The first, while pinpointing a very specific juncture in time in its title, The Four Infinities of June 12th, 200 & 6, seems to center thematically around the infinite; in particular, the inifinite as it is manifested within each individual, and what it means for two infinities to encounter one another.
The third, an excerpt from a work entitled The Dust Dunes of Old Earth, seems to draw on "traditional" sci fi to describe the descent of an explorer (archaeological, or geological, perhaps?) who has been fired deep into the heart of a dune, protected by a unique type of one-man vessel.
The second story in the collection, and also the longest, describes two people adrift on a giant animal's ribcage after a Rapture- or Apocalypse-like event has left the Earth unpopulated and landless. From Ship of Bone:
It was spoken of in whispers, she thought while idly running her hands down the shaft of the great rib supporting the boat. She looked down, moving her hand down to where the shaft met the sea below, the shin-deep layer of the sea of blood that always sat on the foot of the boat, no matter how often it was bailed. She looke dout into the expanse of the great red ocean, that was all-inclusive seeeming, and unending, for with the layer of sea-blood concealing the base of the boat, it was as if there was no end to the sea; all was connected."
Ancient Egypt's author, Ian McDuffie, shared some of his thoughts on this, some of his other projects, and zines in general with me via email recently.
CUL: What was the first self-published thingie you ever made? When & why?
IM: The first self-published thing I made . . . was a mini-comic called "Good-Bye, The Pig," which I did in winter of 2008, at the end of my senior year at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I was in a class called "Indie Comics/Self-Publishing" that was taught by local comics-man Jeremy Tinder. This was a really fantastic class where the goal was completing a 21-page mini-comic that we had to sell at one of the local comic stores around town. It was a great assignment because there was no way to put off the 'actually going into a store and asking them to carry your book' part, which was something I had been way too nervous to do before.
The book itself was a story about trying to move away from relying on your fantasy world to make all your decisions for you. It's something I've never actually succeeded fully in doing. For a first book, I'm pretty proud of how it turned out, despite the fact I think my choice of cover color makes it look like a New Mexican travel guide (I am from New Mexico, I have seen many).
CUL: What attracted you to the zine format?
IM: Zine-making and self-publishing is wondrous to me simply because it's something you can actually do, not just a mythical too-hard-to-do thing! I think it's fantastic that anyone (anyone!) in the world can go to a copy machine and make a fuabajillion copies of their art or their writing or their anything and toss it at the world. For me, it's a very comforting feeling to have, while I'm hard at work on something, to know that no matter what, someone will see this. I'm surprised I never thought of it when I was younger. I was so in that mode of starry-eyed "wow, if only I could have a book of my own anything!" People of the world, you can! It's very simple!
CUL: You do some stuff that is outside what we might call the "traditional" zine format--the photocopied, folded 1/2 or 1/4 size affair-- talk about that for a minute!
IM: I suppose the reason I've done things outside of the "usual" zine format is because I learned bookmaking the "hard" way first! (I'm considering the "hard" way the hand-cut, hand-sewn, hand everything'd way of bookmaking.) So far, a lot of the things I've put out that are done the different way came out of class assignments. Or if they aren't, I'm still locked into the "if it's too easy, it's not good enough" mindset. I think that's actually a better mindset to have anyways, as it pushes you to work harder and not accept (as much) corner-cutting. This summer I was in a class called "Self-Publishing for Writers and Others," taught by Surabhi Ghosh. Being in this class was a really good thing for me to've done (and not just because I had to to graduate)—it was a much-needed transition between being and school and being an "adult" in the real world, plus the assignments were very demanding (in the best way!), so it felt good to get some hard work done.
CUL: Ancient Egypt in the Year 4 Billion-- i read on your website that the stories weren't written together intentionally. How did thematic consistency surface in these stories and drawings for you?
IM: Ancient Egypt came about from an assignment in my summer class. I think it was just to make a 'zine, of any kind. I'd always wanted to put together a collection of writing, I think it's a really classy kind of thing, so I jumped at the prospect with full force. There isn't a definite thematic consistency between them as they were all written at different times, but they all fit under this blanket feeling I had, which is encapsulated in the phrase "Ancient Egypt in the year 4 Billion." To me, that phrase is the idea that if it was the year four billion and we're still on Earth, what are we doing wrong? Why aren't we in the farthest corners of existence? That sort of incredulous and questioning mindset is the thing that holds the pieces in Ancient Egypt together. The drawings came after I had decided the name of the collection. I'm of the opinion that the triangle (and by association, the pyramid) is a perfect form, and I wanted little drawings that had a little of that polygonal majesty to them.
CUL: Any other random thoughts?
IM: I guess a random thought . . . would be self-publishing as applied to things that aren't books, too! I've made many hand-made album covers for my (one-man) band Violet Mice . . . The same sort of freedoms of zine-making can be applied to album cover-making, too, so if you've always wanted to make your own version of A Wizard, A True Star and have the corners cut out funny, you can!
It's really that "anything goes, anything's possible" thing that makes self-publishing to great to me. Holding the finished product in your hands, that you've inked or typed and then folded and scored and given yourself blisters over is just so rewarding. It makes all those lonely days at the drawing board worth it.
Ian McDuffie is currently working on a book-length comic called Birds and Wolves, which will be available in chapters on Lulu as they are completed (check out the first one now!). You can read about Ancient Egypt in the Year 4 Billion, and Ian's other news & projects, on his website, Violet Mice. Also, check out his blog that I love, The Ever Circling Skeletal Family, a collection of pics, animated .gifs, vids, and general oddments.
Thanks to Mr. McDuffie for sharing his thoughts!
-Originally appeared in October 2009 on the blog of the Chicago Underground Library.
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