Green | mckenziehyde

Green: A Beginning

A Short Five Page Comic Strip Based on the dystopian Novela 'Green', Written a Year Beforehand.

There is no lobby in this apartment. It is an open room, with various shades of black, white and grey platinum tiles that spiral to center where lies a flat globe on the ground, turning in clockwise circles. It showed America, which was apparently the world: after some sort of war, most of the countries became so filthy or depressing to live in that it didn't seem appropriate to include them in the world map. I waved to the security guard as I passed, knowing how much it annoyed him. I've never seen the world outside the city of Purity, so all I can do is trust their word. It's what I learned in school, so it must be true.

I looked outside to the darkening city, one large jungle of metal and glass, and people bustling from place to place, silently as possible. We were like the mice that ran along wires in the sky, trying to avoid falling down into the deep abyss of the city, ever building taller.

I looked up for a second. The sky was purple and clouds ran along it, avoiding the sharp buildings. Hearing the panicked grunts of the people behind me, I ran along, slithering my way through the crowds of people to get to the underground train to school.

'This stop is. Sterning Boulevard. Doors are now closing.'

'Next stop. Benevolence Way. Please watch the doors on your way out.'

"Hey!"

"Hello Emmeline."

"You going to the exam?"

"Yeah, been studying for a long time, can't wait till I can relax."

"Well, good luck to you as well."

"Thanks I guess I have to. You coming to the surprise thing tonight?"

"Dammit! Who told you? Was it Marshal? I told him to be quiet, now he spilt the beans!"

"Emmy, I was...told...by...Chris."

"Oh...Why didn't you just say that at first?"

"Whatever, it doesn't matter. I have no clue what's going on. Really."

Her face told me the same, and she stood there for a second. It's funny that we used to be close really. But not really. We never dared to find each other's hearts deep in the mesh of flesh and blood. We never dared to look each other, right in the pupil of each other's eyes, so that we could see the reflection of ourselves in the middle. Never lost in each other, in supposed love. There was no romance, it was all connections, power couples, a pair of very good room mates, each in their own world.

"It's our stop. Time to meet up with the others."

When the glass door slid upwards, allowing us to pass underneath, we could see that it was pouring outside. There were pools of the water that echoed the cityscape all around us, so that is looked like there were two cities, one above us, and one below. There was something beautiful about it, the way the water reflected the surroundings around us.

However, one thing stood out in the night, a phenomenon no-one seemed to recognize: the crescent moon was brighter and larger than before. The glass on the city reflected the white, pure, light, making the city sparkle.

It was hard to believe such an image could exist in real life. The rays of light seemed to shine upon, in particular, the north end of the city, by the water's edge. Like some sort of legend or old tale, the light was leading us to our planned destination.

I tried to mention the phenomenon to the others, but everybody was deadset on getting to the next station, moving as fast as we could through the rain. Everything about tonight, felt eerie,... out of place. I knew that it could either go really well, or...terrible.

All Character Designs for the Graphic Novella:

Each character was drawn in ballpoint pen on cold-pressed watercolor paper. The inspiration for the designs of each character was based on the current trends that I saw at the time combined with the style of the Victorian Era. In this projection of the future, women would need to cover more of their body to appear more professional, while high-society men would show more skin or wear effeminate or flamboyant clothing. In either respect, clothing is less form fitting and based in form and pattern.