Eisner Awards

The Eisner Awards were announced over the weekend, and it's exciting to hear that Marjorie Liu is the first woman to win an Eisner for Best Writer. It's also just a little bit sad because these awards have been around for thirty years now, but mostly it's exciting.
What's also exciting is that I was reading Monstress BEFORE it won 5 Eisners, so I get to feel smug and self-righteous about my reading habits. It's one of the few comics that I acquire in an issue-by-issue format, rather than waiting for a trade paperback. It's one of my favorites because the art is always gorgeous, cats are heavily featured, the plot is complex and compelling, and it's really refreshing to have so many female characters so strongly foregrounded in the story.
Other cool comics news in my life: Fun Home is on my colloquium reading list for this winter. Therefore, there is no need for me to mount a crusade to add a graphic novel to the list. Hamilton is also on there; the list actually manages to be pretty multimedia. The theme this year is transgression, and I'm actually looking forward to it.

Skyward Issue 1

I recently enjoyed the first issue of a new series from Image Comics by writer Joe Henderson and artist Lee Garbett. So far, it's an intriguing and brightly-colored post-apocalyptic introduction, and I'm curious to see where it will go from here.
Protagonist Willa was only a baby when the world changed, gravity suddenly lowered so that everything and everyone not tied down floats endlessly upwards. Now, she's an energetic and confident 20-year-old, and this is the only world she's ever known. Her father is a marked contrast, tied down by his fears and loss.
So far, this issue is mostly introductions to a palette of secondary characters and a chance to acclimatize to this new world and its unique challenges, with only the hints of any stronger plot to come.
The color scheme is joyful and vibrant with wide open spaces, large and dynamic panel arrangements, and, of course, lots of vivid blue sky. It's particularly fun to see Willa's hair floating wildly in various directions; it feels like a consistent detail that helps to make her a part of her world and to make that world real. It remains to be seen how compelling future issues will be, and whether they will be able to entertain as well once the bright luster of a brand-new world has worn thin, but I'm looking forward to finding out.

Back to School

I've enjoyed my trimester in Ireland. I climbed to the top of a round tower in Kilkenny (too tall, 8/10, would not climb again), saw 23 performances, and met 8 published authors. Overall, I'm really glad I did it, although I am currently bemoaning the fact that I still won't get a real break from school work until Thanksgiving.
The two weeks break between my summer and fall trimester has given me time to do a lot of reading that is not remotely related to class or Ireland. I enjoyed Chemistry by Weike Wang, Do Not Become Alarmed by Maile Meloy, and Mrs. Fletcher by Tom Perrotta. I also reread one of my favorite webcomics, Megan Lavey-Heaton and Isabelle Melançon's Namesake, from the beginning again. If you enjoy cute fantasy webcomics, Namesake is certainly one to check out. It includes plentiful references to Baum's Oz books, Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, as well as mentioning other childhood stories like Peter Pan, "Rumpelstiltskin", and "Jack the Giant-Killer".
I devoured Jeff VanderMeer's compelling and bizarre Southern Reach trilogy: Annihilation, Authority, and Acceptance. I had some difficulty figuring out what genre the books ought to be. Annihilation won a Nebula Award in 2015 for Best Novel, and the Nebula Award is often referred to as a science fiction award, but it is voted on by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and given to works of both the science fiction and fantasy genres. Science fiction is probably the best genre to place the Southern Reach trilogy in as a whole, but I'm still not entirely satisfied with that categorization. Annihilation is told from the perspective of the biologist on a four woman expedition to explore Area X. At first, it reminded me of Arthur C. Clarke's Rama series and John Varley's Gaia books, but it quickly became more of a horror story, and the unreliability of the narrator only added to the confusion. With so many unanswered questions, I immediately had to go on to the second book, Authority, which is narrated by John Rodriguez. This book is set in the Southern Reach agency that has been sending the expeditions into Area X and reads a bit like a mystery novel. This was my favorite book in the trilogy and contains a creepy scene that horrified me more than anything in the first book. The conclusion of the trilogy, Acceptance, is written from the viewpoint of various characters at different times and ties the entire trilogy together cohesively.
The 2016 Nebula Awards Best Novel, Naomi Novik's Uprooted, was also an entertaining read. In the first chapter, I was very concerned that the story was going to be a bit formulaic and bland, but those fears were soon laid to rest. As the tension built, later in the book, I became afraid that it would end in the middle of some dramatic event, only for me to learn that it was the first book in a series. Luckily, it's a standalone novel, her first in this particular fantasy universe, and you get all of the exciting action in the one book.
After reading Uprooted, I decided to reread Novik's Temeraire books, beginning with His Majesty's Dragon. I'm currently in the middle of the sixth book, Tongues of Serpents. My thoughts while reading this series are mostly something along the lines of "Where can I find the TV show?". This series would make a fantastic TV show--it's set in a steampunk alternate version of the Napoleonic Wars with dragons. This ought to appeal to the same audiences as Game of Thrones. It's during a war, so there's even some amount of character death and gore, although not quite on the same level as GoT; this show could be a lot more fun. There's politics, dragons, action scenes, dragons, ethics, dragons, and a protagonist who has a lot to learn. I'm waiting.

Ireland Study Abroad, Installment 3

The last two weeks have been very busy. I've attended several plays and performances: To Hell in a Handbag at Bewley's Café Theatre, Futureproof at the Project Arts Centre, Room at the Abbey Theatre, and Totems at the National Gallery. Futureproof was my favorite show, and we even had the opportunity to meet the director and one of the actresses afterwards. I was also very impressed by Room. I had just read the book and had no idea how someone would put it on as a play, but the set design and the choice to have two actors playing Jack seemed to work well. I think To Hell in a Handbag probably would've been a better experience if I had more exposure to the works of Oscar Wilde, and while Totems was interesting, I don't think that I really know how to understand it, or modern dance in general.

We've begun practicing with watercolors in art class, which is fun. Patience is, I believe, still the most difficult part of all this for me, particularly while I'm abroad, and time seems so expensive right now. We had a field trip day to County Wicklow, which provided some prime opportunity for field practice. Glendalough is absolutely beautiful, as well as being a historic site.

One of the highlights of the trip so far was the tour of the Abbey Theatre. We learned a lot about the history of the Abbey Theatre, and were able to see backstage: pieces of the set for Room, and the hair and makeup department. That sounds like a cool job. Currently, the acoustics in the Theatre (partially due to the wood used on the walls) is good enough that actors do not need to wear microphones, although mikes were used for Room to help with the songs. Apparently the Abbey is going to be renovated soon, which may take multiple years, but will increase capacity.

I went looking in a couple different comic book stores nearby to see if I could find any Irish comics. I'm not sure what I'm looking for, but I haven't found it yet. Mostly I've had Garth Ennis' Preacher recommended to me, but I don't think that's really what I'm interested in, and it's somewhat mainstream. I'd be more interested in something independent. I've also heard that The Hound by Paul Bolger is based on legends of Cúchulainn, which sounds interesting, but I haven't been able to find the first volume, so I'm not sure if that's what I'm looking for. Most of the information I've been able to find online about comics in Dublin and Belfast seems to be from a few years ago, which is frustrating. I did run across a few Irish-language comics while I was looking, which is pretty neat, but ultimately unhelpful for me. Of course, it's quite possible that I've just done a poor job in my research, and somewhere out there the comics are waiting for me. It probably would be best for me not to add to the weight of books I have stuck with me for now; it does make travel inconvenient.
In my dejection, I picked up the first trade for Injection by Warren Ellis, drawn by Declan Shalvey and colored by Jordie Bellaire, with lettering by Fonografiks. Ellis is an English writer, but Shalvey and Bellaire are both based in Ireland. I didn't really know what I was getting, but now that I've actually read it, I quite enjoyed the first five issues. It's an interesting mix of science fiction and folkloric influences, and the main characters each have very specific backgrounds: Dubliner Brigid Roth, English Robin Morel, Scottish Maria Kilbride, and the more mysterious Simeon Winters and Vivek Headland. I'm not really sure what's going to be happening with the plot; I have more questions than answers. Nonetheless, it seems exciting, and I wouldn't be averse to picking up future issues, perhaps when I'm home and won't have to carry them around the rest of Ireland with me. The narration lettering is particularly striking: yellow all-caps text that floats on the page rather than contained in a box, as is common. It seems very computerized, and it is unclear if the text is intended to be the interior monologue of whoever is the current protagonist or is the observations of someone else. The coloring is also particularly effective. There are no labels to explicate a change in time or place, but the change is instantly obvious. Pale yellows or purples are used in scenes of the past, when the five first began work on their project, while gloomy and intense reds and greens dominate for most of the current (rather eerie) action scenes. Meanwhile, Robin's present day wanderings through the English countryside have beautiful natural backgrounds that can vary in mood from light, golden, and hopeful to menacing and isolating.
There isn't much time left in Dublin. We depart for Galway on Friday, which is exciting, but it's disconcerting how quickly the time has passed. I believe there will be a comic book shop three minutes walk from where we're staying, so maybe I'll have better luck there.

Stand Still. Stay Silent.

The rule from which the
comic takes its name

Were you looking for a heart-warming post-apocalyptic Scandinavian webcomic, in which the artwork is amazing, the characters all have fantastic hair, and the cats are plentiful? If so, I found it. Stand Still. Stay Silent. is a gorgeous webcomic by Minna Sundberg.
With events detailed in the prologue, a catastrophic disease destroys the world that we know, and Iceland, as an island nation which closes its borders and defends them aggressively, becomes the most populous country in the known world. Ninety years later, an expedition to explore the dangerous and empty "Silent World" begins, and thus we meet our intrepid adventurers. Unfortunately, their mission is extremely underfunded, and the crew is therefore composed of a ragtag bunch of not-quite-so-professionals.

The mission's backers discuss their hiring options

Tuuri Hotokainen is the Finnish skald and mechanic, while her cousin Lalli is the mage and night scout for the group. The inexperienced Swedish Emil Vasterstrom and the enthusiastic Norwegian Sigrun Eide are along for more combative duties, while Danish Mikkel Madsen functions as both cook and medic for the team.
There are a lot of things I love about this comic. The characters are all very multi-dimensional and real. The comic manages to have a lot of laughs and enjoyable moments for something set after the end of the world. Most importantly, there are so many cats in this comic.
A lot of world building has gone into this comic, and I like that there are occasional pages of extra information, rather than attempting to awkwardly have characters explain basic facts of their own lives and the world they live in through dialogue. The info pages answer questions readers have about the complex and fully-realized world, without disrupting the story.
Of course, the artwork is fantastic. I would love to own the print version of this some day. The backgrounds are beautiful. The facial features are very expressive, which is important in a comic, and each character's design is distinctive and unique. The use of paneling is innovative--wavy panels help to denote the dreamworld that mages visit, and the artist is not afraid to use creative arrangements of panels. Unfortunately, some of the larger page spreads are not as easily enjoyed online, or may even have to be rearranged for the online posting format (just another reason to buy the print version).
Furthermore, the characters all speak subsets of different languages (Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic, or Danish). This is an example of something that works very well in the medium of sequential art, but would not work at all in other media. The author denotes the language spoken with a little flag in the speech bubble, while the huge majority of the comic is all in English. It illustrates well the language barriers that exist between certain characters, while readers are still able to understand what's going on. Even the animals' onomatopoeia is in the correct languages (the Icelandic sheepdog barks "voff")!

The comic updates on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. You can start reading here!

Lalli recites a Finnish runo to summon the moon

Part of a short montage that
represents a few weeks' travel

Map of the Known World

Watchmen

So, I read the graphic novel Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons recently, and then I decided I deserved it and should watch the movie too. At first, I was worried that maybe this is just one of those things that people read and talk about to be pretentious, but wow! This book has a lot of things going on it. I'm really glad I read it, but I feel like I need to go reread it at least twice because I realized that there were a lot of things that I didn't fully notice the first time through, background characters and images to which I hadn't paid enough attention.

The setting is New York City in 1985, in a world where vigilantes (or as we sometimes like to call them, superheroes) used to be prevalent until 1977 when the Keene Act required "costumed adventurers" to retire. The only character with any extraordinary powers is the nigh-omnipotent Dr. Manhattan. The others are simply everyday people who decided to dress up in costume and take the law into their own hands. It's a bit more of a realistic look at how the superheroes that we love to idolize in comic books might actually work in the real world; unsurprisingly, it's not a happy story.
The main character is Rorschach, who investigates the murder of the Comedian (a vigilante vaguely reminiscent of both Captain America and the Joker). Rorschach is one of the few vigilantes who refused to retire after the Keene Act, and he worries that a mask-killer is planning to kill other costumed adventurers, warning several other members of the disbanded Crimebusters team.
Dan Dreiberg, or Nite Owl, is at least superficially similar to Batman, with a reliance on expensive gadgetry to enable him. He is Rorschach's previous partner, and possibly his friend. After the Keene Act rendered his vigilante activities illegal, he retired and stored his equipment underground.
Sally Juspeczyk (Silk Spectre) claims not to miss her previous vigilante lifestyle. Her mother, the first to bear the Silk Spectre name, raised her to fight crime from a young age.
Adrian Veidt (Ozymandias) or "the smartest man in the world" retired before the Keene Act, and cashed out on his superhero image, focusing on building a sprawling financial empire.
Dr. Manhattan (Jon Osterman) gained his powers during an accident in nuclear physics experimentation. He seems to be practically all-powerful, but his unique way of experiencing time causes him to lose touch with humanity.
Overall, most of the characters have a lot of issues, which probably makes a lot of sense--these are people who are compelled to act in ways that aren't really the most normal. The book examines the comic book superhero genre, as well as struggling with issues of politics, morality, identity, gender, sexuality, and patriotism.

The story is complex, but the details are also a big part of what made the book such a fascinating read for me. Even the background details are important and should not be ignored. The pages where every other panel alternated between newsstand scenes and panels from the Tales of the Black Freighter comic book that one character is reading within the scene, with dialogue and narration over both types of panels are some of my favorite.
The way different themes and elements keep recurring throughout the story is satisfying: the recurring imagery of the Comedian's smiley face button with the bloodstain on it, or the references to time and clocks scattered throughout (the twelve chapters of the book, the Doomsday Clock, Dr. Manhattan's story in Chapter IV, et cetera). It's a reminder that this work is composed as a whole, whereas many ongoing series do not have the luxury of forming a complete body of work with a beginning and an end, and consistent writers, artists, and editors.
I can't help but wonder how much I'm missing out of this book because I'm not very familiar with the time period or the history. My history knowledge beyond World War II is rather sketchy, so while I understand the concept of the Doomsday Clock and the Cold War and fears of mutually assured destruction, I'm afraid there may be nuances that have passed over my head.
I've never seen a comic book adaptation movie quite like the Watchmen movie. The credits sequence was really fun; I had forgotten that movies used to have credits at the beginning like that at all. I feel like the Tales of the Black Freighter segments should have been left out; they just didn't really blend in well with the rest of the movie, while they worked well in the graphic novel. It just didn't transfer well between the mediums. A lot of the scenes and dialogue seemed to be pulled exactly from the book, which was exciting for me. On the other hand, I'm not sure how comprehensible this really would be for people who hadn't just read the book. It was quite long already, so the smaller plot elements that were cut out or not fully examined seem to make sense for a movie. Also, the ending was changed from in the book, but I'm still undecided about how much this really mattered. I suppose opinions on it could differ depending on what one believes a movie adaptation should do: remake something in a new medium for people who have already seen the original, adapt a story to a wider audience, tell a somewhat different story that is more timely, or something else.

Watching everything in the movie format after just having read it all really made me think about how the mediums are different. In the graphic novel, the reader can choose how long to stare at a particular panel of gore or violence, whether to skim by it or not. There is no motion on the page, so the motions are filled in by the reader. In the movie, scenes last as long as they last, and it's just a bit more viscerally affecting to see bullets destroying peoples' bodies or characters violently attacking each other on screen than it is while you're only looking at static drawings.
In conclusion, I'd highly recommend anyone with interest in comics, superheroes, sequential art, literature, fiction, or reading to read Watchmen. It's worth the time.

Strong Female Protagonist

Strong Female Protagonist is a webcomic by writer Brennan Lee Mulligan and artist Molly Ostertag. The protagonist, twenty-year-old Alison Green, used her powers of near-invincibility, super-strength, and flight to fight super-villains, but quit her crime fighting team to go to college. Alison fought as a superhero since she was fourteen, and attempting to continue making a difference and do good things in a world where she cannot solve problems by punching them is a difficult transition for her. She is an extremely relatable character.

Currently in Issue 6, Alison is kept ludicrously busy by her job as a firefighter, her schoolwork, and her work to create Valkyrie (a network of superheroes to help provide protection and support to women leaving abusive partners). In this issue, Alison meets Max when she rescues him from a burning building, but they ultimately disagree on matters of morality. When she discovers that Max has a superpower that can help one of her friends and save many lives, she physically forces him to use it despite his resistance to her plan. Later, she feels guilty for forcing Max to use his power, but also believes that she saved many lives and helped her friend with no adverse effects to Max (beyond the issue of forcing him to act against his will). It's a complicated problem, and one that Allison and readers both do not quite know how to handle; it's a real problem, and there are no easy answers. While the comic is entertaining, it's also a platform for discussions of morality and thoughts about how these ideas still apply to our own world.

This is a comic that manages to practice realism without resorting to "grittiness," where the most significant conflicts are not solved by punching things, and sometimes not solved at all. Nonetheless, Alison has an optimistic faith in the innate goodness of humanity that is heartening, and the comic is not depressing or overwhelmingly negative in tone. Despite Alison's "Mega Girl" superhero persona, she is growing up and moving beyond a simplistic view of the world, and this is a comic about her journey. She is a "strong female protagonist"-- a female character who is realistic and flawed, but ultimately attempting to do good in the world.
You can find the comic online at strongfemaleprotagonist.com.