sequential trauma

introduction

2008-01-20T14:00:00.000+05:00

This is a design assignment for college.
I wanted to highlight some of the conventions of comics by breaking them.
My aim was to take a basic superhero conflict and see how far I could push it.

An index of urdu terms used can be found below.
The cover page, page 03 and page 07 are meant to be viewed with 3-d glasses.

2008-01-20T13:00:00.000+05:00

presentation

2008-01-20T12:15:00.000+05:00

Sequential Trauma was presented as a set of nine mounted panels. Pairs of 3-d glasses were hung in front of the relevant pages.
Also present was the whole thing compiled in book form, atop a specially constructed dais.
I will put up a picture as soon as one is available.

concepts explored

2008-01-20T06:00:00.000+05:00

3-D anaglyphic imagery:
Arooj (Urdu for 'zenith') can unconsciously bend reality. Whenever he's flying, or punching through a car, the 2-d reality of the comic page is being distorted, heightened so that an observer
within it finds it difficult to interpret. However, we in the 3-d world may make sense of this given the proper viewing equipment.

Akhirat's/The End's subversion:
The End is someone who has been driven insane by the knowledge that he is trapped in a piece of comic fiction. He seeks to destroy his reality.
On page 5 his assault causes the comic page to bleed ink, devolve into rough sketches until finally page 6 is reduced to script - all the images have been drained out.
The End is finally dealt with when Arooj throws him through the surface of the page and traps him on the back cover.

index

2008-01-20T02:27:00.000+05:00

Farishta: Angel.
Haraam: Forbidden by God.
Dajjal: A false messiah. Analogous to the Christian Antichrist.
Junaid Jamshed: A controversial Pakistani celebrity. Gained prominence with the seminal pop group 'The Vital Signs'; years later he 'found Allah' and condemned music as essentially sinful.
Tablighi: A member of the 'tablighi jamaat', 'the party that spreads the faith'; an islamist movement.
Jadoo: Magic.
Djinn: Arabic root of the English word 'genie', can be used to mean monster.
Qayamat: The apocalypse.
Vital Signs: Seminal Pakistani pop act from the late 80s/early 90s.