Distinct from webtoons and traditional comics, but they do have more structure than the indie comics I buy and get mad because it said ‘40’ pages but did not mention it’s a single panel per page. The single
click-through gives it the structure of a birthday card
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R.I.P. Kevin O’Neill.
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batman: urban legends #20 has a nice au story called “castle arkham”. it’s obviously far from the first time there’s been a horror-themed batman au, but what makes this one more interesting than most is that rather than being based on putting batman in a world inspired by a classic novel, it seems to draw its inspiration from bloodborne.
So Pennyworth swerved and turned into a V for Vendetta prequel!?
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I haven’t really seen anyone talking about it but Chainsaw Man Pt. 2 fucking rips. It’s a lot weirder and more interesting than pt 1. A bit closer to Fire Punch. Part 1 didn’t have a lot of Fujimoto’s signature repetition but, as above, it’s back in pt. 2 and it’s so good.
It goes without saying but Asa is perfect and I adore her
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I’ve been stressed out so I went to the manga store and got volume 1 of Delicious in Dungeon. Massive thanks to whoever recommended it on here because it is so much fun. I love speculative fantasy cooking instruction, what a genre!
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I finished reading El Eternauta today. I bought it some time back in 2015 I think, aspiring to use Spanish for something meaningful. I mistakenly thought that comics would be easy but it turned out to be an incredibly wordy comic. I should have guessed considering it came out in the 50s. Now I’m much more capable at reading Spanish so I can finally understand it without using a dictionary.
It is a serialized science fiction story, written and drawn by Argentinians and set in Buenos Aires. The author, H. G. Oesterheld made it up as he went along and that actually is a strength of the entire work. It starts with a strange man materializing out of thin air, who then tells his story.
It is an exhausting and horrific apocalyptic nightmare. People die with no time for mourning. The main character is not so heroic and constantly dwells on pessimistic thoughts. He only continues by looking at others and relying on the confidence that they seem to project. But maybe they feel the same as him.
The author wrote a lot of comics in Argentina. In the 70’s, he joined an anti-junta group. In 1977, he disappeared. It is difficult to set this future sequence of events aside while reading this story of invasion, paranoia, and desperation. I’m really happy to finally finish it.
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Really got into A Bride’s Story (Otoyomegatari) this year and am up to volume 8. The stories are neat in that they’re very simple and centre around various bridal or cultural customs of central Asia c. 19th C. The main thing that drew me in is the aesthetic. You just get page after page of lavish fabric patterns, carvings, or embroidered costumes. A bonus I wasn’t expecting is how it presents marriage and family almost exclusively from the perspective of its female characters. It goes in quite interesting directions too, examining the division of labour and how differences between regional tribes sometimes subtly challenge masculine roles when an individual’s skills are exceeded by their wife or love is depicted as a more subtle bonding than purely romantic or sexual attraction. There’s an interesting arc where the practice of ‘avowed sisters’ (unsure if this is/was as depicted in the stories) is shown through an undoubtedly queer lens even if the story doesn’t explicitly claim it as such. The stories are very much ideal and the downsides of institutions like marriage and the problems they cause aren’t really the focus. This is the author (Kaoru Mori) bathing in the culture and aesthetics.
The stories are mostly slice of life but really excel at panelling with minimal text for action scenes, particularly in nature and hunting. There’s also plenty of cheesecake as well since we see a lot of bathing and couples bedding together.
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there’s a five part video of Kaoru Mori drawing Amir that I recommend checking out. The speed at which she draws and renders the character is staggering, as well as her ability to just freehand these incredibly ornate patterns
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There are camera cuts in these between which the drawing changes, so keep in mind you’re not seeing the entire process. (Not counting that videos 3 and 4 are in reverse order.)
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I think even including the theoretical time between the cuts this is absurdly fast for this level of detail and quality.
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Wow, it’s impressive! The sense of place for every flowing bit of fabric feels like it would normally take a long time to compose but Mori’s clearly got a good sense for how it should just fall. The inkwork is incredible too.
I just finished the chapter where Pariya is practicing weaving again despite having no confidence in her skill or initially running away from the complexity of certain patterns. The idea of focusing on a creative craft task and its eventual purpose feels like it is echoed by Mori’s drawing throughout the whole series.
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always interesting how manga artists often vary their ink lines (thick to thin) by making multiple strokes with very stiff nibs rather than using a brush or “looser” nib to get it done in one stroke. such a tremendous amount of work, multiplied by the incredible detail also on display.
if you like tulpa’s video, worth checking out this video series of a manga artist who filmed his insane productivity creating a 30 page manga chapter in 18 days from sketches to digital editing. the manga itself is a bit…weird…but the process is great
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that one is good. naoki urasawa’s youtube channel and his documentary series, “manben,” are both also excellent for getting a look at the wide range of techniques in manga art production.
here’s Urasawa’s channel
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fForgot about manben! I think all the episodes are on youtube, such a great show. seeing how people make a comic (or any art) and the various techniques is such a great resource. demos are seriously undervalued in teaching art skills.
I wish american and european cartoonists had similar shows, it’d be fairly easy in this day and age. i know at least among the 90s-00s “indie” cartoonists, most of them learned how to color digitally from chris ware, would be nice if they shared this technique.
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Piskor name drops Manben a lot in his videos and I wasn’t even sure how to spell it let alone find it. Thanks!