Yeesh.

This is what I consider to be the lowest point in Planet B’s production. But we all make mistakes, and it’s best to be honest about them. Besides, I rather like the art in this one. :)

“Rights” started out as nothing more than a disguised attack against a certain group of people. I didn’t know much about this group other than stereotypes, the media, and my own assumptions.

But I wanted to portray the characters as more than just 1-dimensional strawmen. I also wanted to speak not only to the issue of the day, but to future ones as well. That’s another reason I kept it vague.

It was mainly meant to be a critique on American philosophy in general. I wanted to raise questions about our sense of entitlement to whatever we want, and the belief that our country and comfort matter most.

Ask yourself: What’s the worst human suffering you’ve seen firsthand?

In Guatemala, there is a dump that spans several acres. Thousands of people live in it. Not near it, in it. Every day they rummage through the new delivery of trash to find food or something of worth, and they have to fight the vultures for it. I and a dozen other students watched the scene under cloudy skies from the vantage point of a cemetery.

This is what inspired this story. Seeing it made me ask: What are we doing about it? If we’ve got the money, the power, and the technology to alleviate untold amounts of human suffering, why aren’t we doing so?

It’s not a bad question. Selfishness is a plague. I don’t think every American has to sell everything they own in a frenzy of guilt, but do you really need whatever the media tells you need?

Words words words. This is actually about 2/3 the amount I started with. It’s hard to cut it down while still keeping all the points intact.

From a comic standpoint, another goal was to sort of expand this universe by introducing some new characters. These two hadn’t been seen before, and haven’t been seen since (yet.) However, it didn’t include any other character or species already established, so it was like reading an entirely different comic.

I really don’t know what I learned from making this story, other than never to do it again. :/