Hello humble followers, and welcome to another installment on my blog of comic books! In this entry, I will be talking about a little something a lot of you may not be familiar with, and that is a collection of comic stories called "Little Nemo Comics". And no, I'm talking about a comic series that inspired the movie "Finding Nemo" by Disney. I'm talking about a collection of multiple variety newspaper style comics.
Everyone these days (young or old) can name at least a few old time newspaper comics, such as Peanuts, Garfield, and Calvin & Hobbes. But hardly anyone (including me) know about "Little Nemo" comics (until my professor introduced me and my class to some examples for our history of comics). What Little Nemo comics are series of short storied newspaper comic strips that are collected from a variety of newspapers from earlier decades of the beginning comic strips. Many of these books will more then likely have a surrealist art to many strips that try to be more representative to other foreign countries and people that most people in common "civilized" countries (like the United States) saw how other beings lived in wild countries by means of abstract representation. Now some of these did however include to be very stereotypical and often at times "racy" towards other cultures or people of different countries. These story strips show a wonderful and colorful history in the world of newspaper comics. I would highly recommend checking this series out as a source of artistic research and references. Especially to any person studying the world of art and comics, and hope that they find this well categorized selection of illustrated short story notations useful in their pursuit of becoming an artist/comic writer.
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Hello blog followers and comic book lovers, if you're reading this and or notified of this post, then that means exactly what you think it means. Yes, my good followers it is time for yet another comic book review! Now for this blog entry/review, I will be reviewing a well recognized and timeless comic book classic, "The Spirit" by the famous writer and artist, Will Eisner. Now for those of you thinking, "there was an actual comic book that weird 2008 movie was based off of?" and before you even think of anything else relating to that movie, let me just say, yes... and no. God no. Sort of. There was an actual comic book called "The Spirit" that had a completely different take then the movie did and whatever sort of rewritten decisions new writers decided to do with the characters after Will's passing in 2005. So keep that in mind when you read on to the actual review below.
One other suggestion to keep in mind before I go into any further details about the book and if anyone is already familiar with this story/character or is looking this up before I get the the actual review (shame on you for jumping to spoilers, but I like you're enthusiasm) is consider this a... "warning" for anything some may find "offensive". I know people (especially on the internet) in this day and age are complaining about a lot of things that go way out of proportion and just get people mad, stupid(er) and confused and a lot of good people get burned in the end. People may find reading the original series, somewhat controversial, for (in my impression) one character in particular called, "Mr. Ebony". So if anyone who thinks of anything "racist" about someone with that name, then you're probably right on the money to assume so. Now I'll go into more detail for the actual review in just a second, but I just want to let you people know what to expect about something and remind you to not jump to any serious, aggressive "P.C." (politically correct) drama or complaints about this series because of this is what comics were like back during the early to mid 1900's. We've come a long way since then to be more diverse in comic books today then earlier prints back in the old days. Learn and respect the past to build a better future. Now, with that being all said and out in the open, let's go straight to the review.
The Spirit was a mixed experimental media comic series that was written and drawn up by Will Eisner in the early 1940's and is still around in the publishing world today. Now obviously, many comic stories undergo a transformation in styles and developments as the decades go on, so the version I will be reviewing will be the original 1940's version. This classic comic book series doesn't exactly follow a common plot point or story unlike most comics during the time (like DC and Marvel) The Spirit is more of a selection of interestingly composed short stories about this rogue free spirited (no pun intended) detective hero called, The Spirit and his pursuit to solve mysteries and crimes. Following him on many of his adventures, is his faithful companion/friend Mr. Ebony. The series shows a great variety of different art styles for the characters and environment that really try to bridge the old, news paper comic art strips and the more realistic illustrations of people, objects, and places. One good example would the comparison of Mr. Ebony and The Spirit. Aside from the physical appearance and the way characters talked, would be the illustrative styles of who/what they were representing. And I'm not saying that in a way that would make black people viewed less respectively then a white person in a comic book, I'm saying that in terms of the styles they are made. And if people are still hung up on the race issue then look at other examples such as some of the mob goons, police official, hell even the white commissioner character looks more cartoony then most others (especially compared to The Spirit). This comic series is nothing to be taken seriously in terms of how people should be or were viewed back in those days. This series is something more then just simple ideas and viewpoints and that is it's creative artistic dynamic. The Spirit challenged the use of different art styles in characters to make things seem more "comic" like then real like until it was redone several times throughout the decades. It shows balancing styles in a sense of wanting to be more harmonized and in unison with one another to tell a story. A great modern day example would be the movie, "Who framed Roger Rabbit". You see a big variety of art style selection in a noir themed time story that balances between reality and cartoons. That is what I believe "The Spirit" in it's original form was trying to do. To make way and challenge the different methods of artistic story comic book making for writers and artists some day succeed them. So, to wrap everything here up as shortly as possible, I would highly recommend checking out Will Eisner's early work such as "The Spirit" and approach it with an open mind and open interpretation and to have a drive to wanting to learn more about the wonderful and colorful past about the comic book.
One other suggestion to keep in mind before I go into any further details about the book and if anyone is already familiar with this story/character or is looking this up before I get the the actual review (shame on you for jumping to spoilers, but I like you're enthusiasm) is consider this a... "warning" for anything some may find "offensive". I know people (especially on the internet) in this day and age are complaining about a lot of things that go way out of proportion and just get people mad, stupid(er) and confused and a lot of good people get burned in the end. People may find reading the original series, somewhat controversial, for (in my impression) one character in particular called, "Mr. Ebony". So if anyone who thinks of anything "racist" about someone with that name, then you're probably right on the money to assume so. Now I'll go into more detail for the actual review in just a second, but I just want to let you people know what to expect about something and remind you to not jump to any serious, aggressive "P.C." (politically correct) drama or complaints about this series because of this is what comics were like back during the early to mid 1900's. We've come a long way since then to be more diverse in comic books today then earlier prints back in the old days. Learn and respect the past to build a better future. Now, with that being all said and out in the open, let's go straight to the review.
The Spirit was a mixed experimental media comic series that was written and drawn up by Will Eisner in the early 1940's and is still around in the publishing world today. Now obviously, many comic stories undergo a transformation in styles and developments as the decades go on, so the version I will be reviewing will be the original 1940's version. This classic comic book series doesn't exactly follow a common plot point or story unlike most comics during the time (like DC and Marvel) The Spirit is more of a selection of interestingly composed short stories about this rogue free spirited (no pun intended) detective hero called, The Spirit and his pursuit to solve mysteries and crimes. Following him on many of his adventures, is his faithful companion/friend Mr. Ebony. The series shows a great variety of different art styles for the characters and environment that really try to bridge the old, news paper comic art strips and the more realistic illustrations of people, objects, and places. One good example would the comparison of Mr. Ebony and The Spirit. Aside from the physical appearance and the way characters talked, would be the illustrative styles of who/what they were representing. And I'm not saying that in a way that would make black people viewed less respectively then a white person in a comic book, I'm saying that in terms of the styles they are made. And if people are still hung up on the race issue then look at other examples such as some of the mob goons, police official, hell even the white commissioner character looks more cartoony then most others (especially compared to The Spirit). This comic series is nothing to be taken seriously in terms of how people should be or were viewed back in those days. This series is something more then just simple ideas and viewpoints and that is it's creative artistic dynamic. The Spirit challenged the use of different art styles in characters to make things seem more "comic" like then real like until it was redone several times throughout the decades. It shows balancing styles in a sense of wanting to be more harmonized and in unison with one another to tell a story. A great modern day example would be the movie, "Who framed Roger Rabbit". You see a big variety of art style selection in a noir themed time story that balances between reality and cartoons. That is what I believe "The Spirit" in it's original form was trying to do. To make way and challenge the different methods of artistic story comic book making for writers and artists some day succeed them. So, to wrap everything here up as shortly as possible, I would highly recommend checking out Will Eisner's early work such as "The Spirit" and approach it with an open mind and open interpretation and to have a drive to wanting to learn more about the wonderful and colorful past about the comic book.
Tuesday, February 9, 2016
Hello loyal followers! It has been quite some time since my last comic blog update, and I apologies for the delay. Not too long ago, I was fortunate to catch a bit of a break with scholarly duties, but in the process of finding some rest in my comfort and relaxation, I found myself starting to slack in my duties to provide a good review for all those who follow and want some good comic reading recommendations. With all that said and done, I would like to talk about one comic that many people are well in doubt familiar with from our childhoods. No, I'm not talking about a superhero comic (be patient, those will come later). What I am referring to is the classic Hergé series of "The Adventures of Tintin" (more specifically) in... Explorers on the Moon.
This story follows our beloved boy adventurer Tintin, his dog Snowy and the rest of his pals in an adventure unlike anything on Earth, because this time their adventure takes place.. on the moon! Yes, that's correct (as if you couldn't already guess by looking at the title) the moon. Tintin and his faithful companions embark on a dangerous mission to explore the deepest parts of the moon and explore the mysterious caves that rotate above earth, to see if there could be any signs of suitable life sources (such as ice or water) to see if the moon could be a suitable place to colonize some day. Upon their launch and arrival on the moon, they detect that someone among the crew is trying to sabotage the mission. It's up to Tintin and his adventurous crew to find out who is trying to sabotage their mission and return to earth in one piece, or suffer an unimaginable fate in space.
Well, I hope this is enough to capture everyones attention. I know this may not sound much like a review and more like a trailer advertisement for the story, but that's pretty much what happens when you try not to spoil anything for the readers. But in a formal review style, I will say that this story of Tintin may not be as "adventurous" as a lot of Hergé's work of Tintin in the past (or even some after this one) but it does open the minds of those who back then thought that the ideas of concurring space travel and exploration to such places (such as the moon) seemed to really capture the minds, attention and imaginations of readers back then. In many cases it's really quite interesting seeing how one author thought what many people believed in and adapted it in a creative story. With that said, I would recommend reading this story (to see if anyone would see the fascination of what the author and we as a society imagined what space travel and exploration would be like) and to check out Hergé's other amusing stories of the Adventures of Tintin.
This story follows our beloved boy adventurer Tintin, his dog Snowy and the rest of his pals in an adventure unlike anything on Earth, because this time their adventure takes place.. on the moon! Yes, that's correct (as if you couldn't already guess by looking at the title) the moon. Tintin and his faithful companions embark on a dangerous mission to explore the deepest parts of the moon and explore the mysterious caves that rotate above earth, to see if there could be any signs of suitable life sources (such as ice or water) to see if the moon could be a suitable place to colonize some day. Upon their launch and arrival on the moon, they detect that someone among the crew is trying to sabotage the mission. It's up to Tintin and his adventurous crew to find out who is trying to sabotage their mission and return to earth in one piece, or suffer an unimaginable fate in space.
Well, I hope this is enough to capture everyones attention. I know this may not sound much like a review and more like a trailer advertisement for the story, but that's pretty much what happens when you try not to spoil anything for the readers. But in a formal review style, I will say that this story of Tintin may not be as "adventurous" as a lot of Hergé's work of Tintin in the past (or even some after this one) but it does open the minds of those who back then thought that the ideas of concurring space travel and exploration to such places (such as the moon) seemed to really capture the minds, attention and imaginations of readers back then. In many cases it's really quite interesting seeing how one author thought what many people believed in and adapted it in a creative story. With that said, I would recommend reading this story (to see if anyone would see the fascination of what the author and we as a society imagined what space travel and exploration would be like) and to check out Hergé's other amusing stories of the Adventures of Tintin.
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