In Praise of Violence

For the holiday, I had planned to make it a very Hong Kong Christmas or a very Kung Fu Christmas. You know, the kind you imagine you would be having if Quentin Tarantino was your pal. However, I did not manage my Netflix queue well enough and Infernal Affairs didn't arrive until Saturday (Martin Scorsese remade the story in The Departed). And I couldn't get ChungKing Express to work because my VCR is currently disabled, and I only have that on tape). What I really wanted for my entertainment was a whole lot of violence, and well, to be honest, certain sections of Asia do violence really well (though Wong Kar Wai's film is not violent at all but I have a thing for Tony Leung Chiu Wai).

Anyway, my desire for violence this holiday was not due to the stress of the season nor because of family (didn't visit them). So, here starts a rambling essay about enjoying violence.

I restarted reading a manga called Berserk by Kentaro Miura and put out by Dark Horse Comics. Miura started the series in 1990, and it's been running ever since. I had watched the anime series which was obviously incomplete but, as my friend Alex has said, had an oddly compelling storyline, much different from your usual Japanese fantasy plot.

Imagine if Clive Barker wrote Conan the Barbarian and Hieronymous Bosch and H. R. Giger penciled it -- plus the gender politics of a Frank Frazetta painting. The story focuses on Guts (or Gutsu or Gatts) who is the Berserker in question, wielding a ridiculously big sword that's as wide as an elephant's thigh. The story is also ridiculously violent and dark. It has all the markings of a very guilty pleasure. Oh yeah, in typical manga fashion, there is also a cute elfin sidekick who makes comments about how he's there to "lighten" the mood.

What attracts me to these violent media? I do not think violence of any sort, short of self-defense, to be conscionable. I step over a bug on the sidewalk (and I have a strict rule regarding insects in the house that I'll do my best to put them outside unless they have touched my face or been on my bed -- both of which carries a death sentence -- and, believe me, having grown up in Georgia where our bugs could eat everyone else's bugs, this is a very generous rule).

I like violent video games -- decapitating your opponents in pixels is just so relaxing! Of course, I don't like all violence in media. Maybe it's a gendered thing, but guns bore me. When I used to play Doom, I loved to use the chain saw. Torture porn movies also bore me. Violence on par of Frank Miller's more recent fare (300, Sin City) seems silly . Hmm, maybe that's it. I only like violence that doesn't take itself too seriously (which is a sick contradiction, I know).

Which brings me back to Berserk. Most of what I have mentioned that I don't like is in full flower in this manga. I'll have to think some more on this. Stay tuned for In Praise of Violence II (or, the deathbed retraction, either one).

Happy Birthday Miss Kate!

Wishing you all the best on this brisk December day!

Here is the party I wish I could throw for you:

I mean, look at all the booze!

Probably not new news, but...

I haven't been posting so here's something that has floated across my screen. Apparently some "library workers" in Kentucky decided that Alan Moore's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier was too obscene for the general public. After checking said book out for a year, one of the ladies discovered that someone (gasp! an 11 year old -- think of the CHILDREN) had put a hold on the book. In a nutshell, they canceled the hold and then the library canceled their privilege to work at the library.

Perhaps my favorite quote out of this entire debacle was from said library worker who decided to risk her soul to read the darn book to see if it was truly pornographic (dunno -- were you turned on?). From the Lexington Herald-Leader: "People prayed over me while I was reading it because I did not want those images in my head." Ye gods, this book was very tame compared to so much more that Moore has done. Are you kidding me? They should have taken it out of circulation because it was a badly written book. See my review on January 2008 (I'm actually linking to myself! Have I disturbed the space-time continuum?)

All a bunch of silliness.

New London has hit the big time!

Not since the city was burned by Benedict Arnold in 1781 has New London received such attention as it did this past weekend by the New York Times. Boldly, they picture the city as a cute little arts town that New Yorkers can visit. Oh, the artistic humanity!

By the by, I'm trying a new thing by NOT linking everything to Wikipedia. Let's see how long that lasts (even as I am tempted to link the word, Wikipedia, to its home page -- damn you, latent OCD!).

Re-establishing web presence in 3...2...1...

Yeah, well, it was a tough summer and a tough fall. I had so much going on, and, frankly, when I'm down in the dumps, I do not like to blog or reach out. Probably not a good habit. Anyway, what, may you ask, inspired me to write today? I just found out that awesome and acclaimed author, Salman Rushdie, has put out hints about doing a graphic novel. Though I did not watch the talk show event, I am curious what he had to say about Aquaman. (finally a novelization version of the Simpsons' quote "oh Aquaman, you cannot marry a woman without gills. You are from two different worlds!").

Though I should be packing, cleaning, etc

I just had to share this with all my friends. Guillermo Del Toro (he of Pan's Labyrinth fame) is planning a Frankenstein film. He's basing his character design on Bernie Wrightson's images. Very cool, no?

Great Caesar's Ghost!

In prep for my graphic novel class that starts (eep!) very soon, I decided that I needed more books. So, I just spent nearly 200 bucks on Amazon. Because a lot of my comics are not kid-friendly, I bought the following, with commentary

Single volume collection of Bone by Jeff Smith (hey, less than 27 bucks for 1300 pages). If you have never read it, it's a lot of fun just for the rat creatures (stupid, stupid rat creatures). I met Jeff Smith at a con a while ago, and he drew me the dragon. I have no idea where that thing is right now.

One Hundred Demons by Lynda Barry (which I should have anyway). I caught some of Barry's work at Krazy, a really weird exhibit of manga, comics, video games, visual art, etc.... in Vancouver last year. (It just closed in New York at the Japan Society). I meant to do a review of the exhibit, and I might on Anime Cake. Anyway, long aside, to my comment about Barry. They had some of her work there, and it's amazing to see in person because she makes a freakin' collage -- something that really can't be represented in print. Or, at least, she did this for her covers. She's just amazing.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, the film by Hayao Miyazaki. The kids are reading the first volume of the manga and I figured I couldn't show them my fansub of it.

A Drifting Life by Yoshihiro Tatsumi, an autobiographical comic which may not be suitable for them, but I want to read it anyway.

Also, a maybe for them, The Amazing Remarkable Monsieur Leotard by Eddie Campbell. You may know as the artist from Moore's From Hell, and as the artist/writer for Bacchus.

Then, I got a bunch of theory related stuff including two books with essays from Mr. Gene!
A Comics Studies Reader (Gene's essay on Chris Ware)
The System of Comics by Thierry Groensteen (which Gene worked on). I have been meaning to buy this book for a long time. I hear it's a quick read! (ha!)
The Language of Comics (which has that same Ware essay I believe).

That's a lot of comics. I figured I could splurge since it's for teaching.