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kamino_neko (kamino_neko) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-07-12 11:19:00

Entry tags:

char: flash/barry allen, char: gorilla grodd, char: iris west allen, creator: karl kerschl, title: wednesday comics

One more page from Wednesday Comics
My favourite feature (shockingly, not one of the ones I was really waiting for!) wasn't posted in the last Wednesday Comics post, so, I'm posting it....

Several things about this one really pleased me. The art, of course, is gorgeous. Writing wise, I think the team make much better use of the limited space than any of the others - this doesn't feel overloaded with exposition (Deadman and Kamandi were really bad about that), and stuff is happening.

But, mostly, I love the fact that it's done as two features, for various reasons. First, of course, it plays into the resemblance to newspaper comics - a full broadsheet page will have at least 2 strips on it. And Kerschl and Fletcher's signature on the Iris West strip is very comic-strippy. Second, it's a lot of why I think the story is paced differently - by treating the page as 2 pages (albeit, for 2 separate but interlocking features) instead of a jumbo sized single page, they're able to do more with less.

But, the biggest reason I love it is the subtle changes in the storytelling and art between the two strips - Iris's strip has a much more soap-operatic feel to it - check out Iris in the second to last panel for the strongest example of what I mean. Yes, they're clearly drawn by the same person (people? I wish I knew how the duties on this one were divided up), but they're also working in slightly different genres, and adapting to them.

All told, while the whole book (well...collection of pages) was very good, Flash is definitely my favourite of the features - this week at least. Now that the exposition is out of the way, I'm hoping the ones I was waiting for will catch up.

(Post a new comment)

	volksjager 2009-07-12 03:46 pm UTC (link)
	I agree with you about the Kamandi. The feel the original Kirby is totally lost. In the original your supposed to feel just like Kamandi, who is venturing fourth in to the post "great disaster" world for the first time. The art in itself is nice ...but not right for the overall theme. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	arbre_rieur 2009-07-12 09:01 pm UTC (link)
	With the Kamandi feature, they seem to be purposely aping the feel of stuff like the Prince Valiant newspaper comic, which takes the same narrative-heavy approach. Approach it as less of a standard comic and more as a work of illustrated prose, like a picture book, and it might work better. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	volksjager 2009-07-12 09:26 pm UTC (link)
	We shall see. It's always great to see Kamandi anyway. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	04nbod 2009-07-12 06:09 pm UTC (link)
	Its half a superhero comic and half an old romance comic, its amazing. Karl Kerschl is one of my favourites. He needs more work. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	darklorelei 2009-07-12 06:12 pm UTC (link)
	So much yes. I have a not-so-secret guilty fondness for romance comics, and it was just so perfect to put here. Agree on the Kerschl love. I'm adoring the Abominable Charles Christopher. Adorable and funny and tragic. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	nymphgalatea 2009-07-12 08:08 pm UTC (link)
	I'm in love with the art on the 2nd half. Every single panel looks like it should be blown up to monstrous size and hung on a wall as a prime example of pop art. It's fabulous. (Reply to this)

kingrockwell
2009-07-12 10:31 pm UTC (link)

And there's another one I was going to post! Shows what I get from procrastinating. Right, Hawkman. I can still post that. I disagree about Deadman being too text-heavy, though, since it seems to me like it's going for a Raymond Chandler kind of thing, the major difference in Chandler and Dashiel Hammett being while Hammett put all his character into dialogue, Chandler's was mainly in narration.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	darklorelei 2009-07-13 12:54 am UTC (link)
	I liked Deadman. I thought the layout was super snazzy. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	kamino_neko 2009-07-13 02:06 am UTC (link)
	The layout - and everything about the art - is pretty awesome, but it's excessively exposition-y. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	darklorelei 2009-07-13 03:38 am UTC (link)
	I guess? I mean, I thought it was kind of nice to have some exposition for once, particularly in this sort of thing that's been hyped pretty hard and might draw in some folks new to comics. It's not like Deadman is a particularly high profile character. I only know who he is because of BBatB. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

kamino_neko
2009-07-13 04:30 am UTC (link)

The intro in the banner should be all the exposition that's needed - the whole story is only 12 pages long, and you've already got a paragraph with everything you need to know about him in the banner...spending the whole first page on exposition - not even about the story, but about Brand, and therefor mostly repeating the information in the banner - is a waste.

Metamorpho and Adam Strange are no more high profile than Deadman, but both of them handled the whole exposition aspect far better:

Metamorpho skipped it entirely, and just let us SEE Rex doing what he does and what his relationships with the Staggs are...showing, not telling - no mention of how he got his powers, but that's not necessary information.

Adam Strange disposed of all of the background information in 2 narration boxes, then dropped us into the story.

Deadman gives us a page dominated by text... After which, if I'd gone into it cold, I'd know less important information about Deadman than I would about Flash after a paragraph of exposition, and two strips about him and Iris.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

	oath5 2009-07-13 12:19 am UTC (link)
	OMFG THE ART! Amazing I WANT I WANT I WANT I WANT! Why cant all comics be this gorgeous? Seriously. (Reply to this)

	hearthemvoices 2009-07-13 01:02 am UTC (link)
	Oh my gosh. This is win, and Iris looks darn pretty <3 (Reply to this) (Thread)

	kamino_neko 2009-07-13 02:07 am UTC (link)
	Yes, she really does. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	superfan1 2009-07-13 02:54 am UTC (link)
	Agree very gorgeous, I love her coat. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	hearthemvoices 2009-07-13 03:02 am UTC (link)
	Quick question, do Wednesday Comics affect continuity? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	kamino_neko 2009-07-13 03:09 am UTC (link)
	No, they're completely out of continuity. Several of them (Flash, Supergirl, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman) are incompatible with extant continuity, in fact. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	hearthemvoices 2009-07-13 07:28 am UTC (link)
	Thanks for the info. (: (Reply to this) (Parent)

	greenmask 2009-07-13 08:19 am UTC (link)
	That really is really nice art. (Reply to this)