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wOct 10, 2009 | |
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om nom nom Let me tell you guys about my book-haul on the way home last night. Not only did I find all of these books at Half-Price Books, but many of them were on clearance, being marked down EVEN FURTHER. --Claymore, vol. 1 - Norihiro Yagi [Knight-clad girls kick ass and take names!] --Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, vol. 10 - CLAMP --The Queen's Knight, vol. 6 - Kim Kang Won --Vampire Knight, vol. 3 - Matsuri Hino [Manga's answer to Twilight] --Vampire Knight, vol. 4 - Matsuri Hino --Pluto, vol. 3 - Naoki Urasawa x Osamu Tezuka --Buffy: Tales of the Slayer ["Righteous" is my favorite. Joss/Iambic Meter FTW!] --Redwall: The Graphic Novel [I didn't know a graphic novel existed! It's pretty well done. Have you guys read Brian Jacques Redwall? It and its first batch of sequels were some of my favorite books EVAR in middle school. Unfortunately, the dude (or, as I suspect, his ghost writers) keep churning out unfortunate derivations that NEVER END. Still, Redwall and Mossflower were gems, and I like this graphic novel adaptation.] --Angel: After the Fall, issues 5 and 6 --Buffy, Season 8, issues 6, 7, 9-13 --The Dispossessed - Ursula K. LeGuin [Currently reading this for Labels: comics, greed, ks, manga scribbled mystickeeper at 7:53 AM 
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wAug 17, 2009 | |
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Linkspam Jim Doyle will not seek a third term. I think everyone who reads my blog is aware of my political leanings, despite the fact that people who are actually affiliated with my party refused to hire me because at one point, I was an unpaid intern for the other party. I'm pretty much over that (except that I still think those people are stupid), and I still don't regret what I did, because I've never been a fan of Doyle. I basically agree with everything in the RPW's press release. No matter how it relates to me, this gubernatorial race is going to be a shit show. A blogger calls for more manga by Ai Yazawa to be licensed in English, and I can't agree more! For anyone looking for the best Terminator fanvid ever, watch this one, which debuted at VividCon a couple of days ago. An interesting post about an East/West difference in expressing emotions through the face in comics. In manga, the eyes are used to express emotion, whereas in U.S. comics, it's the mouth. The article even points out the difference in emoticons used on the Internet, with American teenagers using :) and :( while Asian teenagers use ^_^ and ;_; In disturbing historical notes, a link via Badgerbag: Rosemary Kennedy's Lobotomy. If you don't believe the blog, check Wikipedia! That shit is for real. OMF, the *Hopefully the dub is good, and hopefully SciFi won't edit it down so they can insert 10 minutes of commercials per 30 minute programming slot, and I'm not 100% sure why the SciFi Channel chose Monster, as it is not actually science fiction, BUT I'LL TAKE IT. Labels: anime, comics, linkspam, manga, politics, wisconsin scribbled mystickeeper at 10:39 PM
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wJan 9, 2009 | |
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That middle section turned out longer than I expected.... There is supposed to be steady snowfall throughout the day, and there's already a healthy coating on the streets and sidewalks. My throat was mildly sore yesterday, but this morning I woke up because it was so painful to swallow. I've brought cayenne pepper, ginger powder, and honey to work, and plan to mix them all with some orange spiced tea and get rid of it! We'll see how that goes. My LJ friend meganbmoore has posted an appalling link to a post made by a dude named Josh Tyler, who thinks that chicks only like Julia Roberts movies. Her post is here. Of note: Even Wonder Womanwas only a success because men supported her. The old Wonder Woman television show was a hit because men tuned in. Men tuned in because Wonder Woman was hot and watching her rope bad guys with her golden lasso fulfilled some sort of hot chick, dominatrix fetish fantasy. Wonder Woman may be a girl, but her audience was never really comprised of women. Sure women may tune in from time to time, just as women go see movies like Spider-Man and The Dark Knight. But they are not and never will be the primary audience for those films. Catching bad guys is not a common female fantasy. Ask most women which movies they’re most looking forward to in 2009 and odds are that it’ll be something starring Julia Roberts. Ask men what they’re most looking forward to, and I guarantee Julia’s name will not be uttered. WHAT THE FUCK. There is so much that is wrong with his post. Firstly, WTF about gendered childhoods?! I'm pretty sure that I did my best to let boys let me play football at recess when I was 8. I played with GI Joes and I loved Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I also learned how to cross-stitch and made elaborate rooms for my American Girl dolls, going so far as to make them their own food by molding and baking clay. And then I would run into the backyard and make my own knives by scraping sticks against concrete. According to this guy, I must be some freak of nature with no gender! NOT TO MENTION MY MEDIA TASTES, and I think any readers of this blog know that I'm a huge fan of cinematic and/or animated violence. You know what, though? In a way, he's right. I do dislike superhero comics about men (I have not read Wonder Women). I hate how they're mysognistic, and I hate how women exist only as a way to give the male protagonist angst (Spider-Man's Mary Jane), and someone to save. I hate how people's bodies are drawn in superhero comics, both me and women: Muscles are grossly exaggerated in men, while women have impossibly tiny waists with enormous breasts. I tire easily with superheroes who catch the same bad guys all the time, and superhero writers who try and stir up drama by dropping in another female character for a few issues, only to kill her off. I'd vastly prefer to read Strangers in Paradise, Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina, DMZ, Runaways, or hey - how about Japanese manga with women kicking ass? Claymore, Fullmetal Alchemist, Sailor Moon, Chun Hyang, etc. How does he think that Buffy: The Vampire Slayer was so popular? Anyone who gives any consideration to their media consumption knows that a good story is one with believable emotions and characters we like watching. Do I like watching women getting tied up and whining until they get saved? No! Is that solely because I'm a woman? I don't think so. I certainly believe that men exist in the world who also tire of women being used as a plot device instead of characters. And for the record, I am highly interested in imagining myself as an ass-kicking, gun-shooting, sword-fighting, ninja-star-throwing bad-ass. Imaginging myself twirling forever in the clouds the arms of a dude (even my boyfriend) sounds pretty damn boring. Also, I know sometimes you guys get confused about original authors when I link to other places....meganbmoore is not the jerk....she is posting ABOUT the jerk. :) Labels: comics, epic fail, family, feminism, sick, weather scribbled mystickeeper at 6:42 AM
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wJan 4, 2009 | |
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The War at Ellsmere I should start by saying that I have a lot of love for Faith Erin Hicks. I love her online comics, Demonology 101 and Ice. I always look forward to updates at her sketchblog and random tidbits at her regular livejournal). I've been super excited about The War at Ellsmere since she announced it, because hey - girls in uniforms attending a boarding school built in the 19th century. Good stuff! It didn't disappoint. I bought her book Zombies Calling last year, and this one is far, far better. The pages are longer, the book is longer, the story has a plot, and I think the artwork is even better. I like Faith's own description, so we'll go with that: The War at Ellsmere is the story of Juniper, an aggressively self-sufficient 13 year old who wins a scholarship to the prestigious (and slightly creepy) Ellsmere Academy, a girls' school which Jun hopes will gain her easier entry into ivy league post-secondary schools. While at the school Jun makes friends with a crazy girl named Cassie who thinks there's a mythical monster living in the forest next door, and offends the school's alpha student, a dead-eyed, probably dead-souled girl named Emily. Jun's defiance of Emily leads to an escalating war between the two of them, which finally results in ... well, you'll just have to read the book to find out, won't you? There are a few things I didn't like....for one thing, the title seems overly dramatic given that in the end, it was just a school girls' spat. When Faith started tying in the story about the founders' good/evil sons who were lost, I just....expected a lot more from their involvement in the plot, given her sometimes beautifully complicated plots like Demonology 101. The role of the founder's family in the story seemed a little off, I guess. I got all excited, and then they weren't ever mentioned again. Still, I liked the way the book ended, with Juniper telling Emily, "You deserve to be here," and everyone still attending the school. The book is open to a sequel, but it sounds like Faith is going to be writing graphic novels for a different independent publisher, now. Maybe her future books will be easier to get a hold of! One thing that's kind of weird is that while I love Faith's artwork in this book (really, the inking and stuff is great), I liked some of the concept art a lot, and was expecting more like that. Like this, this, this, and this (love the lower-left head shot). Oh well! While I feel that The War at Ellsmere is a lot better than Zombies Calling, I still feel like Faith hasn't yet released in book-form the magnificence her Internet fans already know she's capable of, in terms of telling stories. This is probably due mostly to length....I think Demonology 101 has something crazy, like over 1,000 pages or something. So it makes sense that it would be more complex! Someone give her a deal for like, 15 books or something. That'd be great! You can read an 11-page preview of The War at Ellsmere online. Teenage-appropriate comics written for girls. They are unfortunately rare, so I think books like War at Ellsmere are needed. I know that if I had read it when I was 12, I would have loved it to pieces. I think I still will; I can easily see this becoming a quick comfort reread for me. Labels: a: hicks faith erin, comics, comics: ya scribbled mystickeeper at 7:57 PM
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wDec 29, 2008 | |
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Demo This is actually a collection of 12 short stories. In most of them, a character has a superpower, but Wood confronts them in a more realistic manner than X-Men. Power is important, and often subverted by those with powers. Every time I thought a story was settling into a cliche, I was shocked. I liked Emmy's the best, although Kate's truly surprised me. I like this more than I liked The New York Four, but not by a whole lot. What I really enjoyed was Becky Cloonan's artwork, which changed in each story. Sometimes it was very manga-esque; sometimes it was reminiscient of Bryan Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim. Always, it was superb and appropriate for the story. Labels: a: cloonan becky, a: wood brian, comics, comics: ya scribbled mystickeeper at 4:25 PM
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wDec 25, 2008 | |
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A few of the things I've read lately I think most people with even a slight pulse on the comics/anime industry have heard of the series Fullmetal Alchemist. If you haven't, check it out! A steampunk setting in which two brothers who have committed the ultimate sin set out to get their original bodies back. I have now read through volume 16, and hope to catch up to the current issue in the near future. But the reason I wanted to blog about the series is this! If you watched and loved the anime series, I highly recommend checking out the manga. While the series begin almost identically, the anime series diverged from the manga and made up its own ending, as the manga was still on-going. It wasn't a bad ending, as you might be able to tell, I quite liked the anime. BUT. THE MANGA IS SO GOOD, YOU GUYS! If you liked the anime and want to see Mustang & Co. in the Civil War with Ishbal?! ALL OF VOLUME 15 IS A FLASHBACK TO THAT SHIZ!! Additionally, Arakawa has some of the most hilarious omake pages at the end of each volume that I've ever seen. She'll take very dramatic and emotional parts that happened in that volume and make hilarious jokes. I think my favorite bonus story was Al as a baby, and Ed as a little kid, slapping him in the face right in front of their mom and then running away, like little kids do. Arakawa's previews for future volumes are also awe-inspiring and EPIC. In my search for shounen series that I like, Fullmetal Alchemist is the hands-down winner (although I feel like But mostly, what I love is that the series is tightly plotted, the characters are emotionally believable, and the story is endlessly intriguing. I've also read The New York Four by Brian Wood, illustrated by Ryan Kelly. A few of my friends rave endlessly about Brian Wood (and before you freak out, yes, I already have a lot of his other stuff on hold at the library). New York Four is basically a Western one-shot version of shoujo manga. It's all about people living in a city, and their relationships to one another. So....I didn't really see anything special about it. Sure, I liked it, but if you read this and loved it, I highly recommend Ai Yazawa's NANA. Likewise, shoujo manga fans might appreciate this rare example of a Western comic written for teenage girls. Labels: a: arakawa hiromu, a: kelly ryan, a: wood brian, comics, manga, manga: fullmetal alchemist, manga: shounen scribbled mystickeeper at 2:13 PM
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wOct 20, 2008 | |
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Literary Update Okay, so Sarah Palin is a good sport. Y/Y? Poehler's rap was bad-ass, and watching Alec Baldwin say what he actually thought was amusing. For Wiscon Book Club this path month, we read Octavia Butler's Lilith's Brood, which is actually a trilogy comprised of the titles Dawn, Adulthood Rites, and Imago. I made it through the first two books, and about 20 pages of the third. I enjoy Butler's writing in terms of imagery and storytelling. The books revolve around the intersectionality of many topics: gender, sexuality, power struggles, humanity, and horror in encountering and loving an "Other" (in this case, aliens). And yet, while I sailed through the first book, book two was pretty stagnant, and from the bit I read of the third book, it seemed like it would be the same. The latter two set up really interesting premises, but then nothing happened. I think I like a bit more character development with my stories, or maybe I just wasn't in the right mood for them. I should point out that these are some of Gretchen's favorite books, and many people enjoyed them thoroughly. For my "regular" book club, we read The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly. I actually really love this book, but have only read about a third of it. Unlike Butler's Imago, though I do intend to finish it. As for books I've actually finished? It's mostly been manga lately. I finished the first volume of the Batman Chronicles today. So much LOL! Hey, is there Batman/Robin slash out there? There must be. I just got the inkling when they took their little oath to fight crime and get each other's backs. I really love the ominous narration in these comics. Already an almost legendary figure, the cowled shadow of the Batman prowls through the night preying upon the criminal parasite, like the winged creature whose name he has adopted. A bit more creepily....after Robin was introduced, there was a sidebar for young readers to join "Robin's Regulars." No buttons or badges are needed....one must simply exemplify "Readiness, Obedience, Brotherhood, Industriousness, and (of course) Nationalism." Yesterday I bought Tim Wise's Speaking Treason Fluently: Anti-Racist Reflections From an Angry White Male, and it's pretty damn amazing so far. But Tim Wise is always amazing. There will be a "real life" update soonish. Books always come first, right? Labels: a: butler octavia, a: connolly john, a: finger bill, a: fox gardner, book clubs, comics, comics: batman scribbled mystickeeper at 2:30 PM
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wSep 22, 2008 | |
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Still catching up on what I've read lately... Random notes as I finish rereading the series. Most of these are from Little Town on the Prairie through the end. Also, there was a lot of spirited discussion in my last post about these books. They were written in the 1930s by a woman born in 1867. So, yeah. There are racist attitudes here, as well as sexist ones. I don't think that pretending that these times in history never happened is the way to move beyond them as a society. There is still a lot of value on these books. Spoilers, but who hasn't read these?! SCANDAL Okay, so I love the way Laura writes about Almanzo in Farmer Boy, because it's totally cute how she describes how much he eats, and even every time he gets in trouble, he never actually does anything wrong (except throwing the blacking brush at Eliza Jane), while she's pretty mean toward herself, describing how Laura is often naughty. But she totally still holds a grudge against Eliza Jane, when she was the school teacher in De Smet. Wasn't Eliza Jane still alive when these books were published? It's just fascinating to me. I know that Laura's daughter Rose went to live with Eliza Jane for a while, too, and that they were pretty good friends. I wonder if there were hard feelings or mean letters after Little Town on the Prairie was published! ALSO, it's hilarious the first time Almanzo asks to see Laura home from the Church meeting. I love how Ma and Carrie are just like....speechless and petrified. OMG ALMANZO WILDER IS SO NICE! "What do you take me for? Do you think I'm the kind of fellow that'd leave you out there at Brewster's when you're so homesick, just because there's nothing in it for me?" Aww, Cap Garland. "God hates a coward." ALSO, LOL when Almanzo gets jealous because Laura's Uncle Tom was there, not smiling and being like, "Who was that young man you were talking to?" THIS IS SO MUCH BETTER NOW THAT I'M OLD ENOUGH TO APPRECIATE IT. Seriously, when I was a younger girl, I was always like, "WTF, he has nice horses and then she just marries him?" but reading them now, when I'm older, I can see exactly how she fell in love with him. I don't like admitting that my comprehension of a book changed over time, because I take a lot of pride in the high reading level I had as a child. But here, I'll admit it. I love Almanzo's amusement and Laura wanting to slit Nellie's throat in the buggy. WTF, I totally forgot that Laura had a garnet engagement ring. I wonder if this influenced my subconscious, and that's why the garnet is my favorite gemstone?! I WANT HER RING. What else did I totally forget? That Laura told Almanzo that she didn't want women to vote. FAIL. It's interesting from a writer's standpoint to read The First Four Years, and realize how much time Laura spent crafting her narrative of the other books. Here, it's very clearly an outline, just telling what happened, with only the bare minimum for embellishments. So what's next? I'd like to try reading On the Way Home and West From Home again, because I found both really boring when I was younger. Unfortunately, my copies of both are at my parents' house. I did bring back the hardcover collection of a lot of articles she published in Missouri, though, so I'm looking forward to reading them and reporting what they say to you, dear Internet. Tales of the Slayer, by various Buffy writers This was awesome! Fans of Buffy should totally read it, and by "it" I refer to the graphic novel (I haven't tried the book formats yet). There are stories from the First Slayer, Medieval Slayer, French Revolution Slayer, Edwardian England Slayer, Navajo Wild West Slayer, Nazi Germany Slayer, Nikki Wood, and Melaka Fray. Also, I totally guessed correctly that Joss wrote the medieval one, and Jane Espenson wrote the Edwardian one. Yay for a Buffy fix. Labels: a: espenson jane, a: whedon joss, a: wilder laura ingalls, books, comics, comics: buffy scribbled mystickeeper at 4:31 PM
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wJul 18, 2008 | |
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This has nothing to do with the post, but I'm still really excited about Avatar. I have some thoughts on the first few episodes of the second season of Code Geass. Thus far, I'm pretty underwhelmed. The first episode especially was almost an exact repeat, scene for scene, of the first episode of the first season. Which is kind of cute in a call-back way, but also annoying for the viewer in an "I already know this about Lelouch!" sort of way. The thing I find most irritating about this series is the rampant fanservice, so watching Kallen in a bunny suit, and then piloting a mecha from an unnecessarily hentai-esque posture made me roll my eyes a lot. This show has so much going for it, and I wish they wouldn't ruin it with gratuitous fanservice like that. Especially with Kallen, I find her an interesting character with a lot of potential. Same for Shirley. It's a cool plot device that Lelouch erased her memory, but wasn't she starting to figure things out at the end of last season? I find her much more interesting when she's fearful of Lelouch and figuring shit out, than when she's a vapid, excitable schoolgirl. I'm sure Rolo will become interesting as time goes on, but I find it weird that the show is trying to make us care about a brand new character right off the bat. This show has an enormous cast, and I think it would have been a better choice to start with characters to whom we already have an emotional attachment, while having Rolo in the background, for the audience to wonder about. We'll see. This is an intelligent campaign, but it bothers me when people misspell Battlestar Galactica's swear word. It is frak, not frack. Come on, people. Let's say that I've always loved the old Batman movie where Jack Nicholson played the Joker (and yeah, I'm excited for the Dark Knight, liked Batman Begins, etc.). I read lots of manga and have dabbled into American comics, but don't know a ton about them. Let's say I'd like to read Batman comics. In what order should I read them? Just doing a search of the local library's stuff under "Batman" brings up 350 results, which is quite overwhelming! Also, can any of the librarians on my list explain to me why graphic novels and comics are always shelved in the non-fiction section? It just seems so....counterintuitive to me. Labels: anime, anime: code geass, comics, comics: batman, politics, the internet knows all scribbled mystickeeper at 3:53 PM
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wJul 8, 2008 | |
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A Potpourri Post A question for anime people: I love watching Rightstuf.com, and keeping an eye on their sales. Are there other websites on the Internet that I should be watching? Look at some sweet Scott Pilgrim art! The characters are super hero-fied. If you haven't read Scott Pilgrim yet, you totally should. Dave, I'm looking at you. I haven't had time to read the entirety of this entry, but it's titled "Female, Muslim, and Mutant: A Critique of Muslim Women in Comic Books – Part 1 of 2," and it sounds very interesting. Spoilers for Tsubasa, volumes 14 and 15 OMF, confrontation between Fai and Kurogane! I want to know Fai's tragic backstory! And I love the look on his face when he makes it clear that dying for someone else is totally different than himself happening to die in battle. What's up with this copy of Syaoran? But if the eye is HIS, then maybe protagonist!Syaoran is actually the copy?! OMG KAMUI! Wahhh, it's totally cool that Kamui and Fuuma had their teams flipped! A universe where Kamui chose Teh Evil Side! Sometimes I feel like Sakura is really trying hard, but then there are times like these, when Fai is all, "I'm glad she's asleep for this horrible world, it would be too much for her." O RLY? It just....makes me roll my eyes, I guess. I miss the old Sakura. In conclusion....things are getting wacky, and I might need to begin figuring out another way to consume this manga, as the waiting list at the library is something like 20-40 people deep per volume, and there are only 3 copies of each volume. Labels: anime, comics, comics: scott pilgrim, manga, manga: clamp, manga: shounen, manga: tsubasa scribbled mystickeeper at 4:38 PM
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wJun 15, 2008 | |
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Buffy, Season 8: "Wolves at the Gate" I have now read through the end of the "Wolves at the Gate" storyline. Spoilers for these issues lie behind the grey. I didn't like that they killed Renee, but I did like the stylistic choice of having an entire page from her point of view, with her fading vision and the thoughts she was unable to articulate before dying. In addition to killing Renee, it seems like Satsu is going to be staying in Japan. And with that, two new slayers of color are written out of the plot, and that kind of sucks. Hopefully Satsu won't disappear. I like her character a lot. I continue to love Andrew until forever. His "OMG, a mecha version of Dawn is fighting actual Dawn in the street, this is my dream!" made my life, as scenes involving Andrew often do. Overall, I wasn't a huge fan of this arc, but I'm pretty excited to see what happens when Melaka Fray shows up (and how does that work, exactly??). I think what bothers me most of all about consuming Buffy as a comic book is that I'm really bad at reading things issue by issue, one month at a time. It's hard for me to remember what happened, and to keep track of new characters. I like reading whole "episodes" all at once, but I want to try and keep up so that I don't get spoiled (I have really bad self-control). Labels: a: goddard drew, comics, comics: buffy scribbled mystickeeper at 10:45 AM
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wJun 1, 2008 | |
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Media Consumption Update (Blog Layout Note: I figured that since I'm getting so many hits, I could update the layout, which hasn't been changed in over a year. LJ People, I'm talking about my blog, which is actually my default online journal.) After finishing out the semester, my brain seems to be craving YA fiction and graphic novels. Books I've Finished in the Last Week: Yuu Watase's Absolute Boyfriend, volumes 2 and 3 Lloyd Alexander's The Beggar Queen (last of the Westmark trilogy, which I loved) Tamora Pierce's Lioness Rampant CLAMP's Chobits, volumes 1-4 Holly Black's Spiderwick Chronicles, volume 1 (I loved both the story and the artwork for this. I think it's much better than A Series of Unfortunate Events.) Books I've Picked Up From the Library: Marimo Ragawa's Baby & Me, volumes 1-3 (Discussed at the Shoujo Bodies panel at Wiscon) Tamora Pierce's Terrier Bill Willingham's Fables, volume 1 (I've heard that there are some skeevy race issues, but I'm going to try it out.) Holly Black's Tithe (I'm liking this a lot so far.) Chie Shinohara's Red River, volumes 3-5 Han SeungHee and Jeon JinSeok's One Thousand and One Nights, volumes 1 and 2 Movies Enchanted was pretty awesome. I fell asleep for about 15 minutes of it because I was so tired yesterday, but I still loved everything I saw. Amy Adams was amazing. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was great fun, as Indiana Jones often is. I went to see it with my parents, sister, bro-in-law, and their three kids. The two youngest kids were pretty freaked out by the ant-scene, but other than that, I think everyone enjoyed themselves. Of course, the franchise is still as racist as ever. A few spoilery comments: Okay, so in the end? It's revealed that the Mayans were "taught" their advanced technology by INTER-DIMENSIONAL ALIENS. I am not making this shit up. Other than that, though, the 1950s stuff was great, as was the action stuff. The only thing I didn't like (aside from skeevy race issues) was the over-use of CGI. I have not seen the Sex & the City movie (I never watched the series), but Ann Althouse has, and has notes on how race is used in the movie. Media-Related Story Over a month ago, my friends Kristy and Chad wrote an entry in their wedding blog about auditioning to be extras in a movie that's currently in production in Illinois and Wisconsin: Public Enemies. Last night, while Kristy was picking up Enchanted at the video store, she received a call on her cell phone. The woman on the phone wanted to know if Kristy would like to film a scene on Monday. Kristy declined, stating that she had to babysit, and also that she was schedule for her first ever facial on Monday. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Facials can be rescheduled; Other babysitters can be found. Here is a photo of Christian Bale from the recent shoot at the Wisconsin State Capitol. Note his dejection, stemming from Kristy's refusal to BE IN A MOVIE WITH CHRISTIAN BALE AND JOHNNY DEPP.  Labels: books, comics, manga, movies, movies: indiana jones, movies: public enemies scribbled mystickeeper at 11:04 AM
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wMay 18, 2008 | |
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Buffy, Season 8: Issues 6-12 I don't have anything particularly insightful to say about the Buffy comics, so I'll just note my random observations. I have read through the first issue of "Wolves at the Gate." I know some spoilers, sort of, but just to be safe, please don't comment with any spoilers. So apparently I was totally wrong about Xander kissing Buffy. Misleading close-ups, I'm looking at you. I will continue to believe that Xander has always been in love with Buffy, and always will be. Buffy can never get a break, can she? I loved Giles going behind her to work with Faith. SECRET DEALINGS TO RESULT IN DEATH! As much as I love Buffy, I hated her for assuming Faith was evil again. Does anyone have speculations on who Twilight is? I have a tiny theory, which is probably stupid, but it's a theory. In the two panels where Twilight goes to take off his mask, you can see a broad, defined jaw, and Twilight complains of his neck being "scratchy." Is it just me, or could Twilight be Xander? Out of all the characters in Season 8 thus far, Xander seems to get a lot of love. He is really hot now (or at least dresses that way), totally in charge, and as usual, incredibly sweet to Dawn, Buffy, and everyone around him. Meanwhile, Buffy has stolen things (although he probably helped in that?), Dawn slept with her boyfriend's roommate, Giles went behind Buffy's back, and Willow is keeping her girlfriend from Buffy because she has somehow chosen Kennedy over Buffy (I'm not really sure I fully understood what was going on with all those Tara/Buffy-resurrection references, but I get that it was supposed to be emotional and explanatory). But Xander is a wonderful specimen of a man, and this is Joss Whedon. Should we buy it? I'm sure there's something painfully obvious that disproves this theory. But it does seem like Twilight knows Buffy, and has for some time - he decries her "always complaining," and Buffy does vent to Xander a lot. I'm really not sure how I feel about Buffy's being with Satsu. I was following her when she was telling Satsu that she understood Satsu was in love with her, but that she didn't love her. I don't really know how in-character I find Buffy's being gay. Is that offensive to say? I'm not sure, :( I don't think she's in love with Satsu. Which makes it that much more hilarious that Xander, Renee, Willow, Dawn, and ANDREW all see them. And was that jealousy on Willow's face? It's hard to tell! I want me some Xander/Buffy. Current Music: Some ghost-hunting show on A&E. My father demanded that I turn off the Angel DVDs (but not before watching gratuitous naked!Spike with me), turned this on, and promptly fell asleep. Labels: a: goddard drew, a: vaughan brian k, a: whedon joss, college, comics, comics: buffy scribbled mystickeeper at 12:29 PM
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wMay 15, 2008 | |
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Buffy, Season 8: No Future for You and Chains Spoilers for issues 1-5 lie behind the cut. Okay, Xander? Is totally hot. ALSO, HE TOTALLY KISSED BUFFY AND I TOTALLY CALLED IT AT THAT HE IS STILL IN LOVE WITH HER (I could prove it, too, given how many posts I've made about Buffy! Somewhere in my season 5 notes, I think, when Riley left). But oh man. I love everything Xander did. I liked "Chains" a lot, for a one-r. I know that Brian K. Vaughan will do the next four issues as a Faith arc, and I'm hoping he has a "one-r" after that, because I liked his one-rs in Y: The Last man. Do people complain a lot about the comics, or are they generally well-received? I like reading them, although I sort of loathe reading comics one issue at a time: I much prefer waiting until an "episode" is done, and reading them all at once. What I love most of all is that the dialogue is so in-character, and it feels like I'm watching the show. I can hear the characters' voices in my head, although maybe that won't be as prevalent with authors who are not Joss Whedon. I like giant!Dawn, although I have to admit that it freaks me out a tiny bit that these girls have sex at such a young age (she must have been what, 16?). I understand that I am really old-fashioned, though. Labels: a: whedon joss, college, comics, comics: buffy, finals, graduation scribbled mystickeeper at 8:47 AM
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wMay 10, 2008 | |
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Manga v. Comics When I posted about writing my Global Cultures paper, I mentioned its topic: representations of gender in Japanese manga versus U.S. comics. I did say that the beginning contained an explanation of the differences between the two, and Keely said, "Post it!" This is that post. I should note that this is not an English class, and we received next to zero instructions on how to write this paper, or give the presentation on which it was based (Please excuse the poor writing). I was at a particular disadvantage because everyone in my class presented on their Study Abroad trips, and I have never studied abroad (it is not required to receive a Global Cultures certificate!). Anyway, this is a slightly modified version of the introduction, and the transition in the middle. Argh, I forgot that I edited this on the computer at work, and never saved the new version to my home computer, :/ I'll do my best to make it sound like the other one! Unfortunately, I have not studied abroad, and have only left the country to cross the border into Canada to buy my high school Prom dress. Yet, with the world becoming increasingly globalized, I still have multicultural experiences every day. I have been an avid reader since a young age, and am constantly trying new authors and classics. I do like reading well-written science fiction, but I am willing to try any genre. After trying a few graphic novels from the public library in high school, a new medium of texts became visible to me. As time has gone on, I discovered manga from Japan, manwha from Korea, and comic books that are published in the United States. I now find myself the president of the UW campus Anime Club, which meets weekly. "Manga" usually refers to any comic made in Japan. It is the Japanese word for comic, and is used by English-speaking readers to differentiate it from other graphic novels, such as American comic books. While American comic books are generally printed in color and on larger pages, manga is almost always printed in black and white, and shrunk to a smaller size when bundled into volumes. Manga also tends to have more stylized art, while artists for American comics strive to make their characters as realistic as possible. Another interesting difference is that a Japanese manga artist is almost always in charge of both the writing of the series and the drawing of its art. In the American comic book market, however, it is almost always the case that a comic series has one or a few writers, and separate people who are artists. Long-running series will see writers and writing teams come and go as the story continues for decades. In the United States, the quickest way for a person to read a new issue of a comic book series is to purchase a single, stand-alone issue. In Japan, the quickest way to be updated on a current manga series is by buying a weekly (or monthly, as the case may be) catalogue that runs between 5 and 10 series at the same time. Generally, catalogues try to run series that have something in common, such as their target audience or genre. American comic books seem to have a longer history than Japanese manga. American comic books have about a 70-year history, while mainstream manga is only about 30-40 years old. As time has progressed, both markets have periodically borrowed from one another. One of the major differences between comics and manga is target audience. American comics have sometimes tried to market series toward girls. In the 1950s, publishing company DC tried, but did not have much luck, probably due to overly melodramatic plot lines in series with names like "Heart Throbs," "Young Romance," and "Girls' Romance." The cover of one such comic has a glaring woman, saying, "Don’t mind me, Barry! I’m only the girl you’re engaged to!" to a surprised man embracing a woman with pointed, round breasts (YES, THEY WERE BOTH!) and a very short skirt. There is another with a black-haired woman saying, "If you don’t go along with my little scheme, I’ll spill the beans about your SECRET MARRIAGE!" The woman to whom she is speaking has tears falling from her eyes, and looks forlorn. Aside from these failed attempts, there really no longer are series marketed solely towards men or women; the stories simply stand as different genres, and the reader can decide what sounds appealing. Conversely, Japanese manga series are labeled according to their target audience, and the Japanese names for these groups are used by American readers. "Shounen" is the Japanese word for "boy," and it refers to manga targeted toward boys. In general, these series focus on a male protagonist who engages in a series of fights. Throughout the series, he will get stronger as he fights pretty much every person he ever encounters. Some popular examples include the series Bleach, Naruto, and Fullmetal Alchemist. "Shoujo" is the Japanese word for "girl," and it refers to manga targeted toward girls. In general, these series focus on a female protagonist and her relationships with others. These relationships are not only romantic intrigues, but also often focus on family and friendship. Of course, no single series will fit neatly into a box, but these are general categories. In general, I read shoujo manga, although I enjoy action and suspense manga, as well. I also had a paragraph somewhere in here about how manga and American comics approach realism. In the American series X-Men, for example, great pains are taken to explain that super heroes have super powers because of genetic mutations. A lot of time is spent building a school for "mutants" to attend, fleshing out the government's reaction to the existence of such mutants, etc. In manga, characters will have features such as cat ears for no apparent reason, and everyone else seems to think that it's normal. In manga, you get very comfortable very quickly with the concept of "just go with it." If you have question, ask them! Maybe I can answer them, or could find the answer for you. I actually read a lot more manga than I do American comics, :O Labels: comics, manga, manga: shoujo, manga: shounen scribbled mystickeeper at 9:46 AM
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wFeb 13, 2008 | |
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I got zombies for Valentine's Day When I was single for approximately 20 years, I swore to myself that I would remember how much Valentine's Day sucked when I was bitter and alone. Now that I am still bitter (or at least cynical) and in a relationship, I honor this vow by not making a big deal about Valentine's Day. I'll probably hang out with Antoine tomorrow, but I usually hang out with him on Thursdays anyway. We won't buy each other expensive gifts. BUT, in the past, I think my mom used to give me Valentine's Day card. Since coming to college, I give her a lot of crap because I no longer get anything for Valentine's Day, nor St. Nick Day, etc., but she does remind me that she sent my brother and sister packages while they were at college. KTHX. But today, I received a package in the mail containing what was supposed to be a Christmas present for me, but ended up being delayed until now (due to the comic book shop having to order, etc.). And that is the graphic novel Zombies Calling, by Faith Erin Hicks. The book is short - it feels like 100 pages or so. It's a comedy about college students using "The Rules" (truths learned from zombie movies) to try and survive a zombie invasion on their campus. As is typical of works by Hicks, the graphic novel contains carefully inked and soulful drawings, funny one-liners, and a bit of social commentary for good measure. At first, I loved Faith's completed online comic, Demonology 101. I've since been following her stuff for years. She shares a sketchblog on LiveJournal with another artist, but most of the artwork is hers. She also maintains a community on LiveJournal with information about her current comics projects. I highly recommend Ice, which is on-going. The art is much more mature and evolved from the stuff from Demonology 101 (not to discredit D101 - I loved it - but Ice definitely shows a marked improvement). So, check out Zombies Calling, and help support an awesome artist! Zombies Calling has its own website here, where, among other things, you can find a link to the first 15 pages of the comic. Labels: a: hicks faith erin, comics scribbled mystickeeper at 11:29 PM
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wJan 16, 2008 | |
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A rare morning post....that was written last night before I fell asleep on my laptop Today was pretty sweet. As difficult as it may be to believe, I never read Tamora Pierce's Song of the Lioness quartet when I was young. I think that I randomly read the third book, but that was it. I read Alanna: The First Adventure a few weeks ago, and loved it. This morning, In the Hand of the Goddess was waiting for me at the library. The premise of the books is that Alanna and her brother Thom switch places so that Alanna can learn to be a knight in a world that only allows boys to do so by pretending to be "Alan," and Thom can learn to be a sorcerer by pretending to be her. Anyway, the books are adventurous and fun, and the heroine actually works to become a good fighter. I do think that her way of naming things is lame, though. Seriously - a horse named Moonlight, a sword named Lightning, and a cat named Faithful. Could be a little more lame, Alanna?? I've also read the first volume of Bryan Lee O'Malley's "Scott Pilgrim" comics, and holy shit, are they awesome and hilarious. Everyone should read Scott Pilgrim! I recommend it especially to Dave, Steph, and Antoine. DO IT. Anyway, the Senate was in session today. Unfortunately, Wisconsin Eye is getting really good at cutting us pages out of their camera shots. BUT! If you go here, scroll down to "01.15.08 | State Senate Part 2" and click "Watch," you can see me at 18:12 - 18:24. On the left side of the screen, someone comes to get me, and I leave to do an errand. You can tell it's me by the brown curly hair! Then, Antoine and I went out for dinner! And it was really good. I also managed to be productive today by setting up appointments with career advisor people, and got my prescription filled. AND, a random Anime Club member sent me some amazing art to use on a flier. And I tried to make a flier, although my Photoshop skills suck. Still. Flier. Now, if only I could clean my room..... :( Labels: a: pierce tamora, books, books: ya, comics, comics: scott pilgrim, work scribbled mystickeeper at 7:19 AM
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wJan 3, 2008 | |
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Y: The Last Man There's one thing I forgot to say about Angel, season 1. The Ring: BAD EPISODE, OR WORST EPISODE? Because Gretchen is amazing, she lent me the first volume of Brian K. Vaughan's comic series, "Y: The Last Man." The series is published by Vertigo, a subsidiary of DC Comics known for publishing more "edgy" series that contain violence, mature themes, etc. Vertigo has published V for Vendetta, Preacher, Hellblazer, The Sandman, and more. I've been reading Vaughan's Runaways for a few years now, so I was excited to try something else by him. This series definitely seems a lot more thought-out than Runaways. The premise of Y: The Last Man is that every single man (and male animal) on Earth dies simultaneously. Except for one man: an unemployed English major named Yorick Brown. Also, one monkey: Yorick's pet, named Ampersand (lol English major). I haven't read enough of the series to have much to say about it, but as a girl who loves English literature and American politics, this series is awesome. Yorick's sister name is Hero (after a main character in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing), and I think it's the most amazing thing ever that he and his sister are named after Shakespeare characters. I also love the new U.S. president, and I look forward to seeing how this series continues. Its exploration of how different groups of women react differently to the lack of men is really interesting, and makes complete sense. oyceter on volume one here Labels: a: vaughan brian k, comics, comics: y the last man, tv: angel scribbled mystickeeper at 1:11 PM
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