High Life - Section F
Sep 14, 2021
Captain Clay was really the start of it all. When I developed the idea of a fictional Planet-Sized University, he was the first character I devised, seeing the series as a set of text stories featuring a grizzled space-navy veteran who fought futuristic crime. Initially, he was called Captain Cormorant because I thought it sounded nautical. Over the years, as I developed the series, he became Clay, a more down-to-earth sounding character (literally). I suppose he was an offshoot of my own experiences working in a University and an exploration of the frustrations of being such a lowly cog in a vast and indifferent machine. I too was an associate lecturer and know that despite its impressive title, the job is far less vital to the instituion than someone cleaning cafeteria tables, a sort of white-collar odd-job man. In terms of the story, it seemed natural that having no real peace-keeping organisation, ULife would occasionally employ such a lowly and expendable member of the teaching staff to root out and eradicate the more physical and violent disturbances of the peace. Especially if he was in the Crime Genre Literature department.
I remember pondering the idea I had devised, scribbled in a notebook and promptly forgotten, on my way into work one afternoon (this time in a University library, not as a librarian, but stacking shelves and answering inquiries). Pausing to take a deep breath before starting, I looked down the long road leading uphill to the University, and suddenly imagined myself to be Clay and saw his whole story unfold like a scroll in my head. Thereafter, The University of Life suddenly seemed real and easy to write about.
It all started with Clay. But it went on to be something quite different. I hope you'll continue to visit to find out how different as time goes on. In the meantime, the good Captain has his work cut out dealing with a dealer. Find out more about his unique methods in the episodes to come.
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The University of Life
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The University of Life is an ongoing comedy sci-fi comic strip set on a planet-sized university of the far future. ULIFE (or Monica, if you wish to give it a more personal name) hosts a wide range of diverse and interesting life-forms and as such, constantly has to face the challenge of ensuring that the needs of every different and contrasting life-form are met. It is a place where, just as one being’s sandwich is another being’s poison, so one being’s soppy hug is another being’s murder. Despite the potential for chaos this extreme diversity could cause, ULIFE / Monica is a relatively peaceful planet, possessing neither a regular police force or army. In fact, apart from the 522,601 statutes governing the use of computers, there are practically no rules to govern the inhabitants' lives. Of course, underneath the peaceful veneer, all sorts of crimes and skulduggery persist. and the apparent interest in diversity is really just a cynical mix of penny-pinching and public relations.
The overall tone of the stories is satirical, poking fun, jibes and a big alien tongue at various ‘unfair’ institutions such as unfeeling bureaucracies, as well as examining the difficulties faced by the underdog, unglamorous, ordinary pedestrian universal creature who has to put up with the unfairness.
The University is the star and although there are regularly reoccurring characters, there are no regular characters … at the moment.
This is a civilised and bureaucratic, harmless but still action and adventure-packed story in the mould of greater works such as The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the Discworld novels and Blyton’s Mallory Towers. And though tragedy and farce occur, laughter in the face of adversity is the most common feature.
So strap in, switch on, unhook your comms unit, put your feet up or seven of them at least, and enjoy your adventures on the University of Life.
The overall tone of the stories is satirical, poking fun, jibes and a big alien tongue at various ‘unfair’ institutions such as unfeeling bureaucracies, as well as examining the difficulties faced by the underdog, unglamorous, ordinary pedestrian universal creature who has to put up with the unfairness.
The University is the star and although there are regularly reoccurring characters, there are no regular characters … at the moment.
This is a civilised and bureaucratic, harmless but still action and adventure-packed story in the mould of greater works such as The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the Discworld novels and Blyton’s Mallory Towers. And though tragedy and farce occur, laughter in the face of adversity is the most common feature.
So strap in, switch on, unhook your comms unit, put your feet up or seven of them at least, and enjoy your adventures on the University of Life.
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