Comicsgirl

Pride & Prejudice #1

I didn’t know about this before today, when a story about it came up in one of my searches. Newsarama has all the details, but please ignore all the “I may actually get my girlfriend to read a comic!” comments.

I like the general concept, although it’s really nothing new (Classics Illustrated were around from the 1940s) and I like that they let Nancy Butler — an accomplished Regency romance writer — handle the story.

I just wish the art on the inside wasn’t so poorly suited to the story. Hugo Petrus looks like he’s drawing a superhero title rather than women in beautiful Regency dresses and I dislike Marvel’s coloring style (why can’t anything be a solid color? Why does everything need to be shaded?). I love Sonny Liew’s art for the cover — that’s a comic I want to read. The inside stuff — not so much.

I wish Marvel understood what would actually appeal to women. Making a Jane Austen comic — while notable and pretty cool — isn’t enough if they won’t follow through all the way.

Still, I may try to pick this up once it’s collected and give it a chance.

Congratulations go out to Eleanor Davis and Drew Weing on their engagement.

DC Comics wants to help you figure out what to read next now that you’ve seen/read Watchmen. And you know, sell you stuff in the process. (It’s a nice feature, though, seriously. The jump from seeing a comic book movie to reading a comic book isn’t always an easy process.)

Turner Classic Movies, the last smart channel left on cable, shares Lost Scenes from underground movies. Flash-based interface is kind of annoying, but click on “print” for readable PDFs.

And finally, Dark Horse announces Sequential Pulp imprint. Jennifer Contino gets the whys and hows from publisher Michael Hudson. I think this is a really cool concept and I have faith Dark Horse will do it right.

“They have to relinquish their assertiveness and their identity. So their fantasy tends to be about being able to be strong and assertive and not be called an unwoman for it. Sailor Moon gets to be powerful and wear a flowing dress and get the guy and no one insists that by saving the day, she’s castrating Tuxedo Mask.”

– Barbara Guttman

Anime News Network’s Chicks on Anime discuss the differences (and sometimes similarities) between U.S. comics and manga with comic artist Barbara Guttman. It’s a great round table and I’m glad they’ve let us into the virtual room for this one.

So yes, I went today, after dodging the crew for Salt (I did not see Angelina Jolie or really, much of anything other than a bunch of box trucks parked along Independence Avenue).

It’s a small exhibit but it’s pretty rich for what it is. I was surprised by the depth of it and found lots to delight in. Even though there’s not a lot to it, every piece contributes to the overall theme and I thought that was pretty cool. I think it’s a rare exhibit were I find every single piece to be interesting, and that was definitely the case here.

I loved Eva Mirabal‘s story — she enlisted during World War II and drew a comic strip called “G.I. Gertie.” I don’t remember reading about her before, although I’d be kind of surprised if she wasn’t in Trina Robbins’ A Century of Women Cartoonists.

Marcus Amerman‘s work combines traditional Native American beadwork with pop culture. I absolutely adored it. I used to do some beading so I’m quite in awe of his Wonder Woman bracelet. I like his sense of fun in merging the old with the new.

While they’re not specifically comic artists, both Jolene Yazzie and Rose Simpson do take their inspiration from a lot of comic book art (especially post-superhero stuff). Both young artists have a lot of potential and I was intrigued by their work. I’m going to watch for more of them in the future.

The exhibit also touches on the stereotypical portrayal of native Americans in comic books. Some artists took these sorts of images and re-drew them and re-interpreted them in their own ways. I’d like to think things have improved, but it’s hard to say.

I believe this exhibit is traveling and it’s definitely worth seeing if it comes near you. It’s one of the cooler comic book-related exhibits I’ve been to.

(The rest of the National Museum of the American Indian is fine — I’m sure there’s a lot of stuff there to see. But the layout is kind of poor — it seemed like mostly gift shops. The space is beautiful and it’s a fun building to walk around in, but it does seem like they made the building first and then added in the exhibits as an afterthought. That’s disappointing. I’ve seen a lot of wonderful exhibits on American Indian culture on trips to New Mexico so I know what there is to see. I just wish this museum was better at showcasing what they have.)

I’ve never been to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. (That’s not actually true — I was in there for some sort of reception for some environmental something or other a couple of years ago.) It’s an interesting building, sure (not exactly my tastes, though) but I’ve heard that the exhibits really aren’t that exciting.

But Comic Art Indigène, which opens today and runs through May 31, sounds pretty cool. The idea of early sequential art is one Scott McCloud explored in Understanding Comics and I always love the intersection between popular culture and high art.

So while all of you are seeing Watchmen, I’ll be going to this.

Did I mention it was free? Yeah, free stuff has a lot of appeal for me right now.

(There’s also only three weeks until the annual National Cherry Blossom Festival Anime Marathon and I wish they’d announce the movies. Of course, nothing can top the year Satoshi Kon was there and I saw Paprika, but there’s always at least one movie worth seeing and is always a fun time.)