Since its inception in 2018, Comprachicos has drawn heavily from alchemical and militaristic motifs, along with taking inspiration from the themes of Victor Hugo’s ‘The Man Who Laughs’, from which comes our very name—Comprachicos—as well as the ‘mutant’ motif and our ever-grinning insignia. However, as I already admitted to elsewhere, the symbols have been contorted noticeably to where they no longer fit perfectly with the context in which they originally appeared (especially apparent in the fact that the comprachicos are viewed as a vile band of vagabonds and mercenaries). In fact, the ideals of this collective more closely align with that of the protagonist, Gwynplaine—a child of royal lineage sold to and disfigured by the comprachicos and taken to symbolize the whole of mankind and the suffering which we endure at the hands of our failed leaders and a passive population.

The ‘esoteric military’ motif is used to symbolize the combined psychological and physical elements of our collective ethos. In that case, the esoteria and alchemical symbolism can be seen as hinting at our quiet, formulaic approach based in archetypal psychology which subverts the more common forms of protest to focus upon the long game, whereas the militaristic elements are meant to symbolize organization, strategy, activity and vigilance as contrasted with the passivity and disorganization often seen in those of an empathetic and benevolent nature. The ‘mutant’ motif associated with our undertaking relates to Comprachicos being largely powered by outsiders and those of us who are not typically associated with activism or philanthropy.

Our aesthetic is brought to life by the likes of collage art; and because we have generated all or most of our art via a publicly-available AI medium (MidJourney, in this case), all participating individuals who take after us will have access to the self-same means and may generate their own additions to the Comprachicos myth while maintaining stylistic continuity—a big plus, I’d say. A generic prompt might look like ‘occult military captain in the style of collage art.’

Again, I am aware that some of the imagery and perhaps even some of the terminology that we choose to employ could be interpreted as aggressive and might therefore mislead the onlooker into thinking that all of this is more dubious an act than it actually is in reality, though all in all I would say that it’s much like those trendy waters that come in the creepy cans—in which case, even after being told that ‘it’s only water’ by those in the know, we are still prodded to ask “Like normal water? There must be some difference.” And so we continue to insist on there being some difference if simply because the juxtaposition is so unfamiliar to the masses who’ve come to expect harmful alcohol or energy drinks from such a display. Sure, it sounds like a silly example, but I feel it could be said of a lot of my ventures, as I have the tendency to dress up charities as gangs to serve my boyish sensibility and keep things interesting. I make no apologies for that, since I am very satisfied with my overall approach; I only hope that there are those who look beyond the surface exterior and arrive at a real understanding of what I am getting at with this and with all of my other works.

And in addition to my attempts to appeal to the outsider population—among which I include myself—I am strongly motivated by the desire to increase the appeal of goodness and health on the societal level and this will sometimes mean incorporating elements and imagery which we do not regularly associate with our heroes, but which do not subvert or negate heroism outright.


“Try your best to make goodness attractive. That’s one of the toughest assignments you’ll ever be given.” — Fred Rogers