Who Am I & Why This Blog?

I’m Ali Kutluozen, a New York-based comic artist, musician, and software engineer in AI and robotics. I started this blog to document my comic book making and reading journey. Especially in the age of AI/LLM generated vomit.

I discovered my love for comic books too late in life (early 30s), despite being surrounded by a comic book culture that fuels much of the media I’ve always enjoyed.

My journey goes like this:
By default, you are born knowing Superman. No way around it. America won.
I got introduced to Spider-Man thanks to the 90s animated series. That opened the door to tons of other superheroes and franchises. You’ll always be special to me, Peter Parker. Thank you, Stan Lee.

In 2021, I stumbled upon Attack on Titan. I devoured the whole thing (no pun intended) within months, then moved on to Death Note, Evangelion, and many more. That’s when I started thinking, “Wow, these creators can really make you feel and understand things with these shows.” That’s when I gained a deep appreciation for storytelling. It’s a magical way to alter reality, to transfer and store knowledge, and to capture feeling. Probably the most human thing there is.

From there, I started ordering manga to see where these shows were coming from, and that brought me back to drawing, a hobby I had traded off for music and career decades ago.

Jakob Free, a very good old friend, has always been a big comic fan and an accomplished author. He saw my renewed interest in storytelling and, among many other classics, introduced me to Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud. If you know, you know what this book does to you. No more words needed after that. But I’ll write anyway.

Thanks to that book, I realized that pictures with words might be the best medium for storytelling and for reaching the human psyche. Comic books are where the real magic happens. You start reading one for just a few minutes, and suddenly you’re hearing sounds, seeing places, meeting people, even hearing music that isn’t really there. The best part is, when you recall what you just read, it feels like a memory you lived. You can’t quite tell if it came from panels or from a movie.

None of this is to say that books aren’t amazing too. Reading comics brought me back to novels and made me appreciate literature even more. Science and engineering are great, but if you’re looking for the human soul, you’ll find it in stories and art.

Being the creative type that I am, I had to get involved. I had so much to share. I picked up a few anatomy books (thank you, Bridgman) and started drawing again. Like a kid, nonstop. With help from YouTube channels, books, and Jakob, I made my first short comic, Rebirthday, in 2023. It was packed with lessons, and I had the time of my life working on that little 8-page piece. Then I made a few more: Melody of the Wind, Dear Lucy, Pet Peeve, and I’m still going. Next, I’m coming for you, big guys.

So, here I am. If you’ve read this far, it means we click on a lot of levels, and I’m glad we met.
Thank you for spending your time with me and joining this journey. Talk to you soon.

Ali Kutluozen