New Eden... My Gotham City

Many of my early artistic endeavors, whether written or drawn, centered around the comic book genre. New Eden, its creation and inhabitants were the product of my comic book influences. Geographically New Eden exists on the border of The United States and Canada; specifically, where the upper peninsula of Michigan and Ontario meet, and the real world the city of Sault Ste Marie stands today. It's neither a normal place, nor a part of the United States or Canada even though it occupies the soil of both countries. While Rome may not have been built in a day, New Eden literally came into being overnight, and was populated in a very short period of time to become one of the largest cities in the world. Its motto, "Partum Per Unus Res (Created by one being): Orior Oriri Ortus In A Singulus Dies (Risen in a single day): Prognatus of Pugna (Born of conflict): A Civitas Unto Ipsum (A City-State unto itself)" tells the story of New Eden’s creation.  

I wish I could take all the credit for the original concept of New Eden but I can't. The truth is I don't remember for certain how much, if any of it was my own. It was 1985 and I had only been out of high school a little more than a year. I was working construction with the company my father and brother were employed with, and at nineteen years old, with a pregnant wife, 900 miles away from home we found ourselves in a little town in Louisiana called Sulphur.

This was my second construction project and the very first time out on my own, so to speak. My wife and I had found a small furnished apartment in this little town and settled in. I worked on the construction site with my father, and she found a job at a local pharmacy. Not knowing anyone there she made friends with some co-workers and I, of course, sought out the local comic book shop. This is where I must have met Victor, Gary and Matt. They were high school age, probably juniors, so 16 or 17 years old. I'm fuzzy on the details because it was so long ago, but some how we struck up a conversation and decided to game together.

Besides the comic book passion I was also, at that time, an avid role playing gamer. I had been introduced to Dungeons & Dragons in my freshman year of high school and played often with my best friend at that time, Donny. He and I spent hours playing, adapting, changing, and creating new and exciting adventures, magic items, creatures, and characters for the game. We eventually took another passion of ours, Star Wars, and coalesced it with the Dungeons & Dragons gaming system to create our own game. 

If the word nerd or geek has entered your mind while reading this then banish that thought immediately. In reality I don't think either of us, that is Donny or me, fit that mold. Quirky maybe, but not nerdy, or geeky. There were no computers per se, like we have today. Electronic gaming systems were limited to Pong and Atari so my friends and I spent much more time roaming the woods, playing baseball, and many other physical activities than we did playing games. 

Now, Victor, Gary, and Matt were borderline nerds. Besides the comic books, and role play gaming, they enjoyed medieval festivals. This included dressing up for these events and fighting with foam covered mock ups of medieval weapons. Admittedly, that was a little weird for me. I will say that I learned to appreciate those festivals, and may have partaken in medieval combat on an occasion... or twelve. But I can say with complete and utter certainty that I have never dressed in any garb other than my regular attire to attend any festivals, movie openings, or conventions. That, for me, is the difference between being borderline nerdy, and full blown nerd. Not that there's anything wrong with that….

So, I've met Victor, Gary and Matt. Probably at the comic book/ gaming store and we've some how formed a friendship and decided to game together. Up until this point my gaming experiences had been limited to Dungeons & Dragons and while I knew there were other types of games out there I had never been exposed to them. When I met these guys they introduced me to something completely new, superhero role playing. This was awesome! The system was Hero Games and it was surprisingly well developed and much more realistic in the cause and effect of actions than what I was used to. I don't know how I found the time, but I know we played often. Mostly weekends and evenings when my wife was working and I'm sure some times at Victor's house when she wasn't. In any event I found the time and it was out of these gaming sessions that New Eden, along with many other ideas to be discussed later, were born.

Like I said, I can't take full credit for the creation of New Eden; not in name anyway. And I'm not sure what part, if any, of the original concept was mine. New Eden, as it was, as it began, stood in Victor's superhero world before I came along. It was his idea, and his setting for our adventures. The New Eden in my writings uses some elements of his concept, but for the most part is completely different in its origin and design. 

So, why Gotham? Even if you've never read a comic book you have no doubt heard of Gotham City. A dark corrupt place where crime is king and those who are dedicated to serve and protect are all but insignificant. If not for its personal champion, the Batman, Gotham would have ceased to function as a city many years ago. Gotham can easily be compared to several real world cities at some point in history. Chicago and New York during the height of organized crime resemble the Gotham of comic book lore. These cities were so corrupt that they stood at the brink of destruction if not for their own champions. In the real world though, our champions are not super powered, and our villains are just misguided, or in some cases evil, people. 

Although the name, New Eden, shouldn't conjure images of darkness or corruption it's important to note this is the current state of being, and not its origin. In the beginning New Eden was a prosperous untroubled place. All that came to live and work there were successful in their ventures, and enjoyed a happy fruitful existence. There was no crime, sickness, unemployment, homelessness or unhappiness. It was, in every sense of the word an Eden. Though many marveled at New Eden’s miraculous birth, few knew the dire portent of its existence, or it's creator.