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Comic/Manhwa/Movie Recs, 7/16/09
Thursday, July 16th, 2009 09:26 pmIn Comics:
Wednesday Comics, Volumes 1 and 2: When I was a kid, I loved reading the Sunday funnies, or having them read to me by my parents. These gorgeous comics, printed on newsprint and in Sunday comics larger size format, bring those days rushing back to me and what fun they are to read! There are different artists and writers on each one, and each of the stories is serialized, bits and pieces here and there. Really, though, they all stand fairly well on their own as pieces of pop culture art. All the comics feature DC heroes like Superman, Batman, Hawkman, DeadMan, the Flash, Teen Titans or fit the format of the old pulp comics (Strange Adventures!). The Superman comic is just gorgeous--the lines and colors all mesh in with the storyline, which features an alien pointing out to Superman that he's alien, too, and the inevitable moral/mental crisis that ensues for Supes after that (Superman later bickers with Batman over the issue and the epic scale of this argument is wonderfully amusing: the buildings of Gotham city shrink in comparison the Terrible Moral Dilemma.)
My quibble with this piece is really my quibble with comics themselves: where are the women? Sure, Catwoman, Wonder Woman, and SuperGirl get their own comics, too, but they're only three out of the fifteen included titles, and SuperGirl's story, in particular, is LAME (chasing after her SuperPets, who are wrecking havoc around the city! Teh HORROR!). Would it really have killed DC to get a few more female friendly projects into this? I fervently hope that the PTB at DC and Marvel start getting it through their thick skulls that if they want more women to read comics, they'll have to start having comics with stronger female characters in them. Still, these stories are well worth the look, and the asking price of $3.99 is a bargain.
In Manhwa (Korean comics):
Shaman Warrior, Volume 1, by Park Joong-Ki: This has the most gorgeous artwork I've seen in a long time. Park has great skills when it comes to depicting combat and motion and this work feels like a movie unfolding, slowly, inexorably, and (for lack of a better word) deadly. There's a lot of death and dying in this first volume, which is a little hard to grasp the significance of when you don't know the characters and their relationships to one another. So far, there's Batu, faithful disciple of the Shaman Warrior Yarong; Yarong himself, who is all calm and martial arts master Still until the last fight of his life, when he channels the Shaman Warrior spirit and becomes his animal self (I'm guessing at this last part--his eyes change, his enemy gloats that now he truly gets to fight the Shaman Warrior, henchmen quail and are shredded); several higher-ups in the army with their agendas; and a bad guy with truly fabulous earrings. There's a lot of story packed into this, but I'm not sure what it means or where it's going. However, the visuals alone warrant a look at the next few volumes and if Park introduces a truly compelling female character, I will be very pleased.
In Movies:
Fullmetal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shambala: I was surprised at how much I liked this. It reminded me why I liked so many of the characters (although I did get a little sick of the over-present plot device/narrative of "How [Character] Got [His/Her] Groove Back") and the magic system the story's built around. The sequences in pre-WWII Germany were well-plotted and fairly engrossing, and the inclusion of Fritz Lang as a character was a stroke of genius. All in all, a good Netflix pick.
Death Note: This was well worth watching, but I'm glad I didn't pay $12 to watch it on the big screen and see how inconclusively the screenplay was ended. The actor playing L is spot-on and nails the character's mannerisms--I loved watching him stirring his tea with a lollipop and watching the other actors' mystified reactions to him. Light was quickly shown for the anti-hero he is, although I thought the screenplay dragged things into black-and-white, good vs. evil far more quickly than the manga did. Anyway, very much looking forward to seeing the second installment!
Also, in movies: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince! YAY! Tomorrow night!
Wednesday Comics, Volumes 1 and 2: When I was a kid, I loved reading the Sunday funnies, or having them read to me by my parents. These gorgeous comics, printed on newsprint and in Sunday comics larger size format, bring those days rushing back to me and what fun they are to read! There are different artists and writers on each one, and each of the stories is serialized, bits and pieces here and there. Really, though, they all stand fairly well on their own as pieces of pop culture art. All the comics feature DC heroes like Superman, Batman, Hawkman, DeadMan, the Flash, Teen Titans or fit the format of the old pulp comics (Strange Adventures!). The Superman comic is just gorgeous--the lines and colors all mesh in with the storyline, which features an alien pointing out to Superman that he's alien, too, and the inevitable moral/mental crisis that ensues for Supes after that (Superman later bickers with Batman over the issue and the epic scale of this argument is wonderfully amusing: the buildings of Gotham city shrink in comparison the Terrible Moral Dilemma.)
My quibble with this piece is really my quibble with comics themselves: where are the women? Sure, Catwoman, Wonder Woman, and SuperGirl get their own comics, too, but they're only three out of the fifteen included titles, and SuperGirl's story, in particular, is LAME (chasing after her SuperPets, who are wrecking havoc around the city! Teh HORROR!). Would it really have killed DC to get a few more female friendly projects into this? I fervently hope that the PTB at DC and Marvel start getting it through their thick skulls that if they want more women to read comics, they'll have to start having comics with stronger female characters in them. Still, these stories are well worth the look, and the asking price of $3.99 is a bargain.
In Manhwa (Korean comics):
Shaman Warrior, Volume 1, by Park Joong-Ki: This has the most gorgeous artwork I've seen in a long time. Park has great skills when it comes to depicting combat and motion and this work feels like a movie unfolding, slowly, inexorably, and (for lack of a better word) deadly. There's a lot of death and dying in this first volume, which is a little hard to grasp the significance of when you don't know the characters and their relationships to one another. So far, there's Batu, faithful disciple of the Shaman Warrior Yarong; Yarong himself, who is all calm and martial arts master Still until the last fight of his life, when he channels the Shaman Warrior spirit and becomes his animal self (I'm guessing at this last part--his eyes change, his enemy gloats that now he truly gets to fight the Shaman Warrior, henchmen quail and are shredded); several higher-ups in the army with their agendas; and a bad guy with truly fabulous earrings. There's a lot of story packed into this, but I'm not sure what it means or where it's going. However, the visuals alone warrant a look at the next few volumes and if Park introduces a truly compelling female character, I will be very pleased.
In Movies:
Fullmetal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shambala: I was surprised at how much I liked this. It reminded me why I liked so many of the characters (although I did get a little sick of the over-present plot device/narrative of "How [Character] Got [His/Her] Groove Back") and the magic system the story's built around. The sequences in pre-WWII Germany were well-plotted and fairly engrossing, and the inclusion of Fritz Lang as a character was a stroke of genius. All in all, a good Netflix pick.
Death Note: This was well worth watching, but I'm glad I didn't pay $12 to watch it on the big screen and see how inconclusively the screenplay was ended. The actor playing L is spot-on and nails the character's mannerisms--I loved watching him stirring his tea with a lollipop and watching the other actors' mystified reactions to him. Light was quickly shown for the anti-hero he is, although I thought the screenplay dragged things into black-and-white, good vs. evil far more quickly than the manga did. Anyway, very much looking forward to seeing the second installment!
Also, in movies: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince! YAY! Tomorrow night!
