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Entry tags:
Comics, Shakespeare, and Lost
So, got curious and checked out Whedonesque's discussion of the preview pages of Buffy issue #34, which annoyed me when I looked at them, but admittedly it's hard to tell whether an issue is worth reading based on preview pages, just as it is impossible to tell if a book is worth reading based on the first five pages. I usually check out first five, middle ten, and last five. Just as I normally give a tv series at least five episodes before I kick it to the curb, with a few exceptions.
Anyhow...the discussion is a rather interesting one on the comic book medium and how various people relate to that medium. It's worth noting that not everyone enjoys all mediums. My brother hates live theater or "plays". He loves rock or live music performances. But plays with dialogue, dance, and people singing to a story on stage? Not so much. Has 0 patience for them. I'm the exact opposite - I love live theater and plays. But tend to fall asleep or become incredibly bored during a live music performance, with few exceptions.
Same deal with Shakespear...my brother like a lot of people that I've met does not understand nor has a lot of patience for Shakespeare. I've performed Shakespeare. And studied it. To me reading Shakespeare is well as natural as breathing. I've even written or attempted to write a sonnet, sigh, hasn't everyone? So when we, my brother and I, went to see Julie Taymor's Titus Andronicous way back in the early 1990s, and I was tasked with explaining the dialogue and story to him - he got the visuals, the visuals made perfect sense, but the dialogue, the poetry of the words was lost on him.
Comics are the same way, I think. But it is also more complicated than that. Like music or books. Some music speaks to me, some doesn't. Some art speaks to me. Some doesn't. And some Shakespeare does and some just doesn't. You can't really generalize, although it is incredbily tempting. I've read a wide range of comic books. Some are amazing - my favorite artist may well be Alex Kross (I think that's the spelling) who did the extraordinary Kingdom Come DC Universe arc and Marvels - for the Marvel Universe. There's also Jai Lee - who uses shadows in a way that is memorable. His art sings. Is there a specific language to comics - that you need to learn? Depends on who you ask - Scott McCloud and the ahem, academically inclined certainly believe there is. But I never took a class and I don't agree with some of the things McCloud is stating in Understanding Comics, but then for me? Comics are told in my language. I am a visual learner. Phonics confused me. So I basically learned how to read with a comic book. It was called The Dick and Jane Reader - and like a comic - it had balloons and was sight and sound. Comics for me are easy to read, easier than a book. Requires no work. I flip through them at the speed of light. And can pretty much see all the nuances and angles.
But I'm also an artist. And I used to draw and tell myself stories at the same time. So, like
plays, I am in love with the comic book medium. I fell deeply in love with it in 1985.
And have had to deal with much abuse because of it - no one in my family understands my love of comics. And few friends have. So I tend to hide them and never mention it.
Are comic books silly? Yes. Sometimes. The Buffy Comics? I'd put in the same category as I put Astonishing X-men, X-men, Captain America, Superman, Wonderwoman, etc...fun. Pure entertainment.
They aren't going to ever really hit literary mainstream. Pop culture - sure. And their market tends to be adolescents. Don't get me wrong - I adore this genre. I've collected it. But I don't take it that seriously. I treat it much the same way I treat the soap operas I enjoy and for the same reasons - both genres have the same pitfalls, the same outlandish plots, out of character moments, and melodrama. They are serials. And much like the majority of Shakespeare's plays before them - created to entertain the masses. You aren't supposed to take them too seriously. They are fun.
Then there's comics like Persepolis and The 9/11 Commission Report and After-9/11, along with Maus, Neil Gaiman's Sandman, and Brian K Vaughn's epic Ex Deus Machina. As well as Alan Moore's Watchmen, Swamp Thing, and Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns - which jump from pop culture to literature. These are well...the equivalent of the Cormac McCarthy's, Edith Wharton, and James Joyce of the comic book field and often go by the name "graphic novels".
If you are new to the medium and think you can't read it or understand it? Look around a bit more...you may find something that fits your fancy. There are comics that are more like illustrated novels - such as Neil Gaiman's Caroline.
How do I feel about the Buffy Comics right now? Mixed. Part of me wants to throw the baby out with the bathwater so to speak - ie give up and throw them all in the trash in an absurd hissy fit. The other part, wants to keep reading to see if the writer saves himself and redeems the story or if it falls off a cliff. At the moment, could go either way. Curiousity will probably win out...and I'll keep reading. But I'm learning not to care too much, to not invest anything in it, and to treat them as a fun ride.
Feel much the same way about the tv show LOST at the moment. Although am far more ambivalent about LOST. I never really got that invested in it. I find myself watching it more casually. Less on the front of my seat. Which may be a good thing, since I find the direction it appears to be headed a tad on the cliche side of the fence. I'll stick it out as well, because like Buffy it only has six episodes left, and I've stuck it out this long, might as well keep going just to see if the writers jump off the proverbial cliff or save themselves at the last minute and look shockingly brilliant. I admit to a somewhat sadistic fondness for watching/reading experimental writing that happens without a net. It is amongst the many reasons that I adore tv shows like Lost, BSG, Buffy, Angel, Dollhouse, and the like - I like to see writers push at the envelope and break the rules.
Anyhow...the discussion is a rather interesting one on the comic book medium and how various people relate to that medium. It's worth noting that not everyone enjoys all mediums. My brother hates live theater or "plays". He loves rock or live music performances. But plays with dialogue, dance, and people singing to a story on stage? Not so much. Has 0 patience for them. I'm the exact opposite - I love live theater and plays. But tend to fall asleep or become incredibly bored during a live music performance, with few exceptions.
Same deal with Shakespear...my brother like a lot of people that I've met does not understand nor has a lot of patience for Shakespeare. I've performed Shakespeare. And studied it. To me reading Shakespeare is well as natural as breathing. I've even written or attempted to write a sonnet, sigh, hasn't everyone? So when we, my brother and I, went to see Julie Taymor's Titus Andronicous way back in the early 1990s, and I was tasked with explaining the dialogue and story to him - he got the visuals, the visuals made perfect sense, but the dialogue, the poetry of the words was lost on him.
Comics are the same way, I think. But it is also more complicated than that. Like music or books. Some music speaks to me, some doesn't. Some art speaks to me. Some doesn't. And some Shakespeare does and some just doesn't. You can't really generalize, although it is incredbily tempting. I've read a wide range of comic books. Some are amazing - my favorite artist may well be Alex Kross (I think that's the spelling) who did the extraordinary Kingdom Come DC Universe arc and Marvels - for the Marvel Universe. There's also Jai Lee - who uses shadows in a way that is memorable. His art sings. Is there a specific language to comics - that you need to learn? Depends on who you ask - Scott McCloud and the ahem, academically inclined certainly believe there is. But I never took a class and I don't agree with some of the things McCloud is stating in Understanding Comics, but then for me? Comics are told in my language. I am a visual learner. Phonics confused me. So I basically learned how to read with a comic book. It was called The Dick and Jane Reader - and like a comic - it had balloons and was sight and sound. Comics for me are easy to read, easier than a book. Requires no work. I flip through them at the speed of light. And can pretty much see all the nuances and angles.
But I'm also an artist. And I used to draw and tell myself stories at the same time. So, like
plays, I am in love with the comic book medium. I fell deeply in love with it in 1985.
And have had to deal with much abuse because of it - no one in my family understands my love of comics. And few friends have. So I tend to hide them and never mention it.
Are comic books silly? Yes. Sometimes. The Buffy Comics? I'd put in the same category as I put Astonishing X-men, X-men, Captain America, Superman, Wonderwoman, etc...fun. Pure entertainment.
They aren't going to ever really hit literary mainstream. Pop culture - sure. And their market tends to be adolescents. Don't get me wrong - I adore this genre. I've collected it. But I don't take it that seriously. I treat it much the same way I treat the soap operas I enjoy and for the same reasons - both genres have the same pitfalls, the same outlandish plots, out of character moments, and melodrama. They are serials. And much like the majority of Shakespeare's plays before them - created to entertain the masses. You aren't supposed to take them too seriously. They are fun.
Then there's comics like Persepolis and The 9/11 Commission Report and After-9/11, along with Maus, Neil Gaiman's Sandman, and Brian K Vaughn's epic Ex Deus Machina. As well as Alan Moore's Watchmen, Swamp Thing, and Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns - which jump from pop culture to literature. These are well...the equivalent of the Cormac McCarthy's, Edith Wharton, and James Joyce of the comic book field and often go by the name "graphic novels".
If you are new to the medium and think you can't read it or understand it? Look around a bit more...you may find something that fits your fancy. There are comics that are more like illustrated novels - such as Neil Gaiman's Caroline.
How do I feel about the Buffy Comics right now? Mixed. Part of me wants to throw the baby out with the bathwater so to speak - ie give up and throw them all in the trash in an absurd hissy fit. The other part, wants to keep reading to see if the writer saves himself and redeems the story or if it falls off a cliff. At the moment, could go either way. Curiousity will probably win out...and I'll keep reading. But I'm learning not to care too much, to not invest anything in it, and to treat them as a fun ride.
Feel much the same way about the tv show LOST at the moment. Although am far more ambivalent about LOST. I never really got that invested in it. I find myself watching it more casually. Less on the front of my seat. Which may be a good thing, since I find the direction it appears to be headed a tad on the cliche side of the fence. I'll stick it out as well, because like Buffy it only has six episodes left, and I've stuck it out this long, might as well keep going just to see if the writers jump off the proverbial cliff or save themselves at the last minute and look shockingly brilliant. I admit to a somewhat sadistic fondness for watching/reading experimental writing that happens without a net. It is amongst the many reasons that I adore tv shows like Lost, BSG, Buffy, Angel, Dollhouse, and the like - I like to see writers push at the envelope and break the rules.