Sequential Art and Graphic Novels

How Graphic Novels Work and What They Mean

Interesting interview on the Amazon page for How Graphic Novels Work and What They Mean

Amazon.com:What do comics--the writing and the pictures and the narrative combined--give us that other art forms don't?

Wolk: The most important thing comics give us, I think, is drawing that makes a story. What you're seeing when you look at a page of comics, you're not just looking at a bunch of images that represent a plot, you're looking at something that came from somebody's hand--a deliberately distorted world, changing over time, built by a particular artist, line by line.

mystery

Digging through an old photo album, I tripped over this photo. My boyfriend of the time was Tim Foster, best friend of Sam Keith (thanked in Sandman, and thinly fictionalized in zero girl). Sam asked if I woudl model for a comic he was doign, a kind atank girl thing. I did, but Tim and I broke up before I saw it, or even learned what it was called. any idea if it ever saw the light of day?

Probably taken in 1992, maybe.

(p.s. I'm now much older, much less cute and married to a gorgeous man whom I adore, so no naughty ideas...)

Powers

Just finished reading Powers Vol I and vol II. I don't mind the art, which is strongly reminiscent of the Batman animated series. The pulp-meets-manga works for me. I don't mind the weirdly Top Ten like-ness of it (no idea which came first). I don't mind the weird moments that don't work, like when a 3-d character shows up, or Warren Ellis does a ride-along.

In fact, I quite like it. The stories are mostly tightly paced and interesting, the world is well thought out, and the characters are straight out of hill street blues. We've been down this path before, with Watchman and Authority, but that doesn't make it a path not worth treading. In many ways, it's more successful than Top Ten in capturing the grittiness of a police station trying to deal with people who teleport to escape questioning, leaving an arm behind. Perhaps I'm the audience, the one who can't get enough watchman-authority-batman-law-n-order. Perhaps that's okay.

Recommended.

keanu???

Straight To Hell : A Hellblazer Site

keanu reeves is john constantine. I had hopes for some many people over the years, most recently Stephen Dorff.

return of the titans

Cartoon Network's Teen Titans first horrified me, but now I'm fascinated. Despite the odd anime look, the stories are moderately true to the original (with a toning down of the more grown up content. ) Not since Batman have I enjoyed a cartoon superhero show (okay, 1st season jackie chan-- but is he a superhero?).

And the opening title sequence-- sometimes in japanese, sometimes in english-- is delightful 60's cheese. Extra-groovy.

Worth checking out...

Hell is other comics

A number of Sandman Characters have been spun out into their own comics, but I think this is my favorite series, and the first to really keep up with Neil's precedent. Lucifer is the archetypal untrustworthy protagonist. It's not that he is evil; it's that he is the epitome of self-centeredness-- both the positive aspect of self-reliance and the negative of selfishness.

The cast of supporting characters is equally compelling-- Mazikeen's search to become her lover's equal, the nymphet/archangel's quest for normality, the damned soul's search for a moral life in hell. The contrast between the supporting character's aspirations throw Lucifer's calm pursuit of his vision more enticing. You can't help but hope Lucifer will succeed, even when he shows disturbing indifference to the lesser beings around him. A great character, perhaps the greatest since Mr. Morpheus and family.

Follow with Lucifer: Children and Monsters, Book 2
Lucifer: A Dalliance with the Damned, Book 3
Lucifer: The Divine Comedy, Book 4