3 posts tagged “comics”
In The Right Number, part one and part two (with part three coming, but delayed due to severe hand strain), Scott McCloud adds simple animation and a pinch of interactivity to the experience of reading a comic. The style of animation produces a lovely feeling of flying into the panels, which is quite meditative and really suits the subject matter of the comic. Sweet.
It's also nice that this comes from McCloud, who's famous analysis of comics talks about how it's different from the media it's composed of. This work adds a little movement and minimal interactivity to that mix. Nicely done, Scott.
The comic is from June 2003, but I don't recall seeing before. Anyone?
Inspired by a thread on one of the many mailing lists I frequent, here's a list of comics I'm reading (or planning to read) at the moment, and why:
- Eternals, Neil Gaiman. Another case of Neil resurrecting a bunch of old, neglected characters. Fun so far.
- Next Wave, Warren Ellis. This is Ellis' pisstake on superheroes, and it's hilarious, full of non-sequiturs and hilarious captions. And the characters are funny, even if the humor is a little juvenile (i.e., I think it's hilarious, but others may not find it to their taste).
- Fell, Warren Ellis. Ellis' tightest, most atmospheric writing in ages. Very stylish detective noir, painted by Brian Templesmith (an Aussie). Beautiful stuff.
- Wildcats, Grant Morrison. No idea what it will be like, but am keen to see what Grant does with Ellis' first superhero group.
- Authority, Grant Morrison. No idea either, but the Authority are my favorite Ellis creation, so this should be fun.
- Astonishing X-Men, Joss Whedon. Joss, writing for th X-Men, 'nuff said.
- All-Star Superman, Grant Morrison. Drawn by Frank "By God I'm Slow" Quitely, so it's totally gorgeous. Grant's having fun, having Lex and others act more realistically (given their talents) than has been the case in the past.
But my favorite read at the moment is Powers, by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Oeming. I only get it in TPB form, because I prefer being able to read whole story arcs in one sitting.
Bendis can really write dialogue and Oeming's stylized art (with a really understated but exciting use of colour) seals the deal. Awesome stuff. And Bendis lives just around the corner! What I really love about "Powers" is that it's really crime fiction in a world full of superheroes (or "powers"). And it's not like "Top 10"; the cops are all normal, but they do have a "dampening" field which neutralizes powers so they can interrogate powers safely. It pulls no punches either. Yummy! The storyline in Powers Volume 7, Forever, is a tour de force.
The next Powers TPB, volume 10, comes out late November. Woohoo!
Sci-Fi channel (U.S.) just broadcast the pilot of the animated version of Mike Mignola's one-shot comic, "Amazing Screw-On Head". Okay, sure; just == two nights ago in this context, but I just watched it last night.
I've not (yet) read the comic, but the animated show captures Mignola's graphical style perfectly. Beautifully drawn and colored, with superb voice acting (most notably excellent turns from Paul Giamatti, David "Mr." Hyde Pierce, and Patton Oswalt as the loyal Mr. Groin), "Amazing Screw-On Head" is on one level a parody and satire of steampunk, Victorian horror, Indiana Jones, U.S. jingoism, with a smattering of Lovecraftian purple prose. But there's also some wonderfully unexpected flashes of comedic genius which make it something new and worth watching.
If you missed it, or you're not from around here, you can catch the entire ep at SciFi.com. And then you should complete the survey, so they'll produce/broadcast more eps for me to enjoy. Me! Yes, me.
And if you're in the states, you can now enjoy "Garth Marenghi's Darkplace", a cult horror/sci-fi/comedy spoof from Channel 4 getting it's first (?) U.S. showing. It's being shown just before "Amazing Screw-On Head" on Thursday nights.
