JUNO is JOY

My Gawd it's boring as Heck being a night-owl at the moment. The TV is appalling. The Sopranos is over, Weeds and Dexter are between series, the Sarah Silverman Show is back, but it's repeats, the new series of Lead Balloon is some way off, and the second series of Jam and Jerusalem has just finished (I think; because the BBC doesn't deign to tell us mere TV-Tax payers anything). I'm currently watching my DVD of series 1 of Love Soup about every 3rd or 4th day, as I wait for the new one to come along. It is sheer Heck, with Paramount UK running Terry and June (the antithesis of comedy) and the Liver Birds, and those terrible Confessions of ... movies. Nightmare.

You know, I had a Sony Betamax Video Recorder and it cost around £700 ($1,500). In those days it cost somewhere in the region of £60 ($120) for a video film, which is why there where so many video shops. Within a few years the price of the machines halved, and so did the price of the video films, but the video shops still got the releases before the general public. Anyway, way back then I bought a lot of 'used' and unpopular videos from my local video shop and one of those was a movie I'd rented twice and enjoyed, but it just wasn't much of a mover, amidst a sea of blockbusters - it was called Blood Simple, and I paid £8 ($16) for it.

Ever since then I've been a fan of the Coen brothers. I even enjoyed The Hudsucker Proxy, and their latest movie, No Country for Old Men, an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel of the same name, is, I think, rightly being hailed as a return to form for the brothers. Although I'm not one of the fans who wants a 'triumphant return' to Blood Simple territory, as The Big Labowski is my absolute favourite by the brothers C.

But Juno, Juno is joy. There isn't one single fat moment in that movie. Not one single second of time is wasted, from the opening credits to the final note on the end credits, Juno is an experience.

The casting is superb, and it includes the father and son team from Arrested Development, Michael Cera and Jason Bateman, Alias star Jennifer Garner (marvelous), Olivia Thirlby, and Ellen Page, as Juno MaGuff.

I can't wait for the DVD which I hope will be crammed with extras including details about Shadowplay Studios excellent work on the opening credits. As I said, I love the work of the Coen brothers to bits, but this is the best film I've seen in a long time, by far.

The Bee-man Book, Latest Update.

This is purely technical and it will only interest the most anal amongst you - which is just about every arty-type; although we all like to dress it up as 'perfectionism'. Actually, it's handy reminder that it isn't over, until it's over.


The 'finished' book, had to be looked over for spelling mistakes, bad grammar (I've adapted the story in parts and edited it to suit a comic book format) and squashed lettering.


I then added white borders around 1/4" to all the white background pages, which was challenging when the pages were 'off-centre' and then reduced the page sizes back down to size.


Following that exercise, I had to go over all the pages where any faint ruling lines appeared after the formatting.


Then, once everything seemed to be done, I printed out my mini-book, a tiny copy of the book itself, so I could be sure the thing worked - which lead me to add more end papers and a new page of drawings.


The result is that the opening page is now correctly facing the reader, and the page count balances. And, you won't believe this, but I just noticed a real problem, that I didn't notice until the thing was in my hands. I've made a screen shot to let you see what it is:

I've got a rogue page, and a double-page at that, this could be hours of work because the double- pages have to be placed properly or they'll be on two sides of the same page. Still, it has to be done. As I said, it isn't over until it's over.

Anyway, although the book is in black and white, and half-tone (shades of gray), I do have a few pages that I coloured - just so I'd know what a colour version would look like.

Graphic Novel, The Bee-Man of Orn, Preview pages

I'm quite happy with my overall design here. I think I'm done editing, but something always pops up - we'll see. Anyway, here is a sample from the beginning of the story. Eagle-eyed cartoonist, Alex Mathews spotted an error, which is now fixed. I am obliged to him, and no mistake. Check out the link to his website (above) for some real funny cartoons. Well, at least I was prepared! The same eyes Royston Robertson uses to execute the fine lines of those uber-funny cartoons of his spotted my trick-word 'Kangeroo', that I had cunningly placed in the story to make sure everyone was, er, on their toes.

Get that Manga blog in order!

Okay, it has been a slow start to the year due to bugs and sneezes and stuff. And besides, I have worked 'manfully' (we all know that Man-flu is worse than any other kind) on the Bee-Man (now only 8 pages to fix and then I'm adding bees and lettering and it's done) despite being at Death's Door.


So my Imanga blog is a little behind, but I did say it would be self-indulgent. Anyway, I'm going to stick to the theme of my favourite Manga, and like the MPD Psycho post, I'll tie in the links with any other incarnations in other media. Death Note is a case in point, and it'll be the subject of my next Manga post, this weekend. Death Note began as a one-shot with Light as a very young boy. In the Death Note Manga series, and the anime, Light is a High-school pupil, and in the movies, Death Note I and Death Note II (The Last Name), Light is even older. In every case the stories achieves a new level of sophistication and it all seems to work as a sort of Death Note universe. It is a joy to be part of that universe.

Comparing the Death Note pilot (scans below) with the highly detailed moral exercise the story later became, and the highly lucrative Death Note merchandising industry it gave birth to (my daughters Kim and Dom are currently walking around with their new matching L bags - courtesy of Forbidden Planet ) will, I think, reveal a little of the way in which Japanese publishers encourage the growth of a Manga brand; although we do have to bear in mind that Death Note is a superior product, you can't fake that.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the first incarnation of Death Note, the pilot for the manga series, here's a little taster of what will be on the blog. The work was translated by AK and Mike, scanned by Mike, and edited by Darci-San and Draygon Zero:

I've been watching the Honey and Clover live-action TV show and I think I'll follow the Death Note post with that because whilst I'm a fan of the Honey and Clover movie, and the manga, I'm less enamoured with the anime or the TV show; so I think it makes for an interesting contrast, and discussion.

To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,

One clover, and a bee, And revery.

The revery alone will do, If bees are few.

(Emily Dickinson, 1755)

Let's Hope it's a Good One...

Of course the chances of 2008 being 'without any fear' are pretty slim, so let's just hope we all live in, less than 'interesting times;, shall we say?


The Saga of The Bee-Man


I'm at that stage where I can just about see the finishing line with The Bee -Man. I hope some of the people who emailed me 'their novels' to illustrate last year are paying attention here. The last time I wrote about this I had finished drawing the pages, all 88 of them - from one little short story (hint, look at how long it takes to turn around 4 pages and then look at your 200 page manuscript, and think hard on it).

I have set out the cover and the flyleafs and at the moment I am cleaning the artwork and laying down tones - so far I'm, on page 60. I should finish in a week or two and then I'll edit the story down and letter the pages and that will be the entire project finished. I'll put about 25 pages or so online when it's complete - meanwhile, here are a few pages that are almost finished.

After this is finished I want to make some headway on my large graphic novel, Sunshine on Leith, but I have my cartoons to finish, to say nothing of card designs and my spot on our version of Narrative Corpse coming up (see below) and I may have enough cartoonists and writers to put The Garden of Forking Paths anthology together, that's providing I can successfully bash heads with Brenda Romans and knock out some kind of skeleton-structure to work with - something Lee Nordling (who is really a bit of a god to we cartoonists who have read and reread his Your Career in the Comics) has also challenged me, rightly I feel, to sort out.

Thank Goodness for Christopher Butcher

If I die before I actually make it to Japan, I will at least have managed a vicarious visit, thanks to Christopher Butcher, manager of the world-famous comic book store The Beguiling, freelance writer and comics production artist, and the co-founder of the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, and the fantastic photos he posts on his blog. I'm not joking, his pics really do mean that much to me because I am pretty much trapped at the drawing table for the next 12 months. The sainted-Christopher has even been good enough to group all his comics-related Japanese photos together under the heading Japan on his Comics212 blog, I can't recommend it highly enough.

Thank Goodness too, for Mike Lynch

This is a sad note with which to begin the year, as Randy Glasbergen pointed out to us, cartoonist Bob Zahn passed away early this month. Mike has posted a really nice tribute to Bob. a marvelous and very distinctive and funny cartoonist, on his excellent blog.

Merry Xmas, Happy Holidays, Lang May yer Lum Reek.

I'm having a holiday from me blog over Xmas, so let me wrap a few things up, send them to bed, run them up the flagpole and see if anyone salutes; as it were.

First of all, I hope you all keep well over Xmas and avoid the nasty flu-bug - however, if you don't, can I suggest you buy the following Get Well card, which I think is very, very, funny. They do say that laughter is the best medicine, and I'm pretty sure this will raise a chuckle from even the very ill!

Okay, Marian Heath sent me copies of my latest Get Well card, you know, the one I showed you in the short post about 'layering in Photoshop', somewhere below, so I thought I'd let you see how it turned out. Anyway, you keep well, but if you don't...

Secondly, whilst I have cartooning on my mind, there is still some time left for you students out there to become as fantastic as me - yeah, you wish! Just joshing. Anyway, you know it has been a bad year, and well, I hate saying at least some good has come out of it because that is a tired old cliche, but, at least this is a fitting memory to one of the cartooning family we lost this year; it's the Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship (the cartoon is by the brilliant 'usual idiot', Mad Magazine's, Tom Richmond, who is built something like myself):

My friend, cartoonist, and occasional boss, John (Bonanas) Kovaleski, had the following to say about the scholarship being open to all students, which I, as a student of English Lit' and Arts Humanities, certainly would have welcomed:

As for the reasons behind some of the requirements, starting with "don’t have to be an art student": This comes from the fact that a number of cartoonists, many of them prominent, were not art students (including last year’s Reuben winner, Bill Amend, who was, I believe, was a Physics major). And, let’s face it, being an artist is a tough career and students might not choose that as their major. But they might have a strong interest and be doing it on the side. (Some of my strongest cartooning students, the ones with the most drive, are not art students. One does three different web cartoons a week.) And the scholarship might be just the thing to help them think about it as a career.

Jay's bio is here.

Thirdly, my cousin Allan Macfadyen is 50 years old this month. You remember him, he's the guy in the Lepertown comics who read The Bunty when it was still regarded by the unenlightened as a soppy-girls comic. The handsome facial features he once might have had, have now been replaced by a slight facial resemblance to Droopy, the cartoon dog, and he has begun to shrink somewhat so that he is probably now well-under six feet tall, maybe 5' 5" or thereabouts - and a little portly. I think, that if he had a bulldog, and he was out walking the thing, people might assume they were seeing conjoined twins.

So, I'm wishing him a Happy Birthday and sending get well wishes to my Aunt Peggy, who has been poorly. And my Aunt Kathy too, who has managed to bravely overcome a very deadly foe. My goodness me they don't make them like that these days.

That's your lot for this year, my chums. Keep well, and may your God go with you (Dave Allen).

Aren't the Critics we Agree with Just Great?

Now we're cooking with gas. Dirk Deppey has pointed the way to Dan Kois's most excellent list of the best comicbooks of 2007, at the New York Magazine, and I have to say, I agree wholeheartedly with it, Neel!


Of course the fact that Dan has The Arrival by Shaun Tan (Scholastic) in his number-one slot helped swing it for me, but his inclusion of The Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms by Fumiyo Kouno (Last Gasp) shows the guy really knows his stuff, Neel.

Augh, this year really has been oveshadowed by gloom.

I see from my morning visit to Mike Lynch's blog that the gloom hasn't lifted, but deepened, and that veteran cartoonist Al Scaduto died last week, aged 79. Mike has written a really nice, affectionate piece on the passing of his friend and colleague.

Earlier this month, Australian cartoonist,and the man who single-handedly helped to keep people like me in touch with the wider world, through the OZ cartooning publication, Inkspot, James Kemsley, the cartoonist behind Ginger Meggs, died an untimely death, on December the 3rd 2007, at the age of 59, after a brave battle with Motor-Neuron disease.




Another recent tragedy, and one a little closer to home, was the demise of Stirling-born artist and cartoonist Ged (Gerald) Melling, who died on October 29 2007, as a result of a road accident. Ged worked as a cartoonist and illustrator for The Times, the Sunday Telegraph, the Economist, The Financial Times, the Spectator, The Observer, Sporting Life, Private Eye and The Oldie, which isn't a bad resume for a cartoonist who only took up the profession in his 50s.

Neel Mukherjee Reviews 'Graphic Novels'. Why?

Now, Neel Mukerjee is a serial reviewer. He is a Cambridge graduate and so he is uniquely placed to review 'graphic novels' because...actually no, I'm being sarcastic.


It's not that I have anything against Neel Mukharjee, you see, it's just that I don't think the sort of people who get invited to review novels, should automatically be encouraged to review 'graphic novels', for reasons that I have recorded in earlier bloggings (see below), and nothing written in today's Times, by Neel, has changed my mind.

In today's Times the job of reviewing 'Graphic Novels' is given to Neel, who may well be a fan of the genre, for all we know, but there must be a certain amount of doubt cast on that assumption when we read the reviews. It's not that he doesn't effuse over the titles, he does, it's just that, well, he doesn't seem to quite get it. For instance, the 'Three Books of the Year', according to Neel, are, It's a Good Life if you Don't Weaken, by Seth, Exit Wounds, by Rutu Modan, and Adrian Tomine's Shortcomings.

Maybe they are in 'no particular order' but Neel has Seth's, It's a Good Life...(published originally by Drawn and Quarterly in 1996 in his native Canada, and reprinted here, in the UK, by Cape) as his number one of these 'three books of the year'. Don't get me wrong, I like Seth, and this is a decent book, especially for Seth fans and cartoonists and illustrators who are, like Seth, in both his mode of dress and his style of drawing, drawn to the great illustrators of the past, and past New Yorker Magazine illustrators, in particular. But we have to bear a few things in mind. The first is that the story is actually a collection of Seth's comic Palookaville, issues 4 to 9, and it was originally published in, and has sold very well since, 1996, and hard though it may be for Neel to believe, a lot of some backward folks over here in yea olde Britain are already too familiar with the work to proclaim it a 'book of the year' for 2007. If you are new to Seth's work, which you may well have seen in the New Yorker (yes Neel we even get that in Scotchland) I certainly wouldn't put you off buying it. It's a Great Life... was voted number 52 on the list of the '100 Best Comics of the 20th Century' by The Comics Journal.

Exit Wounds, again originally published by Drawn and Quarterly, and again reprinted here in the UK by Cape, is new though, and a sample from its pages can be found here; http://www.drawnandquarterly.com/imagesPreview/a451165f22c05b.pdf
The book, by Rita Modan, was the North American 'graphic novel' debut by the impressive Israeli cartoonist/illustrator, who has already won several awards in Israel and abroad and was voted 'Young Artist of the Year' by the Israeli Ministry of Culture. Unlike Seth's book, the premise of Modan's story is thoroughly modern. Set in modern-day Tel Aviv, the protagonist, Koby Franco, discovers that his estranged father may have been a victim of a suicide bombing in Hadera, and he sets of, reluctantly, to discover the truth about his Father's disappearance. This is story of our times, and a really great example of what a modern 'graphic novel' can be.

The third choice here, Shortcomings, by Adrian Tomine, was published originally by Drawn and Quarterly (am I sensing a theme here?) and is reprinted here in the UK by Faber. A sample from the book can be found here; http://www.drawnandquarterly.com/imagesPreview/a462fba9cc8e66.pdf
Of course, those of you familiar with my blog will know that I just recently posted about an exhibition by Giant Robot Magazine that featured original artwork from this book, so I'm a bit of a fan, but I wouldn't fo so far as to proclaim Shortcomings one of three 'books of the year'.
Tomine's protagonist, Asian-American, Ben Tanaka, is, as The Village Voice pointed out, 'a lonely, socially constricted man, longing to make a connection and spinning in the purgatory between youth and adulthood', in other words he has the mind-set of a typical cartoonist. He is overly critical, overly sarcastic, and highly insensitive, especially in relation to his long–term, long-suffering, girlfriend, Miko Hayashi. I like Adrian Tomine and I like Shortcomings, but like Seth's book earlier, it has neither the scope or the depth that Exit Wounds brings to the medium.


Now, I draw no conclusions from the fact that ALL three of these books were originally published by Drawn and Quarterly, it may just mean that D&Q have a good eye (maybe that will rub-off on Cape and Faber and they will one day publish a new story, rather than a reprint that has already garnered critical acclaim). And although these three books are declared as '...THREE BOOKS OF THE YEAR' by Neel, he reviews a further five 'graphic novels': The Invention of Hugo Cabaret (Scholastic) by Brian Selznick, I Killed Adolf Hitler (Fantagraphics), by Norwegian cartoonist Jason, Paul Hornschemeier's The Three Paradoxes (Fantagraphics), Posey's Tamara Drew (Cape) and Nevermore (SelfMadeHero) an anthology, illustrated by Stuart Tipples, Steve Pugh, John McCrea, D'Israeli, Shane Ivan Oakley, Jame Fletcher, Natalie Sandells, Alice Duke, Erik Rangel, and Laura Howell.


Anyone writing a review of graphic novels and compiling a list of 'THE THREE BOOKS OF THE YEAR' in that medium, who has no knowledge of Shaun Tan's, The Arrival (Arthur A. Levine Books, reprinted by Lothian Children's Books in the UK), doesn't know the first thing about 'Graphic Novels'. In my humble opinion. I'd be prepared to overlook sloppy research that results in 'THE THREE Books OF THE YEAR', in the 'graphic novel' genre all being found on one publisher's website, but having no knowledge of a 'Graphic Novel' that has the entire cartooning community of cartoonists, illustrators, cartooning critics, cartooning bloggers and comicbook fans gaping in awe, is an astonishing oversight, is it not?


For the benefit of any Times readers who might look in and for Neel himself, Shaun Tan's, The Arrival is a 'silent graphic novel', of 120 pages of pencilled artwork, that took four years to develop. The reviews below, by people who clearly do have a clue about the medium, sum it up:


http://www.arthuralevinebooks.com/book.asp?bookid=123

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/books/review/Yang-t.html?_r=1&oref=slogin