By Andrew Vachss (writer) and Frank Caruso (illustrator)
Copy right 2010 by Andrew Vachss and Frank Caruso.
Published 2010 by Dark Horse Comics, Inc. Miwaukie, Oregon.
98 pages.
This book was a quick read so I'll attempt to make quick work of it. This is a story of a boy who is bullied by everyone in his life including his step father and his negligent mother. He is left an orphan but the father of the boy's stepfather comes by and adopts him. This old man is hard nosed but tender at the same time. It is this old man who finally teaches the boy to stick up for himself.
I think one of the weaknesses of the story is that in the beginning of the book, the writer makes a big ado about how the leads character life is NOT like the movies because the nerd doesn't really get the beautiful girl in the end, but then it has the standard generic pap ending where the kid does learn not to be bullied. Sure the lesson in how he learns to stick up for him self and the ones he loves does have a slight twist, but it still ends with a happy ever after.
The illustrations I really like. They have that modern expressionistic quality that is found in so many of today's comics. Especially those of Dark Horse. There are lots of strong high contrast blacks and whites with washes of color to brighten the palette a bit. Faces are almost blurred and merely suggested in a sinister way. Beautiful really if not a bit de la mode.
Showing posts with label Graphic Novels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Graphic Novels. Show all posts
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Stitches**1/2
By David Small.
Published by 2009
by W.W. Norton & Company, New York.
330 pages,
The illustrations are nice if not a bit dreary. It's done in gray washes and for the most part simple lines. Some of the better, more detailed illustrations have some nice variations in gray, but most of the shading is simple in that there are only 2 or 3 varieties of gray. The dreariness does fit the story though.
This is the memoir of the author/artist. Being a memoir, it's episodic in nature, though the main narrative revolves around his non communicative parents and the cancer he obtains in his pre and early teens.
It takes place in the fifties when every one was ultra conservative and conformist.
Mom's a housewife, but she's very bitter. She comes off as the heavy in this book. She rarely smiles. She also turns out to be gay. The conclusion one draws is that she's bitter because she stuck in the marriage. In those days there were not many alternative to leading the typical " married and 2.5 kids" lifestyle. At one point she censors his reading selections (including Lolita) and tosses them n the garbage.
Dad's a typical 50's dad. Jolly when around, but never home.
So they discover a bump on David's neck and they go to the hospital to have an operation,. They don't tell their son he has cancer. He later discovers that fact while sneaking around in his mother's stuff and finds a letter that tells him the truth. He is understandably angry with his non communicative family. Obviously, he survived to write this book so the rest of the story has to do with his feelings toward his parents.
Also there are many of dream sequences, which I think graphic novelists use too much. I know it's an opportunity to have fun with their illustrations, but to me they are quite often a distraction and don't lend, or lend very many, important elements of the plot. He uses approximately three in a book that tends to be dominated by illustrations already. So there is not too much text to begin with and he uses facial expressions to tell the emotions of the people. I like the art work but I do have a hard time concentrating on it when the art alone is trying to tell a story. It's like silent movies (one critic in the back of the book compared it to a silent movie) and I/we are not accustomed pictures telling stories anymore. My daughters have a hard time sitting through a silent movie. I think they have an aesthetic of their own, but they are dated and old fashioned. People today prefer more language (written or spoken) oriented narratives. I suppose I am that way to a degree also. So maybe it's my fault for not being more patient with the illustrations and giving them more time and attention that they really do deserve. But his illustrations are so simple, it's easy to fly past them.
As a narrative , it's dark and disturbing and I think the story needs to be told. David Small is an older author - born 1945 - that makes him in his 70's. I am not aware of his other work, but I think he's worth checking into some more. I just would like to see more detailed and lengthier narratives.
Apparently the book was nominated for the National Book Awards. Apparently I don't know what I am talking about - but that's not anything new.
And some excerpts from the book.
Published by 2009
by W.W. Norton & Company, New York.
330 pages,
The illustrations are nice if not a bit dreary. It's done in gray washes and for the most part simple lines. Some of the better, more detailed illustrations have some nice variations in gray, but most of the shading is simple in that there are only 2 or 3 varieties of gray. The dreariness does fit the story though.
This is the memoir of the author/artist. Being a memoir, it's episodic in nature, though the main narrative revolves around his non communicative parents and the cancer he obtains in his pre and early teens.
It takes place in the fifties when every one was ultra conservative and conformist.
Mom's a housewife, but she's very bitter. She comes off as the heavy in this book. She rarely smiles. She also turns out to be gay. The conclusion one draws is that she's bitter because she stuck in the marriage. In those days there were not many alternative to leading the typical " married and 2.5 kids" lifestyle. At one point she censors his reading selections (including Lolita) and tosses them n the garbage.
Dad's a typical 50's dad. Jolly when around, but never home.
So they discover a bump on David's neck and they go to the hospital to have an operation,. They don't tell their son he has cancer. He later discovers that fact while sneaking around in his mother's stuff and finds a letter that tells him the truth. He is understandably angry with his non communicative family. Obviously, he survived to write this book so the rest of the story has to do with his feelings toward his parents.
Also there are many of dream sequences, which I think graphic novelists use too much. I know it's an opportunity to have fun with their illustrations, but to me they are quite often a distraction and don't lend, or lend very many, important elements of the plot. He uses approximately three in a book that tends to be dominated by illustrations already. So there is not too much text to begin with and he uses facial expressions to tell the emotions of the people. I like the art work but I do have a hard time concentrating on it when the art alone is trying to tell a story. It's like silent movies (one critic in the back of the book compared it to a silent movie) and I/we are not accustomed pictures telling stories anymore. My daughters have a hard time sitting through a silent movie. I think they have an aesthetic of their own, but they are dated and old fashioned. People today prefer more language (written or spoken) oriented narratives. I suppose I am that way to a degree also. So maybe it's my fault for not being more patient with the illustrations and giving them more time and attention that they really do deserve. But his illustrations are so simple, it's easy to fly past them.
As a narrative , it's dark and disturbing and I think the story needs to be told. David Small is an older author - born 1945 - that makes him in his 70's. I am not aware of his other work, but I think he's worth checking into some more. I just would like to see more detailed and lengthier narratives.
Apparently the book was nominated for the National Book Awards. Apparently I don't know what I am talking about - but that's not anything new.
And some excerpts from the book.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Asterios Polyp ***
By David Mazzuchelli.
Published by Pantheon Books, New York.
Copyright 2009.
Seeing as I had read this just after reading another graphic novel, it will be difficult to avoid comparisons, so I won't try to avoid them and state those comparisons right out. Like that last book, Curses, it does some philosophising and can get heady at times. The one big difference is that's much more fun to read. It's a little sexy and it has a sense of humor, The drawings are also more stylish (or stylistic if you like).
So the book starts out in our hero's (Asterios Polyp) apartment. It is destroyed and set on fire by a bolt of lightening. This bolt of lightening is a motif that occurs though out the book. At times it symbolizes the differences or dichotomies of life ( A bolt will come through the frame separating it in two parts) and of course it also symbolizes destruction.
So Asterios , a famous architect, is seemingly off on a journey of self discovery and gets hired as a mechanic in a small town. During this journey we learn of his past life in which he was divorced from his wife. We learn that he is a conceited man and snobbish. He doesn't treat his wife very good and he thinks he's smarter than everyone. During his journey though, his persona is much more humble and ready to listen to what people say. So there is a transformation.
All in all, an enjoyable read.
here's a review. Just listen to the first half since there are two reviews here.
A little hype for the book...
Published by Pantheon Books, New York.
Copyright 2009.
Seeing as I had read this just after reading another graphic novel, it will be difficult to avoid comparisons, so I won't try to avoid them and state those comparisons right out. Like that last book, Curses, it does some philosophising and can get heady at times. The one big difference is that's much more fun to read. It's a little sexy and it has a sense of humor, The drawings are also more stylish (or stylistic if you like).
So the book starts out in our hero's (Asterios Polyp) apartment. It is destroyed and set on fire by a bolt of lightening. This bolt of lightening is a motif that occurs though out the book. At times it symbolizes the differences or dichotomies of life ( A bolt will come through the frame separating it in two parts) and of course it also symbolizes destruction.
So Asterios , a famous architect, is seemingly off on a journey of self discovery and gets hired as a mechanic in a small town. During this journey we learn of his past life in which he was divorced from his wife. We learn that he is a conceited man and snobbish. He doesn't treat his wife very good and he thinks he's smarter than everyone. During his journey though, his persona is much more humble and ready to listen to what people say. So there is a transformation.
All in all, an enjoyable read.
here's a review. Just listen to the first half since there are two reviews here.
A little hype for the book...
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Curses **
By Kevin Huizenga.
Published by Drawn and Quarterly, Montreal.
Copyright 2006.
145 pages
Drawn and Quarterly is an outfit you can count on for off beat comic books, and this one fits the bill. I admire the authors ambitiousness, but frankly it's a tad boring and difficult to get through. The ideas and narratives are so convoluted and academic it's difficult to read. And I read a lot, so I am not so easily confounded. I almost gave up in the middle of the first story. So for those who think that comics are for dummies, I challenge them to try this one on for size. There is some nice poetry in the merger between images and context. One of the more memorable stories is about how excited he gets when he gets those advertisements in the mail that have the missing children information. He goes into length describing them and explaining what his interest in them are. Then, inexplicably, he ties them to the Lost Boy of Africa from Sudan.
And this 'novel' is actually a book of short stories. Many of them have a fantastical or spiritual bent to them, which made it harder for me to read. I tend to like grittier and more realistic stories. When stories start to get into the realm of fancifulness, I star to lose interest.
Here are some of the topics of the stories:
1) During researching the topic of visions, the narrator starts to have some visions which scare him and then midway he tells the tale of an 18th century ghost tale in which a man has visions. He never really ties in the first part to the second part of the story.
Here's a quote to demonstrate just how difficult the language really is.
"You sir, know my tract on 'The cardinal Functions of the Brain.' There, by evidence of innumerable facts, I prove the high probability of a circulation arterial and venous in its mechanism, through the nerves."
And that is actually one of the easier ones to understand. I must confess, on rereading parts of this book while I write, the prose is a bit more understandable, but not much.
2)The story about the missing children mentioned above.
3) A story about how he and his wife have tried everything possible way to conceive a child. Finally he tries to find a feathered ogre, which if he gains the ogre's feather, all problems would be resolved. It is based on a folktale, but it gets silly. Even some of the conversation is silly.
4) A discussion of how the birds Starlings came to America and the history of that bird. Perhaps one of the more interesting excerpts from the book.
5) The exact text of adoption papers describing the child's circumstances contrasted to some Asian style landscapes. An interesting study of contrasting the profound and the profane.
6) An odd story in which the majority is spent on some friends that get together at a restaurant and we get to hear snippets of their conversations. This story is booked mark by some inexplicable scenes in which they are in a grave yard, for no apparent reason and in the middle there is a bike ride by the author and his wife in which winds are whipped up... and then nothing is made of that. One of the most confounding stories of the whole book.
7) A very short story on "The Hot New Thing" in which the history of this thing is shown even with out ever saying what that thing actually was. In other words, these new fads and such seem to repeat the histories of old fads, so the Hot New Thing could be described in such a generic manner.
8) And finally, a story about a conservative evangelical who is writing a paper in which he defends the traditional Hell in which sinners experience eternal suffering against his more progressive peers who have a more humane version of Hell. They believe that Hell is Eternal in that you are eternally dead, but not that a person necessarily suffers for eternity.
As I reread parts of this, I can appreciate the book better. This is therefore a book that needs to be reread and even discussed to appreciate it better... if one can find the motivation to do so.
And finally, one cant talk about a graphic novel with out talking about the illustrations. His style is very simple which contrasts his herky jerky story telling style. He does like to use bold and thick lines which help his creatures look a little more spooky. The stories in back, which are in full color, tend to lose this boldness of line, so perhaps these are later drawings. While easier on the eye, they do seem less dramatic.
Here is a much more eloquent review of the same book. You can also see the illustrations. He likes the book much more than I . I also like his comment about the drawings of suburbia.
And another discussion by a professional - A Librarian!
Published by Drawn and Quarterly, Montreal.
Copyright 2006.
145 pages
Drawn and Quarterly is an outfit you can count on for off beat comic books, and this one fits the bill. I admire the authors ambitiousness, but frankly it's a tad boring and difficult to get through. The ideas and narratives are so convoluted and academic it's difficult to read. And I read a lot, so I am not so easily confounded. I almost gave up in the middle of the first story. So for those who think that comics are for dummies, I challenge them to try this one on for size. There is some nice poetry in the merger between images and context. One of the more memorable stories is about how excited he gets when he gets those advertisements in the mail that have the missing children information. He goes into length describing them and explaining what his interest in them are. Then, inexplicably, he ties them to the Lost Boy of Africa from Sudan.
And this 'novel' is actually a book of short stories. Many of them have a fantastical or spiritual bent to them, which made it harder for me to read. I tend to like grittier and more realistic stories. When stories start to get into the realm of fancifulness, I star to lose interest.
Here are some of the topics of the stories:
1) During researching the topic of visions, the narrator starts to have some visions which scare him and then midway he tells the tale of an 18th century ghost tale in which a man has visions. He never really ties in the first part to the second part of the story.
Here's a quote to demonstrate just how difficult the language really is.
"You sir, know my tract on 'The cardinal Functions of the Brain.' There, by evidence of innumerable facts, I prove the high probability of a circulation arterial and venous in its mechanism, through the nerves."
And that is actually one of the easier ones to understand. I must confess, on rereading parts of this book while I write, the prose is a bit more understandable, but not much.
2)The story about the missing children mentioned above.
3) A story about how he and his wife have tried everything possible way to conceive a child. Finally he tries to find a feathered ogre, which if he gains the ogre's feather, all problems would be resolved. It is based on a folktale, but it gets silly. Even some of the conversation is silly.
4) A discussion of how the birds Starlings came to America and the history of that bird. Perhaps one of the more interesting excerpts from the book.
5) The exact text of adoption papers describing the child's circumstances contrasted to some Asian style landscapes. An interesting study of contrasting the profound and the profane.
6) An odd story in which the majority is spent on some friends that get together at a restaurant and we get to hear snippets of their conversations. This story is booked mark by some inexplicable scenes in which they are in a grave yard, for no apparent reason and in the middle there is a bike ride by the author and his wife in which winds are whipped up... and then nothing is made of that. One of the most confounding stories of the whole book.
7) A very short story on "The Hot New Thing" in which the history of this thing is shown even with out ever saying what that thing actually was. In other words, these new fads and such seem to repeat the histories of old fads, so the Hot New Thing could be described in such a generic manner.
8) And finally, a story about a conservative evangelical who is writing a paper in which he defends the traditional Hell in which sinners experience eternal suffering against his more progressive peers who have a more humane version of Hell. They believe that Hell is Eternal in that you are eternally dead, but not that a person necessarily suffers for eternity.
As I reread parts of this, I can appreciate the book better. This is therefore a book that needs to be reread and even discussed to appreciate it better... if one can find the motivation to do so.
And finally, one cant talk about a graphic novel with out talking about the illustrations. His style is very simple which contrasts his herky jerky story telling style. He does like to use bold and thick lines which help his creatures look a little more spooky. The stories in back, which are in full color, tend to lose this boldness of line, so perhaps these are later drawings. While easier on the eye, they do seem less dramatic.
Here is a much more eloquent review of the same book. You can also see the illustrations. He likes the book much more than I . I also like his comment about the drawings of suburbia.
And another discussion by a professional - A Librarian!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Bad Night: A Criminal Edition ***
Written by Ed Brubaker.
Illustrated by Sean Phillips.
Compiled and published by Marvel Publishing Inc.
from Criminal Volume 2 #1-4
Copyright 2009.
This is the third graphic novel from the award winning series Criminal. I'm big fan. This is probably the best mainstream comic available. I'll read anything by Brubaker (several years back he wrote a portion of the Daredevil comics.) The books are gritty, violent and the story telling is simple and straightforward. The pages are filled with creeps, weirdos and the violently psychotic. It's good fun reading.
So what about this one? It's the story of a widowed and lame guy that use to be a counterfeiter but now is on the straight and narrow, mostly because of the death of his wife for which he suffered terribly. His suffering was heightened by the fact that the cops didn't believe he was innocent in her death and neither did the underworld (who the parents of his deceased wife was connected to). He was beaten horrible and walks with a limp. This all takes place before the actual story starts.
Our (anti)hero has insomnia and walks the streets at night. One night at a diner he meets a violent couple of which one was a beautiful woman. Her boyfriend is looking for a fight and the cook has to subdue him. Our hero seems to have run away though. he sees the girl on the street, and finds she's almost as crazy as her boyfriend, but she's a knockout. they end up having an affair. The boyfriend finds out about it and because of fear, the counterfeiter is forced to work for these petty criminals. Meanwhile he still lusts after the girlfriend. There's going to be a job to be done, and there's a series of twists and turns where everything goes awry.
The story starts out great and is typical of the quality i expect from the series. It seems to fade in the end though. I wasn't satisfied with the ending,. Usually I look forward to the straightforward stories the series has, but the ending is a little convoluted involving the ghost of his wife (we do find out what really happened to her) and a voice inside his head that is one of his characters in the comic strip he publishes.
Still a great book, but I'm afraid not as strong as the previous two. Start with those first, though you'll also enjoy this one too.
Illustrated by Sean Phillips.
Compiled and published by Marvel Publishing Inc.
from Criminal Volume 2 #1-4
Copyright 2009.
This is the third graphic novel from the award winning series Criminal. I'm big fan. This is probably the best mainstream comic available. I'll read anything by Brubaker (several years back he wrote a portion of the Daredevil comics.) The books are gritty, violent and the story telling is simple and straightforward. The pages are filled with creeps, weirdos and the violently psychotic. It's good fun reading.
So what about this one? It's the story of a widowed and lame guy that use to be a counterfeiter but now is on the straight and narrow, mostly because of the death of his wife for which he suffered terribly. His suffering was heightened by the fact that the cops didn't believe he was innocent in her death and neither did the underworld (who the parents of his deceased wife was connected to). He was beaten horrible and walks with a limp. This all takes place before the actual story starts.
Our (anti)hero has insomnia and walks the streets at night. One night at a diner he meets a violent couple of which one was a beautiful woman. Her boyfriend is looking for a fight and the cook has to subdue him. Our hero seems to have run away though. he sees the girl on the street, and finds she's almost as crazy as her boyfriend, but she's a knockout. they end up having an affair. The boyfriend finds out about it and because of fear, the counterfeiter is forced to work for these petty criminals. Meanwhile he still lusts after the girlfriend. There's going to be a job to be done, and there's a series of twists and turns where everything goes awry.
The story starts out great and is typical of the quality i expect from the series. It seems to fade in the end though. I wasn't satisfied with the ending,. Usually I look forward to the straightforward stories the series has, but the ending is a little convoluted involving the ghost of his wife (we do find out what really happened to her) and a voice inside his head that is one of his characters in the comic strip he publishes.
Still a great book, but I'm afraid not as strong as the previous two. Start with those first, though you'll also enjoy this one too.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Fun Home - A family Tragicomic**
By Alson Bechdel.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company 2006.
Here's another memoir/Graphic Novel. They seem to be all they make these days. I read this right after I read "Blue Pills", and it's strength compared with that book is the depth and detail it has. On the negative side, it could be a bit more whimsical and entertaining. It's overall mood is pretty grim.
The author/artist of this book is already famous for her weekly strip "Dykes to Watch Out For", which can be preachy but also kind of humorous. So there's a large portion of about sexual identity in this book. In fact one interesting part is how when she learned her father was gay, and when she came to the conclusion that she was a lesbian, there were many , well, gender reversals between her and her father. They tended to bond over these "interests" even though both were unaware of the others sexual identity at the time.
So it's basically the story of the author's relationship with her father. He turned out to be gay, as well, as is well known, as the author. But the father, who lived in the small town that he lived in his whole life, had to remain in the closet. Apparently this made him repressed and bitter. Bechdel describes him as a cold and stern father who did not seem all that interested in his children, but was interested in literature and art and of course young boys. But she does make several attempts to bond with him over her life and had some mild success. They bonded over her literature class in college. Another attempt at bonding was his attempts to dress her like a pretty girl, which gave him satisfaction, but she wasn't interested.
So what's the relation between his and her gay sexuality? Is there a cause and effect here? Gayness, we're told is something you are born with and not learned. It seems to "run" in this family. Is there a genetic disposition for the "gay" gene, or was it learned? She does mention in one scene how she was taken to a fashionable part of a big city (New York?) and is exposed to a display of "cosmeticized masculinity." Though her lesbian characteristics were deeply rooted before this event as a teenager, this event did seem to open up a world of possibility for her.
Heres the author describing her drawing technique.
and...
and...
And a reading of the book.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company 2006.
Here's another memoir/Graphic Novel. They seem to be all they make these days. I read this right after I read "Blue Pills", and it's strength compared with that book is the depth and detail it has. On the negative side, it could be a bit more whimsical and entertaining. It's overall mood is pretty grim.
The author/artist of this book is already famous for her weekly strip "Dykes to Watch Out For", which can be preachy but also kind of humorous. So there's a large portion of about sexual identity in this book. In fact one interesting part is how when she learned her father was gay, and when she came to the conclusion that she was a lesbian, there were many , well, gender reversals between her and her father. They tended to bond over these "interests" even though both were unaware of the others sexual identity at the time.
So it's basically the story of the author's relationship with her father. He turned out to be gay, as well, as is well known, as the author. But the father, who lived in the small town that he lived in his whole life, had to remain in the closet. Apparently this made him repressed and bitter. Bechdel describes him as a cold and stern father who did not seem all that interested in his children, but was interested in literature and art and of course young boys. But she does make several attempts to bond with him over her life and had some mild success. They bonded over her literature class in college. Another attempt at bonding was his attempts to dress her like a pretty girl, which gave him satisfaction, but she wasn't interested.
So what's the relation between his and her gay sexuality? Is there a cause and effect here? Gayness, we're told is something you are born with and not learned. It seems to "run" in this family. Is there a genetic disposition for the "gay" gene, or was it learned? She does mention in one scene how she was taken to a fashionable part of a big city (New York?) and is exposed to a display of "cosmeticized masculinity." Though her lesbian characteristics were deeply rooted before this event as a teenager, this event did seem to open up a world of possibility for her.
Heres the author describing her drawing technique.
and...
and...
And a reading of the book.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Blue Pills - A Positive Love Story **1/2
By Frederik Peeters.
Translated from French by Anjali Singh.
Swiss Edition Published by Atrabile 2001.
English Edition published by Houghton Mifflin Company 2008.
This is apparently a memoir about a guy that meets and a girl that has HIV. He falls in love with her (actually he had always loved he but she just recently became single so they started dating) and accepts her HIV son as his own son. So it's basically about him learning to live with the disease and learning how to be an adult and a father under extreme stress. Once the condom breaks and he starts to freak out. They have to pay several visits to the doctor to insure that he is ok. And his girlfriend has extreme anxiety and guilt because she fears that she might infect him also.
I think one of the themes of this book is that it is, now, possible to live with HIV in a relatively safe way these days. Of course that wasn't the case 10 or 15 years ago, but things have changed. In one scene the doctor explains to the main character that it is a complicated system to become infected.
Most of the virus in concentrated in the sperm and blood. Since his girlfriend is NOT giving him sperm, he's relatively safe. There is some but less of the virus in a woman's vaginal secretions and even a pittance in her salive. The main concern is the blood entering his body. Sores can help the virus transfer this way, but even then it's complicated. Even if he does contract the disease, it can be erased/cured if it hasn't gotten to the glands yet. This is all from the doctor in the story.
I've also heard that timing is important. The more a partner has been on medications, the less chance of contracting it. If the HIV count is low, but still existent, in the partner, then it's difficult for the other partner to contract it. Of course certain precautions have to be taken. After all this is said, one would be a fool not to use a condom.
There is a symbolic section at the end of the book that I did not really get. He's riding a mammoth in which he has conversations about mortality and the illness. Perhaps it was just a graphic way for the author to convey some philosophical meanderings, but I had a hard time following it, and I enjoy philosophical meanderings.
Translated from French by Anjali Singh.
Swiss Edition Published by Atrabile 2001.
English Edition published by Houghton Mifflin Company 2008.
This is apparently a memoir about a guy that meets and a girl that has HIV. He falls in love with her (actually he had always loved he but she just recently became single so they started dating) and accepts her HIV son as his own son. So it's basically about him learning to live with the disease and learning how to be an adult and a father under extreme stress. Once the condom breaks and he starts to freak out. They have to pay several visits to the doctor to insure that he is ok. And his girlfriend has extreme anxiety and guilt because she fears that she might infect him also.
I think one of the themes of this book is that it is, now, possible to live with HIV in a relatively safe way these days. Of course that wasn't the case 10 or 15 years ago, but things have changed. In one scene the doctor explains to the main character that it is a complicated system to become infected.
Most of the virus in concentrated in the sperm and blood. Since his girlfriend is NOT giving him sperm, he's relatively safe. There is some but less of the virus in a woman's vaginal secretions and even a pittance in her salive. The main concern is the blood entering his body. Sores can help the virus transfer this way, but even then it's complicated. Even if he does contract the disease, it can be erased/cured if it hasn't gotten to the glands yet. This is all from the doctor in the story.
I've also heard that timing is important. The more a partner has been on medications, the less chance of contracting it. If the HIV count is low, but still existent, in the partner, then it's difficult for the other partner to contract it. Of course certain precautions have to be taken. After all this is said, one would be a fool not to use a condom.
There is a symbolic section at the end of the book that I did not really get. He's riding a mammoth in which he has conversations about mortality and the illness. Perhaps it was just a graphic way for the author to convey some philosophical meanderings, but I had a hard time following it, and I enjoy philosophical meanderings.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Vol. 1 **1/2
Written by Alan Moore.
Drawn by Kevin O'Neil.
Color by Benedict Dimagmaliw.
Lettering by William Oakley.
Published by America's Best Comics, 2000.
Alan Moore is known for such well known comics such as "The Watchmen" and "V is for Vengeance" (or is it Vigilante?). I read in an interview, in the magazine "Under the Radar", that though he's now retired from comics, he still likes to keep involved with this book and continues work on it. So he holds a special place in his heart for this one.
So the story goes is that some mysterious government man in turn of the century recruits a bunch of misfits and washed ups for some operation that is never clear. These misfits include some infamous chracters such as Alan Quartermain, Captian Nemo, Miss Mina Murray, Dr. Harry Jeckyll/Edward Hyde and Hawley Griffin (AKA The Invisible Man). What is interesting about these characters is that while Moore keeps the legends intact, he makes them incredibly human anf flawed. Flawed in an almost epic manner. Quartemain is an opium addict, Edward Hyde is particularly gruesome in his monstrousness, and Griffin (The Invisible Man) is a particularly untrustworthy character, what with his power of invisiblity and all. He uses that power to gain an advantage for himself, let's say on an all girls school in which some of the young ladies think that they have acheived Immaculate Conception.
There's a lot of mistrust and bickering within the group, yet they manage to acheive and come through for each other when necessary.
After the group is finally assembled (this is an origin story after all) they set off on a mission to recapture a substance which will allow anyone the power to fly. Being still in the 19th century, this power seems too incredible and dangerous if it were to get in the wrong hands, which the league is told has happened. But there are double crosses and backstabbing and the government man does not appear to be who he says he is. An airiel attack is emminent over London, and the League does their best to stop it.
Apparantly, he also did a traditional serial adventure story starring Alan Quartermain, which I liked less becasue it involves other worlds and different realms of existence. I've never been one for that transcendental other/alternate world stuff. It always involves the invention of a new mythology which has to be understood with in the limited time and space of the text. It's too much for me to keep up with. And the language can be silly in those kinds of stories.
I liked better the grittier and violent main story of the book. It's more realistic (well as realistic as a story with ape monsters and invisible men can be).
So whats interesting is the blend of modern and old. The language of the book is old fashioned. Moore's clearly having fun with it. On the title page of the book which is set up like an advertisement in an old fashioned newpaper, the creators are introduced with interesting language and not just listed. For example, "At tremendous expense we are proud to present M. Alan Moore. The World famous Northamptonshire Nightingale famed for his verbal recitations and comical narratives."
So there's this old fashioned language paired and contrasted with a fairly violent and bloody narrative. The monster Hyde, tears people apart, limb from limb in a type of demon rage.
And as any one who follows comics know, Moore is know for his writing and this narrative is well written. The characters are developed and complex.
I look forward to volume 2 and 3.
A trailer of the movie.
And an excellent interview with Alan Moore with examples of drawings.
Drawn by Kevin O'Neil.
Color by Benedict Dimagmaliw.
Lettering by William Oakley.
Published by America's Best Comics, 2000.
Alan Moore is known for such well known comics such as "The Watchmen" and "V is for Vengeance" (or is it Vigilante?). I read in an interview, in the magazine "Under the Radar", that though he's now retired from comics, he still likes to keep involved with this book and continues work on it. So he holds a special place in his heart for this one.
So the story goes is that some mysterious government man in turn of the century recruits a bunch of misfits and washed ups for some operation that is never clear. These misfits include some infamous chracters such as Alan Quartermain, Captian Nemo, Miss Mina Murray, Dr. Harry Jeckyll/Edward Hyde and Hawley Griffin (AKA The Invisible Man). What is interesting about these characters is that while Moore keeps the legends intact, he makes them incredibly human anf flawed. Flawed in an almost epic manner. Quartemain is an opium addict, Edward Hyde is particularly gruesome in his monstrousness, and Griffin (The Invisible Man) is a particularly untrustworthy character, what with his power of invisiblity and all. He uses that power to gain an advantage for himself, let's say on an all girls school in which some of the young ladies think that they have acheived Immaculate Conception.
There's a lot of mistrust and bickering within the group, yet they manage to acheive and come through for each other when necessary.
After the group is finally assembled (this is an origin story after all) they set off on a mission to recapture a substance which will allow anyone the power to fly. Being still in the 19th century, this power seems too incredible and dangerous if it were to get in the wrong hands, which the league is told has happened. But there are double crosses and backstabbing and the government man does not appear to be who he says he is. An airiel attack is emminent over London, and the League does their best to stop it.
Apparantly, he also did a traditional serial adventure story starring Alan Quartermain, which I liked less becasue it involves other worlds and different realms of existence. I've never been one for that transcendental other/alternate world stuff. It always involves the invention of a new mythology which has to be understood with in the limited time and space of the text. It's too much for me to keep up with. And the language can be silly in those kinds of stories.
I liked better the grittier and violent main story of the book. It's more realistic (well as realistic as a story with ape monsters and invisible men can be).
So whats interesting is the blend of modern and old. The language of the book is old fashioned. Moore's clearly having fun with it. On the title page of the book which is set up like an advertisement in an old fashioned newpaper, the creators are introduced with interesting language and not just listed. For example, "At tremendous expense we are proud to present M. Alan Moore. The World famous Northamptonshire Nightingale famed for his verbal recitations and comical narratives."
So there's this old fashioned language paired and contrasted with a fairly violent and bloody narrative. The monster Hyde, tears people apart, limb from limb in a type of demon rage.
And as any one who follows comics know, Moore is know for his writing and this narrative is well written. The characters are developed and complex.
I look forward to volume 2 and 3.
A trailer of the movie.
And an excellent interview with Alan Moore with examples of drawings.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Hellboy - Seed of Destruction *1/2
by Mike Mignola
Script by John Byrne
Published by Dark Horse Comics
1st Edition 1994
2nd Edition 1997
3rd Edition 2003
pages 80?
I was interested in this because the Hellboy movies got real good reviews, especially the latter one because of the director who also did Pan's Labyrinth.
Hellboy is a kind of super hero. He's a paranormal detective, which he is perfectly suited to since he comes from the bowels of hell. This story includes his origin which runs into and is related to the second story. An evil wizard conjures Hellboy to aid the Nazi's in their quest to spread evil throughout the world. Of course he has his own reasons to work with them since he's much more powerful that any petty dictator. Hence Hellboy is born, but he's a good guy. He even poses with the American soldiers for a snap shot. So then there's this stroy about monster frogs. The upshot is that there is some kind of sprit in the northpole and the wizard is back changing people into monster frogs so that he can take over the world.
It all seems hair schemed and none of it really makes sense. During the fighting, the preacher is incanting some mumbo jumbo. So what is the basic story here? Evil guy wants to take over the world. A very unimaginative plot in my mind. But its so convoluted that its hard to figure out the plot.
This is typical of what happens to my students when they try to summarize the fantasy books for me that they read. Usually they are too detailed and I cant understand their summaries. When I ask probing questions, "Why did so and so do that?" for example, the upshot is that they are usually evil. No reason that they are evil, they are just evil. I'll try to get some back ground info, "why does the guy do bad things? Did something happen in the past that turned him into a bad guy?" No overbearing mother, no humiliating defeat at the wizardry school. Nope, he's just evil.
So there is no character development and that makes, in my opinion, for a lousy story. A sin that much of the fantasy genre is guilty of. There are some exceptions, so one must not give up on the genre entirely, but this book is no exception to that rule. I did not like the story, though Hellboy himself was an interesting character. I still intend to see the movie. One thing that film provides is someon's imagaination on how other worlds might appear.
And here's what the film looks like.
Script by John Byrne
Published by Dark Horse Comics
1st Edition 1994
2nd Edition 1997
3rd Edition 2003
pages 80?
I was interested in this because the Hellboy movies got real good reviews, especially the latter one because of the director who also did Pan's Labyrinth.
Hellboy is a kind of super hero. He's a paranormal detective, which he is perfectly suited to since he comes from the bowels of hell. This story includes his origin which runs into and is related to the second story. An evil wizard conjures Hellboy to aid the Nazi's in their quest to spread evil throughout the world. Of course he has his own reasons to work with them since he's much more powerful that any petty dictator. Hence Hellboy is born, but he's a good guy. He even poses with the American soldiers for a snap shot. So then there's this stroy about monster frogs. The upshot is that there is some kind of sprit in the northpole and the wizard is back changing people into monster frogs so that he can take over the world.
It all seems hair schemed and none of it really makes sense. During the fighting, the preacher is incanting some mumbo jumbo. So what is the basic story here? Evil guy wants to take over the world. A very unimaginative plot in my mind. But its so convoluted that its hard to figure out the plot.
This is typical of what happens to my students when they try to summarize the fantasy books for me that they read. Usually they are too detailed and I cant understand their summaries. When I ask probing questions, "Why did so and so do that?" for example, the upshot is that they are usually evil. No reason that they are evil, they are just evil. I'll try to get some back ground info, "why does the guy do bad things? Did something happen in the past that turned him into a bad guy?" No overbearing mother, no humiliating defeat at the wizardry school. Nope, he's just evil.
So there is no character development and that makes, in my opinion, for a lousy story. A sin that much of the fantasy genre is guilty of. There are some exceptions, so one must not give up on the genre entirely, but this book is no exception to that rule. I did not like the story, though Hellboy himself was an interesting character. I still intend to see the movie. One thing that film provides is someon's imagaination on how other worlds might appear.
And here's what the film looks like.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
American Born Chinese ***
by Gene Luen Yang
Color by Lark Pien
Publishes by First Second 2006
234 pages
A clever little book with lots of charm. It interweaves three seemingly unrelated stories until they all combine at the end to tie everything up. The tie-in I thought was a little weak and felt forced, but the individual stories are very charming and poignant.
The first story is a folktale about a monkey king who is denied into a party where all the cool deities are because he is a monkey and doesn't wear shoes, even though he has trained to be immortal and god-like. He doesn't like this and vows to become powerful and unmonkey like.
The second story is about a boy living in the United States and going to school. He encounters racism and loneliness, until another Asian friend comes along. That friend confronts him when it comes to a girl.
And the third story is a riotous story about a loud, obnoxious overly stereo-typed Chinese cousin who comes to the states and embarrasses his Americanized cousin. The stereotype is so overboard that it is absurd and very funny.
The one common theme to the book is that of being one's self. Even in the Monkey King story, the monkey learns to be a monkey and is okay with that.
The drawing style is clean, and the color is bright and vibrant. Not draw in the typical alternative comic style but very nice to look at and the stories are good.
here are some images from the book.
And here is someone else's opinion, far more eloquent than mine.
Color by Lark Pien
Publishes by First Second 2006
234 pages
A clever little book with lots of charm. It interweaves three seemingly unrelated stories until they all combine at the end to tie everything up. The tie-in I thought was a little weak and felt forced, but the individual stories are very charming and poignant.
The first story is a folktale about a monkey king who is denied into a party where all the cool deities are because he is a monkey and doesn't wear shoes, even though he has trained to be immortal and god-like. He doesn't like this and vows to become powerful and unmonkey like.
The second story is about a boy living in the United States and going to school. He encounters racism and loneliness, until another Asian friend comes along. That friend confronts him when it comes to a girl.
And the third story is a riotous story about a loud, obnoxious overly stereo-typed Chinese cousin who comes to the states and embarrasses his Americanized cousin. The stereotype is so overboard that it is absurd and very funny.
The one common theme to the book is that of being one's self. Even in the Monkey King story, the monkey learns to be a monkey and is okay with that.
The drawing style is clean, and the color is bright and vibrant. Not draw in the typical alternative comic style but very nice to look at and the stories are good.
here are some images from the book.
And here is someone else's opinion, far more eloquent than mine.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Leap Years **
by Ian Bennett
Published by Candle Light Press
2005
This is an okay little graphic novel. It's a story about a lonely young teenage boy going through high school. The story last exactly through his High School career. He meets this imaginary toad, and things start to go right under the toad's tutelage. He becomes a basketball star (the toad makes sure all his shots go in), he starts dating, runs for president and gets accepted to Northwestern University in Evanston. He does less well in school but everything else is going so great that it doesn't matter. He's untouchable. It's a little inconsistent. The toad preaches learning for learning sake but then preaches about cheating. I guess it's okay to cheat since as the book says several times, "what you learn in High School is not taught to you". So it's anti establishment. He even has the last say at the graduation ceremony.
I'm not sure what the lesson was, but the book had it's moments.
Very crudely drawn figures and art. Though I think that was the point.
Published by Candle Light Press
2005
This is an okay little graphic novel. It's a story about a lonely young teenage boy going through high school. The story last exactly through his High School career. He meets this imaginary toad, and things start to go right under the toad's tutelage. He becomes a basketball star (the toad makes sure all his shots go in), he starts dating, runs for president and gets accepted to Northwestern University in Evanston. He does less well in school but everything else is going so great that it doesn't matter. He's untouchable. It's a little inconsistent. The toad preaches learning for learning sake but then preaches about cheating. I guess it's okay to cheat since as the book says several times, "what you learn in High School is not taught to you". So it's anti establishment. He even has the last say at the graduation ceremony.
I'm not sure what the lesson was, but the book had it's moments.
Very crudely drawn figures and art. Though I think that was the point.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Blood of Palomar ***
Written and Illustrated by Gilbert Hernandez
Volume 8 of the Complete Love & Rockets
Original series 1987,1988
This Edition 1989 Fantagraphics Book s, Inc
117 pages + black and white illustrations of original cover
I read my first Love and Rockets in high school. So it must have been about 1980 or 1981. I remember enjoying the illustrations - especially the large breasted, half-naked, beautiful Latina women that were drawn in compromising positions. What red blooded male teenager wouldn't? I also remember that some stories were easier to follow that others. In fact the more I read, the more I realized that the majority of stories were difficult to follow. Consequently, over the years, while tempted to pick up material by the Hernandez brothers, I usually took a pass.
After a shout out from Junot Diaz in his book The Brief and Wondrous life of Oscar Wao a friend of mine convinced me to give it another try - and I did.
And it is complicated and convoluted. There is a cast of characters so large that at the beginning of the book, the author has to map the characters out. And then most of the story lines seem, at first, unrelated. No wonder I was so confused as an adolescent! And imagine that I only had part of the story line in my hands while reading it. But they do come together perfectly and the readers patience is rewarded with pure beauty and poetry. All in a comic book! There is a subtleness and emotionality that one doesn't expect in this media.
So here's the plot. First there's Luba, a large breasted middle aged Mexican woman with a bundle of children fathered by various men. But she is no doormat! Men want to have and possess her, but she will have none of it. Meanwhile there appears to be a serial murderer about and people are dying and disappearing.
Mean while, it appears that one of a pair of beautiful twin sisters has gone mad - bonkers. She's taken to dressing half-naked in native clothing or costume. Everyone thinks she's brainwashed into political socialism or communism by an ex boyfriend but it appears she got her ideas on her own.
Okay, that's enough of an outline. It's not that I worry about giving away the spoiler, its just too darn complicated to try to put it together.
As a recommendation, I suggest reading a whole graphic novel instead of reading the individual comics piecemeal. They are just too complicated.
I tried to find some images, but I didn't want to be stepping on anyone's copyright toes. Go to the Fantagraphics Web site to see some images.
Volume 8 of the Complete Love & Rockets
Original series 1987,1988
This Edition 1989 Fantagraphics Book s, Inc
117 pages + black and white illustrations of original cover
I read my first Love and Rockets in high school. So it must have been about 1980 or 1981. I remember enjoying the illustrations - especially the large breasted, half-naked, beautiful Latina women that were drawn in compromising positions. What red blooded male teenager wouldn't? I also remember that some stories were easier to follow that others. In fact the more I read, the more I realized that the majority of stories were difficult to follow. Consequently, over the years, while tempted to pick up material by the Hernandez brothers, I usually took a pass.
After a shout out from Junot Diaz in his book The Brief and Wondrous life of Oscar Wao a friend of mine convinced me to give it another try - and I did.
And it is complicated and convoluted. There is a cast of characters so large that at the beginning of the book, the author has to map the characters out. And then most of the story lines seem, at first, unrelated. No wonder I was so confused as an adolescent! And imagine that I only had part of the story line in my hands while reading it. But they do come together perfectly and the readers patience is rewarded with pure beauty and poetry. All in a comic book! There is a subtleness and emotionality that one doesn't expect in this media.
So here's the plot. First there's Luba, a large breasted middle aged Mexican woman with a bundle of children fathered by various men. But she is no doormat! Men want to have and possess her, but she will have none of it. Meanwhile there appears to be a serial murderer about and people are dying and disappearing.
Mean while, it appears that one of a pair of beautiful twin sisters has gone mad - bonkers. She's taken to dressing half-naked in native clothing or costume. Everyone thinks she's brainwashed into political socialism or communism by an ex boyfriend but it appears she got her ideas on her own.
Okay, that's enough of an outline. It's not that I worry about giving away the spoiler, its just too darn complicated to try to put it together.
As a recommendation, I suggest reading a whole graphic novel instead of reading the individual comics piecemeal. They are just too complicated.
I tried to find some images, but I didn't want to be stepping on anyone's copyright toes. Go to the Fantagraphics Web site to see some images.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
