SEMANTIC LACE [Archive]

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MattBrady

03-13-2003, 04:24 PM

<a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/s_lace_cover.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/s_lace_cover_t.jpg" width="200" height="311" align="right" border="0"></a>Tel Aviv, 2190. Terrorists have taken over a shopping mall, and casualties are high. The Mossad and Israeli Defense Force have sent in a remote-operated Harlequin automaton piloted by Iluatha Assad for search and rescue. Problem is, as the situation escalates, sanity begins to slip from Iluatha’s grasp. Welcome to Semantic Lace a 112-page OGN from Image in June.

The 5” x 7 ½” trim volume (retail $9.95) is the major publisher debut of Sherad Jackson, who was discovered, and brought to Image by Josh Blaylock and Devil’s Due. Originally, four issues of Semantic Lace were published under the Arrow imprint, but the story was not completed. This will be the first time Jackson tells the entire Semantic Lace story in one place.

<a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/Automaton.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/Automaton_t.jpg" width="200" height="311" align="left" border="0"></a>For a bit more on the characters, Jackson explained that Iluatha (pronounced “ilu- way- tha”) is Arabic Jew, on her father's side, a lieutenant in the Israeli Defense Force, and an agent of the Mossad, the Israeli secret intelligence agency. As mentioned above, Iluatha is skilled in piloting automatons, as well as small arms, and a few other martial arts techniques. When operating the robots, Iluatha is a ferocious killer, but she wasn’t always this way, something that results in an unease in her demeanor - she stutters, she has a tendency to rush into things head first and winds up getting herself emotionally bruised, and there's this sense of complacency that gnaws at her because she doesn't want to be in the military but she doesn't know what she can do outside of it.

As Iluatha’s begins to lose her grasp on reality during the mission in 2190, the story flashes back to 2189, and, through the flashbacks, shows just how she became a killer for the Mossad. Paramount in the flashbacks to a year previous is Iluatha’s relationship with Taj, her fiancée and struggling, and constantly self-doubting artist who can’t understand how he ended up with someone as perfect as Iluatha.

Also playing roles in Iluatha’s development are her and Taj’s two best friends, Mitza and Maki, playing the consoling voices of reason for the couple, as well as Yumiko, Mitza’s spoiled roommate.

Trying to hold on to her sanity by reliving her past, Iluatha’s journey through the mall is as much metaphorical as literal, according to Jackson.

<center><a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/Sem_Lace_Pre_01_t.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/Sem_Lace_Pre_01_t.jpg" width="150" height="233" border="0" hspace="2" alt="page 1"></a><a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/Sem_Lace_Pre_02and03.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/Sem_Lace_Pre_02and03_t.jpg" width="300" height="233" border="0" hspace="2" alt="page 2-3"></a></center>

<center><a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/Sem_Lace_Pre_04.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/Sem_Lace_Pre_04_t.jpg" width="150" height="233" border="0" hspace="2" alt="page 4"></a><a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/S_Lace_01_14.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/S_Lace_01_14_t.jpg" width="150" height="233" border="0" hspace="2" alt="page 14"></a><a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/S_Lace_01_15.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/S_Lace_01_15_t.jpg" width="150" height="233" border="0" hspace="2" alt="page 15"></a></center>

<center><a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/S_Lace_01_16.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Image/S_Lace_01_16_t.jpg" width="150" height="233" border="0" hspace="2" alt="page 16"></a></center>

Ed Cunard

03-13-2003, 04:41 PM

Wow... holy kick ass cover... That's some great design work.

Brian Jacks

03-13-2003, 04:41 PM

Unless I'm mistaken, Mossad, Israel's CIA, as an international agency, wouldn't be involved in a shopping mall incident. The organization responsible for internal security is Shin Bet.

Is Sherad Jackon an Israeli?

pmpknface

03-13-2003, 04:46 PM

WoW! It's like Ghost in the Shell and Kabuki done by Geoff Darrow. And over 5 normal sized issues for under $6? I'm so there!

MattBrady

03-13-2003, 04:51 PM

OGN. Read again slower, or you're staying after school.

:)

MattB

fistofkhonshu

03-13-2003, 04:57 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr /> Is Sherad Jackon an Israeli? <hr /></blockquote>No. Sherad is one of those Flesheating sex kittens from the Blue Dimension. They like cheese and high bouncing balls. :D

Timothycat

03-13-2003, 05:16 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Brian Jacks:
[QB]Unless I'm mistaken, Mossad, Israel's CIA, as an international agency, wouldn't be involved in a shopping mall incident. The organization responsible for internal security is Shin Bet.
QB]<hr /></blockquote>Funnily enough your question is answered in the page2-3 jpeg in this story.

Best,
TimK

MattBrady

03-13-2003, 05:19 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Timothycat:
[QUOTE]Funnily enough your question is answered in the page2-3 jpeg in this story.<hr /></blockquote>Hey hey hey - don't start suggesting people read things before suggesting that it's not accurate. That's not how things work around here. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

MattB

Brian Jacks

03-13-2003, 05:32 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Timothycat:
Funnily enough your question is answered in the page2-3 jpeg in this story.<hr /></blockquote>So it is. I couldn't read the lettering on the monitor I was using.

Simon DelMonte

03-13-2003, 05:43 PM

2190, and there's still no peace in the Mideast.

Yeah, that's sounds about right, dammit.

Greil

03-13-2003, 06:04 PM

Looks like one hell of a premise. Really interested in seeing how this one pans out.

pmpknface

03-13-2003, 06:29 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by MattBrady:
OGN. Read again slower, or you're staying after school.MattB<hr /></blockquote>Yes, I realize it's on OGN, but I guess I should have phrased it differently. 112 pages is more than 5 normal-sized, 22-page comics for only $5.95.

That's what I get for trying to rush my post! I don't wanna stay after school! Must...get...home...and watch Toonami! :D

patrick foster

03-13-2003, 07:19 PM

I met Sherard at DragonCon last fall, and picked up the first two issues of this, published, I think, by Acclaim, maybe? Anyway, he's a terrific guy and a great artist, and this is going to kick ass! The two issues I read were unbelievably clever, and his art is kind of a manga-eqsue Geoff Darrow. I can't believe I'm finally going to egt to see how it comes out.. I'm really stoked for this.

Hey Sherard, if you're reading this, drop me a note.. I'm the letterer you met at the Impulse table..

jagtech13

03-13-2003, 10:26 PM

Sounds damn interesting. Emailed my comic store to set one on the side for me. No peace in the Middle East in the next two hundred years, and people think that's par for the course? Either someone else is a heavy Mid East history major and understands the region and it's politics, or they are just jaded as all hell. Either way, it sounds accurate. :D

Sherard Jackson

03-14-2003, 01:28 AM

I studied Jewish history, politics and religion for six months before I started on the book. Most of it I didn't use because the story's focus is on the main characters' relationships and is not meant to be a political platform.
Maybe next time.
BTW: I'm not an Israeli...though I could pass for Jewish <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />
I hope you dig it when it comes out.

-s-

TroutMask

03-14-2003, 02:10 AM

Sounds cool..interesting concept, neat looking artwork. It's even more interesting since the Israelis are the bad guys these days, or so I'm told by people like Jimmy Palmiotti and his moronically subtext ridden failure 'the resistance'...

Recylce bin anyone?

Charles RB

03-14-2003, 06:08 AM

I want a copy.

And onto the Middle East still being in conflict in 2190- well, DUH. The reason, as far as I can see, is this:

Palestinian suicide bomber: "Bloody Jews, invading our land and killing our people! JIHAD!"
*goes into Israel, kills a bunch of people who were minding their own business*
Israeli army: "Bloody Arabs, killing our people! MOVE IN!"
*army goes into Palestine, kills a bunch of people*
Palestinian suicide bomber: "Bloody Jews, invading our land and killing our people! JIHAD!"
*goes into Israel, kills a bunch of people who were minding their own business*
Israeli army: "Bloody Arabs, killing our people! MOVE IN!"
*army goes into Palestine, kills a bunch of people*
And on, and on, and on...

BoyWonder

03-14-2003, 09:23 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by TroutMask:
Sounds cool..interesting concept, neat looking artwork. It's even more interesting since the Israelis are the bad guys these days, or so I'm told by people like Jimmy Palmiotti and his moronically subtext ridden failure 'the resistance'...

Recylce bin anyone?<hr /></blockquote>What the hell is wrong with people :mad:
There are no good guys or bad guys. Some Israelis have done some really bad stuff as have some palaestinians. How can people try to define clear right or wrong? This isn't a Superman comic written by Jeph Loeb! It is far more complicated than that.
I give credit to Jim Palmiotti for criticising Israel as it is something that you hardly see in the American media.

The artwork on this book looks good!

ljamal

03-14-2003, 10:39 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />
Originally, four issues of Semantic Lace were published under the Arrow imprint, but the story was not completed.
<hr /></blockquote>Wasn't Semantic Lace originally released by the manga inprint of Arrow Comics (Arrow Manga)? I believe only 2 issues were released.

Shlomo R.

03-14-2003, 11:57 AM

Well, I can pass as an Israeli and as a Jew since I am one.

This project sounds like a great concept' but I have to admit that it isn't so farfetched. I don't think there'll ever be peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.

I'm not peccimistic, but think about it: We have a whole Nation that preaches hatred and has summer camps in which they teach 9 year olds (!!!) to use guns and kill Israeli settlers, and on the other side a whole big bunch of Israeli extremists that think that Israel MUST be kept whole and that we have to throw all the Arabs out of our contry.

Dont get me wrong, I'm a left winger. I believe that peace is the only solution, and that there isn't a chance in hell that this war is going to be over in any other way. But the way it's going now, it's not going to end.
A close friend of mine has lost one of her best friend when a suicide bomber climbed into a bus. The girl was 17.
A baby was assassinated when a Palestinian assassin nailed a bulet in her head, and badly injured her Mom.
A guy from my school was killed in the shopping mall.

AND FOR WHAT?!!??!

These are vicious cycles that must be stopped, but neither side is willing to do it.

SalCipriano

03-14-2003, 01:03 PM

Congrats dude! I've been following your work since Wizard World 99 I believe, and Semantic Lace is the goods. This is gonna make one hell of an OGN!
Sal Cipriano
<a href="http://www.cactusfusion.com" target="_blank">www.cactusfusion.com</a>

Brian Jacks

03-14-2003, 06:10 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Charles RB:
Palestinian suicide bomber: "Bloody Jews, invading our land and killing our people! JIHAD!"
*goes into Israel, kills a bunch of people who were minding their own business*
Israeli army: "Bloody Arabs, killing our people! MOVE IN!"
*army goes into Palestine, kills a bunch of people*<hr /></blockquote>I don't really want to get into a lengthy discussion here, but your argument is fundamentally flawed, specifically because it gives a measure of equability between terrorist acts and a sovereign state's response to said acts. One side intentionally targets innocent civilians while the other targets the individuals responsible for the terrorist acts, taking pains to avoid civilian losses. To equate the two is akin to labeling American military pilots "terrorists" for unintentional civilian casualties in the Afghanistan campaign (which was a direct result from a terrorist action against the US). If the Palestinians halted their terrorism, the Israelis would have no need to respond, and you'd reach a point of possible negotiation such as what occurred in the early '90s (prior to the Palestinians launching their current terrorism spree).

-Brian

Charles RB

03-14-2003, 08:00 PM

Brian, the Israeli army has been documented using bulldozers on civilian areas, shooting ambulances and blocking UN investigations into what exactly they do in their little excursions in Palestinian territory.

In other words, I view them as both as bad as each other and I pity the civilians of both nations for being represented by them.

W.C.Jr.

03-14-2003, 09:13 PM

Hey Sherard... I sure do hope you get to read this...

I'm Proud Of YOU....

And for those who want to know if Sherard is an Israeli... He isn't.. He was born in Nashville, TN and grew up looking at Transformers and the Super Friends as a kid in the late 70's and early 80's.

I'm his Brother-In-Law and trust me folks, Sherard has been drawing for over 20 years. I would even bet that everytime this message is read, he's somewhere drawing or working on a comic book.

Keep up the Great work Sherard..

Walt

Charles RB

03-14-2003, 09:17 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by W.C.Jr.:
He was born in Nashville, TN and grew up looking at Transformers <hr /></blockquote>That would explain the "universal greeting" in his sig then. (Though what Kup never told Hot Rod was what it meant in Sharkticon... <a href="http://www.supermegatopia.com/tmbgr/gallery/hotrod.htm" target="_blank">http://www.supermegatopia.com/tmbgr/gallery/hotrod.htm</a> ).

Sherard Jackson

03-15-2003, 04:03 AM

Thanks Walt. When my family supports me it makes me work harder.

This is great! I appreciate all the feedback and I'm loving the political discussion!

-s-

Sammycomic

03-16-2003, 12:11 PM

Cool Stuff.

Kind of like a Manga insipred Victory Ostrovsky novel.

By any chance, did your read 'By Way of Deception' for research Mr.Jackson?

Sherard Jackson

03-16-2003, 01:56 PM

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By any chance, did your read 'By Way of Deception' for research Mr.Jackson?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two key books for me were 'Gideon's Spies: The Secret History of the Mossad' By Gordon Thomas and 'God Has Ninety-Nine Names' By Judith Miller. The latter gave me good ideas for backstory.
-s-

TroutMask

03-16-2003, 09:04 PM

Yeah but no-one agreed with me that Palmiotti's 'Resistance' suck the big bukkake.

At least when someone like Joe Sacco makes a comic like 'Palenstine' he's doing it from personal experience.

Palmiotti is just some geek sitting in his New York apartment watching CNN and find a fence to sit on in order to sell his talentless, unoriginal garbage.

There's nothing I hate more in pop-culture when talent and imagination are appropriated for agit-prop, hence the glut on unimaginative contemporary titles...

Charles RB

03-17-2003, 08:58 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by TroutMask:
Palmiotti is just some geek sitting in his New York apartment watching CNN and find a fence to sit on in order to sell his talentless, unoriginal garbage.<hr /></blockquote>You know, he's got an E-mail address that can be find at <a href="http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/chamber" target="_blank">http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/chamber</a> . You can insult him to his face instead of going on about it to us, because I know I don't care about what issues you have against him.