|
The Webcomic Code
by Ryan Estrada
 Prologue
Somewhere very far away, something very mysterious happened. Man, was
it ever mysterious. AND TIME WAS RUNNING OUT.
FACT
Ryan Estrada, Scott McCloud, and Joe Zabel are real webcartoonists.
Their works can still be viewed today, in their exact locations on the
internet.
Chapter 1
Ryan Estrada was asleep when the call came,
"Mr. Estrada, my name is Joe Zabel. I run an internet-site about webcomics,
and I need your help. At first I thought I would need to call in an artist,
an animator and an adventurer, but when I Google searched it, I noticed
that on your web-site, you refer to yourself as all three. I need to see
you at once."
"It's quite late," Ryan said,"Could you call back in the
morning?"
"I'm sorry about the time difference," Joe Zabel explained, "but
I'm simply afraid this cannot wait."
Ryan hung up the phone. He was slowly getting used to the level of quasi-celebrity
that came with drawing a cover for the Webcomics Examiner and the barrage
of crackpot questions that came with it.
Ryan tried to go back to sleep, but couldn't. He had slept on a bench
in a typhoon twice, but this sort of interruption he couldn't handle.
He wandered over to the nearest internet cafe to check his e-mail. There
was one new message in his inbox. Right there on top of the long list
of offers for degrees from prestigious unaccredited universities, and
penis enlargement ads was a message from Joe Zabel. Ryan opened the e-mail.
His eyes bulged in horror as he saw WHAT HE SAW NEXT.
Chapter 2
Thousands of miles away, in another country, a very mysterious guy said
something mysterious to another guy, who was also mysterious. What
he said was so mysterious that YOU'LL JUST HAVE TO READ ON TO SEE WHAT
HE SAID.
 Chapter 3
As Ryan Estrada arrived at Joe Zabel's headquarters, he was still clutching
the picture in his hands, unable to believe what he saw. Years of paranoid
delusional conspiracy theories had seemingly been confirmed, by a single
marking. It was a photograph of a body. The body of cartoonist Scott
McCloud. And on his chest, was a lightning bolt.
As Joe Zabel opened the door, Ryan Estrada nervously thought of how to
explain what he was going to explain next.
For he was about to share a secret that was SO SECRET THAT SOME WOULD
KILL TO KEEP IT SECRET.
Chapter 4
MYSTERIOUS!
Chapter 5
"What we have stumbled upon," Ryan nervously began, "Is
undeniable proof of a secret that has been passed on for thousands of years,
hidden before our very eyes."
"What are you talking about?" Joe Zabel asked.
"Throughout the centuries," Ryan explained, "artists have
hidden away secrets before our very eyes in their works of art. Da Vinci.
Botticelli. Today, these secrets are being passed on through a new form
of art. The Web-comic. Today, I will show you webcomics by three different
artists, and they will show you a powerful, universal truth."
"What truth is that?" Zabel asked.
Ryan's reply was very hushed and matter of fact "That the world
is flat."
"The world...." Joe Zabel repeated, "is flat?"
"Indeed," Ryan replied. "Webcartoonists around the globe
know this fact. Scott McCloud knew it very well."
Ryan rushed over to the computer and opened up The Morning Improv.
"Take a look at one of his first improvs." Ryan said. "Proto the Pet. You can clearly see that the two characters reach the end of the
earth. And that's not the only place this topic is dealt with. In Parallelogram's Revenge, who has the upper hand? The circle, the traditional view of the
earth's shape, or the parallelogram? A FLAT surface? Future improvs deal
with a number of the figures commonly associated with the mythology of
a flat earth. Look at the number of demons, and the most powerful figure
of all in the mythology of the flat earth, Zeus."
"Zeus?" Joe Zabel asked.
 "Yes," said Ryan, "in the days of Greek mythology, the world
was known to be flat. And the ruler of that flat earth was Zeus. Now, look
at this improv. See the Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent Giant Bearded
Sitting-on-Throne Monkey God? Does he remind you of anyone? The beardedness,
the sitting on a throne-ness?"
"God?" said Zabel.
"And also Zeus." Ryan answered.
"Yeah, but also God." Joe replied, "It's right there in
the name."
"Exactly. It may surprise you to know, that Zeus was a god." Ryan
chuckled cleverly. "The god of thunder, in fact. This thunder bolt
on Scott's chest is the very symbol of Zeus, and those who believe in his
flat Earth. You can see it almost every comic, cleverly hidden away, by
turning it on it's side."
Ryan drew the symbol.
"That's the letter Z." Joe Zabel said. "Of course it's in
most comics, it's part of the alphabet. You've got to write it sooner or
later. It's even in my name."
"Yes," Ryan laughed. "It's also in the name ZEUS."
Ryan looked back at the computer. "And it's not just hidden in words
and names. Look at this comic "Six Days in Bang Tao". Look
at this man's mustache. Two Zs! And in this other comic by the same artist,
look at the straps on the backpack. Another Z!"
"Aren't these your comics?" Asked Zabel.
"Maybe." said Ryan. "Shut up. And look at this comic "Z".
There are thousands of cleverly hidden Zs in it."
"I thought that's because it was about the letter Z," answered
Zabel, "It's in the name."
"No, that's just a coincidence" Ryan replied. "The symbol
appears in too many places not to be part of a bigger plan. It even appears
in YOUR comics."
He flipped over to Joe Zabel's site.
"We covered that. It's because it's IN MY NAME. There is no flat Earth
conspiracy, Ryan. What are you talking about?"
"Well then how do you explain the thunder bolt SEARED in Scott McCloud's
CHEST? He was probably killed by a centuar, or a cyclops or something,
trying to keep the ancient secret safe."
"What are you talking about?" Joe Zabel inquired. "Scott
McCloud isn't dead. And he always has a thunderbolt on his chest. It's
on his t-shirt."
"But the photograph-"
"That's not a photograph, you're holding a copy of Understanding Comics
for some reason."
"Oh, yeah. Why did you need to see me again?"
"I wanted you to submit an essay to the summer edition of the Webcomics
Examiner. The one with the triangulation challenge. Did you even read the
e-mail I sent you? And how did you know where I live?"
Ryan Estrada nervously looked around the room. Suddenly, he screamed
the word "MYSTERIOUS!" and ran out of the building.
Chapter 6
And then a woman somewhere said something seductive. THE END.
|
