tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14008247.post112421223437732595..comments2023-12-20T19:41:46.280-07:00Comments on Focused Totality: Decompression and Battle RoyaleMark Fossenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03623615263972844957noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14008247.post-1125321176130217852005-08-29T07:12:00.000-06:002005-08-29T07:12:00.000-06:00No need to thank me for my comments, Mark (at post...No need to thank me for my comments, Mark (at postmodern barney). I'm probbly going to be going off on a wild tangent of some of the things you said here as I'm very interested in the reception of Manga here in the States--and how the types of statemenst/judgements made about the whole "genre" reflect very much what Said called a "structure of attitude and reference."<BR/><BR/>Cheers<BR/><BR/>-JJon Silpayamananthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17956747018534076778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14008247.post-1124470276100821842005-08-19T10:51:00.000-06:002005-08-19T10:51:00.000-06:00Kurt - Sorry ... I know that wasn't your analogy. ...Kurt - <BR/>Sorry ... I know that wasn't your analogy. I was using the universal "you" ... or the rhetorical "you" ... or the royal "you" ... or something like that.<BR/><BR/>Anonymous - <BR/>You're right. I think I used that phrase because I was sick of using the "American Comics" or "Western Comics" phrase. Though I still think Ditklo, Swan, Kirby, et. al. were very representational in their art. Though Kirby has emotion, the consistency of character design was paramnount ... manga seems to allow for the fact that the character doesn't need to be exactly the same from panel to panel as the emotions change.<BR/><BR/>Though after reading <I>Uzumaki</I>, I'm realizing my manga thoughts are a massive overgeneralization.Mark Fossenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03623615263972844957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14008247.post-1124419471186352592005-08-18T20:44:00.000-06:002005-08-18T20:44:00.000-06:00"it's emotionally expressive and uniquely adapted ..."it's emotionally expressive and uniquely adapted to tell a story of heightened emotion in a way that art of the Swan/Kirby/Ditko school can't."<BR/><BR/>I could be wrong, but I don't think it's an element of the Kirby/Ditko school. The art you show from 'House of M' is much less emotive, and more cinematic, than Kirby's style.<BR/><BR/>If anything, this cinematic style that is in vogue today (which probably reaches its peak in the heavily photo-referenced art) has toned down the emotion from the golden age American comics.<BR/><BR/>I think American comics have tried to make their art more 'mature', but at the expense of reducing emotive depiction compared to earlier eras of comics, because that kind of art can look childish (for want of a better term.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14008247.post-1124372952936739632005-08-18T07:49:00.000-06:002005-08-18T07:49:00.000-06:00Wow, that's a good post. See - this is why I shou...Wow, that's a good post. See - this is why I should shut up about comics and let other people write, because I can never do as articulately as others.Greghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13481137891542684401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14008247.post-1124302807110984832005-08-17T12:20:00.000-06:002005-08-17T12:20:00.000-06:00The cinema reference isn't mine. But it came up in...The cinema reference isn't mine. But it came up in about a half dozen other places in response to my manga posts as other blogger's threads wandered off into the default “why manga is better than other comic books” mode. Like I said, I don’t see, it but my exposure is limited.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14008247.post-1124299392470221992005-08-17T11:23:00.000-06:002005-08-17T11:23:00.000-06:00" So are the big two failing at decompression beca..." So are the big two failing at decompression because of the art or the writing? Both? " <BR/><BR/>I think both. American mainstream writers focuses more on plot than emotional life, and even if emotions became a concern I don't know the Big Two have the artists to handle it. There are exceptions, but I just think that decompression relies on things that don't play to the strengths of the creators currently in the American mainstream. <BR/><BR/>Bendis' decompression worked well in <I>Ultimate Spider-Man</I> because that combination was there: Bendis focused on the emotional life of Peter, and Bagley is one of the few artists that is expressive enough to get it on the page. But his current work seems to keep the stretched-out plotting without any emotional depth to sustain interest.<BR/><BR/>I don't see manga as cinematic in the least, unless the cinema you're referring to is anime, and that's a chicken-n-egg situation. Mainstream film has always been (and will always be) somewhat realistic, and the predominant acting style is American Method. It's naturalistic and underplayed and doesn't have the emotional volume that supports the manga style.Mark Fossenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03623615263972844957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14008247.post-1124296569243146602005-08-17T10:36:00.000-06:002005-08-17T10:36:00.000-06:00So are the big two failing at decompression becaus...So are the big two failing at decompression because of the art or the writing? Both? <BR/><BR/>Sticking strictly to Bendis, I think his writing has taken a step backward in his recent work. I can't quite put my finger on it but it seems like he's cramming a lot more in than in the past, in terms of action and dialogue (House of M aside) without really developing the characters or tying the character’s internal motivations to the plot at hand. It just feels sloppy to me and makes me wonder if he’s working on too many books.<BR/><BR/>Your point about American comic book artists taking their cue from film production is interesting. The first thing nearly every manga fan wants to point out is how manga is more "cinematic" and yet I'm still not seeing that – although my reading so far is mostly limited to some older stuff.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14008247.post-1124289349479135182005-08-17T08:35:00.000-06:002005-08-17T08:35:00.000-06:00So far, I'm really enjoying my manga reading. The ...So far, I'm really enjoying my manga reading. The art is different from what we're used to in the West, but it's so expresive. Ayways, aren't you Humberto Ramos #1 fan? If you like Ramos, I would think you'd like manga.Mark Fossenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03623615263972844957noreply@blogger.com