Fraction and Casey are doing this thing called The Basement Tapes on CBR. Matt's one of the cornerstones of the western intellectual tradition (or a mechanism of it's downfall, I forget which), so I'm sure it will be great. I don't know Casey from Adam. I liked Hip Flask, though. I think he wrote that.
Anyway, no art to show off lately, been working on a coloring gig for Gettosake. So I'll talk about me instead. I've been reading the DC Archives collections of old Blackhawk and Legion of Super Heroes stories. The Blackhawk stuff is like a distilled essence of the secret fort stuff I used to draw in grade school. Only with weird racist characters like "Chop Chop" who talk in pidgin English, and a combination of pseudo-Chinese characters interspersed with little icons of firecrackers exploding and knives stabbing things. It's so surreal in it's WTFitude that it's kind of weirdly appealing.
The Legion of Superheroes reads today like some kind of folk-art comic. This completely unschooled thing that just goes "Blorp!" out of the creators brains, like some kind of Gernsback fever dream. "Mount Rushmore of Space!" "The Space Bank", where you can exchange living money (giant coins with legs) for liquid money, among other Space Money transactions. Crazy, crazy stuff.
But I love the purity of these old comics. The whole "dark brooding antihero" spawned (no pun intended) by the Dark Knight comics in the early 90's is played out. I want Steve Canyon back. I want Heroes and Heroines. People that I actually want to be like, not be made vaguely uncomfortable by.
When time allows, I will make this happen.
I've also been thinking lately about how to get kids reading comics again, rather than the current rapidly aging fan base. Obviously, what with the whole manga thing, kids today will still read comics. Granted, with video games and whatnot we will probably never return to the heyday, but still. So it looks like it's just a matter of 1) writing comics that actually appeal to kids, rather than 30+ year old perpetual adolescents, and 2) getting the word out. I keep having this idea rattling around in my head about going around to schools and bookstores and making these presentations on comics. Talk for a half hour or so, make some drawings to go along with it, and just be excited about comics for a bit. Make sound effects while drawing. Hope some of it rubs off. Maybe I can get Matt on board for the talking part. Bet he'd be good at it. The talking. And the excitement.
This is another "when time allows", thing, though. Blegh.
Anyway, no art to show off lately, been working on a coloring gig for Gettosake. So I'll talk about me instead. I've been reading the DC Archives collections of old Blackhawk and Legion of Super Heroes stories. The Blackhawk stuff is like a distilled essence of the secret fort stuff I used to draw in grade school. Only with weird racist characters like "Chop Chop" who talk in pidgin English, and a combination of pseudo-Chinese characters interspersed with little icons of firecrackers exploding and knives stabbing things. It's so surreal in it's WTFitude that it's kind of weirdly appealing.
The Legion of Superheroes reads today like some kind of folk-art comic. This completely unschooled thing that just goes "Blorp!" out of the creators brains, like some kind of Gernsback fever dream. "Mount Rushmore of Space!" "The Space Bank", where you can exchange living money (giant coins with legs) for liquid money, among other Space Money transactions. Crazy, crazy stuff.
But I love the purity of these old comics. The whole "dark brooding antihero" spawned (no pun intended) by the Dark Knight comics in the early 90's is played out. I want Steve Canyon back. I want Heroes and Heroines. People that I actually want to be like, not be made vaguely uncomfortable by.
When time allows, I will make this happen.
I've also been thinking lately about how to get kids reading comics again, rather than the current rapidly aging fan base. Obviously, what with the whole manga thing, kids today will still read comics. Granted, with video games and whatnot we will probably never return to the heyday, but still. So it looks like it's just a matter of 1) writing comics that actually appeal to kids, rather than 30+ year old perpetual adolescents, and 2) getting the word out. I keep having this idea rattling around in my head about going around to schools and bookstores and making these presentations on comics. Talk for a half hour or so, make some drawings to go along with it, and just be excited about comics for a bit. Make sound effects while drawing. Hope some of it rubs off. Maybe I can get Matt on board for the talking part. Bet he'd be good at it. The talking. And the excitement.
This is another "when time allows", thing, though. Blegh.
posted by Steven Sanders | 8:44 AM
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