Sunday, July 11, 2010
James Jean's Eisner Winning Covers in 2006
I've been completely overwhelmed this week but there's still time to get some covers. Jean also provided covers for Green Arrow this year. While I like to sample everything that an artist did that year and not put too much emphasis on the covers for a series that they've won multiple awards for I think his Fables covers are much better than the Green Arrow ones. The Green Arrow covers are usually simple action shots while the Fables covers always look lovely.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Review - The Rabbi's Cat
The Rabbi's Cat
by Joann Sfar
2006 Eisner Winner for Best U.S. Edition of Foreign Material
The Rabbi's Cat was a slow burn for me. For the first two-thirds of it I wasn't enjoying the book. The ending however takes the themes of that beginning and brings them all together in a way that I wound up liking.
In Algeria there is a rabbi, his daughter, and their cat. The cat eats a parrot and gains the ability to speak. The cat is still a cat though and behaves like it demonstrating the dishonesty and behavior that any cat would have. The book then follows the cat observing Jewish culture in Algeria.
There are a lot of reasons to dislike The Rabbi's Cat. The story is almost entirely told in captions that are written in the passive voice. The dialog, such as it is since it's mainly in those captions, tends to be stilted. Because the story is broken off from the action scenes and characters feel disconnected from the story. I got the feeling as I was reading that I was being told about interesting things that were happening but not actually getting to see them. A cat debating a rabbi about whether a cat can be a Jew should be an interesting scene with plenty of room for character building, witty dialog, and emotional give and take; Sfar's style makes it as interesting as a CSPAN recap of the House agricultural committee.
It's not simply the translation that's the problem there. Sfar's artwork is similarly bland. Every page is laid out exactly the same; two columns of three panels. And the individual panels aren't well drawn. Sfar uses a cartoony style but is completely inconsistent in design from panel to panel. Images shift from realistic to almost completely abstract with no rhyme or reason. I wouldn't have had a problem with the strange style if it was used consistently or with the shifts if they made a kind of thematic sense in the panels but The Rabbi's Cat has art that just comes across as sloppy.
What won me over was the character development. In the final third of the book the rabbi's daughter gets married and the rabbi joins the newlyweds on a trip to Paris where the culture clash between ancient traditions and the modern world are put on display. Earlier in the book the rabbi has a friendly encounter with a Sufi mullah which might as well have had a flashing neon sign above it reading "Tolerance is good!" That last third has the same lesson but it's about the more subtle differences between everyone and it is much less blunt about it. The rabbi has a crisis of faith when he is removed from his comfort zone and gets to observe the secular world up close. His daughter is dealing with the complications of new in-laws and having second thoughts about her hasty marriage. The cat, however, remains a cat.
It's a close call but I don't think I'd recommend The Rabbi's Cat. I was left with a positive feeling thanks to the huge improvement in quality of storytelling at the end but I was unhappy with the rest of the book. So I can't really recommend a book on the basis of it ending well. Still if you happen to come across it and read it then I recommend sticking with it because it gets much better toward the end.
by Joann Sfar
2006 Eisner Winner for Best U.S. Edition of Foreign Material
The Rabbi's Cat was a slow burn for me. For the first two-thirds of it I wasn't enjoying the book. The ending however takes the themes of that beginning and brings them all together in a way that I wound up liking.
In Algeria there is a rabbi, his daughter, and their cat. The cat eats a parrot and gains the ability to speak. The cat is still a cat though and behaves like it demonstrating the dishonesty and behavior that any cat would have. The book then follows the cat observing Jewish culture in Algeria.
There are a lot of reasons to dislike The Rabbi's Cat. The story is almost entirely told in captions that are written in the passive voice. The dialog, such as it is since it's mainly in those captions, tends to be stilted. Because the story is broken off from the action scenes and characters feel disconnected from the story. I got the feeling as I was reading that I was being told about interesting things that were happening but not actually getting to see them. A cat debating a rabbi about whether a cat can be a Jew should be an interesting scene with plenty of room for character building, witty dialog, and emotional give and take; Sfar's style makes it as interesting as a CSPAN recap of the House agricultural committee.
It's not simply the translation that's the problem there. Sfar's artwork is similarly bland. Every page is laid out exactly the same; two columns of three panels. And the individual panels aren't well drawn. Sfar uses a cartoony style but is completely inconsistent in design from panel to panel. Images shift from realistic to almost completely abstract with no rhyme or reason. I wouldn't have had a problem with the strange style if it was used consistently or with the shifts if they made a kind of thematic sense in the panels but The Rabbi's Cat has art that just comes across as sloppy.
What won me over was the character development. In the final third of the book the rabbi's daughter gets married and the rabbi joins the newlyweds on a trip to Paris where the culture clash between ancient traditions and the modern world are put on display. Earlier in the book the rabbi has a friendly encounter with a Sufi mullah which might as well have had a flashing neon sign above it reading "Tolerance is good!" That last third has the same lesson but it's about the more subtle differences between everyone and it is much less blunt about it. The rabbi has a crisis of faith when he is removed from his comfort zone and gets to observe the secular world up close. His daughter is dealing with the complications of new in-laws and having second thoughts about her hasty marriage. The cat, however, remains a cat.
It's a close call but I don't think I'd recommend The Rabbi's Cat. I was left with a positive feeling thanks to the huge improvement in quality of storytelling at the end but I was unhappy with the rest of the book. So I can't really recommend a book on the basis of it ending well. Still if you happen to come across it and read it then I recommend sticking with it because it gets much better toward the end.
Monday, July 5, 2010
James Jean's Eisner Winning Covers in 2005
James Jean did not simply provide cover art for Fables. He also was providing covers for Batgirl at the time:
Friday, July 2, 2010
Review - Sin City: The Hard Goodbye
Sin City: The Hard Goodbye
by Frank Miller
1993 Eisner Winner for Best Graphic Album: Modern Reprint
1993 Eisner Winner for Best Penciller/Inker: Black and White Publication
1993 Eisner Winner for Best Writer/Artist
Frank Miller has become something of a joke in comic circles lately and not without reason. It's become increasingly difficult to tell the difference between a Frank Miller comic and a parody of a Frank Miller comic. Sin City is often considered to be part of that descent into self-parody. It's Miller's attempt to make a story so hard boiled you could use it crack skulls. He wasn't always successful at it but with the first storyline, The Hard Goodbye, he created something interesting to read.
Marv's a tough guy with a scarred face and on medication to keep his hallucinations in check. One night he meets a woman named Goldie, they have sex, and he falls asleep right afterward. When Marv wakes up she has been murdered in bed next to him and the police are on their way. Goldie was kind to him so Marv feels a need to avenge her and to do it he'll cut a bloody path through the underworld, the police, and the halls of power.
The Hard Goodbye was initially printed in short chapters in the anthology comic Dark Horse Presents and that had a major impact on the pacing. Miller has to get through the plot point for the chapter and end on a cliffhanger so things move at a breakneck pace. It's an hyperactive story but Miller never loses track of the focus; there are no side plots that derail the story for a few chapters. It makes the book exciting and tense.
Marv as a character is simultaneously fascinating and horrifying. He comes from the tradition of hard boiled protagonists who are tough as nails, charge through obstacles, and loyal to a fault. He's also capable of gruesome violence and relishes in it. He takes far too much enjoyment in hurting people. Marv is as bad or worse than the people he's killing and he only keeps the reader's sympathy by being the focus of the story.
Miller's artwork for Sin City is distinctive. It's a black and white book and instead of simply being black lines providing outlines of white space he applies that black ink with a roller. White space tends to provide shape to the heavy shadows without actually being enclosed in order to make an outline. It's a book done almost entirely in silhouette or negative images and it looks terrific due to that.
I'm not fond of all of Sin City but it's hard to find a reason to not recommend The Hard Goodbye. If you hate depictions of extreme violence then this is not a book for you (though the most gruesome of actions generally happen off panel). This is a brutal, violent book and while I think Miller handled those themes well (I'd never want to be anywhere near Marv) it's also a situation where it could easily repel some readers. On the other hand if you like that kind of pulp detective, action story then The Hard Goodbye is a great one.
by Frank Miller
1993 Eisner Winner for Best Graphic Album: Modern Reprint
1993 Eisner Winner for Best Penciller/Inker: Black and White Publication
1993 Eisner Winner for Best Writer/Artist
Frank Miller has become something of a joke in comic circles lately and not without reason. It's become increasingly difficult to tell the difference between a Frank Miller comic and a parody of a Frank Miller comic. Sin City is often considered to be part of that descent into self-parody. It's Miller's attempt to make a story so hard boiled you could use it crack skulls. He wasn't always successful at it but with the first storyline, The Hard Goodbye, he created something interesting to read.
Marv's a tough guy with a scarred face and on medication to keep his hallucinations in check. One night he meets a woman named Goldie, they have sex, and he falls asleep right afterward. When Marv wakes up she has been murdered in bed next to him and the police are on their way. Goldie was kind to him so Marv feels a need to avenge her and to do it he'll cut a bloody path through the underworld, the police, and the halls of power.
The Hard Goodbye was initially printed in short chapters in the anthology comic Dark Horse Presents and that had a major impact on the pacing. Miller has to get through the plot point for the chapter and end on a cliffhanger so things move at a breakneck pace. It's an hyperactive story but Miller never loses track of the focus; there are no side plots that derail the story for a few chapters. It makes the book exciting and tense.
Marv as a character is simultaneously fascinating and horrifying. He comes from the tradition of hard boiled protagonists who are tough as nails, charge through obstacles, and loyal to a fault. He's also capable of gruesome violence and relishes in it. He takes far too much enjoyment in hurting people. Marv is as bad or worse than the people he's killing and he only keeps the reader's sympathy by being the focus of the story.
Miller's artwork for Sin City is distinctive. It's a black and white book and instead of simply being black lines providing outlines of white space he applies that black ink with a roller. White space tends to provide shape to the heavy shadows without actually being enclosed in order to make an outline. It's a book done almost entirely in silhouette or negative images and it looks terrific due to that.
I'm not fond of all of Sin City but it's hard to find a reason to not recommend The Hard Goodbye. If you hate depictions of extreme violence then this is not a book for you (though the most gruesome of actions generally happen off panel). This is a brutal, violent book and while I think Miller handled those themes well (I'd never want to be anywhere near Marv) it's also a situation where it could easily repel some readers. On the other hand if you like that kind of pulp detective, action story then The Hard Goodbye is a great one.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Review - A Small Killing
A Small Killing
by Alan Moore; Art by Oscar Zarate
1994 Eisner Winner for Best Graphic Album: New
I have been thinking about how my reaction to the Eisner winners has been generally positive and why that is. When it came to Hugos, Nebulas, and the World Fantasy Award my reactions to the winners was a lot more varied. Am I letting flaws pass in Eisner winners more than the others? Perhaps a bit thanks to some forgiveness of genre conventions, though I do try to point out when that's the case. Could it be that the panel that decides the Eisner winners is less politicized than the groups that select the other awards? I doubt that's a major factor though there seems to be less of a tendency to select a winner based on their career instead of the nominated work when it comes to the Eisners.
So I was worried that I might be too kind hearted to a medium that I have some affinity for when I read A Small Killing and it helped alleviated those fears. I disliked it. I didn't hate it; it isn't something that worked me up into a frothing rage. I just through that the story wasn't told well, the characters weren't interesting, and the art was flat.
There is a yuppie who has risen to the top of the advertising industry. As he prepares to leave to handle the biggest contract his firm has ever had this yuppie is being stalked by a child in schoolboy's uniform. The child who only turns up when no one else is around (and winds up being exactly who you'd think it would be from this brief descriptions) is trying to kill the yuppie. As the yuppie goes home he thinks back through his life and the changes it went through.
This story is as subtle as an elephant in a wading pool. The story of a man who had once been a good person but was corrupted by the world is common enough but this exact situation wasn't fresh or new when A Small Killing was published. He's an advertising man which has been used a storytelling shortcut over and over to tie someone to consumerist society. The "good" people in the story are the ones who make handcrafted art; again lazy shorthand that's been done many times in these stories. You know that the yuppie was once a good person because when he was in college he wrote a play about Che Guevara. That one isn't a common shorthand mainly because being that clumsy with your characterization could never gain much traction.
Moore tries to tell the story of the small compromises that people make through their lives but he fails to actually show this except by sloppy implication. "Oh, he used to make anti-apartheid posters," the reader is supposed to say. "He must have been a better person then before falling to that ugly thing." Of course this precludes the possibility that he continued making anti-apartheid posters. The main character getting a job at an advertising agency doesn't equal "selling out" unless you hold intractable views on that. Without showing clear transitions between periods of his life it falls apart.
Zarate's artwork was a mixed bag for me. A Small Killing is a painted book and I liked how he used some garish colors to make certain scenes stand out. But his use of perspective made every scene seem flat as a pancake. I'm sure it was an intentional choice but that doesn't make it pleasant to look at.
The only thing that I took away from A Small Killing is Alan Moore hates yuppies. Hating yuppies as a concept was stale in 1993 and hasn't aged well. This is a book that I think can only really be enjoyed if you'd read it nodding your head to Moore beat and I'm just not part of the choir he's preaching to.
by Alan Moore; Art by Oscar Zarate
1994 Eisner Winner for Best Graphic Album: New
I have been thinking about how my reaction to the Eisner winners has been generally positive and why that is. When it came to Hugos, Nebulas, and the World Fantasy Award my reactions to the winners was a lot more varied. Am I letting flaws pass in Eisner winners more than the others? Perhaps a bit thanks to some forgiveness of genre conventions, though I do try to point out when that's the case. Could it be that the panel that decides the Eisner winners is less politicized than the groups that select the other awards? I doubt that's a major factor though there seems to be less of a tendency to select a winner based on their career instead of the nominated work when it comes to the Eisners.
So I was worried that I might be too kind hearted to a medium that I have some affinity for when I read A Small Killing and it helped alleviated those fears. I disliked it. I didn't hate it; it isn't something that worked me up into a frothing rage. I just through that the story wasn't told well, the characters weren't interesting, and the art was flat.
There is a yuppie who has risen to the top of the advertising industry. As he prepares to leave to handle the biggest contract his firm has ever had this yuppie is being stalked by a child in schoolboy's uniform. The child who only turns up when no one else is around (and winds up being exactly who you'd think it would be from this brief descriptions) is trying to kill the yuppie. As the yuppie goes home he thinks back through his life and the changes it went through.
This story is as subtle as an elephant in a wading pool. The story of a man who had once been a good person but was corrupted by the world is common enough but this exact situation wasn't fresh or new when A Small Killing was published. He's an advertising man which has been used a storytelling shortcut over and over to tie someone to consumerist society. The "good" people in the story are the ones who make handcrafted art; again lazy shorthand that's been done many times in these stories. You know that the yuppie was once a good person because when he was in college he wrote a play about Che Guevara. That one isn't a common shorthand mainly because being that clumsy with your characterization could never gain much traction.
Moore tries to tell the story of the small compromises that people make through their lives but he fails to actually show this except by sloppy implication. "Oh, he used to make anti-apartheid posters," the reader is supposed to say. "He must have been a better person then before falling to that ugly thing." Of course this precludes the possibility that he continued making anti-apartheid posters. The main character getting a job at an advertising agency doesn't equal "selling out" unless you hold intractable views on that. Without showing clear transitions between periods of his life it falls apart.
Zarate's artwork was a mixed bag for me. A Small Killing is a painted book and I liked how he used some garish colors to make certain scenes stand out. But his use of perspective made every scene seem flat as a pancake. I'm sure it was an intentional choice but that doesn't make it pleasant to look at.
The only thing that I took away from A Small Killing is Alan Moore hates yuppies. Hating yuppies as a concept was stale in 1993 and hasn't aged well. This is a book that I think can only really be enjoyed if you'd read it nodding your head to Moore beat and I'm just not part of the choir he's preaching to.
Monday, June 28, 2010
James Jean's Eisner Winning Covers in 2004
Not to get ahead of myself but since 2004 only one person has won the Eisner for best cover artist: James Jean. His painted covers for Fables have been impressive and I've enjoyed how well they integrate with the story in the issue.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Review - Strangers in Paradise
Strangers in Paradise Volume 1
by Terry Moore
1996 Eisner Winner for Best Serialized Story
I have this picture of how Terry Moore came up with Strangers in Paradise in my head. He set out to create a touching romantic comedy with a trio of characters caught in each other's orbit but unable to ever quite connect. While he was plotting that he was also working on a violent, noirish crime drama. Then one day he tripped while carrying both scripts and the pages got scrambled. As he was trying to put them back in order he said, "Hey, this could really work!" and history was made. I don't care if it isn't true, it feels like it should be. There's no reason why such an odd mix should work but it turns out it does in Strangers in Paradise.
Francine is an insecure woman who undergoes a traumatic break up with her boyfriend over her not wanting to have sex. Her roommate Katchoo is an artist with anger management problems and is in love with Francine. David wants to go out with Katchoo but she claims to have no interest in men though she finds herself becoming attracted to him more and more. Together they are alternatively funny and sweet as they try to feel their way through the relationships. They also have very dark secrets and one of them is being hunted.
The strength of Strangers in Paradise is in its characters. Moore's cast, including the extended cast, are not your typical romantic characters. Their relationships are well outside what you'd normally find depicted in stories; their emotions are rocky and prone to wild swings, their attitudes toward sex cannot be summed up simply, and their lives are not simple. I haven't read past volume one yet but if the love triangle resolves by the three of them deciding to have a group marriage to each other I wouldn't be surprised. I don't want to see any of them hurt which just tells you how much Moore managed to make a connection between me and his characters.
Since the characters are defined by the romantic possibility that's the setting that they work best in. Those slice of life portions are whimsical and charming. They carry an undercurrent of simmering passion that hasn't come to the surface yet in the series.
The flip side of that is the dark, violent crime drama and that is less effective. It's not that it isn't good. Having the cute characters put into the path of harm ratchets up the tension. The brutal violence is shocking in the context of a book that was about the love lives of the group a few pages before. It's just that this storyline is much less developed in the first volume. I couldn't wait for it to be over so I could go back to the lighthearted portions.
With the art Moore took the interesting direction of using a varied style depending on which plot was moving forward. When things are romantic the characters are cute and cartoony but the art gets a harsher look when the violence comes. Moore draws some impressively expressive characters. His artwork is an important aspect of bringing them to life.
I've only read one volume of Strangers in Paradise but I've ordered the next two. I'm enthralled by the lives of these characters and I want to see if through to the end. Moore has made it easy to fall in love with them just as they fall in love with each other.
by Terry Moore
1996 Eisner Winner for Best Serialized Story
I have this picture of how Terry Moore came up with Strangers in Paradise in my head. He set out to create a touching romantic comedy with a trio of characters caught in each other's orbit but unable to ever quite connect. While he was plotting that he was also working on a violent, noirish crime drama. Then one day he tripped while carrying both scripts and the pages got scrambled. As he was trying to put them back in order he said, "Hey, this could really work!" and history was made. I don't care if it isn't true, it feels like it should be. There's no reason why such an odd mix should work but it turns out it does in Strangers in Paradise.
Francine is an insecure woman who undergoes a traumatic break up with her boyfriend over her not wanting to have sex. Her roommate Katchoo is an artist with anger management problems and is in love with Francine. David wants to go out with Katchoo but she claims to have no interest in men though she finds herself becoming attracted to him more and more. Together they are alternatively funny and sweet as they try to feel their way through the relationships. They also have very dark secrets and one of them is being hunted.
The strength of Strangers in Paradise is in its characters. Moore's cast, including the extended cast, are not your typical romantic characters. Their relationships are well outside what you'd normally find depicted in stories; their emotions are rocky and prone to wild swings, their attitudes toward sex cannot be summed up simply, and their lives are not simple. I haven't read past volume one yet but if the love triangle resolves by the three of them deciding to have a group marriage to each other I wouldn't be surprised. I don't want to see any of them hurt which just tells you how much Moore managed to make a connection between me and his characters.
Since the characters are defined by the romantic possibility that's the setting that they work best in. Those slice of life portions are whimsical and charming. They carry an undercurrent of simmering passion that hasn't come to the surface yet in the series.
The flip side of that is the dark, violent crime drama and that is less effective. It's not that it isn't good. Having the cute characters put into the path of harm ratchets up the tension. The brutal violence is shocking in the context of a book that was about the love lives of the group a few pages before. It's just that this storyline is much less developed in the first volume. I couldn't wait for it to be over so I could go back to the lighthearted portions.
With the art Moore took the interesting direction of using a varied style depending on which plot was moving forward. When things are romantic the characters are cute and cartoony but the art gets a harsher look when the violence comes. Moore draws some impressively expressive characters. His artwork is an important aspect of bringing them to life.
I've only read one volume of Strangers in Paradise but I've ordered the next two. I'm enthralled by the lives of these characters and I want to see if through to the end. Moore has made it easy to fall in love with them just as they fall in love with each other.
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