The comicbook, written and illustrated by James O'Barr, is probably one of the greatest influences on my life. Blending a combination of darkness and death with innocence and poetry, The Crow shows what it means to lose everything. With its graphic violence balanced with the innocence of Eric Draven's great love of his soulmate Shelly, The Crow shows us to appreciate the little things and to treasure what we hold dear, for nothing lasts forever. Inspired by Barr's own personal tragedy, The Crow shows the world that comic books are for adults as well as kids. The movie adaptation, featuring the late Brandon Lee, is also a classic in its own right. Only loosely based on the book, the movie is poetry in every frame. From the ambiance of the night to the words so skillfully pronounced from every actor in the film, it only reinforces the greatness of the story. I've probably seen the film 50 times and know all the lines by heart, but yet can watch it over and over again. Sometimes I put it on when I'm writing.
The greatest band that no one heard. Joy Division's lead singer, Ian Curtis, was ahead of his time. With lyrics that had many meanings, Curtis wowed audiences with his deep, dark poetry and animated movements. Inside the shell of the punk icon was a sad and depressed artist who suffered from epilepsy and as Joy Division's popularity grew, his attacks on stage increased. In a time when the disease was still untreatable, Curtis' only outlet was heard in songs like "She's Lost Control," which he wrote about himself but made the subject a female so that he could keep his disease a secret from his fans. Later on, as Curtis' marriage was failing, he wrote their most popular song, "Love Will Tear Us Apart." On May 18th, 1980, Ian Curtis lost his battle with his inner demons and killed himself. Leaving behind a legacy of songs and an influence that lives on in many modern rock bands including U2, Bauhaus and Moby, Joy Division were one of the first bands to be labled "goth." Joy Division sailed into territories that no one else would travel and blended dark poetry of depravity and despair with driving bass, guitar and drums. Joy Division, after Curtis' death, carried on as New Order.
I have been a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings Trilogy and its prequel, The Hobbit, since I was in 8th Grade. I had been introduced to it from a friend of mine, who hooked me on Dungeons & Dragons and told me that the game was based on Tolkien's novels. Well, I've now read the trilogy 2 times and I've seen all three cartoons (The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Return of the King) many, many times, and I've seen the movies over a dozen times each. What a great world Tolkien created. The books can be a little long-winded, sometimes spending many pages describing the way the blades of grass blow in the wind, but what detail. From a writer's prospective, Tolkien was a master storyteller. And to see Peter Jackson's version of the story is to see magic onscreen. When watching the movies, one truly believes that elves, dwarves and wizards are alive.