(no subject)
Just some thoughts on the Other Boleyn Girl (more about Philippa Gregory and her dubious research than the actual story though) and Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, don't mind me.
... Except I really have to rec Arkham Asylum. Did I mention it's awesome? It's FUCKING AWESOME. McKean's art is fucking amazing as usual. I've never read Grant Morrison, but I think I might be a fan if his other works are as amazing.
A Serious House on Serious Earth belongs to the Batman universe; I'm not really a huge fan of DC or Marvel, save certain individual works, but I borrowed AA just to check out McKean's work. I ended up fangirling the whole book so damned bad, so yes. Read it read it! *_*
The freshest interpretation of the Joker I have right now is- no surprises- Heath Ledger's Joker. They said they were going back to the roots by making the Joker alternatively psychopathic and sane, by making him dangerous, rather than the one from the cartoon series. Well if ASHOSE was true to the original vision of the Joker, I think I might read a little more Batman from now on. This incarnation of Joker just gives me the chills, in a really good way. He's dangerous, he's someone you feel safe stuck in the pages of a book, and not out roaming the dark alleyways because it's such a real fervent possibility.
McKean is fantastic with layouts; I never noticed until recently, when I actually started taking panelling a little more seriously. A lot of artists say they consider this and that about panels, about pacing, but it just seems like empty talk. McKean definitely walks the talk. The opening page was brilliant, and the following pages were condensed from the script and then expounded upon again in a haunting vision that won't leave the viewer.
Although it was very well used, I can't help but feel that the Alice in Wonderland imagery has been over-used though. If it hadn't been for the fact that every other story uses Alice as a reference, I might have been really impressed with how well the story fits. But maybe that's the legacy of Dodgson, that his story has become inspiration for so much else, a metaphor for insanity, for creativity and drugs and what-have-you.
And then on to the other end of the spectrum. Actually The Other Boleyn Girl was a pretty enjoyable read, though at times the people felt so ugly I didn't know whether to continue or not. The pettiness, competitiveness, lies and deceit- they're very real alright, and it's a face of humanity no one really likes to see in themselves. But the good in there that's meant to counteract it- William Stafford's love for Mary, Mary's love for her children, the wholesome environment of Hever... All these seem so contrived somehow, especially if you go back and read it once again. I'm not convinced of the story.
But the real annoyance I have with the story is Gregory's insistence that Anne Boleyn was every bit as scheming and bitchy as she's portrayed her. Now creative license doesn't bother me as much as it used to; I didn't really think much about it until I watched the movie, and its making of, where she declared, bold as anything, that Anne Boleyn was the scheming seductress she was in the story.
What. Seriously. What the fuck.
That just goes against everything else modern history has printed her as. There are letters from the French queen, telling of her virtues and grace. Henry the Eighth loved her not just because she was beautiful but because she was intelligent and could discuss matters of the state with him. And what the hell happened to her beautiful speech at the execution grounds? Yes, she was going to her death, yes she would probably have been afraid, but from all reports she was dry-eyed and composed and her speech marked her as a great woman.
Use your creative license as you please, but don't malign the dead. Honestly.
... Except I really have to rec Arkham Asylum. Did I mention it's awesome? It's FUCKING AWESOME. McKean's art is fucking amazing as usual. I've never read Grant Morrison, but I think I might be a fan if his other works are as amazing.
A Serious House on Serious Earth belongs to the Batman universe; I'm not really a huge fan of DC or Marvel, save certain individual works, but I borrowed AA just to check out McKean's work. I ended up fangirling the whole book so damned bad, so yes. Read it read it! *_*
The freshest interpretation of the Joker I have right now is- no surprises- Heath Ledger's Joker. They said they were going back to the roots by making the Joker alternatively psychopathic and sane, by making him dangerous, rather than the one from the cartoon series. Well if ASHOSE was true to the original vision of the Joker, I think I might read a little more Batman from now on. This incarnation of Joker just gives me the chills, in a really good way. He's dangerous, he's someone you feel safe stuck in the pages of a book, and not out roaming the dark alleyways because it's such a real fervent possibility.
McKean is fantastic with layouts; I never noticed until recently, when I actually started taking panelling a little more seriously. A lot of artists say they consider this and that about panels, about pacing, but it just seems like empty talk. McKean definitely walks the talk. The opening page was brilliant, and the following pages were condensed from the script and then expounded upon again in a haunting vision that won't leave the viewer.
Although it was very well used, I can't help but feel that the Alice in Wonderland imagery has been over-used though. If it hadn't been for the fact that every other story uses Alice as a reference, I might have been really impressed with how well the story fits. But maybe that's the legacy of Dodgson, that his story has become inspiration for so much else, a metaphor for insanity, for creativity and drugs and what-have-you.
And then on to the other end of the spectrum. Actually The Other Boleyn Girl was a pretty enjoyable read, though at times the people felt so ugly I didn't know whether to continue or not. The pettiness, competitiveness, lies and deceit- they're very real alright, and it's a face of humanity no one really likes to see in themselves. But the good in there that's meant to counteract it- William Stafford's love for Mary, Mary's love for her children, the wholesome environment of Hever... All these seem so contrived somehow, especially if you go back and read it once again. I'm not convinced of the story.
But the real annoyance I have with the story is Gregory's insistence that Anne Boleyn was every bit as scheming and bitchy as she's portrayed her. Now creative license doesn't bother me as much as it used to; I didn't really think much about it until I watched the movie, and its making of, where she declared, bold as anything, that Anne Boleyn was the scheming seductress she was in the story.
What. Seriously. What the fuck.
That just goes against everything else modern history has printed her as. There are letters from the French queen, telling of her virtues and grace. Henry the Eighth loved her not just because she was beautiful but because she was intelligent and could discuss matters of the state with him. And what the hell happened to her beautiful speech at the execution grounds? Yes, she was going to her death, yes she would probably have been afraid, but from all reports she was dry-eyed and composed and her speech marked her as a great woman.
Use your creative license as you please, but don't malign the dead. Honestly.