Innawoods / SHTF Graphic Novel advice/inspiration

>tl;dr

Leave it to a "writer".

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>>899971

To give you a sense of the feel I'm going for, here are the first couple pages of the script.

>clothes and boots
anything leather, fabric, or rubber that has sat unmaintained for 80 years will be useless. either rotten or brittle.
>shelter
if he's lived there for several years he'd have a comfortable, established, secure shelter (i.e. cabin). the only reason to stay with a tent is if he's nomadic.

>>899973
Remember that many cities will be flooded with swamp like terrains. A lot can change in 80 years, such how any umaintained building or area will become completely overgrown. Most streets with large sewers/metros will have collapsed in on itself. Similar to the last of us but on a larger scale. For equipment and fabrics most (not all) will be completely useless after 80 years and depending on where your story is set will determine what type of clothing will be used. People will still be able to produce weapons and metals as long as they can mine or scavenge metals and minerals to melt down. unmanned nuclear power plants will cause problems like chernobyl everywhere but if people were able to maintain the plants they can still provide power to the cities. Solar/wind/hydro electric farms will be fought over. The strongest and most ruthless tribes will eventually lead to them establishing the strongest towns which would become a hub for trading. Since the older generations know of civilised society, part of it will be taught to the younger generations and passed on. With preseved information in e books and knowledge on reconstruction of society the only drawback is manpower and that comes down to your story.

>>899986
>>899993

Thanks.

The flooding and collapse of cities is a really important angle that I'll make sure to cover. I read about the power plant issue and since I don't want there to be a nuclear holocaust, the only solution seems to be that plants were properly decommissioned before the end. It's not a single event, but a gradual implosion as more and more societal mechanisms fall under their own weight. Is it war, economy, power? All of them?

I think the only solution to why large scale society cannot be maintained or reconstructed in that time span would be a large culling of the world population due to food problems, some sort of Interstellar-like "blight" of crops seems most viable. Power issues associated with the end of oil reserves is also an option, perhaps many of these issues in combination.

I think that trading and production of basic goods, clothes could be plausible, perhaps even maintenance of vehicles, machinery and the odd robotics. It's uncertain if the entire world is affected or if large areas are walled off "no man's lands", and smaller cities are self sustained with xenophobic leadership. This unfortunately leads into complex aspects of the larger storyline that I want to keep as secret as possible before it actually gets there in published format.

The average person should be relatively unaware of the extent of the past world, or plain uninterested, although parts of history are maintained in the most well kept communities.

There are important philosophical aspects that I think are part of the stronger angles to cover, such as the change in values, perception of time and meaning. It's certainly possible that some of religion would survive the catastrophe, but how that would look actually look like could easily devolve into a mad max or fallout copy.

>>900005
Will post a longer reply but for now this simple video is interesting to watch.

https://youtu.be/Wy7Q6wazD_E

>>900005
>a large culling of the world population due to food problems, some sort of Interstellar-like "blight" of crops seems most viable

But then you should pose the question whether it would effect regular plants as well, causing change to the environment. People can still feed even with a drought. Since what you are writing is a work of fiction, perhaps something realistic like an airborne pathogen that effects the blood cells of every blood type besides O-? And since the need for O type blood is at an increase, many people who had the blood were highly sought after, with governments performing regular checks on citizens, as time went on, the need for the rare blood was more strongly desired, leading many people to die.

>maintenance of vehicles, machinery and the odd robotics

highly doubtful of this, unless you are talking about machinery that has been highly preserved in some underground bunker for the past 80 years. Most machines would have faulty wiring and become corroded.

> some of religion would survive the catastrophe

Without a doubt that is possible, but whether people would care about religion or consider it to be something of a fairy tail would be down to you. Perhaps new religions would take over, and people would consider themselves to be let back in the garden of eden now that the world has been wiped clean, similar to noahs ark.

>change in values
Would be more of a 'law of the jungle' type mentality I would guess. Loners would live off the land by themselves and other people would band together and hunt in packs. I think people would be a lot more accustomed to seeing friends die, not in an edgy sense but more of a 'it couldnt be helped, life goes on' sense.

>perception of time
Time would go by a lot slower, people's lives are a lot less filled with mundane activities that have taken up so much of our time today. With the extra time given, would be used to fulfill practical and leisurely activities. Days would feel a lot longer.

>>900029
But then again, it makes you think how much of the 9/11 generation would really have the knowledge, skills and willpower to survive human extinction for 80 years. I honestly doubt it.

>>900029

These are some really good points. The pathogen feels like a good option, almost too easy, and I don't like the zombie story connection. But it could be tied to things like resistent bacteria and climate change. A rise in temperature could create a new strain of bacteria. The question is where these details would arise. The average person would have no idea of this. At most, an old person would remember there "was something in the air.". And it's not something I want to reveal in the prologue - you're supposed to enter the viewpoint of the people in the new world. But it's one of those things that, for avid readers, they look into small details, connect the dots and figure out what had happened. Definitely some research to be done here.

About the technology, that would necessitate that there are people who had the know-how to maintain and build since the crash, not just get working on old hardware.

I read an interview with a hermit named Christopher Knight in the states, who "reappeared" in society after being gone for decades. He said something to the effect of that time became a blur as his attention on daily minutiae disappeared, that the seasons became his clock. I think that's a more convincing angle than days simply getting longer.

>>899993
You're not quite right about nuclear power plants. The vast, vast majority of them have proper failsafes that will shut down the reaction if anything goes wrong.

OP, Unless the story is set in Iran, North Korea, India/Pakistan, or some other shithole, you won't see any radiation damage to the environment, and any that DID occur would have dissipated by the timescale of your story.

>>899971
Start with the Greeks and write gooder stuff instead m8, it'll help a lot

>>900035
it'd all be fucking a white males

I think OP is making a mistake by going this lame fantasy route rather than putting a horror turn on it.

I'd be much more interested in reading a story set in West Virginia or New Mexico with fleshgaits and other supposed /x/ government experiments that now have free reign over their lives and terrorize those who try to survive innawoods.

I'd love to see the protagonist, a grizzled middle aged man with tons of experience killing these things, wandering the American backwoods in search of some meaning or purpose in his life beyond just surviving.

>>900261
>lame fantasy
>putting a horror turn on it
>wendigos and fleshgaits
>not lame fantasy
>grizzled old man with tons of experience killing these things

that sounds so fucking autismax you have no idea

>walk down to the river
>kill 3 wendigos on my way
>nothin personell
>the water a wendigo
>h-he's fast!
>john dies
>no
>kill wendigo
>what is... my purpose....
>stretch hand out towards sun
>kill another wendigo

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>>900286

>>899971
please draw this greentext >>900286

>>899973

I think the dialogue would work if it was spoken, but it's frustrating to read. Maybe devolve it further or keep it modern and refined.

Also, finding a watch in the undergrowth is super heavy handed. It would feel more natural if you were more subtle.

I like this though, I would read it. Especially if it was illustrated like the OP.

>>899971
This link might help.
http://lifeafterpeople.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline
Why would society still be in shambles after eighty years? There's a documentary that used to be on YouTube about a hypothetical sickness that kills a third of America and another third is killed in the ensuing chaos. Twenty years later, society has returned almost to normal although the big cities remain abandoned. People still have records on how to make technology communities still trade resources, and plenty of people would still have electricity via solar or wind power or even grid or nuclear power if the plants can be maintained. Eighty years after society collapses, even in something as drastic as The Walking Dead, where they still have electricity, life would go on and there would probably be WW1 levels of technology. Just get past the fall and the shit that follows, plant some crops, build a wall around your community, and repair some railroads when things are more stable. Get what resources you don't have through trading.

>>900286

Too fucking funny.

>>900926

I can't possibly resist. It'll have to be a quickie though.

>>900946
Thanks for the honest critique. It's hard to find the right tone in dialogue. There are various details and ideas that I'm eager to get written down as soon as possible, but turn out kinda heavy-handed and crammed this early on. I'll have to pad things out plenty and work on the subtlety.

The final comic will be in full-color, but it's going to take a while.

>>900951

That's a very cool webpage. I don't have a good answer to your question right now. It seems difficult to justify such a drastic course in history without taking to an extreme catastrophe, i.e nukes or zombies, which I really don't want to do. Another option is reducing the scope of the new dark age to a limited area. Someone would have to engineer the reentry into advanced society, and with overhanging highscale conflict that could be prevented. I think the elimination of oil resources and a reduction in resources for alternative energy solutions (to little, too late) could be a good angle to motivate a lengthy low-tech period.

Lastly, the 80 years thing is just a ball-park, I want it to be long enough that new generations have little to no idea what happened, but not long enough that it's completely forgotten. There's an atmosphere of acclimatization that I want to depict, without humanity reverting completely to the stone age.

>>899971
Hey OP, you may want to check out the following for inspiration, the world you're trying to create reminds me of these:
> "The World Made by Hand" a novel by James H Kunstler about a small community in New England adapting to the loss of oil and adapting to a slower, simpler, smaller world. Great for community dynamics in a world where your town and the surrounding farms are your whole world.
> Randall Clarke's journal entries. A Fallout New Vegas character who survives in the Utah wilderness alone for decades following the nuclear war. Sets A great tone for the lone survivalist sort of narrative. A bad ass veteran living in nature and waging rightouse war upon hostile tribals invading his valley. The opposite end of the spectrum from World Made by Hand
http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Randall_Clark

>>899971
I think you basically described "the road"

>>900286
my sides anon. my sides

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>>900286
>>900926

Quick preview as proof that I'm actually doing this. More to come. it's pretty rushed and doesn't have anything to do with the style of the actual comic.

>>901954
Idk why but this art I find far more off putting than that in the op.

>>901961

The OP is a refined sketch, the actual comic will be full-color. This is just a dumb quickie for the sake of immortalizing >>900286

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More off the script

>>902967

Very nice. Would you mind sharing some concepts or sketches of the actual comic?

>>899973
I like this. As a film student, I really like this.

Post more script senpai

>>899993
>unmanned nuclear power plants will cause problems like chernobyl everywhere
WHEN WILL THIS FUCCING MAYMAY DIE

>>899971
I fuck with this idea dude, this is the kind of comic I've wanted to read for the longest time. My father and I read The Walking Dead but I really read it for the human dynamic and the zombie aspect is just gravy. If you want ideas on how the setting should look and people act from a literary standpoint The Road is probably one of my favorite books of all time. Although it is set only eight years after a society ending event, it does showcase the thought of irreconcilable change without going into nuclear, zombie, etc. There are also great visualizations about how the people of the world turn more brutal as life is rougher and that often tribalism would be prevalent. If you don't feel like reading it there is a movie as well, although it doesn't have as much to offer. Other books to read would be 30 Seconds After and Alas, Babylon although they are based around a general nuclear/EMP problem, but give you a sense of how a society would come together in that event.

Also, I feel as though 80 years in the future decay and destruction would be prevalent in many major cities to the degree that it would be too in-hospitable for society in most forms and that salvaging any type of product be it a jacket or a ramen packet would be near impossible due to inevitable exposure to weathering. I would suggest any group that has maintained technology and society through the decades would live in a smaller remote city/ town. These areas are often off the beaten path from traditional routes evacuees may take in a crisis, near agriculture or already has a base in agriculture, often have mechanics and handy-men locally that would stay to maintain things, power-plants may be close by (although someone did have a good point that many nuclear fueled power-plants keep their waste in containment pools on-site).

Oh shit, you should also watch The Postman. it's similar to this concept and also has Tom Petty in it which is rad.

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Have a group of survivors hiking through the woods when one of them spots pic related. The leader then calls over one of the other guys and quietly says to him "I don't want to alarm the others but we stumbled into clown territory". The other guy says back "fuck... we need to retrace our steps and head back." And then right as they are about to turn around they hear an aahooga horn off in the distance.

>>905517
fuckin yes

>>905517
welcome to the clown zone

>>899971
Go on youtube and find the show 'life after people'.

Give us an update op