Web Logs
10/13/2001 - Terminal City
I love the work of Dean Motter . He's graphic novelist who shares my enthusiasm for the retro-futuristic, the antique moderne. His latest effort is entitled ELECTROPOLIS . It even has a great Flash enabled website to see.
I love the early futurist movement. The aesthetic styling alone are enough to hook me. All those great curvy Flash Gordon lines and clunky mechanical details. But its the underlying message that I've always identified with: If there's a faith to be had, it should be science and progress, not religion and superstition.
I also admire the raw optimism of the time. An almost giddy belief that THE FUTURE ( say it loudly with reverb on your voice ) would hold all the answers for mankind.
Of course, Mr. Motter's worlds are more noir dystopias than urban paradises, but the dysfunctional always makes for a better story. Who wants to read about life in a perfect a world? Yawn..
Still, even with the excessive optimism absent, he manages to capture a great deal of the feel of that era, and certainly has the look down pat.
Interesting to note that years before I ever read one of his books, I found a poster (pictured above) of his I really liked. My Ex Tom had it framed for me.
There is a good interview of Mr. Motter in Real format here . A brief bio of him is located here .
