Comicsgirl

Archive for January, 2008

Kira Cochrane weighs in on the state of female characters and women creators in comics and the article is a fun little primer. These sorts of things pop up every so often over the years, but that doesn’t stop them from being delightful.

What would really be delightful, though, is the day that women appearing in and making comics is no longer something that people need to be writing about.

After being passed over for consideration in the Foreign Language category, a lot of us didn’t have much hope for Persepolis‘ Oscar chances. I am delighted with its nomination in the Animated Feature category — it’s where it belongs and gives me hope that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences may realize that animation can do more than just be for kids (although that’s been pretty slow going).

I know it will lose to Ratatouille, though.

More thoughts on Persepolis — both the book and the movie — are coming (the movie finally opens here this weekend).

Robot Dreams – Sara Varon, First Second

I should know by now that if First Second publishes it, it’s good. This is a lovely, wordless tale about a dog and a robot who find and then lose friendship. Varon’s artwork is sweet and cartoony and the story has a poignant whimsy about it. Varon adds some delightful touches, like the dog and robot watching Castle in the Sky and a group of anteaters offering up a plate of ants to the dog.

This book is great for anyone from a sensitive 8-year-old who misses her best friend to a sensitive 27-year-old who likes comics about dogs and robots.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Long Way Home – Joss Whedon, Georges Jeanty, Dark Horse

While I was a fan of the Buffy TV show and among the 14 people who watched Firefly when it first aired, I am not one of those people who believe Joss Whedon can do no wrong. I like the idea of a “season 8″ of Buffy in comic-book form, but I was pretty much bored by this. Or more left with the feeling of “so?” Part of it is the generic art – I ‘m glad the characters look (more or less) like the actors who played them, but it’s a little too polished and pretty for me. While it’s fun that the format allows Whedon to do things with the Buffy universe that he couldn’t do on TV, I didn’t feel the same sort of connection to the action in the comic as I did with the TV show. Despite some big dramatic moments, I thought these six issues were pretty slow and nothing happened.

I’m vaguely interested in what happens next, but I’m glad I wasn’t collecting these as they came out and I’m also glad that I, uh, read this in the bookstore.

(But I can appreciate that the Buffy comic is getting people who don’t normally buy comics to do so.)