Howdy howdy!
Don't know what you've been up to but I sure do know what I have!
After promptly getting rid of anything remotely close to a steady sleeping schedule I have managed to keep on a steady diet of a chapter a day for my comics script.
Yesterday I went to bed at 11pm and promptly woke up at 2am. After a couple of hours of fiddling about I eventually started typing script 18.
Which I finished at 10 something am...
Scripts are a funny thing. I always think that, because of the formatting I've written loads (after 6 hours quite solidly on it...) but the 19 pages that I added didn't seem to amount to the quantity I felt I'd written...
In any case the story is progressing. I think tonight I'll do the same as yesterday. Go to bed early and wake up whenever my mind and body prompt me...
Chapter 19 is called Dreams Of Destruction and starts accelerating towards the big finale, still a few issues ahead.
The big things in this issue are the confrontation between Roanoke and the Bureau top dog as well as Roanoke's insight towards the strange crimes being committed...
And, to be quite honest, I'm also curious about some of the stuff that's supposed to happen in this issue... I guess I'll find out in a few hours...
peace!
Tuesday, 13 April 2010
Friday, 9 April 2010
Script Frenzy Day 09
Yes, well, I know I haven't written anything about the 8 days gone but... this is better than nothing!
This year I decided to write a whole comics series some 300 to 400 pages in length. I already had some 60 pages of script when I started so I don't feel that I'm cheating that much... I'm on page 200 and something right now and it feels more or less half way there.
It's called THE BLIND (previously known as RIGOR MORTIS, which is a title that I might go back to... I'm still not entirely sure on either of them...)
It chronicles the investigation over one Aldous Roanoke, a eccentric young man that is going around Unistat (borrowed from RAW, a version of the USA) visiting imprisoned serial killers and the like.
I'm half way through Issue 14.
They're supposed to have 24 pages each (though I'm writing in a meticulous enough way to page and label everything properly. I'm just focussing on getting all the dialogue done and some brief scene descriptions with the odd panel or page idea laid out)
In a total of 24 issues.
And I think I'm more or less on track.
I think I'll probably have a few scenes that I'll have to leave out but that's not a problem because I can then insert them on the revision phase - probably by chucking out those that are redundant or that don't work well anymore. But that's a phase I'm yet to reach and it will be some time before I get there.
Even though I want to have this ready by the end of the month, I want to leave it to settle for a while before I pick it up again. Exception might be to rework the first chapter and send it to a couple of people to see what they think.
maybe...
the good thing is that the story' pace has naturally increased and the tension and the drama are building up. Yesterday (actually today, at 7am... I still hadn't gone to bed...) I had an important piece of plot fall into place and this story is feeling more and more right the closer I get to the end. I love this feeling. The feeling that your idea has taken a life of its own and that now you've stepped from the role of narrator to the role of spectator. For me it's the best part of writing, is to simply see and experience what's happening, rather than directly and tiresomely building it.
That's the beginning. When you're building the momentum and defining the rules. Either intuitively or with story-logic at work.
This is the downhill phase, so to speak. In the sense that you just need to let yourself go and the story go and watch the landscape just flash by you at an incredible but clear speed.
Guess what I'm gonna do right now?!
That's it!
See you in the funny pages!
peace
This year I decided to write a whole comics series some 300 to 400 pages in length. I already had some 60 pages of script when I started so I don't feel that I'm cheating that much... I'm on page 200 and something right now and it feels more or less half way there.
It's called THE BLIND (previously known as RIGOR MORTIS, which is a title that I might go back to... I'm still not entirely sure on either of them...)
It chronicles the investigation over one Aldous Roanoke, a eccentric young man that is going around Unistat (borrowed from RAW, a version of the USA) visiting imprisoned serial killers and the like.
I'm half way through Issue 14.
They're supposed to have 24 pages each (though I'm writing in a meticulous enough way to page and label everything properly. I'm just focussing on getting all the dialogue done and some brief scene descriptions with the odd panel or page idea laid out)
In a total of 24 issues.
And I think I'm more or less on track.
I think I'll probably have a few scenes that I'll have to leave out but that's not a problem because I can then insert them on the revision phase - probably by chucking out those that are redundant or that don't work well anymore. But that's a phase I'm yet to reach and it will be some time before I get there.
Even though I want to have this ready by the end of the month, I want to leave it to settle for a while before I pick it up again. Exception might be to rework the first chapter and send it to a couple of people to see what they think.
maybe...
the good thing is that the story' pace has naturally increased and the tension and the drama are building up. Yesterday (actually today, at 7am... I still hadn't gone to bed...) I had an important piece of plot fall into place and this story is feeling more and more right the closer I get to the end. I love this feeling. The feeling that your idea has taken a life of its own and that now you've stepped from the role of narrator to the role of spectator. For me it's the best part of writing, is to simply see and experience what's happening, rather than directly and tiresomely building it.
That's the beginning. When you're building the momentum and defining the rules. Either intuitively or with story-logic at work.
This is the downhill phase, so to speak. In the sense that you just need to let yourself go and the story go and watch the landscape just flash by you at an incredible but clear speed.
Guess what I'm gonna do right now?!
That's it!
See you in the funny pages!
peace
MORTO ÁRVORE BESTA draft04
It's been ages since I've written anything in this place...
But these last couple of months have been crazy. Not with work - I've never had so much free time in my life before! - but with writing.
It feels that the more free time I have the more writing I get done. And the more writing I do, the more lost into it I get...
Days just fly by...
In any case, since my last post I did another revision of the whole thing - while one of my flatmates was reading it actually - but I still haven't typed it up. I still have 300 A4 pages with some scribbles, quite a few deleted words, some stuff to cut and a new page to add.
I don't think I've saved that much space but I think it will make the reading flow a lot better. Plus, I realised one of the chapters wasn't properly tied and I nudged it back in the right direction...
But, since I'm writing something else for ScriptFrenzy... I don't know when I'll have the time to type everything up!
Hope you are well!
peace!
But these last couple of months have been crazy. Not with work - I've never had so much free time in my life before! - but with writing.
It feels that the more free time I have the more writing I get done. And the more writing I do, the more lost into it I get...
Days just fly by...
In any case, since my last post I did another revision of the whole thing - while one of my flatmates was reading it actually - but I still haven't typed it up. I still have 300 A4 pages with some scribbles, quite a few deleted words, some stuff to cut and a new page to add.
I don't think I've saved that much space but I think it will make the reading flow a lot better. Plus, I realised one of the chapters wasn't properly tied and I nudged it back in the right direction...
But, since I'm writing something else for ScriptFrenzy... I don't know when I'll have the time to type everything up!
Hope you are well!
peace!
Saturday, 20 March 2010
MORTO ÁRVORE BESTA
Is finished...
It's now 0.43am, Saturday barely started and my book is finally finished.
Well, as finished as these things get...
But it's 119 chapters strong, 302 pages long (A4), totalling 136145 words.
And enough stats!
Next phase is to actually read the whole thing again and see if this crazy structure I've given it makes any sense.
Probably chop a chapter or two along the way...
Just happy that this big project has reached some sort of conclusion. Now I want to start to look into competitions and sourcing out a few publishers... Send out a few copies to some friends and see what they think...
But, one thing I can tell you now: my next project is going to be completely different from this one. I want an adventure story, probably SF, something that will be easy to map out...
(I've got just the thing...)
Anyway just to say hello.
I'm back!
Hope you are well!
peace.
It's now 0.43am, Saturday barely started and my book is finally finished.
Well, as finished as these things get...
But it's 119 chapters strong, 302 pages long (A4), totalling 136145 words.
And enough stats!
Next phase is to actually read the whole thing again and see if this crazy structure I've given it makes any sense.
Probably chop a chapter or two along the way...
Just happy that this big project has reached some sort of conclusion. Now I want to start to look into competitions and sourcing out a few publishers... Send out a few copies to some friends and see what they think...
But, one thing I can tell you now: my next project is going to be completely different from this one. I want an adventure story, probably SF, something that will be easy to map out...
(I've got just the thing...)
Anyway just to say hello.
I'm back!
Hope you are well!
peace.
Thursday, 4 March 2010
Stars of Battle
I don't even know why I'm writing this. To get a weight out of my chest probably. it's almost 2am and I feel tired. Drained even. I've spent the day (and the last few days) revising my first book which is probably the most challenging thing I've written so far.
And I've just finished watching the last three episodes of Battlestar Galactica, the reimagining of, I should say.
There isn't much to tell since it only make sense if you've spent all those hours falling in love with those people on the screen. Never underestimate the power of film, that's the big lesson that once again I've been reminded.
To tell you the truth, it really felt like a part of me died with the last few moments of that series. Even though I know I can revisit it, it doesn't feel that way. It feels as if that cycle is truly gone and lost forever. It's sad but also awakening. It's a big step away from the moment to moment insight meditation, but it carries a similar punch only one given with a slightly different kind of gloves. Much heavier, much slower, likely to stick around for a while longer.
I could tell you a lot on how brilliant I think the plot and the characters were for all this series but I'll spare you the rant.
What really is important is that, through images and sound, a deep feeling of love and compassion arose for what, ultimately, merely happened in my brain. I was being programmed, voluntarily induced to experience the full breadth of human emotions. And by sticking with the ride, by closing the cycle (and I think it particularly important that Laura Roslin is the last person to die on the series and she dies because her lungs fail her), there is something worth being gained. I guess when those lives close ours must come automatically under scrutiny. There's a void now. Perhaps to be filled with a new series. Perhaps not. Perhaps that void can just be there to make itself known. That space used for us to breath into ourselves.
I don't know.
I'm trying to commit words to describe something that I never will. So intimate, so personal, and yet something I know I will share with most humans at some point in our lives.
It's not the words. It's what they hint at.
I guess a lot of people were disappointed with the religious overtones. Especially towards the end. And I can see that and accept that. But, to be perfectly frank, that's missing the point. To me it's not really about religion. Not really. Or, rather, if it is, it's in a very different way that we tend to think about it. I think it's more about what religion does than what religion is. But, in doing so, perhaps hints at what religion would like to be.
This series is woven with such incredible force and yet so much delicacy. That final death was something that filled me so completely. Together with Kara's last scene. Those were the two most important scenes in these final episodes. Perhaps even of the whole series. Because of the simplicity. Because of the beauty. Because of the subliminal depth that they carry.
Kara was the second chance coming to an end without ever coming into full bloom in the love that finally had every possibility laid in front of it. Terribly sad and moving but, as with most of this series, incredibly poignant and appropriate.
And Laura... Laura had always been this strange creature who we'd all like to love but never really could. But she is the epitome (along the old man...) of the true leader. So much so that only with the closeness of death does she allow herself to fully come into being and allow herself to feel. Her death is well staged. We've been hearing about it since day one in the series. She dies throughout the whole scale. And we are dying with her. Perhaps in different ways, but getting closer to that moment as well.
And we all know it. Deep inside of us we do.
And, instead of a big dramatic end, we have simply the very essence of life, air, being slowly taken away from her. Her lungs not being able to cope anymore.
So beautiful and so powerful. I truly have no words to describe it. Because it's bringing us, each and every one of us to the closest thing we will most likely one day know: how it is to run out of air.
It's something I realised very deeply in this last retreat (and undoubtedly why I resonated so profoundly with this scene) how, in most death scenarios, we will run out of air and we will know it and, more than try to fight it, we'll have to learn how to ride it.
That this scene, the way it's made, with all it's back history, with all the big themes lying about, is placed precisely there, in this way, cannot be a coincidence. Which tells me that the people behind this series (and I'm thinking Ronald D. Moore more than anyone) are truly special.
I'm sure many people, more cultured and educated than myself will look at this series and see a great many shortcomings, perhaps even dangerous things, undercurrent political viewpoints, etc.
I cannot glimpse any of that so much and, what I can it really doesn't contribute very much for any belief change or strengthening.
I just feel that this series was made with great love and is an act of love and a tribute to life itself. Its about us, but it's about so much more than just us.
Anyway. Thanks for listening.
Galactica Actual out.
peace
And I've just finished watching the last three episodes of Battlestar Galactica, the reimagining of, I should say.
There isn't much to tell since it only make sense if you've spent all those hours falling in love with those people on the screen. Never underestimate the power of film, that's the big lesson that once again I've been reminded.
To tell you the truth, it really felt like a part of me died with the last few moments of that series. Even though I know I can revisit it, it doesn't feel that way. It feels as if that cycle is truly gone and lost forever. It's sad but also awakening. It's a big step away from the moment to moment insight meditation, but it carries a similar punch only one given with a slightly different kind of gloves. Much heavier, much slower, likely to stick around for a while longer.
I could tell you a lot on how brilliant I think the plot and the characters were for all this series but I'll spare you the rant.
What really is important is that, through images and sound, a deep feeling of love and compassion arose for what, ultimately, merely happened in my brain. I was being programmed, voluntarily induced to experience the full breadth of human emotions. And by sticking with the ride, by closing the cycle (and I think it particularly important that Laura Roslin is the last person to die on the series and she dies because her lungs fail her), there is something worth being gained. I guess when those lives close ours must come automatically under scrutiny. There's a void now. Perhaps to be filled with a new series. Perhaps not. Perhaps that void can just be there to make itself known. That space used for us to breath into ourselves.
I don't know.
I'm trying to commit words to describe something that I never will. So intimate, so personal, and yet something I know I will share with most humans at some point in our lives.
It's not the words. It's what they hint at.
I guess a lot of people were disappointed with the religious overtones. Especially towards the end. And I can see that and accept that. But, to be perfectly frank, that's missing the point. To me it's not really about religion. Not really. Or, rather, if it is, it's in a very different way that we tend to think about it. I think it's more about what religion does than what religion is. But, in doing so, perhaps hints at what religion would like to be.
This series is woven with such incredible force and yet so much delicacy. That final death was something that filled me so completely. Together with Kara's last scene. Those were the two most important scenes in these final episodes. Perhaps even of the whole series. Because of the simplicity. Because of the beauty. Because of the subliminal depth that they carry.
Kara was the second chance coming to an end without ever coming into full bloom in the love that finally had every possibility laid in front of it. Terribly sad and moving but, as with most of this series, incredibly poignant and appropriate.
And Laura... Laura had always been this strange creature who we'd all like to love but never really could. But she is the epitome (along the old man...) of the true leader. So much so that only with the closeness of death does she allow herself to fully come into being and allow herself to feel. Her death is well staged. We've been hearing about it since day one in the series. She dies throughout the whole scale. And we are dying with her. Perhaps in different ways, but getting closer to that moment as well.
And we all know it. Deep inside of us we do.
And, instead of a big dramatic end, we have simply the very essence of life, air, being slowly taken away from her. Her lungs not being able to cope anymore.
So beautiful and so powerful. I truly have no words to describe it. Because it's bringing us, each and every one of us to the closest thing we will most likely one day know: how it is to run out of air.
It's something I realised very deeply in this last retreat (and undoubtedly why I resonated so profoundly with this scene) how, in most death scenarios, we will run out of air and we will know it and, more than try to fight it, we'll have to learn how to ride it.
That this scene, the way it's made, with all it's back history, with all the big themes lying about, is placed precisely there, in this way, cannot be a coincidence. Which tells me that the people behind this series (and I'm thinking Ronald D. Moore more than anyone) are truly special.
I'm sure many people, more cultured and educated than myself will look at this series and see a great many shortcomings, perhaps even dangerous things, undercurrent political viewpoints, etc.
I cannot glimpse any of that so much and, what I can it really doesn't contribute very much for any belief change or strengthening.
I just feel that this series was made with great love and is an act of love and a tribute to life itself. Its about us, but it's about so much more than just us.
Anyway. Thanks for listening.
Galactica Actual out.
peace
Monday, 8 February 2010
The Gravity of Tales
I've returned from my yearly retreat just a few days ago and I still haven't had time to begin posting stuff. This is one of the catches of going away for a good while: you really get to "go away", mind and body but then, when you come back, there's a ton of stuff to do, happily piling itself, and waiting for you...
So I've been digging through that pile (still of dirty clothes for the most part...) in hopes of returning to the writing element as quickly as possible...
(I want to finish my book!)
But this retreat was quite interesting (not only but, in relation to what I have to say for this post) in terms of writing ideas (they always tend to be).
The difference this year was that, instead of having a whole new bunch of projects, most of the stuff that became clearer was in relation to projects that I've already started.
Which was great! And a big sigh of relief! I already have enough stuff to keep me busy 'till the end of my days...
Still there were a couple of new ideas that I really enjoyed and for which I wrote a bit. One of them was The Great Temple and this is something yuo'll be hearing about in a few days since I'm going to type up what I wrote and start publishing it here, bit by bit. They're all short stories but, since their onset, I saw them more as a crossbreed between the short story and comics. So, it's a kind of an illustrated book. Yet, some pages might just be completely silent, no words, just images, while others can be the opposite.
And in between we'll have a wide array of possibility!
But it was good to experience this. This gravity of tales. These stories that just refuse to go away, even as the years go by. These are the ones I should write I suppose.
So, yet again, this was an incredibly inspiring retreat!
Sometimes I just wish I could stay there for a good long while and just write and write until I'm completely fed up with it...
But it's also good to be back into my comfort zone...
Let's see what will emerge in the next couple of months...
peace
So I've been digging through that pile (still of dirty clothes for the most part...) in hopes of returning to the writing element as quickly as possible...
(I want to finish my book!)
But this retreat was quite interesting (not only but, in relation to what I have to say for this post) in terms of writing ideas (they always tend to be).
The difference this year was that, instead of having a whole new bunch of projects, most of the stuff that became clearer was in relation to projects that I've already started.
Which was great! And a big sigh of relief! I already have enough stuff to keep me busy 'till the end of my days...
Still there were a couple of new ideas that I really enjoyed and for which I wrote a bit. One of them was The Great Temple and this is something yuo'll be hearing about in a few days since I'm going to type up what I wrote and start publishing it here, bit by bit. They're all short stories but, since their onset, I saw them more as a crossbreed between the short story and comics. So, it's a kind of an illustrated book. Yet, some pages might just be completely silent, no words, just images, while others can be the opposite.
And in between we'll have a wide array of possibility!
But it was good to experience this. This gravity of tales. These stories that just refuse to go away, even as the years go by. These are the ones I should write I suppose.
So, yet again, this was an incredibly inspiring retreat!
Sometimes I just wish I could stay there for a good long while and just write and write until I'm completely fed up with it...
But it's also good to be back into my comfort zone...
Let's see what will emerge in the next couple of months...
peace
Tuesday, 5 January 2010
So You Think Comics Are FUN?!
Yes. Well. We've been there haven't we?
And yes, you are correct. Comics are fun!
Here's what I wanna do. I want to continue what I started on that How To Get Hooked On Comics from a while ago.
Shortly after my friend emailed me and he wanted something far more simpler than a history of comics. He wanted no-brainers, pure, relaxing fun.
Obviously, this is a hard question...
But, I shall pool my resources together and see what I can come up with...
In terms of laugh out loud comics my first memorable incursions were Asterix and Tintin. These are still great classics today and I think I will always read them and treasure them. They're a great way of getting into the comics lingo and the huge amounts of slapstick, of catch lines and twists of language are just a pleasure to revisit time and time again.
The same can be said of Calvin and Hobbes, Iznogoud, Léonard, Lucky Luke, Spirou (at least the earliest stuff) and so many others. In fact, in Portugal we are quite lucky because we can just about go to any bookshop and you'll find these titles there. All you need to do is to browse Méribérica- Liber or Edições Asa's catalogues and you'll see lots and lots of stuff.
I love recommending stuff but I also feel that it is very important to engage with what we are looking for. And, in comics, this is particularly easy. You just go and open the page. See if the drawings do something for you. Read a bit of it. It's simple and quick. If it grabs you, it's the right thing. If it doesn't... well, you may be missing out but you can always give it a go at a later date.
This was the first phase, where all the comical stuff came from Europe. There was also some stuff from Disney but, as I found out through the years, most of it actually came from Brasil rather than the USA.
In Marvel and DC Comics humour was never a big part of the strips. In fact, it became less and less so, in all those attempts to make super-heroes real...
But one title comes instantly to my mind.
Lobo.
Lobo was the complete opposite of what was happening with comics at the time. Lobo was pure, raucous fun. Impossibility after impossibility with this mean streaked guy that just liked to get himself into trouble. And, for those of us that loved super-heroes, it was the perfect, never serious deconstruction of the genre.
I don't really remember much else going on. There were the occasional super-heroes that would have some humour to them (Spiderman for instance) but never a truly comical book through and through.
These big companies were always so much more about the drama.
Even a series like Preacher (Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon) in which humour is so important, still has a great deal of drama to it as it is, fundamentally, a story about love and friendship. You can forget about the vampire, the killing, the secret societies, the politics, the religion. It's about people seeing the best and the worst in us and dealing with it, one way or another.
But things have changed in recent years. I guess the industry has started taking itself less seriously (at least part of it...) and we're all the better for it.
One of the great titles (short lasted unfortunately) was Brit, by the almighty Robert Kirkman. Another one of great magnitude was The Pro by Garth Ennis (but if you're afraid of mature content don't even go there...). And the same with the more recent Chronicles of Wormwood also by Ennis. These are two very politically (and religiously and sexually) incorrect books... but they're great fun. For those of us that love north american comics, these kind of settle the score. Too much fun to miss out! Intelligent and unapologetic. And I'll say no more...
I don't have a lot of humorous stuff in my collection. As I said, there isn't that much around. Perhaps because humour tends to be equated with a child-like attitude and that tends to be disassociated with being mature and a responsible adult...
(and to those people I say - read Calvin and Hobbes godsdammit!!!...)
The big surprise in terms of humour (and much more) has come from the east. Japan more specifically.
A while ago I decided to read a couple of manga titles. Serious stuff and etc. But, amidst my "what do you recommend?" explorations there was a title that I kept not having time to read.
GTO - Great Teacher Onizuka.
People raved about it. I didn't have time for the twenty more volumes...
But I did have a chance to read the first three volumes of it for one of the Graphic Novels Reading Group meeting.
And I loved it.
I mean this series is great in many levels.
It's not only a great piece of contemporary comics but humour wise it's as audacious as it is funny!
The plot gyrates around this former bike gang leader that could only find a job as a replacement teacher... so you have a tough, unpolished guy that did all the wrong things at school now becoming the reference for lots of kids... things could only go wrong, right?
Wrong.
Shouldered with that responsibility and being more able to see the kids for who they are and the difficulties that they go through, Onizuka meets headfirst the challenges coming his way.
It's a beautiful series about true compassion, innocence and the ability to go as far as one possibly can to do the right thing.
Add to this the fact that Onizuka is an alien in the school system and you have a series that is at the same time socially relevant and filled with humour and unexpectedness.
It rarely gets better than this...
More recently I dabbled with some more manga.
Namely
Hayate the Combat Buttler, Ouran High School Host Club, Qwan, Blazin' Barrels and King Of Hell.
In all of these the humour element is crucial! In fact, in some of these series, like Hayate or Kind Of Hell it seems to be the major driving force.
I didn't have time to read much of them but they all hooked me pretty easily.
Especially Hayate and King Of Hell.
You can read a brief review of them here.
Other titles that quickly come to mind are Fruits Basket, Love Hina and Oh My Goddess. All of these with a strong romantic aspect to them but still delicious to either read or watch as an anime!
In fact this was one of the things we talked about yesterday in our reading group meeting. How humour seems to be such an integral part of japanese manga, to my mind related to the astounding diversity of genres and themes present, perhaps itself a reflection of their nuclear holocaust (that demanded any mechanisms whatsoever of coping with it).
Something worthwhile discussing though not now and certainly not here.
I know what some of you might be thinking:
"Manga.
It sounds good but for most series you have to read it right to left - opposite to what we are used to."
Sure.
It can be a bit confusing in the first book or so. But you'd be surprised at how quickly you catch the flow.
And trust me, it's well worth the small effort.
"Ok. But supposing that I manage to read it - there're just so many volumes of it!!"
Listen, the only reason you're telling me this is a disadvantage is because you still haven't started reading it.
When you do, you'll be GRATEFUL there's so much GOOD STUFF to read!!
Ok. I don't have much else to say (for now...)
(though I do have the feeling that I've forgotten a lot of great stuff... but it will come in due time...)
If you want you can browse at Tokyopop's catalogue or Viz's catalogue sections dedicated to humour...
I hope you all find the laughs you've been longing for...
Peace!
PS - I didn't talk about The Exterminators or The Goon because I still haven't read them (even though I have them in my shelves...). I could've talked about Chris Ware but his humour is much too bleak for this post and, besides, his comics are tough to read...
PSS - I forgot JACK OF FABLES!!! How could I?! This is my favourite series at the moment!!
Anyway, click here for some reviews...
PSSS - Vimanarama is another great title! Grant Morrison. Bollywood meets super-heroes... 'nough said!
And yes, you are correct. Comics are fun!
Here's what I wanna do. I want to continue what I started on that How To Get Hooked On Comics from a while ago.
Shortly after my friend emailed me and he wanted something far more simpler than a history of comics. He wanted no-brainers, pure, relaxing fun.
Obviously, this is a hard question...
But, I shall pool my resources together and see what I can come up with...
In terms of laugh out loud comics my first memorable incursions were Asterix and Tintin. These are still great classics today and I think I will always read them and treasure them. They're a great way of getting into the comics lingo and the huge amounts of slapstick, of catch lines and twists of language are just a pleasure to revisit time and time again.
The same can be said of Calvin and Hobbes, Iznogoud, Léonard, Lucky Luke, Spirou (at least the earliest stuff) and so many others. In fact, in Portugal we are quite lucky because we can just about go to any bookshop and you'll find these titles there. All you need to do is to browse Méribérica- Liber or Edições Asa's catalogues and you'll see lots and lots of stuff.
I love recommending stuff but I also feel that it is very important to engage with what we are looking for. And, in comics, this is particularly easy. You just go and open the page. See if the drawings do something for you. Read a bit of it. It's simple and quick. If it grabs you, it's the right thing. If it doesn't... well, you may be missing out but you can always give it a go at a later date.
This was the first phase, where all the comical stuff came from Europe. There was also some stuff from Disney but, as I found out through the years, most of it actually came from Brasil rather than the USA.
In Marvel and DC Comics humour was never a big part of the strips. In fact, it became less and less so, in all those attempts to make super-heroes real...
But one title comes instantly to my mind.
Lobo.
Lobo was the complete opposite of what was happening with comics at the time. Lobo was pure, raucous fun. Impossibility after impossibility with this mean streaked guy that just liked to get himself into trouble. And, for those of us that loved super-heroes, it was the perfect, never serious deconstruction of the genre.
I don't really remember much else going on. There were the occasional super-heroes that would have some humour to them (Spiderman for instance) but never a truly comical book through and through.
These big companies were always so much more about the drama.
Even a series like Preacher (Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon) in which humour is so important, still has a great deal of drama to it as it is, fundamentally, a story about love and friendship. You can forget about the vampire, the killing, the secret societies, the politics, the religion. It's about people seeing the best and the worst in us and dealing with it, one way or another.
But things have changed in recent years. I guess the industry has started taking itself less seriously (at least part of it...) and we're all the better for it.
One of the great titles (short lasted unfortunately) was Brit, by the almighty Robert Kirkman. Another one of great magnitude was The Pro by Garth Ennis (but if you're afraid of mature content don't even go there...). And the same with the more recent Chronicles of Wormwood also by Ennis. These are two very politically (and religiously and sexually) incorrect books... but they're great fun. For those of us that love north american comics, these kind of settle the score. Too much fun to miss out! Intelligent and unapologetic. And I'll say no more...
I don't have a lot of humorous stuff in my collection. As I said, there isn't that much around. Perhaps because humour tends to be equated with a child-like attitude and that tends to be disassociated with being mature and a responsible adult...
(and to those people I say - read Calvin and Hobbes godsdammit!!!...)
The big surprise in terms of humour (and much more) has come from the east. Japan more specifically.
A while ago I decided to read a couple of manga titles. Serious stuff and etc. But, amidst my "what do you recommend?" explorations there was a title that I kept not having time to read.
GTO - Great Teacher Onizuka.
People raved about it. I didn't have time for the twenty more volumes...
But I did have a chance to read the first three volumes of it for one of the Graphic Novels Reading Group meeting.
And I loved it.
I mean this series is great in many levels.
It's not only a great piece of contemporary comics but humour wise it's as audacious as it is funny!
The plot gyrates around this former bike gang leader that could only find a job as a replacement teacher... so you have a tough, unpolished guy that did all the wrong things at school now becoming the reference for lots of kids... things could only go wrong, right?
Wrong.
Shouldered with that responsibility and being more able to see the kids for who they are and the difficulties that they go through, Onizuka meets headfirst the challenges coming his way.
It's a beautiful series about true compassion, innocence and the ability to go as far as one possibly can to do the right thing.
Add to this the fact that Onizuka is an alien in the school system and you have a series that is at the same time socially relevant and filled with humour and unexpectedness.
It rarely gets better than this...
More recently I dabbled with some more manga.
Namely
Hayate the Combat Buttler, Ouran High School Host Club, Qwan, Blazin' Barrels and King Of Hell.
In all of these the humour element is crucial! In fact, in some of these series, like Hayate or Kind Of Hell it seems to be the major driving force.
I didn't have time to read much of them but they all hooked me pretty easily.
Especially Hayate and King Of Hell.
You can read a brief review of them here.
Other titles that quickly come to mind are Fruits Basket, Love Hina and Oh My Goddess. All of these with a strong romantic aspect to them but still delicious to either read or watch as an anime!
In fact this was one of the things we talked about yesterday in our reading group meeting. How humour seems to be such an integral part of japanese manga, to my mind related to the astounding diversity of genres and themes present, perhaps itself a reflection of their nuclear holocaust (that demanded any mechanisms whatsoever of coping with it).
Something worthwhile discussing though not now and certainly not here.
I know what some of you might be thinking:
"Manga.
It sounds good but for most series you have to read it right to left - opposite to what we are used to."
Sure.
It can be a bit confusing in the first book or so. But you'd be surprised at how quickly you catch the flow.
And trust me, it's well worth the small effort.
"Ok. But supposing that I manage to read it - there're just so many volumes of it!!"
Listen, the only reason you're telling me this is a disadvantage is because you still haven't started reading it.
When you do, you'll be GRATEFUL there's so much GOOD STUFF to read!!
Ok. I don't have much else to say (for now...)
(though I do have the feeling that I've forgotten a lot of great stuff... but it will come in due time...)
If you want you can browse at Tokyopop's catalogue or Viz's catalogue sections dedicated to humour...
I hope you all find the laughs you've been longing for...
Peace!
PS - I didn't talk about The Exterminators or The Goon because I still haven't read them (even though I have them in my shelves...). I could've talked about Chris Ware but his humour is much too bleak for this post and, besides, his comics are tough to read...
PSS - I forgot JACK OF FABLES!!! How could I?! This is my favourite series at the moment!!
Anyway, click here for some reviews...
PSSS - Vimanarama is another great title! Grant Morrison. Bollywood meets super-heroes... 'nough said!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
