This is the blog of things I'm thinking about at the moment. I expect to think about ideas related to dance, games, comics, films, theatre, food and sex. I might think about other things too.
Mark Newgarden and Paul Karasik wrote How to Read Nancy. (A pdf will download if you click on the link)
I've never really read Nancy, but I was so blown away at Newgarden's short comic Love's Savage Fury when I first read it in Raw so long ago that it sticks with me today. I couldn't find a full copy online, but a detail shows above. It's available in Newgarden's collection We All Die Alone.
It takes Nancy and Sluggo and casts them as a young man and woman who may have exchanged a glance on a subway train. It's told from the mind's eye of the young man as he tries to recall the moment.
What is it about that strip that resonated with me?
I'm planning to hit Europe next year. Here are some things I'd like to do over the course of two-ish weeks.
Here's a short list of places I'd like to check out in Europe: Belgian Comic Strip Center - What can I say? I'm a big fan of Belgian cartooning. You might be familiar with Tintin or the Smurfs. There's just a certain quality of line that I've always appreciated. Heck, in researching this entry I found this amazing little tour: Brussels Comic Strip Walk.
Moi, j'm'en fous je triche - I want to play board games in French. They play a lot of the same games that I know, only they play in the language of love.
By the way, the pic above is from a filler game I've been enjoying recently. Travel Blog by Vlaada Chvatil is a ton of fun.
I want to take yoga classes and dance the lindy hop too, maybe catch some improv shows if they exist, all the stuff that I love doing at home, but more expensive and foreign. I'd like to eat cheese, yogurt and lots of fruit. Perhaps take in a game of petanque if I can find anyone to play.
Ooh, here's an idea: let's visit spooky places. Anyone got any ideas?
Above is a short video from Adult Swim that excerpts a flashback from the pages of Bryan Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim series. Below is an interview that I conducted with O'Malley for Broken Frontier a few years back.
One of the breakout comics of the last few years was a book called Scott Pilgrim. Scott Pilgrim combines action, romance and rock and roll into a package that puts the funny back into funny books. Bryan Lee O’Malley, creator of Scott Pilgrim met with Neil Figuracion at the San Diego Comic-Con to discuss his roots, his slacker friends and how vegans earn their psychic powers.
BROKEN FRONTIER: It seems like Super Mario was a big part of your life. Did you spend a lot of time with your friends…
BRYAN LEE O’MALLEY: [Chuckles] I guess so. I feel like everyone around my age did. Yeah, Super Mario 3 was a really big deal when we were all little kids. It’s just sort of like the fabric of my childhood, I guess.
BF: You were the artist on the second Hopeless Savages series. Was that your first comics work?
BLO: No, it was the first thing that I drew that… (hesitating) No, it wasn’t. I worked with my friends – they were in a thing called Studio XD, back in 2000-2001. I lettered their book Last Shot and I worked with Udon for a while doing various things. I did this Spider-man book for little kids. Then I inked an issue of Queen and Country and then I did Hopeless Savages.
BF: What’s the story behind Lost at Sea ?
BLO: I was in California with the Studio XD guys. I was really angsty and had a lot going on in my mind. So I wrote this book that was from the perspective of this teenage girl. Part of the thing I was feeling was just too ridiculous to be a twenty-one year old guy.
BF: Do you feel something like a teenage girl?
BLO: Oh, I used to. I used to be like an angsty sixteen year old girl. I was just really overemotional, over-thinking everything. I was lost at sea, so the book just came out of my mind set. So that was like trying to clear my mind out a bit. Same with Scott Pilgrim, really. Just trying to clear out some of the nerdy junk culture.
BF: Well it seems like Scott Pilgrim is a pretty big change of pace from that.
BLO: It is, but more like a change… like when I’m looking back at my teen years it’s more angsty and like [makes an agitated gesture] whoooo! Then when I’m looking back a little later, like in my twenties, I’m still kinda angsty but it’s not the main thing. I’ve had other stuff to do, other stuff on my mind - relationships and friends ships and stuff like that. So I’m kinda looking more outside of myself, whereas Lost at Sea is really, really internal.
BF: Scott Pilgrim seems like the first great action romantic comedy of the new millennium.
BLO: [Nervous laughter] Okaaay…
BF: How did you initially pitch the series to Oni?
BLO: I don’t totally remember. It was a bit smaller at first. I think it was going to be one book originally. The pitch was basically that it was Blue Monday, which is one of their books – Blue Monday meets Dragon Ball!
BF: Was the reader response surprising?
BLO: It has been, gradually. We’ve been doing it for two years now. The first one came out almost exactly two years ago. At first there was not much [response]. You know, a trickle. It’s just been snowballing really, really steadily. By this time, it’s pretty big.
BF: Your hero Scott seems to be on the tail-end of adolescence. Do you know a lot of guys like that?
BLO: Yeah. All my friends are like that, and I was like that for a long time. I don’t know if it’s always been like that but people in their twenties right now are not growing up, really. They’re still acting like teenagers, [but] they’re just getting apartments and getting drunk every night instead. Having nothing really to do, they’re working in the service industry and stuff. I’m just trying to take a look at that world. A lot of my friends, it’s just like you wish they’d grow up and do something with their lives but they don’t. So that’s kind of Scott Pilgrim.
BF: And then there’s Scott’s true love, Ramona Flowers. Was meeting Hope Larson like that?
BLO: I started writing the book before – not like the actual book but taking notes for the series – before I actually met Hope. But then it just naturally developed. The love interest became sort of my love interest for the time. So she became this American girl, but there’s bits of other girls I know. It’s kind of an amalgamation.
BF: Scott has to defeat Seven Evil Ex-Boyfriends. Is love ever easy?
BLO: Not really. Not when it’s any good. It’s usually not Seven Evil Ex-Boyfriends hard, but it’s never super easy.
BF: Is there a particularly Canadian point of view in the book?
BLO: I don’t know. I mean it’s one of those things that it’s hard to sort of answer yourself. Like other people look at it and maybe they’ll know. I mean probably [there is], because I grew up in Canada and that’s where I spent my whole life. I’d like to think so, but I feel like a lot of Canadian fiction in entertainment, like TV and movies and stuff, [portray] and attitude that I don’t really like; like really kind of meek.
BF: What would be an example of this meekness?
BLO: I don’t know. I’m probably just making it up?
BF: Well, Canadians are stereotypically polite.
BLO: They’re polite, yeah, and sort of subservient in… What’s that other word I’m looking for? I don’t know. They’re a little too nice – almost passive-aggressive. Yeah, I feel like Canada needs to, I mean not Canada itself but Canadian artists and writers need to stand up for themselves more maybe.
BF: Well, what are real Canadians like if they’re not meek and polite?
BLO: Well they are meek and polite but they’re not… I don’t really have my point of view on this formulated yet. I’m in the process of it. I might be doing some writing for my friend who works for the CBC. You know, I’ll figure it out as I go along.
BF: I actually served your vegan shepherd’s pie recipe for a family dinner.
BLO: Did it go over well?
BF: It went well.
BLO: Some people came over yesterday and they were like “We keep trying to make your vegan shepherd’s pie and it’s not good.” They keep screwing it up and it turns to liquid or something. And it’s like I think you might be using too much liquid. You just have to use a splash really. I don’t know what they’re doing wrong.
BF: Actually it wasn’t that hard for me.
BLO: Yeah, it’s not really that hard.
BF: I guess I’m curious about this whole vegan king fu mythology that you’re creating. Where does that come from?
BLO: [Chuckles] Well, my wife was vegan for a while. Some of my friends were vegan. Some vegans are dicks about it. Not my friends – not most vegans, but some of them are like… I’ve heard vegans say things like “Vegans don’t sweat!” Like that kind of thing.
BF: [Stifling laughter]
BLO: So I just kind of built it up in my mind. I was probably reading Akira or something and I was like oh yeah, so vegans can fly and destroy you with their mind. It was like a natural progression in my mind.
BF: If you could mash up a few different bands, what would Sex Bob-omb sound like?
BLO: Sh*t, I’ve done this before. I remember saying it was early Bis and Uncle Tupelo. I think that’s a good combination.
BF: I hear rumors of a Scott Pilgrim movie.
BLO: I do too. I don’t know. Someone came by [the Oni booth] earlier and said “Oh! They turned in a second draft of the screenplay!” and I was like huh? Then another guy asked “How many drafts? How many screenplays have they written?” I don’t know what’s going on.
BF: Is there actual talk about a real movie.
BLO: There is talk. There is [inaudible] signed somewhere. There’s a few people involved. Edgar Wright was at the show and he’s supposed to be directing it, maybe. If he decides to. It’s not green lit, so we’ll see – fingers crossed.
BF: Would you want to be involved in that process?
BLO:Yeah.
BF: More involved than you are right now, apparently.
BLO: I’m involved. I’ve talked to the writer and the director. I’ve been consulting. I’d like some more money.
BF: Who wouldn’t? What would you want the movie to feel like?
BLO: Well if you’ve seen any of Edgar Wright’s work…
BF: What’s he done?
BLO: Shaun of the Dead and Spaced which is a British show. It’s just started airing [on BBC America] actually. Spaced is a lot like Scott Pilgrim in a lot of ways. So I think he has my sensibility. I’d like it to feel like the comics, but in a movie. I think it’s do-able.
BF: So you’re not going to be involved in scripting the film?
BLO:No.
BF: So what’s next for Bryan Lee O’Malley?
BLO: I’m just working on the fourth Scott Pilgrim book right now. I haven’t started drawing it yet. Everyone’s like “When’s it coming out? Is it coming out next week?” No, it’s not. It’s going to be out next year, sorry. It just takes a long time.
I suppose I've spent the last few weeks watching spoofs of superheroes. Specifically the funny movies and television shows that mock people who wear tights and fight crime.
My nephew James had recently pulled out The Specials from my DVD library. I hadn't seen it in a few years, but it's still pretty hilarious. The best thing about this movie is that the characters don't ever seem to fight crime. This morning, I picked out The Tick live action series. Still solidly funny, even though it doesn't seem like a show that most people would get. People often blame Fox for cancelling the show, but it makes sense. I still get a kick out of the episodes. I should probablu rewatch Mystery Men at some point. That's a movie that's intensely different from the source material, the obscure characters in Bob Burden's rigorously obscure comic masterpiece, The Flaming Carrot. Anything to do with The Flaming Carrot should probably be viewed through the lens of absurdism or dada. Mystery Men diverged from that. Honestly, I don't think the majority of the American public is smart enough to get Bob Burden's work.
I've never been a fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films. Think I saw the first one once. I was a huge fan of the comics, especially when they first appeared, but by the time they were a cartoon show they just seemed really watered down to me. However, the TMNT really do belong in the pantheon of comics spoofs. I just won't be watching those films any time soon.
There's this documentary called Confessions of a Superhero, that gets into the lives of the people who dress up in costume outside of the Mann Chinese Theatre, or whatever the place is called nowadays. Since I grew up on Hollywood and even worked the same block that these guys worked for several years, I find this movie quite close to my heart. I'm going to have to watch it again.
What weird stuff do you like to watch?
edit: Of course, I forgot to mention Joss Whedon's fabulous web-series Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog. Worth watching again and again.
I don't imagine anyone reading this blog was following my old blog on Myspace. I wrote an entry there about the very cool book Eisner/Miller , which was essentially a two-hundred page conversation between the late Will Eisner and Frank Miller, two of the most influential creators in comics.
Two very cool articles were recently posted on Twitter over the last few days and I thought they'd be worth re-posting here.
The first is a modern-day interview with Scott McCloud, author of Understanding Comics and also the creator of one of my favorite comics of all time, Zot!: Talking Comics with Scott McCloud.
Who (or what) is an Inker? In the most mechanical sense an Inker is a person in illustration, most often in comics, who takes drawings that have been layed out (by another person called a Penciller) and gets them ready for reproduction.
In comics, the Inker is often under-appreciated. Kevin Smith wrote a whole conversation about how inkers are "tracers" in Chasing Amy. Smith later recanted when he began working with professional comics artists.
Here's a lot more about comics inking, an excerpt from the DC Comics Guide to Inking Comic, by Klaus Janson:
What do comics have to do with the short film above? Maybe nothing.
This afternoon, while I played Marvel: Ultimate Alliance a thought occurred to me.
Comic books are big business. However it's a business around a medium that appears to be on its last legs. Now it seems that the most popular comic book characters are merely grist for the mill. I sometimes wonder if the net worth of the history of comic books is the vault of properties from which so many movies, television shows and video games are produced.
I have been a life-long comics reader. That last bit is emphasized because the action of reading is important to me. So often people have asked me if I have collected comics and my response is often "No, but I read them. They tend to collect themselves." If we believe Scott McCloud, the notion that comics are read is vital. One qualitative difference between a film and a comic is that the film is paced entirely by the editor. While the layout of a comics page is determined by the artist/creator, the reader is left to move at their own pace through the images.
Another key theorist in comics is the late, great Will Eisner. One of his complaints that I remember is (and I'm near certainly misquoting) the stories in comics always revolved around the notion of pursuit. The super-hero meme is only one facet of the world of comics. Yet most folks can only think of super-heroes when the word comics are discussed.
That's all well and good. When it comes to it, though, it appears that comics and all print publishing are undergoing a huge shift as their respective media become obsolete. As has been reported elsewhere, new generations of children are not being introduced to comic books in those formative years. Instead, they learn of those memorable characters through movies and video games. In fact, it seems that video games may serve to this new generation what comic books did to the 1950s kid. That's the generation that was hit by Seduction of the Innocent.
This would appear to bring us full circle. However, to go a little past that, I think to the potential of video game stories. It's clear to me that the majority of video game adaptations tend to work in that same "pursuit story" mode that Eisner supposedly complained about. Can the player complete such and such objective? If not, keep trying until they do. The stories don't ever seem to do much beyond that. It feels to me like story developments are in service to the action. I don't know that I can remember a game where the pursuit was the Macguffin for a richer experience. It seems to me that there's untapped potential in the video game arena.
I'm glad that Ray Zone is still making comics. I remember the first time I ever put on those funky specs, the ones that turned flat red/blue images into multi-layered space-scapes. It was called Battle for a Three Dimensional World, written by Ray Zone and with art by Jack "The King" Kirby. I bought it from a 7-Eleven, where it sat on a rack behind the register. I must have been 11 and I certainly didn't know who Jack Kirby was at the time. For me it was about that weird trick with the glasses.
Ray Zone was the guy who brought the tricks back to the trade.He has worked with legends, like the aforementioned Jack Kirby, Will Eisner, Neal Adams, Dave Stevens.... He's even had a hand in work with some of my favorite authors, including Alan Moore and Grant Morrison.
Whenever I see a 3D comic, I make sure to pick it up. Thanks to Sara who picked up a set of plastic 3D glasses for me. The paper ones always fall apart.
Two considerations today, they're both oddly sexual though all of the links and pics that I will post are safe for work, more or less.
Thanks to Sylvia Sykes who reminded me in her very cool 16 things(one of those Facebook chain letters that I usually ignore but in this case found to be a very compelling read; I mean if you know or know of Sylvia, you're probably at least a little curious about her!) about the author of one of my favorite books:
The Curious Sofa, A Pornographic Work by Ogdred Weary
Of which, this is the first page.
I'm honor and duty bound (no spoilers here!) not to say any more about this book in public, but it's easily one of the greatest technical works visual storytelling genius that I have encountered. However since I've spoiled a little bit in the title of the post, if you understand Scott McCloud's notion of blood in the gutters, then you'll have an idea of what I mean. If you read this and the only consideration you have is that "it's weird" then you probably should read it again until you see.
If you read this and approach me about the book, we will have a conversation.
As a follow up to my post about The Other Sexual Storytelling, I think it intriguing to link to Tony Comstock's latest blog, YouTube, Iran, and Gay Sex. This link is also troubling in an entirely different way. Go read it now, then watch the video and we'll discuss it later.
I'm really not ready to talk about it yet. I haven't built up the context for conversation.
I was surprised this morning to see myself name-checked on Tony Comstock's blog, (one image on link not safe for work, however the post is interesting so check it out!). The post regards the history of the MPAA - those folks who make the movie ratings and the progression of the X rating through the NC-17 rating. I responded again with a consideration about sexuality in narrative, stories where graphic depiction of sexuality is warranted, at least where I believe it to be warranted.
For those not familiar with Comstock Films, they produce award-winning, sexually graphic documentaries featuring couples discussing their relationships and sex lives, intercut with footage of their lovemaking. I've only seen Matt and Khym, but I'm curious to see more.
Here's a portion of my response, with included links:
On the whole though, doesn’t the cinema’s barren approach to sexuality reflect the lack of discussion that society has put into it? That we feel that sex is a “dangerous topic,” means that we associate it with darkness. It seems to me that many folks feel the need to talk about sexuality in hushed tones and thanks to you for endorsing a more open view.
Perhaps strangely, I find the occasional joyful sex trip in comics more than cinema. Even though I grow tired of the industry on the whole, it does seem to have room for folks who couldn’t (or don’t want to) get their stories told anywhere else. A couple of light-hearted porn strips like Xxxenophile (NSFW) or Small Favors makes the porn comics world worthwhile. I still want to see serious discussion of Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie’s Lost Girls.
The last link brings up the interview I did with Melinda Gebbie a couple of years back. Part two of that interview can be read here: Lost Girl Found. I'm really proud of that interview, so I'd love for more people to read it.
This whole discussion brings up some thoughts to me. For purposes of discussion, I generally think of the label of "Porn" as pertaining to stories told in order to help get someone off, or to inspire its audience to touch themselves or others. More often than not it's the narrative version of a lap-dance or a virtual brothel. It's a very profitable market and has always been, as far as I know.
The question I'm considering at the moment is about that line between Porn and other sexually graphic storytelling (see, I don't even have a word for it yet!). One significant difference is that Porn more often than not has not much to it in a literate sense; the goals of the characters are simple and predictable and it seems that there is really no potential for growth or evolution, those elements of story that make us relate to stories in emotional, intellectual or spiritual ways. I'm reminded of Victorian porn ("I'm spending! I'm spending!") though the formula probably goes back a bit further. Perhaps it works differently in pornographic novels. Pornucopia, by Piers Anthony is probably the first that I read and for an obscure book which I only read once, I want to assume that it was wholly influential to my sexual worldview, or at least the way I view sex in fiction. It is self-proclaimedly pornographic, but I remember relating to and caring about the characters, especially the main character, Prior Gross. Maybe other porn novels are better, but I haven't read many. This was wild for me, back in my Xanth-reading days. Maybe what made it fun was its airy quality, like reading those pun-tastic fantasy stories.
It seems to me that the other sexual storytelling (would anyone like to suggest a phrase?) is more often than not quite bleak, as Tony Comstock suggested. When an art-house director approaches graphic sex, the results are often depressing. That might have more to do with art-house directors than the notions of narrative sexuality, but what are you gonna do?
Going back to the Fight or Fuck post, I think that these impulses are generally exclusive, and I still endorse an inclusive worldview by far. However, now and then I have a new conversation and realize that the sex and violence aren't mutually exclusive. I would hope that the two activities were separate, but life is occasionally more complex than the way I would wish. Sexuality can be joyful, but it can also be traumatic.
Maybe it's that last that brings out the navel-gazing in the bulk of film-makers. I believe that sexually graphic storytelling has a potential to be much more than that; healing, uplifting, inspiring, revelatory. I wonder if these kinds of stories will grow out of the porn world or out of projects like Shortbus or Comstock Films. All I can hope is that those stories come eventually and that the world is less afraid when they do.
