Comicsgirl

In case the post about Isotope didn’t tip you off, I was recently in San Francisco. And after years of trying, I finally made it to the Cartoon Art Museum.

It’s a cute little museum with rotating exhibits. While the emphasis is more on cartoons (hence the name) than comics, there’s plenty for comic-lovers here, too.

I imagine that the Phil Frank exhibit is something I’d need to be a native of SF to appreciate since the context for me was mostly lost. While Keith Knight’s work felt more universal, it’s really not my thing. Having said that, I still liked looking at both exhibits.

The Harvey Comics exhibit was plenty of fun. I loved seeing the process from drawing to print and reading some of the stories behind these creations. I’m never going to love Harvey Comics, but I think this exhibit made me appreciate them and their place in comic book history.

There are other exhibits — a display of animation production art and a short history of comics, mostly of the funny-pages sort — which I assume are ongoing. The artistry that goes into someone that’s on the screen for a few seconds or is discarded with Monday’s trash is amazing to me.

It’s a fun little museum. It’s only $6 for adults and worth checking out if you’re in San Francisco. I’ll probably go back when I get the chance.

This is not really a review. I don’t feel I’m capable of reviewing Hellboy II in a objective way — telling you why it’s good and bad and then backing that up. I loved it, but I will allow that other people may not for very valid reasons. I loved it in such a way that it’s personal and beyond explanation.

It’s just a lot of fun.

This isn’t really Mike Mignola’s Hellboy (although he has co-credit on the story). This is Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy through and through, and I think that’s OK. I almost don’t even consider it a “comic book movie.” It’s a movie that happens to have comic book characters.

I think the Hellboy universe allows for plenty of room for lots of different stories to be told. Whereas the first movie sort of stuck to the history-mixed-with-Lovecraft spirit of the comic, this goes off in its own direction. I liked anime/fantasy-inspired plot — you know, vaguely Celtic mytholoy mixed with martial arts — with plenty of The Dark Crystal thrown in. The production design is to die for — incredibly lovely and wonderful. Del Toro has created his own universe here and there are scenes, such as the troll market, where there is not a human in sight. It feels very real and very wonderful (and I like that most of the effects are non-CG based. It adds to the playful “make-believe” feel of the movie).

What was always fun for me in the first movie was the relationships between the characters. For Hellboy, saving the world is just a job. He obviously enjoys it, but he also likes hanging out and eating and watching TV. Fighting monsters is just something he has to go do. In Hellboy II, this is much more in the forefront. Even when our team gets mixed up in Prince Nuada trying to destroy the world, they have their own things to worry about. Liz and Hellboy are having problems in their relationship (and Liz has news to share) and Hellboy and Abe even find time to go get drunk.

I also liked that Liz had more to do in this movie. In the first one, in the end, she just ended up as the damsel in distress. In this one, in her own way, she saves the day. She makes a beautiful choice that’s traditionally reserved for male characters. I really loved that.

And Doug Jones, as three different characters, is a force of nature. Even covered in makeup, he’s a wonderfully expressive actor and does a lot with very little. I don’t think this movie would be quite the same if anyone else was playing Abe Sapien.

In any case, I was entirely enchanted and not at all disappointed with it. It’s what I wanted a Hellboy sequel to be. If there’s a third one or not, I don’t care. Sure, I’d go see it, but I’m happy where we left this incarnation of these characters.

Will you like it? I don’t know. I can’t tell you that. But I know I did.

Isotope is probably the coolest comic book store in the country.

Don’t get me wrong – I love plenty of comic book stores. I love the Big Planet stores, I love Forbidden Planet in New York. I like your basic hole-in-the-wall stores, too (to a point). There are a good collection of great comic book stores in this country.

But I’m talking about sheer coolness here. And in terms of coolness, it’s nearly impossible to beat Isotope.

I read somewhere that proprietor James Sime (who tends to look like a Batman villain – and I mean that as a compliment) looked at women’s shoe stores when planning his comic book store. Certainly, it does not have any of the racks of T-shirts and tables for 10-year-olds to play Pokemon. It has an open layout with comfortable, stylish couches and bright colors and lighting. You’ll find the usual recent issues and plenty of collections and graphic novels, but there are also plenty of featured titles on display, which is always helpful. There is also an awesome mini-comics lounge upstairs which has a great selection of things that deserve attention.

Sime is infinitely enthusiastic and polite. He went out of his way for us while we were there, taking time to show us his “Comic Rockstars Toilet Seat Museum,” which is much more awesome than it sounds. He has all his store’s guests draw on toilet seats. (You can view the gallery here.) He also kindly provided us with a list of his favorite places in San Francisco.

He obviously loves comics passionately, but there is absolutely no snobbery from him. I’m sure there are comics he likes more than others, but he didn’t have a bad word to say about anyone or anything. In fandom culture that is too often caught up in complaining, I find this refreshing and wonderful.

If you’re ever in San Francisco, you need to visit here. We need comic book stores like this. I suppose it’s both good and bad that I’m on the opposite side of the country from Isotope right now. I would be shopping there all the time if I could.

World’s End Buy from tfaw.com

After the beautiful and satisfying Brief Lives, World’s End was inevitably going to be a letdown. True to the concept, these are just stories to pass the time, to fill in a gap before the final storyline.

Other than “A Tale of Two Cities,” which features the most distinctive art and layout in all of The Sandman, these are pointless adventure stories. They are fun (and I do particularly love “Hob’s Leviathan” because Michael Zulli never stops being wonderful) but they’re largely forgettable.

World’s End isn’t a waste of time, mind you, and the foreshadowing of the end is important and beautiful. Still, “Cerements” and “Cluracan’s Tale” don’t offer much artistically or texturally. I can take or leave “The Golden Boy.”

So yeah, I really don’t have much to say about this one. There’s not much here to say much about. I kind of fall in Charlene’s assertion that these are all “Boy’s Own” stories and there aren’t really any women in them. I find it odd that Neil Gaiman threw in a criticism of his own stories in there but I do agree.

Brief Lives Buy from tfaw.com

Brief Lives is my favorite. It always has been and it continues to be.

It’s the most straightforward and satisfying of all The Sandman volumes. It reads like there was actual planning involved – there’s no making it up as they go. Neil Gaiman’s writing manages to be both funny and dark, dramatic and playful. And while there are a lot of wonderful artists who’ve worked on The Sandman, Jill Thompson suits this story perfectly.

I love Brief Lives. I have no criticism for it. Some of that is because I have much too much affection for the book – I’ve read it the most and so it’s very familiar to me. It also has my absolute favorite line in the entire series – Ruby turning to Dream and saying “You’re a scary son of a bitch, mister. Cute as hell, but scary.” I don’t think there exists a more accurate description of Dream anywhere.

There are so many wonderful scenes. Delirium is infinitely quotable – “But they’re not flowers, they’re puppies” – and Dream making it rain so he can stand in it after being dumped is just so perfect. We have a talking dog, who seems to talk for no other reason than he does. I love the interactions between all The Endless – I think this is the point where The Sandman mythology is cemented.

It also has the most tragic, heartbreaking panel I’ve ever seen in comics. Oh, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

I can’t say my overall feelings for the book have really changed, but I saw somethings differently. I know there were some complaints about Delirium in this one – some felt she was too cute, too charming and didn’t quite represent the sad darkness she had when we’ve seen her before.

But I disagree. Delirium’s tragedy remains. Here, sure, she’s having fun so she’s more upbeat, but she’s naively self-centered. Delirium can’t think about anyone but herself. She asks Dream the word for the “moment when you realize that you’ve actually forgotten how it felt to make love to somebody you really liked a long time ago” while Dream’s still getting over being dumped. Her reaction to Ruby’s death is “This means I get to drive.” She can care about others, want to help others, but ultimately, Delirium’s world is just about Delirium.

I think that’s the reason why teenage girls connected with Delirium, even if they don’t realize why. I know I did. She’s in between girlhood and adulthood. Teen girls are busy trying to figure out where they fit in their constantly-shifting worlds. They don’t have much time for anything else.

I honestly don’t have much else to write about Brief Lives. I can keep telling you how much I like it and keep offering examples, but I think that would get boring quickly.

Reading Brief Lives was a little bittersweet, though. Partially because of the memories it brought back (like how I traded my friend Marc the softcover for his hardcover. Hi, Marc!) and because I know I’m getting close to the end. I don’t want The Sandman to be over yet.