Friday, April 17, 2015

Moving Past the Wandering Womb


Here is another issue relating to LGBT rights. I chose to do an issue about it because the supreme court is currently debating it. I try to avoid doing too many issues in a row about the same topic, but my passions have been inflamed by the current round of this controversy.

I found this issue hard to write. I thought about it for hours, I did some other things while I was thinking on it, before coming up with this comic. I don't think this one represents me at my best.

The main issue for me in criticizing this topic is that none of the arguments against same sex marriage resonate with me. None. When people say God is against it, well, I'm agnostic. I can't be scared of something I don't believe in. I don't want to use the argument that God doesn't exist, because I'm agnostic. I don't know the answer. I can't disprove God and I don't like disrespecting people's beliefs. I just can't wrap my head around the argument.

I don't understand why people can't accept evolution, plate tectonics, and the biological origins of homosexuality when the Bible is scientifically inaccurate on so many things. Christians accept that the Earth revolves around the sun without giving up their faith. I may be undecided on God, but I am certain that the Bible did not actually happen as described. With the miracles and the fire and brimstone. Those things I reject.

I also don't understand people saying marriage promotes procreation. I never knew something like sex required marketing. People seem perfectly willing to fuck and the high incidence of shotgun marriages during times when having children out of wedlock supports this.

I don't agree with the idea that kids require both a mother and a father. I don't even think marriage is a panacea.  Evidence suggests it is better for kids to have their parents divorce than have an abusive parent or parents who hate each other. Studies show children of gay couples aren't harmed by the experience.

Personally, I think I would want to marry a woman if I got her pregnant. I just don't think I should have a right to dictate that choice for everyone else. There are many people I can think of who had difficult family situations and ended up fine, even wildly successful. 

It seems self evident to me that all people deserve equal treatment and that homosexuality is not a choice. So, I have a hard time even discussing this topic with people who disagree.

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

My first Webcomic, Geek Force, will be returning Friday May 22nd


Seven years ago today I launched my very first Webcomic. I was a month away from graduating High School and didn't know dick about making Webcomics. I couldn't draw worth a damn and rushed myself into production on the comic. I committed myself to a production schedule I could not keep.

Not surprisingly, a little over than one year later that Webcomic fizzled out. I have launched two Webcomics in the interim. One that ran for about three years and is kind of alive now in a sporadic form. The other is ongoing and has been updating for a year and a half. Hopefully that one will continue for years to come.

Even with the new Webcomics I had always vowed to bring Geek Force back. To finish telling my story. I have brought it up from time to time. I posted some scripts and rough artwork for Geek Force exactly two years ago today.

Tonight I am pleased to announce that finally, Geek Force will be returning to the site for good. On Friday May 22nd, the reboot of Geek Force will launch. It is now entitled Ostraka. It is no longer a comedy, it is no longer so overtly political. That is what my Vociferations are for. It is now an action drama series.

The comic will post six pages each week. I had mentioned previously I was hoping to release Ostraka in bigger blocks of pages than that. This is still the case. Four issues make one chapter and each issue ends like the acts of television shows inbetween commercials. The only reason I am not releasing chapters all at once is because while seasons might work on TV they don't really work for Webcomics. 

In the coming weeks between now and May 22nd, I will be revealing the new names for the characters on this blog and on my website.
 
Even with the change in tone, and the fact that I am trying a genre I have never made a Webcomic in before, I hope all of my readers will give Ostraka a chance. I think this dystopian action comic I the best one I can possibly make and I am proud of it.

Friday, April 3, 2015

The Christian Right does not agree with my definition of "Freedom"



This issue is about a ballot initiative to repeal Springfield, MO's non-discrimination ordinance specifically, and about Indiana and Arkansas more generally.

I mentioned in a post before that I regretted not being more vocal in my support for gay marriage in the past, so of course I must criticize these "religious freedom" laws.

I do not agree with the Christian Right that their religion gives them the right to discriminate against Homosexuals.

I still think that the Christian Right is standing on the wrong side of history, I still think that the momentum is against them, but, I think it is important to speak out in this case. They are getting laws passed. The Christian Right possesses political power in this country outsized to the general population. It is a good lesson in why we need to be more politically active. That way one or two radical groups cannot control our government.

It sickens me that the local slogan for our anti-discrimination ordinance is "faith, family, freedom", again, I strongly disagree with the notion of religious freedom being put forth here. Especially when they are trying to deny the freedom of others. If someone is paying you for a service, it in no way implies you endorse them by providing it.