briarwood | Comic book musings

My Great Room Cleaning Project is almost done.

One of the many odd things I found while cleaning up and chucking out, is a small collection of Xena Warrior Princess comic books. I have no idea where they came from as I am seriously not a comic book fan. I don't think I ever even read them and I'm quite certain I never paid money for them.

But I've been buying the Supernatural: Origins comic ('cause, you know, anything Supernatural [except tie-in novels. I won't buy them when fanfic is far superior]) and glancing through those old Xenas has made me realise how truly awful the artwork in Origins is. I mean, I never thought much of it, but not being a comic fan I figured they're all that bad. Nope. These Xenas are Da Vinci by comparison. The characters are recognisable, not merely as human, but as who they're supposed to be. The action looks like action. The colours are rich and vibrant. The details in the costumes and props are mostly accurate.

I didn't have high expectations of the comic book series, but now I realise I should have. These things actually can look good. The only good part of the Supernatural comics is the cover art, which I admit is darn good (even if the artist doesn't know what the Impala looks like). The interior art doesn't deserve to be called art.

So, yeah, that's a rant.

If anyone is interested in taking the XWP comics off my hands, let me know. I won't ask more than whatever postage costs me because I'm sure I never paid for them. Details of which ones I have on request - just comment if you're interested.

phantomas - Forbidden Planet frakked up my order (didn't send it out on time), but I've got my copies of 4 and 5 now. Finally! I'll get them in the mail to you this week.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I agree on the art in Origins it is truly horrible. I´m told by the comics expert at work that it is somekind of comix style and it is called something, whatever, I don´t care it´s not pretty I don´t like it. The story so far is pretty good though.

I´m told by the comics expert at work that it is somekind of comix style and it is called something,

Yes, giving something ugly a name is often used to justify calling it art. Kinda like Damien Hurst, no? The style is quick-and-dirty, that's all. It takes minimal effort and uses a small colour palette so it's cheap to print. Which to me says the people behind it didn't think it was worth the effort of producing something that looks halfway decent.

The plot is...okay. Actually, the plot would be great if it weren't based on a body of canon that it keeps either ignoring or getting wrong. A great many fanfic writers can do better, though.

The translation of plot to script is poor; there's none of the show's voice, and SPN is as distinctive as Buffy in that way. It's hard to believe any of the shows creators had input.

I resisted anime because I was so not impressed by the artwork. I read the comic page of the newspaper for the stories when I was a kid (and never for the art) and being an old fart I didn't 'get' it when what I was seeing of anime and manga initially came along and hit my old fart radar. Think Pokemon ; )

But then I was exposed to Kazuma Kodaka and a coffee table type book of 'Angel Sanctuary' and realized anime could be a very beautiful art form and I was hooked! It is all dependent on the artist and there are wonderful ones out there. Wonderful world!

It's not that comics or whatever can't be a good medium for storytelling. I know they can. But the artwork is a part of the story; it should support the script, even enhance it. Crappy artwork works against the plot and ruins the whole experience.

That said, the whole "graphic novels" thing is not a medium I really savvy. Anime leaves me cold, I'm afraid. I enjoyed anime-style stuff when I was a kid: Battle of the Planets, y'know? And I can still read cartoon strips. But I find the style of anime too distracting now. It's not the quality, by the style. The way all the characters are styled to look like children (all huge eyes and heart-shaped faces, childlike bodies); that this stuff deals with such adult themes I find vaguely disturbing. The same way I've always found Harry Potter slash disturbing.

(Yes, I know, I write Wincest. Even under-age Wincest. But those characters are adults in the source: that makes the difference for me.)

Not judging anyone who enjoys it; I just can't enjoy it myself.

Comic book musings

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