I remember it was in 1985 that I started attending school in Toronto to work on my Ph.D. (which I never got, but that's another story). And it was around this same time that I was corresponding via snail mail with Scott McCloud and he got me into manga. Besides having him tell me about it and what he was getting out of it, I would at times mail him some cash and he would mail me back manga (untranslated in those days) from the bigger bookstores in NYC. No place around here carried them then.

But the bigger comic book shops in Toronto were starting to carry anime-related materials, including "anime manga" -- books created using stills from anime instead of B&W manga drawings, and then provided with word balloons (again, untranslated -- I wasn't the only geek willing to buy comics he couldn't read). It was these anime materials in Toronto that introduced me to Captain Harlock.

Not only was I fascinated by Reiji Matsumoto's unique drawing style, but the anachronistic mishmash of his visuals expanded my mind and helped wean me away from strict literal-mindedness in my enjoyment of things. Harlock struck me as so cool, he was the first time I was ever really attracted to the pulp trope of space pirates. Not long after, I got the first bee in my bonnet about creating my own space pirate comic.

My initial designs were heavily influenced by anime and manga, of course, but I deliberately drew upon other influential artists of those years to try and craft what I hoped would be a distinctive look. I settled on the name Vant for him, primarily so that its possessive -- Vant's -- would be a tribute to Jack Vance, one of my very fave SF writers.



Over the next few years, I found myself doing reams of research for the sake of world-building for this series. I learned so much about the planetologies of the solar system, the mechanics of space flight and space living... but never actually wrote my story.

I had my pirate but had no idea what he was gonna do. A few half-baked notions came and went and got discarded. One story made it to twenty pages of script before I lost faith in it. And then life circumstances intervened and derailed the whole project for years. But I never lost this urge to create a rollicking adventure space-pirate comic.

And then, several years ago, I stumbled across a couple of volumes of Valerian I had picked up in Toronto back in the 80s, and finally actually read them. And something clicked, and I wanted to make my space pirate again. Since then, I have completely re-done my world-building, this time more directly influenced by Vance -- the only thing that survived was Vant's name. (I still dunno if I love the name, but have yet to think of anything I like better...) And I have spent the time sketching and tweaking, trying to nail down the visuals of my cast and incidentals of their lives, re-thinking my entire approach to the tone and theme of the series...



....but I still don't have a story! I have my pirate but I dunno what he is gonna do! A couple years ago I got as far as a new twenty-page fragment of a whole new script before I lost faith. Really hoping that writing this down will shake my brain out of this time loop and get me actually creating an actual story that I can actually draw and actually get people to read!

The arrival of the latest volume of the only manga I buy which is still being published:

Got the next book of Cross Game -- excitement abounds!

This mornin, I was finally able to come up with a design for a gundam for Episode Five -- one which I am not only fairly happy with, but also one which I feel fits the feel of the series.

I need three gundam designs for that episode, but now that I have the first one nailed, it feels like the next two will be easier to whip up. Waggy tail!

Just got new volumes of 20th Century Boys (#17) and Bakuman (#7) -- two of my current manga faves!

I think this link is full of phenomenally good work and phenomenally good advice -- I urge you to check it out if you haven't seen it before and if you're at all interested in the process of cartooning. That being said:

I kinda hafta disagree with the first couple of items, wherein “The Manga Way of Doing Things” is put down, and they say “It's not a style.” I dunno, I think it is a style. Admittedly, it's a style that too many artists adopt slavishly without inputting any of their own uniqueness into it, perhaps.

But I feel that the manga way, of using symbology and iconography in place of rendering, is still a valid way of approaching comic drawing. And it's a method that undeniably connects powerfully with (and communicates powerfully to) a large audience. If your goal is to create a comic that communicates, then manga style is still a strong and valid approach -- one of many -- that can still be considered, rather than simply dismissed as “not really drawing” like I feel is being done here.

Bakuman #4 finally showed up in my local Chapters this mornin! Yay!




[Slow! Sometimes I feel like the Chapters here is the last place in Canada to get manga volumes in -- when they get them in at all! Still haven't ever seen Dragon Ball Z #5, guys!]

I passed my eye exam.

Meaning that my eyes are in the same shape as they were a year ago. As a diabetic I am urged to get my eyes checked every year to look for any retinal damage (which the disease can cause). So far, no sign of any retinal boo-boos for over ten years now.

Plus there's the simple “getting old” aspect which eventually caused me to need reading (and drawing) glasses -- however, my reading prescription from two years ago continues to be what I need today, so my lenses have not grown more decrepit this year.

Part of my annual exam is eye drops that dilate my pupils for hours afterward -- Hunter tells me that this makes me look like Zatch Bell.

I have just started reading God of Comics: Osamu Tezuka and the Creation of Post-World War II Manga by Natsu Onoda Power. Surprisingly academic: it reads a lot like a textbook. [Believe it or not, some of us actually appreciate that!] More serious and in-depth than I was expecting, honestly. I'm not saying such an approach is unprecedented in writing about comics, but it is rare.

You know whether reading something like that would appeal to you or not, I suppose. As for me, so far I'm learning lots of new things and finding it pretty interesting. If it stays this good throughout, consider it recommended.