A Brief History of Grifonton, Page 7

PAGE 7, PANEL 1

The Gryphon (shown as her former human self in profile) watches other humans in the background - a woman with a baby and a blonde figure.

GRYPHON (narration): "I watched the other humans - there were seven billion of us then - have their babies and drive their cars and waste their food."

GRYPHON (narration): "I knew that with all those mouths eating, all those assholes shitting, and all those barrels of oil burning, it was only a matter of time before nothing was left."

PAGE 7, PANEL 2

A close-up of an eye with reflections of flames visible. To the right, an ink splatter suggests violence and destruction.

GRYPHON (narration): "In my isolation, I could see the end coming. I tried to warn them, but they wouldn't listen to me."

GRYPHON (narration): "They didn't want to believe that their happiness was a fleeting illusion."

GRYPHON (narration): "Then the day finally came when there was nothing left but a few scraps for once great nations to squabble over."

PAGE 7, PANEL 3

Empty cloudy sky.

GRYPHON (narration): "The gods looked on as their people slaughtered each other in their names. But, in truth, the people were slaughtering one another in the name of their own greed and desperation."

Everything that follows is original 2005 commentary except where noted “–RN 2012″:

Alas, I did not get to develop the Gryphon’s story here as much as I would have liked. I’ll be lucky if anyone sympathizes with her at all. There just wasn’t enough room to show the kind of things she was seeing and feeling. I had a lot of rage against administration and the rich and poor written into the story, but it made the comic run to 26 pages. After I cut and trimmed it out, the page count fell to 22. It was okay, though. I needed more room at the end of the book anyway.

Suggested listening: “Still Life” by Men at Work