Wednesday Comics #3

[kingrockwell]

This week I'm giving you two guys that we haven't seen enough of over here, but could easily be the best strips in the whole set!


Drawing heavily from Prince Valiant, Kamandi by Dave Gibbons and Ryan Sook takes to the form with a fantastic eagerness nearly unmatched by the other fifteen splendid offerings.


While Strange Adventures combines Paul Pope's weird and wonderful art style with a wonderful classic sci-fi action at a pace that leaves you crying for the next issue!

That's what I've got for you tonight, though I stumbled on something special I'll be sharing with the community tomorrow. In the meantime, they've got me working early all week, so I've gotta crash, but I'll leave you to it.

I'll get the what's-been-posted-so-far chart done once we've made the rounds from this issue.

Comments

[volksjager.insanejournal.com]

I would have to say at this point that I don't like the Kamandi one. Touching anything that Kirby did is tough,his style is so much a part of the story telling that ,without it things suffer. In the old book all the technology being used is old earth pre-"Great disaster" that's just ducth taped together. This is something else too "Buck Rogers".

[jlroberson.insanejournal.com]

And as I mentioned you could say the same of Kamandi here, that it's too Tarzan or Prince Valiant. The overall attempt with WC seems to be to reproduce the look of Sunday comics. Not a bad idea in and of itself.

I think what Pope does here is appropriate(and certainly far better than the crappy try at bringing back Buck Rogers I saw recently, with the most amazingly uncreative art). But as technically beautiful as the Kamandi strip is it also seems redundant. It's just retelling Kirby in a jarringly different style. To me that disrespects Kirby and implies that style is not inherent to the character of a work. Would you give WATCHMEN to another cartoonist to retell? To me it's only the affection and work this obviously represents that keeps me from calling a Rich Buckler on it.

[psychop_rex.insanejournal.com]

I could be wrong, but I don't think that this is a direct retelling of Kirby - it strikes me more as a different take on the same concept, using Kirby's characters. I could be wrong, but that's what it looks like to me.

[psychop_rex.insanejournal.com]

...too much 'could be wrong'ing; sorry. This is what happens when I don't edit myself.

[rab62.insanejournal.com]

I both agree and disagree with the two preceding comments. How's that for equivocation? ;-) Three installments in, and Kamandi is still the only strip in the book that completely works for me...and by now you've got to know how fussy I am about Kirby homage, right?

That said, if anyone says it simply doesn't feel like the genuine Kamandi to them, I can totally relate...because that's exactly how I feel about Pope's Adam Strange. I admire his work and I could enjoy this strip thoroughly if only it was called something else...but there's little about this other than the names that says "Adam Strange" to me. And but me no buts about "out of continuity" because that's not what I'm talking about; it's the essence of the character I'm not feeling. I think this is the same as volksjager's complaint about Kamandi; it's just a matter of personal taste.

Adam Strange as John Crichton is an interesting choice, though...!

[darklorelei.insanejournal.com]

This is one of the few times being a comics noob has benefited me, as I'm free to enjoy something without needing to get a backstory. I definitely get how it would be a drag for someone more familiar, especially with someone as distinctive as Kirby (with whom I'm vaguely familiar, but I haven't read any Kamandi).

[kingrockwell]

I, uh, don't really recall Kirby ever having worked with Adam Strange.

[jlroberson.insanejournal.com]

I think I was talking about Kamandi in that part, if you read carefully.

[darklorelei.insanejournal.com]

Strange Adventures is definitely one of my favorites. I love the pulpiness.

[sailorlibra.insanejournal.com]

I don't really care for either of these stories, though I must admit that I find Tuftan incredibly, strangely attractive.

[psychop_rex.insanejournal.com]

We have a nascent furry in our midst! Sound the alarm!

[jlroberson.insanejournal.com]

Quick! Get the torches!

No wait, burning fur smells terrible.

[psychop_rex.insanejournal.com]

Get the torches and a goodly amount of air-fresheners!

[sailorlibra.insanejournal.com]

I knew someone was going to say that...

[greenmask.insanejournal.com]

Both of those look fantastic, actually.

[nymphgalatea.insanejournal.com]

These are my favourites out of the whole thing; they seem to *get* how this medium works in a way that most of the others don't.

Also, they're incredibly beautiful to look at.