Concrete (comics)
Encyclopedia
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series created and written by Paul Chadwick
Paul Chadwick
Paul Chadwick is an American comic book creator best known for his series Concrete about a normal man trapped in a rock-hard body....
and published by Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
. His first appearance is Dark Horse Presents #1 (July, 1986). The eponym
Eponym
An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...
ous central character is a normal man whose brain
Brain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
was transplant
Whole-body transplant
A whole-body transplant or brain transplant is a hypothetical operation that would move the brain of one being into the body of another. It is a procedure distinct from head transplant, which involves transferring the entire head to a new body, as opposed to the brain only...
ed into a large, stone
Rock (geology)
In geology, rock or stone is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. In general rocks are of three types, namely, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic...
body by aliens
Extraterrestrial life in popular culture
In popular cultures, "extraterrestrials" are life forms — especially intelligent life forms— that are of extraterrestrial origin .-Historical ideas:-Pre-modern:...
, and who lives an extraordinary life on Earth following his escape.
The Concrete series focuses on realism. Apart from the aliens (which disappear in the origin issue and are never heard from again) and Concrete's own high-tech artificial body (which includes superhuman sight), there are no supernatural or science-fiction elements to any stories.
The hero tries to use his body for noble endeavors, such as helping out on a family farm. Later, Concrete climbs Mount Everest, becomes involved with a group of hardline environmental militants, and reluctantly agrees to become the spokesperson of a campaign to voluntarily reduce the Earth's population.
Concrete's sexuality is addressed in the series. An artist at heart, he collects paintings of female nudes. He is notably embarrassed at his lack of sexual organs; this is often the subject of hurtful jokes thrown his way.
Real-world physics apply to Concrete. Examples include Concrete breaking objects by sitting on them, or Concrete being shot forward from a braking car, due to the momentum of his large body. He is constantly breaking telephones and doorknobs, and must hire an assistant Larry Munro, because his hands are too clumsy to handle a pen.
The series makes frequent use of thought balloons, showing characters' interior thoughts and feelings.
In addition to the comic, Paul Chadwick has drawn Concrete in many paintings. Most show the character wandering in nature, perhaps looking at a flower or some other natural curiosity.
Character history
The series focuses on the life of Concrete, formerly Ron Lithgow, whose brain was involuntarily transplanted by aliens into a hulking artificial body which is made up of a substance that closely resembles concreteConcrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
.
As part of the back-story
Back-story
A back-story, background story, or backstory is the literary device of a narrative chronologically earlier than, and related to, a narrative of primary interest. Generally, it is the history of characters or other elements that underlie the situation existing at the main narrative's start...
, he eventually escaped and made contact with the US Senator he worked for as a speechwriter
Speechwriter
A speechwriter is a person who is hired to prepare and write speeches that will be delivered by another person. Speechwriters are used by many senior-level elected officials and executives in the government and private sectors.-Skills and training:...
. After a prolonged period of scientific tests and examinations, he was allowed to live on his own with the cover story that he was a cyborg
Cyborg
A cyborg is a being with both biological and artificial parts. The term was coined in 1960 when Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline used it in an article about the advantages of self-regulating human-machine systems in outer space. D. S...
constructed by the government.
In his new body, Concrete decides to use his tremendous strength, endurance and vision for a series of adventures he never thought of in his previous sedate life. Hiring a personal assistant writer and taking a female scientist who is assigned to monitor his body, Concrete has a wide variety of adventures.
He climbs mount Everest, helps a family farm, meets with some ecological activists, etc.
Awards and recognition
The series won the Eisner AwardEisner Award
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, and sometimes referred to as the Oscar Awards of the Comics Industry, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books. The Eisner Awards were first conferred in 1988, created in response to the...
s for Best Continuing Series for 1988 and 1989, Best Black-and-White Series for 1988 and 1989, and Best New Series for 1988, and their Best Writer/Artist Award for Paul Chadwick
Paul Chadwick
Paul Chadwick is an American comic book creator best known for his series Concrete about a normal man trapped in a rock-hard body....
for 1989. It received the Harvey Award
Harvey Award
The Harvey Awards, named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman and founded by Gary Groth, President of the publisher Fantagraphics, are given for achievement in comic books. The Harveys were created as part of a successor to the Kirby Awards which were discontinued after 1987.The Harvey Awards are...
for Best New Series in 1988, and won Chadwick their Award For Cartoonist (Writer/Artist) for 1989.
Collections
Out of Print, old versionsThey are printed at the correct size, but are missing a few short stories.
- The Complete Concrete (tpbTrade paperback (comics)In comics, a trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually capturing one story arc from a single title or a series of stories with a connected story arc or common theme from one or more titles...
of the original 1986 ten issue series) - Concrete: Fragile Creatures (tpb of the 1991 four issue limited series, also with "Fire at Twilight")
- Concrete: Killer Smile (tpb of the 1994 four issue limited series)
- Concrete: Think Like A Mountain (trade paperback of the 1996 six issue limited series)
- Concrete: Strange Armor (tpb of the 1997 five issue limited series)
- Concrete: Complete Short Stories 1986-1989
- "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" from Dark Horse Presents #1, July 1986
- "Under the Desert Stars" from Dark Horse Presents #2, September 1986
- "The Four-Wheeled Sleeping Pill" from Dark Horse Presents #3, November 1986
- "The Gray Embrace" from Dark Horse Presents #4, January 1987
- "Burning Brightly Brightly" from Dark Horse Presents #5, February 1987
- "Little Pushes" from Dark Horse Presents #6, April 1987
- "Water God" from Dark Horse Presents #8, July 1987
- "Straight in the Eye" from Dark Horse Presents #10, September 1987
- "Next Best" from Dark Horse Presents #12, November 1987
- "Now Is Now" from Dark Horse Presents #14, January 1988
- "A Sky of Heads: With a Whimper" from Dark Horse Presents #16, March 1988
- "A Sky of Heads: Quality Time" from Dark Horse Presents #18, May 1988
- "Fitful Sleep" from Dark Horse Presents #20, July 1988
- "Watching A Sunset" from Dark Horse Presents #20, July 1988
- "Goodwill Ambassador" from Dark Horse Presents #22, September 1988
- "Stay Tuned For Pearl Harbor" from Dark Horse Presents #28, March 1989
- "Visible Breath" from Dark Horse Presents #32, August 1989
- Concrete: Complete Short Stories 1990-1995
- "Fire at Twilight" from Dark Horse Presents #38, April 1990
- "Like Disneyland, but Toxic" & "A Billion Conscious Acts" from Concrete Celebrates Earth Day, April 1990
- "What Needs to be Done" from Concrete: Odd Jobs, July 1990
- "Objects of Value" from Dark Horse Presents Fifth Anniversary Special, April 1991
- "American Christmas" from Within Our Reach, December 1991
- "Byrdland's Secret" from Dark Horse Presents #66, September 1992
- "King of the Early Evening" from Concrete Eclectica #1, April 1993
- "I Strive For Realism" from Concrete Eclectica #2, May 1993
- "Steel Rain" from San Diego Comic Con Comics #2, August 1993
- "Enough World" from Dark Horse Presents #87, September 1994
- "The Artistic Impulse" from Dark Horse Presents #100 [3], August 1995
Current Trades
These have been re-sized, slightly smaller, but have collected every 'Concrete' story (though a few pages of the story "Moving a Big Rock" have not been reprinted. See notes below).
- Concrete: Volume One: Depths collects:
- Concrete #1-5
- "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous", "Water God", "Straight in the Eye" from Collected Stories 1986-1989
- "Orange Glow" from Dark Horse Presents Annual 1999, August 1999
- "Sympathy From A Devil" from Dark Horse Presents #150, January 2000
- Concrete: Volume Two: Heights collects:
- Concrete #6-10
- "Now Is Now", "Goodwill Ambassador" from Collected Stories 1986-1989
- "What Needs to be Done" from Collected Stories 1990-1995
- "The Damp Descent" from Concrete Color Special #1, February 1989
- Concrete: Volume Three: Fragile Creature collects:
- 1991 four issue limited series
- "The Gray Embrace", "Burning Brightly Brightly", "Little Pushes", "Next Best" from Collected Stories 1986-1989
- "Fire at Twilight", "Byrdland's Secret", "The Artistic Impulse" from Collected Stories 1990-1995
- Concrete: Volume Four: Killer Smile collects:
- 1994 four issue limited series
- "Under the Desert Stars", "The Four-Wheeled Sleeping Pill", "Visible Breath" from Collected Stories 1986-1989
- "Enough World", "King of the Early Evening", "American Christmas" from Collected Stories 1990-1995
- "The Lyle Committee", "The Ugly Boy", "Jack O'Fingers" all from Concrete Eclectica #1, April 1993
- "The Dictator's Dream", "The Maiden of Crete" from Concrete Eclectica #2, May 1993
- "Coming Soon: Emptiness", "Life Bomb", "Frozen" from the Killer Smile series
- "The Cave", "The Bore", "Earth's Birthday", "The Wish", "The Arm" from the Think Like a Mountain series
- "Family Night" Dark Horse Maverick 2000, July 2000
- Concrete: Volume Five: Think Like a Mountain collects:
- 1996 six issue limited series
- "A Sky of Heads: With a Whimper", "Stay Tuned For Pearl Harbor" from Collected Stories 1986-1989
- "Like Disneyland, but Toxic", "A Billion Conscious Acts", "Steel Rain" from Collected Stories 1990-1995
- "Riotus Life (Lost in Amazonis)" from Dark Horse Extra #1-4, June 1998
- Concrete: Volume Six: Strange Armor collects
- 1997 five issue limited series
- "A Sky of Heads: Quality Time", "Fitful Sleep", "Watching A Sunset" from Collected Stories 1986-1989
- "I Strive For Realism" from Collected Stories 1990-1995
- "A Sky of Heads" Concrete Eclectica #2, May 1993
- "World Beneath the Skin" Dark Horse Decade #4, October 1996
- "Running" and "On Van Gogh's 'The Bedroom'", previously unpublished
- Concrete: The Human Dilemma collects the six issue limited series
The story "Moving A Big Rock" appeared in the Concrete Hero Special, April 1995. There are 2 alternate pages in the Hero Special that are not reprinted. This was an eight-page story produced to promote the then upcoming "Think Like a Mountain" mini-series. Six pages of this story are actually straight from Think Like a Mountain #4, and appear both in the original issue and the collected editions. However, the first and last page of the story were redone for the Hero Special so the story would make sense in the context of eight pages. However, much of the dialogue is the same as what appears in the original comics and collected editions, so there really isn't much difference between the two alternate pages that appear in the Hero Special and what appears in Think Like a Mountain #4 and the subsequent collected editions.
A movie based on the character was reportedly in pre-production during the late 90's, with Bill Murray
Bill Murray
William James "Bill" Murray is an American actor and comedian. He first gained national exposure on Saturday Night Live in which he earned an Emmy Award and later went on to star in a number of critically and commercially successful comedic films, including Caddyshack , Ghostbusters , and...
being considered for the lead role.
External links
- Paul Chadwick interview about The Human Dilemma at Darkhorse.com
- The Continuity Pages: Concrete
- Concrete: Lost in Amazonis ecomic at Darkhorse.com