Jeff Smith, the creator of the acclaimed series Bone, and most recently did a Shazzam miniseries this year, is back with a new comic series which hit comic book shelves this week. It's a sci-fi adventure and you can read more about it in 2 interviews I found online.
http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=139951
http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=148096
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Monday, February 18, 2008
Buddha (Part II)
I think the second half for the than the first, probably has more cartoony-nish and abstract designs.
Tezuka uses a lot of techniques known by many as being "anime-ish". Take for example the exaggerated expressions of characters throughout the work or in the crowd scene in Chapra's contest with the warrior on p.295, Tezuka draws them as pigs, the meaning of which should be very obvious. Moments like that for me at least, took me away from the story, or maybe because it was something I wasn't expecting, but it was unusual to have these consistantly contrasting styles of realistic backgrounds, and characters and emotions like the birth of Buddha himself, and then we get scenes like this that look like they're from Looney Tunes.
I did notice how Tezuka manages to effectively capture speed despite working with a still medium. As McCloud points out, fast dashed lines can evoke quick fast movement, and Tezuka utilizes it frequently throughout the work. Look at the pole being rocked on p.294 or Tatta stealing the silk on p.39
In addition to that, Tezuka also uses many sound effect captions, which is pretty much universal in comics throughout the world. But Tezuka also knows when to use absolute no sound, words, etc. just images, which is one of the things that separates Western comics from Eastern comics, as McCloud points out. In fact he even references p. 52-53, to show what silence can do, and to provide an example for different kinds of panel transitions such as Aspect-Aspect.
Tezuka uses a lot of techniques known by many as being "anime-ish". Take for example the exaggerated expressions of characters throughout the work or in the crowd scene in Chapra's contest with the warrior on p.295, Tezuka draws them as pigs, the meaning of which should be very obvious. Moments like that for me at least, took me away from the story, or maybe because it was something I wasn't expecting, but it was unusual to have these consistantly contrasting styles of realistic backgrounds, and characters and emotions like the birth of Buddha himself, and then we get scenes like this that look like they're from Looney Tunes.
I did notice how Tezuka manages to effectively capture speed despite working with a still medium. As McCloud points out, fast dashed lines can evoke quick fast movement, and Tezuka utilizes it frequently throughout the work. Look at the pole being rocked on p.294 or Tatta stealing the silk on p.39
In addition to that, Tezuka also uses many sound effect captions, which is pretty much universal in comics throughout the world. But Tezuka also knows when to use absolute no sound, words, etc. just images, which is one of the things that separates Western comics from Eastern comics, as McCloud points out. In fact he even references p. 52-53, to show what silence can do, and to provide an example for different kinds of panel transitions such as Aspect-Aspect.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Greg Pak Q&A
Greg Pak, filmmaker and comics writer on such acclaimed projects as Incredible Hulk- Planet Hulk and last summer's smash hit World War Hulk, and current co-writer on Incredible Hercules, has a bi-weekly reader Q&A segment on his official website brokenfrontier.com
I sent in a post to about a month ago or so, and found out last week that he answered it! I've had the fortune of meeting Pak a few times in the past year at signings and his last appearance at the Comic Book Club, now available at youtube, but I was so glad to see that he liked my questions enough to choose them and answering some lingering questions in my mind.
Check it out right here:
http://www.brokenfrontier.com/columns/details.php?id=795
I sent in a post to about a month ago or so, and found out last week that he answered it! I've had the fortune of meeting Pak a few times in the past year at signings and his last appearance at the Comic Book Club, now available at youtube, but I was so glad to see that he liked my questions enough to choose them and answering some lingering questions in my mind.
Check it out right here:
http://www.brokenfrontier.com/columns/details.php?id=795
Spirit NYCC'07 Panel Podcast
Below is a link to an audio podcast of a panel of the Spirit film panel where some of the filmmakers and people who worked with Will Eisner attended. This is where the teaser poster was first revealed, and although it's a year old and a lot of stuff has happened since then, it's still worth listening to, to hear about and learn the progression of the Spirit film adaptation.
That plus, my cousin and I were lucky enough to ask the panelists question, which you can hear during the Q&A portion of the podcast. I'm the one who asks who Will Eisner wanted to play Dennie Colt and my cousin who was about 13 (and was really excited this being his first Con which you can hear it in his voice) asks if Robert Rodirguez will be involved.
http://nycccast.com/?p=53
That plus, my cousin and I were lucky enough to ask the panelists question, which you can hear during the Q&A portion of the podcast. I'm the one who asks who Will Eisner wanted to play Dennie Colt and my cousin who was about 13 (and was really excited this being his first Con which you can hear it in his voice) asks if Robert Rodirguez will be involved.
http://nycccast.com/?p=53
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Buddha Thoughts
Osamu Tezuka's Budha was defintately a different take on the life and story of Budha. I'm familiar with his past work in manga and anime such as Astro Boy and Metropolis, but even so, never thought he could deal with such deep and adult themes.
The style is of course consistent with Tezuka's usual Eastern style, cartoony designs of the characters, which is effective in immediately connecting the reader to the characters' essence, so you immediately know who they are and what kind of person they are. Takka has a small body and a big head, so you know he's a sly tricky head. The General is fat and gives off the feelings that he is a villain, and so on and so forth.
As McCloud often mentions in his books, the Eastern style differs tremendously from the West in their frequent use of aspect-to-aspect transitions, and the way creators take their time with small moments and silent times. A great example of this is when the General finds out Chapra is a slave and contemplates from he should do in many panels all from a different perspective.
Budha epitimizes many fundamental differences from Western comics, although they seem so obvious, are necessary to point out. The shape of the speech bubbles for instance, retain a circular design but don't have curves/tails from the character's mouth. Additionally, all the speech bubbles in Buddha are pretty much the same shape, so there's no real difference between what a character says and what he thinks. But it seems thoughts are pretty much are typed outside with nothing around them. Additionally, there's no caption boxes, although there are captions to explain the setting and the mood, etc. etc.
The style is of course consistent with Tezuka's usual Eastern style, cartoony designs of the characters, which is effective in immediately connecting the reader to the characters' essence, so you immediately know who they are and what kind of person they are. Takka has a small body and a big head, so you know he's a sly tricky head. The General is fat and gives off the feelings that he is a villain, and so on and so forth.
As McCloud often mentions in his books, the Eastern style differs tremendously from the West in their frequent use of aspect-to-aspect transitions, and the way creators take their time with small moments and silent times. A great example of this is when the General finds out Chapra is a slave and contemplates from he should do in many panels all from a different perspective.
Budha epitimizes many fundamental differences from Western comics, although they seem so obvious, are necessary to point out. The shape of the speech bubbles for instance, retain a circular design but don't have curves/tails from the character's mouth. Additionally, all the speech bubbles in Buddha are pretty much the same shape, so there's no real difference between what a character says and what he thinks. But it seems thoughts are pretty much are typed outside with nothing around them. Additionally, there's no caption boxes, although there are captions to explain the setting and the mood, etc. etc.
Will Eisner Documentary
Before viewing the film, I wasn't sure what to expect and how new and relevant it was going to be, since after a while, certain things about the history of comics get said over and over again, but it's essential for people not familiar with the medium.
But I was really surprised about how unique and informative the documentary was and the style of presenting Will Eisner's life story. I liked how they took illustrations from one of his autobiographical works in combinations with Eisner's own personal accounts. From memorable moments include fighting the neighborhood bullies, fixing a press machine that lands him a job, and the diner incident wherein Eisner is accused of being cheap.
I also liked learning of Eisner's major accomplishments beyond "The Spirit" which is usually the first thing he's known for, but hearing about his critically lauded works in the underground comics circuit in the 70's and his innovations was new for me. In fact, I had no idea it was Eisner himself who supposedly came up with the term "graphic novel" which is still used today. I thought it was also amusing and worthwhile hearing about his reaction to the new movements in comics in the 70's at a New York Comic Convention with Robert Crumb and all the other Underground creators.
I'm glad the filmmakers had interviews with comic creators still in the industry today, but wished they included more to see how influential Eisner was and still is today. But of course they got in some of the greats and the usual suspects of who you'd expect in a Will Eisner documentary such as Frank Miller, Stan Lee, and many others.
For the most part, I enjoy the Spirit, the the only minor gripe I have is the mixture of realistic characters such as the Spirit with some cartoony elements. I don't mind cartoony and abstract designs to a degree, but someone like Ebony White was really distracting for me, and I can see why Frank Miller has cut the character out of his film adaptation.
But I was really surprised about how unique and informative the documentary was and the style of presenting Will Eisner's life story. I liked how they took illustrations from one of his autobiographical works in combinations with Eisner's own personal accounts. From memorable moments include fighting the neighborhood bullies, fixing a press machine that lands him a job, and the diner incident wherein Eisner is accused of being cheap.
I also liked learning of Eisner's major accomplishments beyond "The Spirit" which is usually the first thing he's known for, but hearing about his critically lauded works in the underground comics circuit in the 70's and his innovations was new for me. In fact, I had no idea it was Eisner himself who supposedly came up with the term "graphic novel" which is still used today. I thought it was also amusing and worthwhile hearing about his reaction to the new movements in comics in the 70's at a New York Comic Convention with Robert Crumb and all the other Underground creators.
I'm glad the filmmakers had interviews with comic creators still in the industry today, but wished they included more to see how influential Eisner was and still is today. But of course they got in some of the greats and the usual suspects of who you'd expect in a Will Eisner documentary such as Frank Miller, Stan Lee, and many others.
For the most part, I enjoy the Spirit, the the only minor gripe I have is the mixture of realistic characters such as the Spirit with some cartoony elements. I don't mind cartoony and abstract designs to a degree, but someone like Ebony White was really distracting for me, and I can see why Frank Miller has cut the character out of his film adaptation.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Comics & Sequential Art
As you can probably guess, there's much overlap in ideas between McCloud's books and Will Eisner's Comics & Sequential, but Eisner does offer some very new and interesting points about comics as an art form and elaborates furhter on some McCloud's points.
One of the most profound things about comics discussed by both authors is the fact that it's a medium that allows for a deep participation by the viewer. It requires the reader to fill in what isn't seen between/within panels, etc. etc. i.e. blood and gutter. Eisner talks about this as well, but one part in particular was really interesting to me and that had to due with character design within a limited frame. When we're given a closeup or limited view of a character, we have to make up a shape ourselves, and sometimes we get the artist's intention right such as a fat head having a fat body, but sometimes we don't and competely misintreprent it.
Eisner also has several chapters devoted to the layout and reading of a comics page, which McCloud has includes, but I think Eisner is perhaps more inventive in his panel layouts, at least for American standards. The typical method is left-->right up-->down but sometimes Eisner has the reader start at the bottom of the page go up and go back down to take it all in.
I had only read one Eisner story in my life, and that was his last comic ever for The Escapist comic for Dark Horse based on Michael Chabon's "Kaviler and Clay" book, but the The Burning of P.S. 13 was something really new for me. The word balloons, text, all had meaning and signifigance, which we had a hard time finding for the works we did last semester so that was refreshing. Also, the designs of the characters gave the reader an immediate sense of their personalities and what they're like i.e. the lawyer with the obaque classes, two hunched judges, and of course Hazel the Witch. I've never read one of Eisner's classic Spirit stories, but there are quite a few reprinted in Sequential art, so I don't know if they're all diverse in stories or out there like this, but it was an enjoyable read and interesting to compare and contrast with today's comics.
One of the most profound things about comics discussed by both authors is the fact that it's a medium that allows for a deep participation by the viewer. It requires the reader to fill in what isn't seen between/within panels, etc. etc. i.e. blood and gutter. Eisner talks about this as well, but one part in particular was really interesting to me and that had to due with character design within a limited frame. When we're given a closeup or limited view of a character, we have to make up a shape ourselves, and sometimes we get the artist's intention right such as a fat head having a fat body, but sometimes we don't and competely misintreprent it.
Eisner also has several chapters devoted to the layout and reading of a comics page, which McCloud has includes, but I think Eisner is perhaps more inventive in his panel layouts, at least for American standards. The typical method is left-->right up-->down but sometimes Eisner has the reader start at the bottom of the page go up and go back down to take it all in.
I had only read one Eisner story in my life, and that was his last comic ever for The Escapist comic for Dark Horse based on Michael Chabon's "Kaviler and Clay" book, but the The Burning of P.S. 13 was something really new for me. The word balloons, text, all had meaning and signifigance, which we had a hard time finding for the works we did last semester so that was refreshing. Also, the designs of the characters gave the reader an immediate sense of their personalities and what they're like i.e. the lawyer with the obaque classes, two hunched judges, and of course Hazel the Witch. I've never read one of Eisner's classic Spirit stories, but there are quite a few reprinted in Sequential art, so I don't know if they're all diverse in stories or out there like this, but it was an enjoyable read and interesting to compare and contrast with today's comics.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Comic Book Club 1/29/08 Footage
As Cynthia already mentioned at the last tutorial, there's a Comic Book Talk show at 154 West 29th Street between 6th and 7th Avenue at the People's Improv Theater every Tuesday at 8:00 PM.
I checked the guest list and once I saw the writers on the current Incredible Herc title for Marvel- Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente were making an appearance I grabbed my camera, every Hulk comic in my room, and rushed over there. So you can take a look at the footage right at youtube as well as old footage, just type in Comic Book Club or click on my username:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Trjx8icSs0
I checked the guest list and once I saw the writers on the current Incredible Herc title for Marvel- Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente were making an appearance I grabbed my camera, every Hulk comic in my room, and rushed over there. So you can take a look at the footage right at youtube as well as old footage, just type in Comic Book Club or click on my username:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Trjx8icSs0
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