FLU is a story about one man barricaded in his house at the onset of a worldwide influenza epidemic. Trapped by fear, broken by loneliness, and devastated as he watches the world die helplessly from his own home. Will he face the inevitable?
About author Anthony Fontana As an artist, Anthony has exhibited work throughout the Midwest and in online and virtual world spaces. He is the author of the graphic novel THE DOGS. His last series of work focused on expressing internet memes through a variety of mediums, such as drawing, print, and sculpture. He is currently combining Buddhist iconography with American pop cultural references.
My first graphic novel, THE DOGS (http://thedogs.anthonyfontana.com) tells the story of four Cleveland cops who wear dog masks to execute brutal acts of vigilantism. When they inadvertently cross a line with a gang of Furries, people who wear animal costumes for fun, a gang war ensues. Two lovers are caught in the crossfire, one Dog, one Furry. In the end, only one gang can survive. THE DOGS took two years to complete from written script, to storyboards, pencils on traditional comic boards, inks, lettering done with Adobe Illustrator, and final production done in Adobe Photoshop. It was originally released, print-on-demand at the 2007 Wizard Comic Con in Chicago. A free version has also been available in the virtual world of Second Life since its release.
About FLU: FLU is a story about one man confronting himself and his way of life while barricaded in his house at the onset of a worldwide influenza epidemic. Trapped by fear, broken by loneliness, and devastated as he watches the world die helplessly from his own home, how will he face the inevitable - his own death?
Underlying themes:
Making FLU:The idea for FLU came to me several years ago after making THE DOGS. I have a few rough drafts for a script done and will likely be posting some of them soon. Making a graphic novel is a long process, the last one took me over two years. I’m sure this one will take as long if not longer. I think ^IfMine is the perfect place for me to Evolve this project; from script, to storyboards, to graphic novel. I'm also thinking about using celtx.com to begin the scripting and storyboarding.
Print or Digital? My last book was made the old fashioned way with pen and paper. However, it was distributed in both print and digital format (PDF and web). With advancements in motion comics (see Marvel’s Infinite comics and Operation Ajax for iPad) and especially HTML5 (see Adobe Edge) motion techniques I’m questioning what format I want FLU take. I've made another ^IfMine project to do that research on here: http://ifmine.com/project/anthonyfontana/66/html5-motion-comics.
Story: Act 1: Media blitz and panicOur character isn't feeling well and stays home from work with his dog. He's big into social media and we see him following the buzz of a growing flu outbreak alongside government and cultural reactions. After the reality of the situation sets in, our character puts plastic up on all his windows and essentially boards up his house. Media frenzy onslaught that slows to a crawl...Fear of death sets in. Questions about the meaning of life, what the hell has he been doing with his, and general panic set in. Inner monologue or talking to dog?
Act 2: Isolation and DepressionAfter the internet goes down our character takes to reading books and watching movies. Some end of the world pop culture references will be thrown around. Depression sets in as he gets lonely and his food sources become scarce. Withdrawal symptoms commence without internet. He begins reading a book about finding your inner self. Tries meditation, escapes into "happy place". Gets angry that it hasn't solved anything. Dog gets violent as a result of little food tries to bite him. They fight and he locks dog in bathroom. Cries.
Act 3: Hope and AcceptanceSits outside bathroom. Continues talking to dog who is dying from starvation. Considers putting dog out of it's misery. Sees someone walking outside. Person is limping. Afraid to call out, since they might be infected. Begins to meditate again. Gains some insight into the nature of his own grasping and delusions. Begins to accept fate.Opens bathroom to find dog weak and near death. Tears and goodbye. Sees person walking down street again. Decides to go outside and make contact. Walks up to person calling to them. They finally turn around. (Surprise ending?? It's a zombie.)
Forms & Ideas: Single page stories Inclusion tweets or other social posts YouTube vlog recordings Moments of isolation where Internet and other behavioral addictions and withdrawal are witnessed Inclusion of texts for story or emails he begins to write Editing of his profiles despite the fact no one would see it.
Anthony was the Lead Designer at ^IfMine during the 2013 launch. He's also a: Geek, Artist, Educator, Learning Technologist, App Designer, Graphic Nov...
