![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
First impressions...a somewhat incoherent ramble I'll probably think better of tomorrow morning
This is not good - have two clocks on my nightstand. One is still 9:53 (standard time) and one is 10:44 (daylight savings time) - okay the 9:53 one is tad fast for standard. Makes things a mite confusing. I keep thinking it is earlier than it is. Haven't changed the 9:53 one because it's too hard and it's still here because it is in reality a CD player mixed with a clock radio. I play the CD's on it at night.
Bought and read the conclusion of The Long Way Home - the first arc of the Buffy S8 comics. Pretty much concluded the way I thought it would and there weren't any surprises for me. I don't know if this is because I've read a lot of comics in my life times so could see where the writer was heading within the format or if I have overanalyzed the series to the extent that I can figure it out or I've read too much Whedon or...fill in the blank.
This may be one of the reasons I'm not loving the books as much as I did the series, no surprises. I more or less figured out all the twists ahead of time.
Also, it might just be me, but Whedon has gotten a bit melodramatic and preachy lately, or maybe he was always like this and I didn't notice? Ponders. And as you know, I have a high tolerance for melodrama. Oh well at least there weren't any lame sex jokes or if there were they went right over my head. Wouldn't be the first time.
Jeanty's art is not thrilling me. It feels very amateurish and uneven. You have to understand something - I read comics for the artwork first, the writing second. I've been known to pick up a graphic novel for the art. And I like innovative, crazy, beautiful, realistic artwork and know many of the graphic novel artists by name. Alex Ross, Tim Sale, Frank Urruh, Jim Lee, Jae Le...and there's the brilliant cover artist doing these comics - Joan something. Terry Moore's Strangers in Paradise has killer artwork. So does the DC books Kingdom Come. I started reading comics for the ART. I loved how they could bring a character to life with a few lines. Frank Miller has a killer style by the way. Next time you are in a comic store - pick up a novel, don't read it, just look at the art.
Why am I so weird about art?
Ah, because I tried to do it. So did my brother. And my father. I used to paint the X-men.
Was really good at it in my early twenties, but haven't drawn in ten years, so you get out of practice. I don't tend to appreciate art that I can do. It's the stuff I can't I appreciate. Or the innovative stuff. New and different.
Jeanty's artwork looks like a lot of the bargain basement X-men comics I've read. It's okay.
Better than Fray. Better than some of the stuff in Spike and Dru or Spike vs. Dracula. And a lot better than some of the other stuff out there. Serviceable.
The writing? Sigh. I love Whedon's writing, obviously. But...I like it better on the X-men.
There's just something off and I can't put my finger on what it is.
As I explained in a prior post, we all have our buttons and kinks, we all have things that make us jump up and down for joy and grump about in a funk. Sometimes we can explain why.
Sometimes not.
It's not that I disliked this arc. I like it well enough. I just was oddly disappointed in it. And I don't really know why. Unsatisfied? Maybe because you have to wait sooo long for each issue. The anticipation, even if you aren't expecting much...or maybe it's because I'm not interested in the story Whedon feels he has to tell, maybe because I already know it - far better than Whedon does and find it oddly annoying that Whedon, a man, with an all male staff, in a heavily male industry, is writing a story about men having troubles with women in power. It feels almost hypocritical in a way. It reminds me of an ex-boyfriend of mine who prided himself on being a feminist - yet he was controlling to the point of being suffocating. I remember attending a date-rape seminare in college years ago and the counselor stating, a male counselor, that all men are chauvinists and potential rapists, all men. That it is impossible for a man to be a feminist in quite the same way. Or to understand.
Whedon's tone in this story feels oddly patronizing. It's the small little girl - who is deliberately under developed, no big busts, not tall, what Whedon considers average and normal - and people are saying that is brilliant. And breaking the rules? Hello. Kitty Pryde. And many others. It feels like a man's fantasy again.
If you want to read a book about female empowerment - hunt down some of the Magnas. Or check out some of the female comic book writers - the underground. Such as Terry Moore.
They aren't action oriented. So there's that.
Don't get me wrong - I'm not reading them. I like the shiny superheroes in their shiny costumes. And I like having a female hero fighting people. So I will keep buying the Buffy comics. But, the tone and story...it wasn't new. And it felt oddly patronizing. And I'm not entirely sure why.
That said, there are things I like. I liked the asian slayer...with the hair Buffy adored, although I have a hunch Joss will kill her in the next issue. It's almost obvious at this point. No spoilers, just a hunch. I also enjoyed the bit with Dawn, even if Dawn's comment to Buffy seemed odd. Thought Willow had brown eyes? Not blue? Could be wrong. Doesn't matter. I liked how Willow and Xander are drawn and portrayed here. Although Willow still wears the oddest clothes. So does Xander for that matter.
Sort of looking forward to the Faith arc. Curious to see what Brian K. Vauhgn does with the characters.
Oh the letters page? Is it just me or are some of these people just a little wacked?
Honestly, it was only a tv series. Get a grip. I think the editor was laughing his ass off at some of them - or that was my impression.
Bought and read the conclusion of The Long Way Home - the first arc of the Buffy S8 comics. Pretty much concluded the way I thought it would and there weren't any surprises for me. I don't know if this is because I've read a lot of comics in my life times so could see where the writer was heading within the format or if I have overanalyzed the series to the extent that I can figure it out or I've read too much Whedon or...fill in the blank.
This may be one of the reasons I'm not loving the books as much as I did the series, no surprises. I more or less figured out all the twists ahead of time.
Also, it might just be me, but Whedon has gotten a bit melodramatic and preachy lately, or maybe he was always like this and I didn't notice? Ponders. And as you know, I have a high tolerance for melodrama. Oh well at least there weren't any lame sex jokes or if there were they went right over my head. Wouldn't be the first time.
Jeanty's art is not thrilling me. It feels very amateurish and uneven. You have to understand something - I read comics for the artwork first, the writing second. I've been known to pick up a graphic novel for the art. And I like innovative, crazy, beautiful, realistic artwork and know many of the graphic novel artists by name. Alex Ross, Tim Sale, Frank Urruh, Jim Lee, Jae Le...and there's the brilliant cover artist doing these comics - Joan something. Terry Moore's Strangers in Paradise has killer artwork. So does the DC books Kingdom Come. I started reading comics for the ART. I loved how they could bring a character to life with a few lines. Frank Miller has a killer style by the way. Next time you are in a comic store - pick up a novel, don't read it, just look at the art.
Why am I so weird about art?
Ah, because I tried to do it. So did my brother. And my father. I used to paint the X-men.
Was really good at it in my early twenties, but haven't drawn in ten years, so you get out of practice. I don't tend to appreciate art that I can do. It's the stuff I can't I appreciate. Or the innovative stuff. New and different.
Jeanty's artwork looks like a lot of the bargain basement X-men comics I've read. It's okay.
Better than Fray. Better than some of the stuff in Spike and Dru or Spike vs. Dracula. And a lot better than some of the other stuff out there. Serviceable.
The writing? Sigh. I love Whedon's writing, obviously. But...I like it better on the X-men.
There's just something off and I can't put my finger on what it is.
As I explained in a prior post, we all have our buttons and kinks, we all have things that make us jump up and down for joy and grump about in a funk. Sometimes we can explain why.
Sometimes not.
It's not that I disliked this arc. I like it well enough. I just was oddly disappointed in it. And I don't really know why. Unsatisfied? Maybe because you have to wait sooo long for each issue. The anticipation, even if you aren't expecting much...or maybe it's because I'm not interested in the story Whedon feels he has to tell, maybe because I already know it - far better than Whedon does and find it oddly annoying that Whedon, a man, with an all male staff, in a heavily male industry, is writing a story about men having troubles with women in power. It feels almost hypocritical in a way. It reminds me of an ex-boyfriend of mine who prided himself on being a feminist - yet he was controlling to the point of being suffocating. I remember attending a date-rape seminare in college years ago and the counselor stating, a male counselor, that all men are chauvinists and potential rapists, all men. That it is impossible for a man to be a feminist in quite the same way. Or to understand.
Whedon's tone in this story feels oddly patronizing. It's the small little girl - who is deliberately under developed, no big busts, not tall, what Whedon considers average and normal - and people are saying that is brilliant. And breaking the rules? Hello. Kitty Pryde. And many others. It feels like a man's fantasy again.
If you want to read a book about female empowerment - hunt down some of the Magnas. Or check out some of the female comic book writers - the underground. Such as Terry Moore.
They aren't action oriented. So there's that.
Don't get me wrong - I'm not reading them. I like the shiny superheroes in their shiny costumes. And I like having a female hero fighting people. So I will keep buying the Buffy comics. But, the tone and story...it wasn't new. And it felt oddly patronizing. And I'm not entirely sure why.
That said, there are things I like. I liked the asian slayer...with the hair Buffy adored, although I have a hunch Joss will kill her in the next issue. It's almost obvious at this point. No spoilers, just a hunch. I also enjoyed the bit with Dawn, even if Dawn's comment to Buffy seemed odd. Thought Willow had brown eyes? Not blue? Could be wrong. Doesn't matter. I liked how Willow and Xander are drawn and portrayed here. Although Willow still wears the oddest clothes. So does Xander for that matter.
Sort of looking forward to the Faith arc. Curious to see what Brian K. Vauhgn does with the characters.
Oh the letters page? Is it just me or are some of these people just a little wacked?
Honestly, it was only a tv series. Get a grip. I think the editor was laughing his ass off at some of them - or that was my impression.
no subject
Possible. Hadn't really considered that. Doesn't feel like it to me at this stage, but again, I've only read four issues so it is more than possible that he is doing that. I still think that this a story complete in of itself. Meant to establish a theme, which will be covered in different ways in each arc or issue. What appears to be the main focus of these books is not the characters so much as the theme. It's theme driven as opposed to character driven. That doesn't mean he's not developing the characters. What it means is he is most interested in the overall theme, the characters to him are secondary. The theme is the most important thing. So what I think is going to happen is each arc is meant to explore that theme in greater depth. He probably has told each writer - that he doesn't really care what they do, as long as this theme is adhered to and these characters arrive at this place in support of it. I could be wrong about that - but it is my guess. The tv series up until possibly the Seventh Season - wasn't as *thematic* based, it was more interested in the characters emotional journeys. It's not what I care about, but I'm not writing it - Whedon is. And he should write what he cares about, anything else would be well silly.
I think that was a problem with his Serenity movie, a season’s worth of story packed into 2 hours, all highlights and no filler.
I actually liked Serenity. But it is also message or theme heavy in character. Something shifted in Whedon's writing after Season 6 of Buffy, he became very focused on theme. Prior to that he seemed more interested in the psychological and emotional journeys of his characters. Now, he seems focused on delivering a specific message. Could just be me. But I've noticed a definite shift. Even in the AXM comics I've been reading, which are also very political and thematic in character.
Form aside we all have our kinks. S7 is my favourite Buffy season in large part because women and leadership is one of mine.
I honestly think that's the crux of it. What is our individual kinks or buttons? For example half my flist loves the show Supernatural, which I find myself railing at - why? It hits their kinks while in contrast it hits my buttons. And it's not that their kinks are necessarily my buttons, they aren't. We may even share the same ones. It's just well to what extent can we ignore the buttons to enjoy it? Another example: Buffy - I am not found of high school politics or shows about high school.
But I managed to ignore it for both Buffy and Veronica Mars, because I loved everything else. I watched it in spite of that. While other fans loved the high school and disliked the supernatural bits.
I'm not a huge fan of military shows, war dramas, or dramas dealing with military leadership. The part of season 7 that grated on my nerves was Buffy and the multiple slayers. Buffy bossing the slayers. The whole army bit. Showtime, Bring it On, Get it Done, Dirty Girls, End of Days and Chosen weren't my favorite episodes in the story. I prefered the more psychological ones such as LMPTM (which lots of people online despised because it hit buttons), Beneath You, SelfLess, Sleeper, Never Leave Me, Him. So I watched the show in spite of the whole big leadership bit - it wasn't enough of problem to make me stop watching. I've struggled with Dorothy Dunnett and George RR Martin's books for the same reasons - I find battle sequences dull - it doesn't do anything for me.
That said, I did enjoy Buffy's struggle with figuring out how to lead a group of people and not be the solo act. So in S7 was able to overlook the military bits and all those slayers. I enjoyed her emotional arc from "I have to do this alone" or the "slayer is always alone" to well becoming the chief or leader of a team of demon fighters/slayers. A theme that was also addressed in Restless, to better effect in my opinion.