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You know what I love? Comics.<\/p>\n You know what I love? Comics.<\/p>\n
Granted, the comics-related phrase I utter most often in a week is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153fuck\u00e2\u20ac\u2122n comics,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d but then no one can break your heart like the one you love. Yeah, I totally love comics, and the schizophrenic state of my bookshelves will explain that it is not a certain genre, style, or delivery format that I love, but comics as a medium.<\/p>\n
Starting at P, my bookshelf reads Palestine <\/em>by Joe Sacco, Pazzo di te <\/em>by Giovanni and Accardi, Paradise Kiss <\/em>by Ai Yazawa, Past Lies <\/em>by De Phillipes, Weir, and Mitten, Peng <\/em>by Corey Lewis, Pedigree Girls <\/em>by Sherwin Tija, Perfect Example <\/em>by John Porcillino, Persepolis <\/em>by Marjane Satarapi, Pervert Club <\/em>by Will Allison, Perverso <\/em>by Rich Tommasi, Phoenix <\/em>by Osamu Tezuka, Pip & Norton<\/em> by Dave Cooper, Le Piquer d\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Etoiles <\/em>by Shizuka Nakano, Pizzeria Kamikaze <\/em>by Karef and Hanuka, Placebo Man <\/em>by Tomer Hanuka, Planetary <\/em>by Ellis, Cassaday, and Martin, Planetes <\/em>by Makoto Yuklimura, Pokemon: The Electric Tale of Pikachu, Pop Gun War<\/em> by Farel Dalrymple, Powers<\/em> by Bendis and Oeming, Preacher<\/em> by Ennis and Dillon, Pride of Baghdad<\/em> by Vaughan and Henrichon, Princess of Darkness <\/em>by Yuichiro Tanuma, Project\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Romance, Superior, <\/em>and Telstar<\/em> by various, Project X: Cup Noodles <\/em>and Seven Eleven<\/em> by various, Promethea <\/em>by Moore, Williams, and Gray, Pussey! <\/em>By Dan Clowes, and Put The Book Back On The Shelf <\/em>by Various.<\/p>\n This all-encompassing love of comics is not universally shared; I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve known this for a very long time. I try not to let the clique-ism and self-consciousness bother me when it comes to people dismissing work out of hand, but honestly? I think about the same of someone who writes off manga <\/em>as a whole as someone who writes off comics <\/em>as a whole: not much. And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not just manga, but any genre\/format\/style\/country\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s work. It seems so completely limited in scope, and more often than not those words seem spoken from a position of ignorance rather than any considered or researched position.<\/p>\n Every once in a while I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll come across an essay, blog post, or even snarky comment from someone who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been through a fandom and come out the other side, and when they have grievances I tend to give them a bit more weight\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 as in any weight\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and really listen to what they have to say. I stumbled over a discussion about \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Moe\u00e2\u20ac\u009d a few months back that was like that, and it was really interesting because of it\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 I learned something, it was great. But coming across a series of columns like Bob Holt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcI Love Comics\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 at comicsnob.com? Not so much. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even pull out a quote to illustrate why I think the column is weak, so much as the columns just belie a shallowness of experience and thought on the subject. Rather than write on the subject I was just going to be content to leave a comment, but according to Bob:<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I guess it comes down to this. Everyone\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s entitled to an opinion (I think someone once remarked that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re kind of like a certain body part). I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like to think that we encourage discussion from people of all levels of experience here. If someone\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s inexperience is a factor, all we can do is recommend something for them to check out. I think limiting the discussion to those select few that can be universally ordained as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153experts\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is dangerous and narrow-minded, especially if we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re interested in how neophytes to the world of comics perceive our little world here.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Bob Holt, ComicSnob.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Really? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m more of a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d rather here what people who know what they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re talking about\u00e2\u20ac\u009d kind of a guy, than a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153people making pronouncements based on their under-informed opinions\u00e2\u20ac\u009d kind of a guy, but then this is <\/em>the internet. In the end, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll just agree to disagree that basing your opinions of manga on 15 different books and hear-say picked up on the internet constitutes something worthwhile.<\/p>\n In a related, though not entirely dissimilar situation, I personally think Jacob Covey is one of the most talented designers working in the comics industry at the moment. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s probably best known for his stunning design on the recently released Popeye Volume 1 Collection<\/em> from Fantagraphics books, but he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s probably second-best known for the following comment, posted to the Fantagraphics blog:<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I said Manga is crap. The only reason I said this is that Manga is crap. As David notes, however, “The general dismissal of manga’s artistic merit isn’t anything new, but the added doses of cynicism and condescension made it seem somehow special.” True. I AM cynical and condescending to a special degree but I am uncomfortable with an entire genre of comics being dominated by a single “look” that, furthermore, relies heavily on a masked fixation with adolescence. Perhaps that’s too psychological of me but, friends, it’s gross.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Jacob Covey, Fantagraphics.com\/blog<\/a> (archived by John Jakala)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Jacob, where to start? Is it with all of the manga porn that your employer publishes? I guess that could still be \u00e2\u20ac\u02dccrap\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 though\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 How about the non-porn manga that Fantagraphics has published, including Anywhere But Here<\/em> by Tori Miki, or Screw Style <\/em>by Yoshiharu Tsuge in Comics Journal #250? Crap as well? I think the art-comics establishment might disagree with you there, sir. To say nothing of the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153artcomix-friendly\u00e2\u20ac\u009d manga published by D&Q, Fanfare\/Ponent-Mon, or Vertical\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 I dunno about you but I won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be the one standing up to loudly proclaim Abandon The Old In Tokyo <\/em>as crap.<\/p>\n But I guess what I take the biggest issue with in Mr. Covey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s blog entry is the ridiculous assertion that manga \u00e2\u20ac\u0153relies heavily on a masked fixation with adolescence.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Mr Covey?<\/p>\n Defend Western Civilization in 100,000 words or less. Use graphs.<\/p>\n So, those are my thoughts on cultural and artistic elitism, at the moment anyway. If Frederick L. Schodt, or hell, even Toren Smith, would care to show up in the comments section and debate the relative merits of manga versus other forms of artistic expression in comics, or even declare it all crap, by all means, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m willing to listen. Everyone else has got to qualify their positions a little bit better than they have been for me to pay any attention from now on\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n – Christopher<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" You know what I love? Comics. Granted, the comics-related phrase I utter most often in a week is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153fuck\u00e2\u20ac\u2122n comics,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d but then no one can break your heart like the one you love. Yeah, I totally love comics, and the schizophrenic state of my bookshelves will explain that it is not a certain genre, style, … <\/p>\n\n
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