Church of the Digital Eris:
About the Tracts for Discordians.

  • How did it come about?
    The story behind the tracts
    1. The beginning
      It all began in 1997 at a Lords of Acid concert in Pontiac Michigan. I had been suddenly roped into driving my brother's friend Alex to the concert, which I thought had passed. He had a ticket but no ride. I had wheels. We drove off into the night. As I'm prone to do, we arrived way too early and got to talking. It was then that he introduced me to Eris and the Principia. Allready I had become a discordian, since everything he said was dismissed as complete bullshit.

      Two months later, initially to pass some time, I found a copy of the Discordia online and began reading. It was then that I became enlightened.

    2. Fast Forward
      One year later I had broken up from a nasty, nasty relationship. Although it may shame me to say so, I found myself with two tickets to see Marilyn Manson and no ride. Another friend, Jeremy, had a car. Before we drove off into the night, I produced a counter-tract to discourage any religious protesters there. This tract was based loosely on that ex girlfriend. I printed a bunch up, left them at home, and was approached only by a stripper and a drug dealer while waiting in line.

    3. So?
      In early May, 2001, I began showing the strip plus the "Ted" comic to some newly acquainted Discordian friends while considering creating a strip centered around the sexual lives of reanimated corpses. They laughed at the Discordian tracts. What's more, right after the Ted strip I had a dream. An important dream which to date has changed my life.

    4. The Holy Quest
      In this dream, I was standing on a busy street corner and passing out sheets of paper with a partner. A woman. As the dream went on I learned that the woman was Eris, and that I was distributing more religious tracts in Her name.

      It didn't take long for me to realize that this was either a sign or a good enough bullshit story to excuse doing it anyway.

      I set out to learn about creating comics. This quest led me to Dallas, where I met Fred Perry of Gold Digger fame. There were, in fact, many adventures surrounding this quest. Some involving scotch, and one which included my first margarita. There was a woman involved too, who has inspired and supported me since the Dream came. Needless to say - all signs pointed to this as something I should do.

      So I did.


  • What the Hell is Going On Here?
    Things you may be wondering
    1. The Principia Discordia
      The texts on which all of this was based. If you don't know, either Read the Principia online, or do a Yahoo search for "discord".
    2. What's with the blank comic?
      As many people did, I posted a response to the tragedy which took place in early September, 2001. The reasons for not going the route of a memorial were threefold. To provide contrast to the many memorials (which were very well done, I should add). To say thank you to the many, many thousands of people who showed their best colors - even though I have no clue if a single one of them has ever seen this little strip. To perhaps inspire one more person to do even one little thing.


  • A Comic Emerges
    (How the tracts are created)
    1. An idea
      I have an idea.
    2. A drawing
      Sketches are made using charcoals on regular sketch paper.
    3. Input
      The sketches are photographed using a cheap webcam. For the curious, it's a Logitch Quickcam (the thing that looks like a black eyeball on a pyramid).
    4. Cut and Paste The sketches are placed back together, altered and re-angled somewhat, then pasted into blank white frames. Word balloons or captions, then text, then backgrounds are added later. Finally, the whole thing is pasted into a blank template.


  • Influences
    1. Mike Akers (Deadmans party).
      His series proved to me that amateur webcomics can be good. In fact, it's my favorite webcomic.

    2. Hard (Sexy Losers).
      The first webcomic I ever enjoyed. Before Deadmans Party, this proved that not all webcomics suck.

    3. Jack Chick. His tracts such as Dark Dungeons inspired the layout. He hates everyone, and I disapprove of his bigotry. It would be wrong to say that there wasn't a little of Chick in this comic, however.


  • Responsibility
    (The Man behind this strip)
    1. 25 years old.
    2. Web Developer.
    3. Lives in Austin, TX.
    4. Avid role playing gamer.
    5. Posts to The Back Phew as "St4r Drifter" - a take on his screen name since 1995.


There you have it. The story in a nutshell.
Go on back to the comics, allready.

To contact the author, email chaplin@starry.freeservers.com

The Back Phew on EZ-Board.



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