Hi, Folks!

Tomorrow the “Watchmen” makes its premiere on the big screen, and I couldn’t be more psyched up for this. I also have mixed feelings about it. On one hand, this is the so-called “unfilmable” graphic novel, but Zack Snyder has already got a reputation for remaining loyal to his source material. On the other hand, this movie is going to be unlike any of the other superhero movies that have preceded it, and I really don’t expect most mainstream American moviegoers to get it.

I could be wrong. I really didn’t think the “Lord of the Rings” could be made into an enjoyable movie, yet Peter Jackson brilliantly directed and co-wrote it, making it perhaps the greatest movie(s) ever made. Zack Snyder certainly made 300 into an exciting movie.

Casting my mind back, I can see that certain movies I’ve watched had a big impact on what and how I write. The list is rather varied:

Little Big Man
Mystery Men
Seven
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
The Boys From Brazil
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The Lion In Winter
Time After Time

Recently, I’ve been doing some research on color symbolism, or how I could better use color as a storytelling tool in Johnny Saturn. I had been reading a new book, “The Insider’s Guide to Creating Comics and Graphic Novels” by Andy Schmidt, and while the book overall is quite good, there was some information about the use of color in comics that didn’t quite sit right with me. For example, its suggestion that heroes usually wear primary colors, and villains secondary colors, struck me as far too simplistic. Also, the idea that the color green has evil implications surprised me.

Before I really dug in and tried to decipher how color could best be used, though, I figured it would be best if I covered what my initial ideas about color symbolism are.

Red: Passion, Rage, Lust, Intense Emotion, Emergency
(Pink): Girls
Orange: No real preconceived notion on the meaning of orange.
Yellow: Sunlight, Intelligence
(Gold): Wealth, Prestige
Green: Nature, Earth
Blue: Boys, Sky,
Violet/Purple: Royalty, Spirituality

As you can imagine, I soon discovered that my personal color symbolism list is too short. As I develop this list, I’ll post it here in the blog. This subject is important, because color is an important tool in setting the mood in a given scene or panel.