The black male panel and picking at old wounds.

I got Fool's Gold, and it is amazing. I think the story would have been strengthened by including a girl who actually dated a nice guy- it's not like every single girl everywhere always dates jerks, even in high school. But overall a good fun effort. That's why I was like if we want less sexist manga, we need to make them ourselves. The idea that all girls like jerks may not be free of sexism, but for strong character fans, Penny isn't exactly a blushing schoolgirl. She's not afraid of confrontation, or leading a club with a hundred people in it. The setting caused some confusion for me, because I was thinking that a hundred girls wasn't enough to do a whole school strike on jerks, but then again, I think this is a small town school, as there are only five people of color in the whole school. :D

Yay, more dykes!

Based on a true story

Mini

Mini
Originally uploaded by Shannon W..

Here's a stack of poorly put together and drawn mini comics. Because putting the mini together took so long, some of the comics in it haven't been uploaded to this blog, but I will do this soon.

Nowadays, Marvin seems quite possibly vaguely racist.

Another ampsersand cartoon.

I was reading Fruits Basket yesterday(volumes 2-4 haven't gotten further than that in the manga) and I have to admit I love the story, although I hate the main character. Of course, Fruits Basket really isn't about Tohru- she's just sort of a catalyst whose innate goodness opens up the world of the other characters. But I'm like eh, it's ok to have a feeling for yourself once in a while! Show some depth! Flipped talks about shoujo manga with strong female characters, and while we all have different definitions of who is strong and who is not a strong female character(some say she's got to kick ass, some say she's got to be brave and loyal), Tohru, even though if the story was actually about her could become a strong character, would not fit the bill.

Poorly drawn comics sometimes show up in this space. I don't work well with others, so I should at least learn by doing.

YU+ME- an amazing webcomic. I think they should come out with a graphic novel.

I have to admit I like the 'mediocre' shoujo heroines.(of course, I also like the seinen Maison Ikkoku because the hero wasn't perfect either-he still gets the girl but it's not like he's the best preschool teacher in the world or some shit. ). I really can't relate to the most powerful beautiful woman in the universe, and I like wishfullfillment fantasies way better than power fantasies. Basically, I can't really imagine myself as someone who instantly is amazing at everything. I like to ease into the fantasy. Examples:

Ok, you're a ballet dancer, you're the best in your group, but you've fallen off the stage and into a slump. Enter a hot guy- all the sudden you win the Japan wide ballet championship, fill in for a world famous ballerina and have a wild time.(Forbidden Dance)

Or yea, you're a high school student. You're a good student, studying for your exams to get into college, but you are feeling a bit overwhelmed. Wouldn't you like to escape from that completely, get cool new pals, and become a world famous fashion model? (Paradise Kiss)

Or yea, you're a plain Jane. The boys at school ignore you. The girls make fun of you. Wouldn't you want to be super hot, get the hottest guy in the school,etc?(Doubt!)


Or even you're a regular middle class girl. Wouldn't you like to go to the most prestigious school around, hook up with the hottest guys, win a beauty contest and dunk on the guys?(Boys Over Flowers)


Now that's fantasy fulfillment. At first you're like 'what a clutz Usagi is! what a crybaby" and then you realize when the chips are down, she is the strongest woman in the universe. Maybe this can't be reconciled, but we could always have a Carla Kent/Powerfantasy girl duo. By day, she's horrible at math, and never gets the guy! But by night, she's Superfeminist! Sketchy guys bothering young girls? She beats them up. Catty anti feminists who work outside the home complaining that the rest of us work outside the home would have their nannies and maids diverted and have to work inside the home,etc.

And heck, she could even have her own harem of bishonen by the time we're through.

Tip:Board Shorts In other news, 100 pages for 60 cents? Using this calculator, and guessing that the comic was from 1950, I saw that it could cost 5 dollars in today's dollars. So basically, manga gives us the same price as that(200 pages for ten dollars as an average) but American comics are obscenely expensive.

I think it's snark worthy to refer to a con with mostly white male guests as diverse.(also divalea) While Seth and Frank Miller aren't going to be confused any time soon, there's a sort of commonality of white male experience. For example, the world they can give us will likely have no real mention of say, racism the way it's really experienced.(tip: it's not all crosses burnt on the lawn,folks) Oftentimes, even though the setting has no logical reason for it to be white dominated, there will be mostly white folks in the book. How women's clothing and bodies work can also be ignored. Women and people of color can be plot devices, because hey, who cares? They aren't the People who Matter. That reminds me of another thing that annoys me.

I hate it when comics companies act as if a gay character is the same thing as a new crossover or some shit like that. It seems like hey, your sexual orientation is just a new marketing ploy. It's like the meta woman in refrigerator. Instead of just a character being used to amp up the excitement of your story line, hey, a whole real life subset of people can add a little bit of spice to your comic book! While some white males can get over these problems by research, listening to other people, and generally just learning how to write(my theory is a lot of sexism,racism and homophobia gets injected into stories by the simple fact that it's easier to put in a bunch of crap that is basically prewritten than to get a new idea), I think it's important for girls and people of color and gay folk (and everyone I left out) to do for themselves, because there's a big difference between second hand and first hand observation. White men don't know what it is like to have to search for the dinky little ethnic hair care aisle(or sometimes even shelf) to get some frickin' shampoo. They haven't experienced their first period. They aren't expected to be servile to the egos of random people. And on and on and on.

Yea, so my point is that having a bunch of white guys isn't exactly representing all walks of life, you know? Not the only people who exist or matter, you know.

Mix nostalgia for old school hip hop, a animation inspired drawing style, and zany superpowers and you get Detective Boogaloo. Awesomeness. I hope they make a TPB of this so I can donate it to my mother's classroom. Young folks could appreciate the zany antics, even if they don't get the old hip hop stuff.
Also, interview with Hudlin. It's an amazing interview, and you all should read it.

You know, I'm tempted to buy some OEL manga, but my comics want list is so long it'll be months before I get to Chugworth, Sorcerers and Secretaries or Fool's Gold. In other news, I posted a few companies that are taking submissions.

Yea, I think global manga is our future. Note that a lot of these folks came up from webcomics. Now, that's a good way to build up your talent or to just have fun(I used to do a webcomic but it's been lost to the web. Anyway, it wasn't very good). I think this is just the first generation of talent. I think the next few years will be awesome for comics.

Speaking of webcomics:

I really like this comic, although I don't know why. When searching the archives, be careful, while this particular comic is safe for work, there are many not safe for work comics here.

And sadly enough, The Pain is on haitus

Unrelated:

Old Archie story and Superman is a dick.

I was reading What's a Nubian and I think I would take a fancy to these Bluesman comics. 80 pages each, and I hope they collect them so that even if it's not my cuppa(I don't know yet) someone else would get a chance to discover them. I think this would go over way better at bookstores or libraries than at a comic shop.