Bad Art Extravaganza

Sorry for the week with no posts, things got really crazy with the shop, taxes, and my birthday so I didn't have the time to write anything out. Hopefully posts will not be so spread out in the future!

Disclaimer!!! Since I'm going to be talking about sexism and the objectification of women I am going to be using words like tits/boobs and there are gonna be images that Greg Land photo referenced that are of a sexual nature. No nudity, but pretty damn close.

I feel bad about this, but I really feel obligated to say something about this because it really is atrocious. And as much as I respect someone for putting themselves out there and making their living off their art, I can't respect something that is as blatantly sexist as Greg Land's art.

I'm not an artist, I have no technical skill and don't really know anything other than I know what I like and don't like. But I know I don't like Greg Land's art.

This is a fairly typical cover for Greg Land, and to me at least its obviously photo referenced off some model pose. And since I've clearly stated that I'm not an artist and I don't know anything about art I'll try not to throw out my opinion on photo referencing and how lame it is. What I'd rather talk about is what the picture says to me. First off the pose is fucking ridiculous and absurd. Every cover he does, is ass out, tits out. And I don't see or understand the point. I see no way in which "slutting" up a character adds to the storyline. Objectifying women in this manner is merely a marketing tactic to catch guy's eyes. How about covers that are actually good and interesting to catch our eyes instead of a rehash of some Maxim cover?

Different cover, different character, different universe even, and still it looks the same. Same ass out, tits out thing. Sue even has the same facial expression as Madelyne Pryor does in the cover above. Same sexy finger biting lust ridden angst face. I'm not stupid, I understand that comics are overwhelmingly read by men and with that in mind sex always sells. But it doesn't have to? What if we as readers, we as men, said stop this god damn bullshit. How does someone, who's art looks this bad, looks this boring and flat, and looks this sexist get to do interiors on Uncanny X-Men? The biggest X book there is and there he is. 

Everyone looks the same. It's just static poses layered on top of each other. Same pose, same hair! How do we as readers let him get away with this? Blog about it, bitch about it, podcast about it. Tell people you don't wanna read Uncanny X-men if it's still going to have Greg Land interiors. Or for that matter read any book with his name on it. Everyone thinks of comics as being a "for dudes" kind of thing and it doesn't have to be, it shouldn't. But it's pretty damn hard to convince my girlfriend to read X-Men when all the female characters have a waist smaller than their biceps. 

Here is one the most well known and perfect examples of shitty photo referencing, and also terribly sexist cover work.

Here Land rehashes his same stuff with his Jean Grey looking exactly like his Sue Storm (or Black Canary? It is hard to tell when every lady looks exactly the same).

One of the things about comics, and Marvel super hero comics at that, that I have always loved is that it feels progressive. It is an entertainment medium that has always seemed a step above the rest. Black Panther, The Falcon, and Luke Cage were all characters ahead of their time. The same is also true of Northstar and new characters like Wiccan and Hulking. There has always been so much potential to do great storytelling thats inclusive. That isn't based on cheap caricatures or stereotypes. But it's hard to tell that kind of story when every woman, is sexualized and objectified. I understand that it's rooted firmly in the industry but I hope by writing about this today that its made at least one person think the role sexism plays within the medium and the industry. And at the very least maybe it'll make some other geeky folks bitch about Greg Land's art and they'll stop buying books with his art.

Cheers.

It always feels like there are ten thousand things that all need to get done at once.

Monday was a shit storm. A bunch of crazy shit came up and I ended up having to close suddenly in the middle of the day to pick up a shelf I was told I'd have a weeks worth of notice to get. I was given about 5 hours notice instead. It was a bunch of stressful garbage that included driving an hour plus to get to Lynnwood, trying to find a licensed electrician on super short notice and then also some how finding some way to get this big ass shelf back down to Bonney Lake to get it into the store. I could easy regale you with the full details but I'm sure it'd be pretty damn boring. If you're really interested in hearing about it, or seeing the shelf that took so much effort just swing by the shop.

What bugged me the most about the whole thing though, was having to suddenly close. I hate it. I don't like having to close on short notice. It sucks. I feel like I'm always disappointing someone. It's one of those things that constantly pokes me in the back of the brain. It's one of the things I've found the most difficult about owning/running the shop on pretty much my own. Everything, is always on me. And it's a lot of pressure to try and take care of everything while still worrying about how my own actions and behavior is gonna reflect my business. If I show up Wednesday morning with a box of books I need to sort and put onto shelves/into boxes, and I got online bills for engery/phone/internet/whatever else to pay and I got messy high school kids trying to ask me questions about trivial bullshit and then I also got new customers off the street trying to ask where certain books are. It makes my face wanna explode. And someone is gonna get ignored. And I hate having to do that. I hate the idea of losing business to a customer cause I need to put new books out, or because I'm being swarmed by needy children who want to ask me if I think Hulk could beat Batman in a fight, or if I have any of (insert random magic card name) to trade to them for their (insert random magic card name). I need to big Dr. Manhattan and just make copies of myself so I can get some damn work done! Or Jamie Madrox for that matter.

I'm gonna take out all my stress out on my next post. I've never written a big old mean post critiquing some one. But I think it needs to happen. Get ready! Greg Land your hideous photo referenced sexiest garbage you call art is being called out!

Highlights

My mood changes with the hours of the day. I say this because my mood is mostly dependent on how the shop is doing and my hope that I'm not gonna go out of business. And every morning is slow, its not a bad thing its just a the way it goes. I've found that an outrageous amount of my business takes place from 3 to 7. It makes sense, kids after school, working folks after work. It's not hard to fathom by any means, yet every morning I get bored and stressed when I open up at 11 an don't see a single customer till after 1. Its a consistent daily trend. And as the day passes and customers start to come in right like clockwork at 3 and 5 I feel better and the stress disappears. But there are other highlights that make my whole day worth it.

Two times this week, during the morning/early afternoon this family has come in. The mom doesn't speak English very well so she always seems kind of confused when I ask her if they need any help finding anything but her kids get it and they need no help. Cause they go to town on the shelves. It's a simple kind of unadulterated joy thats impressive. They don't care about big creative teams on the books or whether or not an issue is in the middle of a story arc. They just wanna read comics. And it's super cool, and it really takes me back to when I was young. When I didn't know what the hell I was picking out at the shop and I just picked whatever had the raddest cover. Back to when everything was new and vibrant and I was just starting to get to know all these crazy fantastical characters. They fight with themselves over what book they want and I ring them up and their mom beckons its time to go. And one of the kids asks if they can stay just a second longer because they wanna get in as much as possible before they leave and all the slow mornings I've ever had are worth it.

I wish I was ten again.

The comic book love of my life.

Scalped, Scalped, Scalped, Scalped, Scalped.

I'm going to try my best to explain exactly why I think Scalped is so damn good, so damn important, why it's the book I look forward to reading the most each month, and why you should be reading it above all others.

For those of you that personally know me, whether you be friends, customers who have become friends or just customers, you've probably heard me babble on and on and on about Scalped. I'm going to try extra hard to be coherent today though and be concise with my praise. If you still haven't read this towering beast of emotion devastation, get on it! Post haste!

In my ranting and raving of praise I will remain spoiler free, because it seems kind of dumb to reveal a bunch of stuff when I'm trying to convince you to read this.

First and foremost I guess I should give a basic overview of what Scalped is for those who haven't even heard of it. Scalped is a monthly ongoing comic book written by Jason Aaron and primarily drawn by R.M. Guera. I say primarily because through the course of the series several other artists have occasionally filled in for one shots or short two issue arcs. Scalped is a crime/western set on the fictional Prairie Rose Indian Reservation in South Dakota. The book revolves around the organized crime outfit that operates on the rez, the legacy of crime that affects the whole of the community, and lastly with the culture, history, and living condition of the Oglala Lakota who call the reservation home. 

For me to talk about Scalped, I need to talk about Peter Parker first. Now, you might not see a correlation between your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man and the gritty shit storm of depravity that is Scalped, but I promise you there is. Peter Parker is me. Peter Parker is you. He's the everyman, and that is one of the timeless things about him that makes him such a great character. Peter gets nervous trying to be serious with people, he overcompensates, he fucks up, he struggles with the same kind of shit we all do. He tries his best and still disappoints people, but keeps trying. We as readers can relate to that, which makes Peter seems so much more real than he really is.

Scalped is the same but slightly different. All these fucked up characters from Scalped resonate with us just as well, but in different ways. And I may just be more angry and fucked up than others but Scalped strikes such a cord with me. When I'm reading about these terribly damaged people who are certainly not good people but at the same time not wholly bad, I just can't help but empathize with them.

That page, three characters, six panels, two per character, and no dialogue. That page says more than most books do in 26 pages. That page says more than a lot of novels have to say. That page tells me so much about all three of these characters and it's an incredible testament to the skill and talent R.M. Guera packs into each issue of Scalped. It is also an incredible testament to the reality of these characters that Jason Aaron has so deftly created. That page is a punch to the face. That's three fucked up people who can't do anything but give into themselves. 

It's the same reason I love noir. Noir seems to have many different definitions and connotations amongst fans and critics, but to me noir is always about the inevitable. The inevitability that you'll fuck up, fall habit to old vices or just make plain old bad decisions because your too damn proud and too damn stubborn to do otherwise. Noir is the inevitable badness thats a result of your wantonness. 

And that's Scalped. Terrible inevitability rushing towards all these fucked up characters you just can't seem to hate despite what bastards they are. Everybody's locked down unto their tracks, unable to do anything but stick to their set paths, and stick to their guns. Its this downward spiral, slowly getting sucked down and you just can't help but watch as they circle the drain. And you wouldn't have it any other way.

Just look at some of the titles of the story arcs Jason Aaron has written.

The Gravel in your Guts.

The Gnawing.

How fucking cool is that? The Gnawing? That's quintessential Scalped right there. Anxious nibbling picking away at you.

I love this book, I'm pretty sure that's awfully redundant at this point as I've made it blatantly obvious. I just hope I peaked your interest somewhat though. Go read Scalped. Please?

Tally Ho,

Austin

Maiden Voyage

This is my first post.
This is kind of my first blog. I have another blog but its just for a story I'm writing. It its all prose-y and fiction-y.
This won't be.

I don't want this blog to be a pity party or a big old whinny bitch fest of how hard my life is and how hard it is to be a small business owner and blah blah blah. But I do have some whining to to before we get under hand just so you have all the facts. So bear with me and gird your resolve for some 13 year old sounding prattle.

My name is Austin Mansell and I own Comics Cube. Comics Cube is a relatively new comic shop in Bonney Lake, Washington. I opened up October 1st 2010. Just over six months ago now. It has engulfed my life, my time and my psyche. Being a small business owner with zero experience or knowledge of business and doing pretty much everything on your own is pretty consuming. It's also pretty expensive.

This blog will hopefully do a couple of things:

1. Entertain You.
I wanna share the thing I love the most in the world with people. Comics. Its the whole reason why I opened the shop. Comics are amazing. I love them. I have since I was a tiny little person. I'm also a pretty opinionated angry bastard so I have plenty to say on the topic with that in mind it leads me to point number two!

2. Venting
I got shit to say. Shit about the industry. Shit about the creators, both good and bad shit mind you. Shit about what I think people should be reading and what I think people should avoid. Also venting about owning the shop and spending my time here and all that jazz. Hopefully it won't be too annoying and will more often be mildly hilarious and ridiculous.

3. Advertise/Marketing Nonsense
Maybe this blog will bring some more people in or keep people around or something. Not a huge focus to me but whatever helps the shop is dandy by me.

That's pretty much it so far. I'm also gonna talk about my experience from going from fan to retailer and how thats changed my perspective and what not but hopefully this will be fun for you and fun for me and maybe get  you to read some stuff you haven't yet. That's pretty much it to start with. I'll end on the best note I could ever think of, which is to start right off the bat with the best recommendation I can think of.

Scalped.
It is the best book being written and it has been the best book being written since it started. No ongoing title consistently impresses me to the level Scalped does each month. It's almost unbelievable to me how god damn good this book is and how its only continuing to get better and better. Here's the cover to the first issue. Go find it somewhere.
http://www.dccomics.com/vertigo/graphic_novels/?gn=7722 has a link where you can read the first issue. Do it. Get ready to get sucked in. If you dig it, get the first trade. Buy it from me or buy it somewhere else, I don't really care as long as you read it. Because it's a book that deserves your attention. Next entry is gonna be more of an in depth look at Scalped. But mostly it's gonna be a big old love fest for Scalped and exactly why I think it's so damn good.

Cheers,

Austin