douqi

It hasn’t been that long since the last media roundup and I haven't read that much but I had lots of thoughts that I wanted to share, so have a post:

Hirayasumi, vol 3+4 by Keigo Shinzō— This continues to be very charming. I’m loving all the little details.The cityscapes here feel so warm and lived in! I'm not sure if it's a slice of life manga thing, a manga thing or just an artifact of my limited selection but I've been really enjoying the land/cityscapes in the slice of life manga I've been reading recently
Content note: fatphobia/diet culture

Silver Spoon, vol 14-15 by Hiromu Arakawa— I’m working on a rec list of slice of life manga and I was reminded that I’ve never read the last two volumes of this series. I'd always meant to reread the rest of the series but that felt like too much of a project. So I ended up just reading these last two volumes – it wasn’t that hard to pick up, there’s helpful story summary in the front of each volume.

This is a charming story about a city kid who goes to an ag high school to get away from everything. I love all the details and about farming, food equipment and rural life. I thought it wrapped up nicely!

Batman: Wayne Family Adventures, Vol. 1 by C.R.C. Payne, StarBite, et al— I’ve been meaning to read this for a long time, and it was mentioned in the comments of my superhero comics rec list, so I finally got around to it. I ended up getting it on paper because the endless scroll webtoon format isn’t great for my hands.

It’s like a cute slice of life comic about the batfam. It’s got a very fic vibe, things are chill and everyone more or less gets along. Which sounds like exactly what I want in a batfam comic but for this first volume at least, felt a little flat actually. I wanted a bit more conflict or angst or something. I’m generally pretty happy with low conflict personal stakes stuff, but I guess these versions of the character feel a little shallow. Each story is so short, like five pages, its just hard to get much depth in that length.

(I’ll probably read some more of this because it is cute and free online. Maybe if I space out the episodes more it will not only not bother my hands as much but feel less bland.

X-men: The Animated Series season 1— Since I'm more open to Superhero media these days, R suggested we watch this animated series from the 90’s. It’s fun! I like that it's got a big team, though it does mean most characters don’t get much screentime. I also like that they are pretty much just fighting for mutant civil rights. There’s a lot less for me to suspend my moral disbelief about here than in most superhero stories I’ve encountered recently.

Another Media Roundup, less than a week after the last one? More likely than you think! As the title of this post says I have a bunch of short and quick reads to talk about.

The Faraway Forest: Wally’s Route by Debbie Fong—This is an early reader graphic novel about a raccoon mail carrier. It's very sweet and has fun colorful art. It's not very long so there's not much else to say about it.

Batman/Superman: World's Finest issues 1-12 by Mark Waid, Dan Mora, et al. —I was trying to explain to R the other day that comics have their own brand of weirdness, but I couldn't articulate what set it apart just vibes. Anyways this has the comic weirdness vibes. There's parallel worlds, time travel, ancient Chinese villains (and heroes), rooms full doorways, ect. I generally like this kind of weirdness though, so this was fun to read.

It's set “some years ago” when Dick is still Robin. (I briefly tried to figure out how it fits into continuity, then I remembered that continuity does make any sense) I like the way Dick is written here. He's a little goofy and a little snarky – it feels right for him at that age. Kara/Supergirl is also here and a lot of fun!

Supergirl: Being Super by Mariko Tamaki, and Joëlle Jones—I liked This Place Kills Me a lot and wanted to check out the author's other works. I read a few things she wrote a while back but she's written a lot more since then! This was pretty good. I guess teen girls are Tamaki’s thing because teen girls and their friendship was also central to this book.

Content Notes are Spoilers

death of a teen as a major plot point

A True Wonder: The Comic Book Hero Who Changed Everything by Kirsten W. Larson and Katy Wu—This non-fiction comic about the history of Wonder Woman is the size and shape of a picture book and aimed at young readers. As such it's not very detailed or nuanced but it is quite charming. I do find the straightforward “progress” narrative a little bit frustrating though.

How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way by Stan Lee and John Buscema—This book from 1978 was referenced in some of the non-fiction about comics I read, and I was curious. It turned out to be a quick read with lots of pictures written in a very breezy style. One of the things I’ve been unsure about in discussion about comics history is references to “superhero comic style” – I had only a vague idea what that meant. This book has given me a much clearer idea. Also wow the sexism built into that style leaps off the page here! Men are angular and muscular, while women are soft and curvy. Still helpful for my quest to better understand comics history.

Perspective! for Comic Book Artists: How to Achieve a Professional Look in your Artwork by David ChelseaI— More non-fiction about comics. How to books aren’t always the best for learning how to be a more nuanced reader unfortunately. This is very technical, and what I really wanted was some discussion out how perspective can be used in comics and how that’s different from other visual arts. Oh well, I shouldn’t really complain that this book was exactly what it said it would be.