Life Is Buddha-Ful: Jon Haward Talks TALES OF THE BUDDHA

Did everyone forget about me over here? I've had a lot happening. New home, promotion at work, new 60" HDTV and all-region Blu-Ray player to lure me away. (Anybody seen that glorious new transfer of what we Yanks know as Hammer Films' Horror of Dracula?) And there's this Hulk thing I'm still working on, so, yeah.

But you don't want to hear about any of that. You want to hear about the Buddha. You want to hear about the time he drank twice-passed reindeer urine to get high, or the time he lost a duel against Hercules and ended up having to complete his 10 tasks, including cleaning crap from the Aegean stables.

What's that? You thought the Buddha preached peace, enlightenment, and purity of body?

As the Brits would say, "Bugger that!" I'm talking about the Tales of the Buddha (Before He Got Enlightened), a strip that began life in the U.K. underground comic Northern Lightz and is now being collected--along with some brand-new strips and pin-ups--in Renegade Arts Entertainment's new graphic novel collection of the same name.

I had the insane pleasure of reading the collection, sans bonus material, courtesy the iTunes store ($4.99). Writer Alan Grant (most famous for Judge Dredd and some Batman stories in Detective Comics) has partnered with artist Jon Haward and colorist Jamie Grant to bring the Buddha's adventures to print, and it's been a real hoot. So of course, with the print edition finally on its way in June, I couldn't resist shooting Haward, who's one of my Twitter pals, some questions about his career and about the project.

Haward is no stranger to the comics medium, having grown up reading the work of many greats. "Basically I grew up loving cartoon art in Mad and Cracked, [and artists like] Robert Crumb [and] U.K. comic artists Hunt Emerson, Ken Reid, R.T. Nixon, [and] Leo Baxingdale.," he says.

Although U.S. success has sadly eluded him, he's been quite popular in the U.K. He broke into the business in 1990, filling in for regular series artist David Pugh on the Dan Dare strip in Eagle, and never looked back. British fans have enjoyed his work in 2000 A.D., Thunderbirds Are Go, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Biker Mice From Mars, and an incredible five-year run on the now-defunct Marvel U.K.'s Spectacular Spider-Man series. (Out of 32 stories, we Yanks have only seen one of those tales on these shores!) He's won Bronze Ippy awards for his work on Classical Comics' Macbeth and The Tempest, both adaptations of Shakespeare's famous plays, so he's in no way confined to traditional comics fare.

And on the other hand, there's his humor work, which has spanned such unusually-titled U.K. publications as Shit the Dog, Smut, Toxic Pie, Wasted, and the one in which the foul-mouthed, booze-swilling, womanizing Buddha made his debut, the aforementioned Northern Lightz.

Buddha had its genesis as a one-off tale in the comic series, then edited by Grant. "Alan and I had fun working on short funny stories for Northern Lightz and I told him I would be keen to work on a new character. Alan came up with a two-page Buddha story which made me laugh out loud, still does. The intention was that the strip would be a 3-panel gag strip appearing on different pages [of the comic]. I didn't know this so I drew the panels as a regular two-page strip. Once it appeared both Alan and I wanted to do more...as they say, the rest is history."

Haward greatly enjoys the collaborative process with Grant in Buddha. "Alan writes the scripts. Sometimes I'd ask if we could do certain characters like Hercules, Jason [of "Jason and the Argonauts" fame], Alexander the Great, Cleo, etc." After he received the completed scripts, he would improvise his own ideas into the finished art: "I'd read the script [and] add extra little gags in the panels like the sign on the Jonah Whale, 'Don't call him Moby.'" He credits his love for the cartoonists of his youth for his sensibilities and offers the following advice: "The secret for a great humor story should be the art should be as funny as the gag line. When Buddha is in Mexico he's asked if he would like donkey sex, so I drew a camp donkey with Madonna bra and stockings. (Laughter.) So the line and the art combine to hopefully make you laugh."

Laughter is just what Haward and his collaborators are counting on to overcome the work's air of sacrilege. "It's humor, satire. Buddhists embrace laughter and Buddha as a young man was a prince who sampled all forms of pleasure. If I found the work totally offensive I wouldn't draw it. The work actually makes me laught a lot and has been a good tonic for me over the years. If you are very religious and with a low threshold for adult humor don't buy the book. But if you're open-minded and enjoyed Ted, The Life of Brian, Milk and Cheese, Mr. Natural, Preacher, Lobo, Carry On Cleo...dare I say Benny Hill, you'll enjoy our book."

And if you look at the above list of films, TV series, and other comics that Haward suggests echo the brand of humor found in Buddha, well, the off-beat humor is just what he believes should lure fans to his work. "It's different [and there's] nothing else out there that looks like it, with the borders [and] the 'Buddhaful' coloring. it's satire, spoofing everything from gods to rock stars to princes. He travels through time so he can meet basically anyone on his path to find enlightenment."

Part of the allure of the new edition are the new works therein, which seize upon that very conceit of meeting anybody. "The extra stories in the printed edition are where Buddha helps out Santa and where [he] meets Prince Harry. Both funny strips, and yes, Prince Harry is naked! (Laughter.)" The new works aren't just contained to stories: "Also there will be new pin-ups by Duncan Fegredo, John Ross, Alan Craddock, Simon Williams, Nigel Dobbyn, Jim Stewart, Dave Alexander, [and] Gibson Quarter," giving fans their money's worth.

Unfortunately, further projects are on hold while Haward deals with some health issues. Hopefully, however, he and his collaborators will have other projects at or above the quality level of Buddha. (Who knew the Buddha could make me laugh so hard I cried?)

Do me a favor, do Alan and Jon and Jamie a favor, and order Tales of the Buddha (Before He Got Enlightened). It's in this month's PREVIEWS catalog from Diamond under order code APR131223. If you order from my preferred comic shop, Discount Comic Book Service, you get a 30% discount off the regular price of $14.99USD!

2-for-1 Review: Greg Pak's Vision Machine #1 & 2

Howdy cowpokes!

It's been just over a month since I had the pleasure of picking up Pak Man Productions' Vision Machine #1 from the esteemed Mr. Greg Pak at the New York Comic-Con. I attended a panel about the series, and got my "copy" of the first issue on a USB flash drive emblazoned with the Sprout insignia. (Maybe your local comic shop is one of the lucky ones that has received one of these cool little collector's items, but if not, the series is only as far away as Comixology's web site, or Greg Pak's own Vision Machine site!) Recently I received an advance copy of the second issue (available November 17 at the above locales), and so, since I still haven't reviewed the first issue, herewith I bring you a combo review--two-thirds of the series in one shot!



Greg Pak's Vision Machine has an elegantly simple idea at its core: thanks to the wonders of future technology, everyday people can wear the iEye, a device worn like a pair of glasses that functions as a digital editing suite for the world at large, bringing the wearer's visions to technicolor life and essentially making the Average Joe into a moviemaking pro overnight.

Of course, that's just the start of a storyline that is rife with possibilities. In the first story we're introduced to a triad of friends: the aptly-named Buddy, the main "everyman" protagonist, through whose eyes we see most of the story; Dave, the average guy who wants technology to unite people instead of immerse them in their own worlds; and Jane, the "visionary" of the group who sees the iEye as a means of making all her dreams, literally, come true. Rounding out the cast are Liz Evers, the CEO of Sprout, the company that produces the iEye; Secretary Chavez, who sees the iEye as the boost the economy needs; and Senator Gupta, intent on defending and even beefing up existing intellectual property laws which may well be breached by the iEye technology.

Wisely, Pak sets up the three friends as film graduates who see the iEye technology first as the answer to all their problems. By just purchasing the iEye, they have a special effects budget that's virtually unlimited--the only limitation being their imaginations. For Buddy, iEye allows him to host "Buddy's Luv Sho," a political sex spoof that spells trouble for a sitting U.S. Senator who apologizes for behavior seen through the iEye, which Buddy then admits was totally imaginary. Dave treats the iEye somewhat more respectfully, creating a documentary whereby his father, a sheriff on the border between the U.S. and Texas, has his iEye linked with an illegal immigrant whose husband was killed by one of the sheriff's deputies. Meanwhile, Jane's dreaming gifts make her very important to Sprout, and very, very popular to the teeming masses.



The first issue establishes a lot of setup in a short time, and Pak perpetually moves forward in his narrative, introducing concept after concept, each building on the one before. For a story taking place in the future, it certainly deals with many of today's trending technology topics, ranging from the right to privacy, to copyright and licensing laws, to what exactly is in the fine print when you click those "I agree" buttons on any program's End User License Agreement. He leavens the piece with some modest humor (Buddy's show, and section 7 of Sprout's mission statement, for starters) but never loses focus. The first story concludes with an alliance between Sprout and the Department of Homeland Security in an effort to find a missing girl, which subtly brings up those privacy issues and propels the narrative forward in an interesting fashion.



In the second issue, a year has passed, and the long-term effects of the iEye on society are felt. Virtually everyone wears the iEye, and in fact, Buddy gets called out by his boss for keeping the glasses on but not being on the "Sproutville" grid being relentlessly bombarded by advertisements and everything else that's projected through the iEye. Even though he's the "most productive member of [his] unit," culture is so centered around the iEye he's being punished for not doing his part. He talks with Dave, who's enamored with the freedom of the iEye, particularly those concerning the one-click-and-it's-paid-for licensing structure--too enamored to see the developing catastrophe. And Jane seems to be deeper in Sproutville than ever. Meanwhile, Liz Evers finds herself on the outs with Sprout, at odds with Secretary Chavez. Those EULAs everyone clicked through without reading really do come back to bite everyone on the butt in some heartbreaking ways. The storyline really doesn't feel soft through this middle third, but again there is a lot of information being thrown at the reader on every page, this time mostly without the same humor as in the first story. When we arrive at the end of this story, we've seen the rise of a resistance to the Sproutville world, and learn what Jane's really been up to, setting up the climactic third act for next month.

I must say, after reading these first two issues of the planned three-issue miniseries, that Pak has quite an imagination and treats the concepts introduced herein with the gravitas they deserve. Artists R.B. Silva, Alexandre Palomaro, DYM, and Java Tartaglia improve from issue to issue, with a nice, clean style and colors that pop. It's a great premise made all the more interesting by its presentation in the online format, and its distribution under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike License. In layman's terms, it uniquely allows other creators to build upon the work non-commercially, as long as they credit Pak Man Productions. In other words, while the series does a fine job of introducing this brave new world and its inherent conflicts, this could well be only the beginning of the Vision Machine. Conceivably we could see other adventures designed by others, bringing to light other facets of Sproutville, using Pak's original manuscript here as guidepath and venturing out into unknown waters. We could see critical discussions on par with what I witnessed at the New York Comic Con panel. The possibilities are endless!



Make no mistake: Pak and Silva's Vision Machine is top-notch from top to bottom, filled with intriguing concepts and frightening warnings of the not-too-distant future. If the third and final (?) issue of the series is anywhere near as interesting as these first two, we're in for a treat. So do yourself a favor, if you're a reader of Pak's Incredible Hulks, or Incredible Hercules, or Magneto: Testament, or any of his other work, or if you're a fan of speculative fiction, or crazy sci-fi, or technology-run-amok stories, make your way to http://www.visionmachine.net and buddy up with Buddy, Dave, and Jane.

~G.

Publicity info for Vision Machine:

VISION MACHINE #2 (of 3)
Pak Man Productions
Written by Greg Pak
Pencils by R.B. Silva
Inks by DYM and Alexandre Palomaro
Colors by Java Tartaglia
Letters by Charles Pritchett

Follow Sprout CEO Liz Chitkala Evers on Twitter @sproutboss

Follow "Vision Machine" writer Greg Pak on Twitter @gregpak

SOLICIT:

In the year 2061, Sprout Computers releases the iEye, a pair of glasses that allow you to effortlessly record, edit, and add special effects to anything you see -- and instantly share it with the world. It's all of the insane potential of digital media and social networking at the speed of thought, and three film grads named BUDDY, DAVE, and JANE have embraced the new dream. But now the other shoe's about to drop... Don't miss the second issue of "Planet Hulk" writer Greg Pak's insane new sci fi story, gloriously pencilled by up-and-coming superstar R.B. Silva ("Jimmy Olsen").

WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING:

"Pak is absolutely on fire here... Meanwhile, RB Silva is creating some of the most intricate and well rounded art of his career."

-- MultiversityComics.com

"Somewhere on the cynicism scale between Warren Ellis and Cory Doctorow, Greg Pak creates a story that makes you reexamine your iPhones and Twitter feeds, wondering, just whose future are they truly benefiting?"

-- FloppyTown

"Book of the Week" honors from Awesomed By Comics