"
Welcome to the Zion Archive. You have selected Historical File #12-1: The Second Renaissance."
So begins the short film of the same name by Mahiro Maeda
[Flash: 1 2 - QuickTime: 1 2] -- a devastating yet beautiful work of animation.
Originally produced to explain the backstory behind the
Matrix trilogy, Maeda's project ended up telling a story far darker and more affecting than any blockbuster.
Using a blend of
faux documentary footage and
visual metaphor, his serene Instructor relates in biblical tones the saga of Man and Machine, how age-old cruelty and hatred birthed a horrifying, apocalyptic struggle that consumed the world.
Packed with striking imagery and
historical allusions galore, this dark allegory easily transcends the films it was made for.
But while "The Second Renaissance" is arguably the best work to come from the
Matrix franchise, it's hardly alone -- it's just one of the projects made for
The Animatrix, a collection of
nine superb anime films in a
wide variety of styles designed to explore the universe and broaden its scope beyond the usual sci-fi action of the movies.
Click inside for a guide to these films with links to where they can be watched online, along with a look at
The Matrix Comics, a free series of comics, art, and short fiction created for the same purpose by
some of the best talent in the business.
[more inside]
posted by Rhaomi
on Feb 14, 2011 -
54 comments
A 3 hour podcast interview (
part 2 here) with British comics legend Pat Mills, most famous for the anti-war WW1 strip
Charley's War, the creation 2000ad and many of the most enduring characters within it, superhero hunter
Marshall Law and
numerous other comics. His work usually combines combines dark humour, a dash of left wing politics and ludicrous amounts of violence, now as much as ever with puritan zombie hunter
Defoe. Subjects discussed in the intreview include the death of artist
John Hicklenton, being Irish-English,
Sláine and the comparitive lack of celtic heroes in modern popular culture, Oliver Cromwell and the
Levellers. Bonus link:
20 pages of Metalzoic, Pat Mills and Kevin O'Neills "lost" story.
posted by Artw
on Dec 19, 2010 -
18 comments
Superstar Scottish comics writer
Grant Morrison is about to tear the DC Universe apart again with
Final Crisis, the latest in a series of apocalypses and world ending events he's inflicted
on various comics worlds over the years. But there was a time before fame when he wrote the tie-in comic for
ZOIDS, the robot dinosaur children's toy. So what did he do? Ushered in the apocalypse, in the form of
THE BLACK ZOID.
posted by Artw
on Apr 17, 2008 -
74 comments
My buddy and I are in a pub, and I mention this website called
Gone and Forgotten, which is all about superheroes who were so ill-conceived that they were quickly abandoned. And my buddy says "What about the Metal Men -- do they talk about the Metal Men?" And I say "The Metal who?" And my buddy says "They were these robots, and they had each had the powers associated with the metal they were made of. Like, Lead could block x-rays, and Mercury could, I dunno, take your temperature or something." And I tell my buddy that, although I don't know if the Metal Men appear on the virtual pages of G.A.F., I am certain that
someone out there on the Internet has created a Unofficial Metal Man Fan Page. And
I am right.
posted by Shadowkeeper
on Aug 23, 2002 -
26 comments
