Pittsburgh Tech Log/Sporadic Meme/Vast Wasteland//Features/Bush Watch/ Majic 12 Blog
|
||
Reinventing Comics
Its
a wonderful
Alt Future for comics that Scott McCloud gives us in Reinventing
Comics. Arguably the most important cartoonist alive, the bespectacled McCloud takes
us on a journey encompassing comics current dark days to a hopeful and joyous future
where good work is recognized and everybody gets their check through Micropayments. We can
only hope. Whats
particularly compelling about the McCloud message is the medium he chooses to express it
in. Comics are used as a way to convey theory, comment,
historical perspective and even
ideology that you just dont see everyday. I suppose those Beginners and Introducing
books (published by Writers and Readers and Totem respectively) on historical figures like
Chomsky or Neitzche would be conquerable, but you sense those books are prose mixed in
with pictures. What McCloud is doing is cohesive and compelling nonfiction Art, with a
capital Aactually, I wish McCloud would do a McLuhan for Beginners Book.
It would be a perfect match of critic and subject.
Reinventing
also serves as the dazzling debut of McCloud the critic as he looks at and comments on,
well, just about everybody: the many facial expressions of Will Eisner, new techniques of
Joe Sacco, the Rube Goldberg statement on the role of cartoonists (Were
nothing but Vaudevillians!), importance of Maus, the confessional style of Joe Matt,
the wonderful weirdness of Starlins Adam Warlock and just about everybody else in
the books 235 pages. Personally, I found myself exhausted by the amount of ideas,
concepts and all-around deep-thinking that displayed itself in this work. I wanted to
towel off and take a rest. Just to
give a quick synopsis of the book: Twelve separate areas or concepts are explored, with
the last three involving
computer technology. He spends about half of the book talking
about how the new computer technologies could change the relationship between comic
creators and readers in a beneficial way. Just tons of inspired visual moments along the
ride: including computer effects, massive and fair use sampling of a zillion
cartoonists styles, and just a playful ease with knotty concepts that would in other
hands be difficult to explain. The Big Message of the first half of the book seems to be
comics have to do better. The industry needs more genre diversity, more racial and gender
inclusion, more imaginative self-promotion and a better deal for its creators. The part
of the book that interested me the most was the second half, when he talked about the
digital revolution and the benefits that might be derived by this Great Shift. First, he
gives us a stunning history of the computer industry itself, which intertwines Eniac, his
dad the early-era computer programmer, Moores Law and, dare I say it,
science-fictional speculation (the maturing of virtual reality, the
first imperfect prototypes for the ultimate killer appthe universal
translator, etc.), then he goes into why the future of computing might offer a
better deal for creators. As McCloud sees it, financially strapped and put-upon comics
dealers knows that X-Men usually sells more than the sporadically produced Dan Clowes
graphic novel. If thats the reality, then you shouldnt be all that surprised
to see your friendly neighborhood comics store stuffed with superhero titles. After all,
comic store owners have to eat. McCloud
believes that the internet future will offer comics two great new opportunities of growth.
For
those of you out there whove read both McCloud books then it should be good news for
you to find out that hes continuing his line of argument at his own web site, which
is http://www.scottmccloud.com/comics/icst/icst.html. He
explains in the fifth column that hes written for The Comic Reader that once a
mechanism like micropayments is perfected it will change comics. By the way, and Im
sure that this is something that science fiction readers might catch on too, science
fiction, which some might say is in kind of a publishing decline despite prominent play in
both film and television, would also benefit from a secure method of online payments.
Personally, to throw in my two cents, if that micropayment system ever comes, then every
magazine should have an online counterpart and all the published stories should be read by
an ensemble cast in some kind of visual Flash format. Just a suggestion in case the future
ever arrives. So, in a
nutshell, if youre looking for a comic thats intellectually challenging, check
out Scott McClouds Reinventing Comics and also his online stuff at www.scottmccloud.com, where hes busy putting
those theories about the evolution of the shape of comics into practice. I highly
recommend his online story about chess if you decide to click it on.
City
of Silence Im
not sure if Bill Joy, the famous scientist who might affectionately be called the leading
voice of the neo-luddite anti-technology movement, has a favorite comic. But if he was
looking for one that would best bring his fears to the public in a four-color format, then
I highly recommend that he pick up Warren Elliss brilliant, prickly and thoroughly
disturbing trilogy City of Silence. The premise of the storywritten sometime before
Transmetropolitan but seemingly set in that same world or an alternative dimension jump
away from it---is that theres dangerous technology out there thats so
dangerous the very thought of it has to be censored, or silenced. Silenced is just a nice
way to say killed. Euphemistically, its in the same category as the Le Femme Nikita
term cancelled.
Our
heroes, one man and two women, are some kind of aged and depraved three way orgiastic Mod Squad. Their job is to go out and terminate
people who have the dangerous technology. And whilst they rip out your throat, puncture
you with sharp objects or shoot your dog, theyre always trading witty Avengers era
quips. One of the most disturbing and poetic science fiction comics that Ive read in
a long time. It features a number of wonderful snatches of prose. Think Richard Calder
without all that French or Gibson during one of his Burning Chrome level descriptive
insights. In terms of just its perpetual wave of neat conceits and jolting thought, it
kind of reminds you a little bit of the wondrous Starstruck comics done by Kaluta and Lee.
But heres an excerpt: She
was a surgeon. And I mean wasshe was disbarred from practice before I met her. She
had big strange ideas. She injected untested nanotech and blank DNA into a fetus, having
drugged the mother first. What came out was a cloud of live steel and fleshy dust, with
radio parts instead of vocal chords. She liked to tinker. And of
course, after that it gets kind of weird. I cant say enough about the art either. It
is stunningly drawn, way better than most Transmet comics for example. Gary Erskine does a
wonderful job of imagining that aforementioned Transmet as drawn by Geoff Darrow, mixed in
with a 70s Heavy Metal perspective. It just looks real real good. So, to
sum up and rip off an apt phrase from Greg Egans Axiomatic, this is science fiction
for people who like science fiction. Its been out awhile so you might have to go to
your better comics store to find it, but its definitely worth it. Highly recommended and
arguably the best written published work that Ive seen from Warren Ellis.
|