Katsuhiro Otomo: Anime, Manga & Other Delights

Katsuhiro Otomo has been very busy over his collective years. Manga, movies, mechanisms and magic are among his specialties. The man; the creative genius, has virtually given the world his singular visions of the fantastic and sensational.  The likes of which the many; at best, aspire to…the promises that Otomo has achieved. He has devoted a fair amount of his time to the art of the cartoon and cartooning. He has; in not a modest way excelled, in the process become a standard in his own right among the world's many nations.  His greatest recorded work is the vastly influential anime “AKIRA.” It has been imitated countless times in both animation and live action works around the world. It is Otomo’s great masterpiece among his many masterpieces. It is also found in illustrated form in an extended multi edition set of mangas (six volumes.).  Each volume the creation of Otomo's own hand and mind.   Look for his other films including “Memories  “Steam Boy” and "Short Peace."You will not be disappointed.    

Otomo’s works; astonishing and delightful they are, this is certainty. Let this short intro be a segway into Otomo's universe for those that are not familiar with the powerful presence of his works. For his legions of admirers; a meager but fitting tribute to his brilliance.   

 "AKIRA" Trailer

"Memories" Trailer

 

"Robot Carnival" 

Who's Watching???

A young child sits in a darkened movie theater enthralled; viewing a black and white silent film. This; as a young woman plays the music score on piano, apparently agonized and anguished for some as yet unknown reason. The film is of a masked heroic figure pursuing an apparent villain, both on horseback, in some epic of the American Old West. The scene is reminiscent of the sepia toned opening of the classic “Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid.” Both woman and child are African-American. The scenario is about to drastically change as gunfire, aerial bombs and shouts of horror, pain and insults engulf innocents on the streets outside of a once peaceful, almost idyllic town.  This jarring opening is based on the real life “Black Wall St. Massacre” in Tulsa Oklahoma’s Greenwood District in 1921. 

We fast forward to modern times and almost everybody is masked. Who are the good guys? Who are the bad guys? Who and what was the cause of the aforementioned carnage? Why is shrimp/sushi raining from the sky? These are the overriding questions of the premier episode of “Watchmen?” Questions that essentially remain unanswered well into viewing subsequent episodes of the new HBO television series and sequel to the brilliant graphic novel “Watchmen.” 

Originally published in standard monthly comic book installments “Watchmen” was later collected in its entirety and released for readers in the nineteen eighties. It was created by artist Dave Gibbons and writer Alan Moore. It has been much lauded and revered over the years; even chosen by Time Magazine for the top 100 novels released within the years of the magazines conception. “Watchmen” exists in an alternative universe and like every good comic book world there are visions of the fantastic, the futuristic and humor along with ample doses of hysteria and dystopia. 

This satisfying T.V. series by design is complete as a story unit and by decision of creator Damon Lindelof feels like there is no necessity for any further episodes; although someone in the future might have ideas for additional stories. Damon Lindelof has done a brilliant job of production, narrative, and received phenomenal performances from a cast of extremely gifted actors of passionate professional skills and inspiration. Regina King, Don Johnson, Lou Gossett Jr., Jean Smart, Tim Blake Nelson, Jeremy Irons, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Hong Chau all starring and feature in illuminating ways.   

“Watchmen” is provocative, disturbing, eye-popping and triumphant television. Watch the compelling first of nine episodes and you will quite likely be committed to seeing it through to a conclusion both jarring and elusive.       

Bill Sienkiewicz "REVOLUTION"

 The arrival of Bill Sienkiewicz’s “Revolution” has been cause for much personal celebration and many declarations. I am a committed and constant follower and admirer of his art. I remember him from his early “Neal Adams Clone Days” and still seeing something of a potential and particular originality in what he was doing. Many comic book artists of the period were doing Adams; he was the standard of the times, so Sienkiewicz was hardly alone in following the Adams example.  At the outset Bill Sienkiewicz had the distinction of being the best of the Adams’ influenced. Even in that he stood out. He captured the broad strokes and the nuances along with the imagination and innovation that made Neal Adams famous. Bill Sienkiewicz would ultimately come into his on with a vengeance when; as he describes in “Revolution” stops attempting to emulate someone else and becomes himself. He always wanted to experiment, explore and in his own way influence the world. He has done that in many ways and in the process influenced many others as he entertains and inspires while daring to express himself in what many considered a limited medium.

                                                                                     

I more or less initially looked at this treasure of a book in two extended sessions. The opening ten pages spoke more than many enclypedic collections of other art and artists. Then I followed with the reading of the heart felt, precisely intriguing, witty and decisively cunning introduction by Neil Gaiman. The two; Gaiman and Sienkiewicz have collaborated successfully together in the past. They are equally noted for their experimental risks, daring natures and contributions as talents. That in turn was enough for me to absorb on one late evening after my copy arrived.

Returning to and then reading the informative and insightful Ben Davis essay and the compelling interview by Churl R. Kim I felt even more enamored of what could be described as the modest and uniquely American Mystique of Sienkiewicz’s persona.  Both essay and interview were further illuminated with yet more beautifully executed fine art influenced illustrations. I was in something of an intellectual and artistic bliss.

Finally I decided to take in the nearly one hundred fifty color and black & white plates of the expressive works; water-colors, acrylic, collage, mixed-medium and pen & ink works of pure genius. Here; I took a cue from Neil Gaiman. He detailed in the introduction that when working with Sienkiewicz he had taken the drawings sent to him for a Sandman story and played with them. Gaiman deviated from the sequence of his original narrative and essentially reversed and mixed the story sequence images and events. This established the need for an almost complete re-write for the material Gaiman had previously plotted. This option took him into uncharted and magnificent new places in his own uniquely personal imaginative spaces.   

I decided on following Gaiman’s lead in viewing  the remainder of the book starting from the last plate and reviewing them in reverse.  The material consisted of Jimi Hendrix, The New Mutants, Stray Toasters, Dare Devil and Elektra; along with pages from his sketch book and fine art renderings all generously offered. This came together into something thrilling, challenging, provocative and entertaining. I found myself touched and as well moved. Ultimately there was a sense of certainty and complexity; in the best way, a personal restoration of significant satisfaction. 

Bill Sienkiewicz Quotes

“I made a decision to love and respect comics as a medium. I believed it was a medium that could do anything.”

“I pursue the emotional truth of something as opposed to simply the visual truth.”

“We are all an evolving combination of all the things we experience. We are an end result of our influences, subconscious or otherwise.”

“If my work influences or touches other people scares them, makes them uncomfortable or brings them joy, it’s a method of communication.”

“At one point everything is brand new, but with time the new wave becomes the old guard.”

“Art is an ongoing and never ending process…you’re not done. You’re never done.”

BERNIE WRIGHTSON: The Horror of it All

The work of this artist is as distinctive as that of his signature. They each can be seen as identifications of his purpose.  It is undeniably his own and in a league of rarity. Whether literary classic, graphic story-telling, book cover or poster he has done it all. Few artists cross and include the many boundaries of great illustration in their chosen genre. A standard of a truly great illustrator is the work can stand alone and be admired for it’s mastery of light, draftsmanship, color and craft. Bernie Wrightson passes every criteria as; yes, he is a great teller of story. 

It is in the realm of mystery, suspense, men and monsters that Wrightson thrives. There exist in Wrightson’s world; mayhem, gore, scares and thrills, as it is rightly so. There is horror galore in his art. While along with the horror, brutality and intensity; there is beauty. He is able to convey a sensitivity and understanding in his pieces. That understanding is of the human condition and spirit. 

“People in your life kind of come and go, you have relationships, you get divorced, you move on and things change, but the one constant, never-changing thing in my life has always been monsters.”

                                                                                                                                                                              Bernie Wrightson  

A major housing of his talents is realized in the Dark Horse Edition of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly’s “FRANKENSTEIN.”  It was as a true labor of love in that Wrightson undertook the drawings of the piece without a commission or contract. The Dark Horse Edition of Shelly’s novel is actually the 25^th anniversary publishing of the Wrightson illustrated version. Wrightson began to shop around his art (at that time incomplete) to potential publishers. Marvel Comics would be the first to publish Wrightson’s version but it was limited to direct sale comic shops as was a subsequent printing by Underwood Miller. 

The Frankenstein Portfolio

Strangely enough the majority issued by both publishers were destroyed while they languished in warehouses either by fire or flooding. It seemed that the books (like Dr. Frankenstein) were somehow cursed.  The Dark Horse silver Anniversary printing was sold in major book stores to rave reviews and are coveted by Wrightson fans and lovers of the drama’s glory. It is a phenomenal piece and a much treasured article. Wrightson’s drawings hold their own with the greats of any era or style of comparable works of any illustrated fictional narrative.

DC Comics would print in it’s EC comics style book “House of Secrets” what would become a major and lasting contribution to the medium in 1971.  The short story written by Len Wein and drawn by Wrightson; “Swamp Thing” is now one of the company’s and the creative team’s crowns. Wein and Wrightson would work on the comic book series for ten issues. These issues are considered landmarks. Swamp Thing in it’s way has become part of the popular culture; TV, movies, magazines and graphic novels. In particularly the “Swamp Thing” stories of writer Alan Moore are acclaimed by critics and legendary among fans. An all new "Swamp Thing" TV series will be appearing in a few weeks at the DC Universe. This looks to be an excellent adaptation for the character.  

#DCUSWAMPTHING

The creations of Wrightson exhibited here

Exalted by critics, extolled by his peers

These samplings of horror, his fans’ delights

All for your pleasure, while possibly frights

Take them each and all as you will

Possibly as thrillers and perhaps for the chills

The End