Books: Stardust

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Stardust
Written by Neil Gaiman
Art by Charles Vess
1999




Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
http://www.library.islington.gov.uk/TalisPrism/


Ok - so howsabout I try and keep this short (for once?).

No I haven't seen the film. Don't much want to either [1]: I mean - just judging from the clips and bits of trailers and that it looks like it's got as much soul and authentic rustic English atmosphere as a McDonald's Happy Meal [2].

I did try reading the book [4] a long while back: but didn't get very far. I think it's the thing where if your headspace is in "comics" it can be a bit much to be suddenly attacked by a multitude of words coming at you from all sides: it's like if you think you're going to watch an episode of something and then all of a sudden it's a film - and you're like: what the hell is this? And your brain can't take it and decides to flop out through your ears - you know? (see also: Posy Simmonds' Gemma Bovery and Tamara Drewe).

But - what the hey: I was stuck for something to read: this was on my "maybe" pile - so I thought what the hey: let's give this baby a go.

And: well - yeah: to be perfectly frank - it really hit the spot: and I'll tell you - spending your Thursday lunchtime with a hot soup and a nice little homemade sandwich by your side: with the first two Strokes albums on your ipod and looking up from your reading to watch the April snow drift outside - well: it's a pretty sweet set-up: thank you very much (or - like it says at one point in the book (talking about something totally different admittedly): it's "exhilarating, and intoxicating, and fine.”

The guy who does the pictures (which like I said: aren't really "comics" but are more like the type of thing you'd find in a top-of-the-line children's book from the late Victorian age: in fact - the whole book is like: the kind of thing that seems like it would be best discovered in a small library at the bottom of an sun-drenched English garden when you've somewhere in the wilds between still being a child and not quite yet a teenager: and you've been given the whole of the day to do whatever the hell you want... So you find this library: in fact - maybe it would be better described as a little hut with books inside (but whatever) and somehow you get the door open by giving it the biggest shove you have: inside it's all dusty: so dusty that you can see it floating in the air in the beams of sunshine that smash in through the windows and you nose around all these handsomely bound leather books with strange names: that are half-English and half-something else (French maybe? You can't say for certain) and then - right at the end - on a bottom shelf where there's nothing else: there's this book: and you know (even before you pick it up) that it's the book you're going to spend your whole weekend getting lost in: well - Stardust is that book: or (at least) that's the way reading it (if you're reading it properly) is going to make you feel): but yeah (sorry that got a way from me a little) the artwork is by Charles Vess (not - as I thought when I started: P. Craig Russell: but then that's an easy mistake to make right? Especially how P. Craig Russell does the art for every other Neil Gaiman comic out there....): Vess some of you Sandman readers might recognize as the guy who illustrated the two Shakespeare stories: A Midsummer Night's Dream [7] and The Tempest [8] (the final issue of the series): as good as those two stories were tho - the artwork didn't actually manage to leave much of impression in my mind which leads me to the conclusion that maybe Vess isn't cut out for comics work: especially as - well: pretty much everything that he does in the pages of Stardust feels top-of-the-line [9] with a delightful lightness-of-touch that (compared to the smashing drums and distorted guitars of other comic book artists) makes you feel like you're listening to a piano sonata or a string quartet.

(Although - I must say - there were a few annoying points here-and-there where the placement of a picture managed to ruin the surprises and twists before you managed to read them: but - I don't know - maybe that was part of the point or something?).

Of course (or maybe this is just obvious to the hardcore Neil Gaiman fans out there?) it's seems like it was written to slot alongside the Yoshitaka Amano version of the Dream Hunters: and while that's a fairy-tale story told with all the ingredients from the far East - Stardust is a very English affair (maybe I should have been listening to The Kinks or something instead?) - it takes it's own sweet ("Years passed.") time to get to where it's going: but - hey: what you rushing for anyway? Sometimes it's nice to have something a little bit ballad-edy - right? Without any frivolous modern references or whatever (see: any kids cartoon based on a classic fairy-tale: you know what I mean - right? Like how they all have a bullet-time reference or a joke about bodily functions): the nearest Stardust gets to that is when one character (when asked her name) replies: "I answer to "hey you!" or to "girl!" or to "foolish slattern!" or to many another imprecation." (and what the hell is a slattern? Or an imprecation?).

I mean: I could try and devel a little bit more into what and why exactly the whole concept of fairy-tale does and the hold that (if it's done right) it can still hold over us (it's like soup or something you know? Basic ingredients that everyone knows backwards - but if you serve and season it with enough care and love and attention: well - it hits a spot inside you that nothing else really gets close to - because (and this is because yeah - you know: you hear them most when you're a kid blah blah blah) - it hits you somewhere in the centre: somewhere in your core).

But like I said - I'm gonna keep this one short. So maybe just pick up a copy and read it yourself. "Here, truly, there by Dragons. Also gryphons, wyverns, hippogriffs, basilisks, and hydras."

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[1] Matthew Vaughn? Layer Cake = Yes. Kick-Ass = Ok. X-Men: First Class = No Thank you.

[2] If anyone asked me then I would have recommended they got the 80s version of Terry Gilliam to direct it for them: I'm thinking particularly of Time Bandits and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (but then he is my go-to-guy for most fantasy adaptations (oops - pun unintended: ha)- so what the hey): and if he's busy then - I dunno - Ridley Scott in his Legend phase or whoever it was that directed Labyrinth [3].

[3] Holy moly - Jim Henson!

[4] And - urg - like with seemingly all Neil Gaiman books [5] I guess I should make clear which book I'm talking about seeing how there's two different versions: there's the Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess version (cover above) that is described as a "story book with pictures" and isn't really a comic book: but - what the hey - that's where the library shelves it seeing how it doesn't really fit anywhere else: that's the one we'll talk about (and that's the one that came first). But - just so you know: there's also a "proper book" (ie no pictures version) that was released by Neil Gaiman a few years later (I haven't read it so couldn't tell you if it has an extra words or whatever: but judging from what's written on the wikipedia page: it doesn't seem like it.....But hey - if that's wrong - I'm sure someone will show up in the comments and correct me - right?).

[5] See also: Neverwhere, Coraline, The Sandman: The Dream Hunters and Murder Mysteries: all of which are available in multiple formats (I don't know if this is a good thing or bad thing: make up your own mind).

[6] Not that I'm a total Strokes devotee or something (in fact: I'm probably floating in the same sort of orbit as Nick Southall: "Sometimes I listen to this record and I enjoy the fact that it’s just 11 great scuzzy pop songs. And sometimes I listen to this record and think it’s an ideological black hole, a vacuum, a vortex, an evil, dark, empty, hollow, selfish, greedy, solipsistic thing, the death of culture, and that it shouldn’t be allowed.").

[7] As collected in The Sandman: Dream Country.

[8] As collected in The Sandman: The Wake.

[9] This is the bit that I will mention that Vess also drew - as so delightedly described on wikipedia - "a prose-based inset that appeared in Sandman #62": which is a really good example of how weightless his art can feel when freed from the stifling restrictions of the comic panel.

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Links: Steely Pips Review. 

Further reading: The Sandman: The Dream Hunters, Coraline, Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, Murder Mysteries, Gemma Bovery, The Sandman, The Hobbit, Saga, Smax, The Unwritten.

Profiles: Neil Gaiman.

All comments welcome.

Authors/Artists: Alison Bechdel

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Alison Bechdel
Born: September 10, 1960
Pennsylvania, United States










You ever hear of the Bechdel test ("A work of fiction passes the test if it features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man")? Well (in case you couldn't guess) Alison Bechdel is the person who it's named after.

I mean - yeah: that's impressive enough but - in comics terms - looking from the outside in as if it were: with only (so far at least) three books to her name Alison Bechdel doesn't seem like someone who deserves (?) a whole author/artist profile (I know - lucky her - right?). But don't be deceived by the slimness of her back catalogue: I mean - just because Fiona Apple has only released four albums in the space of about (what?) 15 years (?) it doesn't mean she's not in the - like: a fully paid up member of the artistic canon (or whatever) with their own exclusive area cordoned off behind a velvet rope: having established themselves to such a degree that if they wanted to live out the rest of their days quaffing champagne and stuffing themselves with caviar - well - no one could really blame them: it's not really as if they need to prove themselves or anything like that. Bechdel's comic career began all the way back in 1987 when she launched the seminal comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For. Running for over twenty years it's success was two-fold: the first: yes - as one of the "earliest ongoing representations of lesbians in popular culture" it gave a voice to those who needed it and highlighted the simple truth that it doesn't matter what your sexuality is: all humans everywhere are the same and each one of us - it seems - is capable of making all sorts of messes with our lives: but you know - in a good way (mostly). But apart from the cultural studies reasons the second success was just how damn good Dykes to Watch Out For worked as - you know - comics. Because - yeah: while admittedly it did start off kinda shambolic and rudimentary (hell: it was carried in a newspaper called the Funny Times - so what did you expect?): slowly - over the years - it developed (with it's characters) into something capable of some truly remarkable emotional moments: you know how sit-coms generally start off really well: and all the characters seem fully human and then eventually it all just turns into a cartoon of it's former self? Well - Dykes to Watch Out For is like the exact opposite of that.

Now - for most people that would be enough. Charles M. Schulz was content just giving the world Peanuts, Bill Watterson did Calvin and Hobbes and then seemingly melted into the air but Bechdel (whose comic strip  was admittedly a lot more adult than those two) made the decision to move out of her comfort zone and strike out into unexplored terrain resulting in the two comics that are a must-have for any self-respecting "serious" comic book fan (you know what I mean - the type of person who doesn't have a copy of Watchmen because it's got people in funny costumes) that is Fun Home (published in 2006) and Are You My Mother? (2012). Basically - if you're looking for comics to show people who normally wouldn't think to take comics seriously: these are the ones you should go for. With lots of literary references, a sophisticated mannerism and a clear and simple style that even the most inexperienced comics reader can easily get to grips with Bechdel: she's basically the acceptable face of the medium: producing the kind of comics that you can bring home and share with the whole family and not worry about getting any funny looks. I mean: comics has had it's fair share of trailblazer and iconoclasts: Bechdel is one of the first creators to gain mainstream acceptance and point forward to how comics could work as they settle into middle-age.

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Links: The Comics Reporter Interview.

Selected works: The Essential Dykes To Watch Out For, Fun Home, Are You My Mother?.

All comments welcome.

Book: Crécy

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Crécy
Written by Warren Ellis
Art by Raulo Cáceres
2007




Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
http://www.library.islington.gov.uk/TalisPrism/


You ever see Goodfellas? No? Really? I mean - come on. At this point everyone's seen Goodfellas - right? "We were good fellas. Wiseguys." "No more shines, Billy." "What am I? A schmuck on wheels?" etc. Come on.

Well - ok. If you haven't seen Goodfellas then I suggest you turn away now - because I'm about to talk about the ending. Ok? And I don't wanna spoil it for any of you unfortunates who haven't seen it. And if that means you - well - just skip all the next five paragraphs and we'll see you at the point where it says "But anyway"... (But do me a favour - and go and watch it as soon as you possibly can - ok? Yeah. Ok. Good).

...Ok. So - the thing which has always bugged me about the end of Goodfellas [1] (and this is something that has somehow lead to - well - colossal arguments between me and my esteemed literary-minded flatmate as well as a few others who were unlucky enough to get caught in the crossfire) is the way that it breaks in the fourth wall in the last - what? - five minutes. You know the bit I mean right? When they're in the courtroom and all of a sudden Ray Liotta is talking directly to camera (""Didn't matter. It didn't mean anything. When I was broke, I'd go out and rob some more. We ran everything. We paid off cops. We paid off lawyers. We paid off judges." etc) as he jumps down from the witness box - walking past everyone else - none of who notice that this guy is (for some reason) talking to an invisible audience [2]. And god - everytime I see it - the aesthetical muscles in my brain (that's a thing right?) just start to spasm. It's like - god - I dunno: the rest of the film has been this beautifully constructed temple of pleasure: the Sistine Chapel with better dialogue - and there's this bit that's like it's been lifted from a school play. I can't stand it.

And I mean - it's not that I don't get what it's doing: yeah - it's the slow disintegration of the mobster dream: and by breaking the fourth wall it's breaking the spell that the film has managed to cast over you: but - damnit - it's just so ugly and well (summing up all my feelings in two words) - tonally inconsistent with the mode of storytelling set up by the rest of the film: and (slight understatement) - it bugs me.

It's not that I don't like a little bit of talking to the camera here and there [3]: in fact - yeah: really it's not that at all: I guess the best way to put it is that - in storytelling terms only: I just don't believe in miscegenation [4] so late on in the proceedings (because yeah - like I said: it's literally like the last five of the film): I mean - if it had opened with some fourth-wall breaking or had it lightly smattered around the place then I wouldn't be fussed at all - but (damn it) it's the fact that it happens in the closing moments makes it feel such a (as silly as I know it sounds) betrayal.

I mean: as I write all this stuff down I can a second voice in my head going: but come on man: Scorsese is a smart guy - he knows what he's doing: and if that ending left you feeling somewhat deflated - well: you know - maybe that's the point: to give you this wild rush of a roller-coaster ride for a couple of hours - and then to dump you off at the end unceremoniously: like a sack of rubbish being thrown in the bin - that's why it feels like such a shift in gears and so incongruous [5] with all that came before. Because fourth-wall breaking (or whatever you want to call it) isn't just a little sprinkle of extra storytelling off or whatever (like having a new character coming in wearing a top hat or whatever): it's a whole new mode. It'll be like if the film ended by switching to animation for a scene, or they switched to being shadow-puppets or suddenly a laughter track popped up [6]: it's just not right damn it.

And yeah: it's not as if I don't appreciate stories which can upend themselves in interesting ways: there's a 2002 Japanese film called Ping Pong [7] which kinda blossoms into a whole strange new creature in it's last third in a way that you won't really see coming: but then that's a film where the strange new creature was the point the whole time (yeah? [8]): which isn't really the case with Goodfellas (or at least - it doesn't feel that way to this chump: I dunno).

But anyway.

All this stuff is really besides the point when it comes to talking about Crécy. There's no incongruity to worry about here and there's no rug pulling of any type to be scared of. I mean: I did kind of think that maybe this was the wrong place to dump all my Goodfellas musings: but then I guess if I spoke about in connection to a book that did have a final little twist in the tale - then that would constitute (for me anyway) a spoiler - so (yeah) it's better to do it here where you don't have to worry about knowing things that you shouldn't.

So why even mention Goodfellas at all? Well - I guess the reason all this stuff sprang to mind is that Crécy (unlike the vast majority of it's comic peers) is brave enough (or foolish enough maybe?) to employ a tactic that all of this has been circling around: breaking the fourth wall - and addressing the audience directly (like this: hello reader! How's it going? Yeah - I'm talking to you! Hope you're having a good day out there. Make sure to check out the site once you're done here: lot's of good stuff to read.)

For me: I guess the most natural place to address the audience is in plays. I mean - there the level of artifice is at it's highest: it's people standing around acting and pretending not to notice all the other people sitting around watching them: so - when you do break that spell: well - it can be almost a relief (no? Just me?). Which I guess is why they've been doing asides since Shakespeare times (which is the oldest in times you can get - right?). After that tho: well - things get a little more tricksy. I mean - it works in films mostly: but it feels a little strained - it's no longer about acknowledging reality: it's more like - swapping one format for another (like I guess I've already said). And then (leaving aside books which I guess fall somewhere in between plays and films? And then after all of them: comes comics.

Because yeah - total statement of the obvious here: but comics are pictures on a page. The people there aren't real flesh-and-blood people - they're two dimensional lines and shadings: I mean - yeah - ok (most) films are 2-D - but they're capturing something that's three-dimensional [9] (and alright - yeah: if you wanna get picky - I know that drawing are pictures of three-dimensional objects etc: but it's not really the same thing is it?): comics aren't even close to being real - which I guess is the main deciding factor (for me anyway)  why it's strange to pick up Crécy and find the main character (William of Stonham) staring straight at me and talking like we're best friends (not that he's someone that you'd want to be best friends with - like he says himself: "I am, of course, a complete bloody xenophobe who comes from a time when it was acceptable to treat people in the next village like they were subhuman."). But even tho there's a part of my brain that rebels against a picture doing the breaking the fourth wall thing: well - it's a bit like when you're a kid and you don't want to get into the swimming pool because (well - because) but then once you make the splash - hey wait a second: it turns out that the water is warm and enveloping (although maybe that's because - to stretch the metaphor a little - it turns out that it's not a swimming pool - but a blood bath: albeit a lovely warm and enveloping one).

So - yeah: now we're on to it - what is this Crécy comic actually - you know - about?

Well: as I tried to work out which other comics to link to at that "Further reading" bit at the bottom I realised that there's not really any other comics that are like Crécy [10]. I mean - yeah - there's war comics (and Crécy is built around a pretty big battle - which I guess counts): but most of the war comics out there tend to  concentrate on the big two: you know WW1 and WW2 (you know: in much the same way as absolutely everything else [11]): but Crécy isn't even in the same century. Nah - as Mr Marsellus Wallace would (surely) approve: this comic right here is downright medieval.

I mean - yeah: from that cover with the two fingers and the bloody St George's Cross you'd be forgiven for thinking that it was a pamphlet for the National Front or something: but fret not - I mean - yeah: ok - this is pretty much the only comic I can think of that I could imagine Al Murray The Pub Landlord owning a copy of: but it's written in such a way that it never makes you feel complicit in all the French-bashing (not to mention the Scottish and the Welsh): rather there's a nice all-prevailing sense of detachment which means that you get to gawk at all the unpleasantness: mud and gore and guts without - well - without having to worry about getting your hands dirty. In fact the one example that leaps to mind is the Horrible Histories books [12]: there's the same sense of revelry in - boy: look how they did things in the past! - that basically keeps Crécy surging forward: only the swearing is much more extravagant (one of the tamer examples being: "If you say one word to me again I'm going to turn your bollocks into a pocket and sell your wife to the butcher.": but then - this is war: what did you expect?) and the detail is much (much) more - well - unsanitary (check the bit where William of Stonham tells you what to wipe on sword).

Raulo Cáceres - who's on the art duties - has a lovely detailed style (presented here in black and white) that - for me - felt like it was only a few steps up form a wood carving: but it's the perfect match for a story that feels like it's been beamed directly from 1346. The only downside to it all in fact is that it's only 48 pages long (in fact I would not be at all surprised if someone told me that I'd written more words here than there are in the book): but - what the hell - that just means that once you get to the end: you want to go back and start again.

In sum: it's a good little comic. Nasty, brutish and short - but sometimes that's just how I like them. Or (to end with a Goodfellas quote): One dog goes one way, the other dog goes the other way, and this guy's sayin' "Whadda ya want from me?'

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[1] And don't get me wrong: I totally adore the rest of it. This is just a small fly in an otherwise completely delicious (sweary) soup.

[2] No? Not ringing any bells? Well - it's up on youtube if that helps.

[3] Films which spring to mind: Fight Club, Amélie, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Wayne's World: and specil mention to the most excellent House of Cards (the Ian Richardson version and the Kevin Spacey one: both of which I'd highly recommend): which has the best audience asides since frigging Shakespeare. But yeah.

[4] Disclaimer: I realise that's a pretty fraught word to use: but what the hey right: it sounds kinda good when you smash it round your mouth - but if anyone is feeling anxious - well: speaking as a mixed breed mongrel myself who wouldn't exist if it wasn't for a whole bunch of people sleeping with people that they weren't supposed to: if anyone wants to miscegenate then - well: you have my blessing and all the rest of it. I'm just talking about stories not people - yeah?

[5] Definition of incongruous: "Not in harmony or keeping with the surroundings or other aspects of something; not in place." Which - yeah - is the perfect word for what it is that I'm trying to get at.

[6] And don't get me wrong at this point either: I usually love films that can stand to be this playful. Natural Born Killers? Hell yes. I will defend that film to the death. Although - the important distinction between Natural Born Killers and Goodfellas - is that the former announces it's playfulness from the start - while Goodfellas (like I've said in several different ways already) pulls it's switcheroo right at the end.

[7] Which if you haven't seen: then - well - it's another one that I would very much recommend. "Enter the hero!" etc.

[8] Or as Film Crit Hulk would put it: THE ENDING IS THE CONCEIT.

[9] Animation is obvious the big gaping hole in this theory: especially so in how there's been so much good animation (I'm thinking of Bugs Bunny and the Animaniacs especially) have made that small (fourth-wall breaking) glance to camera one of their best strengths (which - ha! - makes me think of that priceless Eddie Murphy moment in Trading Places in this scene here).

[10] Of course - as you can see: then I got going (and just thought - I'd throw in anything even tangentially related) and then it was easy.

[11] And if you wanna dispute the idea that the World Wars still have a firm grip on the collective unconscious (or whatever) on Western society - then please come and pay a visit to my library and I'll show you the relative paucity of books from other historical periods compared to the shelves and shelves and shelves we have given over to (pretty much) every single aspect of 1914 - 1918 and 1939 - 1945 (hell - there's an entire rack given over to D-Day: which I think must make it one of the most written about days like ever).

[12] Which I only mention here with the proviso that you understand that the guy who wrote them (it turns out) is a bit of an idiot.

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Links: Fictions Review.

Further reading: Sláine: The Horned God, Alan's War: The Memories of G.I. Alan Cope, Battlefields, Northlanders, 303, Goliath, Mezolith, War Stories, The Unwritten, Last Day in Vietnam, Doktor Sleepless, Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth, Ministry of Space.

Profiles: Warren Ellis.

All comments welcome.

Events: Islington Comic Forum 2013/04

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Ok. So you know what? It's kinda hard to describe properly what a typical meeting of the Islington Comic Forum consists of (relax: - I'm not going to use that hoary old cliché about there's not really any such thing as a typical meeting of the Islington Comic Forum because - we're better than that - right?) - I mean: in the strict physical sense - it's a big table full of comic books (at a rough guesstimate I'd say there's usually around - what? - 150 books available for people to take home at each session) and a bunch of people (typically we get about a dozen or so people turn up) all from various walks of life and all with different backgrounds (yeah - I know you're thinking that's it probably all nerdy white guys - but seriously - we're as multicultural and diverse as a corporate video - with an age span from 6 to 90) all sitting around and discussing / arguing / sharing their thoughts and ideas about one of the most exciting and diverse mediums on the planet (nowadays if you're talking about something that's just "all about superheroes" my first guess is you're talking about films - but whatever). It's a little bit more chaotic than a book club but with the same sort of relaxed and open friendly atmosphere: all presided over by an excitable librarian (that would be me - hi!) who has pretty much read every comic book out there (even the terrible ones) and is willing to tell you where you're going wrong with whatever you're reading (and is most happy when people disagree with him). If you're curious as to what sort of books we discuss - then take a look around this blog - every book here has been included at one point or another. And if you want to know what sort of things we talk about: - well - it's never really that properly thought out but we touch upon everything from the best way to construct a story, to how far genre limits can go all the way to if Frank Miller was right about who would win in a fight between Batman and Superman.

Books available this month will include (unless - of course - they are reserved by other people): Breakdowns / Seaguy / Fables / Fell / Science Tales: Lies, Hoaxes and Scams / The Fablous Furry Freak Brothers / Arrowsmith: So Smart In Their Fine Uniforms / From Hell / Lex Luthor: Man of Steel / Supergod / Tank Girl: Tank Girl One / Worlds Greatest Superheroes / The Living and the Dead / Superman: All Star Superman / Skizz / Sláine: The Horned God / Lobo:Portrait of a Bastich / Wasteland / Make Me A Woman / No Hero / Wolverine: Enemy of The State / Batman: Snow / Clumsy / Hellblazer: Pandemonium / iZombie / It's a Good Life if You Don't Weaken / The Dilbert Principle / Supergods / The Hobbit / Chicken with Plums / The Authority / Ghost World / American Splendor: The Best of American Splendor / Gemma Bovery / Alan Moore's The Courtyard / Joe the Barbarian / Hicksville / Desolation Jones / Wilson / plus many, many, many (many!) more.

There's also a book of the month (so that at least we can all talk about something we've all read). This month it's: Gotham Central Vol. 1: In the Line of Duty written by Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka art by Michael Lark . If you get a chance please read it. You can reserve yourself a copy here. (For those of you that don't get the chance - don't worry - you can still come and join in with the discussions).

The next one is: Tuesday the 2nd of April / 6:00pm to 7:30pm in the Upstairs Hall at North Library Manor Gardens N7 6JX. Here is a map. Come and join us. It's free. All welcome.

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For more information (or if you have any questions and/or would like to be added to our email list: we send out a reminder a week before with a list of the books that are going to be available) you can email us here.

All comments welcome.

Books: Spawn

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Spawn
By Todd McFarlane
2006





Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
http://www.library.islington.gov.uk/TalisPrism/


If I could I would make it so that as soon as you started reading this review you would hear the chug-chug-chugging of some mid-90s heavy-metal guitars [1]. You know - some Rage Against The Machine maybe or hell: anything off the soundtrack that came out with the 1997 Spawn film [2]: because - well - yeah: Spawn all the way from his name [3] all the way to his garish, chains and red cape outfit [4] is the absolute embodiment of 90s superhero excess: and depending on your tastes - that means that he's like: total the worst thing ever - or the best thing since Pop Tarts [5].

When I saw it sitting on the shelves of Central Library: my first reaction was a stupid grin - I mean - I may as well just admit it and get it out of the way: for a few issues at least [6] I was a teenage Spawn reader. I don't know if this was just somesort of pack instinct or silly gullibility or (maybe) the fact that (at the time) the thought of a superhero from Hell with magical green powers was just the most awesome thing I had ever heard of: but - well - there it is: I'm not proud [7].

Revisiting one of the bastions of my teenage years I was expecting nothing more than a bit of a larky, giggly laugh: like flipping through old photos and marvelling at the way you used to wear your hair. But of course things are never that simple - especially when you get Frank Miller to write your introduction.

I mean: when I first saw his name I was a little shocked: it was (a bit) like seeing Thom Yorke introducing Marilyn Manson (or something: I dunno - maybe make up your own analogy of respected industry figure acting as a host for some cheesy bubblegum nonsense [9]): but then he starts putting things in context and making grand proclamations like: "Spawn in a chunk of comics history and an important one. Spawn is a Boston Tea Party, a loud rude act of defiance against a bad, broken system built on abusing it's finest." Which made me go - oh: wow - ok: yeah: comics history and DC and Marvel screwing over creators and etc - and yeah: I guess it is good that finally someone could create a superhero and own all the rights to it and stuff [10]: but well - that Hunter S. Thompson quote from Fear and Loathing Las Vegas springs to mind [11] while it might have seemed like the start of some Brave New Dawn all the way back in 1992 or whatever: but with over twenty years hindsight - things look a lot less rosey: the bad news is that DC and Marvel still rule the comics market with an iron fist and - well: that market has now shrunk down to almost nothing (or is that just me? I dunno...). Reading the Frank Miller introduction is like looking back at the early stages of a gold rush where - it turned out - there wasn't actually any gold in them there hills: like - it's nice that they were so happy and hopeful - but it's sad that nothing really came of it and that the Boston Tea Partying didn't actually manage to kick-start a revolution after all: and the bad, broken system is still in place today.

Oh well.

On to the comic (which is a bit of a shock after the hallowed tones of the introduction - like - hell: hearing Thom Yorke wax lyrical about the way music can stir the soul and sooth the savage beast: and then having Marilyn Manson come out and do his cover of Tainted Love [12]) and from it's very first lines ("I don't belong. Not here. Not now.") which (is this just me?) reminded me of another popular hit from the early 90s [13] - the whole thing positively reeks of teenage-boy-ness (with that too-much-Lynx smell hanging over every page like a damp cloth): I mean - hell: a hideously scarred outcast that can't communicate his romantic intentions to his beloved: it doesn't take that much for your average hormone-drenched male youth to relate - you know? And with hard boiled dialogue like "Funny how being a walking dead man can screw up your life." existing in the dunderheaded spot between Sin City and - hell - every other superhero comic ever: then - yeah: I can see why it used to appeal to me so much that I paid good money to go and see the movie. All the darkest bits of Batman, Spider-Man and Daredevil all mixed up in a blender and sprinkled with a shot of hell-fire? I mean: reading it now it all seems coldly calculated for the widest possible appeal: but what the hey right? No one is that discerning when they're that young - so what's the harm?

Of course - there are a few things that put it ahead of the curve: one of which I remember appealing to me at the time is that right at the start there's a promise of an expiry date (I'll just say 9999 and leave it at that): I mean - I knew at the time that every superhero comic out there just went on forever and ever and ever: and hell - who wants to be caught in a story that never actually goes anywhere? No thank you: not for me [14]. But Spawn presents itself right from the start as something different as something that seems like it has a finite story to tell: rather than just another never-ending franchise [15].

What else? Well: as you may or may not know: one of the more notable features of Spawn is that for 4 issues (Spawn #8 - #11) Todd McFarlane somehow (my best guess would be: by using loads and loads of money: but whatever) managed to get four of the best comic writers of - like - ever to write a single guest issue of Spawn: Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Dave Sim and Frank Miller (which - in case you didn't realise was like a big deal): it would be like if Marilyn Manson had an album which had songs written by - well: hell - you can fill in the rest: you know.

Sadly for whatever reasons [16] the only two stories that appear here are the Alan Moore one and the Frank Miller (strangely tho - although Frank Miller gets credit for his story - I couldn't find Alan Moore's name anywhere in the entire book: which is a little strange - and I had to google the name of the story "In Heaven (Everything is Fine)" just to make sure it was him [17]) and - hell - even if you don't feel like you have any interest in the adventures of Spawn: I would still recommend you trying out the Alan Moore story: it's like an expanded edition of one of his Future Shock stories that he used to write for 2000AD (The Frank Miller story? Meh. That's less good: but then it doesn't really seem like he's really trying that hard - but I guess it's more him bending his approach to Spawn rather than Alan Moore who bends Spawns to meet him).

But yeah: as for the rest: I mean - if you've ever seen Todd McFarlane's artwork anywhere - then you should know what to expect: everyone stands around posing - and there's loads of finickity little details hanging around the place: but the feeling it tends to leave you with is the same one you get after you eat a Big Mac: I mean - yeah: it's kinda tasty: but it's not particularly nourishing - you know?

And - of course: it's doing it's best to keep you hooked: so there's not much closure at the end: just another cliffhanger to try and keep you coming back: although if you don't know your Image Universe that well (like me) then it's not that much of a hook (I thought it was the introduction of a new character - but instead it's someone that you're already supposed to know: oh well).

In conclusion: SPAWN. You already know if you're gonna like it or not - so what more can I say?

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[1] Like a Myspace page or something: in fact - YES: if I could somehow write this whole thing so that it came up like a Myspace page: that would be absolutely perfect (oh well).

[2] "Spawn: The Album was released in July 1997 and brought together popular rock bands at the time including Metallica, Korn, Slayer, Marilyn Manson and Silverchair with well known DJs and electronic producers such as The Crystal Method, Roni Size, and The Prodigy." So - yeah - something like that.

[3] According to lastfm there's more than one band who go by the name “Spawn.” (a 90s alternative rock band from Buffalo, NY (I mean - obviously) a German straight-edge band, a happy ska-punk band from the Netherlands, a brutal Death Metal band from Germany, a hip-hop MC and a metal band from The Netherlands also from the 90’s). frankly I'm surprised that there aren't more: although I guess that most people would associate Spawn with Frogs rather than Hell - but whatever.

[4] Which - to Todd McFarlane's credit - is delivered a stinging put -down by one of the ever-present TV presenters (who I would say act as Spawn's Greek Chorus - if saying so didn't make me sound like a English literature paper): I thought I wrote it down somewhere - (because it made me chuckle when I read it) - but now I can't find it: oh well - you'll know it when you see it.

[5] Which - ok - were invented in 1964: but for some reason (to me) seem like a 1990s thing. Whatever.

[6] Ok - so maybe more than a few issues: in fact - reading through this Volume a hell of a lot of it seemed very familiar -so I think that I might have got a good 12 issues in before I dropped out (or did they stop publishing them in the UK? I dunno - one of the two anyway....).

[7] In fact - I mean: while we're admitting stuff - I guess I should also 'fess up that on the week it was released me and my sister walked down the Brighton seafront to go to a evening showing of the (aforementioned) Spawn feature film (directed by Mark A.Z. Dippé and starring Michael Jai White: both of whom (according to their wikipedia entries at least) hold up Spawn as their career highlights: so - erm - yes): which - strange (and as sad) as it may seem: is kinda one of my happiest memories from my teenage years: not so much for the film (which I can barely remember [8]) but for the heart-to-heart me and my sister had walking there and back (moral of the story I'd say is that - even if your life is full of trashy junk entertainment: it's still possible to build some pretty beautiful moments round the side of them: or something...).

[8] Ok - fine: I can't remember a single frame. Hell - maybe I fell asleep when I was watching it or something?

[9] And just to be clear: I don't have a problem with cheesy bubblegum nonsense: I just normally expect it to be treated as such. (And of course (as every comic fan should already know) - Frank Miller is - well - gonzo enough (especially in recent years) that I guess I shouldn't be surprised by anything he does: but - you know: the introduction (according to the notes) was written back in the 1990s back when he was still (relatively) sane and known for stuff like Sin City (which is good) rather than stuff like Holy Terror (which is not good)).

[10] Although it should be pointed out that reason that Todd McFarlane could do this is because he did Spider-Man for Marvel and got loads of mainstream love and a massive cult following which he then brought with him when he jumped ship: it's like Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails and whoever selling their albums with a "pay what you like" system: it works for them because they already have a fan-base in place - but for anyone just starting out with superhero comics or making music or whatever - well (massive understatement) - it's a lot harder.

[11] You know the one: "And that, I think, was the handle—that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn't need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting—on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave.… So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark—that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back."

[12] I told you that you should come up with your own analogy because now it looks like this is the one we're stuck with.

[13] Hell - if they ever get around to making another Spawn film: I reckon they should use it as the theme song ("I want a perfect body / I want a perfect soul" etc).

[14] The only other comic that I used to buy every week at that time was 2000AD: and seeing how that was an anthology - it seemed less like something that was trying to cheat you with never-ending formulations on the same basic concept and more like something that had actual stories with beginnings, middles and ends (well - most of the time): and hell - even Judge Dredd got older each year: which just seemed like - I dunno: a much fairer way to treat your readership (or maybe that's just me?).

[15] But - oops (reading the wikipedia page): it turns out that was a lie: "On January 12, 2011, issue #200 completely sold out within that single day. This marks the bicentennial issue of the series and features an all-star creative lineup, including Greg Capullo, David Finch, Michael Golden, Jim Lee, Rob Liefeld, Marc Silvestri, Danny Miki, and Ashley Wood all contributing to the anniversary issue. A second printing was released on February 9, 2011. Despite its remarkable sales, it has endured terrible reception from fans and reviewers alike." (oh dear).

[16] Most probably in Neil Gaiman's case legal ones (see here, here and here for more information if that's what turns you on).

[17] I mean - even tho he does a pretty good Todd McFarlane impression and is only coasting on 10% of his usual 5000 horsepower ways: just from the jump in quality and the power of the ideas: you can still obviously tell that it's someone different at the controls (for whatever reason I'm reminded of that line from The Simpsons: "You wouldn't believe the celebrities who did cameos! Dustin Hoffman, Michael Jackson. Of course, they didn't use their real names, but you could tell it was them.") 

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Links: Comics Alliance Article: ComicsAlliance Reviews Todd McFarlane's 'Spawn' Year One, Part 1: Questions / Part 2: Justice & Payback / Part Three: Writertown / Part 4: 'Flashback'

Further reading: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City, Ronin, Heavy Liquid, Elephantmen, The Life and Times of Martha Washington in the Twenty-First Century, The Complete Future Shocks, Prophet.

All comments welcome.

Books: Jerusalem: Chronicles from the Holy City

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Jerusalem: Chronicles from the Holy City
By Guy Delisle
2012





Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
http://www.library.islington.gov.uk/TalisPrism/


Right. Ok.

There's this trend of - I don't really know what to quite call it - ("blank reporting" maybe?) - that seems to have become the dominant  mode of journalism over the past decade or so. The two best examples I can think of would be Jon Ronson and Louis Theroux (and please don't get me wrong - I love Jon Ronson and Louis Theroux): where the aim of the game is merely to catalogue whatever strange weirdness the world can throw up: be it conspiracy theorists or right wing extremists or whatever - and the reporter is just there to document and get it all down on film (and maybe ask one or two questions here or there in order to clarify some of the finer points ("And you think who is the Anti-Christ exactly?" "Right. Ok."etc)). It's all fair and balanced and being neutral and not taking sides and being "objective."

Only - as entertaining as that can be - (and to be fair: it does mean that the journalists who practice it get a lot more access to the intricacies of whatever thing it is that they're talking about than more outwardly opinionated journalists would be able to secure: so there is that - yeah ok) it does mean that the people doing the reporting lack (for my palate at least) the requisite ammount of belly fire [1] that I feel is needed. Maybe this is giving away too much of my own personality: but when faced with some-sort of monstrous injustice then I like my men or women in the field to at least have the common courtesy to get a little bit indignant (no? Or is this just me?).

I mean - yeah - the real world is often needlessly complicated and muddled up and twisted around: a lot of the time if you want to be "objective" and report the facts then - well: (in some cases at least - because like I said (and like you should already have figured out on your own): life is complicated) that kinda means that (after you review all the available evidence and etc) you need to choose a side [2]. And - just sitting in the middle and sitting on the fence and going "well - you know: a little from column A, a little from column B" doesn't magically place you above the crowd: more like it means that you need to think things over a little more. At least - that's my opinion.

But then again: maybe I'm making that classic mistake (that critics make all the time): of being given a milkshake and complaining that it's not a burger? Because - yeah: Jerusalem: Chronicles from the Holy City is not a book all that concerned with giving the reader real political insight or the over-view of the history of the conflict or any of that kind of stuff - nah - like it says in the title this is a chronicle [3] - a report of life as it is on the ground: and what day-to-day life is like for a hapless cartoonist trying to balance his family life with the demands of an artist (which mainly seems to involve finding a good place to do some sketches). And expecting anything more - well - it's like he says himself at one point: "Maybe they've got me mixed up with Joe Sacco?"

And once you settle in and allow the book to work it's magic - well: there's lots to enjoy here and plenty of interesting sights to see along the way: from the signs on the wall  (I didn't realise that signs could sound snooty until I read: "Groups passing through our neighborhood severely offend the residents. Please. Stop this." - I mean - really?) to the local groups and the way that they can cut across the grain in interesting ways  ("Some ultra-orthodox Jews reject Zionism. They believe the messiah will come and restore the promised land to the chosen people. Not vice versa.") and the way to the - frankly bizarre - things that religion will make people do (good example of this include: an ice cream seller refusing to give children ice cream cones and whole bit about the search for a red heifers and how it relates to the End Times that kinda blew my little mind [4]). But I guess the thing that kept me reading is that Guy Delisle is a pretty fun (and chilled out) guy to hang out with - and the Tom Gauld-like simplicity of the art means that (although it's quite a thick book) it's real easy to breeze through the pages.

And then - yeah: there are the bits where he kinda delivers the sledgehammer emotions by delivering some of the messed-up happenings of the region with calm and understated gentleness that just lets the facts speak for themselves [5] which comes across clearest where he contrasts the image of him walking along a typical city street with the following narration:"This is the spot where a bulldozer ploughed into the crowd last July. A Palestinian from East Jerusalem was at the wheel  He overturned a city bus and smashed several cars before he was stopped. A civilian managed to climb into the bulldozer and shoot the driver at point blank range. 3 people were killed and forty-six injured."

I mean - yeah - this is a book that's all about the quotidian [6]: but as the book makes clear Jerusalem is a place where what passes for normal is very different to elsewhere. Thankfully tho - (no disrespect intended to it's tourist board or anything like that) Guy Delisle makes it so you don't have to go all the way around the world to get a taste of what it's like.

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[1] "So, he has fire in the belly! But it will take more than belly fire to be the next Baryshnikov."

[2] The best (and simplest) example of this that I've seen recently would be this blog post on Desmogblog: Why Climate Deniers Have No Scientific Credibility - In One Pie Chart (which I'd say - wins the star prize for best single image refutation of an argument ever).

[3] As it says on the free dictionary website: "An extended account in prose or verse of historical events, sometimes including legendary material, presented in chronological order and without authorial interpretation or comment."

[4] If you're not going to read the book then you can read about it here.

[5] Although - I guess that what you think that those facts are sayings all depends on where your sympathies lie. But yeah.

[6] Yeah - I'm showing off and breaking out the long words: but for some reason (maybe it says it in the book itself?) I wrote down "quotidian" in my notes when I was reading it - so I thought that maybe it would be good to work it in somewhere: if you don't know what it means - well: it's a fancy way of saying "everyday" or "commonplace." So yeah.

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Links: New Statesmen Review, Cartoon Movement Review, Wiseman of Chelm Review, Slant Magazine Review, Look Back to Galilee Review, PopMatters Review.

Further reading: Palestine, Footnotes in Gaza, I'm Never Coming Back, Goliath, Waltz with Bashir, The Arrival, The Photographer, Persepolis, The Rabbi's Cat, Habibi, Blue Pills.

All comments welcome.

Events: Islington Comic Forum 2013/03

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Ok. So you know what? It's kinda hard to describe properly what a typical meeting of the Islington Comic Forum consists of (relax: - I'm not going to use that hoary old cliché about there's not really any such thing as a typical meeting of the Islington Comic Forum because - we're better than that - right?) - I mean: in the strict physical sense - it's a big table full of comic books (at a rough guesstimate I'd say there's usually around - what? - 150 books available for people to take home at each session) and a bunch of people (typically we get about a dozen or so people turn up) all from various walks of life and all with different backgrounds (yeah - I know you're thinking that's it probably all nerdy white guys - but seriously - we're as multicultural and diverse as a corporate video - with an age span from 6 to 90) all sitting around and discussing / arguing / sharing their thoughts and ideas about one of the most exciting and diverse mediums on the planet (nowadays if you're talking about something that's just "all about superheroes" my first guess is you're talking about films - but whatever). It's a little bit more chaotic than a book club but with the same sort of relaxed and open friendly atmosphere: all presided over by an excitable librarian (that would be me - hi!) who has pretty much read every comic book out there (even the terrible ones) and is willing to tell you where you're going wrong with whatever you're reading (and is most happy when people disagree with him). If you're curious as to what sort of books we discuss - then take a look around this blog - every book here has been included at one point or another. And if you want to know what sort of things we talk about: - well - it's never really that properly thought out but we touch upon everything from the best way to construct a story, to how far genre limits can go all the way to if Frank Miller was right about who would win in a fight between Batman and Superman.

Books available this month will include (unless - of course - they are reserved by other people): The Filth / The Essential Dykes To Watch Out For / Hard Boiled / Kibry: King of Comics / Batman: Batman and Robin / Cages / Prophet / Alice In Sunderland / Berlin / War Stories / Kick-Ass / Kick-Ass 2 / Love and Rockets: Heartbreak Soup / Marvel Boy / The Silence of Our Friends / Jerusalem: Chronicles from the Holy City / Spawn / The Avengers (2011)  / Are You My Mother? / The Death Ray / The New York Four / I Never Liked You / Swamp Thing / The Marvels Project / Aetheric Mechanics / Sweet Tooth / Alan Moore: Storyteller / Marvel Visionaries: Jack Kirby / The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen / Kiki de Montparnasse / Xombi / Footnotes In Gaza / Waltz with Bashir / B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth / Button Man / Crossed / Thunderbolts:Faith in Monsters / Caged Angels  / The Adventures of Luther Arkwright / Flex Mentallo / Doktor Sleepless / Orc Stain plus many, many, many (many!) more.

There's also a book of the month (so that at least we can all talk about something we've all read). This month it's: The Umbrella Academy by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá . If you get a chance please read it. You can reserve yourself a copy here. (For those of you that don't get the chance - don't worry - you can still come and join in with the discussions).

The next one is: Tuesday the 5th of March / 6:00pm to 7:30pm in the Upstairs Hall at North Library Manor Gardens N7 6JX. Here is a map. Come and join us. It's free. All welcome.

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For more information (or if you have any questions and/or would like to be added to our email list: we send out a reminder a week before with a list of the books that are going to be available) you can email us here.

All comments welcome.

Books: Batman: Earth One

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Batman: Earth One
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Gary Frank
2012




Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
http://www.library.islington.gov.uk/TalisPrism/


There's a blog called The Hurting that's pretty good ("Some of us don't have enough energy for all this guilt and shame"). Recently I was flicking through it's old posts (like you do) when I came across the following:

The Batman of Earth 7

Note: This is taken from an authentic dream I had recently. Don't ask me to explain, because I cannot.

The Batman of Earth 7 had the same kind of Batcave that all the other Batmen do: a hole in the ground filled with bats, stalagtites and standing water. There's the obligatory giant penny and various other trophies. But there are telling differences: a close examination of a newspaper photo of the Joker reveals that the Joker of Earth 7 is a black man wearing white face. There are pictures of Batman riding at the head of a horse cavalry, backed by a vanguard of white-hooded Klansmen. In a place of honor sits a photo of Batman shaking hands with President Woodrow Wilson."

That's how it starts. Really I recommend you read the whole thing [1]. It's pretty funny - but (more importantly) it made me realise something. Namely - even tho Batman's been kicking around for (what?) thousands (?) of years now: it's still possible to find a new spin and use the whole Bat-mythos to say interesting things about this, that, the human condition - i mean: whatever - stuff (you know). In the same way that most of theatre seems to be people reinterpreting Shakespeare (Macbeth! Set on a nuclear submarine! The Merchant of Venice! Set in the Gaza Strip! Hamlet! Set on a million years in the past! etc) [2] it seems that most comics just recycle the same old core concepts (Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four yadda yadda yadda). I mean - obviously - that doesn't have to be a bad thing [3]: but man - when the most you have to offer is (for all intents and purposes): what if we retold Batman's origin story: only this time: you could see his eyes through his mask?!  then: well - I'm not going to write nice things about it that's for sure.

So: Batman: Earth One is Batman told from the start again only this time - well: his costume is slightly different: people don't look exactly how you remember: and everyone is morally compromised and blah blah blah. The description that popped into my head when I read it - is - it's like taking a bath in dirty water. Like: if three people used it before you got there: and there's hairs floating around and stuff. So: no - not something that I would really recommend to anyone.

I mean: looking for someone sort of bright-side I guess I could say that Gary Frank's artwork has this kinda sub-Chris Weston thing going on... And yeah - ok: there's a low-grade kick to be had from seeing familiar characters in ever-so-slightly unfamiliar roles (and the general philosophy seemed to be: ok let's take this well-loved character and make them worse and more despondent somehow): but - really - I guess what it comes down to is this: if you want an exciting re-telling of the start of Batman's career as a professional crime-fighter then - well - Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli told pretty much exactly the same story all the way back in 1988 and they told it with a lot more class, style and imagination: and I mean: even if comparing the two is like putting The Godfather up against a made-for-tv piece of garbage: at least you get what I mean - right?

So: yeah - don't waste your time.

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[1] Which you can get to here.

[2] Although that's said by someone who has no real interest in seeing people act on stage: so maybe I'm wrong. Whatever. (At this point I'd really like to link that bit in the Simpsons where Homer heckles the animals at the zoo (“I've seen plays that were more exciting than this. Honest to God, plays!") or that bit in Peep Show where Mark and Jeremy go to the theatre ("If this was on television, no one would be watching." "Oh God. We aren't we watching television?" "I can't believe coming here cost more than a film." "I've got Heat on DVD at home. We're watching this, when for less money, we could be watching Robert De Niro AND Al Pacino.") - but neither seem to be up on youtube: BOOOOOOO!!).

[3] See my long-standing love for Marvel's Ultimate Universe books for a good example of this (just stroll down the right hand side until you get to the "U"s). 

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Links: The Comics Journal Review.

Further reading: Batman: Year One, Batman: Year 100, Batman: All Star Batman and Robin, Green Lantern: Secret Origin, Superman: Birthright.

All comments welcome.

Books: Buddha

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Buddha
Vol 1: Kapilavastu
By Osamu Tezuka
2006




Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
http://www.library.islington.gov.uk/TalisPrism/

Buddha
Vol 2: The Four Encounters
By Osamu Tezuka

2006

Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
http://www.library.islington.gov.uk/TalisPrism/

Buddha
Vol 3: Devadatta
By Osamu Tezuka
2006




Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
http://www.library.islington.gov.uk/TalisPrism/


I'm kinda twisting around all over the place trying to work out what the experience of reading Buddha is like.

Before I started reading it (and I put that off for quite a while before I actually gathered up enough strength to pick it up: because - gah: a massive long epic about Buddha? No thanks: I've stick to my science-fiction superheroes thanks) I'll admit that I was expecting something a lot more solemn and reverential - that's for sure. Something like the opening text of the second book maybe - "What is one man's life compared to the eternity of time and space? No more than a snowflake that glitters in the sun for a moment before melting into the flow of time." - but (ha) - as it turns out - all that sort of fancy talk is just the airs and graces draped around the - frankly - potty-mouthed and rambunctious extremes contained within.

First attempt at trying to describe what it's like: Ok - imagine a Disney movie where instead of just having one wild Robin Williams/Eddie Murphy-style-smart-talking genie/donkey-whatever making a noise on the sidelines: there was a whole motley crew of mischievous delinquents all jostling for your attention. And instead of being restricted to keeping it all safe and family-friendly: well - try and visualize what would happen if someone removed the child-safety settings: because that (as much as all that might make your head spin) is the best description I can think of as the reading experience it gives you. So: while it has all the appearance of cute and fluffy and butter-wouldn't-melt-in-it's-mouth: it only once you've wandered a few pages in that you start to realise how ramshackle (and I mean that in the best possible sense of the word) things are. The first hint of it is when a monk (looking around for the chosen one) asks a local if he knows anyone with "strange powers?" to which the local replies "you mean like ESP?" Now - there is a chance that maybe I'm completely wrong at this [1] - but previously I would have guessed that the notion of - you know - extrasensory perception wasn't one that people were kicking around lots in the ye olde ancient times: but it's an early warning for just how much disregard Tezuka [2] is paying to such quaint and rarefied concepts as "historical accuracy." [3] And then - of course - (let's give him a "warm welcome!") - one of the characters gets wee-ed on [4] and from that point on (as is so often the case when weeing on people is involved): - well - anything seems possible.

But just in case all this talk of piss is getting you confused: maybe I should mention (in case you couldn't tell from that title) that Buddha takes as it's subject: the life of the Buddha (and seeing how altogether it comprises eight volumes [5] and is something in excess of 2000 pages long - we're talking the complete life with no skipping over bits). And not in a distasteful, disrespectful or disreputable way either: actually as far as I could tell [6] it's all keeping in the spirit of the teachings of the Buddha and it's scattered with holy parables and people making wise little sayings [7] designed to nudge the reader into a life of spiritual purity (or something): or - what the hell: maybe it's just really interesting? (And I must say that I enjoyed the way that (mostly) it avoided the temptation to make easy or glib judgements: like the experience of reading it (just in case the example of the weeing didn't tip you off already) is as far from a devout sermon as you're likely to get while still remaining a story about a religious figure - if that makes sense? [8]).

Second attempt: ok - so try to visualise the most kindly-looking, gentle, twinkly-eyed grandfather you can possibly imagine. Like: Werther's Original spilling out of his pockets, a sly little grin constantly dancing at the corner of his lips. He's a Buddhist yeah - but he never really talks about it until the day comes that he puts you on his knee and solemnly informs you that he's going tell you the story of a man called Siddhārtha Gautama. Ok - you say: you're game. I mean: (oh did I not say this?) because now you're sitting closer you realise that this grandfather is actually Osamu Tezuka: who (to quote his wikipedia page) is world-renowned as the "Godfather of Anime" [9] (and is often considered the Japanese equivalent to Walt Disney) he's the one who came up with frigging Astro Boy [10] and basically was so on top of his game that - well: he spent over ten years [12] writing a massive epic about the life of the Buddha and had it become massively successful (Vol 1 has apparently sold over 20,000 copies) all the way back in the 1970s when - hell: comics where still dismissed as children's entertainment [13]: so - yeah: sure - you say: tell me this story.

So he starts to tell you this story. And - at the start it's all so very grand and stately that you can almost hear the classical music playing in the background (so much so - that you're worried that you're going to fall asleep) and then - I dunno - some point around the weeing: he really starts to get into it. Like: you realise that your grandfather is no longer a sedate and docile old man: but is suddenly somehow turned into a impish teenage boy: of which the most obvious manifestation would be (and it's best to keep things simple I guess) all the almost-delirious cussing and swearing that happens every dozen pages or so: "You filthy bastard!" "Asshole" "Holy Shit!" I mean - it's never really gratuitous or out of place or anything like that: but man - it's still - I dunno: strangely exhilarating (?) to come across something that seems kinda designed for that universal all-ages appeal (the best example of recent times of course being Pixar films) not being at all afraid to revert to the language normally reserved for sailors (close your eyes and imagine watching a film where Mickey Mouse got so angry that he flipped someone off and you're getting close to the effect).

The thing is tho: while I understand that from this description it sounds like maybe it's a Garth Ennis version of Buddha (or something): all crude and gritty and whatever: the cumulative effect is actually the opposite. Like I said - it feels like it's your grandfather who's the one who's telling you the story - so it doesn't feel scuzzy or dirty or anything like that: rather it's more like a joyful embrace of the messiness of life: warts and all. I mean (just to hammer the point home): there's a whole lot of nude people prancing around all over the pages of these books: but none of it is really done in a titillating way: it's more like the matter-of-factness of a nudist beach rather than the bump and grind of: well - all the contexts you usually find nakedity in. And altogether it's just - I dunno - lovely. Like the feeling of sunshine on your skin. If you haven't read it - well: I'd recommend that you do.

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[1] Anyone care to do any rehearse to find out one way or the other? (Actually - balls to that: I just did a quick google and it turns out that the term "Extrasensory perception" was first adopted by Duke University psychologist J. B. Rhine (and seeing how he was only born in 1895 I'm guessing it wasn't kicking around in common use all the way back in ancient India where Buddha is (dur - obviously) set).

[2] Or the translators at least. I mean - speaking as someone that doesn't speak a word of Japanese: I must point out that maybe the original is totally different and whoever was in charge of converting it into English just thought - what the hell: let's go crazy: but somehow I doubt it.

[3] In fact - the only thing that really comes close to how it feels would be the "Time Masheen" ride from Mike Judge's Idiocracy. (This of course - and let's not be mistaken here: is a good thing).

[4] "Wee-ed"? Is that right? Or am I mangling my English? I dunno....

[5] Eight volumes you say? Then why are there only pictures of three volumes up at the top there? Well: as Islington is a public library that can't afford absolutely everything we don't actually have the other five volumes (well - at least not yet: anyone care to put in an order?): but hey - you can read the first three and although (obviously) it's not the complete story: it can still show you a pretty damn fine little time (and each book is about 400 pages long: so it doesn't feel like you're getting short-changed or anything).

[6] Me of course being someone who knows next to absolutely nothing about Buddha or Buddhism. (Apart from the small bits I gleaned when (as a massive young fan of the band) I used to read about where Nirvana got their name from: and somehow it feels like that maybe doesn't properly count?)

[7] My personal favourite being: "My teacher said once that every man faces seven enemies in his lifetime, sickness, hunger, betrayal, envy, greed, old age, and then death..." (Of course they missed out the eighth which is "internet" but I guess there are some things which are beyond even the Buddha's infinite wisdom....).

[8] Although - what with all the trumpeting about the birth of the king of kings and everything that happens towards the end of the first volume I couldn't help thinking of the following passage from by Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five: "It was The Gospel From Outer Space, by Kilgore Trout. It was about a visitor from outer space... [who] made a serious study of Christianity, to learn, if he could, why Christians found it so easy to be cruel. He concluded that at least part of the trouble was slipshod storytelling in the New Testament. He supposed that the intent of the Gospels was to teach people, among other things, to be merciful, even to the lowest of the low. But the Gospels actually taught this: Before you kill somebody, make absolutely sure he isn't well connected. So it goes. The flaw in the Christ stories, said the visitor from outer space, was that Christ, who didn't look like much, was actually the Son of the Most Powerful Being in the Universe. Readers understood that, so, when they came to the crucifixion, they naturally thought...: Oh, boy — they sure picked the wrong guy to lynch that time! And that thought had a brother: "There are right people to lynch." Who? People not well connected. So it goes. The visitor from outer space made a gift to Earth of a new Gospel. In it, Jesus really was a nobody, and a pain in the neck to a lot of people with better connections than he had. He still got to say all the lovely and puzzling things he said in the other Gospels. So the people amused themselves one day by nailing him to a cross and planting the cross in the ground. There couldn't possibly be any repercussions, the lynchers thought. The reader would have to think that too, since the Gospel hammered home again and again what a nobody Jesus was. And then, just before the nobody died, the heavens opened up, and there was thunder and lightning. The voice of God came crashing down. He told the people that he was adopting the bum as his son, giving him the full powers and privileges of the Son of the Creator of the Universe throughout all eternity. God said this: From this moment on, He will punish anybody who torments a bum who has no connections!" (But then I guess you can't blame Osamu Tezuka for this - seeing how he's working on the story of someone who was born hundreds of years before Jesus rocked up: and I guess there was only so far people were (are?) willing to go...).

[9] Also: "the father of manga", "the god of comics" and "kamisama of manga". (don't believe me? Fine: go check his page out for yourself).

[10] And - ok - yeah: here in the west Astro Boy is barely remembered (if at all) as a 2009 kid's film (featuring the voices of Kristen Bell, Nathan Lane, Eugene Levy, Matt Lucas, Bill Nighy, Donald Sutherland, Moises Arias, Charlize Theron and Nicolas Cage!) that even I haven't seen. But on the other side of the world he's an icon on the same level as Mickey Mouse - which just goes to show (I dunno): how fickle people can be? Or maybe it's just that western audiences just aren't ready for a story that begins with a scientist building himself a robot boy to replace his dead son? (and I love this little nugget from the Astro Boy wikipedia page which specifies: that said dead son ran away in the 2003 anime and was vaporized in the 2009 film: sucks to be him I guess [11]).

[11] Just a random thought: wouldn't it be great if it had the same thing on Batman's wikipedia page? "Bruce Wayne decided to become Batman after - as a child - he witnessed the death of his parents (ran away in the 2003 anime; vaporized in the 2009 film)." No? Just me? Ok then.  

[12] "The series began in September 1972 and ended in December 1983, as one of Tezuka's last epic manga works."

[13] Which - actually (come to think of it) kinda does make sense: seeing how Alan Moore and Frank Miller hadn't really made any waves at that point: but whatever: that's a whole other story right? Right.

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Links: Book Slut Review, Home Made Mech Review, AV Club Review, Comics 212 Review: Manga Milestones 2000-2009: 10 Manga That Changed Comics #5.

Further reading: Habibi, Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth, Astro Boy, American Born Chinese, Akira, Solanin, The Sandman: The Dream Hunters, Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book Stories.

All comments welcome.