Comicsgirl

There. I said it.

I’ve been avoiding this issue. I figured I’d wait until the comic came out to talk about it. But I do want to bring it up.

At some point recently, you’ve probably read about this. People saw the image, read the whole “Sex in the City” bit and the outcry was predictably understandable.

But I don’t think a lot of people actually read what was being said, or bothered to look a little bit deeper into who was behind it.

Yes, that cover image is ridiculously terrible. Yes, the title is incredibly stupid. And maybe the whole “superheroines do Sex in the City” idea isn’t the most thoughtful, but as a concept goes, it’s not a terrible one.

But let’s move past that for a moment.

Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is writing the title. I saw Rorschach Theatre‘s production of his play, Rough Magic, a couple of years ago, and it was awesome, geeky fun with smart, strong female characters and a literate sense of humor. While I am not one who believes gay men can always speak for women, I think Aguirre-Sacasa’s part about the comic being about “to be a woman in an industry dominated by testosterone and guns. (And I mean both the super hero industry and the comic book industry)” is interesting. As a gay man, I think he understands that the hyper heterosexual masculinity can be alienating to anyone who’s not a straight male.

And then, there’s the art of Tonci Zonjic, which is pretty awesome and is something I’d be delighted to see in a comic about young women trying to balance romance and careers while they’re, oh yeah, superheroines. It’s definitely a far cry from that promotional art. (This title seems to have the opposite problem of Marvel’s Pride and Prejudice adaptation, which had a great cover and bad art on the inside.)

Will Marvel Divas be good? I don’t know. But the elements seem like they’re in the right place. I do hope that people who would connect with this comic — those who seem to be the most vocally against it — will give it a chance. I’m going to.

(And yes, Marvel doesn’t know how to market to women. I think we’ve figured that out. I mean, I still want my lip gloss, after all.)

Image taken from Tonci Zonjic’s Flickr gallery. I most definitely want superhero comics that look like that. Tonci Zonjic says this was actually a tryout for the title.

I didn’t get to Stumptown in Portland, Ore., this year due to a lack of funds. But fortunately, I know Christopher Gutierrez, owner of Night Light Lounge in Portland. He was awesome enough to write up this report for me:

Apparently, Portland is second only to NYC as far as the number of comic publishers and creators that live here. I wouldn’t have guessed it, but it’s not a big surprise either. I take it for granted that people are creative around here. Everyone’s either painting, in a band, writing something, animating something, or all of the above. And, as I learned at the Stumptown Comics Fest, the rest are making comic books.

For me, as a casual comic book reader, the only reason to go to a convention is to check out the independent publishers, and this one certainly delivered on that (although I also love the terrible costumes, which this one was disappointingly devoid of). The local heavy hitters were on hand of course, with tables by Top Shelf, Oni, & Dark Horse, but I was pleased to see that they weren’t anchoring the floor. They had the same set-ups of the single title self-publishers or the public library.

Going over the 134 tables, of which I’d estimate half were self-publishers, reminded me of rifling through the zine bins at punk shows as a kid. And just like those punk shows, there was a decidedly local & DIY feel to the con.

I was a little daunted by the sheer mass of autobiographical & relationship books. Without some kind of connection or insight to the work, these are generally an auto-pass for me.  My tastes are stereotypical geek-boy: I’m a sucker for anything post-apocalyptic (Freak Angels, Walking Dead, Daybreak), and will also buy pretty much anything with a robot. The robots were represented in force, but I didn’t find many zombies.

The only panel I attended was on the business side of the industry, which was full of people busily taking notes on the bad copyright advice being given. Meh.

If there was a star of the show, judging by the size of his line I’d say it was Jeff Smith of Bone fame. An honorable mention goes out to I Saw You… (the illustrated craigslist missed connections anthology), which was a guerrilla entry, making it’s way to the top because I noticed it on about a dozen different tables.

My personal prize of the show was a $8 tin of mustache wax, which came with a free copy of last year’s Mustaches: For Fun and Profit (although there were no silly costumes on the convention floor, the mustaches were out in full effect).

There were a few other items that caught my eye, amongst them:

• Sid Love. A “choose your own comic” about a plot to take over the world with genetically engineered squirrels or some such, with each potential ending leading to an MP3 online (a little gimmicky, but he made at least one sale with it).
• Dar. A bio / relationship book that I can accept because it’s in strip form (in addition to being well written & drawn)
• I finally picked up Blankets by Craig Thompson (that motherfucker is heavy)

If you’re in town next year, I highly recommend stopping by. Or for a taste of something similar coming up, check out the Portland Zine Symposium in July.

So a big thank you to Chris for allowing me to experience this vicariously. Check out Chris’ blog Slacker DIY and go hang out at his bar.

It’s back by popular demand. Or by the demand of one loyal friend who sent me DVD who made this possible.

Death Note DVD Buy at Amazon

Prior to watching this, I knew exactly one thing about Death Note: The kids like it.

The live-action version of the manga and anime series is sharp and saturated. The movie feels very stylized. As main character Light Yagami, actor Tatsuya Fujiwara looks a lot like a pop star — he’s too attractive for his own good. He doesn’t look like any college law student I know of.

Light finds a notebook in which he can write the names of anyone and lead to their deaths. The plot is overall a little misanthropic but at the same time, I can understand why the idea resonates with teenagers. It’s not nearly as disturbing as I thought it would be — the deaths are pretty bloodless, overall. Light is pretty unlikeable as the movie progresses, which is part of the point. Obviously, there’s some idea of what “justice” means — is it the law, or is it vigilantism?

I think the death god, Ryuk, could’ve been better. He’s rendered in CGI and looks like a World of Warcraft avatar that’s a cross between David Bowie and the Crow. I would’ve rather seen someone dressed up in a costume and makeup, personally.

Death Note was a little long as a movie. I think the bits with “L” (who looked, intentionally, a lot like Ryuk) were too drawn out and some plot points were obvious (of course Light’s dad was on the police force and involved with the investigation). Still, it was stylish and entertaining. I can see why teenagers like this story, and I certainly don’t mean that as a bad thing.

20th Century Boys Region 3 DVD Buy at YesAsia

Based on Naoki Urasawa’s manga series, 20th Century Boys centers on former rock musician Kenji and a story he and his friends came up with in his childhood. In 1997, where a bulk of the story takes place, a cult led by a mysterious man known only as Friend is tied to “prophecies” Kenji made up nearly 20 years ago. Charged with taking care of his sister’s little girl, Kenji becomes a reluctant hero as he unravels the mystery from his past and how it will affect his future — if he, or anyone else — has one. Kenji ends up gathering his childhood friends to fight Friend and his plans as the clock begins to tick toward the new century.

It’s something of a cop-out to say “Oh, I don’t want to give too much away” but part of the joy of this movie is how it unfolds and how the stakes are constantly being raised. It’s maybe a bit too long (it’s about two hours and 20 minutes) and could probably be tightened up, but it covers a lot of ground during that time, jumping from the past to the future to the present. It’s a great piece of science fiction, and while there are a lot of questions left unanswered at the end (as well as a “to be continued” and there are two more planned), there is something beautifully satisfying about this movie. I really hope this gets a release on DVD in the U.S. If you have a region-free DVD player, it’s worth seeking out.

Here is the T.Rex song, “20th Century Boy,” that the manga series sort of centers around.

Most stories dealing with gender transition are overtly earnest, and perhaps rightfully so. It’s a weighty subject that involves a lot of soul-searching and makes some people pretty uncomfortable.

Joey Alison Sayers, however, took a different approach in telling her story of transitioning in Just So You Know #1. The result is delightful and hilarious and shows the lighter side to something that is often presented as a troubled time.

Sharing the distinctive round heads and broad facial expressions as her strip Thingpart, much of the humor here comes from every-day situations, such as her coming out to her parents (their reaction isn’t what you’d expect) to her excitement over her new driver’s license, which she doesn’t get to show off nearly enough. The recurring “Am I a Bitch Now?” tracks her progress in the less-than-pleasant side of being female (although I’d like to say that I think snarking about people isn’t exclusive to either gender).

I liked her story about Small Press Expo, where two fans who thought J. Sayers was a “dude” kind of shrug it off when she tells them “Oh, I was, but not anymore!” I think that moment is prrepresentative of Sayers’ attitude throughout this whole comic — it’s down-to-earth and honest. That’s a really beautiful thing.

I think ultimately we all want to be seen for who we know we are on the inside. Just So You Know #1 is a touching and joyful expression of that and I’m glad that Sayers shared it with us.

See samples of Just So You Know and purchase at Joey Alison Sayers’ site.

He still makes a couple of good points, but seriously? “The essential comic book geek’s guide to women and dating and sharing the love”?

He covered all the comics that always get recommended to women. Really, spend about two minutes and you can make the list yourself (although it was kind of cool to see Ross Campbell’s Wet Moon in there. And while I like that comic quite a bit, I honestly think my boyfriend likes it more than I do). And no superhero stuff other than Watchmen? There are many superhero comics I’d recommend to the generic woman in this scenario first before Watchmen.

If an individual woman doesn’t care about comics, that’s cool. I don’t see anything wrong with that. Some people love film the most, some people love music. Some love theater. Sure, people can love all three, but we all have our favorites and that’s what makes us unique.

And I guess that’s the problem with these sorts of lists. Yes, maybe I would recommend The Sandman or Blue Monday to women, but only on a case-by-case basis. These sorts of articles — “how to get girls to like comics” — don’t really take into account that women are individual people. My mom read Nick Abadzis’ Laika and loved it, but I don’t think that necessarily means she’s going to love Charles Burns’ Black Hole. A woman I’d recommend Jessica Abel’s La Perdida may not be the same woman I’d recommend Ai Yazawa’s NANA to.

Also, why is it so important for all these hypothetical girlfriends to like comics? Yes, I understand sharing interests and hobbies with one’s significant other, but what if the hypothetical girlfriend really loved jazz or New Wave French films or something? Are the comic-book loving men that write these sorts of pieces interested in sharing those interests? Or is it just all about getting the girls to accept comic books?

Nana O., played by Mika Nakashima, and Ren, played by Ryuhei Matsuda, from NANA live-action movie, released by VIZ Media in the U.S. Seemed appropriate to me.