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I'm not creating much or writing much. I think I'm reading too much or something. (The manga don't take that long, but I'm reading lots of message board crap; that's a problem.) Hard to do even the little reviews, my head is clogged.
I'm in King of Thorn vol. 3 now.
Why am I reviewing King of Thorn favorably? Isn't it what I say Yank comix shouldn't be doing? Long-form story, no apparent definition of length, don't know when it ends....
Ah! But it's mostly in black and white, so it's produced in an affordable form. And being creator-driven makes a huge difference: No sprawling overcross, persistence of the authorial vision thing, consistency. I'm actually sometimes cool with long-form American indie stuff. Carla Speed McNeil's first Finder arc was what, 14 issues? And she wrote & drew it herself.
By way of example, contrast King of Thorn (or even that notorious shaggy dog Saiyuki) with Rucka's Wonder Woman run:
1) One difference is in the Yank work having substitute artists. It's not that Wondy artist Drew Johnson was so great, but certainly the Japanese series have a certain consistency of visual voice. That said, I don't think this is really a huge drawback for the Yank work. Actually, I find Johnson's Wondy art so dull the substitutes, while a bit sketchy, added some interest.
- A wash.
2) King of Thorn & Saiyuki are serials & know it. The packaging reflects this: The trades are numbered. Rucka tried to write to the trade, Japanese style, but DC packaged the trades with different titles: It's less clear what order "Bitter Rivals," "Down to Earth," "The Hiketeia," & "Sacrifice" go in, or how many others are around & between them. And there isn't a clear distinction that these are one serial, with none of the Rucka trades telling a complete story in themselves; nor that they are actually a different series from "Ends of the Earth" & "Amazons Attack." Sloppy marketing, makes it hard to follow.
- Huge packaging failure, US side.
3) The Japanese stuff tends to create new characters, concepts & settings for its big giant thick picto-novels. Indie Yank stuff does as well. "Mainstream" Marvel & DC keep trying to use these to sell characters created generations ago for a different format.
- Really the problem is less the long-form-ness than the stupid preconception that they have to sell Wonder Woman or the Hulk or whomever, & the blindness to developing new concepts. One Piece would have never been given a chance by DC or Marvel post-1990. King of Thorn, whether through "Epic," "Vertigo," or a small(er) press, would be hidden from potential readers in a comic shop ghetto, with next to no marketing. Saiyuki probably would have involved leftover Marvel characters from the 1970's, & then the fans would whinge about how the White Tiger got revamped & such. >D
4) Editorial/publisher meddling probably exists in some form in Japan, but when you're dealing with problem #3, it explodes. The writer can get tossed off the book mid-arc.
- Yanks are stupid.
...
And finally, I think the action in King of Thorn is really well done. This isn't John Byrne / Jim Lee 3-panel pages; nor Katsuhiro Otomo long establishing shots; but complex action scenes. It's cinematic, but it's dense. Short periods of time described in intricate density.
Actually, years ago it was Otomo that got me complaining about excessively long-form work. I have a distaste for Yanks trying to emulate him, because I find his work unnecessarily slow. I suppose a Western artist that could draw as well as Takumi Nagayasu could justify it. I really am inclined to love The Legend of Mother Sarah, I just got frustrated with it.
In this vein, smaller pages help too! Less paper stock can cut costs. I wonder what Legend of Mother Sarah would look like in the digest size.
I'm in King of Thorn vol. 3 now.
Why am I reviewing King of Thorn favorably? Isn't it what I say Yank comix shouldn't be doing? Long-form story, no apparent definition of length, don't know when it ends....
Ah! But it's mostly in black and white, so it's produced in an affordable form. And being creator-driven makes a huge difference: No sprawling overcross, persistence of the authorial vision thing, consistency. I'm actually sometimes cool with long-form American indie stuff. Carla Speed McNeil's first Finder arc was what, 14 issues? And she wrote & drew it herself.
By way of example, contrast King of Thorn (or even that notorious shaggy dog Saiyuki) with Rucka's Wonder Woman run:
1) One difference is in the Yank work having substitute artists. It's not that Wondy artist Drew Johnson was so great, but certainly the Japanese series have a certain consistency of visual voice. That said, I don't think this is really a huge drawback for the Yank work. Actually, I find Johnson's Wondy art so dull the substitutes, while a bit sketchy, added some interest.
- A wash.
2) King of Thorn & Saiyuki are serials & know it. The packaging reflects this: The trades are numbered. Rucka tried to write to the trade, Japanese style, but DC packaged the trades with different titles: It's less clear what order "Bitter Rivals," "Down to Earth," "The Hiketeia," & "Sacrifice" go in, or how many others are around & between them. And there isn't a clear distinction that these are one serial, with none of the Rucka trades telling a complete story in themselves; nor that they are actually a different series from "Ends of the Earth" & "Amazons Attack." Sloppy marketing, makes it hard to follow.
- Huge packaging failure, US side.
3) The Japanese stuff tends to create new characters, concepts & settings for its big giant thick picto-novels. Indie Yank stuff does as well. "Mainstream" Marvel & DC keep trying to use these to sell characters created generations ago for a different format.
- Really the problem is less the long-form-ness than the stupid preconception that they have to sell Wonder Woman or the Hulk or whomever, & the blindness to developing new concepts. One Piece would have never been given a chance by DC or Marvel post-1990. King of Thorn, whether through "Epic," "Vertigo," or a small(er) press, would be hidden from potential readers in a comic shop ghetto, with next to no marketing. Saiyuki probably would have involved leftover Marvel characters from the 1970's, & then the fans would whinge about how the White Tiger got revamped & such. >D
4) Editorial/publisher meddling probably exists in some form in Japan, but when you're dealing with problem #3, it explodes. The writer can get tossed off the book mid-arc.
- Yanks are stupid.
...
And finally, I think the action in King of Thorn is really well done. This isn't John Byrne / Jim Lee 3-panel pages; nor Katsuhiro Otomo long establishing shots; but complex action scenes. It's cinematic, but it's dense. Short periods of time described in intricate density.
Actually, years ago it was Otomo that got me complaining about excessively long-form work. I have a distaste for Yanks trying to emulate him, because I find his work unnecessarily slow. I suppose a Western artist that could draw as well as Takumi Nagayasu could justify it. I really am inclined to love The Legend of Mother Sarah, I just got frustrated with it.
In this vein, smaller pages help too! Less paper stock can cut costs. I wonder what Legend of Mother Sarah would look like in the digest size.