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June 27, 2006
Subway Reading: Casanova
When it comes to comic art, I'm always on the lookout for something to add to my own bag of tricks. Not in a swipe-y way, I don't think, but in a "suck it up like a Hoover" kind of way. This morning, for example, fresh from devouring Matt Fraction & Gabriel Ba's the first issue of uber-stylish, madcap thrill-ride, Casanova on the subway, I sat down at my desk and, instead of logging on to my computer and doing work, I picked up a pen and tried to recreate the way Ba casts shadows on men's suit jackets with solid black shapes. It's a problem I've been running into on the pages of Division 18 ever since I got to the part of the script starring Tony, the union boss. Tony wears a dark suit jacket (sport coat? blazer? I've never understood the difference), the book is black and white, and I don't want to always block in the whole jacket as a big black blob. Tony's a portly gent, and his gestures are a major part of his personality. With its square shoulders, wrinkled upper sleeves, and cut at the waist, a jacket can communicate its wearer's body language beautifully. But not if you can't make out any of the details. Luckily, Ba's solution came to the rescue. Is this the most ethical or pure way to go about solving this particular problem? Probably not. But damned if it doesn't look sharp. Thanks, Gabriel Ba!
Casanova, by the way, is a heck of a fun comic book. Ba's fluid, energetic line work provides a nice counterpoint to Matt Fraction's super-dense script. In his back-page editorial, Fraction explains that he's going for a "wall of sound" approach to the comic, a sort of re-compressed storytelling that will fit the book into its intended 16-page, $1.99 format. While I always admire a formal exercise, I think Fraction and Ba have a bit more experimentation to do before they hit the mark. I would start by paring down the narration and dialogue. Ba's art is exceptionally expressive, and it could easily shoulder more of the storytelling burden. Fraction's language is great in this book, reminiscent of his buddy Joe Casey's work in Godland, and it would be a shame to cut it. But something has to give, because there's a mildly cramped, claustrophobic feeling to the whole affair. It seems like the book was shoehorned into the wrong format.
In Fell, Warren Ellis and Ben Templesmith are trying to pull off the same trick: 16 pages for $1.99. I would argue that they're somewhat more successful in that book, largely because Ellis trims his words down to the bone and Templesmith stays away from ambitious panels. The strict nine-panel grid plays to Templesmith's strengths of straightforward compositions with moody coloring. In Casanova, on the other hand, Ba takes a much more open approach to the page. His strengths are dynamic layouts and fluid figures, but there's a bit of a clipped-wing feel because of the amount of stuff that he has to pack into every page.
I guess it sounds like I'm down on the book, and I'm really not. It was a thoroughly engaging read and the visuals were spectacular. The formatting game that the creators are playing is not an easy one, but they clearly have the ability to pull it off. I'm looking forward to watching their progress.
I wasn't expecting that to turn into a full-blown review, but there you go. Once I get back in the saddle, I'm ready to ride!
Better late then never, I'd like to direct your attention to Comics Comics, a new comics blog brought to you two of my school chums: loyal Pickytarian Tim Hodler and Comics Scholar Dan Nadel. The site is a companion to the free quarterly magazine of the same name. Look for Tim's essay about one of Carl Barks' most famous Scrooge McDuck stories, as well as Dan's look at Harry Lucey, an artist who did not make the cut in Nadel's new book about undeservedly forgotten comic artists, Art Out of Time. Note that Tim has an ornery streak of legendary proportions, so be sure to rile him up with some contrary comments. Tell them the Pickytarian sent you!
The response was great to my wife's review of Lauren Weinstein's Girl Stories. Yes, she and The Suckytarian are real people, not just me writing under a pseudonyms! Look for another review from her very soon.
In further site-related news, I have had to disable comments for the time begin. Apparently somebody figured out how to get around Movable Type's comment spam protection and went after my site with a vengeance. Hopefully I'll get it straightened out in the near future. For now, however, they've ruined it for everybody.
This interview with Scott McCloud really got my wheels turning, giving me fresh insight into my own creative process. I was mainly interested in his four-way split of the different approaches to comic art: classicist, iconoclast, formalist, and animist. His explanation that American comics, coming from a tradition of theater, usually show character from the front, while manga tries to pull the reader into the experience by showing characters from behind, was something that I had never considered before but now see everywhere. I expect that McCloud will expand on these ideas in his new book, Making Comics, and I anticipate that I'll have a lot more to say about them after I read it.
Finally, what would one of my long-delayed posts be without a plug for my eBay auctions? I'm selling some great recent comics, including complete Infinite Crisis and Batman: Year 100, all packed securely with that Pickytarian care that you've come to love. The auctions end tomorrow, and some of them are still at their bargain-basement starting price of one penny. Check 'em out!
Posted by jdonelson_nyc at June 27, 2006 02:18 PM