tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90923268867089030232024-03-14T00:00:50.086-04:00Four-Color WorldMiss Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02486156139955512300noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9092326886708903023.post-83608514116131202012009-07-15T01:37:00.002-04:002009-07-15T01:45:47.971-04:00Up too lateSo it's half past one in the morning and I should really be in bed. Not that I have anywhere to be tomorrow, but I like my sleep. Anyway, I was going to go to bed much earlier, but I had to look up movie showtimes for this weekend and then the ThinkGeek newsletter came and I've just spent at least half an hour refreshing that damn fortune page.<br /><br />I've borrowed a copy of <span style="font-style: italic;">Twilight</span> from a friend. I don't really <span style="font-style: italic;">want</span> to read it, per se, but I dream of someday becoming a published and extremely rich and popular YA author myself. I doubt I'll get where Stephanie Meyer is, but I might as well at least do some research on what sells. So far, from what I've seen from working in a bookstore, what sells is sophomoric crap, and this is distressing to me. But hopefully I can figure something out.<br /><br />In other news, Steve Buscemi thinks my little brother is a pretty good dancer (seriously, no joke) and I've just applied for a job at my favorite video game company, assuming I don't end up as a nanny, which wouldn't be so bad. And I slipped into character leaving a ThinkGeek comment of my own and spent a paragraph or two ranting on about how difficult life is as a fish god, which I'm definitely not. I am a lady. I've spent the past few days intermittently reading Jacqueline Carey and knitting the first of three Hogwarts house scarves for three of my numerous cousins. Honestly, it's like rabbits. Whenever I look I have more cousins.<br /><br />My life just keeps getting weirder. I suspect I'm going mad. At least if I go mad I'll have a really good excuse for babbling like this. Of course, some people would say I'm already mad, because I'm a writer and thus mad by definition. Other people would say that that's not the definition of writer at all, and that the people who define it as such are mad. Still other people wonder why everyone else is fussing about definitions and go back to reading their P.G. Wodehouse Edwardian school stories. I am also going to do that, though I'm in none of those categories. I think maybe I'm just mad.<br /><br />I think I should go to bed now. I don't feel quite so sane.Miss Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02486156139955512300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9092326886708903023.post-10785027169395008322009-06-19T23:02:00.003-04:002009-06-19T23:13:29.530-04:00Four-Color World returns!So it's eleven at night and I've got the house to myself, which is to say that my brother is in bed and my parents are out for the night. And I'm doing what seems reasonable with this comparative freedom. I'm sitting on the couch, watching the Sasuke marathon on G4 and reading <span style="font-style: italic;">The Traitor's Manual</span>, a Paranoia supplement I picked up in the rush to get all the Mongoose books I wanted from DriveThruRPG before the new edition of Paranoia drops. On the table in front of me is the <span style="font-style: italic;">Scion Companion</span>, which I just bought today, and a copy of <span style="font-style: italic;">Endless Things</span>, the last book in John Crowley's Aegypt cycle, signed to me. Behind me is the immense cage I bought and erected today for my pet degus (Doom Engine and The Month of July). I've named it "The Edifice."<br /><br />And it hits me. I'm a huge nerd. This blog is meant to be about hugely nerdy things.<br /><br />Why haven't I been keeping this thing up?<br /><br />I suppose it's because I'm lazy. And also once it stopped being homework I had other homework to do.<br /><br />But, luckily for you, my viewing several, I just graduated a few weeks ago, so I don't have any more homework to hold my attention. Hopefully I'll have a job soon to take up some of my time, but I think I should get back to this too. It seems like a good idea.<br /><br />So then, ladies and gentlemen. I apologize for the massive lacuna. (Is that I contradiction in terms?) But now, I promise, Four-Color World returns, unrequired, unassigned, and with no goddamn tags unless I want them. ^_^Miss Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02486156139955512300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9092326886708903023.post-42888739197459220652008-05-25T23:14:00.003-04:002008-05-25T23:37:28.835-04:00Little Brother<span style="font-style: italic;">Little Brother</span><br />Cory Doctorow<br /><br />Whoo! Class is over! I mean, I liked it a lot, but now I can write about things that aren't comics!<br /><br />So it's been, like, a month, and I return triumphant, having been out of school for a week and a half and back in the workforce for a day total. Not that I started working just today. It's Memorial Day weekend. That'd be silly. No, I started yesterday at my regular summer job at the local bookstore, a glorious Nirvana if ever there was one. Well, at least in that incredibly-materialistic-I-love-books-not-Nirvana-at-all kind of a way.<br /><br />Anyway, one of the perks of my job is that we've got a whole table full of advanced reading copies of books all stacked up in the back room at the store. They come, they sit around, sometimes they get read. As an employee, I get to take home any of these books that I'd like, a policy that I take liberal--sometimes absurd--advantage of. To start things off, I found a couple of books that looked interesting and wafted them away with me, and one was <span style="font-style: italic;">Little Brother</span>, by Cory Doctorow.<br /><br />Now, I had a copy of <span style="font-style: italic;">Little Brother</span> already. I downloaded it in PDF from Cory Doctorow's website, because that's the sort of thing he likes. And I suppose I proved part of his point in doing this, because did it stop me wanting a print copy? No! Reading long books on the computer sucks. Trust me, I know this for a fact. I've been known to spend days at a time on <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org">Project Gutenberg</a> and come out, more well-read, but with a splitting fucking headache. Man, seriously. You have no idea of the pain. ...well, probably you do. Not relevant. Whatever.<br /><br />So, I started on the book this morning. Finished it this evening. It's a quick read. Partially that may be because it's a YA book and thus was written more simply than I'm used to, but I wouldn't really buy that as a full excuse. Mainly it took me so little time because I couldn't put it down. Well, ok, I put it down to drive to the movie theatre and watch <span style="font-style: italic;">Prince Caspian</span>, but those were special circumstances. A Narnia movie was available to me. Far be it for me to not indulge myself in a personal childhood obsession.<br /><br />I'm babbling. It was a great book. It's solid, and scary, and it doesn't talk down to anyone. If Marcus (the narrator) says something weird, he explains himself, and he does it well. The tech was real (or realistic, if not all strictly real), the hacks were definitely real, and the story was real in a way that warmed a diffident dissident like myself to the core. I finished the book and it made me want to poke around online for hacks for my PSP. (Yes, I own a PSP. And a DS. Consumer whore? Maybe so. But mainly I like games.) But seriously, for gods' sake, this kid takes out Homeland Security with an Xbox! That's a glorious feat!<br /><br />Neil Gaiman says in his wonderful blurb that he wants to get this into the hands of every thirteen-year-old he knows, in the hopes that it'll change the way they think for the better. I agree. Shit, I want to give copies of this book to my cousins. Then when they take over the planet they'll remember me as the person who showed them the way.<br /><br />Have I not let out the basic plot yet? Well, here. Hacker kid in San Francisco is near the site of a terrorist attack, gets arrested by Homeland Security and interrogated, and then is released into a USA that's like Franz Kafka had a baby with George Orwell's worst nightmare. So he decides to do something about it using only a hacked Xbox and pure, unadulterated rage.<br /><br />It's super cool. I feel the need to program now. Actually, I think I need to go take a look around, see if anyone's programmed a Clockwork Pirates game yet.<br /><br />Read this book. Give it to your kid sister and every single one of her friends. If they don't want to buy it and you don't want to lend it to them, get them to Cory Doctorow's website and have them <a href="http://craphound.com/littlebrother/download/">download a copy</a>. If they don't have Internet access and can't have the book, read it to them, over the phone if necessary. Spread it like a plague. Spread it like an Internet meme.<br /><br />This book kicks <span style="font-style: italic;">ass</span>.Miss Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02486156139955512300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9092326886708903023.post-88690397555104766262008-04-22T20:51:00.003-04:002008-04-22T21:08:03.375-04:00Things You Might Enjoy, If You Enjoy This Sort Of Thing: Episode Nine<span style="font-style: italic;">Doom Patrol Volume One: Crawling Out of the Wreckage</span><br />Grant Morrison<br /><br />This is an addendum to the con edition of Four-Color World, because I picked up the first volume of <span style="font-style: italic;">Doom Patrol</span> there. I've been looking for it for a while, but previously I've only ever managed to find volumes two through four, never one.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Doom Patrol</span> is a comic about a group of superhumans who are not superheroes. They've got superpowers, but you can't look up to them. They're weird and fucked-up and depressed. One of them is a human brain in a robot body. One of them has sixty-four distinct personalities, each with its own superpower. They're pretty bizarre. And they fight the enemies too freaky for the normal heroes to take care of.<br /><br />They got a few different comics, and the one this volume is from had been running for a while when Grant Morrison got hold of it. Before he started writing it, however, he persuaded the previous author to kill off a number of characters, so that he could build the cast himself. Crazy Jane, the one with multiple personalities, is one of his creations.<br /><br />In short: this comic is intensely disturbing. The nature of reality is frequently fluid, and several of the monsters are based on things from that horrifyingly delightful children's book, <span style="font-style: italic;">Struwwelpeter</span>. I read it in the van on the way back to Maine, and it gave me the wiggins, enough that I didn't want to let my feet hang off the seat into the place where it was dark.<br /><br />At the same time, though, it was really cool. The writing was fantastic, of course, the art was fairly cool, and the creepiness added. The characters were also amazing--they were well-developed and interesting. Crazy Jane's multiple personalities added depth without being an irritating stereotype. Rebis, Negative-Man, was intensely bizarre in a way that was genuinely unnerving.<br /><br />Anyway, it's really worth reading. Creepy, but cool. I'd recommend it.Miss Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02486156139955512300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9092326886708903023.post-31529522988556001202008-04-22T20:41:00.003-04:002008-04-22T20:51:25.787-04:00Four-Color World: The (Slightly Belated) Con EditionHello, everybody! Today, your lovely Miss Becca is reporting to you on New York Comic Con.<br /><br />My classmates and professor and I drove to New York City on Friday. Because we're in central Maine, we started out at three in the morning. The drive was long and cramped and mildly horrible, but when we got there it was cool.<br /><br />Highlights of the con:<br /><ul><li>On Friday evening I went to Neil Gaiman's reading. He was very funny and charming, and he read chapter three of <span style="font-style: italic;">The Graveyard Book</span>, which was awesome. Afterward I got to see the Christmas special of the latest season of <span style="font-style: italic;">Doctor Who</span>. It was dreadful. But in a fun way.</li><li>On Saturday there was shopping, and my boyfriend and I went to the "Spotlight on Grant Morrison" presentation. I got to ask him how he felt about being a character in the DC Universe. He's pretty cool with it.</li><li>Later, there had been plans to go see the previews for <span style="font-style: italic;">Iron Man</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">The Incredible Hulk</span>, and <span style="font-style: italic;">The Spirit</span>. However, they were ditched in favor of waiting in line for Grant Morrison's signing. He signed my copy of <span style="font-style: italic;">Arkham Asylum</span> and gave me a hug. It was the pinnacle of my con experience. ^_^<br /></li><li>Met many exciting people, including Jon Rosenberg, the author of <a href="http://www.goats.com">Goats</a>. It is one of my favorite webcomics. I bought the first volume and he signed it.</li><li>Sunday had a bit more shopping, and the Final Crisis panel. I didn't pay too much attention, because I don't keep up with current comics, but it was fun listening to Grant Morrison's lovely accent.</li></ul>All in all, a very good trip. I came back with lots of swag. Very fun.Miss Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02486156139955512300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9092326886708903023.post-54515605203773885012008-04-16T20:56:00.003-04:002008-04-16T21:09:23.368-04:00Rorschach the Optimist<span style="font-style: italic;">Watchmen</span><br />Alan Moore<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">To the winner goes the SPOILERS</span><br /><br />Whoo! This is the week I've been looking forward too. My dad got me a copy of <span style="font-style: italic;">Watchmen</span> when I was in high school, and I've loved it ever since.<br /><br />Anyway, with this latest reread I noticed something sort of odd. Rorschach, probably the scariest character in the entire comic, is actually kind of an optimist. But not happy. Just an optimist. I mean, I'd be hard-pressed to think of a less cheery comic book character. But he really believes in what he's doing, and he believes it in a good way.<br /><br />Witness this. In the second issue of <span style="font-style: italic;">Watchmen</span> (I have to go by issue--my trade has no other page numbers), Rorschach goes to visit the Comedian's grave. He is busy pondering the case of the Comedian's murder, and provides us with this really amazing quote:<br /><br />"So many questions. Never mind. Answers soon. Nothing is insoluble. Nothing is hopeless. Not while there's life."<br /><br />Think about that. Rorschach is sketchy and violent and has a lot of prejudices. He does not get along well with others and never smiles. But he's the one who believes in the human race. Dan Dreiberg can't decide what he wants, let alone figure out what he wants for other people. Laurie Juspeczyk always hated the hero business. Ozymandias can only help people by doing things for them, and Dr. Manhattan doesn't care.<br /><br />But Rorschach...he thinks things are going to work out. He thinks that things are probably going to work out all right. Which is kind of weird, given how much he dislikes most people.<br /><br />I think I like Rorschach a lot more now.Miss Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02486156139955512300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9092326886708903023.post-48443684909142425362008-04-13T12:09:00.003-04:002008-04-13T12:27:14.075-04:00Things You Might Enjoy, If You Enjoy This Sort Of Thing: Episode Eight<span style="font-style: italic;">The Book of Ballads</span><br />Charles Vess and various others<br /><br />Hey, look! It's not a webcomic!<br /><br />Not only is <span style="font-style: italic;">The Book of Ballads</span> not a webcomic, it's also nothing like really any of the comics I've reviewed here so far. It doesn't have a continuing story, and nothing in it connects to any other comics. It's a fully standalone book of short pieces. I figured it'd fit into this week's set of post because all of the stories in it are, as you may have guessed from the title, taken from ballads.<br /><br />Charles Vess is one of my favorite comic book artists. You may have heard of him, particularly if you're a fan of Neil Gaiman. He did the Fairyland section of the original <span style="font-style: italic;">Book of Magic</span> and was the other half of <span style="font-style: italic;">Stardust</span>--not the recent movie, but the illustrated novel it's based on. He does extraordinary work, and <span style="font-style: italic;">The Book of Ballads</span> is one of his babies.<br /><br />Basically, what Vess did was get a bunch of awesome comics writers to do scripts based on various traditional English ballads, and then he illustrated them. The first one, "The False Knight on the Road," is actually by Neil Gaiman. Other ballads used are "Alison Gross," "Barbara Allen," and "King Henry," among others.<br /><br />They're all well-written stories, and of course the art is beautiful, but the little thing that makes this book even more awesome is the appendix. At the end of the book, Vess has included a list of all the ballads used, with information about where you can find various recordings of them. For example, Steeleye Span, one of my favorite music groups, recorded an amazing version of "Alison Gross," and that is listed.<br /><br />It seemed right to include this review in this week's posts because of the whole icon theme. A ballad is not necessarily iconic, but ballads and their themes are in the same family as icons. They're songs because it's easy to remember songs, and they tell stories that people felt, for one reason or another, should be remembered. Ballads are part of the collective memory of the English and Celtic cultures.<br /><br />If you'd like to dispute the important of ballads, I will tell you do one thing. Find the old Loony Toons episodes where they did Robin Hood stories. One of them has Porky Pig in it as Friar Tuck, and what is he doing when we first see him? He's singing "Barbara Allen," probably one of the most famous English ballads and also one of the ones used in this book.<br /><br />This is a cool book. You should read it. It may not be like anything you're used to, but it's interesting, and makes for good bite-sized bits of reading.Miss Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02486156139955512300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9092326886708903023.post-71843652944917127422008-04-13T11:48:00.003-04:002008-04-13T12:09:36.332-04:00Other Iconic CharactersThe group presentations I mentioned in the last post were focused around five fairly iconic superhero characters. My group was of course Captain America. The others were Batman, Wonder Woman, Spiderman, and Superman. Actually we haven't gotten to those last two yet in class; the presentations run a bit long.<br /><br />Anyway, that's a good selection of characters for basic icon status. However, I think there are a lot more to be considered. They're not necessarily quite as much in the common consciousness, but they still represent interesting and long-lasting things. So this post will be a brief list of other people who seem important in that way.<br /><br />Number one: The Phantom Stranger. I've got a bit of a weakness for him, because he's weird and interesting, but he's also got something going for him on the iconic level. He's that guy. You know, that guy. The one who shows up and helps you out and then is just sort of...gone. He's like the Doctor, and look how popular the Doctor is. He's Obi-Wan Kenobi. It's awesome.<br /><br />Number two: Dr. Strange. Another weakness. Well, honestly, I've got a weakness for any magic-based superhero. But Dr. Strange fits well into that iconic mold because he's not just a magic-user. He's the Sorcerer Supreme. He's the kind of guy people might seek out for instruction. Big Top Wizard Guy is an important iconic role.<br /><br />Number three: Beast. Besides being my favorite X-Men character, he's got a very important iconic role to play. Specifically, he's the Smart Freak. You know the Smart Freak. Lots of things have them. A lot of them, though, aren't as freaky as they're made out to be. For example, Willow, of <span style="font-style: italic;">Buffy the Vampire Slayer</span> fame, or <span style="font-style: italic;">Smallville</span>'s Chloe. Those two are supposedly freaks at their high schools, but they don't look it. They're cute and personable. Beast's appearance can be genuinely alarming, and he's a bloody genius.<br /><br />Number four: Swamp Thing. He's like Captain America. But for the planet. Also he's got that immortal elemental spirit thing going for him.Miss Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02486156139955512300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9092326886708903023.post-47489614974587307902008-04-13T11:31:00.003-04:002008-04-13T11:48:17.535-04:00I'm Not Even A Cap Fan And I Think He's CoolThis week in class we didn't discuss specific comics. Instead we talked about icons and iconic characters. This included breaking up into groups and doing presentations on certain iconic comics figure, and my group got Captain America.<br /><br />Witness the title of this post. I think Captain America is neat. I was vaguely sad when he died. And I've never even read any comics with him in them. I mean, he made a couple of one-panel appearances in other things I've read, but nothing big.<br /><br />We've already done our presentation, of course, but I thought I'd provide a little of it to you, my adoring public. We had to answer four questions:<br /><ul><li>What does this character stand for?</li><li>What other icons are associated with this character?</li><li>Why has this character endured?</li><li>How do you think this character will change in the future?</li></ul>My favorite question was number three. The simple answer: Captain America has endured because he's Captain America. It may sound silly, but think about it. Captain America is sort of like a comic-book version of George Washington. George Washington is an icon because he symbolizes America; so is Cap.<br /><br />Captain America can always be used to fight whatever real-life bad guy people in this country are scared of. Scared of Nazis? He's fought them. Communists? Punched them into next week. Terrorists? He'll battle them for you. The US government? Well, hey, Civil War. He's fought them too. And he's always fighting racists.<br /><br />He may not be on as many t-shirts as Superman or have as many separate comics as the X-Men, but Captain America is still Captain America. He's our guy. Not the government's guy--the people's. And that's all the people, too.Miss Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02486156139955512300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9092326886708903023.post-85000026473884694262008-04-06T17:04:00.003-04:002008-04-06T17:19:39.133-04:00Things You Might Enjoy, If You Enjoy This Sort Of Thing: Episode Seven<span style="font-style: italic;">Scary-Go-Round</span><br />John Allison<br />http://www.scarygoround.com/index.php<br /><br />This week we have yet another webcomic review. This wasn't originally meant to be primarily a webcomics review series, but I read a lot of them, and love most of the ones I read. So today it's <span style="font-style: italic;">Scary-Go-Round</span>, which is one of my very favorites.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Scary-Go-Round</span> is awesome because it is a lot of things at once. It's sort of an extended exercise in magical realism, with a dash of comedy of manners and a lot of people who have funny ways of talking. It's another one of those comics that you can't just drop into; it's been running for a few years and has a lot of back story, but the archives are totally worth it. Besides all the plot, you can watch John Allison's art style improve and morph and do things that are really weird. It's super cool.<br /><br />The first couple of storylines notwithstanding, <span style="font-style: italic;">Scary-Go-Round</span> mostly follows the adventures of Shelley Winters and a number of other complicated characters. For example, the current storyline is about The Boy, whose name was recently revealed to be Eustace. He is spending some time in France on student exchange, and is living with his friend Elodie, who hasn't quite gotten the hang of pronouncing his name and as a consequence refers to him as "Useless." The traditional French Easter bell, the one that brings the eggs, has just been replaced with a super-sketchy pink bunny with long sharp teeth. Havoc is ensuing.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Scary-Go-Round</span> is a place where anything can happen. It is a place where the moon watches people getting undressed and sometimes there are demons. It is a place where occasionally the headmaster of the local school is a creepy Victorian warlock-type named Crowley. It is a place where you can have friends that are bats, although Ryan's friend Friend Bat died a while ago and was replaced with Comrade Bat. It is a place where people use very few contractions.<br /><br />It's kind of hard to describe, actually. Mainly it's just bafflingly weird in a way that is at the same time really awesome. And of course, I live for things that are bafflingly weird. They make me do dances in my heart.Miss Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02486156139955512300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9092326886708903023.post-45059507584862410692008-04-06T16:51:00.006-04:002008-05-26T12:47:44.960-04:00Academic Pretension<span style="font-style: italic;">Fun Home</span><br />Alison Bechdel<br /><br />I was mildly puzzled in class on Monday to hear one of my classmates accuse Alison Bechdel of academic pretension in the writing of <span style="font-style: italic;">Fun Home</span>. This wasn't because she used long, complicated sentences or went off on lengthy discussions of obscure topics for no reason or anything else that I would think of as pretentious. It was because <span style="font-style: italic;">Fun Home</span> was filled with literary references, including references to what some might refer to as "great" works of literature. James Joyce's <span style="font-style: italic;">Ulysses</span>, for example, or the novels of Marcel Proust, or the Greek myth of Daedalus and Icarus.<br /><br />Now, this accusation puzzles me because it implies something unpleasant and unfair and unnecessarily restrictive to authors. Maybe the average person off the street, picking up a copy of <span style="font-style: italic;">Fun Home</span> and flipping through it, won't get every single literary reference. But hey, that's ok. Bechdel explains many of them, and what a reader doesn't get, he or she can look up. It shouldn't really be an imposition to ask someone to hop on the computer and search Wikipedia or something. Also, though, saying that making literary references is pretentious places a restriction on authors that they shouldn't have.<br /><br />True, some people use fancy language and refer to famous books because they want to look smarter. But reading <span style="font-style: italic;">Fun Home</span>, it seemed to me like Alison Bechdel made these references because literature was what interested her. Referencing something because you enjoy and because you feel it's a good comparison is not the same as referencing something so that you can look down on people who don't understand you.<br /><br />From the depictions of some of the more irritating professors and students at her college, in fact, Bechdel seems to despise that kind of behaviour herself. It's rude to look down on people because they know less than you. If someone doesn't understand something, one should explain it, not be snooty. Snootiness just makes people less inclined to want to learn things.<br /><br />Anyway, I was also puzzled because making literary references seemed entirely appropriate in the context of the story. Literature was obviously important to Bechdel's father, and it's something you get to see them connecting over throughout the course of the story. Given that this is, indeed, a story about Bechdel's father, it's only right to pepper it with the things he liked best.Miss Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02486156139955512300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9092326886708903023.post-13084230918781363952008-04-06T16:22:00.003-04:002008-04-06T16:49:49.154-04:00The Uses Of Autobiography<span style="font-style: italic;">Fun Home</span><br />Alison Bechdel<br /><br />I really liked <span style="font-style: italic;">Fun Home</span>. It's a little depressing, but then, what that we read in this class isn't? It was also one of my boyfriend's textbooks for his American Autobiography course last semester, and autobiography came up in class, so that seems like something to talk about.<br /><br />We came up with a few reasons in class for why something relatively unknown would write an autobiography. To give other people something to relate to, maybe. Because you've got a story you think people should know. Maybe, in the case of Alison Bechdel herself, to provide another book which could be added to a "self-discovery reading" stack like she shows us in <span style="font-style: italic;">Fun Home</span>.<br /><br />Honestly, though, I think the main reason for any autobiography is the straght Occam's-razor one. People like to talk about themselves. Everyone is, at all times, composing a little autobiography in the back of his or her head. Seriously. That's what your memory is; that's part of what it's for. Not everyone necessarily wants to deal with their little auto-autobiography, but there it is. The main difference between that and a written autobiography is that some people feel like letting everyone in on the secret.<br /><br />Also, I think people write autobiographies as a personal aid to memory. Alison Bechdel, for example, describes <span style="font-style: italic;">Fun Home</span> as a "memoir of her father." <span style="font-style: italic;">Fun Home</span> seems like primarily an autobiography, but I'm certainly also willing to believe that it's exactly what she says it is. At one point in the book she discusses how uncertain she became, for a while, about the events in her life, to the point of writing "I think" after every statement in her diary. An autobiography is a way to validate your memory: it's easier to prove to yourself that you know what you know when you've got it in solid written form. And not only do <span style="font-style: italic;">you</span> have a solid copy of your memories, you get to make them last even longer by giving them to other people. As long as someone lives who has a copy of your book, people will still know that what happened in your life happened.<br /><br />I forget where I read this first, but there's...well, I think it'd probably be called a philosophical concept, that says that no one is truly dead unless everyone who remembers them is also dead. Autobiographies keep people alive. So that's also what <span style="font-style: italic;">Fun Home</span> is. Until a time comes when there's nobody alive who's read it, Bruce Bechdel will still be alive.<br /><br />Isn't that cool?Miss Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02486156139955512300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9092326886708903023.post-81820414332958459182008-03-30T16:01:00.004-04:002008-03-30T16:13:40.239-04:00Yet Again, Art<span style="font-style: italic;">Pride of Baghdad</span><br />Brian K. Vaughan and Niko Henrichon<br /><br />I like to talk about art in comics. Art is cool. Art makes me happy, and, just as in the writing, excellence or the lack thereof can make or break a comic. I mean, I can still read a well-written comic with terrible art, just as I can read a terribly-written comic with beautiful art. But it will make me a sad, solemn creature. It's not nearly as much fun.<br /><br />Not that <span style="font-style: italic;">Pride of Baghdad</span> is really fun, but it's certainly well-written and beautifully illustrated. The animals are well-drawn without being Disneyish, because I don't think anything could kill the mood of this quite like a little glimpse of Simba. Simba's cute and everything, but Ali looks a lot more like an actual lion.<br /><br />Care was obviously taken to draw animals that actually looked like they would in real life, and I appreciate that. Like I said, no Disney. The antelope looks like a real antelope, the monkeys look like real monkeys, and that bear is fucking terrifying. I don't know how much of an animal guy Niko Henrichon is, but at least he cares about getting his illustrations to look right.<br /><br />Besides the accuracy of the animals, I was very impressed by the coloring. Reading <span style="font-style: italic;">Pride of Baghdad</span> is sort of like swimming in paint; everything is intense, very heavily saturated. The zoo is yellow. Safa's flashback is blue and red. The outside, in the wilderness, is green, and the city is golden. And then in the palace it's the same blue-black as Safa's flashback, but with a yellowish-green tint. It's got the same atmosphere of terror. It's very cool flipping through and seeing how much care was put into coloring things properly.<br /><br />My one problem was that sometimes things were too detailed. Getting the lines on a lines mane right is one thing, but when the zoo is bombed and the giraffe's head blows up I didn't really need to see individual vertebrae. That was just...gross.<br /><br />It's worth a look from an artist's perspective. I certainly couldn't do it, but I'd like to meet someone who could. That would be <span style="font-style: italic;">awesome</span>.Miss Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02486156139955512300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9092326886708903023.post-27663506545273327612008-03-30T15:45:00.003-04:002008-03-30T16:00:39.118-04:00Abrupt Endings<span style="font-style: italic;">Pride of Baghdad</span><br />Brian K. Vaughan and Niko Henrichon<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">LOL spoilers</span><br /><br />Some people in class have complained about the ending of <span style="font-style: italic;">Pride of Baghdad</span>. It's really abrupt, and a lot of people didn't like that--they wanted more after the lions were shot, or more about their lives before the zoo bombing.<br /><br />I think that might've been interesting, but I have to say that I like the ending as is. It's startling and freaky and moderately heart-wrenching, but I think that was the point. It's a comic about war. Note the phrasing--it's not a "war comic." I've always thought of those as being more about heroic soldiers and adventures. <span style="font-style: italic;">Pride of Baghdad</span> is a comic about war, about what it is and what is does and how people are affected. And it's important to note that, like the ending of this book, war itself is frequently startling and freaky and heart-wrenching.<br /><br />If there was more of the story, it feels like it would take away from the impact of the ending. More on the beginning wouldn't really be interesting. Yeah, it's about lions, but zoo lions lead fairly boring lives. Not so much goes on with an animal who lives at a zoo. More after the end, on the other hand, would risk <span style="font-style: italic;">A.I.</span> syndrome. You know what that is. It's that thing that some books and movies and television shows do when they have a perfect ending and then continue to drag on for another fifteen minutes or three seasons or whatever.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Pride of Baghdad</span> is a good example of Thomas Hobbes' comment on life during wartime: "No arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short" (<span style="font-style: italic;">Leviathan</span> Pt. 1, Ch. 13). It may not be a comic about humanity, but that's pretty much what's going on here. An abrupt ending is appropriate to that. It's upsetting, and that's the point.Miss Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02486156139955512300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9092326886708903023.post-81872042595322011262008-03-30T15:22:00.002-04:002008-03-30T15:44:52.699-04:00Dearth of Words<span style="font-style: italic;">Pride of Baghdad</span><br />Brian K. Vaughan and Niko Henrichon<br /><br />Again I find that I have trouble of thinking of what to say about this book. Not the same kind of trouble as <span style="font-style: italic;">American Born Chinese</span>, of course. That was a trouble of being entirely satisfied, to the point where I couldn't find a criticism to make. With <span style="font-style: italic;">Pride of Baghdad</span> it's more that there's a lot to say and I have trouble deciding what would be most interesting and deserving of discussion.<br /><br />I suppose that yet again the best place to start would be with what we talked about in class. We did talk about a lot; there are a few decent jumping-off points. Education is always a good one, but as I'm not a teacher and don't intend to be one, I think I'd like to talk about this from the perspective of a librarian. I do work at a library, and I plan to be a professional librarian, so it's not such a bad place to start.<br /><br />The subject of librarians first came up in class as a hypothetical situation. What if a librarian wishes to expand her library's graphic novel collection and comes across a catalogue listing for <span style="font-style: italic;">Pride of Baghdad</span>? It's well-reviewed and reasonably topical--or, if this is in a couple of decades, not topical but historical. And hey, it's about a family of lions. Is this for children? If it's ordered for children, then what's the librarian going to do when it comes and she takes a quick flip through?<br /><br />Well, first, I'd hope that a responsible librarian wouldn't immediately categorize a graphic novel as children's fare. That's irresponsible, and...well...stupid. It's a terrible idea to think that just because two things use the same medium, they have similar content. <span style="font-style: italic;">The Lord of the Rings</span> is not <span style="font-style: italic;">Lord of the Flies</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Memento</span> is not <span style="font-style: italic;">The Court Jester</span>, and <span style="font-style: italic;">Pride of Baghdad</span> is certainly not a Superman comic.<br /><br />Secondly, talking animals. That shouldn't automatically fall into the category of children's books either. It's a little harder to convince people of, given the overwhelming avalanche of animal books for children, but the animal allegory is still a fine tradition. <span style="font-style: italic;">Animal Farm</span>, for example, came up in class, and the Nun's Priest's Tale in <span style="font-style: italic;">The Canterbury Tales</span> is all about animals. And then there are the modern not-necessarily-for-children animal comics, like the ones that got talked about in my boyfriend's blog, <a href="http://notatiein.blogspot.com/">This is NOT a tie-in</a>. Or, hell. <span style="font-style: italic;">Fritz the Cat</span>.<br /><br />Still, descriptions can be vague. If one wanted to be brief, one could describe <span style="font-style: italic;">Pride of Baghdad</span> as simply a book about "a family of lions in wartime Iraq," and, as my favorite <span style="font-style: italic;">Buffy</span> quote puts it, a vague disclaimer is nobody's friend. Although I'd hope it wouldn't be listed in any sort of catalogue of children's books.<br /><br />Anyway, speaking from my own perspective as a librarian, I'd certainly have this in any library I may someday get to run. It's a great story. But if someone tried to order it for the children's section I would scold them for narrow-mindedness. I'd let a kid check it out, but I'd probably want some sort of parental permission, or at least a written recommendation from a teacher.<br /><br />It's a great book. But it's not for kids.Miss Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02486156139955512300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9092326886708903023.post-48725903161403921682008-03-24T00:27:00.002-04:002008-03-24T00:29:52.378-04:00Things You Might Enjoy, If You Enjoy This Sort Of Thing--Episode Six<span style="font-style: italic;">Girl Genius</span><br />Phil and Kaja Foglio<br />http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/<br /><br />Quick hit here. Another webcomic.<br /><br />It is steampunk fantasy with mad scientists. Ultimate sexy.<br /><br />Miss Becca out.Miss Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02486156139955512300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9092326886708903023.post-41860528302377130432008-03-23T21:20:00.005-04:002008-03-23T21:28:49.446-04:00Three Dimensions<span style="font-style: italic;">The Complete Bone</span><br />Jeff Smith<br /><br />I saw some screenshots from intended <span style="font-style: italic;">Bone</span> video games on Jeff Smith's website the other day, and I have to say, I'm disturbed. They don't change the art style radically, but they do put the characters in 3-d. It's creepy.<br /><br />I don't quite know why it bothers me so much in this situation. Normally I like fancitive three-dimensional computer animation. I think it's cool. Especially if it's a Pixar movie. <span style="font-style: italic;">Bone</span> in three dimensions, however, bugs me to no end.<br /><br />I think it's partially that I find charm in the flatness of the art style of the comics. Everything is beautifully detailed. Even the Bones are detailed; they're just generally minimal. The backgrounds are gorgeous and intense. The people look like people. I think the art would convert well to simple two-dimensional animation. It doesn't need the added "realism" of three-dimensional computer animation. That just makes it look silly.<br /><br />Also, Jeff Smith does a lot with facial expressions. His people have lots of emotions, and their faces show them well. Eyes widen. Jaws drop. It's almost like Looney Toons. That looks good when it's flat.<br /><br />...also the animation just isn't very good. -_-Miss Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02486156139955512300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9092326886708903023.post-3089043701892710422008-03-23T14:47:00.003-04:002008-03-23T14:56:38.960-04:00Thorn The Archetype<span style="font-style: italic;">The Complete Bone</span><br />Jeff Smith<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Spoilers!</span><br /><br />So on Wednesday we had what may be one of my favorite class discussions so far. We talked about literary and artistic archetypes, connecting them to <span style="font-style: italic;">Bone</span> and the characters therein. I think, given this, that it'd be a good time to talk about Thorn.<br /><br />I like Thorn because she gets to be three archetypes at once. At first she's a good maiden type, almost but not quite a damsel in distress. She gets in trouble, and then people save her. She's also an exotic foreign girl--not so much to the reader, necessarily, but certainly to Fone Bone and his brothers. Then, once we find out her background and she gets her sword, she gets to be a warrior princess.<br /><br />I also like Thorn because of the all-ages aspect of <span style="font-style: italic;">Bone</span> I was talking about last post. She's pretty and intriguing without being overly sexual. The chronology of the story suggests that she's about twenty, but she looks like a normal person instead of some blonde bombshell. And she's a good example.<br /><br />Not that I think all kids should be like Thorn, but she's worth looking at as some sort of role model. She's smart, and generally reasonable, and good to people. Sometimes she gets really angry, but generally not without good reason. Sometimes she goes tearing off when it's not a good idea, but it's not like she's just being wild and rebellious. She does get unreasonable occasionally, but for the most part she's a good person.<br /><br />So she also gets to be a fourth archetype, one that's less traditional: she is the awesome young lady. That's the one who's not a wilting flower damsel, not necessarily exotic and sexy, and not necessarily an ass-kicking type. She's just a girl who knows where her head's at. She's like an older version of Neil Gaiman's character Coraline. And that's really cool.Miss Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02486156139955512300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9092326886708903023.post-55919219331403582302008-03-22T23:11:00.003-04:002008-03-22T23:31:28.352-04:00Magic Bone<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Complete </span>Bone</span><br />Jeff Smith<br /><br />This week's reading was the immense tome that is Jeff Smith's glorious work of fiction, <span style="font-style: italic;">The Complete Bone</span>. Much of the discussion had to do with the subject of "all-ages" comics--what makes them so, and things of that ilk. Several reasons were given, at least for <span style="font-style: italic;">Bone</span>. No sex. Expressive character art. Lots of humor.<br /><br />What I think is important, though, is the immensity of the story. It reads quickly, because of all the pictures, but it's still nine volumes long. It's a genuine epic fantasy, and it's for sort of for children, which is something I think we need more of. There are children's series, including long-running monthlies like <span style="font-style: italic;">Animorphs</span>, but you can't buy most of those in one huge volume. That is restricted to books for grown-ups.<span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />Bone</span> comes in one huge volume, and yet I think I could provoke a child to read all of it. They're putting out color versions targeted just at kids, but I don't even think I'd need that. The art is cool without color, and honestly the coloring is a little weird. It has action and adventure and comedy and fighting and stupid, stupid rat creatures, and also romance that doesn't involve any kissing, which is a big selling point for children.<br /><br />It is awesome for children in the same way that opera can be awesome for children; kids like stuff that's a little bit dark and scary and gross. Kingdok could probably give a kid nightmares, but then he gets defeated, and Briar is creepy but silly and weird at the same time. It's a story that's big and scary and intense, but then the good guys win. And it's good for teaching concepts, I think--at least, for teaching kids why it's good to be like Fone Bone and not at all like Phoney. It's like <span style="font-style: italic;">The Neverending Story</span>, which is a beautiful epic story that children should read so that they can learn the value of retaining their imaginations and remembering who they are.<br /><br />Someday I'm going to make my children read <span style="font-style: italic;">Bone</span>. Children should read more. <span style="font-style: italic;">Bone</span> is good for that.Miss Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02486156139955512300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9092326886708903023.post-73705183738205204042008-03-16T11:06:00.002-04:002008-03-16T11:29:25.386-04:00Things You Might Enjoy, If You Enjoy This Sort Of Thing--Episode Five<span style="font-style: italic;">Otter Soldiers</span><br />Elina Hopeasaari<br />http://iperyys.net/ssos/enkkukenkku.html<br /><br />Following on my review of last week, this is another webcomic for your perusal. Like <span style="font-style: italic;">Grayling</span>, it's not the typical newspaper-strip format--this, again, is closer to full pages of trade paperbacks getting put up online.<br /><br />It's called <span style="font-style: italic;">Otter Soldiers</span>. It's Finnish.<br /><br />Before you ask, yes. It's available in English. The author actually translates it herself; the website has two sections, one in Finnish and one in English. I've linked to the English one, of course. Story premise is as follows (not a quote):<span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">We are in Finland. Santa Claus is dead. His elves have gone crazy and are trying to improve the world by causing "bad" children to disappear. An eleven-year-old girl's friend disappears, and she hooks up with an angry, depressed woman and some fairies to save the world.</span></span><br /><br />No, I'm not making that up.<br /><br />It's a fairly weird comic in the first place, as you can see, made even weirder by the fact that the author's English translation occasionally uses some really bizarre grammar. I want to learn Finnish now, just to see where she's getting these grammatical constructions from. The two main characters--the girl and the grouchy woman--are named Outi Janis and Reiska Lilavati. Outi at least is cool; Reiska's self-loathing worries me.<br /><br />Despite the weirdness, it's a fascinating story. It draws heavily on Finnish folklore--in fact, the author provides a page explaining the some of the things in the comic for people who are not of Finnish descent. Finnish folklore is why the elves in this comic are freaky little murderbeasts instead of rosy-cheeked helpers or ethereal othertypes.<br /><br />The art is interesting. Hopeasaari is actually a really good artist, but I will warn you that she does not draw pretty. The story of <span style="font-style: italic;">Otter Soldiers</span> is creepy and weird, and the art for it is just as creepy and weird. But sometimes it is also beautiful.<br /><br />The weird English takes some getting used to, and the story might scare you. If anything, you'll never look at raisins in the same way again. Despite the freakiness, though, there's a lot of humor, so while it certainly isn't continuously funny, there are things to laugh at. Like <span style="font-style: italic;">Grayling</span>, this is a comic that should be read from the beginning, and it updates irregularly. However, it's still more regular than <span style="font-style: italic;">Grayling</span>--I've found that there will normally be at least one new page a week, often more. So it might be a little bizarre, but it's totally worth reading, and the story isn't too hard to follow, especially given the pleasant frequentness of updates.<br /><br />Give it a shot. If you get freaked out, it's probably my fault. But if you like it, that's my fault too.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span>Miss Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02486156139955512300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9092326886708903023.post-76470188087031742582008-03-16T10:52:00.002-04:002008-03-16T11:06:43.342-04:00Read This Book<span style="font-style: italic;">American Born Chinese</span><br />Gene Luen Yang<br /><br />Right. So I just posted about how little I felt I could really say about <span style="font-style: italic;">ABC</span>. Well, then, I am forsworn. Or something. Anyway, here's something I can say.<br /><br />This is why you should read <span style="font-style: italic;">American Born Chinese</span>, and why it should be taught in schools:<br /><ul><li>First off, it's just a good story. It's well-written and interesting, and in a student context would be an excellent example of "this is one person's writing style which works."</li><li>It uses an unorthodox (for Western culture) story structure which is interesting to the casual reader and would lead very well in a classroom setting into a discussion of plot structure and how it can vary creatively.</li><li>It's a good, easy-to-read example of a comic as literature. I think it'd be an excellent way to introduce graphic novels as a literary form--not too complicated or weird, but still an interesting story told in such a manner that the combination of art and words is really necessary.</li><li>It's got a good message. I always like a be-yourself story that isn't heavy handed.</li><li>As I said in my earlier post, it'd be a great intro to a study of Eastern myths and legends.</li><li>It's a good set-up for, school-wise, an in-class discussion of racism and the implications of such.</li></ul>So there. Six reasons why <span style="font-style: italic;">American Born Chinese</span> is something worth reading. I think I'm going to print up a sheet of these now and start mailing it to schools around the country.Miss Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02486156139955512300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9092326886708903023.post-40883055274094839912008-03-16T10:33:00.003-04:002008-03-16T10:52:06.658-04:00A Baffling Lack Of Commentary<span style="font-style: italic;">American Born Chinese</span><br />Gene Luen Yang<br /><br />I'm surprised to find that, having said what I have to say about education, I can't really think of much else to talk about for <span style="font-style: italic;">ABC</span>, and honestly, I feel a little guilty. It's a wonderful book.<br /><br />However, it's hard to discuss something in which the symbolism is so clearly explained. There are three plotlines, they all have the same moral, and they get tied up into a neat little bundle by the Monkey King at the end. That's oversimplified, I know. But still, it doesn't leave much room for commentary.<br /><br />We spent the past week in class talking about this, so I know I've got things to say. But a lot of what we talked about involved things like racism in the book and Jin's own self-perception problems, and I don't think I could do those justice here without other people to talk with, bringing up their opinions and their interpretations. Besides that, I'm not terribly sure what I'd say. My opinions are not concrete. They're not even liquid.<br /><br />The best way to discuss this, I think, is to tell anyone who might be out there that hey, they should read <span style="font-style: italic;">American Born Chinese</span>. It's really good, and it'll give you things to think about, even if you can't articulate them.Miss Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02486156139955512300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9092326886708903023.post-67601612762750750412008-03-15T15:39:00.003-04:002008-03-15T16:08:00.695-04:00Monkey Kings<span style="font-style: italic;">American Born Chinese</span><br />Gene Luen Yang<br /><br />I'm not an education major. I like teaching, and I'm fairly fond of children, but if I'm going to teach, I'd rather it was at the college level. Primarily this is due to the restrictions that tend to come up when choosing books for a literature course; the books I like and think are worth teaching are frequently frightening, violent, sometimes sexual, and generally considered inappropriate for children.<br /><br />However, I do have some ideas about what I think kids should be learning. Some of this I hope to rectify myself via the production of awesome young adult fiction; it's something I enjoy doing, and it's a way of reaching lots of children that means I don't have to talk to lots of them all at the same time. Other things, though, I will simply tender as suggestions.<br /><br />In class this week, we discussed <span style="font-style: italic;">American Born Chinese</span>, a graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang. It's considered young adult fiction, and the subject of how one might use it as a teaching aid in, say, middle or high school, came up once or twice. Mainly the consensus was that it wouldn't be great for elementary schoolers, as it contains a lot of stuff about racism--including a deliberate racist caricature, used to make a point--that might be difficult to explain to a class of eight-year-olds and even harder to explain to their parents.<br /><br />However, despite the difficult subjects it covers, I don't think <span style="font-style: italic;">ABC</span> should be completely eliminated as a possibility for elementary schools. Throughout the book there are three plot threads, and one would be excellent for elementary school students. It is the story of the Monkey King, an important figure in Chinese mythology, and I think it'd be a fantastic way to introduce children to the mythology of other cultures.<br /><br />Here's the thing: kids get to hear a lot of Western mythology. There are many child-friendly books of Greek myths; there are King Arthur stories and the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen and the Grimm Brothers. There are even some cool books of Norse mythology, and if you stray a bit from Europe there are loads of things about Egypt.<br /><br />The further east you go, though, the harder it is to find a lot of information geared toward children about the mythologies of the cultures you're encountering. I think, for example, that it'd be fantastic if there were more sources for traditional Middle Eastern stories than, say, the intensely Westernized Disney <span style="font-style: italic;">Aladdin</span>. Or more sources for the legends and history of China than the cool but not terribly representative <span style="font-style: italic;">Mulan</span>. Don't get me wrong; I love me some Disney, and these are some of my favorites. But it's fairly slim pickings. I work in a bookstore that actually has a bookshelf for children's mythology, and the lack of variety there makes me rather sad.<br /><br />Yang's story of the Monkey King has beautiful art, and the reading level isn't anything prohibitively difficult for, say, a third-grader. Even without the backup of the other two storylines, it's still got a good be-yourself message and enough information to lead into a decent discussion of racism if the teacher wanted to do something like that. But what's most important is that this is the Monkey King. He's a big guy in Chinese mythology, and reading the Monkey King portions of <span style="font-style: italic;">ABC</span> would be a good start to a small unit on Eastern mythology. One would start with China, of course, but it's not hard to go from there. There are connections to Hanuman, the Hindu King of the Monkeys, which leads naturally to a discussion of Hindu mythology. The Monkey King is pretty popular in the Japanese media, so that leads into the legends of Japan. The possibilities are pretty much endless.<br /><br />I'm a big fan of cultural diversity in education, and I think the best way to get started early is through mythology. It was one of my big focuses when I was little; admittedly I did focus on the Greeks, but I've expanded since then. It's exciting for kids. There's action, adventure, occasional romances, rude jokes, introduction to other cultures--what's not to like?<br /><br />I don't know if I'll ever get to apply this personally. But it's something to consider.Miss Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02486156139955512300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9092326886708903023.post-29310028387708411522008-03-08T11:17:00.003-05:002008-03-08T11:42:52.901-05:00Things You Might Enjoy, If You Enjoy This Sort Of Thing--Episode Four<span style="font-style: italic;">Grayling</span><br />Arborwin<br />http://grayling.arborwin.com/<br /><br />It occurred to me this morning that I've done three reviews already and haven't once talked about webcomics. It's sort of a different medium from print comics, but not so far removed that I shouldn't be able to talk about it. I read a lot of webcomics, too, so it's probably a good idea to review one or two.<br /><br />I only recently started reading Grayling again. I read it a few years ago, but due to the irregular update schedule I eventually fell out of the habit of checking the website. Because it had been a couple of years, of course I had to start from the beginning and read all the way through the archives until I reached the present day.<br /><br />This isn't just because I wanted a refresher, and it's something I'll warn you about now. Grayling isn't a comic you can just pick up and start reading at the present day. Reading through the archives is <span style="font-style: italic;">required</span>, because the story is deep and complicated and spans a few thousand years. But I can give you a quick explanation, so you'll know what you're getting into.<br /><br />Briefly, Grayling follows the lives, trials, and tribulations of the elementals of the world of Faidia, including their interactions with certain mortals and their attempts to save the world. It focuses primarily on Moranerial, or Fern, the elemental of fire, Callanerial, the elemental of death, and Morse, a human girl whose life these elementals basically destroy.<br /><br />Before you ask, yes. It gets a bit depressing.<br /><br />That is, I must emphasize, only the briefest of summaries. It's not nearly enough to go on if you want to start reading the comic; like I said, you really have to read the archives, and it's worth it. If you start at the beginning, for one, you get to see the art slowly improve and become more and more strange and individual, as well as getting to experience all the glorious character growth in full surround angst. It's bizarre and original, and the characters are for the most part very likable--even Lemanerial, and he's kind of a jackass. Also, the author includes on the site a full cast list, as well as several essays on various aspects of Faidian life, culture, and ecology.<br /><br />The art is extraordinary. Most of the comic is done in a style that's sort of half-anime, half abstract art. The lettering is mostly done by computer, though, which makes it easier to read, and Arborwin uses gorgeous, intense colors. You <span style="font-style: italic;">really</span> need to read this comic.<br /><br />However, I will provide one last warning, just to make sure nobody gets really alarmed. Arborwin herself has put this warning at the beginning of the archives. Grayling, for those of you who might be bothered by this, is filled with gay. Lots of gay. A number of the main characters are...well, elementals don't really go by human sexuality, but there are a lot of same-sex relationships. It doesn't bother me, but if that's something that'll bug you, don't read this comic.<br /><br />Other than that, though, it's totally worth it. It's a beautiful story.Miss Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02486156139955512300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9092326886708903023.post-51413665104859594442008-03-08T10:59:00.003-05:002008-03-08T11:16:11.900-05:00L Is Denny Colt's Illegitimate Grandson<span style="font-style: italic;">Death Note Volume 1</span><br />Tsugumi Ohba<br /><br />We were meant to talk about <span style="font-style: italic;">The Spirit</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Death Note</span> in class this Wednesday. Unfortunately we had our fourth Wednesday snow day, thus cutting that out. But I figured I'd have something to say about it here. This can serve as my second post of the day about a specific <span style="font-style: italic;">Death Note</span> character.<br /><br />So far, having only read volume one of <span style="font-style: italic;">Death Note</span>, I haven't gotten to see much of L the detective. I've heard a few spoilers and seen an episode of the anime, but I still don't know too much. Guessing about his identity is as much of a hobby in the actual comic as it is in the real world, too, so I think I can put in my two cents. I believe that L the detective is actually the grandson of Denny Colt, the Spirit, via an illegitimate child Denny Colt had with Silk Satin. Said child moved to Britain or wherever L's from, got married to one of the few descendants of Sherlock Holmes, and voila. L has arrived.<br /><br />This may sound far-fetched, and don't get me wrong. It totally is. But at the same time, I'm talking about a comic, and it's something I think would be cool.<br /><br />Anyway, my evidence for this is mainly L's general modus operandi. He acts a lot like a more circumspect version of Denny Colt--where Denny Colt just hides his identity from the public, L hides his identity from everyone. Both have a close relationship with the police and tend to get put on unusual, high profile cases. L has no sidekicks, but this is because he knows his grandfather's illustrious history, including all the incidents of inopportune betrayal.<br /><br />It also explains why L can pull reckless tricks like the one with the fake news broadcast and then dare Kira to come get him. He's got just as much of a superiority complex as Light has, but his is backed up by a glorious lineage and a great deal of actual skill. He's the world's best detective and he knows it, and he's descended from another great crime fighter.<br /><br />Despite this, I doubt Denny Colt would quite approve of L's methods. Even with his own desire for secrecy, he's very much about the trust. L, with his hidden lair and super-concealing ways, is not exactly one to inspire trust, even if he is brilliant. Also, besides the trust issue, L solves crimes, but he isn't active--he doesn't actually go out and collar the crook, he just tells the police how to. I doubt Denny Colt would be able to stand it if all he could do was watch and give directions.<br /><br />I wonder if Tsugumi Ohba's ever read <span style="font-style: italic;">The Spirit</span>. It'd be awesome if he has.Miss Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02486156139955512300noreply@blogger.com0