Underwater (comics)
Encyclopedia
Underwater was an alternative
comic book
by award-winning Canadian cartoonist
Chester Brown
that was published from 1994 until 1997, when the ambitious project was abandoned unfinished by its creator.
The story was unconventional in that it was told from the perspective of a child who is still acquiring language. The dialogue of the characters is encoded into a "language" that at first appears to be gibberish. As the child matures, the parts of the dialogue start to appear as normal, uncoded English.
The series was unpopular with readers, and Brown gave up on the series after three years, although he has said he may return to it someday.
of twin
sisters Kupifam and Juz and was intended to follow Kupifam's life up to her death
. In the story as finished, she is still left as a young child who is still acquiring language
. The "story seems to weave together dream
s[...]with events occurring in the external world[...]Virtually every panel exudes a dream-like quality." As the story was left incomplete with Kupifam still a child, it gave the impression that it was about "captur[ing] a state of infancy", but Brown insists it was "about more than just childhood."
In the story (as left incomplete), we see Kupifam and her twin being born, learning to walk and talk, beginning to learn to read, and start to attend school. There are frequent dream sequence
s, whose beginnings and ends are not clearly separated form the waking narrative, which, along with the artwork, gives the story a surreal feeling. In the cliffhanger that ends the last published issue, we see Kupifam being taken away in a car by her father, with the twins' sister Lafa helping.
and Harold Gray. While they act like human characters, they are drawn in an bald, alien-like style, with exaggerated cartoon features and blank circles for eyes that are reminiscent of Gray's Little Orphan Annie
comic strip.
Kupifam:the main character. From her birth in the first issue, the story unfolds from her perspective.
Juz:Kupifam's twin sister.
Lafa:the twins' older sister.
"Yuy":the girls' mother.
???:the girls' father.
Yonon Trod:Kupifam's teacher at school. First appeared in Underwater #9.
publisher and editor-in-chief Chris Oliveros had tried to convince Brown to change the title of Yummy Fur in the hopes of achieving higher sales. Brown announced in Yummy Fur #32 that he would change the title and start a new series, as the title no longer suited the contents, and he was about to "begin a new long fictional serial." At the time, Brown had not thought up a title for the series, and told readers to "feel free" sending in suggestions. Some readers' suggestions were printed in the letters page
of Underwater #1.
Underwater didn't sell as well as Yummy Fur,, which had been selling about 9000 copies per issue. In issue #8, Brown admitted it was "getting harder to" earn a living from Underwater and that the print run had fallen to 5500 as of issue #7. It would fall to 4000 by the end of the series.
. Brown had realized he had problems with the book that he didn't know how to solve. At the end of 1997, Brown's father died. Brown figured that continuing with the series before working out its problems would be a waste of time, and his "father’s death had [him] thinking that [he] did not want to be wasting [his] time."
Brown had lost focus on the book:
Largely the problem was one of pacing:
Brown realized that, while improvising something like Ed may have worked, it didn't work as well for stories that were meant to be more realistic, as Underwater, despite its surrealistic elements, was meant to be. After Underwater, Brown took to scripting out his stories, starting with Louis Riel
.
After Brown left the series, he long appeared not to have abandoned hopes of returning to it, but disliked talking about it as discussing it may "kill any desire [he has] to return to it in the future." In a 2011 interview with The Comics Journal
, however, he admitted that, while he had entertained the idea of returning to Underwater, perhaps giving it the annotation treatment he had given to Ed the Happy Clown
in 2004, his "heart just [wa]sn’t in it" anymore.
s in the Underwater seriesthis time continuing with the adaptation of the Gospel of Matthew
that he had begun in Yummy Fur #15. Since the discontinuation of Underwater, Brown has left off doing his Gospel adaptations, and the Gospel of Matthew itself remains unfinished. He says it's unlikely he will finish it.
Brown also published the notable anti-psychiatric
comic essay
My Mother was a Schizophrenic in issue #4 of the Underwater series.
and Harold Gray influence on the drawing style, Brown had read the lengthy Chinese novel Dream of the Red Chamber
when he started planning out Underwater, which "guided a lot of [his] thinking in regards to Underwater, especially the interplay between the dream world and the "real" world." He also says Robert Bresson
's "restrained approach" to film left an impression that can be seen on Underwater.
's Tom Spurgeon
calling the serialization "a bust", lamenting that it took him about "90 seconds" to read the first three issues. He wrote, "Underwater may be a masterpiece; time will tell. But I wouldn’t recommend seeing Citizen Kane
in half-minute segments, either."
The slow pacing was a "frustrating experience" for many readers, "glacial in its rhythms and ungenerous" to readers who were getting the story in period installments. Critic Robert Boyd said, "The whole narrative concept of Underwater seems to depend on reading it all in one go, but we get it in little, unsatisfying bits"
Alternative comics
Alternative comics defines a range of American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alternative to "mainstream" superhero comics which in the past have dominated the US comic book industry...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
by award-winning Canadian cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
Chester Brown
Chester Brown
Chester William David Brown , is an award-winning, best-selling Canadian alternative cartoonist and, since 2008, the Libertarian Party of Canada's candidate for the riding of Trinity-Spadina in Toronto, Canada....
that was published from 1994 until 1997, when the ambitious project was abandoned unfinished by its creator.
The story was unconventional in that it was told from the perspective of a child who is still acquiring language. The dialogue of the characters is encoded into a "language" that at first appears to be gibberish. As the child matures, the parts of the dialogue start to appear as normal, uncoded English.
The series was unpopular with readers, and Brown gave up on the series after three years, although he has said he may return to it someday.
Overview
The story starts with the birthBirth
Birth is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring. The offspring is brought forth from the mother. The time of human birth is defined as the time at which the fetus comes out of the mother's womb into the world...
of twin
Twin
A twin is one of two offspring produced in the same pregnancy. Twins can either be monozygotic , meaning that they develop from one zygote that splits and forms two embryos, or dizygotic because they develop from two separate eggs that are fertilized by two separate sperm.In contrast, a fetus...
sisters Kupifam and Juz and was intended to follow Kupifam's life up to her death
Death
Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....
. In the story as finished, she is still left as a young child who is still acquiring language
Language acquisition
Language acquisition is the process by which humans acquire the capacity to perceive, produce and use words to understand and communicate. This capacity involves the picking up of diverse capacities including syntax, phonetics, and an extensive vocabulary. This language might be vocal as with...
. The "story seems to weave together dream
Dream
Dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not definitively understood, though they have been a topic of scientific speculation, philosophical intrigue and religious...
s[...]with events occurring in the external world[...]Virtually every panel exudes a dream-like quality." As the story was left incomplete with Kupifam still a child, it gave the impression that it was about "captur[ing] a state of infancy", but Brown insists it was "about more than just childhood."
In the story (as left incomplete), we see Kupifam and her twin being born, learning to walk and talk, beginning to learn to read, and start to attend school. There are frequent dream sequence
Dream sequence
A dream sequence is a technique used in storytelling, particularly in television and film, to set apart a brief interlude from the main story. The interlude may consist of a flashback, a flashforward, a fantasy, a vision, a dream, or some other element. Commonly, dream sequences appear in many...
s, whose beginnings and ends are not clearly separated form the waking narrative, which, along with the artwork, gives the story a surreal feeling. In the cliffhanger that ends the last published issue, we see Kupifam being taken away in a car by her father, with the twins' sister Lafa helping.
Characters
The characters are drawn in a style largely inspired by cartoonists such as Frank KingFrank King
Frank Oscar King was an American cartoonist best known for his popular, long-run comic strip Gasoline Alley...
and Harold Gray. While they act like human characters, they are drawn in an bald, alien-like style, with exaggerated cartoon features and blank circles for eyes that are reminiscent of Gray's Little Orphan Annie
Little Orphan Annie
Little Orphan Annie was a daily American comic strip created by Harold Gray and syndicated by Tribune Media Services. The strip took its name from the 1885 poem "Little Orphant Annie" by James Whitcomb Riley, and made its debut on August 5, 1924 in the New York Daily News...
comic strip.
Kupifam:the main character. From her birth in the first issue, the story unfolds from her perspective.
Juz:Kupifam's twin sister.
Lafa:the twins' older sister.
"Yuy":the girls' mother.
???:the girls' father.
Yonon Trod:Kupifam's teacher at school. First appeared in Underwater #9.
Publishing History
For a few years, Drawn and QuarterlyDrawn and Quarterly
Drawn and Quarterly is a Canadian comic book publishing company, headed by Chris Oliveros, and based in Montreal, Quebec. Its focus is on graphic novels and underground or alternative comics. Drawn and Quarterly was also the title of the company's flagship quarterly anthology during the 1990s...
publisher and editor-in-chief Chris Oliveros had tried to convince Brown to change the title of Yummy Fur in the hopes of achieving higher sales. Brown announced in Yummy Fur #32 that he would change the title and start a new series, as the title no longer suited the contents, and he was about to "begin a new long fictional serial." At the time, Brown had not thought up a title for the series, and told readers to "feel free" sending in suggestions. Some readers' suggestions were printed in the letters page
Comic book letter column
A comic book letter column is a section of a comic book where readers' letters to the publisher appear. Comic book letter columns are also commonly referred to as letter columns , letter pages, letters of comment , or simply letters to the editor...
of Underwater #1.
Underwater didn't sell as well as Yummy Fur,, which had been selling about 9000 copies per issue. In issue #8, Brown admitted it was "getting harder to" earn a living from Underwater and that the print run had fallen to 5500 as of issue #7. It would fall to 4000 by the end of the series.
Abandonment
Brown abandoned Underwater after the 11th issue and began work on the acclaimed Louis RielLouis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography
Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography is a highly acclaimed comic book biography of the Métis rebel leader, Louis Riel, by Chester Brown and published by Drawn and Quarterly...
. Brown had realized he had problems with the book that he didn't know how to solve. At the end of 1997, Brown's father died. Brown figured that continuing with the series before working out its problems would be a waste of time, and his "father’s death had [him] thinking that [he] did not want to be wasting [his] time."
Brown had lost focus on the book:
Largely the problem was one of pacing:
Brown realized that, while improvising something like Ed may have worked, it didn't work as well for stories that were meant to be more realistic, as Underwater, despite its surrealistic elements, was meant to be. After Underwater, Brown took to scripting out his stories, starting with Louis Riel
Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography
Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography is a highly acclaimed comic book biography of the Métis rebel leader, Louis Riel, by Chester Brown and published by Drawn and Quarterly...
.
After Brown left the series, he long appeared not to have abandoned hopes of returning to it, but disliked talking about it as discussing it may "kill any desire [he has] to return to it in the future." In a 2011 interview with The Comics Journal
The Comics Journal
The Comics Journal, often abbreviated TCJ, is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels...
, however, he admitted that, while he had entertained the idea of returning to Underwater, perhaps giving it the annotation treatment he had given to Ed the Happy Clown
Ed the Happy Clown
Ed the Happy Clown is the title character of an award-winning and influential comic book story by the Canadian cartoonist, Chester Brown. It is dark and surreal, and largely improvised, having started from a series of unrelated short comic stories that Brown soon went on to tie together...
in 2004, his "heart just [wa]sn’t in it" anymore.
Other stories
Along with the main Underwater story, Brown continued his adaptations of the gospelGospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
s in the Underwater seriesthis time continuing with the adaptation of the Gospel of Matthew
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
that he had begun in Yummy Fur #15. Since the discontinuation of Underwater, Brown has left off doing his Gospel adaptations, and the Gospel of Matthew itself remains unfinished. He says it's unlikely he will finish it.
Brown also published the notable anti-psychiatric
Anti-psychiatry
Anti-psychiatry is a configuration of groups and theoretical constructs that emerged in the 1960s, and questioned the fundamental assumptions and practices of psychiatry, such as its claim that it achieves universal, scientific objectivity. Its igniting influences were Michel Foucault, R.D. Laing,...
comic essay
Essay
An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...
My Mother was a Schizophrenic in issue #4 of the Underwater series.
Issues
| Issues of Underwater | |||
| # | Date | Gospel of Matthew Gospel of Matthew The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth... |
Other |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | August 1994 | (no Matthew) | |
| 2 | December 1994 | ||
| 3 | May 1995 | ||
| 4 | September 1995 | My Mother was a Schizophrenic | |
| 5 | February 1996 | The secret Underwater alphabet revealed | |
| 6 | May 1996 | ||
| 7 | August 1996 | ||
| 8 | December 1996 | ||
| 9 | April 1997 | ||
| 10 | June 1997 | ||
| 11 | October 1997 | Last published issue, story left unfinished on a cliffhanger Cliffhanger A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma, or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction... |
|
Inspiration
Aside from the Frank KingFrank King
Frank Oscar King was an American cartoonist best known for his popular, long-run comic strip Gasoline Alley...
and Harold Gray influence on the drawing style, Brown had read the lengthy Chinese novel Dream of the Red Chamber
Dream of the Red Chamber
Dream of the Red Chamber , composed by Cao Xueqin, is one of China's Four Great Classical Novels. It was composed in the middle of the 18th century during the Qing Dynasty. It is considered to be a masterpiece of Chinese vernacular literature and is generally acknowledged to be a pinnacle of...
when he started planning out Underwater, which "guided a lot of [his] thinking in regards to Underwater, especially the interplay between the dream world and the "real" world." He also says Robert Bresson
Robert Bresson
-Life and career:Bresson was born at Bromont-Lamothe, Puy-de-Dôme, the son of Marie-Élisabeth and Léon Bresson. Little is known of his early life and the year of his birth, 1901 or 1907, varies depending on the source. He was educated at Lycée Lakanal in Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine, close to Paris, and...
's "restrained approach" to film left an impression that can be seen on Underwater.
Reception
While Brown published some letters from enthusiastic fans, Underwater was generally not well accepted, The Comics JournalThe Comics Journal
The Comics Journal, often abbreviated TCJ, is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels...
's Tom Spurgeon
Tom Spurgeon
Tom Spurgeon is an American writer, historian and editor in the field of comics, notable for his five-year run as editor of The Comics Journal and his blog The Comics Reporter, which he launched in 2004 with site designer Jordan Raphael.-Books:...
calling the serialization "a bust", lamenting that it took him about "90 seconds" to read the first three issues. He wrote, "Underwater may be a masterpiece; time will tell. But I wouldn’t recommend seeing Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane is a 1941 American drama film, directed by and starring Orson Welles. Many critics consider it the greatest American film of all time, especially for its innovative cinematography, music and narrative structure. Citizen Kane was Welles' first feature film...
in half-minute segments, either."
The slow pacing was a "frustrating experience" for many readers, "glacial in its rhythms and ungenerous" to readers who were getting the story in period installments. Critic Robert Boyd said, "The whole narrative concept of Underwater seems to depend on reading it all in one go, but we get it in little, unsatisfying bits"
See also
- Dream sequenceDream sequenceA dream sequence is a technique used in storytelling, particularly in television and film, to set apart a brief interlude from the main story. The interlude may consist of a flashback, a flashforward, a fantasy, a vision, a dream, or some other element. Commonly, dream sequences appear in many...
- Language acquisitionLanguage acquisitionLanguage acquisition is the process by which humans acquire the capacity to perceive, produce and use words to understand and communicate. This capacity involves the picking up of diverse capacities including syntax, phonetics, and an extensive vocabulary. This language might be vocal as with...
- Unfinished workUnfinished workAn unfinished work is creative work that has not been finished. Its creator may have chosen never to finish it or may have been prevented from doing so by circumstances outside of their control such as death. Such pieces are often the subject of speculation as to what the finished piece would have...
External links
- Chester Brown's catalogue page at Drawn and QuarterlyDrawn and QuarterlyDrawn and Quarterly is a Canadian comic book publishing company, headed by Chris Oliveros, and based in Montreal, Quebec. Its focus is on graphic novels and underground or alternative comics. Drawn and Quarterly was also the title of the company's flagship quarterly anthology during the 1990s...
's website - Underwater cover paintings at Toronto comic shop The Beguiling's art store:#5, #6 (alternate cover), #9 (b&w recreation), #11
- Underwater at the Grand Comics Database