Fernando

[PhallenFoenix]

Basically everything this dude said

I could not agree more. Very dark fantasy, and very... human. Especially powerful.

[Demosthenes]

There are a few Fernando comics where the demise of a character is at the very least implied.
Hike to Hell is one of them, Space Pirates is another. It's not something I particularly fond of, in any artists comics.

[PhallenFoenix]

There are a few Fernando comics where the demise of a character is at the very least implied.
Hike to Hell is one of them, Space Pirates is another. It's not something I particularly fond of, in any artists comics.

I don't know, I differentiate significantly between snuff and death in a comic. Snuff is the death used for sexual excitement, but death...

It's just a part of the human experience, and can be as characterizing as anything else. Everyone dies someday, yeah?

[ernestgreene]

If I needed reminding that death is part of human experience, which I do not as a journalist, I'd watch the evening news.

That is a reality I would prefer to escape through comics. The only characters I don't mind seeing killed off are the bad guys, and that happens too rarely.

I prefer the girls stay alive and suffering for our pleasure.

[PhallenFoenix]

Granted Earnest. All I was saying was that her attempt to kill herself, and the effect that it could have had on the other characters, tells I story I am interested to read for reasons entirely separate from fantasy.

I guess I just enjoy stories about how people react to life sucking all around. I f@cking loved the book The Island, for example.

[ernestgreene]

it was a great dramatic moment, filled with pathos and yet hot in it's way.

But I'm glad she lived.

[Obiwan]

Fernando, would love to see a comic from you with Asian girls. You had some in Hike to hell and I think in the clones comic. Any plans?

[fernando]

Fernando,

I recently read Dark Vengence 3 and, while this story has never had as great an appeal to me as some of your other works (Cheerleaders is my favorite, hint, hint...), there was one scene that I found to be absolutely breathtaking. The scene I am talking about is Brooke's attempted suicide.

It starts in the morning with Brooke regaining consciousness after being mercilessly abused the night before, setting the stage for her fragile mental state: she isn't asleep anymore, but she's not really awake either, her body pushed to the limits of exhaustion after being subjected by her captors to a day-long sex marathon. From the start of the comic, Brooke's psychological well-being strains more and more as she tries to escape brutal reality by withdrawing into fantasy, and that never ends well.

When I looked at Brooke's face as she stood in the doorway and stared at the beautiful sky, that is what I saw: a girl who wanted to lose herself in a fantasy, forever. Given Brooke's wish about wanting to fly away, I found her pose here to be ironic. The way her arms are restrained in the air, they resemble outstretched wings and give her the appearance of some kept exotic bird (with those crazy pink stockings as plumage). Was that what you were going for?

The pool made for a fitting spot for Brooke to try to end her life, considering where her character started out when the series began: swimming in the pool while her best friend reads trashy romance novels. Holley tells us that the plots of the novels involve steamy relationships such as love between women, but also other things like (ironically enough) teacher and student, father and daughter's best friend too. While we saw a bit of that last one in the second comic between Brooke and Mr. Royce, I also couldn't help but wonder about the possibility of Brooke's father (not in the story so far) and Holly, as the novels were filling Holly's mind with romantic drivel that was leading her to experiment in new ways (like kissing Brooke), but I'm getting off topic. Looking again at Brooke's fantasies, especially the one involving her math professor, it's almost like she is slipping into nightmarish versions of Holly's novels in the same way that Holly admits to being engrossed by these books:

"Hey Holly! What's the point of Spring Break if you're going to be reading all the time?"

"I never enjoyed swimming, that's all. Besides, you know I can't drop a Dawn Darcy novel once I start it."

As the suicide scene draws to a close with that guy pulling Brooke out of the water and performing CPR on her lifeless body, I honestly couldn't help but wonder if you were going to let her die. Having read other comics of yours, I know that many of your female characters literally beg for death at one point or another (Brooke herself wants to be killed in the first Dark Vengence comic), but this is the closest that I have seen any of them actually come to getting it. The only other instance I can think of where suicide is attempted in one of your stories was in one of the Cheerleaders comics in which Anna stopped eating in order to die, but Ass Buster simply force-fed her. Even then, we didn't get to see any of this play out. It was just something that Anna happens to mention as she laments her continued existance, and then it's never brought up again. Did I mention that Cheerleaders is my favorite? Oh well. At least I got to see Brooke dressed up as a cheerleader this time around.

Dark Vengence is indeed a darker work for you, Fernando. I liked how you used the idea of fantasy drawing in the fantasizer. We tend to think of fantasy as being harmless enough (e.g., Dawn Darcy novels), but often people don't realize that fantasy, like vengence, can have a dark side.

Hi orangezzzzzz,

Very good observations. I have to confess some imagery was accidental -- like how her arms were bound like wings while she was looking at the sky. DV3 is more relentless when it comes to sex action which is why I thought that kind of scene would've been a good way to pause for a while, yet yank her back to her miserable situation. She's tried to escape via fantasies, but she'll always get pulled back by reality. She tried to escape via suicide, yet even there she failed. And so the only way she hasn't tried is a real, physical escape. Will it happen? I don't know yet myself.

[luckarusky]

Well here's hoping cheerleaders is soon to follow. A common request by now, I know. But part of what makes said comic's sex so intriguing is the narrative material behind it. I'm really looking forward to seeing how/if the rapists manage to cross the boarder. What happens to the cheerleading coach, and how Lorena/Chris might factor into that. All the background intrigue helps make the sexual situations that much more interesting.

A lot of the imagery mentioned above comes from practice in comic composition. Fernando's been drawing these illustrations for a long time. So it's no surprise some images just come without conscious thought. A good pose is a good pose even if some meanings are by accident. The same principle goes for any art or skill that's practiced enough.

[znorman]

Is it weird if you're a straight woman and you like these comics?


ps. I'd love to interview Fernando face to face one day