Notes on Cinderella Boy and Too Close For Love

For Week 10, I could have read some classic manga (Cyborg 009, Astro Boy, or Barefoot Gen for example). In fact, it seems like those comics epitomize historical Japanese comics, as they are probably the most well-known.

Instead, I read Cinderella Boy and Too Close For Love--two yaoi (gay-love) comics? The reason--because when do you get the option to read these comics for class? Not very often.

So, onto the comics...well, my first impression of them was that they were very flowery and sparkly. In this case, I expect this from shoujo manga. After all, this type of comic is intended for girl audiences. And, in fact, most yaoi comics are written by girls for girls! Which to me was something rather unexpected. Another impression I got from the comics is that most of the characters have unusually slender bodies and legs. This is really prominent in Cinderella Boy, where as the main character is skinnier that his colleagues, everyone in the comic is incredibly skinny. However, this isn't the case in Too Close For Love, but both still have rather idealistic, "gorgeous" characters.

Also, another aspect about both comics that I considered Too Close for Love to be more of a gay comic than Cinderella Boy. This is only because, while Cinderella Boy is about a girl dressing as a guy, it it still about a boy and a girl. I think the only reason you can consider gay is because the girl is a transvestite, but it's still a story about a girl and a boy. However, Too Close for Love almost borders on being Shonen-ai (boy's love), a genre of manga about gay-love, but with a weird twist (usually an age difference, a man/boy relationship, or incest in some degree). However, because the men are not blood-related, but childhood friends, it's different.

Now, despite reading these, I can't say they're the best gay-love comics I've read. Now, while these aren't considered 100% manga, these are two comics I can recommend that have gay-love themes but do it in a slightly, more natural way:

http://tjandamal.com/

http://honeydew.smackjeeves.com/comics/93161/chapter-1-when-life-gives-you-honeydew-you-make-something/

Notes on The Tijuana Bibles

I've heard of these before--it was when I first read Watchmen that I even got an idea of what they were. See, I knew that they were "dirty books", and would sometimes feature famous celebrities. But I never thought I'd ever get the chance to read one myself...until now.

And I must say, they're actually quite silly.

I guess I say this because the situations in the Tijuana Bibles do not feature your typical harlots, porn stars, and sex activists. They feature characters who tend to have run-of-the-mill jobs, whether they be a pilot, movie star, or house-wife. But, what the Bibles do feature are crazy situations. In the first one (which I think was my favorite out of all of them), a pilot decides to take his babe out on a plane so they don't get caught doing the deed. However, when is it EVER possible or plausible to do that--never! Unless you have one of those fancy-pants jets with a bedroom in the back, there is nothing sexy about it.

So, despite the fact that these are outrageous, the next question is this--why are these stories in here? Well, even though they're insane, they are the fantasies of what common men (note, I do not say women) want. And, because they're crudely drawn, they're easier for the common man to relate to. There's no crazy style that the reader needs to get used to--it's just plain and simple.

Notes on The Arrival by Shaun Tan

While some people believe that words can hold power, it is sometimes the wordless--stories that tell themselves through pictures--that are the most prominent and memorable. Shaun Tan's, The Arrival, is a testament to this; the comic itself contains no dialogue, but the reader is able to follow the entire story.

In the comic, it tells about a father/ family man who must leave his dangerous homeland in the hopes of making a new life for him and his wife and daughter in "America". It also tells of his trials and tribulations of being an immigrant, and going through the process of learning the land, it's language, and it's culture (despite it being a variety of cultures).

While some say that it might be body language that drives the story, others say that it might be the fact that it takes place in a world unlike our own that makes it resonate with people overall. In the end, all of us have experienced being in a land unlike our own. And in the end, the universe within The Arrival is also foreign--a beautiful, fantastical landscape that uses symbols everyone can relate to the histories they've grown up to learn.

While I wish I could say more about this book, I feel the need to re-read a few more times to truly understand it. So if you haven't picked it up yet, I'd highly recommend doing so.

Notes on Blankets by Craig Thompson

Before reading Blankets by Craig Thompson again (for probably the one-millionth time, because it is one my favorite graphic novels ever), I decided to read some of A Contract with God by Will Eisner. To most, Will Eisner is considered to be one of the legendary artists of comics, sitting beside legends such as Stan Lee (even though he started much earlier and influenced the now Marvel legend). To me, I knew he was a legend, but I never thought I would like his style/stories (since my last experience with his art was when I read The Spirit comics). But then I realized something shocking--his graphic novels read just like Craig Thompson's work.

What are the similarities? Well, one thing that I've absolutely loved about Thompson's work is his use of personal lettering/typography. Depending on the situation within the story, the lettering itself becomes a part of the overall composition of the panels. And while Eisner doesn't take to as much an extreme as Thomspon, the letters in Eisner's "Contract with God" are unlike anything you'd see in a typical, comic serial. They're personal--not imitation.

Another similarity I notice between the artists is the use of ink and detail. While Thompson typically keeps his blacks solid, Eisner isn't afraid to use an ink wash to help separate the foreground from the background. But both comic artists use a variety of tapered lines and solid blacks. They even use single panels that take up one whole page to provide emphasis in their stories. Both of these aspects (the line and single panels) are somethings that have carried over to aspiring and working comics today.