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Post by arfetto on Mar 7, 2023 19:56:46 GMT -5
I have enjoyed what I've read of Noah Van Sciver, but I haven't read As A Cartoonist. Or the Tomine cartoonist comic. Perhaps the tribulations of indie cartoonists is one of those subjects that is generally more interesting to the cartoonist than to the reader if even skilled creators like these falter a bit in executing the subject haha.
Today I read the
32 Stories: The Complete Optic Nerve Mini-Comics reproduction set by Adrian Tomine. The set reprints the seven Optic Nerve mini-comics almost as they were originally printed (including the stickers). According to the "Publishing History" timeline section of the extra booklet this set comes with (which is the same size as the mini-comics to match them), the first mini-comic was self-published in August of 1991 when Tomine was still in high school. The second issue was printed in November 1991, the third in January 1992 and the fourth in June 1992. After this, Tomine graduated high school and began college. He published issue five in February of 1993, issue six in September 1993 and the last self-published mini-comic, issue seven (Tomine received a Xeric grant at this point), was published in August 1994. After that, Drawn & Quarterly started to publish the series.
The extra booklet has a lot of good information about the history and production of Optic Nerve. It includes the intro Tomine wrote for the 1995 collected edition of 32 Stories (in '95 the comics were reprinted in a single collection rather than as individual facsimiles) and then another piece written by Tomine in late 2008 shortly before this facsimile collection set was printed. It is interesting to note the difference in Tomine's outlook in '95 compared to '08, which I will get to in a bit. The booklet also includes a note from the publisher of Drawn & Quarterly, and even his letter originally rejecting Tomine's submission to them. Drawn & Quarterly initially believed Tomine was older than he actually was (they thought his early work was that of someone in their 20s) and once they found out he was only 17 when he began self-publishing Optic Nerve they reversed the decision and brought him aboard.
Personally, I am not sure if the age of the comic creator needs to matter too much and the work should stand as it is (the D&Q publisher sort of going "well, this is great for a 17 year old, but not for a 20-something...") but it seems as if it was kind of a (relatively) big deal back in the day that Tomine was so young and self-publishing a comic. In fact, Tomine was brought onto a tv show hosted by the editor of this '90s magazine:
mainly because of his age haha. The host never read his works and, according to Tomine's story on the subject, in the interview she mostly wanted to know what social issues he tackles in his comics (she worries that a tv segment on comic books would "lack depth" and leads the subject to social issues).
28 year old comic creators and over need not apply
Tomine displays his constant "battle" (of the inner sort haha) with being perceived as uncool throughout not just these mini-comics, but in his writings in the extra booklet as well. His '08 self footnote-corrects some "dishonesty" he wrote into his '95 intro:
"2. I hate to keep intruding here, but I can't let this glaring dishonesty go unchecked. The artwork in the story "Smoke" is not the result of some "happy accident" involving a cheap brush. I was consciously attempting to emulate the inking style that David Mazzucchelli used in his comic book Rubber Blanket."
"3. Again - nice try, Adrian. The problem with the artwork in issue seven wasn't simply that it was "a little stiff." It's that it was completely overwhelmed by the influence of Daniel Clowes's comic book Eightball."
- '08 Tomine
'08 Tomine also writes about how embarrassing these early stories are to him (and how he hoped they would fall out of print) and how he no longer even likes the title 32 Stories - which he admits was chosen in an attempt to emulate Barthelme and Salinger book titles to sound more highbrow (though mostly he dislikes the title because a movie star who was in a band played a grunge-esque song titled "32 Stories" shortly after the '95 printing haha). But, nevertheless, he allows the comics to be reprinted in their original form for all to see.
Tomine also relates a story about how another indie cartoonist (who Tomine did not even know) found Tomine's "uncool" high school yearbook photo and published it online back in I suppose the early 00s? (he does not give the exact date, I guess it could have been done in the '90s too though) Back when it happened, Tomine was concerned and contacted the other cartoonist in an attempt to get the photo taken down. In response, the other cartoonist mockingly posted Tomine's e-mail requesting its removal for all to see and left the yearbook image up. But by '08, Tomine seems to have accepted the uncool parts of life and uses that very photo that he originally attempted to cover up as the cover for the extra booklet in 32 Stories.
I feel the concept of "cool versus uncool" (or, the '90s concept of "cool" haha) is very prevalent throughout Tomine's early work here, the worry of being perceived as vulnerable. Through the letters printed in them, we can see the audience Tomine is cultivating, intentional or not.
I am not trying to be negative in writing about this, I just find it fascinating. As for the mini-comics themselves, I enjoyed reading them very much, but for me personally it is also quite interesting to think about the notions of "cool" from another era and reflect a bit on the aura surrounding '90s indie books, the youth of the time grasping for something beyond DC or Marvel and all this.
I have to drive somewhere, so I will get to the mini-comics inner material next time.
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Post by codystarbuck on Mar 7, 2023 23:20:29 GMT -5
Sandman crap?
Okayyyyy.........
To me, that kind of mindset is just as bad as the Comics Journal giving a blanket dismissal to anything from DC or Marvel, solely on the basis of being the top mainstream superhero publishers. The work is the work, regardless of who published it and it stands or falls on its own merit. That's part of why I never warmed to those Best Comics of XX" anthologies, as they were only certain types of comics, meaning not genre material, which automatically limits such a survey. Why can't I enjoy Batman punching it up with thugs and the Penguin while also enjoying Love & Rockets, or Ghost World, or Strangers in Paradise? Why are they supposed to be mutually exclusive?
It took me a while to warm up to some alternative comics for the very reason that some read like they had nothing to say but that their life sucks and no one buys their comics because they aren't superheroes. The more humorous books were a better gateway than some of the autobiographical, then it became a journey to discover who could express themselves in an interesting way, regardless of their intent or story to tell. Harvey Pekar wasn't exactly living an exciting life; but, he had a way of pulling you into the story, even if it was about dealing with administrative tuff in his job. Really, Our Cancer Year was my gateway into his work, but then expanded from there. Same with a lot of others. Some I would read about, in the Journal or CBNG, but not see in my comic shop and they didn't always catch my eye when I was placing my monthly order. I was more likely to read anEno & Plum than an Optic Nerve; but, that changed, over time.
The tv thing sounds a lot like MTV. Their target demographic was under 27 and I discovered that one of the probably reasons for not enjoying the Real World, aside from the incessant whining, while living rent-free, in a big house, , was that I was older than the oldest cast member, from the very first series (Kevin Powell, later editor of Vibe). I just couldn't relate to any of them. I was older and had been a naval officer, shouldering big responsibilities, since I was 21 (earlier, if you count working, in some fashion, since I was 13). With a comic creator, I do think life experience is a big factor in their work; but, a 17 year old can have a lot of life experience, in some cases. Audie Murphey had shouldered a man's responsibility since he was about 14 and was a non-commissioned officer by 19 and an officer by 21, leading men in combat who were older than him.
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Post by commond on Mar 8, 2023 7:49:20 GMT -5
While there was definitely an us vs. them mentality in the alternative comics scene, I don't think that's unusual. The same thing happened in the worlds of independent film and music, and no doubt in other mediums as well. A large part of the indy spirit is rejection of the mainstream. I don't particularly like it when indy creators slag off fellow professionals working in the mainstream, and that letter writer mentioning Sandman was odd, but I don't remember a lot of alternative comic book creators making navel-gazing books about how miserable their lives were and how unfair the comic book market was toward them. Clowes parodied the industry a bit with Dan Pussey, but I don't think any of the targets he was aiming at are fan favorites around these parts. In fact, I don't think there are a ton of fans of the Wolverine or Spider-Man era that the letter writer is talking about. It's snobbery, and I can understand objecting to it on principle, but it's not as though people have a ton of positive things to say about 90s superhero comics.
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Post by MDG on Mar 8, 2023 10:39:14 GMT -5
While there was definitely an us vs. them mentality in the alternative comics scene, I don't think that's unusual. Last year, I was working with Jackie Davis of Underpants and Overbites to do a comic-making workshop at the local library. I ran into her later and asked if she was going to Ithacon and she was like,"Is that like a lot of Marvel/DC stuff?" The same thing happened in the worlds of independent film and music, and no doubt in other mediums as well. Yeah, but I liked it more in the '70s when "independent" meant stuff like Roger Corman and opther drive-in fare.
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Post by arfetto on Mar 8, 2023 11:30:27 GMT -5
Optic Nerve mini-comic number one was seven pages of black and white comics for one dollar back in 1991. The first story in the issue is "Man's Best", a two-pager about a paranoid man who buys his girlfriend a dog. In my estimation it is a very "edgy" story and not very representative of what Optic Nerve will become, but I think I can see why Tomine chose to open the series with it, especially at a young age. It's dark and messy, and in only seven panels he is able to leave an impression on the reader (whether the impression is good or bad is not the point, as long as you take notice). The second story in issue one is "Birdnoise", seven more panels of another angry man on edge (though not to the extent of the paranoid man from "Man's Best") who hurls rocks at birds who cause him to lose sleep. Perhaps man versus other animals was a theme here haha. The final story in issue one is "Steph the Lure!", a three-pager that is the first of Tomine's "dream comics" in which he relates dreams he had in comic form. There are a couple of these throughout the mini-comic series. In this dream, Tomine and his friend are lured by another friend to an area where two men beat them with skateboards and attempt to kidnap them. For only seven pages, issue one is full of mostly violence haha. It is interesting to note this simply because issue two goes in a different direction, and in my view, a better one more fitting of Tomine's talents. Issue two starts with a story called "Solitary Enjoyment" about a fictional girl named Amy who can't sleep at night. She relates to the reader all the things she does at night; she goes to movies, she reads at bookstores (but not having much money does not purchase them, instead she reads a few pages from a couple books each night) and learns to bowl. It is basically just a "slice of night life" type of story, but for only eleven panels it is compelling. Amy will be a recurring character in the Optic Nerve mini-comics and generally her stories are pretty good and show Tomine's knack for fictional characters that seem very real.
Though make no mistake, despite the calming story opener, issue two is still very much an "angry youth" style comic for sure. The next story, "Heat Wave Death" is five panels of agony (just looking at the artwork makes me sweat haha) depicting an injustice done against inmates that led to their deaths. It basically describes this real event
that did not get much coverage elsewhere (according to Tomine's interview on that tv show later on, which is why he tried to bring attention to it). In "Heat Wave Death", the young Tomine simply writes "mind-control drugs" to describe the mood-altering psychotropics the inmates were given, which might cause a person to think the story is fiction if they did not already know what happened (though I do not want to debate about the proper terms for drugs haha, I just have a feeling some people would read that line and instantly believe the story is about a more "science fiction" type of mind-control and come away thinking the story was fake, when Tomine's goal was to actually bring attention to the event).
"Sean's Story" is about one of Tomine's friends telling him about seeing "two big guys walking around with no shirts on and hair that's like, short on top and long in back" (is this a mullet?). This is the first non-dream autobiographical story in Optic Nerve. It is only five panels but does what it sets out to do I suppose. "Disappointment & Despair" continues the autobiographical content as young Tomine goes to the comic store to see if he has sold any copies of Optic Nerve issue one.
It does not go well haha. The final story in issue two is "Back Break: A True Story of Pain", in which young Tomine messes up his back (and ends up looking like Sienkiewicz' Warlock in the process haha).
The comic finishes with Tomine proclaiming to the reader "I'm too young for this!!!" in regards to his back pain, but I wonder if he also felt a bit overwhelmed making the comic while also going to school and working a part-time job, etc. That is just speculation on my part though. Still, getting the rage out of his system via his art seemed to work, because issue two was a nice improvement over issue one for me.
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Post by badwolf on Mar 8, 2023 12:13:58 GMT -5
I was really into Tomine's stuff years ago, when I went through a phase of reading a lot of "slice of life" fiction, but I'm not sure how much I'd like it now. Now I'm all about escapism again.
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Post by arfetto on Mar 8, 2023 12:44:36 GMT -5
Today the '90s comic I read was
Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō Chapters 1-24 (1995-1997) by Hitoshi Ashinano.
The back of the book description I posted above accurately describes this comic, so I am not sure if I should write too much in this post or not, it is more of an "experience" comic - and a great one.
I have a new phone camera and I am still not used to it, so lately I don't think my pictures have been looking very good (instead of taking the entire images in focus it focuses on one part and puts the rest out of focus and I am not sure how to fix it). The English physical release of the volume one deluxe edition had a bit of an issue with printing errors concerning the contrast levels in the first printing, but the second printing fixed those. So if things look off in these images, it is my ineptness at taking photos more than anything, the second printing looks good.
I love the little bits of information about the end of mankind that are scattered throughout the chapters. There is a magical quality to this post-apocalyptic world being reclaimed by nature.
Ashinano used to be an assistant for Kōsuke Fujishima (of Oh My Goddess! renown) and it shows in the calm tone and pleasing bike-travel adventures of a cafe-keeping robot named Alpha and her friends.
Everything about the comic is charming in a slightly "off" way, from the small details like the tiny caramel shaped memory cubes for cameras to the "water god" a few remaining humans pray to that may in fact be a robot now formed into something ethereal by time.
The 430+ pages of this volume breezed by. Wonderful writing and art.
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Post by codystarbuck on Mar 8, 2023 13:05:08 GMT -5
What's Silent Bob doing in a Japanese manga?
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Post by arfetto on Mar 8, 2023 13:34:07 GMT -5
What's Silent Bob doing in a Japanese manga?
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Post by codystarbuck on Mar 8, 2023 14:32:08 GMT -5
What's Silent Bob doing in a Japanese manga? "Sunūchībūchī' to wa?" <What is "snoochie-boochies?"> (according to Google Translate)
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Post by arfetto on Mar 14, 2023 11:45:03 GMT -5
Today I read Gen13 (Volume One) issue 7 (1996).
I don't have much to say about this comic. It exists. The Gen13 team battle the Italian super team (the Centurions) introduced last issue but then everything comes to an anti-climatic halt after Fairchild threatens to expose the Vatican's secrets (or something) after downloading them via elite hacking skills (a project called "Operation Lazarus" is mentioned) and then the team goes home. Bit of a yawner.
Oh yeah, and Bliss (from the mini-series, Threshold's sister) helps out the team for some reason (though up to this point she had been pretty evil, which made sense considering she had been brainwashed by Ivana since she was a child and all that - but here she acts like a semi-well-adjusted person).
Jim Lee is the penciller again in this issue, so no Campbell energy here. The important thing about issue 7 is that it has the first "full appearance" of the DV8 team (sans individual costumes):
Thus, I am finally getting closer to starting the Ellis/Ramos DV8 series. I believe I can start reading DV8 after issue 12 of Gen13.
Like last issue, the most interesting thing about this issue is the letters page. It kicks off with a negative letter upset at the sexualized aspects of the series, then follows with a bunch of positive letters from people who usually don't read "superhero comics" but make an exception for Gen13, and also a couple letters from people in Italy excited that issue 6 involved an Italian "super team".
My new phone camera is just not very good, but here are some segments from letters anyway:
Multiple letter writers identify with Freefall and even have purple streaks in their hair.
Another letter writer just wants to know the Gen13 comic teams' feelings about the Pulp Fiction soundtrack.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Mar 14, 2023 12:16:35 GMT -5
I've never had any interest in either slice of life comics, or sparsely illustrated ones with no backgrounds, so Optic Nerve would definitely not be for me. Looking forward to what other manga you read though I'm re-reading Spidey 2099 right now for my 90s fix.
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Post by codystarbuck on Mar 14, 2023 22:00:40 GMT -5
Whoever remarked about the Pulp Fiction soundtrack needed to be introduced to Los Straightjackets and Laika & the Cosmonauts. Should have picked up copies of Filmfax and their Outre spin-off (short-lived though it was), like I did, to discover those gems, along with Dick dale's other work and Link Wray and some others (who popped up in Desperado, as they mention in the reply). I always enjoyed surf instrumental, with Dick Dale and the Chantays, The Ventures and the Surfaris; but, until Rhino's Rockin' Instrumentals series cam along, I wasn't as familiar with things like Duane Eddy and Santo & Johnny, or The Tornadoes (Telstar). Pulp Fiction helped bring up articles and colelctions, like I saw review in Outre, which introduced me to Los Straightjackets and Laika & the Cosmonauts, which got me to buy their CDs and introduced me to others on the same label, during the short surf/punk revival era. That led to things like El Vez, The Bomboras, Man or Astroman, The Ghastly Ones and Rob Zombie's Monster-A-Go-Go label.
Some people think of Grunge, when they mention 90s music; but, Grunge don't surf!
Though I liked a fair amount of Grunge.
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Post by MDG on Mar 15, 2023 11:55:23 GMT -5
Whoever remarked about the Pulp Fiction soundtrack needed to be introduced to Los Straightjackets and Laika & the Cosmonauts.... 90s surf revival has been pretty much my default music genre for 25 years, coming to it mainly after hearing Man or Astroman?. There's a ton of it out there, and there's a pretty active scene. I'll recommend the Atomic Mosquitos, the Torquays, and King of Hawaii (though a lot is "guitar-based instro" rather than surf. Here's some stuff:
And more!
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Post by codystarbuck on Mar 15, 2023 12:46:21 GMT -5
Whoever remarked about the Pulp Fiction soundtrack needed to be introduced to Los Straightjackets and Laika & the Cosmonauts.... 90s surf revival has been pretty much my default music genre for 25 years, coming to it mainly after hearing Man or Astroman?. There's a ton of it out there, and there's a pretty active scene. I'll recommend the Atomic Mosquitos, the Torquays, and King of Hawaii (though a lot is "guitar-based instro" rather than surf. Here's some stuff:
And more!
Laika & The Cosmonauts became my favorite, though Man or Astro-Man was a close second (Los Straightjackets are kind of in their own level, for me). Love the variety of instrumentals they do, from stuff like spy-fi music (the Mission Impossible theme and other stuff on their Instruments of Terror album) to covering Davie Allen & the Arrows to The Avengers theme (the Brit adventure series). Man or Astro-Man had me the first time I heard "The Evil Plans of Planet Spectra." Any band that samples and takes inspiration from Gatchaman/Battle of the planets is for me! That stuff also got me interested in Teisco Del Rey (the guitarist, not the guitar), the afore-mentioned Davie Allen and kind of pushed me, along with the Stray Cats and Graham Parker, into both original Rockabilly and the Revival stuff, plus Psycho-Billy (thanks to Rev Horton Heat, on the Saturday Morning's Greatest Hits album). I have been so far removed from that, since leaving Barnes & Noble that I haven't caught up. I have picked up on a few things, on Youtube. Personal life issues also put a bit of a damper on my exploration of that stuff. I hit a point, by the end of the 90s, where I was done with what was passing for contemporary music and kind of went into those tangents and then backwards, into the stuff I missed, like Glam Rock, Punk (not easy to come by, in Central Illinois, in the late 70s), old school rock n roll, blues, etc. Heck, if it hadn't been for MTV, I would have discovered The Clash years later and might never have discovered The Damned (thanks to their appearance on The Young Ones, in "Nasty.")
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