All right, I’m back. My delicious hunk of Sony-branded hardware has distracted me from this blog long enough. Which, if you think about it, is rather ironic: I’ve been wasting time, thus preventing me from wasting time. I suppose if I were a better man I’d just drop games and blogging altogether and ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING WORTHWHILE. Liiiiike ... read comic books.
Speaking of which, it’s time for another installment of Half-Assed Comic Book Reviews. Today’s collection is rather sparse as I’ve been spending more time and money on ... well, I’ll let you work it out. Still, the selection is significant and I highly recommend that nobody reading this post (read: everyone in the world) go out and buy all of these books right out. Or when convenient. By next Tuesday, at least.
I was first introduced to American Splendor when I saw the movie adaptation in a comic art course I once took. I really enjoyed the movie, and it’s taken me a while, but I finally got my hands on an anthology of vol.1 and 2 of the series. First off, let me point out that anyone reading comics only for the fantasy, adventure, or the butt-hugging spandex is not going to like American Splendor. Two words, folks: R. Crumb. Mister Independent Underground Comics himself not only contributed artwork to this series, he directly influenced the creation and publication of it. But ‘Splendor isn’t really Crumb’s work; it is a masterpiece of Harvey Pekar. In fact, the comic and Pekar are pretty much synonymous, reason being the comic is about his everyday life, styles, opinions, and acquaintances, written directly by Pekar himself. Sounds boring, right? Yeah, you better run, ya spandex-lover.
Normally, I’m not a big fan of underground or contemporary stuff, not so much because it’s non-traditional but because I can’t get a very good grasp of it, and furthermore I don’t like the artistic holier-than-thou vibe that many examples give off. Thankfully, ‘Splendor isn’t anything like that. Harvey simply tells it like it is, as if you were right there in the room with him. He tells stories that sometimes span minutes, sometimes months, and sometimes they have a point, and sometimes they don’t. Sometimes he’s making a case about his views on politics, society, humanity, or the world in general and sometimes he’s just bitching about the line at the supermarket register. Sometimes he’s just chatting with friends, and sometimes there’s confrontation, and if there is confrontation he’s sometimes in the right, sometimes not.
I know it sounds boring, but Pekar’s story-telling capabilities make up for the mundane and seemingly uninteresting events. There is real, raw emotion behind his writing, often manifesting itself as frustration and anxiety as he struggles with relationships, his own life values, and the other common, but important aspects of all of our lives. Harvey is easy to relate to because we’ve all felt like him at one point -- like the world is against us, like no matter how we struggle we may never quite achieve everything we want out of life. Indeed, much of Harvey’s stories is angst-ridden as he sinks in the depths of his thought. But not all the stories are about worrying about life: ‘Splendor is just as much about finding the small victories that keep you going. Like going into a secondhand store and finding a good pair of shoes for only 50 cents, or knowing that you can count on a pal when you need him most. The feeling of pure honesty inherent in Pekar’s writing keeps you reading through all of the short stories and honestly enjoying it. It is truly a great accomplishment of the comic book world.
Bah, I hate to follow that up with Midori Days vol.6, but guilty pleasures are pleasures nonetheless. And, despite the number of cute girls in sketchily ecchi situations, I don’t mean sexual pleasures.
Ahem. Well. Maybe.
Things are beginning to develop a little bit in terms of character depths and relationships. A couple new characters have also been introduced, like Seiji’s “first love,” who writes and illustrates her own doujinshi (complete with guy-on-guy action! Woo!). I think I laughed more and harder during this book than most of the previous installments (see the ending of “Day 56: Helter Skelter,”as well as this [warning: ecchi]), so it’s definitely worth the purchase if you’ve been enjoying Inoue’s awesome humor.
Now I’m going to give more unreasonable praise for Monster vol.3, so watch out. I really find it inspiring that Urasawa can have so much appropriate character development throughout these stories. It reminds me of what I’ve seen in the Lord of the Rings films (I never read the books), in that there are such a number of characters, and yet they all feel as if they play an essential part to the story, as if they aren’t just secondary characters but real, important people. Meanwhile, Urasawa’s mastery of suspense and drama makes each story enjoyable and emotionally moving, with all with the underlying horror of Johann’s evil and the charisma of Tenma’s kindness driving the main plot. It’s great how every time you think you’ve got Johann figured out the plot twists and it turns out that your lead was false, and it’s staggering how the man has tainted so many lives, not just through murder but through fear, oppression, and just plain astonishment. I can’t wait for the next volumes.
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