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Underground > Comic Books >

Matrix comics

16:41 / 14.11.03

Saw that this has come out, and local indie comic retailer is pushing it like crazy. Has anybody bought it yet?

I was surprised to learn that Peter Bagge has a story in it. I may get it for that reason alone...

16:56 / 14.11.03

Animatrix? What does it consist of, adaptaions of the DVD shorts or new stuff?

17:53 / 14.11.03

It's actually called "THE MATRIX COMICS" (no connection to the AniMatrix) and it's a pretty neat package.

The stories are indeed original, but they all appeared online at the official Matrix website around the time the first flick came out.

Geof Darrow, Bill Sienkiewicz, Ted McKeever, John van Fleet, Dave Gibbons, David Lapham, Peter Bagge, Troy Nixey, Paul Chadwick, Ryder Windham, Kilian Plunkett, Gregory Ruth, Spencer Lamm, Neil Gaiman, and the Wachowski's themselves all contribute. Lapham's story, "There are no flowers in the real world" is my personal fave. Very cool.

18:23 / 14.11.03

Ooops! You're right. It is The Matrix Comics. (Sorry. Got a little mixed up on the title.)

Its listed as "Vol. 1"...so, is there a Vol.2 in the works?

Our Lady of The Two Towers

07:23 / 15.11.03

I know that Neil Gaiman and Poppy Brite both contributed text stories, so are these reprinted in the comics or have they got someone to turn them into strips (which in the case of Neil's one would require about three times the space)?

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12:27 / 15.11.03

I think Neil Gaiman's story is illustrated in this case.

As for Poppy Z. Brite, her story does not appear. Probably just as well: "System Freeze" is one of her weakest short stories imo.

14:24 / 15.11.03

I've read a few of the comics online and they're ok - some nice art, but most of the stories I read seem to fall into similar categories (i.e. the story of an average guy who has a brush with almost learning that he lives in the Matrix and opts to stay in his nice comfortable life, the story of someone who notices a glitch in the Matrix and says "ah well, must be deja vu, how funny" and goes on with his/her life, the story of someone who finds out about the Matrix but gets killed by Agents, etc.) From what I heard, the Animatrix people had more leeway to deal with major characters' backstories than the comic book creators did. But this is just based on 2 or 3 short stories I read a while back (one by Paul Chadwick, who's a great illustrator).

Professor Silly

14:30 / 15.11.03

I got this, and finished reading it last night.

Apparently three waves of online comics have appeared on the website; this book collects four stories from each wave. Here's the contents:

1) Bits and Pieces of Information by Wachowski's and Geof Darrow -- this actually predates the first film and relates directly with the Animatrix.

2) Sweating the Small Stuff by Sienkiewicz

3) A Life Less Empty by Ted McKeever

4) Goliath by Neil Gaiman, Sienkiewicz, and Gregory Ruth -- Neat sci-fi twist on the Matrix ideas

5) Burning Hope by John Van Fleet -- I especially enjoyed this one

6) Butterfly by Dave Gibbons -- crisp and clean, with some Zen thrown in.

7) A Sword of a Different Color by Troy Nixey

8) Get It? by Peter Bagge

9) There Are No Flowers in the Real World by David Lapham

10) The Miller's Tale by Paul Chadwick -- one gets to see a very young Morphius in this story

11) Artistic Freedom by Ryder Windham and Kilian Plunkett

12) Hunters and Collectors by Gregory Ruth

All in all it seems very much like the Animatrix in that it collects so many different styles, so there's something for just about everyone. If this sells alright there will probably be at least two more volumes.

16:46 / 15.11.03

Thanks muchly. Sounds worthwhile, but of course, once I got down to the comic shop, it had sold out...Guess I'll have to wait another week.

20:38 / 15.11.03

of course you can read all these comics for free on the matrix website...

The Photographer in Blowup

16:14 / 16.11.03

What's Gaiman's story about?

Professor Silly

14:39 / 17.11.03

Gaiman's story is about a guy who actually lives several accelerated lives within the matrix, and further remembers each of them. He strikes a deal of sorts with the machines, even if he doesn't fully understand who he's making the deal with....

14:01 / 18.11.03

I really liked "Get It?" by Peter Bagge. That made me laugh.

Steering the conversation off onto a tangent, I keep reading about how the Wachowski's spent their time making comics before they made films but I have yet to see a comic done by them. Does anyone know if they ever published anything in their pre Matrix days? And if so, what?