Haven't read this in a while.
But, Kiss-Ass sibei kiss ass.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Mr Kiasu: A True Singaporean
Once in the spotlight, Mr Kiasu is now pretty much uncared for. Given current local tastes in comics, Mr Kiasu is probably viewed as a low quality work of crude humour that reminds us of our not very likeable cultural traits. The comics not only satirize local kiasu behavior, but also many other quirks such as our obsession with discounts and cars.
The comics are not timeless, with themes regarding the eighties and nineties. And I believe this is what make the comics unique. That they are a historical record of sorts, just like how Archie is. This can be said of the same of other American comics, such as Dazzler, which capitalized on the disco craze. But Archie and its spin-offs takes it one step further. Since the forties, the comics have depicted American trends, fads and the culture of the era they were published in. What were of current interest to youths became the subjects of stories.
Although Kiasu is not as cool as Batman, or as deep as Jimmy Corrigan, his is a truly Singaporean comic that deserves a......hardcover deluxe collected edition; Absolute Mr Kiasu.
Don’t you think so?
The comics are not timeless, with themes regarding the eighties and nineties. And I believe this is what make the comics unique. That they are a historical record of sorts, just like how Archie is. This can be said of the same of other American comics, such as Dazzler, which capitalized on the disco craze. But Archie and its spin-offs takes it one step further. Since the forties, the comics have depicted American trends, fads and the culture of the era they were published in. What were of current interest to youths became the subjects of stories.
Although Kiasu is not as cool as Batman, or as deep as Jimmy Corrigan, his is a truly Singaporean comic that deserves a......hardcover deluxe collected edition; Absolute Mr Kiasu.
Don’t you think so?
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Jules Feiffer's The Great Comic Book Heroes (1965)
Old and reissued in 2003 by Fantagraphics Books. Only got round to read this now and it's one of the most fun piece of comics criticism/personal memoir/pop culture ramblings I've read. Rivals Larry Niven's 'Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex' (1971).
Check some of it out:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91746016
My favourite is Chapter 9: "Had I been only 6 years older I could have been in comic books from almost the beginning: carting my sample case in the spring of 1939 instead of 1945..."
In Kill Bill 2, Bill's speech about Superman was taken from here.
Check some of it out:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91746016
My favourite is Chapter 9: "Had I been only 6 years older I could have been in comic books from almost the beginning: carting my sample case in the spring of 1939 instead of 1945..."
In Kill Bill 2, Bill's speech about Superman was taken from here.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Phil Yeh coming to town
Details here:
http://singaporebookcouncil.wordpress.com/2010/01/08/course-from-comics-to-screen-230210-2/
Who's Phil Yeh, you asked?
http://www.wingedtiger.com/
http://www.ideaship.com/CAA/contacts_artists/godpa.html
He would also be making appearances at Kino and SCAPE on 21 Feb.
See you guys there.
http://singaporebookcouncil.wordpress.com/2010/01/08/course-from-comics-to-screen-230210-2/
Who's Phil Yeh, you asked?
http://www.wingedtiger.com/
http://www.ideaship.com/CAA/contacts_artists/godpa.html
He would also be making appearances at Kino and SCAPE on 21 Feb.
See you guys there.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Morrison's Superman
Prologue is celebrating Grant Morrison's 50th birthday by offering his books at 20% discount. How intrepid!
I'm re-reading some of the old Morrison's Superman and All-Star remains one of his best works. Sure, Final Crisis was crap, but the spin-off, Superman Beyond 3D had its moments. And All-Star Superman #10 is one hell of a poignant read.
This is interesting:
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=20117
I'm re-reading some of the old Morrison's Superman and All-Star remains one of his best works. Sure, Final Crisis was crap, but the spin-off, Superman Beyond 3D had its moments. And All-Star Superman #10 is one hell of a poignant read.
This is interesting:
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=20117
Some thoughts on anthologies
With the success of Flight, comic anthologies showcasing little known talents have gained a notable presence with mainstream readers. Thus we see Popgun Comics, Liquid City etc. These mainstream anthologies provide little known comic creators a chance for visibility, with short stories and unique art styles. They easily differentiate themselves from Marvel and DC comics. But how do these anthologies differentiate themselves from one another?
Is Popgun Comics any different from Flight? Both anthologies are published by Image comics, and both offer stories of different genres and art styles. Then there is Liquid City and 24Seven. The former showcases comics by Asians while the latter deals with science fiction. But being short, most stories are limited, not being able to provide depth. Then there are the different art styles for people to appreciate. Eye candy.
So given the current anthologies in the market, how can a new title compete, if a publisher or editor were to crank out one?
Is Popgun Comics any different from Flight? Both anthologies are published by Image comics, and both offer stories of different genres and art styles. Then there is Liquid City and 24Seven. The former showcases comics by Asians while the latter deals with science fiction. But being short, most stories are limited, not being able to provide depth. Then there are the different art styles for people to appreciate. Eye candy.
So given the current anthologies in the market, how can a new title compete, if a publisher or editor were to crank out one?
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
FreakAngels
Following from my post on Warren Ellis, here's another gem that I just got round to read.
"23 years ago, 12 strange children were born in England at exactly the same moment.
6 years ago, the world ended.
This is the story of what happened next."
In less than 30 words, Ellis has painted an image in our minds of what FreakAngels is about. I'd say that's damn effective copywriting. Both Ellis and Alan Moore earlier had written about how to go about writing a story pitch. Keep it simple and make sure to pack a punch.
Of course, some would say it's derivative (smart alecs would draw comparison with The Umbrella Academy and isn't there a poet character in Rising Stars that is similar to the recorder character here?), but that's the genre, isn't it? 3 volumes out so far and it has been quite a ride. Ellis and artist Paul Duffield are taking their time to tell their story, creating the world and characters of a post-whatever Earth.
Vol 1 and 2 can be found at Prologue. Then pop over to Kino to find Vol 3.
And if you don't know, FreakAngels started out as a 6-page weekly comic on the net in 2008 and still running now.
http://www.freakangels.com/
"23 years ago, 12 strange children were born in England at exactly the same moment.
6 years ago, the world ended.
This is the story of what happened next."
In less than 30 words, Ellis has painted an image in our minds of what FreakAngels is about. I'd say that's damn effective copywriting. Both Ellis and Alan Moore earlier had written about how to go about writing a story pitch. Keep it simple and make sure to pack a punch.
Of course, some would say it's derivative (smart alecs would draw comparison with The Umbrella Academy and isn't there a poet character in Rising Stars that is similar to the recorder character here?), but that's the genre, isn't it? 3 volumes out so far and it has been quite a ride. Ellis and artist Paul Duffield are taking their time to tell their story, creating the world and characters of a post-whatever Earth.
Vol 1 and 2 can be found at Prologue. Then pop over to Kino to find Vol 3.
And if you don't know, FreakAngels started out as a 6-page weekly comic on the net in 2008 and still running now.
http://www.freakangels.com/
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Coming out of the woodwork
Facilitated the Tatsumi session at Kino on Sunday and met a few aspiring comic artists.
What's interesting is that the different groups don't seem to know each other. Despite the internet, alot of people still rely on tradition media (ie. press coverage) to know about events and gatherings. I'm sure most people learn about the Tatsumi session from last Friday's Life! what to do during weekend pages.
Most would have a deviant account, but it takes a lot to plow through just to find Singaporean artists?
End of the day, was at Borders and ended up talking to a cashier who was also drawing comics.
We have more talents than we think and we could be reaching a critical mass, looking at the crowd who turned up for the Tatsumi event.
In the meantime, look at this:
http://ampulets.blogspot.com/2010/01/blog-post.html
Funniest thing i read this morning.
What's interesting is that the different groups don't seem to know each other. Despite the internet, alot of people still rely on tradition media (ie. press coverage) to know about events and gatherings. I'm sure most people learn about the Tatsumi session from last Friday's Life! what to do during weekend pages.
Most would have a deviant account, but it takes a lot to plow through just to find Singaporean artists?
End of the day, was at Borders and ended up talking to a cashier who was also drawing comics.
We have more talents than we think and we could be reaching a critical mass, looking at the crowd who turned up for the Tatsumi event.
In the meantime, look at this:
http://ampulets.blogspot.com/2010/01/blog-post.html
Funniest thing i read this morning.
Best comic of the week
It can't get any better than $3.80 a pop for Commando #4245 (Dec 2009) - KILL THE FUHRER!
You can see the cover here:
http://www.britishcomics.20m.com/compics.htm
http://www.commandomag.com/index.php?s=covers&id=1154
Go get it from Kino.
You can see the cover here:
http://www.britishcomics.20m.com/compics.htm
http://www.commandomag.com/index.php?s=covers&id=1154
Go get it from Kino.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
New Releases - Reviews
Was at the Kyoto International Manga Museum for this:
http://www.kyotomm.jp/english/event/study/isc01_e.php
Presented a paper on Singapore and Malaysia comics and learned a lot about shojo manga during my time there. So it’s nice to find a stack of Chuang Yi manga waiting for me when I got back. Some hits, some misses, but it was fun reading them.
Top of the pile is the latest by Natsuki Takaya, Twinkle Stars. If you need to ask who, you are obviously not one of the millions of fans of Fruits Basket, Takaya’s previous manga series. That has sold more than 18 million copies of the various volumes (total 23) in Japan since it debuted in 1999. In America, it has sold more than 2 million copies (the Tokyopop English translated edition) and cracked the Top 20 of the USA Today Bestselling Books list, the only manga to do so at that time in 2007.
So will Twinkle Star have similar success? It’s hard to say right now as the story is more ordinary than Fruits Basket (girl falls in love with boy who hates her), which interestingly makes it closer to the shojo manga tradition of focusing on individual identity, human relationships and the psychological growth of the heroine.
Fruits Basket was about the zodiac animals. Twinke Stars has a male lead who could be from the stars. The characters from Mixim 11 (by Anzai Nobuyuki) are all from the stars. Princes in fact, or at least one of them is. The old king of Polaris was worried that his newborn son would be harmed by enemies, so he sent the baby to Earth. Fifteen years later, he sent an emissary to find his son. What else but a flying girl in skimpy outfit? Lots of OTT situations and fights with aliens.
And if it’s action you are looking for, check out Black Lagoon by Rei Hiroe and Black Monday by Ryou Ryumon and Kouji Megumi. Between the two, Black Lagoon is more popular since its debut in 2002. Two seasons of the anime have been made with a third in the works. A story of modern day pirates/mercenaries with heart, the story starts with how the Lagoon Company recruited their newest member, a Japanese salaryman at the wrong place at the wrong time. Rei Hiroe might be making a point about the choices we make in life and how we should make them not based on logic but because these things we do give meaning to our own existence. (a theme prevalent in HK wuda comics as well) But as an action manga, Black Lagoon piles up the body count.
But to me, Bloody Monday is the better manga to read. A genius computer hacker found his father framed for murder when he stumbled across evidence of a deadly virus outbreak in Russia. As the song goes, when going gets tough, the tough gets going. Bloody Monday is bloody engaging as the sense of threat faced by Fujimaru Takagi and his family/friends gets real with each volume and you are kept wondering how he could turn things around. The other good thing about this series: it’s more of a ‘mini’ series with only 11 volumes. You get a sense the story is heading somewhere with a definite end.
The last volume I’m going to talk about (which actually is the first one I picked up to read) is Kumiko Suekane’s After School Charisma. The title is totally misleading as this is no ordinary high school (but which high school in any manga series is actually ‘normal’?) , but a school for clones of famous dead people to grow up and fulfill their destiny. Okay, if it’s Marie Curie I can understand. But Adolf Hitler? The story starts with the assassination of John F Kennedy…again. Someone is out to wipe out the clones and it’s up to their high school classmate, Shiro Kamiya (the only non-clone studying at St Kleio Academy) to solve the mystery. It’s actually less engaging than it sounds and this is coming from a history buff like myself. But this is only the first volume that I have read so far and things might just pick up with the subsequent volumes.
http://www.kyotomm.jp/english/event/study/isc01_e.php
Presented a paper on Singapore and Malaysia comics and learned a lot about shojo manga during my time there. So it’s nice to find a stack of Chuang Yi manga waiting for me when I got back. Some hits, some misses, but it was fun reading them.
Top of the pile is the latest by Natsuki Takaya, Twinkle Stars. If you need to ask who, you are obviously not one of the millions of fans of Fruits Basket, Takaya’s previous manga series. That has sold more than 18 million copies of the various volumes (total 23) in Japan since it debuted in 1999. In America, it has sold more than 2 million copies (the Tokyopop English translated edition) and cracked the Top 20 of the USA Today Bestselling Books list, the only manga to do so at that time in 2007.
So will Twinkle Star have similar success? It’s hard to say right now as the story is more ordinary than Fruits Basket (girl falls in love with boy who hates her), which interestingly makes it closer to the shojo manga tradition of focusing on individual identity, human relationships and the psychological growth of the heroine.
Fruits Basket was about the zodiac animals. Twinke Stars has a male lead who could be from the stars. The characters from Mixim 11 (by Anzai Nobuyuki) are all from the stars. Princes in fact, or at least one of them is. The old king of Polaris was worried that his newborn son would be harmed by enemies, so he sent the baby to Earth. Fifteen years later, he sent an emissary to find his son. What else but a flying girl in skimpy outfit? Lots of OTT situations and fights with aliens.
And if it’s action you are looking for, check out Black Lagoon by Rei Hiroe and Black Monday by Ryou Ryumon and Kouji Megumi. Between the two, Black Lagoon is more popular since its debut in 2002. Two seasons of the anime have been made with a third in the works. A story of modern day pirates/mercenaries with heart, the story starts with how the Lagoon Company recruited their newest member, a Japanese salaryman at the wrong place at the wrong time. Rei Hiroe might be making a point about the choices we make in life and how we should make them not based on logic but because these things we do give meaning to our own existence. (a theme prevalent in HK wuda comics as well) But as an action manga, Black Lagoon piles up the body count.
But to me, Bloody Monday is the better manga to read. A genius computer hacker found his father framed for murder when he stumbled across evidence of a deadly virus outbreak in Russia. As the song goes, when going gets tough, the tough gets going. Bloody Monday is bloody engaging as the sense of threat faced by Fujimaru Takagi and his family/friends gets real with each volume and you are kept wondering how he could turn things around. The other good thing about this series: it’s more of a ‘mini’ series with only 11 volumes. You get a sense the story is heading somewhere with a definite end.
The last volume I’m going to talk about (which actually is the first one I picked up to read) is Kumiko Suekane’s After School Charisma. The title is totally misleading as this is no ordinary high school (but which high school in any manga series is actually ‘normal’?) , but a school for clones of famous dead people to grow up and fulfill their destiny. Okay, if it’s Marie Curie I can understand. But Adolf Hitler? The story starts with the assassination of John F Kennedy…again. Someone is out to wipe out the clones and it’s up to their high school classmate, Shiro Kamiya (the only non-clone studying at St Kleio Academy) to solve the mystery. It’s actually less engaging than it sounds and this is coming from a history buff like myself. But this is only the first volume that I have read so far and things might just pick up with the subsequent volumes.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Monday, January 4, 2010
Kino Bestsellers for Dec 09
1. WARCRAFT DEATH KNIGHT
by DAN JOLLEY, ROCIO ZUCCHI
2. NARUTO VOLUME 46
by MASASHI KISHIMOTO
3. FINAL CRISIS
by GRANT MORRISON
4. FABLES VOLUME 12: THE DARK AGES
by BILL WILLINGHAM
5. GREEN LANTERN AGENT ORANGE
by GEOFF JOHNS
6. OOKU THE INNER CHAMBERS VOLUME 2
by FUMI YOSHINAGA
7. WAR OF KINGS
by DAN ABNETT
8. OURAN HIGH HOST CLUB VOLUME 15
by BISCO HATORI
9. EX MACHINA VOLUME 8
by BRIAN K. VAUGHAN
10. OISHINBO: THE JOY OF RICE: A LA CARTE
by TETSU KARIYA, AKIRA HANASAKI
by DAN JOLLEY, ROCIO ZUCCHI
2. NARUTO VOLUME 46
by MASASHI KISHIMOTO
3. FINAL CRISIS
by GRANT MORRISON
4. FABLES VOLUME 12: THE DARK AGES
by BILL WILLINGHAM
5. GREEN LANTERN AGENT ORANGE
by GEOFF JOHNS
6. OOKU THE INNER CHAMBERS VOLUME 2
by FUMI YOSHINAGA
7. WAR OF KINGS
by DAN ABNETT
8. OURAN HIGH HOST CLUB VOLUME 15
by BISCO HATORI
9. EX MACHINA VOLUME 8
by BRIAN K. VAUGHAN
10. OISHINBO: THE JOY OF RICE: A LA CARTE
by TETSU KARIYA, AKIRA HANASAKI
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