Erstellt am: 31. 1. 2012 - 12:45 Uhr
Today's Webtip: Life before the Internet
Whenever I try to think back on life before online, it feels like my head is going to explode. I can vaguely remember long nights on BBS's, the joy of some obscure 7" arriving in the mail, sneaking on a bus to the downtown record store and hours browsing the newsagent next door to it.
But the long stretches of time in between get fuzzy. I can't remember how I managed to stay in touch with people while wandering around the U.S. and Europe, although I can remember the horror of losing my plastic bag containing my telephone books and scraps of paper.
I can also remember wandering around Prague for hours trying to find a functioning pay-phone to reach my contact there. But that's about it.
Or it was, until I ran across alienage11.com
Johni White alienage11.com
It's the homepage of a comic created by a lone boy in Ireland at the end of the 70's. A boy too young to get into the theater to actually see Alien. So he made his own comic, referring to the novelization and scraps of information he was able to round up. And it let loose torrent of memories of being a comic nerd in the nether-years.
The site itself features scans of the comic, as well as information on the creation, some entertaining comments, and background info on the film that really makes it worth reading.
Of coure, it wasn't the first foray into fandom. The same artist created his own version of star wars as well. At the ripe old age of 9, after seeing the movie once, he started to draw it.
Jhhni White starwarsage9.com
Needless to say, the art might not be the greatest, but there is still some considerable charm to it. Considering the age and relative isolation of the young boy in question I would call it amazing.
Because, despite my midwestern childhood, I at least had access to the full onslaught of the Lucas marketing machine, and I was lucky enough to have a crew of comic book fans and wannabe artists who I could hang out with to make our own works. And despite those advantages, nothing quite as epic came of it.
The best thing about it has to be the feeling that he didn't just draw these comics. He read them. Over, and over.