

NEW YORK CITY