The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1847: Ranma 1/2 part 5 #5, 1996

I had meant to mention something about the comic yesterday, but it shares this particular aspect with today's comic, so I'll address it today. The English translation of this issue was done by comics writer Gerard Jones. He's well-known for a run on Green Lantern in the 80s, and wrote a few books, not all of which were well-reviewed, on the history of comics.

He also, a few years back, was busted on child pornography charges.

I have this dilemma that I wrestle with on a frequent basis. Mostly it's with regard to H.P. Lovecraft, whose writing and creations I absolutely adore, but whose virulent racism is tough to take. (If you're not convinced, consider that so many of his stories are about white families who mix with non-white families and start to devolve.) I've come to the idea that with Lovecraft, recognizing that racism actually makes the stories even more horrific - he's achieving an effect in a way that I'm not sure he'd be completely okay with.

I don't know if I can do the same thing with Jones' work. This is definitely a series that is dealing with younger people and is playing with questions of gender, even if not in quite so deep a way as it might. But the underlying attitude that one inevitably will layer on Jones, that of sexual gratification with underage children, doesn't really add to the humorous intent of something like Ranma 1/2. Where we can take Lovecraft's attitude and actually use it to increase the intentional atmosphere of the stories, here the inflection of the intentional atmosphere (one of comedy) is detrimental, rather than in some ways helpful, to our enjoyment of the story.

That said, I have no fucking clue what was going on here. Way too deep into the story, way too little back story. Ranma turns into a girl, and then back into a boy, and then back into a girl, as people around them are consuming pills that make you fall in love with the first person of the opposite gender you see (systemic homophobia rears its ugly head!)

Back to Mr. Sable tomorrow. More to follow.