REVIEW: Kavalier and Clay and the Escapist

Kavalier and Clay A Novel and the Amazing Adventure of the Escapist

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay were published in 2000.

The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist were published in 2004.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay:

·         It’s to note that this book was inspired by the creative teams of the Golden Age of Comics, starting roughly around the time Action Comics 1 was already published to many years onward

·         The creation of the Escapist amalgamates the aspects of Captain America, the Spirit and other pulp fiction style masked vigilantes during the Golden Age. The Escapist even punches Hitler in his first issue much like Captain America did in his

·         Joe and Sam mirrored many American comic book writers at the time, being Jewish Americans who were taken advantage of financially for their work as they had no copyright royalties

·         They are noted to be the contemporaries of Will Eisner in the novel, a footnote in the novel in fact

·         The telling of the Golem and Kavalier with it was interesting though served no other purpose than to symbolize the artificial hero that Joe was to create with the Escapist in American comics

·         Joe’s disdain for the Germans during the World War II era was noted in fueling his tales of the Escapist fighting Nazis and the like (though not named as such in the comics). It’s noted that during this time war-time comics were popular and used such imagery in their own stories, like how “The Haunted Tank” and “Blackhawks” made use of the war propaganda movement to fuel their stories

The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist:

·         It’s to note that though this book was illustrated by many contemporary artists that Chabon still kept to the style of the in-universe telling of Kavalier and Clay in that he claims most of the work to be influence by Joe and Sam.

·         The Escapist book ties in with the novel with its references to important characters like Anapol and Rosa who had an influence in the novel

·         It’s interesting that they faked a manga adaptation of the Escapist, which mirrors the Bat-manga that was published in real life. It’s to note that this adaptation mirrors a good number of current American hero comics adapted to manga, like Stan Lee’s creations of Wolverine and Iron Man currently being made in manga and anime form overseas.

·         In “Sequestered,” the Escapist is noted to being a mock up joke caricature more so than even the child friendly version. This plays into the joke that the Escapist is no longer being written by Clay and drawn by Kavalier in universe and much like other Golden Age heroes grew to a state of mockery.

·         In universe, it is claimed that the Escapist along with other Radio Comics characters were bought up by DC Comics, a trend that followed with many other comic companies at the time, like Fawcett Comics with their titles like “Captain Marvel” (later to be called “Shazam”) “the Spy Smasher” and more

·         The Escape Goat story was noted to mirror the DC comics pet versions of title characters that is aimed towards a child demographic, notably with its slapstick comedy and its use of classic characters for children stories

·         With “The Passing of the Key,” it is noted that the Kavalier and Clay Escapist dies and gives his back story in order to provide a new Escapist with a back story to becoming a new superhero. This mirrors the development of the Blue Beetle franchise of DC Comics, with Dan Garret of Fox Comics (which would eventually be bought up by DC Comics), passing on his legacy to Ted Kord, who would become the next Blue Beetle in the name of a previous hero

Bibliography

Chabon, Michael. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay: A Novel. New York: Picador USA, 2001. Print.

Chabon, Michael. The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist. Milwaukie, OR: Dark Horse Comics, 2004. Print.

REVIEW: Crumb (film)

Crumb (film)

Crumb film released 1995

Crumb (film):

·         It is of interesting note that Crumb reluctantly allowed this movie to be made

·         It is also of note that the sisters did not wanted to be interviewed for the film

·         Finally, of the points of the Crumb family’s reluctance to be documented, it is of note that one of Crumb’s brothers committed suicide some time after the interview and the other brother giving up on cartooning altogether

·         The mother is also noted to be in her own depressed state during the film’s duration

·         While Crumb is sometimes seen as a cartoonist who draws the proportions of his women with overemphasized features, there are women who praise said style for the apparent bluntness of sexuality towards less skinnier women to be a socially acceptable thing

·         It is of interest that R. Crumb’s children have artistic talent, be it from the nurture of being raised by a cartoonist who disciplined him or a continued lineage of cartoonist given that Crumb and his siblings seem to display artistic prowess

·         For Fritz the Cat to be killed off due to the nature of Crumb’s disdain for the film is an interesting one, as he took the action of violence against his art as a means to get back at the media industry who he saw as perverting his works in the ways he didn’t want it to be

·         Despite noting himself not to be one assertive to his sexuality, it is of note that he did date several quite attractive women and did show up in a porn magazine feature shot with noted attractive women

·         Given his disdain for the modern aspect of consumerism, Crumb constantly criticized the consumer nature of America in one scene where he sat sketching while other people walked by with their brand logo shirts and loud boom box music (given that this film was being made during the 90’s, people were carrying boom boxes around)

·         During the duration of the film, Crumb aimed to move him and his family to Europe, where he saw difference not in what Europe held but rather in what it didn’t had in comparison to Midwest America

·         It was noted that Crumb did take some drugs in order to gain the inspiration for his works, especially for his works with Zap Comics

·         He was noted to even be shocked with his own work, as with the case of his tale of Mr. Natural with a headless women, which was given to his male friend to be a sex object despite the protest of the young man, who would later have sex with said body of a woman yet feel guilt for it afterward

·         His artistic styles of telling the racist Black American comics were interesting in that he didn’t held back in depicting harsh black face representations in his drawings. While objectionable, it does convey his own voice in his racism: as it is not flattering or anything but a personal opinion for his view of Black Americans

·         The Crumb family as children notably lived in “the Projects” of their neighborhood and had many issues with their father. They also notably formed their own comic book group where they drew comics. With this, it can be seen that even at a young age R. Crumb and his brothers had artistic talent

·         It is to note that R. Crumb consistently turned down fortune opportunities to maintain his personal integrity of having his works unabridged and unaltered for the viewing audience, a view that he claimed happened with the “Keep trucking” phenomenon and the animated adaptation of “Fritz the Cat.”

·         The film also provided views from other underground cartoonists on their opinion of R. Crumb, most praising him yet some female artisans criticized his later depictions of women being sex objects when he previously depicted women as sexual yet independent and strong in his previous works

·         It is also interesting to see R. Crumb’s son and his opinion of his father, as both a mentor and someone he notes as eccentric despite being his son

·         R. Crumb also notably loves his daughter over all other women, consistently noting in the movie how he felt no love for most women he knew (past sex objects) yet he felt intimate with his daughter

·         R. Crumb notably shows features of xenophobia towards the development of the American culture as opposed to people moving in. He criticized people building houses at one point where he lived in California yet it was due to the advancement of development in the area and the destruction of the natural surroundings. This is also prevalent with R. Crumb’s critique on how consumerism took over the American mindset

Bibliography

Crumb. Dir. Terry Zwigoff. Perf. Robert Crumb. Sony Pictures Classics, 1995. DVD.

REVIEW: Tatsumi (film)

Tatsumi (film) and A Drifting Life by Yoshihiro Tatsumi

Tatsumi film released 2011

A Drifting Life published 2008 in Japan and 2009 in America

Tatsumi (film):

·         The film took a live action approach in depicting the onsets of both the life of Tatsumi and the graphic novels to which he worked on

·         It is interesting to note where the adult manga genre came from, given that manga had the same connotation of as the “funny papers” of children as opposed to a medium that was supposedly enjoyable by adults as well

·         It is interesting to see Tatsumi as the contemporary of Tezuka, another influential man on the art of manga. It is also interesting to see Tatsumi note Tezuka to be envious of him at the time

·         It is assumed that the film followed the format of the graphic novel, though portions of Tatsumi’s life is abridged in favor of fitting the film to a certain time limit

·         The outlay of Tatsumi’s life alongside the works he made relevant to the events in his life placed publication date out of order yet still maintained the importance of how certain factors in his life contributed to the style of narration and drawing to which he is noted for

·         The graphic tales in black and white have a feel similar to a motion comic in that the line work and use of black on white notably define how one views the work. This is comparable to the colored work to which the film illustrates the autobiographical portions of Tatsumi’s life

·         It is noted the adult themes of Tatsumi’s works that are featured, given that the contemporary style of Japanese manga was that stereotyped to Tezuka’s style: which is somewhat of a Golden Age of manga style

·         The publication industry of Osaka and Tokyo are made known by Tatsumi’s relations to reporters and how he gained money by working long hours in miserable conditions to pay for his family: a stereotyped trend for manga artists that persists to this day save for those who actually succeed in fame and fortune.

·         The transition from the “Occupied” short story to his real life narration was done beautifully, with how he had his protagonist drop a pen into the toilet after being arrested for sketching profanity onto the walls while Tatsumi in the next panel picks up supposedly the same pen while still narrating

·         The themes of Tatsumi’s stories are also of interest: being the ones shown in the film to be on topics of post-World War II Japan, Japan during the contemporary industrial life, Japanese middle age and sexuality, the field of Japanese manga artists and their depictions of sexuality in society, Japanese women post-World War II and his own autobiography

·         It is interesting to note that Tatsumi phrases each story as him discovering a new world rather than creating one, showing he draws inspiration when writing and drawing as opposed to forcing his own imagination onto reality

·         Tatsumi having his characters read their own books in the end of the film was a good touch, having it seem like all is full circle with his depiction of the worlds he creates

Bibliography

Tatsumi. Dir. Eric Khoo. Perf. Tetsuya Bessho and Yoshihiro Tatsumi. Zhao Wei Films, 2011. Film.

Tatsumi, Yoshihiro. A Drifting Life. Quebec, Canada: Drawn and Quarterly, 2009. Print.

REVIEW: Hark! A Vagrant Webcomic

Hark! A Vagrant! (Webcomic to Print)

Comics published on Livejournal on 2007 and on their current site 2008.

Book published 2011

Hark: A Vagrant Webcomic

· As this a webcomic, the original content was meant to be free to read online

· The book has but a selection of what the author intend for the purchaser to view, save for any drafts or bonus materials not included online

· The composition is self-contained and occasionally episodic, making it sort of a newspaper strip of sorts in updates

· Periodically, characters previously introduced return in a later comic, indicating a sort of continuity in the author’s work

· The webcomic site’s background is white, as with the pages of the printed book, therefore coinciding the layout to the viewer

· The webcomic provides further categorizations and footnotes left by the author in cyberspace not available in the printed copy

· The book, as it is something to purchase, it optional in reading the comic and therefore serves but a source of revenue for said author

· The schedule of the comic varies to the author’s pace of drawing and dedication, as opposed to other comic forms where there is a fixed schedule or a fixed editor

· Compared to the original first pages, the present updates show drastic improvement on the author’s part, mostly from keeping a consistency of drawing comics. This is made more prevalent with the webcomic format as the entire archive is readily available to the reader

· The webcomic version has commentary from the author below the work that takes no space, as the printed version would require pages be dedicated to commentary

· Billboards of several other comics and other media are constantly present on the webcomic, as a means for the author to gain money while making the comic free to read is present with this as a way to fund the comic to continue

Bibliography

Beaton, Kate. "Hark, a Vagrant: 335." Hark, a Vagrant: 335. Self Published, 26 Mar. 2012. Web. 26 Mar. 2012. .

Beaton, Kate. Hark!: A Vagrant. Montréal: Drawn & Quarterly, 2011. Print.

REVIEW: The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb

The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb

Graphic novel by R. Crumb 2009

Authorized King James Version of the Bible translated 1611

The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb:

· As this is an illustrated version of the biblical text of Genesis, R. Crumb took many liberties in the depictions of the text in its pictorial representation

· Furthermore, the use of the King James Version would further note the work to have translation biases

· The text and dialogue of the work are taken word for word from the King James Version with no alterations

· Crumb took many liberties to depict God in an anthropomorphic fashion, akin to the depiction of Greek deities. This is notable since he chose to depict God in a non-representational manner and in a more literal sense of being the template to man’s form (Chapter 1, Crumb)

· It is of interest that Crumb also included the two depictions of man’s creation, though both versions are in Genesis it is to note that he depicted them as two versions of the same story as opposed to sequentially one happening after another (Chapter 1-2, Crumb)

· As with R. Crumb’s style, he didn’t held back when depicting sex in the Bible. An example of this would be the ‘pure’ reproduction between Adam and Eve that depicted no sin, as they are seen mating in plain site with such excitement on their faces. In addition, Crumb took many liberties in emphasizing the fertility of female characters by his reflection on their bodily design, as with the perky large breasts of Eve in her full nudity. (Chapter 2, Crumb)

· Crumb also took it to himself to illustrate sequence for the numerous lineage births and rise of nations that were included in Genesis, as with the case of the lineages being told after the murder of Abel by Cain (Chapter 4-5, Crumb)

· It is of interest that Crumb made a little homage to another tale, the Epic of Gilgamesh, in the depiction of heroes of old. (Chapter 6, Crumb) This follows with the text “The Nephilim were then on the Earth… had entered the daughters of men, who bore them children. They are the heroes of old, the men of renown” which follows the depiction of Enkidu and Gilgamesh slaying Humbaba as depicted in the Epic of Gilgamesh. (George, A.R.)

· In Crumb’s style to the grotesque being almost comical, his depictions of unspeakable horrors that mankind had did out of sin in Genesis are commonly depicted in almost a parody form in how inhumanely gross the violence is. An example of such would be the drowning of people in the flood, where people are floating around and looking comically horrified in the face of Armageddon. (Chapter 6, Crumb). This is also seen with the destruction of Sodom by the rain of fire, which has a comical depiction of death in that some people are being burnt in the butt and people are piling over one another with no logical reason to how they got in that state (Chapter 19, Crumb)

· For the Tower Of Babel depiction in the book, it is to note that when the people of the world finally gain different languages, they are speaking in legitimate languages in the Middle East, such as Egyptian hieroglyphs for Egyptian and Sand script for Sumerian. Whether or not they actually translate to something I cannot be certain but if so then R. Crumb took many steps into making this one panel (Chapter 11, Crumb)

· Crumb didn’t held back with the depiction of sexuality in questionable terms in Genesis, as with the incest of Lot’s daughters to him to carry on his name (Chapter 19, Crumb) and the old yet still fertile-looking Sarah with her husband Abraham (Chapter 21, Crumb)

· Interesting is the choice of design for the household gods that are relevant to Genesis, as Crumb chose to depict them in a more pagan design as opposed to the humanistic look of the messengers of God and God himself in the work (Chapter 31, Crumb)

· The grotesque style of Crumb doesn’t limit to people as he depicted the cannibalism of the cows and wheat in Pharaoh’s dream to be just as gross as his depiction of humans (Chapter 41, Crumb)

· An interesting depiction of subtle differences in culture in the time of Genesis was Joseph’s use of Egyptian words and his Israeli translator when Joseph was meeting his brothers. As opposed to merely showing Joseph speak directly to his brothers, it is to note that Crumb kept to the text in that Joseph kept his deception to even this minute detail (Chapter 42, Crumb)

· The looks of terror was worked well with Crumb’s depiction of horror or amazement in Genesis, as with how Joseph’s brothers looked upon him in amazement when they discovered the true fate of their brother (Chapter 45, Crumb)

· When depicting the various persons in Genesis, R. Crumb took it to himself to depict the many details of individuals by designing each person named to look distinct onto his own look. An example would be the lineage of Israel/Jacob who came to Egypt, which included up to forty-eight individuals to be compared to one another as kinsman (Chapter 46, Crumb)

· Ultimately, the series ends with Joseph’s death with implication of continuity. This stays true to the book of Genesis as one is expected to read Exodus afterwards. This means that Crumb took the dedication to even end his series the same way as with the original text (Chapter 50, Crumb)

Bibliography

Crumb, R. .. The Book of Genesis: Illustrated. New York: W.W. Norton, 2009. Print.

George, A. R. The Epic of Gilgamesh: The Babylonian Epic Poem and Other Texts in Akkadian and Sumerian. London: Penguin, 2003. Print.

REVIEW: the Scott Pilgrim series

The Scott Pilgrim series (Graphic Novel and Film Adaptation)

Graphic novel by Bryan Lee O’Malley made from 2004-2010

Film released 2010

The Scott Pilgrim series:

· The opening provides chords along the song “Launchpad McQuack” which incidentally can be played by real guitarist, suggesting O’Malley has a history with the instrument

· The setup is notable to a slice of life setting to a more fantasy setting with the transition of Scott being with Knives to being with Ramona, parodying if not drawing inspiration from many a romance comedy action manga popular in Japan

· Knives is noticeably Chinese as opposed to Japanese, which is strange given that she and her family are ninjas (left out in the film)

· The film deviates from the books starting the fourth volume as the film was made before the fifth one was finished

· The entirety of the series is somewhat of an homage to the hipster culture, which with the Scott Pilgrim series’ popularity and the film adaptation ironically made the ideology mainstream

· Various video game, manga, Western comics and such are notably made throughout the graphic novel (mostly pop-culture)

· The characters are notably Canadian, as opposed to American which a good notable readership is. This may be due to O’Malley’s own Canadian upbringing or may hold significance to the counterculture lifestyle of our protagonists

· With the absence of more elder adults in the graphic novels, Wallace notably plays the role of mentor and maternal figure as the gay best friend

· Scott being a bassist is notable in that they are the supporting roles in the genre of music that the Sex Bob-omb plays. This is ironic as Scott is the main character if the series and poetic justice as he plays no part in his fate once he begins a relationship with Ramona

· Ramona being from New York City (and therefore America) plays a more key role with the majority of the cast being Canadian, as she plays the role of the exotic girlfriend in this context to a culture not too different from American culture

· The fact that characters are making obscure references is in itself a reference to hipster culture

· The style of O’Malley is stylized to show basics of characters and rarely emphasizes realistic details on characters or settings

· Rarely is background factored into the setting of the graphic novel, yet as it takes place mostly in the winter season of Canada and therefore lots of snow is prevalent that in itself can be a style

· The flow of the panels are quite fast paced at the beginning, only capturing essential movements and dialogue with the exceptions of time sequence.

Bibliography

O'Malley, Bryan Lee. Scott Pilgrim the Complete Series. [Portland, Or.]: Oni, 2010. Print.

Scott Pilgrim VS the World. Dir. Edgar Wright. Perf. Michael Cera. Universal, 2010. Film.

REVIEW: Edgar Allen Poe Graphic Novel Adaptations (The Raven)

Edgar Allen Poe: Graphic Classics and Max Graphic Novel Adaptations (The Raven)

Poetry written by Edgar Allen Poe. Graphic Novel adapted by Corben and Co. (Haunt of Horror: Edgar Allen Poe) and Pomplun and Co. (Graphic Classics: Edgar Allen Poe)

Poetry published 1824 to 1949.

Graphic Novel adaptations published 2006 and 2010.

Haunt of Horror: Edgar Allen Poe (The Raven)

· As with the Tell-Tale Heart, The Raven is limited to the artist’s interpretations yet this is made more clear with the original text provided with it

· The violence against the Raven wasn’t necessarily in the original poem and may have been a fabrication of the artist

· The comic is noted to not be a true word for word adaptation of the poem, as the lettering in the graphic novel is noted to be different than with the poem

· The fact that the artist was limited to but eight pages leaves little for the imagination, compared to the implied pacing of the poem being indefinite, which seems finite given the nature of the graphic novel and its but eight pages

· It is noted that the Raven is further changed to the interpretations of the artist Corben, who took the liberties to change connotations and wording of the poem to make way for his art

Graphic Classics: Edgar Allen Poe (Raven)

· The art has an abstract feeling to it, with the protagonist eerily transitioning to a tragedy mask while the raven sits on top of a comedy mask

· The lettering, while noted to being clumped on top of the work and seems to be a separate entity from the comic, is at least part of the composition as the eye can flow from picture to lettering as with any other comic naturally

· The facial expressions on the protagonist seems unnatural to the situation he is in, having a rhetorical conversation with a raven. He seems too emotional, and not necessarily in the negative sense. Then again, this piece is more abstract than the other comics so that may have been the intent of the author

· The raven doesn’t seem like an ominous figure in the poem as it appears to be more comical in nature. This downplays the tragedy of the composition for me

· The background seems to lack consistency, as the study to which the raven stalks seems to change from panel to panel in continuity

Bibliography

Corben, Richard, Rich Margopoulos, and Edgar Allan Poe. Haunt of Horror: Edgar Allan Poe. New York, NY: Marvel, 2006. Print.

Poe, Edgar Allan, and Tom Pomplun. Edgar Allan Poe. Mount Horeb, WI: Eureka Productions, 2010. Print.