I might have used the wrong phrase. To put it another way, when a month passed between comics coming out, in the story a month passed also. As such, events and troop rotations were of a constant flow.
So did each issue actually cover a months worth of story, or did each issue cover one day, and then they skipped the next 29 days?
I might have used the wrong phrase. To put it another way, when a month passed between comics coming out, in the story a month passed also. As such, events and troop rotations were of a constant flow.
Interesting. I don't think that's the wrong phrase -- it's just a vague phrase when applied to comics. You know what real-time narrative means in film, but "time" works really strangely in comics.
I might have used the wrong phrase. To put it another way, when a month passed between comics coming out, in the story a month passed also. As such, events and troop rotations were of a constant flow.
So did each issue actually cover a months worth of story, or did each issue cover one day, and then they skipped the next 29 days?
It varied. Sometimes it would cover the time out in the field, at base, or on leave. But the 30 days between issues passed. So if for example, in issue 35 a character mentions that his tour is up in 30 days, in issue 36 he is leaving stateside.
I started reading PeePo Choo, it is better than what it deserves to be :O
I too was surprised. I make no secret about the fact that Felipe Smith's work is not to my taste. It's vicious, lewd, and basically yells "fuck you" to the reader. However, the character of Milton was extremely endearing and I found myself entertained at numerous points. Not a comic I expected to enjoy (and indeed, was turned off by events at many points during the first volume) but I am curious as to what will happen next.
I knew what to epect with his work too, but the themes of the story appeals to me. Then I thought, "Wow, this IS good."
Incal is the spinoff of the work Moebius and Jodorowski were doing to try and make a truly awesome Dune movie, albeit diverging from Herbert's own and making it a massive psychedelic mindfuck. Here's a storyboard:
You know, I don't like Charles Burns. I think he's really overrated as a cartoonist. Black Hole was a decent story, and he can ink like a motherfucker, but his draftsmanship and layouts are kinda weak, and his visual storytelling is full of really basic mistakes.
You know, I don't like Charles Burns. I think he's really overrated as a cartoonist. Black Hole was a decent story, and he can ink like a motherfucker, but his draftsmanship and layouts are kinda weak, and his visual storytelling is full of really basic mistakes.
I agree. I own and have read Black Hole because it was so acclaimed. After I read it I was like, wtf?
You know, I don't like Charles Burns. I think he's really overrated as a cartoonist. Black Hole was a decent story, and he can ink like a motherfucker, but his draftsmanship and layouts are kinda weak, and his visual storytelling is full of really basic mistakes.
I've only skimmed Black Hole. I felt like it was weird and pretentious; I never bought it.
The only reason I like the idea of X'ed Out is that it looks like Lovecraftian Horror as done by Herge, and being brought up on Tintin, well, I think that's pretty nifty.
The only reason I like the idea of X'ed Out is that it looks like Lovecraftian Horror as done by Herge, and being brought up on Tintin, well, I think that's pretty nifty.
It'll probably be pretty cool. Like I said, I thought Black Hole was a decent story -- I'm not knocking his skills as a writer. I'm just saying that I don't think he deserves all the "master of the comics form" accolades he gets. There were several points in Black Hole where I was confused by basic storytelling fuckups that no decent comic artist should be committing, much less a "master".
It'll probably be pretty cool. Like I said, I thought Black Hole was a decent story -- I'm not knocking his skills as a writer. I'm just saying that I don't think he deserves all the "master of the comics form" accolades he gets. There were several points in Black Hole where I was confused by basic storytelling fuckups that no decent comic artist should be committing, much less a "master".
I remember seeing it in your Amazon store and being like, "Hey, he's an artist, doesn't he want that as reference material?" Makes sense, though. I'm going to be a doctor, but I wouldn't keep books about reflexology around.
I remember seeing it in your Amazon store and being like, "Hey, he's an artist, doesn't he want that as reference material?"
Interesting point. There's definitely a lot of books I have pretty much exclusively to try to absorb things from the art, but they tend to be things that are closer to my drawing style. The exception are artists like Mike Mignola and Paul Pope, who I don't draw anything like, but they're incredible visual storytellers, so I can try to steal some of that mojo. Though I do sometimes worry that I'm not casting my net wide enough.
Anyway, if I ever need to "reference" Black Hole, I could just download it.
Mignola astounds me. I heard he did all his art using Sharpies and a single pen for hatching, stippling, and detail, and I quite literally gave a flat "wat." I redefined how I thought of comic book artistry. I always pictured all comic book artists as guys like Moebius, with an operating room spread of precision tools, drawing and coloring these magnificent scenes with surgical precision.
I once drew a pretty impressive (for non-published work, publishing meaning webcomic or otherwise) one-off that had an art style that was basically Mignola colliding with the rapid-sketched impressionism of a lot of artists I've met. It was probably the best thing I've ever drawn.
Mignola astounds me. I heard he did all his art using Sharpies and a single pen for hatching, stippling, and detail, and I quite literally gave a flat "wat." I redefined how I thought of comic book artistry. I always pictured all comic book artists as guys like Moebius, with an operating room spread of precision tools, drawing and coloring these magnificent scenes with surgical precision.
The thing about Mignola is that his art these days is so stripped down that that's really all he needs. Just flat black, and a dead line. That doesn't mean he doesn't have surgical precision, though -- I've read interviews where he says that, despite what you might think about his minimalist style, his pages actually take longer to draw than they did way back when, because he's become such a perfectionist. Every shape has to be perfect. You know the Hellboy story "The Corpse"? How the corpse had that black shape behind its word ballons? He said that he spent a long time drawing and redrawing all of those apparently-random black shapes, because he had to get them juuuust right.
Eduardo Risso is another one of those guys. I don't know what tools he uses, but it's nothing but flat black and dead-weight line. I don't think he ever even uses a ruler. You have to be so damn good to pull that off.
Have I ever told you guys that story about how Mike Mignola lives in my town and my friend has been to his house? I guess I have now.
Goddammit, Sail. Is there anything we can bring up that you don't have some amazing connection to? "Hey, Buffy's a good show." "Oh yeah, hey, I forgot my dad worked on this. I'm awesome."
Also, I recently hung out with a guy who makes high-end monster masks, and he told me about his friend who's Berni Wrightson's son. I have a standing invitation to go hang out with Berni Wrightson, but I think that's too much for me to handle.
Also, I recently hung out with a guy who makes high-end monster masks, and he told me about his friend who's Berni Wrightson's son. I have a standing invitation to go hang out with Berni Wrightson, but I think that's too much for me to handle.
Do it.
Have I ever told you guys that story about how Mike Mignola lives in my town and my friend has been to his house? I guess I have now.
Goddammit, Sail. Is there anything we can bring up that you don't have some amazing connection to? "Hey, Buffy's a good show." "Oh yeah, hey, I forgot my dad worked on this. I'm awesome."
He's basically a cool magnet. Except you can't say "opposites attract" to detract from how awesome he is, because he runs his own record label and is a kickass dude anyway.
Have I mentioned how I love Warren Ellis (Transmet is in my top 3, ever) but I think he can do so much better than FreakAngels, which currently sucks up all his time? I don't know if this belongs here or under Webcomics, because it's both, but either way. FA is pretty good, I guess, but... I mean, man... it's a long way down from Spider Jerusalem, or the heyday of Stormwatch, to some Brit tossers with mind powers. Amirite?
Have I mentioned how I love Warren Ellis (Transmet is in my top 3, ever) but I think he can do so much better than FreakAngels, which currently sucks up all his time? I don't know if this belongs here or under Webcomics, because it's both, but either way. FA is pretty good, I guess, but... I mean, man... it's a long way down from Spider Jerusalem, or the heyday of Stormwatch, to some Brit tossers with mind powers. Amirite?
Is he still working on Doktor Sleepless? Because if so, that is a cool concept that really needs some loving.
I once drew a pretty impressive (for non-published work, publishing meaning webcomic or otherwise) one-off that had an art style that was basically Mignola colliding with the rapid-sketched impressionism of a lot of artists I've met. It was probably the best thing I've ever drawn.
I totally forgot to reply to this part. Post that shit, son!
Have I mentioned how I love Warren Ellis (Transmet is in my top 3, ever) but I think he can do so much better than FreakAngels, which currently sucks up all his time?
Is that true? I'm pretty sure he's working on some Marvel and Avatar stuff lately. Regardless, I can't imagine FreakAngels is taking up THAT much of his time -- most writers can write a few books a month, and Ellis has always been pretty prolific. But thanks for reminding me about FreakAngels -- I read it weekly for the first year or so, but lately I've been letting them build up for a while and reading in a big chunk. It's about time to get back to it.
I once drew a pretty impressive (for non-published work, publishing meaning webcomic or otherwise) one-off that had an art style that was basically Mignola colliding with the rapid-sketched impressionism of a lot of artists I've met. It was probably the best thing I've ever drawn.
I totally forgot to reply to this part. Post that shit, son!
Alas, I gifted it to a dear friend. The current webcomic I'm working on is in that sort of stylistic fusion though, and I hope to finish some concept drawings after midterms, so it'll come along.
Alas, I gifted it to a dear friend. The current webcomic I'm working on is in that sort of stylistic fusion though, and I hope to finish some concept drawings after midterms, so it'll come along.
I can't wait -- I require more comics from my FRCF brethren!
I'm curious: what do you think of Johnny Ryan? I was skimming Prison Pit a while ago, and I thought it was completely nihilistic just like everything else he does, but still morbidly compelling in that Superjail/Lowbrow art/Ivan Brunetti sort of way.
You're saying a bunch of words that I'm not familiar with. I had to google -- "Angry Youth Comix" sounds familiar, but I don't know if I've ever seen it. I'm not generally too into these kinds of "indie" comics. From what I've seen, they're mostly masturbatory, and substitute voyeurism and shock value for any kind of actual ability.
EDIT: To clarify, stuff like "look at all the embarrassingly personal, sordid details of my life like the time me and my buddy jacked each other off in fifth grade", without any real writing, drawing, or visual storytelling ability. No craft. Maybe I'm not hip, but I like craft.
From what I've seen, they're mostly masturbatory, and substitute voyeurism and shock value for any kind of actual ability.
You pretty much nailed it, I think. Although Prison Pit is just some psychopath murdering his way across a desolate and repulsive prison world. But Ryan also does Nickolodeon magazine strips, so whatever. Everyone needs an outlet.
Fantagraphics has a bizarre mix in terms of the quality of their artists, I think. They range from stuff like Los Bros. Hernandez and Jason, which are usually excellent; to stuff like Ivan Brunetti, who is winning Ignatz awards when not inking immaculate gag panels about bestiality; to more or less unreadable-but-somehow-hip trash, like what you mentioned in your edit.
Yeah, I do need to check out more of that kind of stuff -- I have the Love & Rockets "Locas" book on my shelf, and I've only read a tiny bit of it. I've been meaning to check out some Jason, too. I've got such a huge backlog of stuff to get through before I start buying any more books, though. Gotta finish Pluto, a couple more volumes of Madman, and all of 100 Bullets before I even start thinking about anything else.
But Ryan also does Nickolodeon magazine strips, so whatever.
I remember hearing, back when I used to listen to the SEQAlab podcast, about how Nickelodeon Magazine employed a lot of hip indie cartoonists. It's dead now, right?
I'm only on volume 6 of 100 Bullets. And volume 3 of Pluto. And volumes 1 and 2 of some other stuff (Berserk among them; crack is cheaper). I like graphic novels and standalone stories because it feels like there's a sense accomplishment when I close the book. I get to say, "Wow, 'Apollo's Song' was awesome!" instead of, "Just 8 more volumes of 100 Bullets to go."
I should also catch up with Atomic Robo and kill Vol 1 of the Hellboy library.
I kept hearing about how good Berserk was, and yeah, it's goddamn expensive -- so I read maybe the first couple of volumes in scanlations. I don't know, man, I wasn't into it. Does it get good later? Or is it just not for me?
I like graphic novels and standalone stories because it feels like there's a sense accomplishment when I close the book.
That's true. I've got a lot of graphic novels I either never started, or halfway-finished that I should get to, also. I've been about 1/4 through Bone for like 6 months now.
My comic reading backlog is absurd. I have the final 3 volumes of Pluto I haven't read, I have 3 volumes of 20th Century Boys I haven't read, 2 volumes of 100 Bullets, Sanctuary, Locke & Key, DMZ, Walking Dead, and The Goon. They've been sitting there for months. I'm pathetic.
Jason is spectacular, though. You must read some, Funfetus.
[Edit] Ack, I just remembered that my friend is also holding a pile of comics for me from another one of my friends. Can't remember what's in there besides Chew and Buffy, but goddammit, I'm sucking. I think the problem is that I read comics regularly for a span of a few months, then fall out of it and am left with a shitload of unconsumed media that keeps piling up. It's probably because started watching anime again this summer. I don't have time for both. Once I finish Utena, I will have to go back to comics and alleviate my guilt.
Comments
FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES.
Incal is the spinoff of the work Moebius and Jodorowski were doing to try and make a truly awesome Dune movie, albeit diverging from Herbert's own and making it a massive psychedelic mindfuck. Here's a storyboard:
Also, new Charlie Burns! X'ed Out.
The only reason I like the idea of X'ed Out is that it looks like Lovecraftian Horror as done by Herge, and being brought up on Tintin, well, I think that's pretty nifty.
Anyway, if I ever need to "reference" Black Hole, I could just download it.
I once drew a pretty impressive (for non-published work, publishing meaning webcomic or otherwise) one-off that had an art style that was basically Mignola colliding with the rapid-sketched impressionism of a lot of artists I've met. It was probably the best thing I've ever drawn.
Eduardo Risso is another one of those guys. I don't know what tools he uses, but it's nothing but flat black and dead-weight line. I don't think he ever even uses a ruler. You have to be so damn good to pull that off.
Goddammit, Sail. Is there anything we can bring up that you don't have some amazing connection to? "Hey, Buffy's a good show." "Oh yeah, hey, I forgot my dad worked on this. I'm awesome."
Also, I recently hung out with a guy who makes high-end monster masks, and he told me about his friend who's Berni Wrightson's son. I have a standing invitation to go hang out with Berni Wrightson, but I think that's too much for me to handle.
Have I mentioned how I love Warren Ellis (Transmet is in my top 3, ever) but I think he can do so much better than FreakAngels, which currently sucks up all his time? I don't know if this belongs here or under Webcomics, because it's both, but either way. FA is pretty good, I guess, but... I mean, man... it's a long way down from Spider Jerusalem, or the heyday of Stormwatch, to some Brit tossers with mind powers. Amirite?
Speaking of Warren Ellis: The man has been known to lurk /co/. Once, the was a piece published about Ellis's daughter turning 13. 4chan did their 4chan thing with this news. Ellis's response? "Stay away from my daughter or I’ll smear your tiny dicks off with the sole of my boot."
EDIT: To clarify, stuff like "look at all the embarrassingly personal, sordid details of my life like the time me and my buddy jacked each other off in fifth grade", without any real writing, drawing, or visual storytelling ability. No craft. Maybe I'm not hip, but I like craft.
Fantagraphics has a bizarre mix in terms of the quality of their artists, I think. They range from stuff like Los Bros. Hernandez and Jason, which are usually excellent; to stuff like Ivan Brunetti, who is winning Ignatz awards when not inking immaculate gag panels about bestiality; to more or less unreadable-but-somehow-hip trash, like what you mentioned in your edit.
I should also catch up with Atomic Robo and kill Vol 1 of the Hellboy library.
Jason is spectacular, though. You must read some, Funfetus.
[Edit] Ack, I just remembered that my friend is also holding a pile of comics for me from another one of my friends. Can't remember what's in there besides Chew and Buffy, but goddammit, I'm sucking. I think the problem is that I read comics regularly for a span of a few months, then fall out of it and am left with a shitload of unconsumed media that keeps piling up. It's probably because started watching anime again this summer. I don't have time for both. Once I finish Utena, I will have to go back to comics and alleviate my guilt.