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Flippant Friday
OMG I just saw the CN Tower get hit by lightning TWICE!
Everyone else at Queen and Spadina was equally excited about it. People stopped drinking coffee at Starbucks and looked up in awe. I haven't seen so many Hogtowners get this excited since the blackout. We're really quite a strange city.
Anyway, as it's Friday, I'm going to post mini-reviews of a bunch of graphic novels that![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
rohmie sent me. No spoilers or anything.
The Imp?
Brief summary: El Oh El. Dan Raeburn's incredibly in-depth study of Jack Chick -- the man, the message, the art, the phenomenon -- and even manages to score an interview with the guy. He's obviously fascinated with Chick and with one of the other artists who does Chick Tracts, and I don't blame him.
My take: It's the visual equivalent of Slacktivist's Left Behind Fridays, except that it's clear that Raeburn's obsession includes a level of respect for Chick's talent, whereas LaHaye and Jenkins don't actually have any talent. It's just...wow. Completely deadpan and insightful. He draws a lot of the same conclusions as Slacktivist -- fundie Christianity is fascinated by the very things that it claims to despise -- this is pure evangelical porn. And it's teh crack.
V for Vendetta
Brief summary: In a post-apocalyptic, isolated England ruled by a totalitarian government, a 19th-century-style anarchist in a Guy Fawkes mask goes around fucking shit up. There's going to be a movie, and unfortunately, it's going to star Natalie Portman. Alan Moore has already disassociated himself with it.
My take: I think Moore, along with Joe Sacco and Neil Gaiman, writes graphic novels that you can give to people who say that they don't like comic books in order to convert them. This is a great story with great art, and Moore actually knows something about anarchism, which is quite refreshing. V's memory of secret histories ultimately proves to be a more powerful weapon against the government than any of the bombs he throws.
Moore also gets points for making his villains as sympathetic, if not as likeable, as his protagonists. It's hard enough to do that in a novel -- he does it in a comic book.
How to Read Donald Duck
Brief summary: A study by two Chilean Marxist scholars, written under Allende and banned under Pinochet, about the imperialist subtext of Disney comics. No, really.
My take: Despite the fact that it's a very serious study, you could tell they were at least snickering about it when they wrote it. I can see it:
Dorfman: We can call this new methodology "Duckology."
Mattelart: [snicker]
Dorfman: I mean it!
Mattelart: If we must. Okay, back to the dialetic. Now [Under his breath] Duckology. Heh.
If the study itself isn't convincing enough (and I think it is), the fact that Pinochet considered it dangerous is enough to tell you how pernicious the influence of American pop culture can be to the Third World, and how intertwined it is with less subtle forms of imperialism.
White Like She
Brief summary: The brain of a middle-aged Black man who was almost killed in an accident at a nuclear power plant ends up in the body of a teenaged Jewish girl.
My take: Cool concept, but too big for such a short book. The art's quite nice (although the cover is terrible -- monospaced type and a floating brain. Ick.) but it tells rather than shows. The only reason I could buy this guy adapting to his new body so quickly is because the girl is such a stereotypical activist chick. It brings up some fairly meaty issues -- US race relations (particularly between Black people and Jews), class, bioethics -- and doesn't delve into them in any detail. And the characters all talk to themselves. There are a few conventional ways to deal with inner monologues in comics, but for some reason the author doesn't use them.
You Are Maggie Thatcher
Brief summary: It's a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure. With Maggie. And you get to do evil!
My take: I won this thing after three tries. Go me. I didn't care much for the art (it's horribly eighties), but the writing was so hilarious that you can completely ignore that. If you win, you get to see Billy Bragg at the end. I want some of whatever the people who wrote this were smoking.
The People's Comic Book
Brief summary: This is a collection of Maoist comic strips. I think (correct me if I'm wrong) that they were used as part of a literacy campaign after the Cultural Revolution. Apparently these things were once wildly popular and mass-produced.
My take: Far, far more fun than it should be. The art's fantastic, if you like Maoist art, although it's not reproduced very well. The stories range from heroic uprisings and battles to a very sweet (and funny) story about a woman trying to get her collective farm -- and her husband -- to clean up their acts. It's odd how in Western comics, the artists tend to want to draw action scenes and cut up infodumps as much as possible; with these, it's the opposite. You'll have several panels with people debating ideology and tactics, and a brief mention that so-and-so died or such-and-such blew up. Go figure.
It's also interesting to me that even the most corrupt and totalitarian leftist regimes immediately embark on literacy campaigns when they come into power, whereas even the most moderate right-wing regimes tend to do the complete opposite.
Berlin Part I
Brief summary: There's no reason why this couldn't have been a highbrow novel, other than the fact that there's no reason that the art that accompanies it couldn't be hanging in a gallery. It's set in Weimar-era Berlin (hence the title), and follows a group of characters as the political climate gets progressively darker.
Since we all know what happens, you're reading it screaming, "Get out! Get out while you still can!" at the characters, all the time knowing that they won't. There's a tragic sense of the inevitable as their small, quiet lives are doomed by history. This one almost made me cry.
Jar of Fools
Brief summary: It can't really be described in any way that will do it justice. Basically, there's a washed-up, alcoholic magician, his senile mentor, his ex-girlfriend, a con-artist, and his young daughter. They're all trying to cope with the fact that the world doesn't really have any place for them.
My take: Um...so this one did make me cry a bit. While most graphic novels have a relatively large scope -- the genre is perfect for telling stories about the fantastic, the heroic, the bizarre -- this is a tiny little story about the inner lives of very damaged people. It's unspeakably beautiful -- both the writing and the art. It's not the tragic dimension that gets you, by the way -- it's the scraps of hope interspersed with the utter despair of the thing.
David Chelsea in Love
Brief summary: Boy meets girl. Both are fucking nuts. And to make things worse, she's an actress.
My take: I now get whyrohmie doesn't date actors. Bloody hell.
I related to this far too much.
Everyone else at Queen and Spadina was equally excited about it. People stopped drinking coffee at Starbucks and looked up in awe. I haven't seen so many Hogtowners get this excited since the blackout. We're really quite a strange city.
Anyway, as it's Friday, I'm going to post mini-reviews of a bunch of graphic novels that
rohmie sent me. No spoilers or anything.The Imp?
Brief summary: El Oh El. Dan Raeburn's incredibly in-depth study of Jack Chick -- the man, the message, the art, the phenomenon -- and even manages to score an interview with the guy. He's obviously fascinated with Chick and with one of the other artists who does Chick Tracts, and I don't blame him.
My take: It's the visual equivalent of Slacktivist's Left Behind Fridays, except that it's clear that Raeburn's obsession includes a level of respect for Chick's talent, whereas LaHaye and Jenkins don't actually have any talent. It's just...wow. Completely deadpan and insightful. He draws a lot of the same conclusions as Slacktivist -- fundie Christianity is fascinated by the very things that it claims to despise -- this is pure evangelical porn. And it's teh crack.
V for Vendetta
Brief summary: In a post-apocalyptic, isolated England ruled by a totalitarian government, a 19th-century-style anarchist in a Guy Fawkes mask goes around fucking shit up. There's going to be a movie, and unfortunately, it's going to star Natalie Portman. Alan Moore has already disassociated himself with it.
My take: I think Moore, along with Joe Sacco and Neil Gaiman, writes graphic novels that you can give to people who say that they don't like comic books in order to convert them. This is a great story with great art, and Moore actually knows something about anarchism, which is quite refreshing. V's memory of secret histories ultimately proves to be a more powerful weapon against the government than any of the bombs he throws.
Moore also gets points for making his villains as sympathetic, if not as likeable, as his protagonists. It's hard enough to do that in a novel -- he does it in a comic book.
How to Read Donald Duck
Brief summary: A study by two Chilean Marxist scholars, written under Allende and banned under Pinochet, about the imperialist subtext of Disney comics. No, really.
My take: Despite the fact that it's a very serious study, you could tell they were at least snickering about it when they wrote it. I can see it:
Dorfman: We can call this new methodology "Duckology."
Mattelart: [snicker]
Dorfman: I mean it!
Mattelart: If we must. Okay, back to the dialetic. Now [Under his breath] Duckology. Heh.
If the study itself isn't convincing enough (and I think it is), the fact that Pinochet considered it dangerous is enough to tell you how pernicious the influence of American pop culture can be to the Third World, and how intertwined it is with less subtle forms of imperialism.
White Like She
Brief summary: The brain of a middle-aged Black man who was almost killed in an accident at a nuclear power plant ends up in the body of a teenaged Jewish girl.
My take: Cool concept, but too big for such a short book. The art's quite nice (although the cover is terrible -- monospaced type and a floating brain. Ick.) but it tells rather than shows. The only reason I could buy this guy adapting to his new body so quickly is because the girl is such a stereotypical activist chick. It brings up some fairly meaty issues -- US race relations (particularly between Black people and Jews), class, bioethics -- and doesn't delve into them in any detail. And the characters all talk to themselves. There are a few conventional ways to deal with inner monologues in comics, but for some reason the author doesn't use them.
You Are Maggie Thatcher
Brief summary: It's a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure. With Maggie. And you get to do evil!
My take: I won this thing after three tries. Go me. I didn't care much for the art (it's horribly eighties), but the writing was so hilarious that you can completely ignore that. If you win, you get to see Billy Bragg at the end. I want some of whatever the people who wrote this were smoking.
The People's Comic Book
Brief summary: This is a collection of Maoist comic strips. I think (correct me if I'm wrong) that they were used as part of a literacy campaign after the Cultural Revolution. Apparently these things were once wildly popular and mass-produced.
My take: Far, far more fun than it should be. The art's fantastic, if you like Maoist art, although it's not reproduced very well. The stories range from heroic uprisings and battles to a very sweet (and funny) story about a woman trying to get her collective farm -- and her husband -- to clean up their acts. It's odd how in Western comics, the artists tend to want to draw action scenes and cut up infodumps as much as possible; with these, it's the opposite. You'll have several panels with people debating ideology and tactics, and a brief mention that so-and-so died or such-and-such blew up. Go figure.
It's also interesting to me that even the most corrupt and totalitarian leftist regimes immediately embark on literacy campaigns when they come into power, whereas even the most moderate right-wing regimes tend to do the complete opposite.
Berlin Part I
Brief summary: There's no reason why this couldn't have been a highbrow novel, other than the fact that there's no reason that the art that accompanies it couldn't be hanging in a gallery. It's set in Weimar-era Berlin (hence the title), and follows a group of characters as the political climate gets progressively darker.
Since we all know what happens, you're reading it screaming, "Get out! Get out while you still can!" at the characters, all the time knowing that they won't. There's a tragic sense of the inevitable as their small, quiet lives are doomed by history. This one almost made me cry.
Jar of Fools
Brief summary: It can't really be described in any way that will do it justice. Basically, there's a washed-up, alcoholic magician, his senile mentor, his ex-girlfriend, a con-artist, and his young daughter. They're all trying to cope with the fact that the world doesn't really have any place for them.
My take: Um...so this one did make me cry a bit. While most graphic novels have a relatively large scope -- the genre is perfect for telling stories about the fantastic, the heroic, the bizarre -- this is a tiny little story about the inner lives of very damaged people. It's unspeakably beautiful -- both the writing and the art. It's not the tragic dimension that gets you, by the way -- it's the scraps of hope interspersed with the utter despair of the thing.
David Chelsea in Love
Brief summary: Boy meets girl. Both are fucking nuts. And to make things worse, she's an actress.
My take: I now get why
rohmie doesn't date actors. Bloody hell.I related to this far too much.