A play about the DRC

Happily, no one reads this anymore so it doesn't really matter what I write, right?

I went to see this play tonight: Ruined by Lynn Nottage. It's set in the DRC in a brothel amid the civil war, the rebel forces, violence, rape, violation of the women and the land, and a whole lot of precious dashed dreams.

Naturally it made me think of this project and this group of people. Are you guys still as invested in the DRC as I am?

http://www.almeida.co.uk/production_details/production_details.aspx?code=91

The play was held together by some really strong performances, and had a really interesting, almost optimistic ending that I didn't know what to make of. I felt throughout that it couldn't possibly end any other way than in continued ruin, destruction and trauma. But it was oddly sweet and hopeful...(After the horror)

It made me think about the inherent colonial experience any western person has when engaging with stories from Africa, and more specifically the DRC. Can I ever rise above the tragedy and accept simple beauties in the situation (of this play, or of the DRC for that matter)? Is it allowed to end on a note of romance (not to spoil the ending too much for you)? Indeed, would it be inhuman to prohibit this narrative craving that we commonly accept in stories about western characters--and everything is solved at the end because they will try to heal their wounds and move on-- ?

If we were still in the midst of that graphic novel project, I would ask the same question of our project. Though it all went by so quickly, I can't even remember how we ended it, to be honest. It's a shame you're not all around to continue the discussion.

Save Gorillas with your iphone

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8687434.stm


iPhone app to help DR Congo mountain gorillas
Baby gorilla in Virunga National Park (file photo courtesy of Gorilla.cd)
About 211 of the great apes are estimated to be living in the park

A mobile phone application has been launched to help protect the critically endangered mountain gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The app, called iGorilla, allows users of iPhones and iPads to follow the lives of gorilla families in the remote forests of the Virunga National Park.

Each app costs $4 (£3), with most of the money going to the park.

The mountain gorilla population has been reduced by poaching, civil conflict, deforestation and disease.

But conservation work is helping to secure the remaining 720 animals, with an estimated 211 of the great apes living in the park.

The new app, launched by the Virunga National Park, allows users to choose a gorilla family, find out about individual members and follow their lives through reports, photographs and videos.

The park straddles the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda, covering 7,800 sq km (3,000 sq miles).

It was declared a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1979.

Dan Archer's Blowin Up

This is somehow turning into the Dan Archer blog. Luckily, no one's reading it anymore.

Here he is on BoingBoing.

Dan Archer Works the Room at APE

Our our Dan Archer at Alternative Press Expo--spreading the word for the Center for Comics Studies and for Virunga.

Look Who's Reading VIRUNGA!

My Daughter Justice Everlasting!

Act 5 pages 13-14 (almost done!)

Note to Sylvia:

Here are the pages for you to reference the women. There's the down trodden bar maid(black scarf and beauty mark), an unhappy woman with boyfriend talking om the phone (striped scarf & black shirt), and then a happy woman with good boyfriend (decorated scarf and hoop earrings). Hope they help!

Thumbs for Act 5 Pages 12-14

Here are the three pages of thumbnails for the pages in chapter 5 before Esther gets the markers from the old artist--pages which Dan drew. I hope these are clear enough. For any questions, call me on my cel 415 990-3869

More crits

Hi Jin,
Apologies for the delay. Jodie's been really ill so we've been in Vaden and the ER the last few days/last night and I've just got back from Summer Camp teaching. I'll post the thumbs on Sun if you haven't thought of a workaround by then. Meantime, here's my thoughts on your blog pages:1. Angle A's gun forward for more alertness and 2.Pull the silhouette of the foregrounded soliders down to make the tree seem bigger.

The Aymar Shooting Pages

Thanks, Dan, for your input. I believe you told me in your email you'd put up a thumbnail for pgs 22-24 and I'd like to know how it's going!

Here are Act 7 pages 21 and 25, and I need some help.

1. On page 21, I want the tree to look big and at a distance. I drew the rebel in the background to give an idea of scale, but I don't know if the tree looks big & far enough. Let me know what I can do to make that happen!

2. On the top third panel on page 25. Aymar is holding his gun, with his back to us. I'm not sure that you can tell that he's holding a gun, because I think technically the gun will be covered by his arm.

Jin's Act 9 pg 13

Thanks for the comment on the cover!
Here's what I did with the crowd scene, Dan. I hope this works!

Dan's Cover 2 cents

Virunga Cover Drafts

The first draft looked too much like Shakegirl, so I changed the background to orange (the top one is most recent draft and the bottom is the first draft). I'm not sure about Malika in the middle. I don't think it shows her drawing. I think we may need a different illustration of Malika. Thanks for all your coments so far, and I hope to see more comments to help me make the cover look good!