I think since Comic Book Confidential was made, there have been a lot of other documentaries and chronicles about the comic book industry, so a lot of the information for me at least was repeat, but still offered quite a lot of new insights particularily into the world of underground comics, which hasn't been as touched on as mainstream superhero comics.
I was impressed with the huge array of creators Ron Mann was able to get to appear in the film, especially the underground creators, and the techniques he utilized that made it livelier and not just another boring narrative educational film. I quite enjoyed how he took some comic stories and shot the panels like storyboards and got the creators to say the lines and essentially adapt the comics for film. I think the best of all was the one Will Eisner did, because Mann got really creative with the camera such as panning, closing into the characters' faces, and transitioning from scenes using dissolves.
It was also a bit strange to see some creators who still work today younger since this was made in the late 80's. Especially Frank Miller, who's now a bit of an old guy himself, with long hair and having less of a gut than he has now.
I think it's also important to remember the context of the time when CBC was made, since the comics industry has changed quite dramatically since then. This was before the comics crash of the 90's, considered one of the worst time for the industry since the Wertham hearings of the 50's, and the current resurgence of comics as art and entertainment and moving successfully into other media such as current comic book films.
Overall, I think it was a highly entertaining and enlightening film on the comics medium, and would love to see Ron Mann do a follow up someday.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
Peter David@ the Comic Book Club Video
As I mentioned, a few weeks ago I attended the March 4th show of the Comic Book Club at the People's Improv Theater with comic book creator guest writer Peter David and comedian Chris Gethard. I think hands down, this was one of the funniest shows the trio has done so far in the year, and luckily the footage I shot is available at their website through the following link. David was there promoting the release of Marvel's new Dark Tower book, as well as the other stuff he has coming out. I'm a big fan of Peter David, and it was a real treat to see him in person. In fact, you can hear me at some points particularily during his tease on "Secret Invasion" and promoting his Iron Man novelization. Take a look:
http://www.popcultureshock.com/cbclub/?p=38
http://www.popcultureshock.com/cbclub/?p=38
Stray Bullets
Besides my initital reaction after reading "Stray Bullets" and being greatly disturbed, it's a really unique work that utilizes a lot of familiar elements of the "film noir/crime" genre but keeps going in a direction you never see coming.
I think much more than Billi 99, Stray Bullets reminded me of Frank Miller's Sin City books. In fact, the first story with the two guys and the dead body and all the increasing number of dead bodies was a bit reminiscent of "The Big Fat Kill" Sin City story with Dwight, which was the 2nd story in the film adaptation with Clive Owen playing Dwight. But I think one of the key differences is that Frank Miller draws his characters in a more abstract cartoony style, so although the characters are clearly human beings, there's very few people on earth who look as deformed as the Sin City characters. As opposed to Lapham's character designs, which are really photo-realistically draw, which gives more attachment to the action in the book, and thus most likely seemed more unsettling to me than something like Sin City.
Visually, I was impressed with how Lapham was able to make something that seemed simple on the surface actually complex. A majority of the stories are 6 basic panel grids, but there's a lot going on in each and every one. Like on the 5th story with Orson, from p.144-149, there's a lot of dialogue coming from his parents, but no where in the story do we ever seem them. The closest we come is a one panel kiss silhouette from his mother on p.146. It just reminded me a little of the shark from Jaws.
I also liked how Lapham varied the speech bubbles depending on the context and situation. For instance, whenever someone was intoxicated the bubble would be very bumpy and the lettering more spaced between each other and looked like it was scribbled. It reminded me a bit of Jeff Smith's lettering in Bone in that respect, especially for some characters like the Lord of the Locusts or the Rat Creatures. And of course the captions and titles had a type print, almost like a police or criminal record, which of course is very fitting for the mood.
Story-wise, I found it a little jarring at first to be plunged into a world that was basically ours, but the dark underbelly of it. It was kinda like a Quentin Tarantino movie, because a lot of these people are not typically seen in "normal society" but as we get to know 'some' we find they too go through some of the same experiences and even know the same pop culture stuff we do ex) Star Wars. There was a lot I took away from it, that I won't soon forget, which is something Cynthia usually asks us after we finish a work. Things that'll stick with me for some time are the mantis eating Virginia, her Halloween experience, Orson's drug trip, Joey killing all those people in the diner, and so much more.
There's a lot to talk about Stray Bullets. Like Billi 99 it's not something I would've read or heard of if not for this tutorial, and although it was darker than my usual comic taste, I like being exposed to new things and getting a new flavor of something that's not mainstream.
I think much more than Billi 99, Stray Bullets reminded me of Frank Miller's Sin City books. In fact, the first story with the two guys and the dead body and all the increasing number of dead bodies was a bit reminiscent of "The Big Fat Kill" Sin City story with Dwight, which was the 2nd story in the film adaptation with Clive Owen playing Dwight. But I think one of the key differences is that Frank Miller draws his characters in a more abstract cartoony style, so although the characters are clearly human beings, there's very few people on earth who look as deformed as the Sin City characters. As opposed to Lapham's character designs, which are really photo-realistically draw, which gives more attachment to the action in the book, and thus most likely seemed more unsettling to me than something like Sin City.
Visually, I was impressed with how Lapham was able to make something that seemed simple on the surface actually complex. A majority of the stories are 6 basic panel grids, but there's a lot going on in each and every one. Like on the 5th story with Orson, from p.144-149, there's a lot of dialogue coming from his parents, but no where in the story do we ever seem them. The closest we come is a one panel kiss silhouette from his mother on p.146. It just reminded me a little of the shark from Jaws.
I also liked how Lapham varied the speech bubbles depending on the context and situation. For instance, whenever someone was intoxicated the bubble would be very bumpy and the lettering more spaced between each other and looked like it was scribbled. It reminded me a bit of Jeff Smith's lettering in Bone in that respect, especially for some characters like the Lord of the Locusts or the Rat Creatures. And of course the captions and titles had a type print, almost like a police or criminal record, which of course is very fitting for the mood.
Story-wise, I found it a little jarring at first to be plunged into a world that was basically ours, but the dark underbelly of it. It was kinda like a Quentin Tarantino movie, because a lot of these people are not typically seen in "normal society" but as we get to know 'some' we find they too go through some of the same experiences and even know the same pop culture stuff we do ex) Star Wars. There was a lot I took away from it, that I won't soon forget, which is something Cynthia usually asks us after we finish a work. Things that'll stick with me for some time are the mantis eating Virginia, her Halloween experience, Orson's drug trip, Joey killing all those people in the diner, and so much more.
There's a lot to talk about Stray Bullets. Like Billi 99 it's not something I would've read or heard of if not for this tutorial, and although it was darker than my usual comic taste, I like being exposed to new things and getting a new flavor of something that's not mainstream.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Billi 99
If it hadn't been for this tutorial, I don't think I would've read this or even heard of this work. Reading it, I was defiantely reminded of Will Eisner's work in The Spirit and even Frank Miller's Sin City graphic novel. I know Billi 99 came out in the early part of the 90's, but I'm not sure if this had any influence on Miller's work, but there are defianatel similarities in tone, art, and many other aspects.
It was a really enjoyable story that took things that have already been used in comics and other media and made it unique. In fact there are even direct references to some of these influences such as Zorro. It's not necessarily a superhero book, but it does have a film noir style, probably best depicted by the choice of making it a black and white comic.
I'm familiar with Tim Sale's work in superhero comics with Jeph Loeb on Batman, Heroes, and their various Marvel projects, but he really blew me away with the art in Billi 99. Not only that but the fact that he did all the lettering, which was a joy to look at, especially the sound effects. There are many sequences that come to mind after reading it like the panel spacing on p. 11 that drop down to the corner. Or the flashback sequence on p.20-21, where the art style noticably changes. I don't know how best to describe it, only that the lines change, but you can tell this part is set in the past.
And of course, no film noir comic would be complete without silhoutes, which there are plenty of in the book. There's one I particularily like on the bottom left on p.30, which at first I didn't know what it was, but then I finally realized it was a closeup of Anunzi's bottom half of his face drinking from the glass. Another sequence to note is the chase sequence between Billi and the cop on p.148-149, that's arranged in interconnecting panels read from left-right in a curvy fashion. You just have to look at it to see what I'm talking about it, but it's such a unique way of staging a chase while still keeping the story going and not using too many panels.
Overall, I found Billi 99 enjoyable. Perhaps a little too similar to other works, but I'm guessing this came before many, and glad to read another jem that hasn't been noticed in the mainstream.
It was a really enjoyable story that took things that have already been used in comics and other media and made it unique. In fact there are even direct references to some of these influences such as Zorro. It's not necessarily a superhero book, but it does have a film noir style, probably best depicted by the choice of making it a black and white comic.
I'm familiar with Tim Sale's work in superhero comics with Jeph Loeb on Batman, Heroes, and their various Marvel projects, but he really blew me away with the art in Billi 99. Not only that but the fact that he did all the lettering, which was a joy to look at, especially the sound effects. There are many sequences that come to mind after reading it like the panel spacing on p. 11 that drop down to the corner. Or the flashback sequence on p.20-21, where the art style noticably changes. I don't know how best to describe it, only that the lines change, but you can tell this part is set in the past.
And of course, no film noir comic would be complete without silhoutes, which there are plenty of in the book. There's one I particularily like on the bottom left on p.30, which at first I didn't know what it was, but then I finally realized it was a closeup of Anunzi's bottom half of his face drinking from the glass. Another sequence to note is the chase sequence between Billi and the cop on p.148-149, that's arranged in interconnecting panels read from left-right in a curvy fashion. You just have to look at it to see what I'm talking about it, but it's such a unique way of staging a chase while still keeping the story going and not using too many panels.
Overall, I found Billi 99 enjoyable. Perhaps a little too similar to other works, but I'm guessing this came before many, and glad to read another jem that hasn't been noticed in the mainstream.
Astro City Part 2
Much of my reaction to the 2nd half of Astro City is included in Part 1 of my blog, but I'll continue with Part 2. I liked the first page of the 5th story Reconaissance with the alien spy. The lettering is old and looks like something from a fairy tale story or something, but it too is as deceiving as the main character himself. I also liked how in the last 2 pages, the font of the words "Humans!" in the caption boxes gets bigger expressing the growing anger of the alien's rage.
There are nice little touches in the art I enjoyed from the story like on p.137 with the "helicopter shots" of the panels that go deeper into a closeup of the alien's face (still in human form) but his eyes have cats eyes to remind us of his alien nature.
On p.100 there's also a different version of the dream/fantasy sequences we've already seen with the blue lines that look like they've been dropped in a puddle.
There are nice little touches in the art I enjoyed from the story like on p.137 with the "helicopter shots" of the panels that go deeper into a closeup of the alien's face (still in human form) but his eyes have cats eyes to remind us of his alien nature.
On p.100 there's also a different version of the dream/fantasy sequences we've already seen with the blue lines that look like they've been dropped in a puddle.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Watchmen Character Images Revealed
As most people already know, there's a Watchmen movie in the works with "300" director Zack Snyder at the helm. Obviously there's a lot of anticipation for it, especially considering previous Alan Moore comic adapations have not been met with great success. Warner Bros. has released some images of some of the principle characters, and they're actually pretty good for the most part. My one complaint is that some, like Ozymandias, give off a "Batman and Robin" vibe, probably not helped by the fact that nipples are visible on his costume.
The Comedian, however, looks awesome. Check them out right now:
http://www.superherohype.com/news/watchmennews.php?id=6887
The Comedian, however, looks awesome. Check them out right now:
http://www.superherohype.com/news/watchmennews.php?id=6887
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Comic Book Club Cable/Deadpool Show Video Footage
I've already told the group about the Comic Book Club, which I hope we can attend one show sometime before the end of the year, but I went to last week's show featuring the creative team for Marvel's now cancelled book "Cable/Deadpool" Fabian Nicieza, Reilly Brown, and Nicole Boose. I know Patti was interested in going, and I'm sorry you didn't get to go, but here's a link to the footage now on the club's website, where I'm referred to as their "unofficial fan videographer"
http://www.popcultureshock.com/cbclub/?p=35
http://www.popcultureshock.com/cbclub/?p=35
Astro City Part 1
Before reading "Astro City" I wasn't too excited, because I thought the idea of "superheroes in the real world" had already been played out time and time again, and wasn't sure what Busiek could offer that was fresh and unique. Some examples in the past that Busiek also mentions in his introduction are Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns, and others I've seen since then such as The Tick, Venture Bros., and more recently Mark Millar's new miniseries for Marvel Kick-Ass. But after reading it, I was very pleasantly surprised and thought Busiek did a great job of maintaining both the reality and mundane of the real world with the fantastical life of superheroes.
We discussed the design of art deco playing a role and a basic sense of nostaglia for superhero comics in the past. For instance, one group of heroes, "The First Family" is obviously a giant homage to Marvel's Fantastic Four, it being comics 'First Superhero Family.' One thing I noticed and really liked was how all the stories ended with a caption designed as a road signing saying "You are now leaving Astro City" I think this helped in connecting the individual stories and really each one together and made it come to full completion. I'm not sure how effective it was for every story, but it was certaintly effective for the stories "In Dreams" "A Little Knowledge" and "Safeguards" all of which end with the main character leaving Astro City either physically and/or mentally.
Of all the stories, I think my favorite was "A Little Knowledge" because it was really Eisner-esque and film noir-ish, where the superhero isn't the main character at all, but someone who finds out his secret ID and contemplates what to do with it. The fantasy sequences are great and often hilarious, and I noticed that unlike the panels set in reality, those are drawn without borders, in order to differentiate the reality and fantasy of what this character is going through.
Unlike the previous work we read, "Buddha" Astro City varies its speech bubbles very often issue-to-issue and page-to-page and examples include the Shark God on p.49 which is colored like Shark skin and written menacingly to the Demolition character on p.104 that uses BIG BOLD and brick looking like font. Overall though, it's a great series that I regret not reading when it first came out and I'm amazed that Busiek can bring such an incredible amount of sophistication to what is dubbed a "kids' genre." Look for what else I have to say in Part 2 of my blog on this.
We discussed the design of art deco playing a role and a basic sense of nostaglia for superhero comics in the past. For instance, one group of heroes, "The First Family" is obviously a giant homage to Marvel's Fantastic Four, it being comics 'First Superhero Family.' One thing I noticed and really liked was how all the stories ended with a caption designed as a road signing saying "You are now leaving Astro City" I think this helped in connecting the individual stories and really each one together and made it come to full completion. I'm not sure how effective it was for every story, but it was certaintly effective for the stories "In Dreams" "A Little Knowledge" and "Safeguards" all of which end with the main character leaving Astro City either physically and/or mentally.
Of all the stories, I think my favorite was "A Little Knowledge" because it was really Eisner-esque and film noir-ish, where the superhero isn't the main character at all, but someone who finds out his secret ID and contemplates what to do with it. The fantasy sequences are great and often hilarious, and I noticed that unlike the panels set in reality, those are drawn without borders, in order to differentiate the reality and fantasy of what this character is going through.
Unlike the previous work we read, "Buddha" Astro City varies its speech bubbles very often issue-to-issue and page-to-page and examples include the Shark God on p.49 which is colored like Shark skin and written menacingly to the Demolition character on p.104 that uses BIG BOLD and brick looking like font. Overall though, it's a great series that I regret not reading when it first came out and I'm amazed that Busiek can bring such an incredible amount of sophistication to what is dubbed a "kids' genre." Look for what else I have to say in Part 2 of my blog on this.
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