tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28154988.post5234335430219544477..comments2024-03-26T01:59:52.206-04:00Comments on Just outside: Brian Olewnickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08567239067604835372noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28154988.post-34406550943454076142009-08-12T15:45:06.212-04:002009-08-12T15:45:06.212-04:00You're dead to me.You're dead to me.Brian Olewnickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08567239067604835372noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28154988.post-14217268931562700292009-08-12T15:39:20.600-04:002009-08-12T15:39:20.600-04:00It's like explaining why I find nothing of val...<i>It's like explaining why I find nothing of value in Springsteen!</i><br /><br />Oh, man, I was singing "Candy's Room" <i>yesterday!</i>Richard Harland Smithhttp://moviemorlocks.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28154988.post-38872220449165369852009-08-12T09:37:09.061-04:002009-08-12T09:37:09.061-04:00...amassing mucho anecdotal evidence on the linkag......amassing mucho anecdotal evidence on the linkage of comics to eai-appreciation...Brian Olewnickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08567239067604835372noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28154988.post-76571612915838585802009-08-12T09:34:10.106-04:002009-08-12T09:34:10.106-04:00That is interesting Richard, I too tried to break ...That is interesting Richard, I too tried to break into comics as an inker. When my daughters where in grammar school one of their classmates' parents where both big time comic artists - Tom Mandrake and Jan Duursema. We became good friends and then through them i got to know lots of comic royalty like the Kubert brothers and writer John Ostrander. So into the comic world i got that i had the idea to be an inker myself. I did lots of apprenticing for Tom on 'The Spectre' for DC and a few other artists and even got to ink a short 'Spectre' story for DC. And then the business went south and i never could get a steady gig.Barry Chabalanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28154988.post-80775729231273221482009-08-12T08:31:56.537-04:002009-08-12T08:31:56.537-04:00Coincidentally, today's NYT has a feature on a...Coincidentally, today's NYT has a feature on a DC comic with a real-life (more or less) Ugandan theme. <br /><br />I think, if I can encapsulate my issues with comics as such as storytelling vehicles, it has to do with the constrained visual field that comes with the territory and, within that (this may seem trivial) the lines around things. At a glance, I can grasp (I think, perhaps I'm wrong) everything there is to grasp in a given panel; there's no ambiguity, no multiple layers of possible meaning. In a (good) film, this isn't the case, much less in a novel where you're mentally recreating the goings on with huge amounts of shifting, reorientation, etc. It's too constrained, in a word (for me). Even those lines (which I take it are still a going thing) visually simplify things too much for me. <br /><br />I was looking at some samples of Chris Ware, Richard, and enjoyed them pretty well though I might think of them more as illustrated poetry than comics (a Corrigan doing field recordings came up!)<br /><br />I know people have strongly held opinions on the matter and don't want to get into arguments about it. It's like explaining why I find nothing of value in Springsteen!<br /><br />I'm still more interested in the temporal/nostalgia shift, generally, which in my case happens to involve comics...Brian Olewnickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08567239067604835372noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28154988.post-33339640131627345342009-08-12T04:35:25.428-04:002009-08-12T04:35:25.428-04:00I'd say that Ware is a good few levels on from...I'd say that Ware is a good few levels on from Frank Miller Brian. I never enjoyed Miller at any point, mainly because his subject matter didn't ever stray from the standard comic book fare, just the same stories a bit grittier.Richard Pinnellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00168522717135806763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28154988.post-10100496313408032142009-08-12T02:28:34.923-04:002009-08-12T02:28:34.923-04:00... in certain parts of Europe there are comics (o...<i> ... in certain parts of Europe there are comics (or bandes dessinee to be more precise) that are only for adults</i><br /><br />Guido Crepax!Richard Harland Smithhttp://moviemorlocks.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28154988.post-80054521657875934742009-08-12T01:24:45.696-04:002009-08-12T01:24:45.696-04:00Hey Brian (and Richard),
My free (and not so quiet...Hey Brian (and Richard),<br />My free (and not so quiet) pre-teen hours were spent, near Detroit, with the music of the Jackson 5, the Four Tops, Al Green and the Temptations - so I only came to comics as an adult - and then to the work Richard mentions, which I also wholeheartedly recommend (Chris Ware, Jimmy Corrigan). It's not Dostoevsky either - maybe George Perec.Michael Pisarohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09197502387259390708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28154988.post-76198762213790869002009-08-11T22:17:43.669-04:002009-08-11T22:17:43.669-04:00I haven't kept up with the genre, to be sure, ...I haven't kept up with the genre, to be sure, but in the 80s I read some Frank Miller graphic novels and the like (my brother Drew, who inherited my comic collection, had them) and, while relatively ok, I think they're way, way over-rated as "serious" lit. I like Sin City as much as the next guy (more maybe), but it's not Andrei Rublyev.<br /><br />Don't know the work you cite, though--I could well be wrong.Brian Olewnickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08567239067604835372noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28154988.post-30803957612225845142009-08-11T21:23:23.860-04:002009-08-11T21:23:23.860-04:00Well in certain parts of Europe there are comics (...Well in certain parts of Europe there are comics (or bandes dessinee to be more precise) that are only for adults and are written and considered on a level with other literature. If you think about it, combining the visual with the written word makes perfect sense, and its only our cultural connections to comics as items for children that make the idea of reading words and pictures at the same time an odd thing to consider.<br /><br />Have you ever read Chris Ware's work Brian? As well as tapping into the same degree of nostalgia that you mention above, his writing is very powerful. His Jimmy Corrigan book is one I would happily recommend.Richard Pinnellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00168522717135806763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28154988.post-81287262008530584322009-08-11T21:13:18.463-04:002009-08-11T21:13:18.463-04:00Hey Richard, thanks for that, interesting.
No, h...Hey Richard, thanks for that, interesting. <br /><br />No, haven't looked at a comic book in ages. It's another issue entirely, but while I give full credit to Marvel (Steranko, Adams, Barry Smith, etc.) to stimulating my interest in art/drawing and to an extent even in reading, I've never understood people's continued interest in them as adults. Just seems strange to me, as if I'd still think the Monkees produced music on par with AMM or Tom Swift stories were every bit as deep as Dostoeveski. But I'll get violent arguments about that, so...Brian Olewnickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08567239067604835372noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28154988.post-8486677141451633412009-08-11T20:58:10.258-04:002009-08-11T20:58:10.258-04:00Scary how similar some of our childhood recollecti...Scary how similar some of our childhood recollections are Brian. I grew up with comics as well, and link certain sounds back to the many quiet hours I would spend locked away with a pile of them. I tend to link television to them more though, mainly because I don't really ever watch TV these days, but back in my formative years my life would be scheduled around the box.<br /><br />When I left full time education I tried hard for a while to break into comics, with inking actually my speciality. I have recently written a somewhat peculiar piece for submission somewhere that tries to link my interest in negative space and clearly defined moments in music to my need to draw lines around things visually, either in my head, or in the case of comics,quite literally.<br /><br />By the way, have you seen a Marvel comic recently? the colouring is all computerised now... it looks terrible.Richard Pinnellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00168522717135806763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28154988.post-16469480783698809292009-08-11T12:59:05.379-04:002009-08-11T12:59:05.379-04:00Oh, man, I was singing "Love Is Blue" ye...Oh, man, I was singing "Love Is Blue" <i>yesterday</i>!<br /><br />Word verification: reareal.Richard Harland Smithhttp://moviemorlocks.comnoreply@blogger.com