The Wooden Iguana comic book began largely because people tend to tell me their life stories. I don't know why they feel compelled to tell me these things, but they do. And, make no mistake about it, these are some fascinating stories. I'd kicked around the idea for a particular book when I finally got around to reading The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay ... and if you haven't read that ... GO! GO NOW! But what Michael Chabon's book was missing was the comic book itself. He talks about the origin of comics in an engaging way, even for the non-comic book geek, but there was no art inside the book, just words. I began working on a novel and hoped that I would be able to convince a publishing company to hire a comic book artist to insert some comic book pages into the story. A story about a couple of regular people, one a comic book script writer, who decide they're agents of Karma.
Then, life played a funny trick on me and I found myself out of work, away from a job I loved more than anything: teaching first year college students how to write academic essays. I know, I wouldn't want to take the damn class either, but I tried to make the class as interesting as possible for my students. Some thought I was a great teacher ... some thought I was Satan incarnate. Regardless, I was suddenly without that all-consuming passion. The book languished ... I didn't want to write a book about some self-appointed agents of Karma when I wanted nothing more than to serve some instant Karma up myself.
Now ... I'm using The Wooden Iguana to introduce a few characters. Disparate folks who have - seemingly - nothing in common. The common thread for this short series is simply the telling of some life stories. Many of these characters will gather again in the main comic book, and the novel: Mud Walker.
For now ... please enjoy these lies more accurate than truth ... The Wooden Iguana
