Over the past four years, senior English major Max Geckler has learned to take his creative pursuits seriously
After Stevie—an anthropomorphic snake who works as a hit man for the underwater mafia—loses his brother, he falls into a depression that leads to a contentious confrontation between Stevie and his boss about where his loyalties lie.
This is the plot of “One Less Snake Under the Sea,” a short story written by senior Max Geckler, an English major and Communication Arts and Design minor. Geckler, who is also a three-season athlete on the college’s cross-country, indoor track, and outdoor track teams, was interested in studying English after high school and began writing short stories and poetry during his sophomore year of college.
His interest in writing and commitment to honing his craft has only grown since writing his first stories for class two years ago, and he is now a writing tutor in the Ratchford Writing Center. Although “One Less Snake Under the Sea” was one of his earlier stories, it remains a favorite, and Geckler is now working on expanding the project by adapting the tale into a comic.
“This was already a very visual story, so when it was written two years ago, I had thought of how the characters would look. My current process is to come up with rough doodles for each action as I read it. So far, I'm using much less dialogue for this comic compared to the written story,” Geckler said. “It contains so many elements which I love: animals, monster movies, gangsters, and Slurpees. I may animate this story, but for now, the comic will do. The text story describes so many different and striking images, that I must visualize them.”
Throughout the adaptation process Geckler is drawing inspiration from some of his favorite writers and creatives across a variety of artistic mediums, including director and screenwriter Masaki Kobayashi, comic book artist Frank Miller, and cartoonist and writer Sergio Aragonés.
“The themes I intend for the story include brotherhood, loss, rebellion, redemption, and addiction. So far, the rebellion and redemption have been key themes in my stories,” he said.
In this comic panel from early in the story, Stevie the snake is sitting at a bar when Mr. Gojira (left) and Bruce (right), fellow enforcers for the Don, confront him and ask him to follow them. Although Stevie has rarely worked with Mr. Gojira and Bruce, he goes with them.
Reflecting on the past four years he has spent at Lees-91探花, Geckler attributes much of his positive experience to the great relationships and encouraging feedback he has gotten from his professors, as well as the strong sense of community he has built among his peers in the English program and on the track and field and cross-country teams. Looking forward, he said he hopes to continue to strengthen his portfolio of poetry and short stories so he can build his repertoire. As a freshman, Geckler said he didn’t always take his creative pursuits seriously, but now he is driven to continue pursuing his passion for writing following graduation.
“The other students always provide good feedback and their excitement to write gets me excited to write myself. If they don’t like what they’re reading, then I’m not writing my best work,” Geckler said. “My time at Lees-91探花 has motivated me to start and finish my creative projects for others to see. My teachers and peers have been great with feedback and praise to continue my creative efforts.”
In 2021, Geckler (right) set a new Lees-91探花 record during the 8k race at Royals Cross Country Challenge in Charlotte. “I’ve really enjoyed my time on the cross-country team. We have a really good team dynamic, and my teammates are some of my best friends here and we’ve really all grown through that,” he said.
