Bad Television: The Colony Season 2

Season two of Discovery Channel's popular reality TV show The Colony recently concluded on local cable. As with many reality TV programs, the ending left me slightly disappointed with the outcome. Most shows fail to provide the hoped for cathartic moment, and The Colony in particular stretches credulity more than most. Like past serials such as 1900 House or Frontier House, the participants are asked to live within a simulated environment. Unlike them, the simulation itself is more fanciful than believable. The main problem is the manufactured storyline being superimposed on top of the basic premise.

In the series, the "colonists" attempt to survive within a cordoned-off area designed to recreate a post-apocalyptic urban environment. In both seasons, they scavenge for food and water while working on increasingly elaborate builds to shore up power and improve security. But because their immediate area is too small to begin with and resources within it too scarce, they're inevitably forced to "exit" the colony, at which point the series ends. This scenario sounds counterintuitive. Why are the colonists more concerned with producing electricity for power tools over procuring food and clean water? If civilization really collapsed, shouldn't the survivors take to the road sooner rather than become trapped in an inhospitable city? But since that's a tall order to simulate, what happens is the polar opposite: the colonists are gradually reduced to skin and bones while working overtime on generators and what not, unable to leave until the very last episode. That no one from either season attempts to do something that would be long-term sustainable, such as farming or raising livestock, spells out the futility of this "experiment".

Another way in which the format trumps realism is the colonists themselves. Like most reality TV contestants, they're a motley crew of total strangers forced to cohabit with one another. This results in the usual reality TV hijinks. Viewers have complained that the casting in season one was biased towards the more technologically proficient. But the show also ignored something the historically-based shows got right - that settlements tend to be established by people who already know each other. Otherwise it's just another penal colony.

As if the reasons for not being able to leave sooner weren't silly enough, the colonists have to contend with Hollywood-style complications. In both seasons, the colonists were harassed by paid actors playing the role of "marauders". Rather inexplicably, the marauders possessed greater numbers, were better fed, and better armed. They're villains right out of Lost or Mad Max. Yet they can never completely overwhelm the colonists since that would prematurely end the show. The colonists aren't allowed to join up with the marauders. So they're constantly subject to annoying raids. After all, the cast is never meant to be put in real danger. In both seasons, the series makes it look as if the colonists were eventually driven out by the marauders rather than admitting to the more mundane meta explanation that the allotted time for filming (not to mention the local supply of food and raw materials) had simply run out. So the presence of the marauders only betrays the contrived nature of the whole show. I don't remember the participants of Frontier House having to pretend they were under assault from armed bandits.

Despite these quibbles, season one was actually decent nerd entertainment, if only because the colonists were able to come up with so many nifty contraptions. The producers did stack the deck by not only casting engineers and mechanics, but by also situating them within a spacious warehouse. The producers rightfully fixated on the builds, given that this is the kind of infotainment the Discovery Channel excels at. Season two's colonists are younger and prettier, but not as personally compelling, well-equipped, or well-protected from outside interference. It's as if the producers responded to criticisms of season one by going out of their way to torture season two's cast. During the raids, at least two colonists are pepper sprayed, and one is even kidnapped for ransom. They're incompetent at procuring food. In fact, they're so piss-poor at hunting, gathering, and defending themselves that another colonist is introduced later in series, and his survival training pretty much saves them from dying from malnutrition (or at least that's what's being implied). If the show was really concerned about demonstrating proper survival techniques, it should have have included him from the beginning.

The producers seem to have also listened to criticisms about the ambiguous nature of season one's catastrophe. In season two it's defined as a global viral pandemic. Unfortunately the extra details have a way of making the season's story arc even more convoluted. For example, the starting premise is that the colonists were carefully quarantined by the Viral Outbreak Protection Agency (VOPA) to ensure their health, only to be dumped onto an insecure location where they're vulnerable to attacks from marauders and the infected alike. VOPA's other baffling actions are just another excuse to mess with the cast's emotional well-being. At one point they deliberately botch a food drop, yet safely deliver pre-recorded messages from the colonist's real-word families. But the colonists themselves engage in their fair share of illogical behavior in order to stick to the storyline. When some of them are scouting an area for a potential new settlement, they are attacked by one of the infected. Rather than counting it out as too dangerous to inhabit, the group decides it's an ideal location. On the final day of filming, the colonists stage a pointless counter-raid on the marauders, probably done just so the series could have a climactic action scene. Are the producers trying to make them look stupid?

The second season of The Colony isn't all bad. The builds still display considerable resourcefulness and practical knowledge. But the insistence that this is a serious post-apocalyptic experiment is starting to wear thin. And it doesn't help that this season's cast behaved like a bunch of second bananas in search for a lead actor to fall behind. Their tribulations are no longer enjoyable to watch the second time around. If The Colony returns for a third season, bring back the nerds.

Drawing on Dreams

Go to: Dream Journals by Emily Carroll

Who is Jake Ellis? #1

By Nathan Edminson and Tonci Zonjic

The most attractive thing about Who is Jake Ellis? is the command of storytelling on display. The title poses a question, and is aided by a front cover design portraying two figures looking like poster boys from some Hollywood noir. They probably could be played by two A-list actors. The streamlined art by Tonci Zonjic ably conveys their contrasting personalities: the one colored in red is ruggedly handsome and clearly a man of action, while the brooding figure dressed in black is shaded in grays and draped in shadows. The reader is immediately thrown into the action in a very clever opening. The handsome figure, whose name is Jon Moore, is staging the kind of daring escape from unscrupulous characters worthy of any action movie hero. But curiously enough, he seems to be talking to himself rather than paying attention to what's going on around him. This scene is then repeated, almost verbatim. But this time the shadowy figure is hovering over Jon and relaying instructions, which he responds to and unquestioningly follows. Jon's nonsensical words suddenly make a lot more sense. No one can see or hear him except Jon, and he's the mysterious Jake Ellis the title is referring to.

This introduction is an effective way to hook the reader, and it summarizes Jake and Jon's relationship. For unknown reasons, Jake is protective of Jon, while Jon is dependent on Jake as a defensive measure. Jake is not a simple hallucination because he can see things that aren't in Jon's direct line of sight. He also seems to posses limited precognitive abilities since he can sense impending danger. They don't interact like friends, but their dialogue suggests that they've had enough time to grow accustomed to one another, as Jon doesn't seem to mind Jake's constant presence, regardless of the circumstances. Jake is probably immaterial, since he seems unaffected by the external environment, and is able to keep up with Jon without exhibiting any significant physical exertion.

That last part is pertinent because Jon is constantly on the run. After the opening, which takes place in Spain, Jon has made his way to France. It isn't long before he's involved in another cat and mouse chase. One moment he's seducing a waitress, and the next he's jumping off roofs, dashing into Strasbourg Cathedral, and smashing through boutique store windows. At first he thinks it's the same people from Spain. But it soon becomes apparent from the dialogue between the two that Jon has more than one dangerous foe to contend with.

While Jake is the most interesting enigma, writer Nathan Edminson provides little background about Jon himself. The propulsive action, quick shifts between exotic European locations, combined with the careful parcelling of information, produce an inviting enough riddle to hold the reader's attention. Edminson and Zonjic certainly make for a very compelling creative team who seem to be in synch with one another. It'll be interesting to see whether the payoff at the end will live up to the promise of its setup.

Room to Let

Go to: The Abaddon by Koren Shadmi

Some Tiger Dad You Are

Go to: Adventures in Chinese Parenting by Gene Luen Yang

A response to Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua

Wonder Woman Cosmetics, Oh My!

Go to: MAC Wonder Woman Collection

Artwork by Mike Allred
link via Kevin Melrose

Tintin, the Thatcher-era Revolutionary

Go to: Breaking Free, courtesy of Frank Lynn

link via Chris Arrant

Martial Myths: Sanshiro Sugata

Sanshiro Sugata is an often overlooked fight film. Yet it is the prototypical cinematic example of the tale of callow youth maturing via the study of the art of combat. The formula's been used in movies from Star Wars to The Karate Kid, to No Retreat No Surrender, and countless fight manga like Naruto or Bleach. Released in 1943, it marks the directorial debut of Akira Kurosawa. But for the purposes of this post, it's important because it's loosely based on the history of Kodokan Judo - simply known to most as "judo", which was established in 1882 by Japanese educator Jigorō Kanō. More specifically, the main protagonist is generally recognized to be based on Shiro Saigo, one of Kanō's star pupils.

The original story was a novel written by the son of another of Kanō's senior students. But the actual Saigo was a shadowy figure, making him an ideal candidate for hagiography. What's known about him is that he joined the Kodokan soon after its founding, and was a participant in a series of matches that took place in 1886. This event, which was hosted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police department, pitted the Kodokan against fighters from other jujutsu organizations. There's not much hard information to go by, and most of it comes from judo sources. It's not even clear what rules were being enforced during the event. What's reported is that Saigo won his match with a throw so forceful it knocked his opponent unconscious (the film has a more tragic outcome). The Kodokan ended up winning almost all of the matches, and has since then exploited the victory for bragging rights over its jujutsu rivals. More recently, contentious claims have been made (containing no real proof) that Saigo was already a high level jujutsu exponent when he joined the Kodokan. Whatever the case, Saigo left the Kodokan in 1890 (or was booted out, depending on who you ask), became a professional journalist, and died in 1922.

Unsurprisingly, Sanshiro Sugata reflects a pro-judo bias. Not only is judo implied to be technically and philosophically superior to jujutsu, but more morally outstanding as well. A story needs a bad guy after all. So we have minor figures like the thugs who harass Shogoro Yano (the fictionalized Kanō), to the brooding Gennosuke Higaki, who battles Sugata in the film's final showdown. On the other hand, the scholarly Yano lectures the wayward Sugata on the need to transcend displays of mere physical force, and to learn the value of compassion, in order to become a true judoka.

However there's much more to the film than a vehicle for stoking style vs. style arguments. Despite the subject matter, Kurosawa doesn't seem particularly interested in examining the factional rivalry between judo and jujutsu as he is in charting the personal growth of Sugata. Considering that this was a wartime studio product, what's remarkable is how very little propaganda it contains. On the contrary, it betrays a certain subversive viewpoint. While the jujutsu practitioners are the film's antagonists, they're not cardboard villains that need to be crushed. And in complete contrast to the vast majority of genre fight films, Sanshiro Sugata goes out of its way to rob the physical confrontations of easy triumphalism. To any fan of Kurosawa's later masterpieces, this shouldn't come as any surprise. Any glory or honor to be gained in defeating a dangerous foe has largely disappeared by the time Sugata concludes his duel with Higaki.

The fight scenes are fairly simple, which compliments Kurosawa's introspective approach. They're comparitively realistic, but not necesarilly accurate since all of them look like judo randori - the fighters mostly limit themselves to grabbing their opponent's lapel and attempting a throw, with an occasional submission made. Whether these were the rules for the police-hosted matches is arguable. But why the heck wouldn't someone try to finish a fight by throwing a punch during an unregulated street brawl?

Sanshiro Sugata must have been a letdown to the wartime government. What they probably wanted was a series of glorious fight scenes that could be used to inflame the martial spirit of Japan's youth, and hopefully they'd want to become kamikaze pilots. What they got instead was something that could have been read as being critical of its military policies. Kurosawa would go on to direct a more conventional sequel which had the hero go up against those damn foreigners. Naturally, the critics hated it. But that's what martial arts films are for. Sanshiro smash puny Americans!

Doug TenNapel has a Webcomic

Go to: RATFIST by Doug TenNapel

X'ed Out

X'ed Out was perhaps the most unsettling comic book to come out in 2010 that I've read. The first major work of Charles Burns since his critically lauded Black Hole in 2004, the two share common themes and ticks: an exploration of the sense of alienation and disconnect felt by adolescents, a fascination with body horror, and a stream of conscious style of writing used to convey the inner turmoil of his protagonists. This last characteristic is enlarged upon in X'ed Out as the book continuously shifts back and forth between several settings in a nonlinear, seemingly random, order. All of them focus on the experiences of a young man named Doug. The book presents the reader a neurological jumble of memories, thoughts, and feelings. Doug himself is as much bewildered by them as the reader is when attempting to tie together the threads of his tattered life.

Because the story is seen from Doug's own point of view, it's an extremely claustrophobic experience. Doug is a person trapped inside his own head, and the reader is offered no relief in the form of another character's perspective. There's a younger teenage Doug, and a somewhat older bedridden Doug who regularly takes unspecified pills, and becomes easily upset over the smallest disturbance. It's not clear how the two characters are connected. Between them, there's another Doug who inhabits a bizarre nightmare world were he looks like a poor man's version of Hergé's famous boy hero Tintin. Is this a dream, an idle fantasy, or an alternate reality? Like his bedridden self, this Doug wears a purple bathrobe and has one side of his head shaved and bandaged for unexplained reasons. It's a freakish puzzle that will leave the reader either very frustrated or highly stimulated. Or a maybe a little of both.

The page layouts follow a traditional grid pattern to lend the story some visual certainty. But otherwise, X'ed Out uses a more unconventional, polyphonic, labyrinth, narrative structure. Burns doesn't bother with establishing shots to demarcate his scenes. Rather, each flows unexpectedly into one another. The book is rich in motifs, both visual and verbal, to help clue the reader in: Snatches of repeated phrases, photographs, repetitious views, symbolic imagery, and fields of pure color. The presence of color makes it a very different work from Black Hole. It wields it as a tool to transition between scenes and as a way to add a further layer of meaning. The color palette hews to the Tintin books preference for flat, bright, pastel quality, local colors. And while Hergé and Burns have contrasting drawing styles, the coloring works equally well, but for different reasons. Within the nightmare world, Doug is like Tintin the globe-trotting explorer of exotic locals. But whereas Hergé's ligne claire exhibits a similarly bright world of clear-cut moral distinctions, in Burn's case the color serves to highlight the grotesque imagery delineated by Burns bolder strokes and murky black areas. It's a beautifully clever subversion of Hergé's world view. What emerges is more primal and terrifying.

X'ed Out doesn't cast the reader entirely adrift. Doug's most vivid memories center around an enigmatic love interest named Sarah. Burns also provides an anchor for the story in the flashbacks to Doug's younger self: they reveal that he was a involved in the punk rock scene as a performer of spoken word pieces, he called himself Nitnit (An inversion of Tintin), and he wore a Tintin mask during his performances. They paint a more complete portrait of Doug's and Sarah's personalities, and are the most straightforward parts in the book. Because of the information they supply, a number of disturbing possibilities begin to emerge on how the various timelines will converge in the end. In particular, the front and back cover illustrations, a shout out to The Shooting Star, become downright creepy in it's implications after reading the last page.

This book is only the opening chapter of a larger work. Like Black Hole, Burns has chosen to serialize his story before releasing a collected edition. But whereas the earlier work was first published in pamphlet form, X'ed Out utilizes the larger album format. It's a good choice, as it feels more substantial and exhibits more of Burns talents to entice the reader into the story (not to mention that this is also another way to relate it to Tintin). With this in mind, X'ed Out will require several re-readings, especially after the final installment is published.

Bill on Big Numbers

Go to: Big Numbers #3 by Alan Moore and Bill Sienkiewicz. Sienkiewicz speaks out about Big Numbers, courtesy of Pádraig Ó Méalóid and Sean T. Collins

Kinetic Energy

Go to: All Star Comics #59 panel by Gerry Conway and Wally Wood, courtesy of Alex Boney

Three by Roth

Go to: "An Illustrated History of Sex" panels by Arnold Roth, courtesy of Tom Crippen

Ectopiary in Japanese

Go to: エクトピアリ 1巻 ebook from Puboo, courtesy of togenojizo

Original by Hans Rickheit

More NonSense: Looking Back, Looking Forward

Diesel Sweeties by Richard Stevens

I can't say that this was a good year for me. But I certainly did blog a lot more than I did last year. Or the year before that. That's almost three years of steadily increasing productivity since I began this little experiment in self-expression - A very faint victory. So now what? Things are still as precarious as ever, so no promises will be made. Frankly, I'm terrified for the future.

The Year that was 2010

Brigid Alverson link-blogging
Kevin Melrose link-blogging
Joe Gross: The best comics and graphic novels of 2010
Scott Cederlund: Least objectionable comics of 2010
Bob Temuka: A top ten comics for 2010 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Katherine Dacey: The best manga of 2010
Dave Ferraro: 10 Best Superhero Comics of 2010
Dave Ferraro: 10 Best Manga of 2010
Derik Badman: Best Print Comics of 2010
Derik Badman: Best Webcomics of 2010
Kevin Church: Not A Best Of: Comics In 2010
Matt Seneca: My 10 from 2010
Dave Carter: Amazon Top 50
Andrew Wheeler: My Favorite Books of the Year: 2010

Tom Tomorrow: 2010 The year in crazy, Pt 1, 2
Tatsuya Ishida:  Live a Little
Paolo Chikiamko komiks reviews link-blogging
Stephen Saperstein Frug: A Final Quote for 2010
Roland Kelts: Looking back to move forwards: A few good gift books
Tom Spurgeon: Some Of The Great Comics People Lost To Us In 2010
Brad Rice: Japanator's top 10 anime series of 2010
Brigid Alverson: 2010 The year in digital comics
Brigid Alverson: 2010 The year in piracy

Welcoming in 2011

Douglas Wolk: What we're looking forward to in 2011
Kevin Church: My only resolution for 2011
Sean Gaffney: Manga the Week of 1/5
The Ephemerist: Happy New Year!
Dean Haspiel: Happy New Year
Richard Stevens: Marking Time
Curt Purcell: Fuck both years, old and new
Brigid Alverson: Welcome to 2011

Other

Zack Smith: An Oral History of CAPTAIN MARVEL, Pt 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14,
Dan Kanemitsu: How Bill 156 Got Passed
R. Fiore: Another Redheaded Ending, Pt 1, 2
Noah Berlatsky: Odd Superheroine Out
Nicholas Gurewitch: Memorabilia
David Welsh: Pretty maids all in a row
Ben Huber: Yotsuba & Strangers 
Ben Huber: Yotsuba & Acorn Park
Dirk Deppey: The Mirror of Male-Love Love
Sean Kleefeld: Say Dat Ain't As Funny As It Looks See

Castle Waiting Vol. 1

Fantagraphics recently released the long-awaited second Castle Waiting hardcover. I have yet to get my hands on it, but I thought it would be nice to end the year with a look at the award-winning first volume. Linda Medley isn't the only comic creator to reinvent classic fairy tales. Other fantasy writers have exploited the source material to delve into the dark recesses of the human psyche, engage in narrative deconstruction, or update universal archetypes to more contemporary settings. In contrast, Castle Waiting is resolutely kid-friendly and consistently light hearted. While there are small hints of violence and an abstract recognition of the struggle between the forces of good and evil, what's given prominence are interpersonal relationships, especially those centering on the private lives of women.

This handsomely produced volume, which collects the entire series up to that point, can be divided into three sections. The first, The Curse of Brambly Hedge, comes closest to an obvious retelling of well-known fairy tales, in this case Sleeping Beauty. But the focus is on the peripheral characters such as the wise woman and the castle's staff. After the awakened princess suddenly departs with her Prince Charming, her ladies-in-waiting convert the castle into a refuge.

For the rest of the book, Medley tends to be much more oblique with her references. This keeps the plot from becoming too familiar or predictable. The next part introduces the character Lady Jain Solander, former Countess of Carabas, fleeing from her abusive husband and searching for the castle (Alert readers will notice the tangential connection to Puss in Boots). Upon arriving at the "Castle Waiting", she finds it occupied by similarly obscure characters from other tales. The rest of the book is spent on Jain familiarizing herself with the castle's inner workings and the other residents.

The last part shifts attention on the eccentric Solicitine nun, Sister Peaceful Warren. As her backstory takes up a third of the book, she basically hijacks the series, and becomes the volume's most fleshed-out character. But this section is also where Medley's own particular concerns are most pronounced. Like any fantasy series, Castle Waiting is attentive to world-building. But there is no over-arching conflict to focus the narrative. The series simply meanders at a leisurely pace, content with introducing the reader to Medley's oddball cast. It's as if Medley is taking pleasure in sharing a newly discovered treasure trove of fairy tales featuring overlooked minor players. At first, Jain occupies center stage. But her back story is only partially revealed before Peace steals the spotlight.

Medley's narrative choices compliment her down-to-earth viewpoint. She's particularly concerned with exploring topics typically associated with women: domestic violence, marriage, relationships, and children. Jain's story quietly addresses the issue of spousal abuse. Later on it's explained that the Solicitines are a heterodox monastic order who draw inspiration from the story of St. Wilgforte, the "patron saint of unhappily married and independent women." They are in many ways as much a women's shelter and support group as they are a religious organization. Jain and Peace's experiences are indicative of the other characters. All the conflict that takes place in Castle Waiting are deeply personal in nature, and scars them in different ways. This is at the core of the book - people finding ways to overcome past emotional damage with the help of a surrogate family, or in the case of the Solicitines, the power of sisterhood.

Castle Waiting isn't heavy-handed or cloying with it's characters. Medley continuously uses humor to diffuse tension, and to expose delusional behavior. The enchantment that causes Sleeping Beauty and her prince to fall in love at first sight is made to accurately portray them as two impulsive teenagers running away to elope (Which makes the dumbfounded reaction of the entire castle all the more hilarious). Medley is thus able to explore some of the darker aspects of of the original material while being able to poke gentle fun at it from a more modern and shrewd perspective. She's also very adept in creating comic pairings to keep the reader engaged. This is necessary since Castle Waiting is a comic which is heavy on dialogue. Compared to her contemporary Jeff Smith, Medley's art is more strongly influenced by classic children's fantasy illustration as well as comic books. So while she's a brilliant conveyer of facial expressions, her character designs don't have the cartoony exaggerations of Smith. And she's still whimsical enough to portray various fantasy elements like the anthropomorphized animals and mythical beasts that populate her world. The quality of her line is a lot less geometric and more organic in execution. As this volume represents a decade worth of output, there's a noticeable evolution in Medley's art in which she learns to loosen up her style and employ weightier strokes, making her character designs more attractively stylized. The change occurs between The Curse of Brambly Hedge and the Lady Jain arc. But from the beginning she's already a phenomenal artist with a knack for creating unique-looking individuals.

Castle Waiting volume one is tantalizingly incomplete. The book is absorbing, but it stops quite suddenly after the Solicitine arc, leaving a number of unanswered questions about Lady Jain's past. It's not exactly clear what direction Medley intends to take the series. Is she working towards a larger story arc which will draw together the various narrative threads? Or will she simply continue with her intimate character-driven explorations? Either way, Castle Waiting is wonderfully imaginative, and a rare gem of a comic book possesing qualities which are accessible to a larger audience, whether it be children or adults.

Season's Greetings

Merry Christmas! May your days be merry and bright.

Image cross-blogged with my photoblog.

Thank you, Mr. Deppey

Dirk Deppey's announcement that he was leaving Fantagraphics caught me by surprise. I've never corresponded with Dirk, nor have I personally met him. But as one of many minor bloggers who have been propped up by Journalista in the past, I'm deeply grateful for all the support I've received from him. I'm also very appreciative that Dirk was one of the few comic bloggers who exhibited an ongoing interest in the Filipino comics industry. There aren't too many writers whose attention encompassed so many areas of the medium. And I think that it's safe to say that Journalista was an important pitstop for many comics fans. His online presence will be sorely missed. And I wish him well in his future endeavors.

I'll probably have more to say, after his official last post. His departure raises many questions, not least being: What is the future of Journalista, the TCJ.com site, and Fantagraphics' own manga line? Hopefully, a few of those questions will get some kind of answer by later today.

Update:

Dirk Deppey has officially ended his tenure as a blogger at TCJ.com, and there's very little hard information on why he was let go. Dirk claims that the parting was amicable, and he implies that the reasons behind it were economic, although that doesn't necessarily preclude other explanations, like more sweeping changes in company direction.

As expected, the tributes have been sprouting-up all over the Web. They point to Journalista's role in single-handily ushering the comics blogosphere into existence. Noah Berlatsky describes how Dirk encouraged the nascent voices of bloggers like himself, and Sean Kleefeld explains how Journalista was once the most important source for general online news coverage in the industry. He believes that with Dirk's departure, more idiosyncratic and personal reportage will come to dominate the blogosphere. I thought that Dirk was never shy about expressing his own opinions, and this imbued Journalista with its own particular flavor. But I agree that the breadth of his coverage remains largely unparalleled, which is why his link-blogging provided an invaluable service to true fans of the medium.

At any rate, it sucks to be unemployed during the holidays. Hopefully Dirk will find a way to bounce back after some well-deserved R&R.

The Grabbers Pt 1

Go to: Evil Twin Comics by Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey

The sordid history of copyright practices within the comic book industry, told in comic form.

Climate Change

Go to: Darryl Cunningham Investigates

Cookies

Go to: Hark! A Vagrant by Kate Beaton

It's that time of the year again.

Dean Haspiel on Harvey Pekar

Go to: EW Harvey Pekar Tribute by Dean Haspiel

Milkmaids

Go to: Eight Maids A-Milking by Jesse Hamm

Sickness

Go to: xkcd by Randall Munroe

Will I be this uncompromising when my time comes?

Photo Lust: Nikon D7000

Thom Hogan has posted a very positive review. I'm not usually prone to upgrade sickness. And I'm actually pretty happy with my present body. This is the rare exception that's sorely testing me. But in the end, it's not going to happen. Not without divine intervention.

Love is in the Bag Vol. 1

by Ace Vitangcol, Jed Siroy, Andrew Agoncillo, Ryan Cordova, Glenn Que

Love is in the Bag is one of the more successful ongoing efforts to create a high profile komiks series. It's been lavishly produced (by local standards) as a set of thick trade paperbacks, and more recently made available as an iTunes download for iOS devices. Launched in 2008, it's also another example of "Pinoy Manga" - a byproduct arising from Filipino fans love for Japanese comics and animation inspiring some younger artists to mimic its visual vocabulary and plot conventions. Written by Ace Vitangcol and drawn by Jed Siroy, Love... is an uneasy mix of shojo and shonen manga elements that, as far as volume one goes, have yet to congeal into a more convincing story.

In any case, Love... starts out as a shojo romance. The main protagonist is Kate Menella, a teenage wallflower who has a crush on star basketball player and big man on campus Calvin Jacobs. The twist is that every time she becomes overly excited, she transforms into a handbag. No explanation is given as to the origin of this condition, and no one seems to even question its existence - it's just another wacky manga premise that everyone within this type of story takes for granted. Everyone except for Calvin himself. That boy can be pretty oblivious at times. Not to worry, Kate's best friend is the brash swimming-team captain Kara Francesco. And for some reason she's hellbent on playing matchmaker with Kate and Calvin.

Unfortunately, this can't disguise the basic dullness of the transformations. Kate turning into an inanimate object whenever she sees Calvin quickly becomes repetitive, and it exposes how flat the characters are without the distraction of romantic complications. When Kate finally builds-up enough nerve to sit and talk to Calvin, the conversation is still mostly occupied by awkward silences and meaningful glances. These two sadly, have nothing in common. Kate is a rather passive presence without the urging of Kara and her cohorts. While I get the impression that Calvin is meant to be seen as likable as many a clueless shonen protagonist, he comes across as just dense. When not around Kate, he's even a tad insensitive to women. At some point a shonen-style rivalry with another talented athlete is introduced, but this doesn't generate as much heat as hoped for. This is mainly because his rival comes across as only a slightly more douchey version of Calvin, who also happens to get along with him.

The derivative nature of the plot is also reflected in the art. All the requisite elements are there from the big hair, sailor uniforms, and the usual zip tone effects. But the anatomy always feels a bit off, the backgrounds are perfunctory, and the page layouts aren't anything special to write home about. If the art is trying to emulate mainstream shonen manga, the linework isn't polished enough to match that standard. While not without its charms, it still looks rough around the edges.

The creators of Love... are in the process of completing volume five, so it's safe to say that the series has a well established fanbase who find the story's cute romance and high school intrigue entertaining enough to keep purchasing it. But judging from the first volume alone, this comic isn't greater than the sum of its parts, nor does it say anything very interesting about the themes and conventions it borrows heavily from.

Beethoven!

Peanuts by Charles Schulz

Happy 240th, Ludwig!

Ruins

Go to: The Explorer by Jason Turner

I'm just hear for the fifty dollar honorarium

Go to: The Comics of Business by Gabrielle Bell

The Walking Dead #79

by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, Cliff Rathburn, Rus Wooton

One challenge of writing a post-apcalyptic series is coming up with new ways to keep the cast of characters out of balance. They can never be allowed to become truly comfortable with their surroundings. This isn't easy with zombie horror since the threat is basically a faceless horde - something devoid of personality or intelligence. So it's not surprising that within the subgenre, the center of attention becomes the conflict between the living characters. How do they react to the crisis? And how do they succeed or fail to maintain common human bonds without the framework of a civilization to help them? In Robert Kirkman's entertaining black and white series The Walking Dead, the high point was the story arc were the survivors, having just ensconced themselves inside the remains of a maximum security prison, had to face the threat from the dystopian town of Woodbury led by the heinous Governor. There's nothing more terrifying than having to take on a better-armed and well-organized foe who's bent on your complete destruction.

Since the Woodbury arc, the series has felt a bit rudderless as the cast regrouped and travelled towards Washington DC. The last arc had them situated in a walled-off community that was the complete opposite of Woodbury - an honest attempt to recreate an idyllic middle-class suburban enclave. During this time the zombies were largely regulated to the background as the living humans struggled with issues on how to run a small, totally isolated, community: How do you integrate back into society after having been on the run for so long? How do you settle power disputes? How do you handle interpersonal conflicts and keep everyone happy? How do you deal with the misfits and the criminals? But the most pertinent question for the genre-savvy reader would have been "When is this all going to fall apart again?" The last chapter of the arc closed with an ominous reminder that this was probably going to happen sooner rather than later.

This issue starts out with things returning to normal after the drama of previous chapter. The story jumps from scene to scene as each character resumes their normal duties. But it's obvious that at least some of them are still on edge, and a few are anticipating that something awful will occur at any moment. When two people discuss their inability to sleep, one remarks "It's good to know I can still be scared." This is the calm before the storm, and Kirkman is clearly telegraphing what's about to happen. The issue then intercuts between an organized attempt to clear the outer wall of zombies and a conversation between two of the community's founding members. As the zombie-clearing party begins to realize that the undead presence is more substantial than first anticipated, it begins to dawn on the two founders just how shaky the foundations of the world they've built for themselves. The two scenes collide with Kirkman's usual ominous cliffhanger ending. What is probably most pleasing to fans is that after a prolonged absence, the zombies have emphatically taken center stage.

After having introduced and developed several new characters, it's just about time for the next major reshuffling. It's a hallmark of the series that each arc gives the reader time to become emotionally invested in the cast, only to terminate them in random and unexpected ways. Even the most central characters have been put through the ringer. That this hardly feels cheap or exploitative is due to the high emotional tension maintained throughout, and the gritty realism imbued by the art of Charlie Adlar and Cliff Rathburn. So while it's become predictable at this point that someone has to die, the ever-changing and engaging ensemble keeps The Walking Dead a terrifying and absorbing experience, even after an odd 79 issues.

Inside The Nobel Prize

Go to: Nobel Price by Mattias Adolfsson

Getting Back Your Security Deposity

Go to: My Ex by Jeffrey Brown

Kanto Inc. #1

Japanese comics and animation have a long and convoluted history in the Philippines. While anime has more or less been a constant presence on network television since the 1970s, manga has taken longer to establish itself. The reason becomes more apparent when walking into any well-stocked book or comic book store. All of the manga being sold are English-language translations from American, and occasionally Singaporean, publishers. So Filipino readers are only going to read something like, oh say, Emma because a CMX published it. This is in contrast to most televised anime, which are usually dubbed in Tagalog.* Filipino fans are largely dependent on foreign publishers for legitimately licensed manga. So a truly hardcore, self-consciously geeky, mangacentric, otaku subculture would only emerge after the widespread dissemination of such printed material to the local population.

I was barely around to witness the birth of Filipino otakudom. But it's no surprise that just as with western otaku, it wouldn't be long before a generation of fans would try their hand at producing manga-inspired comics. By all accounts, the high-water mark for Filipinized manga was the emergence of Culture Crash in 1999. Founded by James Palabay and Elmer Damaso, it was a comics anthology-type magazine featuring Filipino talent. At a time when all the old-style komiks publishers had vanished or were inactive, Culture Crash and a few other start-ups presented a brief opportunity to revive the industry. The magazine boasted professional-quality production values and art, drawn mostly in the "manga style". It published 14 issues before running out of money and closing up shop in 2004. Its creative staff have since moved on to other projects.

One of the former Culture Crash creators is Melvin Calingo (aka Taga-Ilog), who continues to self-publish his own comics. He and wife Joanah Tinio-Calingo launched a new series at Komikon 2010 called Kanto Inc. However neither of them is illustrating it. Art duties have been handed to Kilayman, who I'm unfamiliar with. This decision might have been made to suit the lighter tone of the story. Kilayman is extremely adept at rendering comical facial expressions. He's so good I wish sometimes that he cut down a bit on the intimate face-pulling in order to establish the setting more clearly. But he's clearly got a good handle on drawing fundamentals, and unlike other artists he isn't trying to cover-up any glaring technical weaknesses. His gift for caricature makes him quite capable of delineating the appearances and personalities of the characters.

The story in itself serves a local twist on your usual shonen-style cohabitation brought upon by odd circumstances. Guinevere Garcia is a recent college graduate who, like a lot of young Filipinos, is forced by limited options to work at a call center. However she's fired from her job after being unable to deal with a client who keeps insisting that his computer is under the control of a dwende. Fortunately, she's soon offered another job by an eccentric and very wealthy foreigner. He's looking for a live-in computer instructor to tutor him. However, his creepy lolita daughter may posses supernatural powers, and may have been partially responsible for getting her fired from her previous job. Despite these reservations, Guinevere is leaning towards taking the job, especially after learning about the various perks. It's obviously just the beginning for a longer tale. While not the wackiest idea put out, the premise sounds like it might be a solid enough foundation to attract younger manga fans.

If there is one criticism that can be leveled against the comic book, it's that the aschan format's print quality is inevitably ill-suited to reproducing the artwork, which relies on many gradations and zip tones. That's standard operating procedure for a lot of contemporary manga. But the laser printer/photocopy paper look muddies a few of the visuals. If Kanto Inc. manages to gain an audience, the comic would be better served in the future by superior reproduction in a trade paperback reprint.
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* Of course the really hardcore fans are either going to purchase the American-produced DVDs, or acquire the anime through more illegal means.

The "Your Own Worst Enemy" Cliche

Go to: Tom the Dancing Bug by Ruben Bolling

I'm Back!

Go to: Get Your War On by David Rees

Feel the Power!

Via Dr. Hermes
Kirk Alyn and Jackson Bostwick

That's the strength of Hercules, old man!
Bring it on B#$ch.