Storytelling... in a word, that's what this is all about.

Hello everyone! I'm Michael O'Keefe. This site, O'Keefe Creations Comics, is a forum for me to share my stories with you in the form of web-comics.

I believe strongly that stories can have positive, even spiritual, effects on people's lives. Since the dawn of man, people have been telling stories to one another. Lessons are often handed down in the form of stories for children. Jesus Christ even spoke parables (stories) to the masses. Stories can have very positive (and very negative) influences on how we perceive things (i.e., our paradigm).

My objective is ultimately to create stories that challenge us to break from harmful paradigms and see the world with a more open-mind. I hope that my stories can help encourage and give strength to those who need it. That's why I do what I do and that's why I'm passionate about it.

So, if I'm a storyteller, why comics? Why not just write a book? In a word, comics rock!

The medium of comics was chosen because I feel it has much to offer. I like having the visual element to story telling as opposed to just words. Animation, which goes further to combine moving pictures with sound, is even a step above the comic in some senses. However, the time investment required for animation is prohibitive (trust me, comics take long enough to create well). But what's so special about the comic medium?

I think that few story-telling media can be as open and portable as a comic book while yet preserving much of the author's vision. When one thinks about the number of areas where communication can break down between people of different cultures and backgrounds (i.e., different paradigms), one can immediately appreciate the visual aspect to comics. Furthermore, the idea of comics (sequential art) has been with human kind for a very long time—even before the written word. Comic-like art can be traced back all the way to ancient cave paintings forward to the first "modern comic" (The Yellow Kid created by Richard Felton Outcault in 1895) developed right here in the United States of America! The Japanese form of Nishiki-e is also a vivid "comic-like" artform that holds much appeal to me. I am very interested in the "art" aspect of comics and strive to make my stories visually appealing as well as interesting from a story standpoint.

How would I clasify my work? Some would call my work "MANGA" style. Indeed, due to the time and place of where I grew up, I was very influenced by many sources (primarily animated and many of which were Japanese in origin). To me however, the more important quality is not the look of the story but the story itself. Hopefully, with both my art style and my stories, if you care to take close look, you will find I am indeed a unique storyteller—as we all are.

Please enjoy the site and let me know what you think!

Sincerely,

Michael Patrick O'Keefe