Empty Words

Empty Words, an online graphic novel, is at the vanguard of its field. Tom Perkins caught up with its creator, Benjamin Rivers.

“Graphic novels are as disparate from books as is a play or a movie. It's a different experience entirely. Pictures carry another kind of information than words. What is most exciting is that a picture language and a word language can interweave, which can't be done by either one alone." - Will Eisner, 1917-2005.

As most even semi-literate media studies tutors will be able to tell you, the Internet is awash with subcultures. Where once it was the coffee-houses and salons of the 19th century European capitals that informed cogent political debate, and fostered the radical arts, now it is the realm of cyberspace. If, of course, you consider animated cut-and-paste Flash movies of George Dubya nuking the middle east to booming hip-hop soundtracks to be cogent political debate. Well, at least the arts seem to be flourishing online.

Perhaps one of the more sub of the cultures is the field of online graphic novels. Indeed, type those two words into Google and you will be flooded with hits (around four and a bit million if you must know). And it seems that they are less the preserve of geekiness than you might imagine. I for one was certainly expecting (and possibly hoping) for my research to mostly involve high-school level manga-style drawings of nubile young ladies in black leather. Regrettably, the industry (and it certainly is that) seems far more grown up.

Amongst those leading the way is Empty Words. Like most online comics it is a part-time project, updated as and when the author has time. And, as is more and more the trend, it deals with strikingly realistic issues. It tells the story of Audrey, whose occupation as a nurse’s aide in a senior’s home starts to feed her insecurities when a well-loved patient dies. She comes across Greg, a local writer in need of inspiration for his next project. They form a bond as Audrey agrees to be the subject of Greg’s next article in exchange for his confidence. Yet, Greg’s ailing grandfather undergoes a tragedy at the care centre, and it becomes increasingly difficult for them to keep their personal and professional lives separate. Dealing with issues of isolation, bereavement, friendship and love, it seems far removed from most people’s view of the schlock-fiction graphic novel.

For the author, Benjamin Rivers, 25, a production designer based in Toronto, Ontario, it has been a long term project: “Back in high school I decided to create this naïve little untitled romance story during summer break. I was young, full of ideas, and itching to create something worthwhile. I think I was also watching some badly translated TV anime, and listening to Nine Inch Nails, so naturally I was bursting with melodrama. In my haste to create I figured that I didn't need a script, so I drew and drew and drew for five and a half months, laying each stone before me on a road to God-knows-where. I ended up with 32 pages of a story that I never finished.” Although it may have been naïve and incomplete, its roots are still evident in the Empty Words of today: “The very first panel of the very first page of the story proper featured a close-up of a melancholy girl named Audrey. In the background we see someone watching her, who ends up being this quiet boy named Greg. A few years later, I rewrote this story into a ten-page script. Except now the story is basic and taut, and it ends with the Greg character finally getting the nerve to ask out the Audrey character on some ridiculously idiotic high-school date — only he discovers as he phones her house that not an hour before she's been hit by a car and killed. End of scene.”

There was still a long road to travel before it was eventually launched into cyberspace. “Another couple of years down the line, in college, I use the now-nearly-mangled copy of the original comic to convince a girl in my class to just get with the fucking program and date me. (That girl is now my wife, the poor thing.) So by this time I realize that these characters I have — Audrey and Greg — well, I'm as integral to them as they are to me. I can't just let the story slide into oblivion. So I pack that thought away, next to cheat codes for Mortal Kombat, and get on with life for a bit. Many years later, the characters come back to me, just like that, and I realize that it's time I do something good with them.”

Despite the medium (or should that be because of it) Empty Words remains a quietly realistic story; the air of melancholy that pervades scenes in the Care Home, beautifully drawn, and sparingly populated with dialogue, seem born of real life experiences. Says Rivers: “Audrey just seemed to me like the person who would want to be a Registered Practical Nurse (RPN), where most of us would scrunch up our noses and ask, ‘Why the hell would you want to do that?’ It was in her character. I remember visiting the nursing home — the Valley Manor — in Barry's Bay, Ontario, where I spent my formative years. My aunt worked there for much of her life, before she had a stroke. On occasion my mom and I would visit her at work, and I'd be struck almost dumb by a heart-rending mix of sadness and... something else. A desire to help, a push for justice? I'd see the eyes of some seniors light up when they saw me, as I was so much younger than they, and I guess I offered a kind of unspoken hope, or some reminder of the past. Nursing homes to me will always be a paralyzing symbol of loneliness and, in some cases, a failure of duty to one's family.”

The influences were external, too: “When I saw the film Pumpkin, with Christina Ricci, I got angry with myself. I loved the film so much, I couldn't believe I wasn't trying to write or draw something that, in my mind, was equally powerful or moving. So that kicked me into gear, and I cite the film as a major influence in convincing me to actually get my work out there for folks to read.”

Yet coming up with an idea is only half of the problem. Traditional production processes (i.e. print) were such that finding an audience required considerable funds and salesmanship. But Rivers believes the Internet has changed all that: “There is a saying in cyberspace: ask Server, and Server provides. The low cost of maintaining a website versus, say, offset-printing a comic and distributing it, means that I can of course reach a large audience for relatively little money. There is a huge community of online comics — some great, and some shit — and thus there is a staggering number of people who are not only looking for new comics to read, but are willing to give something as niche-y as Empty Words a try. You can't always say that about your standard comic store patrons — or, on the flipside, your average bookstore customers, either. The Intertron provides a wonderful environment for people to just stumble across your work, which is deeply empowering.”

Similarly, technology has helped in the drawing process: “While I love drawing the comic purely by hand, I've never found an "analogue" way to work in colour that I like. Thus I quite enjoy the flexibility that digital colouring provides. Being an avid Photoshop user, I experimented with the quickest way to produce the comics once they were converted into digital art. I have arrived at some very simple techniques — far less complicated than your average digital artists' — and I use a small-but-trusty tablet. I pray to all manner of unholy beings that something I can pass off as actual skill takes care of the rest.”

Perhaps most importantly, however, the Internet provides a community, and instant response from readers. Indeed, Empty Words’ readership is continually growing: “I have some devoted fans, and a readership that's bigger than my mailing list would suggest. I know there are probably a lot more people who read the comic but don't bother to make themselves known, for whatever reason.” And as for the reception Empty Words has experienced: “the worst thing anyone as ever said about the comic is that it's not updated enough, so I have to take that as an encouraging sign. I've gotten emails from readers who have dealt with the same issues as Audrey is dealing with, and they seem very appreciative of the comic in a way that many readers might not be able to relate to.”

Rivers is not the only one to experience cyber-fandom: “I have an online-only pal named Juno in Texas and her comic, Star Cross'd Destiny, is insanely popular. We have a bond because we jumped feet-first into the online comic world around the same time. The other week I noticed that she had registered her comic into another one of those "Top-One-Million-Comixxxx!" portal site. She's already number one. Number fucking one! She has a much huger readership than she'll care to admit, I think.”

The online comic world does at times seem a little preoccupied with that favourite catch-all ‘influences’, a scene that Rivers does his best to avoid, in terms of his art: “I've been told by many people that my art resembles both a lot of things and nothing at all. I enjoy manga, but I'm fucking picky. I like North American and European comics, but again, I'm picky. I don't think I've ever really sought to emulate or study any particular artist — rather I kind of glide along a variety of art from all sorts of media, and almost unconsciously absorb what I like. I prefer to think that my personality and perspective drives what goes into forming my visual style rather than anything else.”

But where did the name come from? “I was looking for a name for so long, but I insisted on not forcing the issue. I had a gut feeling that the right name would present itself if I just relaxed and let my brain absorb everything that was going on with the process I was entrenched in. Call it a Taoist work ethic. And then one evening — and I can't remember any details at all here — it just popped in my head,
like I hoped it would. That was it.”

At its heart, Empty Words remains a case of serious issues well dealt with. Joe Zabel said of it “this comic deals with a difficult subject, and artist/writer Benjamin Rivers is admirably equipped to handle it.” It would seem hard to disagree.

Yet, Empty Words is still very much a work-in-progress; the website thus far to page 70. Says Rivers: “I have a hand-written plot outline that separates the story into a standard three-act narrative. It has taken me 70 pages and over a year to climb upon the crest of what probably should be Act 2. If my pacing is good, and I stop playing videogames long enough, you shouldn't notice the rather quick ride down the hill and up again to Act 3. If I were to quantify my estimate of the finished comic, I'd say with all confidence that it will be near, if not just over, 200 pages long.” It seems there is still a long way to go.

As for whether Empty Words occupies any particular niche of the online comic market, Rivers remains philosophical: “God, is there even a "I Listen to The Cure Too Much And Hang Around Nursing Homes" niche? If there is, that's where I am. In all seriousness, the only niche I could imagine Empty Words occupying is that non-genre known as The Canadian Graphic Novel. It's also been referred to as a ‘quiet modern drama’, which I think sums it up nicely.”

www.emptywords.ca

Tom Perkins

© Substance Magazine 2005