Every episode of Into the Storymaze = writing ideas or writing-in-progress; something creative I’m excited to share; a highlight from my comic book writing; and a quote that’s worth a think.
I’ve got a new comic on Kickstarter. Would you give it a look at tinyurl.com/axlesinfernal — and consider signing up for the prelaunch?
Continuing a share from my original pitch for RYSK, a rockin’ new 5-issue adventure comic I’ve got coming out from Blackbox starting in April. Ruby Chance is our hero — but as you’ll learn in this part, she’s not exactly alone in her head. Spoilers follow — but we’ve still got plenty of surprises in the pages!
The Handicap
Time Jump 5 years down the line. It’s not Mad Max, but it ain’t Kansas, neither. Melt victims who couldn’t afford any type of The Fix wander the streets. The rest make do — and make new things. In the words of Dr. Ian Malcolm, “Life finds a way.”
Society didn’t crumble, but it took hard body blows. Technology picked mankind back up — but at costs still TBD. Cyberpunk? Try “Cyberthug.”
Industries collapsed, but new forms of commerce rose up to take their place: legal, illicit, just plain weird. Take your pick — and place your bets. Because Rysk is there to take the action of tomorrow.
Ruby’s dreams of running the corporate table were wiped out when economies came crashing down in the wake of The Melt. But the name she planned for her business works well enough as her alias: a reputable bookie in an disreputable world.
Like everyone else in the casino that night, Ruby was hit by the Melt. When she pulled what was left of her together, she took her gambling money — everything she’d earned over the years — and gambled on the black market to survive.
Ruby’s half face, partial torso and ruined left arm were rebuilt with a strange brew of stolen parts, chips and hijacked code: a striking look that has a certain cold appeal, but also a definite FAFO Terminator vibe. It also came with a secret: the AI code in her new parts is now “alive” in Ruby’s head.
Most who got a Fix were happy enough for a hand that could grab hold, legs that could walk. Some paid extra for hacked upgrades of questionable service and quality: a sparking ear that can hear distances, faster than average legs for running away from trouble — or the law. But what’s going on in Ruby’s brain is a whole other level of hustle.
By her calculation, her emotional and intentional focus on the algorithm in her head that night at the casino was the catalyst for it to fuse and integrate with the Fix-tech — and evolve. The result is an AI sentience that gives Ruby access to all its original capabilities — and then some.
In her internal conversations with this entity — a genial, innocent presence she calls and interacts with as Rysk — Ruby can process risk analysis, pattern recognition, and behavioral insights in powerful and unique ways.
But while seeing multiple angles on situations and people at the speed of thought is a distinct advantage for the bookmaker, it’s a card she holds very close to her chest. Especially as the more she interacts with Rysk, the more this “expanded mind” gives her control over her body: better coordination, faster reflexes, greater control over breathing and pain.
Ruby is smart enough to know any mix of this kind of power is unprecedented — and revealing it would make her a target for those seeking their own advantage.
So she chooses to keep her operation discreet, focused on the tried and true thrill that gets other people putting their money down for the excitement of “maybe this time.” Bets on sports, old and new. Odds on street competitions. The occasional line on a strange future “what if.”
Supported by a trusted team of her old muscle (with their own post-Melt additions and issues) for protection and collection, her “adventures in bookmaking” are wide-ranging but never rock-the-boat, profitable but never plutocracy.
Unfortunately for Ruby/Rysk, she doesn’t get to control every choice…
Next episode: we wrap up the early days of RYSK in The Parlay.
I’ve generally found my “best stuff” starting from an unexpected spark. A phrase here, an oddball article there. Then follow the thread (Into the Storymaze, as the newsletter urges) and see what you discover.
One of my fave treasure finders over the years has been Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, an oddball collection of myths and history, cultural refs and idioms, obscure folklore and creativity fuel. One review I read a while back mentioned the words “Open Sesame”, and that’s most certainly it when it comes to this volume: open a page and find something to capture you.
Writing this I see it’s now up to a 20th edition — and I’m still back on 14! Time for an analog update, methinks.
Daredevil gets the spotlight, but it was really The Shadowline Saga that got me my comic sea legs: juggling 3 titles, interconnecting them, building out worlds and characters, and ultimately making it pay off in a crazy multi-issue mega series I still can’t believe we got them to back? You learn a thing or two.
This ad tells the audience nothing. I can only imagine sales couldn’t find a single hook in a god like entity, a tortured armored priest, 2 hyper powered kids and a race of powerful beings who’d been manipulating the world for centuries. 🤯 So it’s name value to the rescue! I’m not counting me and Margaret up against the rest, but man — some company to keep, huh?
"Fascism says what you and I experience as facts or what reporters experience as facts are irrelevant. All that matters are impressions and emotions and myths."
- Timothy D. Snyder
Amazing Times
If D.G. Chichester looks pretentious, feel free to just call me “Dan”, and have a go at the last name as Chai (like the tea) Chester (like it looks). I’ve written comic books like Daredevil, Terror Inc., Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD and Clive Barker’s Hellraiser, along with all manner of digital widgets in the world wide web of marketing. I like weird tales, so if things here bend that way — now you know why!
Folks seem to like the comic book adventures I’ve written, so if you haven’t checked one out — please do. Many are now available in fab collected editions.
For between newsletters…