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DT: From the story so far and hints from other interviews and message boards, it seems you're setting up the Antares family to challenge some of the institutions and traditions that have led the URRS to its current state. Is that something you think our own society needs to do? If so, since we lack skyfurnaces and spell protocols, how do you think we can accomplish that?
CG: Indeed. The Antares family is our symbol of hope against all odds. Their courage represents the best chance their nation has to overcome the tragic legacy that imprisons them. They are the heroic face in a cycle of renewal that civilization has engaged in since it was born. In the eternal struggle of humanity vs. society, they are the hands of freedom that tear down the walls of any nation that has forgotten the basic truth of law. Law must serve humanity to build their civilizations. When humanity becomes a blinded slave to their civilization's laws, that society must renew itself somehow, if it is to survive.
I think it's clear that, given my answer to the previous question, I feel our nation is on the brink of a very difficult transition. The transition from an industrial to an information society is something that is going to cause major international flux. It is a time in which the resources of the world, and the structures of power that profit from their distribution, are going to be challenged. New players on the world scene have become powerful, others have become weak. The aftermath of the Cold War has left us in a calm before what I feel will be a very destructive storm. In the analogous world of my fiction, the Antares family represents the common people, whose lives will somehow have to find a way to survive as the scheming manipulators that rule the world throw it into a chaos of their own greed.
To get back to the last part of your question, how can common folk not only survive, but challenge the institutions that are leading us? Well, history has the answers listed quite clearly. The catch is, such actions represent a subset of human endeavors that are incredibly costly, selfless and bloody. To write a comic about revolution, this is simplicity itself-- but inspiring large hordes of humanity to take their destiny into their hands for better or worse? This is history at its most vital, and most complex.
BK: Well, even protocols and skyfurnaces weren't doing it -- both are state controlled. It's personal conviction, sacrifice, and courage ultimately that must be brought to bear in order for things to change. We, in our own time can only do our little part, but the sum of millions of little parts is unstoppable. First, is to keep informed: read, read, read, and then read some more. Next is to use this information in making judgments when dealing with elections, propositions, candidates etc. "Turn on to democracy or democracy will turn on you," as Nader likes to put it. Support campaign finance reform, look to the problems of government and address them however you can. Don't necessarily trust standard channels of information--many news providing agencies have an agenda, and that agenda does not include informing the masses truthfully or impartially. When was the last time you heard on ANY of the main channels that we bomb Iraq on a daily basis and that hundreds of children die of disease and malnutrition there every week because of ridiculous sanctions imposed by our own government? Blaming Saddam Hussein here is just plain asinine. Stay aware and don't be afraid to make your opinion heard, even if it is unpopular.
DT: Chris, you said that we can effect positive change, but that the actions required to do so are "incredibly costly, selfless and bloody." Upon one reading, that comment seems pretty pessimistic . . . do you really think that's the only way to make things better?
CG: Actually, yes. As you say, the pessimistic reading is only one take on this comment. My own sentiment when I expressed this thought was more objective than emotional. When in human history has positive change not been incredibly costly, selfless and bloody? Martin Luther King's quest to bring civil rights to the black community wasn't a Disneyland ride. Nor was Abraham Lincoln's fight to preserve the Union from the southern hordes of racist farmers. The Russian people pushing back the Nazis in the 1940's was a journey of utter horror, but without the sacrifice of the Red Army, Hitler could not have been defeated before millions more were killed on all fronts. Let us also give due time to all the American soldiers that were shot to pieces on the beaches of France, or Guadalcanal, or Iwo Jima or any other bloody pyre upon which history is decided.
Nothing truly worth achieving is simple. The easier something is to achieve, the less likely it is to effect any kind of far-reaching change.
DT: You also seem to dismiss writing about revolution when you call it "simplicity itself" -- what, exactly, do you think is necessary to transform ideas into action? In your wildest dreams, what do you see people learning, thinking, and doing as a result of reading The Red Star? What else do you feel that you, personally, need to do to put the ideals you express into practice?
CG: Again, I was being objective. To write about revolution is easy-- any marketing drone can splash 'REVOLUTION' on an advertisement for a luxury car and feel gratified by their own alleged genius-- an actor can put on a costume and portray Che Guevarra or George Washington and perceive what it is to be a 'revolutionary' in some internal fashion; but to place ones self at the forefront of human conflict, to attempt to have your life alter the course of events, this is a very advanced set of human skills.
In my wildest dreams...well, I'm a writer, so my dreams get pretty wild. I'd feel more comfortable talking about my hopes and goals regarding the project. I'd like a continuation of what's happening right now. Most days I get messages from people around the world or even in my own neighborhood talking about how The Red Star is touching them, affecting them, making them curious about what happened in Russia in the 20th Century, and how it affected their lives wherever they happened to live. Hungarians, Poles, Mexicans, Germans, and of course, Russians and Americans-- our lives took place in an extraordinary period in human civilization. The Red Star is, at its best, a primer to remind us of that. It is also a valentine to the industrial age-- a time quickly giving way to the era of computerization. The great thing is that these themes are working. People are getting it. My hope and goal is that more and more people out there continue to 'get it'. What they do with it once they get it, that's in the lap of providence. All I can do is stay true to the enthusiasm and vision that inspired me and try my best to make it all worthwhile to the phenomenal group of friends that decided to join me in this humble cause.
