Bizarre New World: My Debut as a Comic Book Character

My friend Skipper Martin had been talking about this story idea of his for almost as long as I'd known him. The first time I heard it, it was not quite developed; mostly just a concept. I remember him giving me the intro over some Mexican food, and it went something along the lines of ... "Let me pick your brain for a minute... Suppose you could fly..."

Skip, lover of all things Superman, wanted to write a story about a flying guy. A flying guy who resembled Skip. Uh-huh. Actually, even in that earliest incarnation, or swirl of ideas, Skip was imagining a flying world, because directly after the "what if you could fly" questions came the "what if everyone could fly" query.

I admit I was a little more focused on my margarita than on the idea of a story about flying people. It seemed too "Superman" to me. So Skip went away with the idea and came back a couple years later with a much more evolved pitch. He sent me a story outline with a three-act structure that had a strong father-son relationship, a villain, and a satiric take on religion and the media. In other words, something (other than the enchilada I had been eating last time) that I could really sink my teeth into.

One thing about Skip, the man has deep convictions. He believes in his own ideas - although not in an arrogant or immodest way. He is always open to other peoples' views. He always weighs his friends' opinions. But he has the kind of conviction that's necessary to do creative work, to take a project from his head to the sketchpad to completion.

Along with the story outline, Skip told me his plans to turn this into a serialized comic book. He was going to find an artist. He went out and shot "research photos" from a helicopter, to provide the artist with realistic aerial views. And every so often, I would get a peek at how things were progessing.

A half year or so later, Skip again prefaced one of our conversations with "Let me pick your brain..." He said he'd been mulling over the "problem" of how to explain his protagonist's ability. He wanted my theories on the subject. He said he wasn't convinced that it was actually important to his story, and I agreed. But he said he might want to do a scene where several characters discuss theories of how unaided human flight MIGHT be possible. I gave him my best theory, which came from my experience scuba diving. In short, I guessed that you could metabolize atmospheric gas into something lighter than air, which would be stored in your tissues, giving your whole body "buoyancy." Skip liked it.

When I received the first page layout showing myself in comic book form, I was amused to find that I was wearing the same London Underground T-shirt and grey hoodie. I guess some caricatures have some truth to them.

So, several months later, I got a call from Skip saying he'd like to drop by my office to take a couple of "research photos" of me to give to his artist. He cruised by, jumped out of his car, snapped two or three quick shots and disappeared again.

All this while, Skip was busy working away on his book, unsure of how he would eventually get it out into the world. Everything was being done out of his own pocket. (Remember what I said about the strength of his convictions). He prepared a fine leather portfolio with oversize inked and colored pages to display to potential publishers. On the strength of that presentation, he was given meetings to discuss his book, and eventually got a distribution deal with Ape Entertainment.

The three-acts have been broken up into three "series" for publication, each consisting of three comic book issues. The first series, in which I make my cameo, was published to strong critical response last year. The next series, titled "Population Explosion," is due to hit stands soon.

Lately Skip has been a busy guy, doing interviews and promoting the book. I wonder if my character will ever return - with the ability to fly?

Pick up Bizarre New World at a local comic book store, or visit the website for more info.

You can hear Skip in an interview from cindy.com here.

JLPTの3級を受かった

Well, once again I passed the JLPT - Japanese Language Proficiency Test. The test is given every year around November or December and it takes until February to receive the results. There are four test-levels; level 4 and 3, which I have now passed, are the easiest. I understand that Level 2 is significantly harder. There are three sections to the test: Writing/Vocabulary, Listening, and Reading/Grammar. The only section I improved on from last year was Reading/Grammar. My listening really went down. I guess that's what happens when you stop taking classes.
Passing score was 240/400. I managed a 317 this time. 50 points down from last year. Guess I better study up if I plan to keep going.

The Endangered Iriomote Wildcat

I just read this article in the New York Times about the danger to the Iriomote Yamaneko and decided I'd like to add a few personal notes to it.

Last April I traveled to the Yaeyama Islands in Okinawa, Japan. It's a small island chain between the Pacific and the East China Sea, just shouting distance from Taiwan. It's a small sub-chain, along with the Miyako, the Kerama, and the main island of Okinawa (mostly known here as the home of the US military) that make up the prefecture of Okinawa. But the Yaeyama chain has it's own distinct flavor and culture, stemming from the small size of the islands and their mostly untouched rural nature. Most of the land is used for farming and raising cattle. The other main industry is tourism, with most tourists coming form within Japan. The landscape is so different from mainland Japan, that people want to come to experience something foreign and to relax in these undeveloped island settings. Kind of like US tourists going to Hawaii, but in the Yaeyamas, there is really nothing equivalent to the sprawl of Waikiki, which makes me feel like I am in downtown Santa Monica, CA. Ishigaki is the Yaeyamas' most populous island, and most of its population (about 44,000) lives in the capital city at the south of the island, preserving an undeveloped island feel for miles northward.



Among the chain is Iriomote island, about an hour by ferry from Ishigaki, which is the main travel hub in and out of Yaeyama. Iriomote is actually the largest island in the chain, but also the least populous (currently). With only 2,325 people, the island is designated as a national park by the Japanese government. From what I could see, tourism was indeed its biggest industry. Most of the island is an undeveloped natural paradise. There is one two-lane road that makes an arc around the western half of the island (the eastern half cannot be traveled by car). Most of the businesses (shops, inns, gas station), towns, beaches and other attractions are accessed by this road.

One of the biggest draws for me to visit there was the possibility of hiking into the unspoiled back-country. I read about this on a site written in limited English, and I just had to do it. So, with help from a Japanese-speaking friend, I contacted a guide who agreed to take me on the hike, which traverses the entire island in a day (approx 16km - not very hard, but all of it through wild jungle).
I read some accounts of English-speaking tourists doing the hike by themselves. There were a handful of American or British English language school teachers living in Japan, who traveled to Iriomote on their vacations and decided to do the hike. They gave good information, but also confessed that it was impossible at times to find the trail and it took them far longer to finish than was estimated. One very helpful blogger, Justin, corresponded with me and sent his photos taken with his girlfriend while on the hike. They could not read Japanese, though, and halfway through the hike they encountered a sign with writing in green and red. They followed the green arrow. They got lost, it began to rain and they had to pitch a tent. The next day, his girlfriend fell in a river and got her passport wet. They made it out and enjoyed it. I was not discouraged, but I did not want to spend the night in the jungle with the Habu - a poisonous, and nocturnal, pit viper.

As it turned out, enlisting the aid of the guide was one of the highlights of my trip. His name was Morimoto-san (nicknamed "Taishi"). Despite his limited English and my limited Japanese, he was a wealth of information about the jungle, having lived on Iriomote for years. He was not a native of the island, having moved there from Kyushu, but he was the only dedicated volunteer park ranger, and generally seemed to be regarded locally as a leading authority on the flora and fauna there.


We drove together to the mouth of the Urauchigawa and boarded a boat upriver to the trailhead. While we hiked, he would identify trees, plants, bugs, even historical artifacts from the Ryukyu era and the coal-mining days, sometimes pointing to illustrations in a nature encyclopedia that he had contributed to. When our crossing was blocked by a fallen tree, Morimoto-san would pull out a fold-up saw he kept in his pack and cut through the branches. When we passed calf-deep through running water (acquiring some leeches in the process), there were ropes to hold onto, which Morimoto-san had tied in place previously. If he saw the smallest scrap of an object foreign to the wilderness, like an old sock, he picked it up. Thankfully, there was very little of that kind of thing, since few people pass through here. He told me that he was not paid for serving as a ranger for the island, so acting as a guide provided him with an income while enabling him to maintain the wilderness.

When we reached about the halfway point, we passed the sign that had scuttled Justin and his girlfriend. Next to the green arrow Morimoto-san had written, "Dame," meaning "No good, don't pass this way." That path had been made impassable by a typhoon. The red arrow pointed the proper way out to Ootomi village, and after taking a short break we followed it. Again, I was glad I had chosen to go with Morimoto-san.

Iriomote is the world's only home to the yamaneko, which Morimoto-san told me was about the size of a housecat. This animal has been made famous in Japanese animation (thereby introducing it to an audience worldwide), but few people have actually seen the animal. Morimoto-san has seen it and a big part of his passion for preserving Iriomote's ecology is tied up with preserving the yamaneko. He told me that there were thought to be only about 100 of the animals left, and that each year an average of two were killed while crossing the island's only road. The road now has warning signs with images of the cat, drawn by Morimoto-san himself.


After finishing the hike, Morimoto-san's wife picked us up at the south end of the island and we made our way back by car. Along the way, they pointed out two new hotels being built. Just last year, most of the lodgings on Iriomote were rather basic. The place I stayed was a minshuku - akin to a hostel, with simple rooms and tatami mat beds. The new buildings looked as if they might cater to a more deluxe class of traveler. On the one hand, this may be good for Iriomote's economy, and probably bring more business to Morimoto-san and other tour guides (not to mention more money for natural preservation projects), but their construction and existence also threatens the already perilous balance of nature on the island. The worst thing for Iriomote would be a large influx of tourists not interested in the jungle, but only in expanding the frontier of the "Club Med" type experience.

I did not see the yamaneko while doing the hike. But I hope that I could still have a chance to see one on a return trip.
If you decide to go to Iriomote, visit the jungle with Banana-House (Japanese only), Morimoto-san's tour company. You do not have to trek the entire island, he also offers kayak trips and other activities.
Also, look up Kanpira-So as a place to stay, and see if you can go snorkeling or hike to Pinaisara Falls with Toshio, who operates the Mifaiyu tour service, next door to Kanpira-So.