another batch
Lady Snow Blood: The Deep-Seated Grudge Pt. 1 is very manga, and that's about all I can say for it. It would be a good example of many things manga / Japanese, but there's not much to it other than "violent naked chick--cool!" It's by Kazuo Koike and Kazuo Kamimura.
Dark Water by Koji Suzuki and Meimu is a collection of water-themed horror stories. Again, it makes a good example of manga and the Japanese approach, but I'm not sure it's rich enough in a thematic sense, and I get confused about what's the source of what. The cover claims it is "The book that inspired the major motion picture," but inside it seems to be being based on something else--the original Japanese film? Probably not, although it could show up on a list of options for solo projects or something.
Johnny Jihad by Ryan Inzana is an interesting and very timely piece that's worth further consideration. Very interesting black and white work throughout, and there's a lot of current political stuff to talk about. I was personally disappointed in it. I expected a story of a fanatic, but really the title character seems to accept Islam and radical Islam only on a very superficial level. It's really more about someone being the pawn of powerful forces. That's probably how the author sees a lot of these people, but I think it passes up something powerful in the source material. I think doing it in first person tied his hands. But all of that would be worth discussing.
I laughed a few times at Street Angel Volume One: The Princess of Poverty, and I can see some interesting things in the style. There's not much depth here though. It's outlandish, and you can read it as a parody of mindless adventure stories. It has some things going for it, but it's not that special.
Black Tide: Awakening of the Key by Debbie Bishop and Mike S. Miller has absolutely nothing going for it. It is so far from special that I need a new word for it that combines "mundane" "run-of-the-mill" and "boring" with a hint of "sad." This is a fifteen-year-old's power fantasy story done with big-budget art. It's trying so hard to be cool that it's unbelievable. The lead character isn't just a secret agent, he's a secret agent who's actually an immortal Atlantean with forgotten super powers! And there are flying cars! And his mom is totally hot and shows off her cleavage all the time! Only she's a bitch! None of the characters are consistent, nothing in it is believable, and it certainly doesn't have anything very important to say.
Tom Beland's True Story Swear to God is much more compelling. Done in a simple but effective style, it tells the (apparently autobiographical) story of how a cartoonist met a woman from San Juan by chance (or fate) and they began to fall in love. This is a strong comic in many ways. It's very "analyzable" in a McCloudian sense, as Beland uses many of the techniques McCloud discusses in Understanding Comics. And the story is compelling as the lead character struggles with whether to plunge ahead or be more cautious. It's straightforward enough that I could also use it in some other class, like English 0090. Some readers may be offput by its open-ended nature: the love affair isn't brought to a close either way, and we're left hanging. But this is definitely on a short list for future use. It's published by Ait/Planet Lar, a company I've never heard of, so I need to learn more about them.
Dark Water by Koji Suzuki and Meimu is a collection of water-themed horror stories. Again, it makes a good example of manga and the Japanese approach, but I'm not sure it's rich enough in a thematic sense, and I get confused about what's the source of what. The cover claims it is "The book that inspired the major motion picture," but inside it seems to be being based on something else--the original Japanese film? Probably not, although it could show up on a list of options for solo projects or something.
Johnny Jihad by Ryan Inzana is an interesting and very timely piece that's worth further consideration. Very interesting black and white work throughout, and there's a lot of current political stuff to talk about. I was personally disappointed in it. I expected a story of a fanatic, but really the title character seems to accept Islam and radical Islam only on a very superficial level. It's really more about someone being the pawn of powerful forces. That's probably how the author sees a lot of these people, but I think it passes up something powerful in the source material. I think doing it in first person tied his hands. But all of that would be worth discussing.
I laughed a few times at Street Angel Volume One: The Princess of Poverty, and I can see some interesting things in the style. There's not much depth here though. It's outlandish, and you can read it as a parody of mindless adventure stories. It has some things going for it, but it's not that special.
Black Tide: Awakening of the Key by Debbie Bishop and Mike S. Miller has absolutely nothing going for it. It is so far from special that I need a new word for it that combines "mundane" "run-of-the-mill" and "boring" with a hint of "sad." This is a fifteen-year-old's power fantasy story done with big-budget art. It's trying so hard to be cool that it's unbelievable. The lead character isn't just a secret agent, he's a secret agent who's actually an immortal Atlantean with forgotten super powers! And there are flying cars! And his mom is totally hot and shows off her cleavage all the time! Only she's a bitch! None of the characters are consistent, nothing in it is believable, and it certainly doesn't have anything very important to say.
Tom Beland's True Story Swear to God is much more compelling. Done in a simple but effective style, it tells the (apparently autobiographical) story of how a cartoonist met a woman from San Juan by chance (or fate) and they began to fall in love. This is a strong comic in many ways. It's very "analyzable" in a McCloudian sense, as Beland uses many of the techniques McCloud discusses in Understanding Comics. And the story is compelling as the lead character struggles with whether to plunge ahead or be more cautious. It's straightforward enough that I could also use it in some other class, like English 0090. Some readers may be offput by its open-ended nature: the love affair isn't brought to a close either way, and we're left hanging. But this is definitely on a short list for future use. It's published by Ait/Planet Lar, a company I've never heard of, so I need to learn more about them.
posted by Carl at 6:39 PM
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