Radiant Comics

I hadn’t been to my local library in a long time. I found my old library card and it had a date on the back: 1991. I don’t think I even used that library card so it was before that was the last time I was there. My local library is even in a different building these days. But after seeing people on YouTube mention that they borrowed graphic novels and collected editions of comics from their local libraries I decided to check some out of mine. Why not? There was plenty of comics I’d like to read, or at least look at closely, that I don’t want to buy.

I took a drive over to my local library and asked for a new library card. I even brought the old one to show them. That actually made things a little bit easier. I filled out a card with my name, phone number, e-mail, and address and gave it to them.

As an aside about how I can get distracted by grammar there was a place on the card for “Parent’s Name.” It was for kids to fill out so I didn’t have to but the apostrophe “S” distracted me. Was it right? It didn’t look right. Should it be the plural possessive “S” apostrophe? “Parents’ Name.” No, it can’t be that. That’s wrong too. That would be “Parents’ Names.” They only want one name. It wasn’t until the ride home that I realized that it should be “A parent’s name.” That’s how it’s usually said. Since it was a short form they left off the A. But that’s the only way the grammar makes sense.

After getting my new card I asked where the graphic novel section was and they brought me over to it. It was pretty darn small. Only about thirty book. I was told there were more in the children’s section downstairs but I still haven’t checked that section out yet. Instead I picked a book called “Boxer” by Gene Leun Yang. It was a good choice.

“Boxer” is the story of the Boxer Rebellion in China back around the year 1900. The Chinese peasants were rebelling against the foreigners (especially the English) who were running their country mostly through Chinese rulers who had to bow down to the foreigners. It takes place in the years leading up to the rebellion and tells the story of one of the leaders of the rebellion who starts as a small boy and slowly is shaped by the circumstances he lives in.

I liked the book a lot. I’m a fan of history so it was right up my alley. The art was clear and concise and the storytelling excellent. Most of the story doesn’t have to do with war but has to do with the lead character growing up. His life is punctuated by injustices mostly to do with the foreigners ruling the land. But he also has mentors, friendships, and romantic interests. Religion is also depicted as influencing our lead character and it’s depicted as literal. He talks to the long dead first Emperor of China to get advice and when he and his men go into battle they are drawn as if the gods are literally inhabiting their bodies. It let’s us know how real their religion is to them.

There is a companion book to this one called “Saints” that tells the story from the POV of the English. It was on the shelf too but somehow it didn’t occur to me to take that one out as well. I’m going to have to go back for it because this one was good. “Boxers” has about twice the page count as “Saints” though. I wonder why.

Despite my local library having a very small graphic novel section they do have a website. On that website I can order books from other libraries in the network and they send them to my local library. I jumped on the site when I got home to see what I can find. They have a search engine but sometimes it finds too much. That and I had no idea what I was looking for. In the end I decided I wanted to order the new collected edition of “Clyde Fans.”

I’ve been reading “Clyde Fans” by Seth since it first started to be serialized in Seth’s comic “Palookaville” back in 1997. It took over twenty years to finish the 475 page story and over the years I’ve read the entire thing but I’ve never read it all together. Eventually I’m going to buy this book but since I have all the parts of it in “Palookavile” I decided I was in no hurry to buy it and would instead take it out of the library. And so I did.

“Clyde Fans” is one of my favorite comics of all time. Five stars brilliant. I love the art and storytelling. Seth has a simple but lush style of drawing that I find very appealing. He uses few lines to define people and places but he always chooses the right lines. Often his characters are just talking to the reader as they go about everyday tasks and the clarity of them doing those tasks is amazing. His cityscape environments are equally as beautiful. He draws buildings and sidewalks in loving detail with simple lines. Great stuff.

The story of “Clyde Fans” is the story of two brothers looking back at their lives working at the family fan business and wondering what it all means. It starts in 1997 and flashes back to the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. A funny thing is that having read it over a twenty years in parts that came out years apart I didn’t remember that the 1997 stuff was mostly one brother and the flashback stuff was mostly the other brother. In my memory it was all about the one brother with the other being mentioned a lot. It was a different book than in my memory. It is a great book both currently and in my memory.

The second book I had them order for me is “The Daniel Clowes Reader.” I didn’t even know this one existed but it came out in 2012. It collects a bunch of Clowes’s work, including “Ghost World,” and a bunch of essays about his work. Its’ pretty cool. I’m only about halfway through it right now but I like it.

It’s funny but this book made me pull out my hardcover copy of “Ghost World” off my shelf. My copy is larger than this book so when I came to the point in the “Reader” where “Ghost World” was to be read I pulled up my copy because I like the big size better.

“Ghost World” is only about 80 pages but it’s also a five star brilliant comic. It’s the story of a couple of teenage girls who have recently graduated high school. They’re living their lives, trying to figure themselves out, trying to find their futures, and maybe drifting apart.

Clowes’s art is precise and pretty. He works hard to get the exact line and shape that he wants. He draws ugly especially well but he also gets pretty. His storytelling is straightforward and clear in a nine panel grid kind of way. I’ve always liked how his drawings can stare out at the audience as much as we stare at them. It’s a trait my art has in common with his.

After I finish reading “The Daniel Clowes Reader” I’m going to have to find more stuff in the search engine to read. Plus I have to check out the comics in the kid’s section. I bet they’ve got the superhero stuff down there.

What comics have I been reading lately? Well, I recently made a list of all the comics I have on my pull list. Lets’s go over the list shall we?

The Savage Dragon – I’ve been buying this one regularly since about issue #70 and now it’s approaching #250 in a few months. It’s written and drawn by Erik Larsen and it takes place in real time so a lot of the characters have grown old. It’s good superhero stuff. Larsen keeps it interesting.

Criminal – Sean Phillips and Ed Brubaker return to their stories about criminals and their world. I buy everything these two team up to make and this is another good one. It’s got done-in-ones and multi-part stories. If you want to read about bad people check it out.

Reaver – One of a few fantasy comics that have made it onto my pull list in recent months. This one is like the movie “The Dirty Dozen” crossed with Dungeon and Dragons. We get a crew of criminals in this fantasy world who are offered a chance at redemption if they go on a mission in the middle of a war. Will they succeed or will they fail? Time will tell.

Monstress – I’ve been buying this fantasy comic for a few years now. I think its up over issue 20 and it’s full of lush art and a story of war, politics, and betrayal. Plus there are a lot of people who are part animal. Fox people, cat people, and all other sorts of people. Oh, and there are giant monsters too.

Usagi Yojimbo – I’ve been buying this comic regularly since 1986 and it just got a relaunch by IDW and it’s now in color. Usuagi has been a black and white comic for decades but no more. Usuagi in an anthropomorphic rabbit in ancient Japan. All the characters are animals but besides that it’s a straight forward adventure comic about a ronin. A masterless samurai. Usage wanders Japan and helps people out.

The Beauty – This one has been going on for a while. I think it’s also up over issue twenty. It’s a crime comic, it’s a police comic, it’s a slice of life comic, and it’s a little bit of a medical comic. “The Beauty” is an STD that makes people beautiful. It changes society and things get funky.

Cerebus in Hell – A series of four panel comic strips about, what else, Cerebus in Hell. I generally find it clever and amusing if not exciting. It’s annoying that each issue is a new number one but that’s the only way he can sell it these days.

The Goon – This is the first time I’m buying the Goon from issue to issue. I missed out on it years ago and bought collected editions. I’m enjoying it. It’s the story of a good hearted tough guy in a sort of 1930’s type world trying to do right by his town. He fights mobsters, monsters , and supernatural creatures. All wonderfully drawn.

East of West – This one has been around for a while. I just read issue number 43. I think it’s starting to wind down. Most of these Image comics series have a definite end to them and a lot of them seem to end around issue 48. A big shooting war has finally started in this book and I think it’s the war to end the series. At least the whole story has been building to this.

Birthright – This fantasy comic hit issue 40 and is still going strong. Maybe it’ll end soon and maybe it won’t. I have no idea. I’ve been enjoying the magical war between earth and Terranos but things just changed for the worst for Earth. Fun stuff.

Resonant – A horror comic that I believe is supposed to be a five issue mini-series. The problem is that I just read issue four and I have no idea how they’re going to wrap this up in one issue. They can keep going for more issues as far as I’m concerned.

Sera and the Royal Stars – Another fantasy comic and another five issue series that’s about to wrap up. A young woman on a magical quest to save her kingdom. Nothing revolutionary but I’ve been enjoying it.

Kaijumax – This comic about giant monsters in a prison is back for it’s fifth mini-series. Each series has six issues in it so that’s a solid number. I find it one of the most human and relatable comics despite the fact that it’s about giant monsters.

Snotgirl – The comic that I never would have believed I’d like. What is Snotgirl about? I’m not even sure. She’s a fashion blogger living in Los Angeles and things happen to her. I like the art, I like the writing, and I like comic in general but I’m not even sure what the plot is. It’s weird.

The Necromancer’s Map – Here comes another fantasy comic. How have I managed to find so many good ones? This is the second mini-series about a young woman who can magically raise the dead in this magical world. She’s on a quest for something that I can’t quite remember. I misses the first series but that hasn’t mattered one bit. I still like this one.

Five Years – Terry Moore continues the story from the last “Strangers In paradise” series and our huge cast of characters has five years to stop the world from ending. It’s high adventure in the Terryverse.

Outcast – Only a few issues left before this series ands with number 48. The story has sped up here at the but it’s as fun as ever. Things are either going to get very bad or maybe out good guys can win.

Uber: Invasion – I think this one is still going on. It’s on a break and I haven’t seen an issue in a few months. Hopefully it’ll be back soon. And it’s about superheroes being invented during World War Two.

Trees: Three Trees – Here comes a mini-series to wrap up the story from “Trees.” So far it doesn’t seem to have a lot in common with the first series but we’ll see. I’m with it until it finishes.

Ragnarok: The Breaking of Helheim – The second Ragnarok series from Walt Simonson continues the story of Thor after Ragnarok has happened and all the other gods are dead. I enjoyed the first series and I’m liking this one too. Some great art.

Love and Rockets: Volume 4 – They’re back to publishing Love and Rockets in it’s original magazine form. An issue comes out once in a blue moon and I’ll buy it.

Grendel Prime – Matt Wagner is back with another Grendel mini-series except this time is the future version of Grendel called Grendel Prime. I’m down for six issues.

So there you go. What comics are you reading?

Since I like to chronicle the everyday things in life I thought I’d write a little something about paper. Once again tonight I found myself preparing a sheet of paper. It’s something I’ve done a thousand times and barely ever think about so I thought I’d take some time and think about it. I like to examine the unexamined.

The paper I was preparing is Bristol board. I’m not sure why it has that name but I’ve always figured it has something to do with the town in England by that same name. It could be Bristol Connecticut but I’m guessing England since it was there first. It’s a heavy weight drawing paper that takes ink well and therefor has been the paper of choice for cartoonists and comic book artists for decades. Working in the world of comic books was how I was first introduced to Bristol board.

You can find Bristol board in most arts and crafts stores like AC Moore or Michaels. They’ve got the basic stuff and it’s priced pretty high so always bring a 40% off coupon when you shop at those stores. The basic stuff is the Strathmore 300 Bristol board. Strathmore also sells 400 and 500 series Bristol. The quality of the paper (which has to do with how smooth it is and how much damage the paper fibers can take) goes up as the number gets higher but I’m usually okay with the 300 series. I oder my paper from Dick Blick and sometimes I buy their house brand of Bristol. It compares well to the 300 series.

I buy pads of the paper in two sizes: 9×12 inches and 14×17 inches. I use the 9×12 inch paper as is and I also cut it in half to work on some smaller 6×9 inch drawings. I always cut the 9×12 inch paper in half with an X-Acto knife and a straight edge. Don’t go cutting paper with scissors because you won’t get a perfectly straight edge that way.

The 14×17 inch paper I cut down to 11×17 inches. This is a standard size paper for drawing comic books on and is a more standard size for getting things printed in general so I stick with that. 11×17 inches is also called “Tabloid Size” when working on a home inkjet printer.

About ten years ago I got myself a paper cutter. Not one of those big guillotine armed ones we all remember from grade school but a rotary paper cutter. That type has a circular blade mounted on a bar that gets drawn across a piece of paper. Mine is made by Dahle and is the 18 inch model. I’ve had mine for so long that I’ve had to replace the blade on it. Oddly when I got the new blade it didn’t work very well. The old blade had gotten dull and wasn’t cutting through the paper as smoothly as it once did. The new blade wasn’t dull but it seemed rough. It was hard to pull along the paper. After a month or two it smoothed out. I guess it had to be broken in a bit.

I always cut the paper the same way. First I cut three inches off the side. That’s the obvious part. But I use the leftover strip of paper too. Years ago I started doing art cards. Those are baseball card size pieces of art. A baseball card is 2.5×3.5 inches. So the first thing I do with the leftover strip of paper is to cut it down from 3 inches to 2.5 inches. Then I cut four 2.5×3.5 inch cards with a 2.5×3 inch piece leftover. The art card size ones get put in a pile and the shorter single piece gets used as scratch paper. Only that half and inch piece of left over paper gets thrown away.

In the 1990s before art cards were a thing I used to throw away the whole 3×17 inch strip. I was always looking for a use for the paper but never could find one. At the time I had plenty of scrap Bristol (5.5×11 inches if memory serves) that I got from my days working in the Marvel Bullpen. Marvel bought 11×17 inch Bristol from Strathmore and the 5.5×11 inch pieces were leftover form whatever large sheet Strathmore cut Marvel’s paper out of. Strathmore sent the scrap pieces over to Marvel whenever they got a paper order and we were free to take the scraps. Those scraps served me very well for years but they also meant I had no use for my own scraps.

I did make a few drawings on the 3×17 inch paper over the years. Mostly I used the paper on a whim. I’d do some practice stuff on them plus some thumbnails drawings. The problem was they were too unwieldy and hard to store anywhere. They’s always get in the way and be more trouble than they were worth. I’m really glad I discovered art cards somewhere around 2006 and finally had a use for those scrap strips. I’ve done over 2000 art cards since then.

Two other size pads of Bristol that I buy, but less frequently, are 11×14 inches and 16×20 inches. I was buying a lot of 11×14 inch pads from around 2008-2014. I don’t even remember why. I think it was because I’ve my self-bound comic book sketch covers I was doing but I think I was working on other things that size too. I have no idea what at this moment. It’s weird but I can distinctly remember thinking the 11×14 inch pad was better for what I was doing than the 11×17 inch one but I have no idea why. Memory is tricky.

I haven’t bought a 16×20 inch pad in a decade. I still have one in with my paper but I don’t use that size anymore. It used to be the paper I occasionally used when I wanted to make a big drawing but not anymore. I have always bought sheets of expensive ($12 a sheet) 22×30 inch watercolor paper and if I had a big drawing to do I ended up preferring that. If an idea was big enough to need big paper I may as well use the good stuff.

Then I discovered some cheap but big watercolor paper. That’s what I’ve been using to draw my big ink drawing on over the last five years. At two to three dollars a sheet I can go up to a 22×30 inch size anytime I want.

The other way I draw on paper is in sketch books. I’ve got a lot of different types of sketch books. But that’s a whole other blog.

Recently I’ve been commuting into NYC a couple of days a week for work. Of course the commute sucks. Who likes to spend two hours door to door to get to work? No one. And that’s when the trains line up with my schedule. When they don’t I sometimes have to wait a long time for the next train. But that has given me a lot of time to shoot street photos while I’m in the city. I like to try and keep busy and be creative even when commuting.

Most of the time I’m taking pictures along Seventh Avenue as I walk between Penn Station and 14th Street. Sometimes I move over to Sixth Avenue to mix things up. I walk along slowly, see who catches my eye, and take their photo. It takes practice, discipline, and instinct. I use a super zoom lens because I don’t want to bother anyone plus I like to shoot candids. I like to record the moments in life that don’t get noticed or recorded. Fleeting instants that are here one minute and gone in the next.

I tend to take pictures mostly of women because that’s who I’m wired to notice but it’s not always the case. Plus we are all hard wired to like beauty and as a species we tend to find woman more beautiful than men in general. At a guess I would say that about two thirds of my photos are of women and one third of men. At least of the ones that contain only one or the other. I have a series of photos of couples but those are from when I shoot in Bryant Park and not on my walks. Couples tend to congregate more in parks than on the street. So if I see a couple sitting in the park together I may take their photo from afar.

Another series of photos I have is of groups of people on the street. It’s one of my favorite subjects. I’m on one side of the street waiting for the light to turn and I take photos of the people waiting on the other side. They’re standing around in different positions, in different outfits, and all are different shapes and sizes. It’s a natural. Sometimes I can even get a good photo as all those people walk across the street. It’s a little harder to capture but can be done with the right luck and timing. The variety of walking poses is even more diverse than the standing ones. Groups of people walking can make for a good photo the same way people walking in slow motion makes for a good scene in a movie. We can read so much into it.

One of the things that always catches my eye when taking street photos is shiny pants. I imagine the pants are made of some kind of plastic leather but maybe it’s actual leather. I’m not sure. It’s always women I see in these pants. Though I wouldn’t say these pants are common. I mention them because I just posted a photo on Instagram of a woman in shiny pants. They were cool pants.

I’m amazed at how common yoga pants are these days. They’re everywhere. Ten or twelve years ago when I started taking street photos I hardly ever saw yoga pants. I don’t remember seeing them at all. But now on any given walk down Seventh Avenue at 8:30 in the morning I can see 25 women in Yoga pants in a half an hour. Mind you there are lot of people on the streets of Manhattan but that’s still a lot of yoga pants. No men ever wear them. Skinny jeans are the tightest thing I’ve seen on men and even those are rare. Yoga pants might look good but they don’t photograph particularly well. They’re almost always dark and you have to pop the shadows in Photoshop. They may be eye-catching in person but that doesn’t always translate into a good photo.

I’ve spent years shooting in and around Bryant Park and the Midtown Public Library but my time spent waiting for a train has brought me to a new place to take photos. Greeley Square Park (which is a triangle). Of course I’ve been there before but I’ve mostly passed through it and have never spent a lot of time there. In recent years NYC has closed some blocks of Broadway to traffic and made them into parks. Broadway runs diagonally through Manhattan’s grid of streets and it turns out that’s a bad thing for keeping traffic flowing. So Broadway between 32nd and 33rd Streets (right next to Greeley Square Park) is closed and there are table and chairs set up on it.

One day after walking up to Penn Station I still had time to kill so I started walking east towards Greeley. I wasn’t planning on stopping there but then I saw an open chair and decided to give my feet a rest for a moment. It was a seat that looked out down a stretch of Broadway that was open to traffic. I sat, looked at the excellent view, and noticed a lot of people passing by. I pulled out my camera and took some pictures. A lot of pictures. Turns out that in sitting in that seat everybody came to me rather than me looking for them. It’s a busy part of the city. It’s an easy place to walk (the actual park is next to Broadway) plus there is a subway next to the park. Crossroads photography is a new thing to me.

I post some of my photos on Instagram these days. I take way more photos than I ever post because that’s the nature of photography. I also tend to post older photos. I’m conscious of the fact that my photo subjects are unaware of my taking their photos so I like to keep them anonymous. So I either post them years later when they probably no longer look like they once did, post photos of crowds, sometimes even draw masks on my photos, or post photos of people who’s faces are generally obscured. But the truth be told it’s really my own obscurity that keeps these photos anonymous. Being that only a couple of dozen people ever see them on Instagram the odds say that no one in my photos will ever know the photos exist. Such is life.