Has your nose become hunched? Did you get a piercing and are you thinking about getting a tattoo? And the idea of buying a ticket to Mexico just won't go away? The non-fiction book "Children of the Maize" is the perfect solution. A collection of short, absurd comics based on real historical events, it tells the story of the great Mesoamerican civilisation. The Mayans are considered unique: advanced astronomy, amazing architecture, three calendars, but how do allergies to dust, a love of wildcats, Darwin and maize go together?
The project was done as part of a brief at a HSE Art and Design school on my 2nd year.
All the main characters are drawn from Mayan mythology and history of the civilization. Character lineup: Camazotz, Ah Puch, Maya Hero Twins, Kʼinich Janaab Pakal I
Two fonts were designed for the comic: one for witty headlines and one for diologues and soundbites.
The pages are assembled from hand-cut elements cut from printed photos of mayan hieroglyphs and completed with a pen.
The book is now printed in an abridged and modified format in 8 copies and is a long scroll.
You can read the finished version of the comic in simplified version here.
The short 4 page comics will later be combined into one large page to reference the classic form of the Mayan codices. The format and size of the comic now differs from my original idea due to my university's criteria.
I am still working on the book, It's halfway done. The final version of the comic will consist of 34 vertical single-page stories with more jokes about the great Mesoamerican Indians. If you are interested in publishing my book or have ideas for realization, feel free to contact me. The comic is in Russian, but I'm open to the possibility of translation. Let us together preserve the memory of the amazing people and their civilization. Right now I'm planning on printing a mini-collection of pages as postcards under a common cover, with the option to buy new postcard pages as they become available. As soon as I decide to finalize the project - I plan to combine everything and print the whole collection, I am in search of a publisher ready for such a venture.
Here is exaplem of final look of pages and a cover:
May the Kukulkan be with you!
