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Well, I hope I'm more spaghetti than Freedom Fries.
Fantagraphics are still there: just looked at their website. Very arty and a very small product range, but still there.
The Superman story is from recent continuity. Nothing wrong with it, just generic (he says pompously).
I don't know why I never read A Contract With God before, but I did this week: there's a new collection, with two other books. I know Will Eisner's known for The Spirit and the techniques he introduced there - cityscapes forming titles, cinematic sequences in small panels - but this is loose and open, frameless, affecting, clever and sweet. He also writes both narrative and commentary better than a lot of comics artists.
IMP. _________________ RIVER: skin on the outside. First chapter FREE from www.ianmpalmer.com
Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 5:35 pm Post subject: Re: Current Reading.
Sounds weird that the Superman is in a general run but okay. I just figured someting like using pictures of Reeves would be a short run mini series thing.
Sadly, I have never read any of Eisner's work ... I am sort of familiar with a couple of things but I just haven't picked them up. I should.
Eisner is the business, not just for the Spirit or his stunning use of black and white (out-Millars Millar anyday) but also the touching and tender social commentary pieces. I shall have to watch out for a Contract with God.
And yes, Palmers you're habanero plus. _________________ A broken stereotype is a beautiful thing
Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 4:44 am Post subject: Re: Current Reading.
I picked up some old early seventies Commando and Sabre Library booklets today and they make interesting reading.
The artists/writers don't seem to be credited which is a real shame as although some of it is hack work there's some pretty damn fine imagery too.
Mind you to modern ears some of the dialogue reads rather oddly - like this for instance (taken from the same frame) :
'Over the months a strong bond had grown between the man and the boy.
"Come on - You'll soon be givin' me a whippin'!"
'Leave me alone! Get Away!'
'You are lovely, white woman.My heart is full for you - I want you for my wigwam...'
So racism and sexism in one neat bundle - still, perhaps she had an A-line skirt and only one leg eh? _________________ A broken stereotype is a beautiful thing
Well, I did Doug Moench an injustice (not that it matters what I think or say about anyone). In the last week or so I've been re-reading his issues of Batman with Kelley Jones (thought I had 'em all, but can only find a couple of dozen plus the Dracula trilogy and The Wild). He can still write some really stilted dialogue and is occasionally tautologous, but he plots a good story, and his Batman is a driven but not demented investigator of serial killings and the like. Plus, through crossover events which seem to occur almost every other issue, he manages almost to keep everything self-contained, so I didn't give up because I didn't have the other parts of the story.
Always loved Kelley Jones's drawing, anyway.
IMP. _________________ RIVER: skin on the outside. First chapter FREE from www.ianmpalmer.com
I'm not that keen on manga, or not on the stereotypes I notice anyway: anime faces, speedlines, schoolgirls showing their knickers. Perhaps that's why I left it so long to read AKIRA.
Wow.
Reading this slightly-stilted black-and-white comic feels like watching a film. This bloke's amazing: whether it's elegant figure-work (figures bouncing around on their toes like Mazzucchelli's Daredevil), cool machines or urban wreckage, he can draw it. The story's driving and engrossing, and there are pages and panels which cost millions to imitate in Matrix or wherever and here produce exactly the same effect in black lines on cheap grey paper. Mind-blowing.
So now I've got to buy all the other volumes. God, do comics never end?
IMP. _________________ RIVER: skin on the outside. First chapter FREE from www.ianmpalmer.com
Shame on you Palmers, just don't see the animated version without a mild sedative, it blew my socks off ! _________________ A broken stereotype is a beautiful thing
I haven't read much manga (apart from some AKIRA and a couple of Dirty Pair strips) but I was into the films for a couple of years back in the early nineties, when it was still quite cultish outside of Japan.
AKIRA is by far the best example of any of them that I saw (be a purist and go for the subtitled version, I say). I also liked Project A-KO, though it is daft. Ultimate Teacher was possibly the worst I saw. Appleseed is okay. Crying Freeman was cool in a way but made a dreadful transition to live action film. Speaking of live action, Tetsuo: The Iron Man and Tetsuo II: Body Hammer are very strange but oddly compelling. Gunhed is occasionally bewildering and has some cheesy segments but the plot is pretty cool and huge, fighting robots in a live action film is always a pleasure.
Tetsuo, mmm, a very dark and disturbing fantasy of body dysmorphia, amongst other things.
I can't say I appreciated the scene with the girlfriend but what can you expect from a culture that has 'Rapeman' as a comicbook hero and in fairness it was less offensive than some 'softer' depictions. _________________ A broken stereotype is a beautiful thing
In accordance with my general policy of doing what I'm told, just watched AKIRA. What a remarkable thing.
My familiarity with anime starts with Marine Boy and ends with Pokemon and Digimon, with nothing in between, so I don't know how much of this film is original, but blimey.
IMP. _________________ RIVER: skin on the outside. First chapter FREE from www.ianmpalmer.com
Posted: Wed May 24, 2006 3:05 pm Post subject: Re: Current Reading.
Yeah .. It is a good one.
The current reading hasn't been too much lately. I have picked up the first couple of issues of 52 and they are somewhat interesting. I can't say I am a big fan of reinventing stuff, in general, but the year one stuff has mostly been okay from what I have seen. Some of it I had to skip, some of it just has it as a minor thing but some of them make the book too weird and wrong. We will only see what eventually turns up. Still not a big fan of the world events .. especially since Marvel and DC are just competing against each other right now it seems.
Yes. It would be nice to see them having the commercial confidence to explore different directions, like they used to before, I suppose, Crisis. There's been some good stuff since then, but not enough variety.
Finally read Ministry of Space, which Smudger nagged me to. It's very good, and I enjoyed it more than Orbiter, whose theme is similar in some ways. It looks great, its exploration of a Britain-dominated postwar world history is interesting, and I think I finally get how Warren Ellis tells stories.
Just bought the first volume of Invincible, too, so I'll let you know.
IMP. _________________ RIVER: skin on the outside. First chapter FREE from www.ianmpalmer.com
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