Hello again blogsphere,
I've come today with a slight grievance, though albeit late. On January 29Th, my local "Indy" paper ran an article about a fellow comic writer:
http://www.columbusalive.com/live/content/features/stories/2009/01/29/ca_u_unedited.html
Struck by this, as I find my local paper disagreeable, I decided to read into the particular issue because of the resonance. Also, because most periodicals apart from ones geared toward comics, rarely feature the writers of comics as opposed to the artists. So I pick it up, and it's just an interview, nothing insightful or inspiring. This wasn't unexpected, what was however, was one line that fittingly ended the the article:
"Comic books are really just soap operas for adolescent boys and, I guess, pseudo-men."
Really Mr. professional comic book writer? Is that what you write? Soap operas for pseudo-men, from whom you draw faux notoriety, and a paycheck from? Honestly, if it weren't for those that he regards as such, he wouldn't even be a blurb in a local paper. Beyond my own personal displeasure, I've got a problem with this guy professionally.
Here is a person who's made it to the peak, looking down on all the rest of us trying to reach his position, and his viewpoint is still that of a Trilobite. Why are you even writing anything comic book related, if you regard the medium with such apathy? I'm not saying that the person should be a fanboy obsessed with Superman since his birth, or affixed upon Swamp Thing's torment of being. In the same breath, I can't condone anyone doing or pursuing a path that they obviously resent and abhor.
If you suck at writing novels, who cares! Keep doing it! At least you'll have something to strive for as crappy novelist, and won't have to suffer working for some pronounced-brow, mouth breather's entertainment.
I'd blow up an orphanage to be able to sustain myself by writing stories.
To see someone exactly where I want to be, doing exactly what I want to do, treat it with such contemptuous nature, I can't help but want to grind this person's throat with my teeth. I'm not saying that everyone should take themselves that seriously, but if you are able to do something that others aren't capable of, please take note of your position. Because how you view it, speaks volumes to the uninitiated.
I understand how ludicrous I must sound when I say this, but I would like to be able to talk about a graphic novel one day, as I would a piece of literature. I'd like to be able to discuss the artwork of a comic, as opposed to writing or vice versa, in an exchange of media consumption with my peers, without looking like an adolescent. Most people don't read, but when a book is recommended to someone, they have at least the potential to pick it up or reference it at one time or another. Why is that? Because literature is taken seriously, by those who create it, and those who read it. If I were in a conversation about media, either seen or heard, and brought up the most recent issue of 100 Bullets, I'd more than likely be scoffed at.
People don't consider comics as valid media.
If you wonder why, you need no further than to look at the writer of the Terminator Salvation series. In his eyes, I am a pseudo-male. If he can't see what he's doing as anymore than writing to my low chromosome count, my comic book dreams don't have much hope. But, I'm giving this person more credit than they're due. My wasting time on him slandering his own work, just gives more people time to actually believe that comics are what he says they are. I mean, he is writing the Terminator Salvation comic adaptation. So I'll close in saying what I've already said:
If you don't like what you're doing, don't do it. Let someone else who actually cares give it a shot. Either that, or go on and spare the rest of us your suffering, stick your head into the bottom of your toilet bowl and flounder there for awhile.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Movie Review I forgot to post: Beowulf and Waltz with Bashir
(Well wow blogsphere, I completely spaced on posting this. I wrote this review up in February, and just didn't post it for some reason. I'm actually posting this from the future on March 25th. I guess I got sidetracked, but hey, better late than never right?)
Ok blogsphere,
Sometimes I miss a thing or two that comes out, and don't bother looking for it until prompted by something later. This is limited to the media I consume, nothing else. I don't want you to think I forget to brush my teeth or anything like that, because that'd be gross. But in the case of movies, it's really easy for me to lose track of...well alot.
So, tonight would be a prime example, as I watched some video of bad Letterman guests, Crispin Glover topping the list. As you might suspect, I like Crispin Glover. I start watching interviews with him, one of them featuring his roles in film, including his role as Grendel in Beowulf. I decide to watch a Crispin Glover movie.
With the choice being between his latest Hollywood films, I decide to watch Beowulf instead of Charlie's Angels Full Throttle.
While I enjoyed quite a few technical aspects of the film, I found the writing to be lacking. Because this is an old movie I've watched, I won't bother with the details of the story, but this is a retelling of the epic poem of Beowulf. Basically this is the equivalent of a Marvel Comics What-If? Where something that we know to be, is no longer, and the universe moves forward from that point.
Beowulf is one of the bad issues.
No offense to Neil Gaiman, or the ancient epic poem, but the way this was written was pretty bad. They completely lost me as a viewer, not because it was confusing, but because they started it out with such compelling beginnings, only to end in the most predictable and boring manner possible. Honestly, it wasn't a bad concept, but the way it was executed, was just too big of a let down for me. Bad storytelling, makes for bad film.
Ironically, Waltz with Bashir, is the complete opposite. Like Beowulf, it's technically great, what they do with the animation style is nothing short of phenomenal. But the real draw is the story of the director Ari, and his memories of war. His introspective in the time he spent in war, is told mostly through other people, who all have their own memories of the war as well. The movie forces one to think very hard about the things they say, and the stories they tell, as the movie's theme is actually how the human mind responds and relates to memories. Which makes the animation perfect for such a task.
Also it reveals an almost hidden history, about the war in Lebanon in the 80's. I know there are quite a few people that have already been informed about the nature of the fighting over there, but I for one had no idea that such things happened over there. Even though the war in Iraq has shown us glimpses of their lives, I had no idea that the middle east had such a sorrowful history of war. I've read Persepolis as well, but that's from one person's perspective. This documentary showcases multiple viewpoints, as each person interviewed tells you their own personal story, which is recreated through the animation as well as actual video of the massacre they speak of.
I really like this film. The subject matter is very strong, and gives quite a bit of real insight into the world of soldiers and the history of the middle east. Not only this, but it also showcases the abilities of animation, as it almost puts you there in the memories of the soldiers, allowing what they saw to unfold right before your eyes. Granted, I love animation, so I enjoy how they illustrated the soldiers memories. Though I can see why a person would think that it's too fake for them, as some sequences might take a person out of the film. Don't let that discourage you from watching it though, as what's spoken of in the film is very real.
Bottom line, I'm glad I watched Beowulf so that I had a bad enough taste in my mouth to seek out Waltz with Bashir. Check it out if you can ^^
Ok blogsphere,
Sometimes I miss a thing or two that comes out, and don't bother looking for it until prompted by something later. This is limited to the media I consume, nothing else. I don't want you to think I forget to brush my teeth or anything like that, because that'd be gross. But in the case of movies, it's really easy for me to lose track of...well alot.
So, tonight would be a prime example, as I watched some video of bad Letterman guests, Crispin Glover topping the list. As you might suspect, I like Crispin Glover. I start watching interviews with him, one of them featuring his roles in film, including his role as Grendel in Beowulf. I decide to watch a Crispin Glover movie.
With the choice being between his latest Hollywood films, I decide to watch Beowulf instead of Charlie's Angels Full Throttle.
While I enjoyed quite a few technical aspects of the film, I found the writing to be lacking. Because this is an old movie I've watched, I won't bother with the details of the story, but this is a retelling of the epic poem of Beowulf. Basically this is the equivalent of a Marvel Comics What-If? Where something that we know to be, is no longer, and the universe moves forward from that point.
Beowulf is one of the bad issues.
No offense to Neil Gaiman, or the ancient epic poem, but the way this was written was pretty bad. They completely lost me as a viewer, not because it was confusing, but because they started it out with such compelling beginnings, only to end in the most predictable and boring manner possible. Honestly, it wasn't a bad concept, but the way it was executed, was just too big of a let down for me. Bad storytelling, makes for bad film.
Ironically, Waltz with Bashir, is the complete opposite. Like Beowulf, it's technically great, what they do with the animation style is nothing short of phenomenal. But the real draw is the story of the director Ari, and his memories of war. His introspective in the time he spent in war, is told mostly through other people, who all have their own memories of the war as well. The movie forces one to think very hard about the things they say, and the stories they tell, as the movie's theme is actually how the human mind responds and relates to memories. Which makes the animation perfect for such a task.
Also it reveals an almost hidden history, about the war in Lebanon in the 80's. I know there are quite a few people that have already been informed about the nature of the fighting over there, but I for one had no idea that such things happened over there. Even though the war in Iraq has shown us glimpses of their lives, I had no idea that the middle east had such a sorrowful history of war. I've read Persepolis as well, but that's from one person's perspective. This documentary showcases multiple viewpoints, as each person interviewed tells you their own personal story, which is recreated through the animation as well as actual video of the massacre they speak of.
I really like this film. The subject matter is very strong, and gives quite a bit of real insight into the world of soldiers and the history of the middle east. Not only this, but it also showcases the abilities of animation, as it almost puts you there in the memories of the soldiers, allowing what they saw to unfold right before your eyes. Granted, I love animation, so I enjoy how they illustrated the soldiers memories. Though I can see why a person would think that it's too fake for them, as some sequences might take a person out of the film. Don't let that discourage you from watching it though, as what's spoken of in the film is very real.
Bottom line, I'm glad I watched Beowulf so that I had a bad enough taste in my mouth to seek out Waltz with Bashir. Check it out if you can ^^
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Introspective: Grasshopper Manufacture
Hello again blogsphere,
Yes, it's another introspective! What can I say, I'm a writer not magician; if I can't make a rabbit come out of a hat, you'd better believe I can't materialize artwork. Regardless, here's another one of my favorite things! Grasshopper Manufacture is a video game production company based out of Japan. Of course this feeds into my bias of loving that country, but I don't care; to me: these guys can do no wrong...until Suda51 dies at least.
My story with these guys is yet another story of coincidental circumstance. I think it was about 2006 that I first played a Grasshopper game; being into Anime back then, I was excited about the new Samurai Champloo game for PS2. I was working at a video store at the time, so when I found out we had it, I decided to check it out one night. The presentation was so off the wall, and the gameplay was so awkward...I don't want to sound pretentious, but I knew there was something special about it. I'm not going to lie, I set out to buy it but didn't, and I have an out of sight, out of mind type personality, so I didn't even think about it again.
The same is true of my favorite game Killer7, which you can probably guess who it was made by. I'd heard of Killer7, followed it, and when it was finally released, I didn't even bother to play it. Maybe...two years ago, a friend of mine had it, and I asked if I could borrow it because I remembered that I wanted to check it out. I lost sleep playing that game. I thought that I knew what a video game was, and should be, but Killer7 was completely different. I was baffled that there was so much in one video game; dark humor, political commentary, philosophy, ultra-violence, power rangers. It hit everything I consider to be enjoyable in one fell swoop.
There's nothing that I can compare it to, to this very day.
After that, as I do with most everything I like, I went on a rampage looking for anything and everything about the company, who wrote and directed it, it's reception, and if the company was going to make anymore games. To date, I only own two of their games which are Contact for DS and Killer7 for Gamecube, but I've played Samurai Champloo and No More Heroes, and not one has let me down. Even though I'm sure that Goichi Suda is responsible for the majority of their work, I give the entire company credit. They've got quite a bit of talent, and I wouldn't be surprised if they'll be credited with advancing the industry one day soon.
It may sound pompous, but playing their video games is like playing with interactive art to me. Every game they approach, from the writing, to the art direction, is stylized so uniquely, I've got no problem picking up anything they make without a second thought. I really can't say that about many things, and so Grasshopper Manufacture earns a place in my Pantheon of inspirations. I won't recommend their work to everyone, because I know some people think that movies are bad if their favorite character dies; but, if you're adventurous enough, read up on them. I'm sure you'll find a game in their catalogue, that would suit your tastes ^^
Introspective: Battle Angel Alita
Good evening again Blogsphere,At the moment I'm feeling a bit nostalgic, if not spacier than usual, so I've decided to take a little time out to give you a little insight into a piece of media that I value and the history I have with it. Tonight's foray is into Yukito Kishiro's masterwork: Battle Angel Alita (or Gunnm as it's called in Japan).
When I was a kid, I couldn't get enough of Anime. Even when I was a child, I didn't know that the cartoons I most enjoyed watching were from any county in particular, I just knew if they looked a certain way that I was automatically going to like it way more than anything else on at the time. When I turned 10, I happened to catch an Anime festival on the burgeoning Cartoon Network.
It rocked my world.
I watched the entirety of Vampire Hunter D before my aunt and uncle caught me, and put a movie or something on to stop me. After I found out that the cartoons I liked had a different name than cartoons, I went on a rampage looking for anything that bore the golden word. When I was about 13 or so, I was already in full swing; graduating from feature film Anime, to series, which really hurt the wallet back then. I scoured the internet for info on series that I'd heard of, and then stumbled upon the source material for most of the work, which was manga.
To be honest, I don't know how I came upon Alita, as manga was completely foreign material to me. I didn't even like comics that much back then, so I had no idea what I was getting into. All I know is that I read about Battle Angel, and just knew if I was going to start reading Manga, that had to be the one. So, begging my Dad (incessantly no doubt), I got him to order it for me, and as soon as I got through the first 10 pages, my horizons were broadened.
Yukito's story seems childishly simple, barely the plot of a good kung-fu flick with a twist of sci-fi. But it's beginnings are extremely deceptive, as the story and plot truly draw you into Alita's world and story.
Daiuske Ido, a cybernetic doctor, goes looking for spare parts in a junkyard, and finds the damaged frame of a female cyborg. Damaged, and yet still functional. Taking it upon himself to restore it, he succeeds, but the cyborg suffers from complete amnesia. Deciding to give her a new life with him, he names her Alita (after a dead cat), and working as a bounty hunter to earn extra money to build her a body (he was already a hunter, but starts doing it more for Alita's sake). After her body is built, Alita takes it upon herself to help Ido in his endeavours, and finds that she seems to be a natural master of a powerful martial art known as Panzer Kunzt. From there, she embarks on a journey of self discovery, of who she once was, and who she may yet be.
I get all of this from maybe half the pages in the 1st volume.
Oh yeah, and I'm 13 and very impressionable at the time.
Needless to say, because of such Alita's story has always held a special place for me, in my pantheon of creations to aspire to. I mean it was my first Manga, and that good. It's actually a highly underrated work, as not many people seem to pay it attention. The image above however, is from James Cameron's new production, as he's planning for a 2010 film based on the first 3 chapters of Alita. There aren't that many things that you can hope to come true in your lifetime; I mean we live in the new millennium, and there are no flying cars, spaceships, or trips to Mars. If I were born in the 50's, I'd be pissed.
Normally, had Alita even been selected to become a film, chances are Uwe Boll would have been the one to direct it. Not only will Battle Angel be seen by millions, but James Cameron himself will be the one to bring her to the big screen. I've known about this for awhile now, but the fact remains: This couldn't be any better. Therefore, I'll end with a plug: go read Battle Angel Alita before the movie comes out ^^
...Yikes this is a long post...
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Compare Contrast
Sorry Blogsphere,No text yet, but here's a side by side comparison of color v.s. black and white. Spooky no? I'll get some text up there one of these days...
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Review: Wendy & Lucy
Another good evening blogsphere,
Then again what's good and bad is a questionable subject isn't it? Fashionable Nonsense is progressing along well, and I'll probably have much more to show at the end of the month. I'm also working on the beginnings of two other projects, to which I'll post through text and a few character designs, but I digress.
It's been a bit since I actually did a movie review hasn't it?
Once again, I've watched so many that I've pretty much lost track. I will mention the two that surprised me the most, the latter being Taken starring Liam Nissen. While it's very much an action movie that screams 80's throwback (honestly, I was almost surprised not to see Steven Segal just charge in and break someone's neck for good measure), it was surprisingly rousing to see Liam play such a character. The action was very much in the vein of the newer Bond films, and Bourne Identity, so it wasn't for the faint of heart or squeemish like myself. Lol. No really, get some drinks and rent it when it comes out on dvd.
Wendy and Lucy on the other hand, was a completely different animal altogether. I don't know how the hell Hollywood just chooses to sidestep films like these and Good Dick; real human drama, captured on film. For myself, the mark of a good film isn't in the suspension of disbelief, but how much one can actually see themselves in what's being portrayed. If I can understand a character's motivations and plight, sans monologue, flashback, or any other filmographic or literary device: I know I'm watching a good movie. Wendy and Lucy does this for me, and for the life of me I can't see why this didn't get any nod whatsoever.
The story is of a girl named Wendy, and her canine companion Lucy. They're on a road trip to Alaska to look for work, living out of Wendy's car on the way up, and just barely scraping by as they go. One day in their travels however, Wendy wakes up to find that her car won't start, and this is where things begin to take a turn. This movie is so very well done, I can't say enough. I really felt Wendy's struggle, and felt for her, more so than most movies I watch allow me to. Some might complain about the lack of backstory, or characters, but for myself I honestly just felt like I was meeting an actual person instead of a character for once. Definitely one of my favorites.
Anyway, that's all from me tonight blogsphere. I'll be back next time with colored pages and text from Fashionable Nonsense. Till then ^^
Then again what's good and bad is a questionable subject isn't it? Fashionable Nonsense is progressing along well, and I'll probably have much more to show at the end of the month. I'm also working on the beginnings of two other projects, to which I'll post through text and a few character designs, but I digress.
It's been a bit since I actually did a movie review hasn't it?
Once again, I've watched so many that I've pretty much lost track. I will mention the two that surprised me the most, the latter being Taken starring Liam Nissen. While it's very much an action movie that screams 80's throwback (honestly, I was almost surprised not to see Steven Segal just charge in and break someone's neck for good measure), it was surprisingly rousing to see Liam play such a character. The action was very much in the vein of the newer Bond films, and Bourne Identity, so it wasn't for the faint of heart or squeemish like myself. Lol. No really, get some drinks and rent it when it comes out on dvd.
Wendy and Lucy on the other hand, was a completely different animal altogether. I don't know how the hell Hollywood just chooses to sidestep films like these and Good Dick; real human drama, captured on film. For myself, the mark of a good film isn't in the suspension of disbelief, but how much one can actually see themselves in what's being portrayed. If I can understand a character's motivations and plight, sans monologue, flashback, or any other filmographic or literary device: I know I'm watching a good movie. Wendy and Lucy does this for me, and for the life of me I can't see why this didn't get any nod whatsoever.
The story is of a girl named Wendy, and her canine companion Lucy. They're on a road trip to Alaska to look for work, living out of Wendy's car on the way up, and just barely scraping by as they go. One day in their travels however, Wendy wakes up to find that her car won't start, and this is where things begin to take a turn. This movie is so very well done, I can't say enough. I really felt Wendy's struggle, and felt for her, more so than most movies I watch allow me to. Some might complain about the lack of backstory, or characters, but for myself I honestly just felt like I was meeting an actual person instead of a character for once. Definitely one of my favorites.
Anyway, that's all from me tonight blogsphere. I'll be back next time with colored pages and text from Fashionable Nonsense. Till then ^^
Sunday, February 1, 2009
what a difference some color makes ^^
The characters once again, only this time in color! Once again, drawn by Jason Dube, and colored by Erica Kahoon ^^
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