Recommended Reading
Rant by Palahniuk
review pending
You Can’t Win by Black
review pending
The Sea Wolf by London
review pending
P.8, panel 3: symbolism. See how the group of students inside are in darkness, contrast to the girls talking outside in the light? This symbolizes the pact of secrecy surrounding Tomie's murder.
P.10, panel 7: See how the teacher's face is framed by the window.
P.11, panel 1: See how one panel can create a dramatic pause? Panel 4: Tomie framed in duplicate in the boy's glasses. the class, dark. Tomie comes in from outside where it's bright. Contrast highlights the dramatic moment.
P.18, panel 3: The way this panel is drawn it looks as if Tomie is fading away - does she doubt her existence?
P. 21, panel 9: This panel squeezes the lovers in - emphasizes tension.
I could go on and on. The techniques Junji Ito uses to manipulate the pace, mood, and meaning of his panels are numerous and I think you'll find he's really a master at this, putting a lot of thought into what effect each bitty little line will have. Read SLOWLY.
I've read a fair amount of Junji Ito's manga: not just Gyo and Uzumaki, but also Hellstar Remina and short humor stories. Of the shorts, "Long Dream" is my favorite. Previously Gyo was my favorite longer work. The first thing I realized about Tomie was that it's far more of a classic Japanese horror. The second thing was the line art - my god. The line art in what looks to be an early effort has a special quality that's present in his current style, but in a different way. Those hyper thin lines seem to convey a sense that there's something wrong by their very curvature. Sort of a psychopathic energy transferred through the penmanship. So the first chapter was my favorite, for that reason, getting to see his past drawing style.
I also want to say there's something that seems very collectivist and therefore Japanese about the crime committed int he first chapter. The entire class becomes complicit, consenting to an atrocity that none of them but Mr. Takagi would have committed without his leadership. They share the responsibility, whereas I think an American writer is more likely to have a single responsibile individual. Like Psycho.
Tomie isn't a ghost, but she's not a zombie. The true intentions of her are vague. At one point she complains that all the men that fall for her end up "shopping her into pieces", only for each piece to grow into a copy of the original.
Uzumaki and Gyo were creative and abstract, but reading Tomie which is basically traditional Japanese horror is grand. Everything fits. Through this medium of a traditional horror story, Junji Ito really shows his talent. It's easier to compare it to other horror stories and see how well he really does match up. At the same time, Tomie's regeneration being more visceral seems to be very much particular to Junji's tastes. Tomie isn't a shadowy figure on a smoke and mirrors monster, feared but never seen. She's there in the flesh, yet later the victims doubt their sanity (if they survived). I love Uzuzmaki's strangeness, but I've learned what makes a good horror story is the delivery, and that's what makes Museum of Terror great.
Possum’s Bullshitte list of books: COMICS
Top Ten, Crossed: Badlands, Superman Red Sun, The Invisibles, Gravel, Gyo, Tomie, Shintaro Kago, parasyte, Tanabata No Kuni, Promethea, Hotwire, Transmetropolitan, Lazarus Churchyard, Desolation Jones, Doom Patrol, Barefoot Gen, Excel Saga, Berserk, Gantz, Onani Master Kurosawa, Dan the Unharmable, Marie Gabrielle, Slum Wolf, Nausicaa (some of these are such a no-brainer that it pains me to write them down), Devilman (the original), Akumetsu, Mononoke (there are several titles by this name. I mean the manga with the one-eyed guy), Orc Stain, Bloody Mary, Adventures in the Rifle Brigade: Operation Bollock, Time Flies!, Dungeon (Trondheim), Usagi Yojimbo (duh), Swamp Thing (duh), Planetes, Maison Ikkoku, G.T.O., Wonton Soup, Captain Estar goes to Heaven
Pocosin was also good. It was about a dying possum god who takes shelter at a witches house . He gets the witch to dismiss god, and then the devil, when they come, so that finally death comes and takes the possum god. Very relevant . Enjoyed it. This and the deep water bride were both by female authors. Overall, I just want to read stories that were written in what I think of as good faith of writing a story. Not to feel like at the end of a story as if I've been rused into some morality sales pitch. Drives me bananas.
Ok , i read the whole thing, not bad. I think the way Palmer portrays gender in this book is like the way race is portrayed in the boondocks. It may offend some people, but it is not really taking a defined side so much as expressing a very informed dialogue on the subject. Also, it disgusts me how offended people get about stupid shit. OH NO I HAVE TO BE OFFENDED AND AVERT MY EYES BECAUSE IM A GOOD PERSON!!
Looking the other way is not a substitute for watching and processing. You might find you're wrong. You might find you like it. I also kind of agree with some of the comments where they say " These are small issues to be concerned about for the future " ; and I hope we are onto some more important shit by then, if we survive... which is doubtful, and which is why I hope we dont bicker about things that are small in comparison to the survival of the human race. But at the same time science fiction is an appropriate medium for a thought experiment and sometimes, that requires depicting a specific or improbable future. I really believe that science fiction is meant to be used to explore an idea rather than to prescribe morals, and I respect palmers books because as yet, she has followed that paradigm. Authors who use science fiction to prescribe morals rather than explore ethics and the human condition show an extreme lack of understanding of the purpose of the dialogue with the reader and of the genre.
Ralph azham :
Fucking amazing. Trondheim is apparently expert on medicinal botanicals ... something I forgot. It seems this series has been probably complete in French for some time and is only now being published by a small house 'Super genius comics'. It seems like its become slightly more common for small publishers to take up the task of translating foreign comics, like DENPA with the kaiji manga. Looks like Trondheim is in his 60s. Anyway. This is a kickass comic. He has something where in another comic ... I've only ever seen it in French ... With brugmansia flowers in the comic. Someone gets poisoned with them, I think. I'd like to have been able to read that, I had the file, but its long gone now, and I don't remember the name. Anyway, top quality French comics here.
The main character in the comic has the power that when he comes close to you, unless he's drunk, the ghosts of the vengeful dead , usually those who people have murdered, come out and kill their murderers, in the manner of their own choosing. This stops happening if he's outside of a short distance from people, but it kills pretty much any violent person around him. He doesn't choose who it kills, so he has to be careful. Interesting, since it'd work on me. His ultimate enemy, however, the king ... The king is unkillable, even by the ghosts. the ghosts immobilize him, but he can't be killed. The king has the power to steal life by aging people, and also change his apparent age. He takes the roll of the superintendent and the young prince in addition to the role of the king. Thus he has remained in power for hundreds of years. This is an ( very French too isn't it ? ) analogy for the ongoing masquerade of the elite though the face may change, its essentially the same person from the perspective of the oppressed. There's a fair number of cliches as well, but the whole thing is more than the sum of its parts because its like ... the way that someone like Moore uses the superhero medium but flirts with a deeper meaning etc, Trondheim does this with his own format. Fantasy comedy, I guess you'd call it... the format at least, not the overall effect. The overall effect is uniquely his, there's nobody who makes a comic quite the same way.
psychiatric tales by Darryl Cunningham ... graphic novel
Very good journalistic comic by a former mental health assistant at an acute psychiatric ward. There's a particular focus on suicide, but dementia, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder are also covered. The art is simplistic but expressive, and this is acceptable because the narrative of the comic takes a front seat. Includes several harrowing and poignant accounts of the authors experiences, but also a healthy portion of general educational info. The author takes a sincere stand regarding social justice and the very mentally , and the many ways in which they are still mistreated by society.
unrelated ... looking at the picture of a cross section of a skull and brain, I thought : this existence that I and other organic life live is founded upon an unsustainable deception. I feel alive , continuous ... I look at my body, and the bodies of others and I see a whole thing, a person. But the reality is, this existence is founded upon meat, gristle, blood and bone. It is a castle made of sand, a painting in fugitive pigments. The idea of anything arising from this, it's absurd. Flesh is a dying medium for consciousness ... one that ought to be considered obsolete. And yet its an acceptable standard.