Although my experience with web comics has been very limited, I have already found one that I simply adore. It’s called Axe Cop and it’s one of the most entertaining pieces of literature I have ever read.
The drawing style is professional quality, and resembles what I would know as 90’s American comics. The artist is a professional illustrator, who like most web comic artists, does this series in his spare time. The writer and creator of the series however, is his five year old (now six) brother. The “about Axe Cop” section of the website explains the writing process, and while Ethan will help his younger brother by asking questions to explore the world of Axe Cop, all the ideas and plot points as well as dialog come from Malachai’s brain and mouth.
I love the ridiculousness of this comic. It really shows how creative the young mind can be when not bogged down by the stress of pressure of reality. Axe Cop is a normal patrolmen until he comes upon a fire axe, and thus is know as Axe Cop. Together with his team of auditioned super heroes like Dinosaur Warrior (formally Flute Cop, and ever changing), Sockarang who has socks for arms that fly like a boomerang, and his trusty steed Wexter who is a T-rex with Gatling gun arms and sunglasses that can fly and breathe fire, they fight the forces of various aliens and equally silly super villains.
I really enjoy this comic. It’s quite new to the world of web comics, having only started on January 25th of this year, it saw 750,000 unique visitors in the first month. It’s a viral hit, and I hope that it’s popularity will continue for quite some time. It’s great for a relaxing break form reality and I would highly recommend it to anyone of any age.
Axe Cop Website
Monday, May 3, 2010
Diary of a Dominatrix
This Dominatrix Diary really made me gag and wince at the majority of it’s material. I wouldn’t say I was offended, because I don’t feel wronged in any way, but each page certainly made me quite uncomfortable. Perhaps the worst pages were the ones full of genital mutilation, which as a man, make me understandably sick to my stomach.
The narration is an interesting aspect as its not narrative at all as one would think a diary would be, it doesn’t even discuss the dominatrix’s thoughts or feelings during her client’s visits, but rather its more of how she does what she does. So I would call this more of a memoir then a diary.
The drawings have what I would call a mature quality. This doesn’t necessarily reflect on the constant sexual perversion, but rather the heavy quality of the drawings. There is a lot of solid black masses, and the figure of the woman is very curvy. It tends to remind me a lot of the animated film, Heavy Metal. The artist also introduces a playful quality, with the paper doll cutout pages of all her diffent outfits and “toys.”
Again I’m faced with a comic with no character that I can relate to, which is quite important for me to really get into a comic. It made me very uncomfortable with a lot of the imagery and subject matter. It didn’t offend me, just made my man parts hurt by looking at some of what she was doing to others’. I know some people are more into the S&M bondage scene, and maybe this would be better suited for them, but I wouldn’t want to read it again, or anything like it.
The narration is an interesting aspect as its not narrative at all as one would think a diary would be, it doesn’t even discuss the dominatrix’s thoughts or feelings during her client’s visits, but rather its more of how she does what she does. So I would call this more of a memoir then a diary.
The drawings have what I would call a mature quality. This doesn’t necessarily reflect on the constant sexual perversion, but rather the heavy quality of the drawings. There is a lot of solid black masses, and the figure of the woman is very curvy. It tends to remind me a lot of the animated film, Heavy Metal. The artist also introduces a playful quality, with the paper doll cutout pages of all her diffent outfits and “toys.”
Again I’m faced with a comic with no character that I can relate to, which is quite important for me to really get into a comic. It made me very uncomfortable with a lot of the imagery and subject matter. It didn’t offend me, just made my man parts hurt by looking at some of what she was doing to others’. I know some people are more into the S&M bondage scene, and maybe this would be better suited for them, but I wouldn’t want to read it again, or anything like it.
Ghostworld
Ghostworld was another one that had trouble holding my interests. It had some encounters or unsavory characters that slightly peaked my interest, but it never lasted long. I think it’s because this is a kind of anti-coming-of-age story for these two teenage girls. I couldn’t relate to the main characters at all, so I was never engrossed in the story and never really cared about it.
Enid annoys the hell out of me. She so negative and can’t just learn to enjoy the word around her or make the best of it. She’s what I would call a Debbie downer, only darker. She tends to remind me of the old cartoon show Daria.
I wouldn’t recommend this to any guys, but it may be a good read for teenage girls. I’m interested to hear more of a female perspective on this book, to see if they would be as annoyed by these characters as I was.
Enid annoys the hell out of me. She so negative and can’t just learn to enjoy the word around her or make the best of it. She’s what I would call a Debbie downer, only darker. She tends to remind me of the old cartoon show Daria.
I wouldn’t recommend this to any guys, but it may be a good read for teenage girls. I’m interested to hear more of a female perspective on this book, to see if they would be as annoyed by these characters as I was.
Rumiko Takahashi's Maison Ikkoku
This was the first time I ever sat down and actually read manga. I’ve been a casual watcher o a few select anime cartoons for many years, but I had never had a chance to read any manga. I have to say that with Maison Ikkoku I was really pleasantly surprised, and I can certainly see why manga is so infectiously popular if most of it is like this.
I really like the pacing of the drawings. It seems to flow so very well, that I am able to play it in my head as I read the panels, like it were a moving cartoon on the pages. The drawings are simple enough that you can jump right in without being overwhelmed by some elaborate cross hatching shading technique. It uses it only where needed. Text is also played with in manga in a manor that I don’t see anywhere else. The larger the text, the stronger the emotion or louder they are yelling, and this is used rather frequently, so it brings a bit of an over-the-top zaney element to the characters expressions. The poses are excellent because they read very quickly and effectively.
Another thing I love about this manga is that I can easily see the correlation between this from of comics, and Japanese anime. I think that this brings me back to the effective pacing of the comic, and how easy it is to follow. The simplicity of the drawings also looks exactly like it’s animated counterpart. Im American comics, we typically see much more dynamic drawings, and while these are fun and great to look at, they are far apart from our animation because of they complexity of the drawings. No animation studio could animate an American comic book and have the drawing styles look the same, it’s simply too much.
I was quite pleased with this book. The characters were likeable because they didn’t take themselves too seriously. I feel that I can relate to them, and I am interested in where they story takes them next. It makes me wish that manga was more accessible here in the states.
I really like the pacing of the drawings. It seems to flow so very well, that I am able to play it in my head as I read the panels, like it were a moving cartoon on the pages. The drawings are simple enough that you can jump right in without being overwhelmed by some elaborate cross hatching shading technique. It uses it only where needed. Text is also played with in manga in a manor that I don’t see anywhere else. The larger the text, the stronger the emotion or louder they are yelling, and this is used rather frequently, so it brings a bit of an over-the-top zaney element to the characters expressions. The poses are excellent because they read very quickly and effectively.
Another thing I love about this manga is that I can easily see the correlation between this from of comics, and Japanese anime. I think that this brings me back to the effective pacing of the comic, and how easy it is to follow. The simplicity of the drawings also looks exactly like it’s animated counterpart. Im American comics, we typically see much more dynamic drawings, and while these are fun and great to look at, they are far apart from our animation because of they complexity of the drawings. No animation studio could animate an American comic book and have the drawing styles look the same, it’s simply too much.
I was quite pleased with this book. The characters were likeable because they didn’t take themselves too seriously. I feel that I can relate to them, and I am interested in where they story takes them next. It makes me wish that manga was more accessible here in the states.
Maus
Maus may have helped to legitimize comics as a form of literature, but to me it really felt like your run-of-the-mill Holocaust story. Sure some things were different, and there were things that I liked about it, but I guess that I am limited to how much I can enjoy reading a story about such a depressing era in human history.
Art Spiegleman made some rather controversial choices with characters in this book. The nazi’s are portrayed as cats, the Polish are drawn as pigs, and the most controversial of all, was his choice to use mice to represent the Jews. Now I would see this immediately as an illustration of the Jews’ meek and helpless position during the war, and also a use of the age-old cat vs. mouse archetype to emphasize the hunter and hunted relationship between the nazis and the Jews. Some however could see this as accusing the Jews of being like rodents, or more specifically, rats. Even the manor in which Spiegleman draws the mice, they can tend to look somewhat like rats.
The entire tone of the story also makes it a tough read. It’s quite depressing. Not that I would expect a story about the Holocaust to be uplifting, but the grim and hopeless situation certainly has an effect on the reader, and maybe that’s why this is held with such high regard. From an animators stand point though, I found a lot of the poses difficult to read, as well as the facial expressions due to the rather limited drawing style.
Something major that bothered me about this comic, came not from it’s pages, but rather from the idea that it made people accept comics as a legitimate literary form. I am frustrated by the fact that in order to be legitimate, comics had to address a topic that has been approached time after time by media after media. Every time we hear of the Holocaust it’s generally the same story, I mean nothing new has happened with that since it ended. So why couldn’t comics be considered legitimate for the morals that they instilled in readers, or perhaps just be valued for their ability to make us care about the lives of these characters. No, they have to tell us what terrible creatures humans can be in order to be taken seriously. It makes me wonder if this is true of all media, or if comics just had to overcome their reputation for being irrelevant brain-melters.
Over I wouldn’t say I regret reading Maus. It had its strengths, and I did like that despite the known danger the characters were in, there is a sense of hope portrayed, as short lived as it is.
Art Spiegleman made some rather controversial choices with characters in this book. The nazi’s are portrayed as cats, the Polish are drawn as pigs, and the most controversial of all, was his choice to use mice to represent the Jews. Now I would see this immediately as an illustration of the Jews’ meek and helpless position during the war, and also a use of the age-old cat vs. mouse archetype to emphasize the hunter and hunted relationship between the nazis and the Jews. Some however could see this as accusing the Jews of being like rodents, or more specifically, rats. Even the manor in which Spiegleman draws the mice, they can tend to look somewhat like rats.
The entire tone of the story also makes it a tough read. It’s quite depressing. Not that I would expect a story about the Holocaust to be uplifting, but the grim and hopeless situation certainly has an effect on the reader, and maybe that’s why this is held with such high regard. From an animators stand point though, I found a lot of the poses difficult to read, as well as the facial expressions due to the rather limited drawing style.
Something major that bothered me about this comic, came not from it’s pages, but rather from the idea that it made people accept comics as a legitimate literary form. I am frustrated by the fact that in order to be legitimate, comics had to address a topic that has been approached time after time by media after media. Every time we hear of the Holocaust it’s generally the same story, I mean nothing new has happened with that since it ended. So why couldn’t comics be considered legitimate for the morals that they instilled in readers, or perhaps just be valued for their ability to make us care about the lives of these characters. No, they have to tell us what terrible creatures humans can be in order to be taken seriously. It makes me wonder if this is true of all media, or if comics just had to overcome their reputation for being irrelevant brain-melters.
Over I wouldn’t say I regret reading Maus. It had its strengths, and I did like that despite the known danger the characters were in, there is a sense of hope portrayed, as short lived as it is.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Underground Comics
For this section on underground comics, I read parts of Mr. Natural by Robert Crumb, and the Air Pirate Funnies. I had never had any exposure to any underground comics prior to these, and my reaction to each was quite different. I didn’t have a clue what to expect, and was rather surprised by what I found in some cases.
Robert Crumb clearly has a specific style that stands apart from any other comic artist I’ve ever encountered. The drawings are what I would describe as bulbous and in some cases grotesque. The content was also something that I would say is unique to Crumb’s work. The majority of it is driven by perverted fantasies and seems to do things simply because he can. I wasn’t too fond of all this quite frankly. Gratuitous sex for the sake of shock value doesn’t seem to have the same effect in this age of the internet and all it’s limitless content. However after we watched the interview with Crumb and I got to see his reasoning behind things like his character style, specifically of women, I can respect it a little bit more, but it’s still just him living out his perverted teenage fantasies through his comics.
Air Pirate Funnies I found entertaining mostly because of it’s ridiculous factor. To see characters that so closely resemble those I knew as a child, engaging in acts of sexual depravity and drug related adventures brings a chuckle to me. If they were any other characters however, I probably would not see it any differently than I do Crumb’s materiel. Also I’m quite surprised that someone was gutsy enough to commit such an obvious act of copy write infringement against Disney.
Robert Crumb clearly has a specific style that stands apart from any other comic artist I’ve ever encountered. The drawings are what I would describe as bulbous and in some cases grotesque. The content was also something that I would say is unique to Crumb’s work. The majority of it is driven by perverted fantasies and seems to do things simply because he can. I wasn’t too fond of all this quite frankly. Gratuitous sex for the sake of shock value doesn’t seem to have the same effect in this age of the internet and all it’s limitless content. However after we watched the interview with Crumb and I got to see his reasoning behind things like his character style, specifically of women, I can respect it a little bit more, but it’s still just him living out his perverted teenage fantasies through his comics.
Air Pirate Funnies I found entertaining mostly because of it’s ridiculous factor. To see characters that so closely resemble those I knew as a child, engaging in acts of sexual depravity and drug related adventures brings a chuckle to me. If they were any other characters however, I probably would not see it any differently than I do Crumb’s materiel. Also I’m quite surprised that someone was gutsy enough to commit such an obvious act of copy write infringement against Disney.
The Spirit
Will Eisner has taken The Spirit in a somewhat different direction than other super heroes that I have had more experience with. Eisner made some interesting choices with the cast, specifically his sidekick, Ebony. I won’t go too much into that little gem since it has already been greatly discussed already. There are thing I actually like about The Spirit, not sure about the magazine as a whole, but I can appreciate certain things.
For instance, I’m not entirely sure just what the Spirit’s special ability is. He seems to remind me both of superman and batman. Like Batman, he doesn’t seem to have any special alien powers, he wasn’t in some radioactive accident, not was he a science experiment, (at least from what I can tell in this issue). He can jump in there and kick butt, but he doesn’t use gadgets like batman does, instead he uses his wit. He does a lot of out-smarting of the bad guys, instead of relying on powers or brute strength. I think he reminds me of superman only because he looks and dresses so much like Clark Kent, save the glasses.
I did notice that other that the up front and obvious racial stereotype, Eisner seems to keep The Spirit in line with Disney’s other cartoons in that it’s appropriate for the younger crowds. There no sort of language that could be considered inappropriate, and the violence is limited to mild punches, kicks, and tosses. They also try to add in some witless humor with the supporting characters like the chief of police, and the bad guys as well. In terms of the bad guys, this seems to keep their intelligence level down, so we as the reader never really feel that they are a challenge for the Spirit, and thus we don’t fear for his life. After all, who would be afraid of a bumbling idiot?
For instance, I’m not entirely sure just what the Spirit’s special ability is. He seems to remind me both of superman and batman. Like Batman, he doesn’t seem to have any special alien powers, he wasn’t in some radioactive accident, not was he a science experiment, (at least from what I can tell in this issue). He can jump in there and kick butt, but he doesn’t use gadgets like batman does, instead he uses his wit. He does a lot of out-smarting of the bad guys, instead of relying on powers or brute strength. I think he reminds me of superman only because he looks and dresses so much like Clark Kent, save the glasses.
I did notice that other that the up front and obvious racial stereotype, Eisner seems to keep The Spirit in line with Disney’s other cartoons in that it’s appropriate for the younger crowds. There no sort of language that could be considered inappropriate, and the violence is limited to mild punches, kicks, and tosses. They also try to add in some witless humor with the supporting characters like the chief of police, and the bad guys as well. In terms of the bad guys, this seems to keep their intelligence level down, so we as the reader never really feel that they are a challenge for the Spirit, and thus we don’t fear for his life. After all, who would be afraid of a bumbling idiot?
Plastic Man
Plastic Man stuck out to me as a stereotypical golden age comic. It somewhat confused me however, as I couldn’t seem to figure out who exactly the target audience was for this comic. Plastic man carries along with him a sidekick who doesn’t seem to contribute much to the story. Even sidekicks that don’t fight typically offer comedic relief or contribute something to the story, and I didn’t get any of that form this character.
The story was full of holes and very convenient plots points and problem solvers, which makes me think that either it was produced quickly and cheaply, or it was directed toward a younger audience; probably both. However, the spots of violence cause me to reconsider those reactions. There isn’t any blood or gore, but definite scene’s of people being stabbed in the back or having their necks’ broken, so it’s probably a PG-13 kind of comic.
Overall Plastic Man appears, based o this episode, to be a rather uninteresting comic. Perhaps I have grown bored of such simple stories where a “super hero” conveniently and flawlessly shows up and beats the bad guys. The superhero comics I grew up reading always affected me somehow. They got me engrossed in the story with the characters imperfections and problems. That’s why I grew to appreciate Marvel’s characters, because they were more human with their problems. Plastic Man had none of this. His plan didn’t run into any snares, his disguises were ridiculous, and he would say what was happening instead of us getting to actually see it. Perhaps it was just the times that this was acceptable to the audience it was reaching. Maybe they were into the action and the idea of these powers and that’s what kept them interested. These days we’re use to that so we need something more to grab our attention.
The story was full of holes and very convenient plots points and problem solvers, which makes me think that either it was produced quickly and cheaply, or it was directed toward a younger audience; probably both. However, the spots of violence cause me to reconsider those reactions. There isn’t any blood or gore, but definite scene’s of people being stabbed in the back or having their necks’ broken, so it’s probably a PG-13 kind of comic.
Overall Plastic Man appears, based o this episode, to be a rather uninteresting comic. Perhaps I have grown bored of such simple stories where a “super hero” conveniently and flawlessly shows up and beats the bad guys. The superhero comics I grew up reading always affected me somehow. They got me engrossed in the story with the characters imperfections and problems. That’s why I grew to appreciate Marvel’s characters, because they were more human with their problems. Plastic Man had none of this. His plan didn’t run into any snares, his disguises were ridiculous, and he would say what was happening instead of us getting to actually see it. Perhaps it was just the times that this was acceptable to the audience it was reaching. Maybe they were into the action and the idea of these powers and that’s what kept them interested. These days we’re use to that so we need something more to grab our attention.
Little Nemo
Little Nemo was honestly an uncomfortable read for me. I had a hard time thoroughly enjoying the story of his adventure in Jack Frost’s Ice Palace. I think what made it uncomfortable was the organization and the limited appeal of the characters
The most notable difficulty for me was trying to make sure I read the speech bubbles in the correct order. I am use to reading bubbles in their order from top to bottom of a panel, and that works well because it allows the artist to place the characters where they want in the scene. Here Winsor McCay order bubbles from left to right so that we read them as we would a regular story. Out of context I guess it makes sense, but after being use to the former for so long, this just throws me off. I also found that the speech bubbles were too isolated from the drawings, so I was paying more attention to them separately, rather then feeling free to explore the drawings as the story unfolded.
As far as the obvious race issues that people typically have with the character Flip, I by no means feel it to be proper, but I basically felt like it was so cartoonish, that the offensive nature of the stereotype was lessened. Honestly if I didn’t already have knowledge of the character, it would have taken me much longer to realize that he was suppose to be black. He appears to be green, and like most of the characters in this series, the face is so small it’s hard to see any expression or character come from them.
The most notable difficulty for me was trying to make sure I read the speech bubbles in the correct order. I am use to reading bubbles in their order from top to bottom of a panel, and that works well because it allows the artist to place the characters where they want in the scene. Here Winsor McCay order bubbles from left to right so that we read them as we would a regular story. Out of context I guess it makes sense, but after being use to the former for so long, this just throws me off. I also found that the speech bubbles were too isolated from the drawings, so I was paying more attention to them separately, rather then feeling free to explore the drawings as the story unfolded.
As far as the obvious race issues that people typically have with the character Flip, I by no means feel it to be proper, but I basically felt like it was so cartoonish, that the offensive nature of the stereotype was lessened. Honestly if I didn’t already have knowledge of the character, it would have taken me much longer to realize that he was suppose to be black. He appears to be green, and like most of the characters in this series, the face is so small it’s hard to see any expression or character come from them.
The Arrival
Shaun Tan’s The Arrival is only the second wordless narrative that I have ever read, although it is much more effective then my previous encounter, as well as having been made prior to the other.
The first thing that comes to mind for me when looking back at the story, is how much I enjoyed the setting, and I’m not just talking about the drawings. It definitely gets me into the mind set of a early 1900’s immigrant going through customs at Ellis Island. Later however, the landscape and environment that this character comes into is so imaginative and creative; far from anything like the real world. I just really like that mix of the quintessential immigrant story, with a surreal science fiction environment.
Since The Arrival contains no spoken or written words, it is completely dependant on expression to convey the emotions of the main character. As an animator, this peeks a very serious interest for me. Reading through it, I think to myself that if I could learn to express emotion anywhere close to this, then I would be in very good shape for my art. The subtleties are so incredibly successful, that we barely notice them, but can still very much appreciate them.
As much as I appreciate the skill and craftsmanship that I see in this book however, I still am not to sure that I really see it as an effective story telling method. As a writer, or storyteller, you want your audience to become submerged in the story. Ultimately you want them to temporarily suspend their sense of reality and adopt the reality in your story. For me, the lack of language can be counter productive in that sense. I feel as if I am watching these events unfold, but it’s as if the soundtrack as been lost, and I can’t hear a thing, and thus I have a harder time adopting the reality. So not only does the story feel less real, but speech in graphic narratives often provides the timing for the story. I don’t move onto the next panel until I’m done reading the speech in the one I’m on. This sets the timing and pacing of the story for me, and without those words, I just simply don’t know how long I should be looking at each image.
The first thing that comes to mind for me when looking back at the story, is how much I enjoyed the setting, and I’m not just talking about the drawings. It definitely gets me into the mind set of a early 1900’s immigrant going through customs at Ellis Island. Later however, the landscape and environment that this character comes into is so imaginative and creative; far from anything like the real world. I just really like that mix of the quintessential immigrant story, with a surreal science fiction environment.
Since The Arrival contains no spoken or written words, it is completely dependant on expression to convey the emotions of the main character. As an animator, this peeks a very serious interest for me. Reading through it, I think to myself that if I could learn to express emotion anywhere close to this, then I would be in very good shape for my art. The subtleties are so incredibly successful, that we barely notice them, but can still very much appreciate them.
As much as I appreciate the skill and craftsmanship that I see in this book however, I still am not to sure that I really see it as an effective story telling method. As a writer, or storyteller, you want your audience to become submerged in the story. Ultimately you want them to temporarily suspend their sense of reality and adopt the reality in your story. For me, the lack of language can be counter productive in that sense. I feel as if I am watching these events unfold, but it’s as if the soundtrack as been lost, and I can’t hear a thing, and thus I have a harder time adopting the reality. So not only does the story feel less real, but speech in graphic narratives often provides the timing for the story. I don’t move onto the next panel until I’m done reading the speech in the one I’m on. This sets the timing and pacing of the story for me, and without those words, I just simply don’t know how long I should be looking at each image.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Scott McCoud's Understanding Comics
Prior to reading this book, I was unfamiliar with Scott McCloud and his work. With this book, he tries to create a fun environment for the reader by writing and illustrating it as a comic itself. However, despite his attempts, it still comes off to me as a bit of a text book. He seems to touch on every possible element of comics that he can. This is obviously in attempt to be as thorough as he can, so that we as the reader get a comprehensive view of the subject. However, there were a handful of facts and techniques that I was not aware of, that seemed to catch my attention during this read.
Earlier in my life, I have been an avid reader of comics, specifically superhero comics from MARVEL. When selecting what I wanted to read, I went solely by how cool I thought the hero was, or even more so, how detailed and exciting the drawings were. When McCloud talks about how artists choose their level of detail in drawings, I had no idea that thoughts of psychological effects on the reader went into the equation. It makes me wonder about exciting stories that I may of missed out on because they were simply drawn much too simply for my tastes.
My interest was also peaked when McCloud discusses the layouts of pages, and the spaces in between frames on a page. I had noticed prior to reading this that comics seem to take more and more liberties with breaking the edge of frames in more current issues than in years past.
Earlier in my life, I have been an avid reader of comics, specifically superhero comics from MARVEL. When selecting what I wanted to read, I went solely by how cool I thought the hero was, or even more so, how detailed and exciting the drawings were. When McCloud talks about how artists choose their level of detail in drawings, I had no idea that thoughts of psychological effects on the reader went into the equation. It makes me wonder about exciting stories that I may of missed out on because they were simply drawn much too simply for my tastes.
My interest was also peaked when McCloud discusses the layouts of pages, and the spaces in between frames on a page. I had noticed prior to reading this that comics seem to take more and more liberties with breaking the edge of frames in more current issues than in years past.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)