Comicsgirl

Archive for August, 2008

We all know that “best of” lists are basically just created so people can complain about them on the Internet. Still, Empire’s list is pretty good — it covers a broad range of genres — from superhero to indie — and even a decent range of countries.

Still, I was disappointed to see that there’s only five female characters on the list. I think there are more than just that.

(You see? I’m complaining about a “best of” list. It apparently did its job.)

First, late last month, Christian Sciene Monitor, whose staff really should know better, brought us Pow! Zowie! Scholars discover the comic book. Then this week, The Washington Post, whose staff should also know better, brings us Drawing Power, where Bob Thompson wonders in amazement about how people — and not just kids — are reading comics and graphic novels!

And while Thompson eventually gets around to talking about this, I am waiting for the day where people realize that comics are a medium. They are no different than film or prose or poetry. They are a way to tell stories. Nothing more. They are not for any particular person or demographic. You can happily like one more than another — you can be a film buff and not read a lot of fiction or you can spend all your time reading poetry and not really care for movies — but that doesn’t mean the others are inferior to your chosen medium.

Is there a lot of crap out there? Yeah, but that goes for any medium. For every best picture nominee, there’s five Meet the Spartans. For every Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, there’s 10 cranked-out mysteries. For every poet laureate, there’s a teenager posting her trite poems on MySpace. Are there bad comics out there? Yeah. I think we all know that. But there’s also some really great ones.

I read a lot comics, sure. But I just read a lot, period. My bookshelves are filled with everything from the classics to fantasy paperbacks, Norton anthologies to second-hand sci-fi novels. I am happy to share my shelf space with the comics I own. One medium is no better than the other. They both offer me something very lovely and I like that.

(And if these sorts of feature writers need a new topic, why don’t they look into bars that are hosting Guitar Hero nights? That hasn’t been done to death yet.)

Not so much comics, but:

For me, creating female characters really isn’t my strong suit. The image of women that appears in Japanese animation, on the whole, is something that should be approached as a pre-existing stereotype. Women like the ones in anime don’t really exist in reality. I don’t appeal to realism as if my life depended on it, but with visuals, characters and the story, there’s a reality amongst all that. The characters that appear in that reality – anime fans, stories, male characters – it’s not like I present those in a purely realistic way either. Women are women, and women characters also have their own intentions and personalities, so I set the story in a way that it lets those personalities come out.

From Anime News Network

He’s being silly if he thinks creating female characters isn’t his strong suit. He’s created some excellent ones.

Writer Nathan Rabin finally gets around to reading Watchmen. It’s more of a summary sprinkle with a few critiques (here’s a hint: He likes it).

I did read Watchmen much later than I should’ve (I mean, it’s been years and years and years now, but there was a period of time where I’d have to shamefully admit I hadn’t read it). To me, it doesn’t matter if you like or dislike it (although I think there would be a rare person who’d say they hated it). If you like comics, Watchmen is just something you read.

I should probably reread it here soon. I’m curious as to what I think of it now.

(The original issues — as in, the floppies — seem to be going for ridiculous amounts on eBay. I may not have a whole set, but I think I have pretty close to it. I should see where they went to and what kind of shape they’re in.)

From a couple of days ago, but the Asheville Citzen-Times talks to both Bryan Lee O’Malley and Hope Larson (she’s seriously only 25?). They’re adorable. They have made a comic together, Bear Creek Apartments, and you will be able to see their cuteness in person at Small Press Expo.

I am aiming for a review on Larson’s Chiggers on Friday. We’ll see.

And if you’re planning on going to SPX, I recommend you sign up to be a volunteer. You will get free admission and have more fun that you can believe is actually possible. I may be helping a friend this year, but honestly, I may abandon him to volunteer instead. That’s how much fun it is.

(Also known as reviews of Emiko Superstar, Janes in Love and The New York Four.)

I read Emiko Superstar and Janes in Love back-to-back on the train returning home from MoCCA (which tells you how long I’ve had them — they were giving them out for free). I more recently read The New York Four.

Emiko Superstar Preorder from tfaw.com

Emiko Superstar, written by Mariko Tamaki with art by Steve Rolston, follows Emi, a slightly overweight and awkward half-Asian teenager in Canada as she finds herself drawn into an underground group of performance artists. I like Emi – I liked her geekier tendencies and her introspective nature. I didn’t exactly buy the whole performance artist scene – I didn’t believe that a guy who looked a lot like The Dude from The Big Lebowski would truly be able to get a group of young people to perform in a warehouse space, nor did I find Emi’s object of admiration, Poppy Galore, to really have that much going on. Her tentative, possible romance with Henry has a sweetness about it.

I did like the way everything unraveled, though, and how Emi realized everyone has secrets and can be surprising, including herself. Rolston’s art has a curvy softness about it that compliments the cuteness of the story well. But ultimately, I found Emiko Superstar to be fairly forgettable.

Janes In Love Buy from tfaw.com

Janes in Love picks up where The Plain Janes left off, with the same creative team of novelists Cecil Castellucci and artist Jim Rugg. I think it’s basically pointless to read this if you haven’t read The Plain Janes first. To me, it was more of the same. The Janes are now dealing with the fallout after the bust-up of P.L.A.I.N. and find themselves drifting apart as boys enter the scene. The main Jane seeks a way to continue making public art while dealing with her mom’s reluctance to leave the house after a friend dies from an anthrax attack. I noticed a very subtle shift in Rugg’s art, emphasizing the various Janes’ ethnicities (I did a side-by-side comparison and the style isn’t that different, but it’s there). This one fell a little flat and felt a little unnecessary to me (I’ve read there will be a third one). Whereas the first book was about the girls’ self-discovery, they didn’t have enough to do in this one. The conclusion and reunification of the Janes came across as a little too neat for me.

And after I finished this one, I realized something about Minx: all the books have the same sorts of rhythm. They all emphasize some Big Important Life Lesson. They all share the same sort of pacing and the characters all have the same sort of epiphanies and self-discoveries. They all seem to learn that in the end, it’s best to be true to yourself.

I do think that’s an important message and one that teenage girls don’t hear enough, but the more I read of the Minx books, the more preachy they feel. Instead of being art or even entertainment first, they seem to be lessons in self-esteem. They seem to be more the sorts of books well-meaning adults and comic book bloggers (myself included) think teenagers should be reading. (I did a quick bit of research on some message boards where teenage girls hang out – I didn’t spend too long because I didn’t want to be creepy – and I didn’t find any mentions of any of the Minx books. I’m not sure if teenage girls are actually reading these.)

But I still keep picking them up. I keep giving them a chance.

The New York Four Buy from tfaw.com

I was surprised to see that The New York Four comes closest to what I think Minx can be capable of. Coming from Vertigo veterans Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly, the story follows reclusive Riley as she reunites with her sister and tries to make friends during her first year of NYU. The New York setting feels like the real New York (I like Wood’s little asides in his NYC 101 lessons) and not just some “exotic” tacked on locale. This is the New York where people actually live. Riley is an interesting heroine and as it’s delightfulas she breaks out of her shell. The rest of the “New York Four” – Merissa, Lona and Ren – feel a little undeveloped but I get the feeling Wood and Kelly plan to continue this story. While I think Kelly draws the girls a little too sexy, with over-emphasized lips and prominent bustlines, his art has an attractive grittiness to it.

But while Riley has her share of disappointments and Big Life Lessons – and, of course, discovers it’s best to be herself – this book felt different. There was drama. There was anger and love. There was uncomfortable situations. There was, in other words, the sorts of things teenage girls encounter every day.

I know that Karen Berger said that Minx is “real stories about real girls in the real world,” but I can’t help but want it to be more like the manga series Nana. Granted, in its own way, Nana is about as far from reality as you can get, despite not being fantasy, but underneath its rock-star melodrama, it feels real. It’s heartfelt while still being escapist. I want to feel the same way after I’ve read a Minx title.

I’ve met both John and Bully and they’re both good people (well, one’s more of a good stuffed little bull, but you get my point). But this would be important anyway. He recounts a few instances of harassment at San Diego Comic-Con and was shocked to discover there’s no policy in dealing with such instances:

So, according to published con policy, there is no tolerance for smoking, drawn weapons, personal pages or selling bootleg videos on the floor, and these rules are written down in black and white in the con booklet. There is not a word in the written rules about harassment or the like. I would like to see something like “Comic-Con has zero tolerance for harassment or violence against any of our attendees or exhibitors. Please report instances to a security guard or the Con Office in room XXX.”

I think it goes without saying that people need to not behave this way to begin with. But since there’s always going to be a few that do, it is the responsibility of a con like this to provide some sort of disciplinary action against them. Without it, it does come across as being a “boys’ club.”

Don’t the girls who were there for Stephanie Meyers and Twilight deserve the same respect as the boys who were there for, say, X-Men Origins: Wolverine (although I dare say there were some girls there for that, too)?

I like how John finishes up his piece:

Comics oughta be fun. Comic book conventions ought to, as well. But as long as harassment goes on and there is no clear-cut official written rules on convention behavior and what to do in circumstances or physical or mental assault, our hobby runs the risk of alienating and endangering those within it.

Comics should be for everybody. Let’s start acting like they are.

I’m not sure how long UGO’s Hero Machine 2.5 has been around, but friends were passing it around. Much fun. I was having trouble getting my creations to save so I could reload them, but that’s not a big deal. Yes, it’s not much different than those “doll creators” that teenage girls like (which is probably why I enjoy it). It’s the online version of playing dress-up.

Go waste some time.

Chris Conaton at PopMatters wonders Comic-Con 2008: Bigger Than Ever, But Does That Mean Better? He writes quite a bit about the panels constantly being too full but also that he had a lot of fun.

And then there’s the bit about Adam Savage talking about how he dressed up in his Hellboy costume out on the floor. Why has no one talked about this before? (Supposedly, this is him. Which I guess means this is him, too. If anyone has confirmation, I’d be happy to hear it).

Over at Newsarama, creator Kelly Sue DeConnick writes about comics, women and mythology. And she’s pretty much right about all of them.