Why I made this web site

My name is Chris Tolworthy. I used to collect comics, had a break for 18 years, then came back. My favorite book was the Fantastic Four, I loved the stories by Lee and Kirby, Roy Thomas and Rich Buckler, George Perez, and John Byrne. The font used on this web site is based on the classic Fantastic Four title.

I didn’t care much for the fighting, but I loved the sheer joy of life, and the constant character development and fantastic new places and new ideas. I loved the optimism, the love, the ‘science,’ the interesting people they met, and seeing “the first family of Marvel” growing and developing as individuals. And I loved the stories that had a bit more depth, like that issue of The Thing where we discover that Lockjaw can speak.

But when I came back after 18 years I found that the stories and characters had not developed or changed at all. They had become frozen in time, and nothing in the 18 years I missed made any serious difference to any of them. And when there is a good story it is soon forgotten - continuity means nothing, nothing matters enough to have consequences.

When I speak to people about this, and I discuss the stories as if they are real (as you do with good fiction), even the fans say “oh they’re just comics, don’t expect too much.” And I discover that my favorite Lockjaw story (allegedly) never happened, he never talked, it was just a joke. Finally, as icing on the cake, now that I am old enough to afford to buy a few more comics than before, I find that the price has skyrocketed and I still can’t afford to buy more than one or two!

So I made this web site. It’s a statement that comics can be more than that. We can have superheroes who grow and develop (hence the Campaign for Real Time). The stories can make sense on their own terms, even when you examine the craziest stuff in detail (hence the Superhero Science pages). Comics can be good value for money. And Lockjaw really did talk, and really is the coolest character in comics.

People say “why bother? It’s just a comic.” But what is a comic except a combination of books and art? Should we give up on books? Is art just for kids? Comics can potentially go further than other books or art, by creating a huge virtual universe, constantly updating, full of incredible ideas and thousands of amazing characters, where we can explore and discover and learn and be awed. Regular books can’t do this, they haven’t got the visual impact or shared universe. Games and TV shows can’t do this, because it’s still too expensive to create the visual effects consistently over so many years. Comics have a unique opportunity to be the most powerful and challenging and far reaching form of fiction.

If books matter, if art matters, if ideas matter, then comics can matter. I am saddened when even comics creators see them as temporary and shallow, and nobody seems to see their potential or lavish care on them. Where is the vision? (And don’t say with the scarlet witch, I’m making a serious point here!)

I want characters that are challenging, worlds that make sense, comics that are affordable, and stories with direction that grow and develop forever. That’s why I made this web site.

The other web sites

I love stories that are good natured and mind expanding, about discovering new worlds and new ideas[1].That’s why I made a tribute site to the game Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders. Adventure games are a bit like comics - or could be, potentially, if people focused on the story instead of the technology. So instead of just complaining about comics, I’m doing something about it. I don’t think I could make a living as a comic artist, but I think I can make a crack at making a video game that’s full of new worlds and big ideas and character development, and if it succeeds maybe others would get involved and it would get bigger. If you’re interested, visit my game site.

As for the land rent site, well I’m a Georgist, but that’s a whole other topic.

Thanks for reading!

*  Yet strangely I never got into Star Trek. Too much time spent in the ship because of budget constraints. And I was always suspicious of the polits of the Federation - I blame Blake’s Seven.

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