Is it an artist’s place to talk about guns? Especially when said artist, me, is just an “alien” in the country he chose to live in. Let’s be clear. I will not address Gun Control in America. I have no part in this debate.
I just can tell how I feel, from a World Citizen, a Human being point of view.
Timing is everything, right? I’ve been working on a fan-art piece for Mags Visaggio’s book Kim&Kim for a while now. May be a couple of months, if not more. Many factors prevented me from finishing it before (let’s not get into that).
I’ve been excited by the K&K project from the start.
First, it’s a Black Mask Studio series and I’ve made no mystery how much I love the comics these folks put on the market. Intelligent. Well made. Diverse. Respectful of creators. BMS is the kind of publisher I’ve been dreaming of working with.
Second, I met Mags Visaggio. Well, if you don’t know her story, Mags wasn’t always called that way. She transitioned. When I met her, she was called and look different. It’s funny because I still have her previous business card and when she surfaced as Mags, it took me a moment to realize it was the same person I met a few months before.
Anyhow… I’ve started following Mags’ feed. And I admit I liked the way she put herself on the map. Here we have a young comic book creator. Talking about herself. Talking about her upcoming comic book series. About what it is to go from a gender to another. The trials. The tribulations. The challenges. Mags is real. She’s a real person. I don’t know her very very well, we only chatted a couple of times. But I respect her. And, after reading the preview of her book, I know she’s going to be a great addition to our big twisted comic book family. I loved the Kim&Kim universe so much that I did something I’ve never done before: a fan art! (that was before the Red Hook thing I did too).
The idea came quickly after I discovered a rifle gun shaped hookah on the web. I wanted to make a funny poster with it. Then I was called to other projects and couldn’t complete it.
Last week end, the Orlando tragedy happened.
I felt the need to do something about it. Because I’m not exactly a gun lover, quite the opposite, and I can’t stand what’s going on with LGBTQ hate. I can’t stand people rising against each other. Shooting at each other. Those who think guns are a solution to problems can stop reading. We’re not going to be friends.
What can an artist do? Write about it. Draw about it. Make people think about it. I immediately thought about that unfinished Kim&Kim piece. I added a couple of things, changed the tagline to reflect what I feel guns should ONLY be used for (smoking ^^). I ran it by Mags before posting. She asked me to change a small thing and here we are.
Kim&Kim#1 will be available in July. And I strongly recommend we all buy a copy or two.
Oh, and by the way… I don’t smoke hookah or anything for that matter. Not my style. 😉
To be continued…
F.