The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 151: Poison Elves Sketchbook, March, 2003

I will admit to copping out a bit today. Just got back from vacation and I'm wiped out. But I found cool stuff.

Anyway. This comic raises and interesting issue: is the sketchbook comic actually a comic? Format-wise, yes it is. Also based on where it's sold, it's a comic. But the interior isn't the same kind of meshing of words and pictures which forms the basis of whatever theory of comics you subscribe to. So is this more properly and art book disguised to look like a comic? Interesting question.

That said, they do make a good quick read when the time is running out.

I'm not a fan of Drew Hayes' art, nor have I enjoyed Poison Elves so much. I do have to admit that both the comic and the art have a style that is uniquely their own. I can't think of a comic to compare Poison Elves to. But then part of me also thinks that maybe one series like this is enough.

Sketchbooks can be interesting, in seeing the progression of ideas in the visual language of the medium in much the same way we might read an early draft of a work of prose fiction. The trouble is that without the knowledge of the finished work, the significance of the sketchbook can be diminished. As was the case here for me.

That's it. I'll be back on track tomorrow. No idea what I'm going to read. See you then.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 132: Animal Mystic: Water Wars #2, December 1996

The fact that the writer/artist of this series decided to go by the name "Dark One" in the credits says a lot about what this comic is like. Sirius Entertainment's titles have always struck me as being a kind of higher production value version of Aircel comics, in that there's lots of violence, lots of angst for the sake of angst, and lots of boobs. I'll admit, as far as this issue of Animal Mystic goes, the inside artwork owes more to Eastman and Laird than it does to publisher-mate Joseph Michael Linsner, but the comic is seriously 20 pages of battle. Perhaps if I'd read the previous series and issue, it would make more sense to me, but I feel like issue #2 of a series shouldn't necessarily be one long epic battle. It doesn't tend to leave much for the following issues.

What it does get me thinking about are the particular aesthetics tied up in particular publishers. Sirius was always one whose aesthetic was very consistent. The same with something like Avater Press, or Oni (though Oni, admittedly, is slightly more diverse than Avatar). I suppose at one point, the decision has to be made that a publisher will produce only certain types of comic, thus aiming at a particular demographic. I'm not entirely sure this makes sense to me. Surely if a comic is good, one might publish it in order to diversify one's audience. But my business acumen is what resulted in my comic shop shutting down and my living with bankruptcy for 7 years. What I have to say about business decisions to do with the comics industry should definitely be taken with a grain of salt. Or an entire salt shaker.

What more can I say of Animal Mystic: Water Wars? I read it. It was a comic. See you tomorrow.