I thought we would go to Taiwan today. One of the great things about this project of around the world in Graphic Literature is discovering the terms used for the medium. I call it Graphic Literature and comic books at times. I use Graphic Literature to explain what comic books mean to me. They aren’t simply funny books or superhero books. With award winning authors scripting the books, there is more to them than many, most people think.
In Taiwan comics are called manhua, meaning impromptu sketches. The term began in 18th century China and later was called manga in early 19th century Japan.
One thing I’ve discovered while researching for this is that the art is not always the stereotypical art we in America think of as manga. To me, I think what makes manhua or manga or books that is, fit into those two words is the life the art takes on. You can look at a picture and see movement even in a person standing still. No, it’s not evident in every picture but that’s what I see in most.
Another thing is that unlike American comics, manhua and even manga isn’t all about superhero antics. Most are about life, about normal people put in extraordinary situations or even basically a TV show in Graphic Literature form. If it happens in life, it happens in manhua. That’s one thing about manhua and manga and even many European countries, the comic is an art form, not a children’s entertainment. The adults realize the importance of creativity and art.
Today won’t have a lot of background content of the authors and creators as there is a language barrier that I don’t have the time at the moment to work on. But I do have plans for detailed articles around the world and a site to go with them. When that time comes, it will have more to share.
But let’s look at the industry itself now. Big problem. Japan. It’s easier to bring in Japanese manga. For years Manga was pirated in with language changed and some extra art over nude areas added. Then pirating was made illegal in Taiwan and enforced. There is still the problem of creating a strong local industry when it is so easy to import. This forced the king of pirating, Tongli Comics to go legit and create original work as well as obtaining legal rights to import and distribute Japanese manga.
I’ll give a quick list of some Tongli artists/creators.
Beginning with some female creators:
Lai Ann.
Nicky Lee/Li Chung Ping
Nicky Lee is what one would call the Fashion Manhua queen I suppose. Her books tend toward that look and are done quite well. She has a huge following.
Nicky and a young fan.The One. Or at least a panel of an issue.
Jo Chen
I’m putting a few more images here because, well, AWESOME. Why? American connections to some geekdom moments for me. You’ve got Buffy the Vampire Slayer cover art, Robotech, to me the best ever. Yes, I’ve got all threes series on DVD. Don’t hate me because I get my geek on. And Racer X of Speed Racer fame.
“You really have to have the desire to be a storyteller to be a comic book artist. The desire to draw cartoons or superheroes isn’t enough. In fact, the skill to draw is almost secondary. You must first want to tell stories. Once I started down that path, there was no looking back. I was hooked.”~Jo Chen
RobotechRacer X
I-Huan
Some of the artwork and titles.
Knight PrincessAKRU-Enchanted Tale of Formosa
I’ll leave it at that for today. I have obviously missed out on the very important manhua in Taiwan’s history but like I said, I will be devoting more time to it.
Today I need to speak about something. Amnesia. I”m a faker. You read my blog and all I say. You think how I write everything and link things together, how I know so much about blogging and my life.
I’m a faker.
I study, and have routines.
People think of me as being well. How Ronovan is not sick any longer.
I am a master faker.
What you read in this blog are the words of a man who repeats his life daily. I eat the same meals daily. I have medicines laid out in small cups with time labels with them as a reminder when to take them daily.
Then the 70 year old mother in-law must remind to take them.
People have read some of my recent series on comic books with memories I have and don’t realize those are memories I have been told only hours earlier. Fortunately memories having been shared previously with other people in my life, even my 10 year old son. Apparently I talked with him a great deal about comic books, or else he listened well.
But I’m a faker.
I went to my parents this past Saturday. I know this. I don’t remember what happened.
Amnesia and short term memory problems are not fun. Add to that Fibromyalgia and Fibro fog. Think of having blank spots of decades. Think of not having memories to share of experiences. Think of having people who obviously care but you no longer know them.
Think of the stress on the mind and body as one tries to remember and can’t and people don’t understand. Think of wanting to retreat into a world that only you exist in and be alone forever.
I’m a faker.
I am selfish.
My focus has become me, when apparently it once was everyone else. I leave the house once every two months or so. I walk out the door perhaps four. I look at my cat Spunky through the door as the woman I call Grandma feeds him and his family and he loves on her.
I have become afraid of any illness. I don’t want to return to the hospital.
I write books. I know this because I am reminded of it. It is a daily part of what I do. Routine. I have a writing partnership. I enjoy writing, it allows me to create worlds and people and not worry about reality or lost realities.
I don’t have to worry about disappointing, hurting or causing people to hate me because of my not remembering. Imagine having people in your life, nice people, but people who make your brain feel as though it were being compressed and about to pop at the same time.
Now combine that with the guilt of knowing it must be your fault. Then the physical ill that occurs. The mass confusion that begins and creates these storms of what to do, what to do. Now you cannot sleep but two or three hours a day. Eating is something that you think you did. You realize that noise in your stomach must mean you are hungry.
Imagine all of the storms together and for a moment you wonder what hungry is. You know what it is but for a moment you forget.
You make a decision to try and help yourself be well, to be at the least a little better, to stop the confusion storms and pains. The migraine spikes and sleeplessness might end. Then, you are . . .
What are you?
You spent days and days agonizing over decisions.
People don’t understand memory problems. It is an almost surreal thing. I don’t understand it and I live it. At least I think i do. My world is one being formed anew and quite often it seems built on loss.
I never intend to cause problems, pain, disappointments, heartbreak, heartache. However, it seems as though when I am honest I am a disaster creator. I feel hated at times. People don’t understand that I just don’t know.
And they don’t understand that I understand how they just don’t know how I don’t know any longer. Is it easy for me to tell people, “I don’t know you”? To finally come out and try to worry about me?
I’m sitting here now after having done that and now feeling a need to relieve myself of the breakfast I had to take with my first cup of medicines for the day, yes, a cup of pills. I can’t lose them. If I get sick, the pills are gone.
I’m stressing to the max, as some might say. Do I let guilt of something I don’t know force me to lie? Or do I keep trying to be healthy and try to mend?
You see, I try to be an encourager to a lot of people. It’s not something I do on purpose, but I share and it just has happened. Sure, I love it. It’s part of my make up. I guess my DNA or something. Now I am a disappointer, a devastator, a person that hates, a person that is a liar.
Yes, I have been called some of those things today. I understand it. After sharing this I will likely turn off and lie here in bed hoping I feel up to going to my son’s baseball game, his 11th game ever, and I’ve only been able to attend one. I ended up in the hospital the last time. Precautions have had to be made. Now, I’m not even sure I will be able to go.
Do I blame anyone? Yes.
I blame me. I’m the one with amnesia. I’m the one that loses what people don’t understand. I’m the one that causes the pain. I’m the one that can’t explain because I don’t have the words at times. Yeah, that’s part of it all too, I don’t have the words. For a writer, not knowing words makes for some boring writing. The thesaurus is my friend. I use it and put in the word that is almost what I know I am looking for.
I don’t hate. I don’t lie. I don’t have the energy or time left in my life to do either. What am I?
I am me.
Whatever that me is today, that’s who I am.
Ronovan
This has not been a sympathy piece. It has been a blogging piece, old school style. A dear diary style of post. Something I had to get out and put down.
A new member of the #BeWoW Day family. I liked this one a lot. I like all of the ones I read but I thought I would share this one today.
EC’s blog is called thepbsblog or Pearls Before Swine. I believe today with the story written, the letter, I will rename it Perfectly Beautiful Story blog.
Enjoy.
I had no idea there was a book to the blog.
So today I am a newbie participant in Ronovan Writes #Bewow Prompt; a weekly twitter Blogshare of positive posts. BeWoW is an acronym for “Be Wonderful on Wednesday”. Participants are supposed to compose a post comprising positivity, encouragement, motivation, or just something positive. This week, Ronovan suggested a topic where we write to our younger self: “Advice you would give to your younger self.” Of course, as he states, we don’t have to use this topic, but it is a prompt to help us to get going. I thought this was a wonderful post idea. What’s special about it for me is that last year I did a post very similar to this as suggested by The Daily Post, about when 27 year old me met 17 year old me for coffee. I’ll be 28 this year and this topic seems to have come up…
Researching South African Graphic Literature history has been an interesting adventure. A big think I discovered is a great deal of the comics were photo comics early on. Actors would be in the positions of what Americans and Europeans would normally see as drawn panels. Text balloons would then be inserted.
There are rare examples of illustrated comics, and I’ll mention those as I discover them. Yes, I write as I discover as opposed to research then writing. You get to ride along with me as I get excited or disappointed, depending on what I find.
For instance, here is the first illustrated book I found. Mighty Man. This was Soweto’s version of Superman. Sounds like a good idea, right? The book was about a black policeman who is shot, then healed by some beings from beneath the earth and given powers. All good so far. But the point of the book was to have the blacks during apartheid basically subliminally, from an early age, given the thoughts that going against the rules of the white government was wrong, they should stay in their place, there should be no guns owned by blacks, and it just keeps going.
Back up stories were about local folklore and sports figures. Any efforts by the Americans involved in the creation were slapped down. They worked for the company and did the book. Even when not agreeing with what the books overall message was.1In truth the book was more a propaganda and advertising scheme.
I also found a great writer in Lauren Beukes.2 A writer of novels and and TV scripts. Her selection to write Fairest3 for Vertigo4, and imprint of DC Comics says a lot. Fairest is a spinoff of Fables, a highly acclaimed series. Fairest is about the women of fairy tales set in different situations and with actual lives. These aren’t fairy tales.
Beukes arc in the series, The Hidden Kingdom, deals with Rapunzel traveling to Tokyo to take care of a mystery from her past.
Next I stumbled upon a piece by Nobhongo Gxolo who speaks with a couple of South African creators.5 First there was Moray Rhoda, illustrator, designer, and writer. One piece comic fans may have heard of is Velocity, a Graphic Novel anthology with contributing creators. He shares a frustration with another up and coming creator, Loyiso Mkize, illustrator and writer of Kwezi, about a 19 year old cocky guy who suddenly has powers and how he handles it.
The frustration they have is distribution. Local publishers don’t want to invest, not seeing the potential local home grown comics have. Most books are Indie Books in South Africa with any mass published being from the US or Europe. Local creators have more interest from places like US who get what is being done and see the talent of the artists.
“The artwork is definitely international level, but the storytelling is not there”~Rhoda
The artwork gains attention across the ocean, much like many other countries, but the writing is the problem.
“There’s also the fact that as I got older I learned to appreciate the role of superheroes in young people’s minds: positive, encouraging and inspiring.”~Mkize
Comic strips, humorous and adventure were ongoing from the early 20th Century onward. I don’t mention the names here because I honestly am not certain how appropriate some might be considering the way the government segregated society so harshly.
When I begin a more comprehensive series I will include all that I find, but for now enjoy what we have here today. Talent. A lot of it, but with no local publisher support.
You will go through a lot of strange moments in your life. I’m not going to tell you what they are because I wouldn’t change anything that has made me who I am today, not even the bad moments. But I do have some advice.
There are so many times you will ALLOW others to bring you down. Your heart will break, be crushed. And that’s okay, I won’t tell you who by. Go ahead and fall in love. Love. Pour your heart into it. When things don’t turn out the way you like, don’t LET it almost destroy you. Use those moments to perhaps write. You want to be a writer but may not know it yet.
Always have hope. Keep it in mind that life exists tomorrow. All those disappointments have happened and are over. You make your future today. Love, work, life? All of those moments of trial and agony? Yes, you will feel it in the moment but don’t let it eat you alive to spiritual and emotional death.
But do experience those emotional moments, they will help you in the future to handle other moments. You will become someone who can understand others with the same moments in their lives. You will be able to help people and want to help them.
Love hard. Don’t go halfway. But take your time to know who you are about to love hard. And when you know its the right person, love hard in every way. Make that person know your love is a tangible thing that exists even when you are not in the room.
Loving hard might mean you fall hard and are broken had but the experience of love filling your heart, your soul, your entire being is worth every moment. Even if it’s for a day or a week, experience it. It’s worth every it.
That’s my advice today. Let those moments of agony go and use them to make you better and love hard with everything you’ve got.
Tomorrow is #BeWoW Wednesday, my weekly Twitter blogshare of positive posts. This week the suggested topic is to write to yourself “Advice you would give to your younger self.”
An excerpt from my letter.
“Sure, you will feel it in the moment but don’t let it eat you alive to spiritual and emotional death.”
You don’t have to use that as your idea, but if you need an idea, there you have it.
All you need do is write a post, Tweet it with the hashtag of #BeWoW just as it appears there. It stands for Be Wonderful on Wednesday. The post needs to be about positivity, encouragement, motivation, or just something positive. This isn’t a spammer share where you tweet everything you have.
Also I will post my #BeWoW and if you want my Readers to possibly see yours, paste your link in the comments of mine and they might go visit. That will make certain I see them.
You may seem some other types of tweets in the #BeWoW hashtag but you’ll be able to tell which are which. It’s pretty simple.
Don’t just RT a tweet, and do RT them otherwise why do this, right? But go and visit the post as well. I’ve made some friends and found some surprises.
See you tomorrow. And make sure you are #BeWaTT! Be Wonderfull all The Time!
Today’s walk into Graphic Literature will be a simple one. A retrospective about one man and it will be short. We’re headed to Romania. No fluff, let’s get to it.
Sandu Florea (1946-).1 His career goes back to 1968 with a children’s magazine Luminiţa and a series, Păcală.
Perhaps what is truly his moment in Romanian comics’ history comes in 1973 with Galbar. This is thought to be the first science fiction comic book in Romania. Considering all the art I’ve seen while researching for this article that’s saying a lot.
He wasn’t simply a science fiction guy. Part of his large catalog in Romania is the retelling of Romanian history through Graphic Literature, winning a Eurocon, science fiction convention, award in 1980.
Problems began for him in communist Romania when in around 1984 he requested to leave for the United States where his two brothers were living. His right to publish was revoked and he had to use pen names to work. After the 1989 revolution, he returned under his own name.
Not long after we find him in New York. And soon after he was inking comics for Marvel Comics such as Conan, Spider-Man, Thor, Captain America, and many others. What’s an inker? You have an artist/drawer/penciler who draws the books, then the inker goes over those lines to make them look finished and polished and so the printing can actually pick up the images. He even did work at DC on the characters Superman and Batman. Some might be surprised to hear he also worked on two books for Dark Horse Comics called Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.
When asked what has been his favorite title or character to work on Florea did not hesitate to say Batman, having worked on Batman R.I.P. and other stories. This according to an interview at the 2011 New York City Comic Con.2
And he’s still going strong today.
He gave samples for Conan to Marvel because he thought it was the best suited for him. No super powers. Sword wielding and battles. He had done that sort of thing before.Notice without the proper inking over the lines and given the right shading, you would not even see much to this scene. It has been noted an inker can make or break a comic.I’ve spoken of this scene previously. And I had no idea Florea inked it.Serious DC Comics fans should be geeking now. Deathstroke. He’s been around a long time and is one of my favorite DC characters, depending on which version DC lets him be this year.Yep, giving you some Marvel loving with Florea’s inking on Deadpool. With the upcoming movie, I couldn’t resist.Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Do I have this issue? Probably. I think I have them all. Don’t ask. I have no idea why.I had to give some Buffy and Spike fans a little taste. I couldn’t share the other two I found. I think this one should explain the others.
Qatar is not the place to really go looking from Graphic Literature in the vein in which I am interested in at this time. I therefore headed to Quebec. I thought about provinces in China, but I thought a little closer to home would be easier. Have I ever told you how foolish my ideas can be?
Did I tell you I tried creators from Queens, New York? Not so easy either.
Canada went through some interesting things during WWII much like other parts of the world. Oddly US books were banned from being imported for economic reasons, but could be reprinted. This allowed for a Golden Age of comic books in Canada. Canada also went through the 1950s censorship issues much as the rest of the various Western Hemisphere.
Golden Roy
I want to start today with a man named Joseph Michel Roy (1921-1996), better known as Mike Roy or Michael Roy. Researching about artists born in Quebec had been tough until the wee hours and I found this man. And did I find a creator or what?
Born in Quebec he headed south where he ended up in New York at the School of Industrial Art, also known as the High School of Art and Design. For those outside of the United States, think ages 14 or 15 up to around 18. The school produced several comic artists from this time period. During Roy’s particular time he was the first to get the break.1
In 1940, while still in school, Roy writes, pencils (draws), and inks the short story Tigerman2 in the comic book Daring Mystery Comics3.Daring Mystery Comics was produced by Timely Comics, the predecessor to Marvel Comics.4
The only image of Tigerman I could find. May or may not be Mike Roy’s.Daring Mystery Comics #6
According to a high school friend of Roy’s, another Timely Comics artist Allen Bellman, he recalls Roy working on a Sub Mariner comic will still in high school, although it is not mentioned in a list of his works. The incident sticks in Bellman’s mind because Roy was then a big shot and hero because he had actually done what they all wanted to do.5 One thing to keep in mind is, Roy went to work for Bill Everett as his assistant and that may be why we don’t see Roy’s name on work for that particular issue. Or it could be that issue has slipped through the cracks.6
Roy did a lot of Timely books, Captain America #60 being of course being of interest to me where he had the lead story. But there were later books I found insanely amazing to find he worked on. Jackie Gleason and the Honeymooners from the 1950s. The Twilight Zone from the 1960s. Buck Rogers and the 25th Century in 1980.
All of these are interesting and great but then we have a few things where Roy stands out.
Mike Roy’s Comic Strips
Roy has a tie to one of the most famous detectives in literary fiction, Mike Hammer. No, you won’t see Roy given credit for Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer, but you will find his name with the comic Mike Danger in 1947, the first go round of Mike Hammer. It failed and Spillane, in three weeks, turned out I, the Jury.7
Crime Busters story.
We then find Roy on The Saint comic strip which began it’s run on Septemeber 27, 1948, written by Leslie Charteris. Yes, The Saint as in Simon Templar with George Sanders in the old movies and Roger Moore in the TV series.8
Then we see him once again, in the detective genre with the Nero Wolfe comic strip from 1956 to 1958.9
Mike Roy’s Native American Interests
Mike Roy was very interested in Native American culture. His strip Akwas from the 1960s showed this. It was set historically pre Columbus. He attempted to keep the strip in print by giving her super powers toward the end but it didn’t save it.10
Screaming Eagle, a graphic novel was Roy’s final work, published in 1998 after his passing.
“SCREAMING EAGLE tells a mythical version of Native history—from the early pioneering days to the end of the Indian wars. Not coincidentally, that period coincides with the life of the story’s fictional hero.
At the onset, white trappers shoot a bald eagle, then the boy Screaming Eagle. The eagle’s and boy’s spirits merge and Screaming Eagle comes back to life. He now has the power to turn into his namesake guardian spirit.
Screaming Eagle becomes the focal point for this simplified version of events. He’s there to counsel people in war and peace. He’s the embodiment of all the great Indian leaders, from Tecumseh to Geronimo.”~Robert Schmidt.11
Mike Roy also co-founded a museum of Native American and Eskimo art.
Today
To end I will mention a creative duo specifically for Canadian Graphic Literature. writer Mark Shainblum and artist Gabriel Morrissette. They are at least close to today but their work on specifically and obviously Canadian superheros is why I want to mention them.
The two created Northguard, an almost accidental hero in the fact he was really just doing his job and ended up being a costumed hero. The book was a serious effort during the 1980s to have home grown superhero comics with heroes having Canadian identity throughout, not just in name only. He also had a partner called Fleur de Lys from the emblem on the Quebec flag. The two appeared on Canadian postage stamps.12
There are successful Canadian comics but rare. With the amount of American comics and with a population that cannot support so many comics it’s difficult to create and maintain a publishing system. There are efforts and I may talk about them another time. But that’ all for today. Return to Top Click the link below to learn about comics in the Philippines. Did WWII help or hinder their comic book culture? How about the rule of Marcos?
Welcome a new author here on Ronovan Writes. Hope you enjoy these looks into the world by a highly intelligent, business minded young woman from India who is striking out to make a name for herself in a new country. Her’s the first article here on Ronovan Writes by Akriti Mattu. For her personal blog, click here.
Diverse Creations
An Indian woman is one of the most diverse creations of God. Endowed richly with diversity and culture, the 29 states of India have women that vary greatly from one. However, one thing that is common to women across cultures, religions, and ethnicities is the shifting power dynamics of the man – woman relationship in contemporary India.
In the last two decades, India has witnessed a massive leap in science and technology. As with many societies with such advancements, people have become more aware of themselves as individuals and of their rights. With this new awareness has come a gradual change in Indian society itself. This gradual remodeling and restructuring is having a huge impact on the average Indian citizen, especially young women and men from my generation.
The Modern Woman
A modern Indian woman can be liberal and sassy. She’s not afraid of being herself anymore. Being aware of her identity as an individual, she does not want that identity to be masked by roles of a mother, a daughter and a wife alone. She wants to be known in the world for who she is. Her true self is what matters now. Good thing is many Indian men are not lagging behind the times.
Parents are becoming increasingly supportive of educating their daughters and making them at par with their sons. They are realizing the importance of education and financial independence of women. The literacy rate in India has shot up to 74.04 % from 64.84 %. For women it is 65.46 %, as compared to 53.67% previously.
The Fear
However, as women are becoming increasingly independent and conscious of their rights, there are some people who are not responding well to this transformation. There is a section of men who feel threatened by successful, educated and well aware women. They even go to the extreme extent of claiming they feel emasculated in the presence of powerful women. A powerful woman by their definition is any woman who is independent, educated and hence successful. They are conservative in the context of not liking women to be given any freedom or liberty. I call such men threatened.
For hundreds of years when women were subjugated and denied even basic rights, men like these were in their comfort zone. They were at the top of an imaginary pyramid with the excellent support system provided by the woman at the base.
But now? The pyramid has inverted with the base at the top and the peak, with the man, at the bottom. Therefore this reversal is seen by some as a dangerous trend. Not only do they feel vulnerable, they don’t like other men endorsing this change.
At one hand where we see a rise of a new India with women earning well and advancing in their careers, topping entrance examinations, making it to top positions of private companies, public sector units, bureaucracy, defense services, aviation, technology etc., at the other hand we see a dark reality that cannot be ignored; the reality of trepidation and fear is still being instilled across quarters.
I’d like to point out this gap in India does not really lie between the rural and urban India but with the mentality – Archaic versus Modern. While there are people in rural India who are well aware of the gradual change, there are literate people in cities which shame us. No wonder it is said that literacy and education are different concepts. They are not mutually inclusive.
Nirbhaya
A short but powerful documentary was recently made by a British film maker – Leslee Udwin, and was aired on the BBC. It is a re-enactment of the brutal gang rape of a 23 year old girl whom India calls ‘Nirbhaya’ (It is the Hindi word for fearless). This brutal gang rape happened on the 16th December, 2012 in the heart of the Indian Capital – New Delhi. This young girl, Nirbhaya is representative of the contemporary Indian woman. In fact she epitomizes the changing ‘power dynamic’, I wrote about before.
As a young girl of 23, like many other young women, Nirbhaya had high hopes and aspirations. She wanted to make an impact on the world around her. She wanted to contribute her bit to society and be a part of the ‘changing India’. She did make an impact and she did contribute to change – After her death.
The innocent young woman was so brutally gang raped she succumbed to internal injuries and died. The perpetrators were such predators they even took out her intestines. This incident shocked the nation and men and women across India came to the streets. Candle light marches were held. Protests were made. Pain was felt. Empathy was spread. People across castes, class, creed, age groups, professions and gender came as one. Nirbhaya united India.
Men across quarters fought for the spirit of the brave woman who died and for the women across the country. Nobody asked these men to fight for women’s safety. They did it on their own. This is one of the biggest signs of seeing an evolved male mentality. It was a proud moment. Not only did men become a part of the protests, they took a vow to not even eve-tease women for the sake of fun.
The brutality of the sexual assault on Nirbhaya made men cringe and bow down their heads in shame as men. They wanted to prove that, “all men are not the same” and they did. This is just one recent incident but there are many others. Every time a case of sexual violence, female foeticide, dowry death, honour killing comes to the fore, the modern Indian man extends full support to their female counterparts. It makes them feel sick that society treats women unjustly. Men like these are secure men. They don’t feel emasculated in the presence of powerful, liberated women. Instead, they take pride of having such women around as role models.
The Hurdles
However in spite of men like these, the ‘dark reality’ will do whatever it takes to hold back the women in their lives. They have an outmoded mentality, where the mere thought of a free woman is seen as a threat, a danger.
These are the kinds of men which take resorts like throwing acids on women when they turn down their proposals or indulging in sexual crimes to shame a woman, as a way of revenge for being free. They are the kinds of men who force their spouses to abort female fetuses in the womb itself. The mere existence of a girl child is undesirable to them. It is because of men like these that some places in India are now facing skewed sex ratios. Saddest part is that these men are ‘educated’ men. They consist of lawyers, bureaucrats, technocrats, even teachers and doctors. This is the section of society I personally despise.
I have always been a free spirit, therefore when I see people with such dogmatic attitudes; it comes across as an alien concept. Women must stand up against such rigid attitudes. They must start the process of empowerment within and most importantly, make ties in solidarity with other women who suffer. Only then can India rise and shine, and live up to the dream of being a progressive nation in the true sense.
First one in! Sue Vincent. Remember she has a brand new book on Amazon. Oh and a Haiku for the challenge. I get excited about new books by our Haiku Family members!!!!!
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Challenge 41
Welcome to Haiku Fu.
Yes, it’s on like Diddy Kong. The battle to the finish. Who will remain standing as we Haiku Fu you? Everybody was Haiku Fu Fighting. Who will be fast as lightning and be the first to post and be reblogged here on RonovanWrites?
Want to know How to write a Haiku Poem in English Form? Click herefor the article.
As the love I have for her is new each morning.
Welcome everyone to the Weekly Haiku Prompt Challenge. You may have found your way here through The Daily Post pages, the WordPress Reader, Twitter, Google+, or however you found us, we’re glad you came. I’m not just saying that. After you have been with us for a time you will realize we aren’t just a place to share a three line poem. We are a community of friends here. That doesn’t mean you have to talk to us. Just visit the various Haiku and click Like if you actually like something.
I created this challenge to have a place for people to share and gain a little exposure to other readers they might not have otherwise AND of course to enjoy Haiku. We all have different people who visit our blogs.
Provide your Twitter HandleIF you have one. I usually can get it from sharing your Haiku through your Twitter sharing button. If you have a Twitter and don’t have it linked to your account don’t worry you can still have the share option work with the handle. Click hereto find out how to have your Twitter Handle show up in your share option. You know. I have a how-to article for just about everything. If not? Ask and I’ll write one. Also it is helpful if you have Google+ to follow me there by clicking here so I can include you on the Weekly Review when I post it there. I try to post it there but illness has been taking its toll lately, but hopefully you will see it there soon.
About commenting with your link to your post. I advise it. I think more people click the comment links. Yes, do a ping back, but do a comment link if you think about it. Go ahead and put your twitter handle in there. I think it’s a good idea for readers to follow you that are passing through.
Want & Tatters
My Example
This hunger in me wants,
A fine meal of you to devour,
Tattered tacos yum.
This hunger in me wants a fine meal of you to devour.
A fine meal of you to devour, tattered tacos yum.
You do not have to include the sentences within your post, but it does help others understand how Haiku works if you do.
So you’ve written the Haiku and you’ve created the post. Now what?
You can put a the link of this post in your post and it should, I say should, do a ping back to this post and I and others should see it.
I recommend as well for you to copy the link of your post once it has been published in the comments of this post. That’s a guarantee for it to be seen and I will be certain to include it in the Weekly Review.
Visit other people’s Haiku.
The deadline is Sunday by Noon EST. That’s New York City time.
Shortly after Noon EST the Weekly Review with the names of each blogger, their site names, the name of their Haiku and a link to that Haiku will be published, along with my thoughts, and the Twitter Handle of each person.
The Weekly Review is then Tweeted. The ‘Choices’ are tweeted with the first Tweet. I then continue to tweet the post until every person’s twitter handle has been mentioned.
I also Post the Weekly Review on Google+ with the Twitter Handles and if I am your friend on Google+ I include you there as well.
What’s a Ping Back?
A ping back is when you place the URL from the address bar of this post into the post you write your Haiku on. It will look something like this,
You also have to make certain the link is actually in there by clicking on the add link button which is next to the right alignment button for WordPress. To me the add link button kind of looks like a diagonal paper clip. It’s the fifth from the right in the WordPress post editor. Clickhereto find out how.
For a full refresher or How to write Haiku in Englishclickhere. But you can use whatever Haiku style you want to. As long as you, do a Haiku.
There are TWO“CHOICE!”recipients each week. One for Humor and one for something more Serious. The Haiku are quite good each week and I am having to turn to the structure guidelines of a Haiku at times to help determine my selection.
Really each Haiku is a choice of mine, and I’m not just saying that, so I feel a bit odd even having something called A RONOVAN’S CHOICE, but hey, it’s a thing, right? And it does make it kind of fun.
Welcome to the first published Without Pants comic strip by me, Ronovan. Yes, creator and all. A comic strip created almost 20 years ago or more, and I’m finally going to do something with it here. And yes, that is a Haiku.
Week #40 Haiku Challenge Review of the Words New & Time
Be aware all links and images if clicked will open in a new window. Links are in blue and usually underlined. I believe they look cleaner and nicer this way rather than having a URL showing on the page.
A piece of advice. Although Ping Back are seen and may be clicked on by visitors to the weekly challenge post, I am seeing that comment links seem receive more visitors, at least for newer members of the challenge.
New This Week
Rose of Bohemian Nerd: “I’m a practicing bibliophile who seeks refuge among dusty paper magic and the Dewey Decimal System. I’m an inspiration pack-rat always looking for my next “information high.” I lust for linguistics and daydream about the likes of Susan Sontag, Philip K. Dick, Neil Young and Aerosmith.”~From the About page. The Haiku: Teacher or Student. Hmm, interesting, interesting. Could be read as one whole sentence or two. Hmm. As fro the photo here. I had a few to pick from but this one was just awesome.@blurosemd
So many names to use. Miss O-CD, Geeker, Noisy Dancer. Maybe she’ll tell us what to use. But her blog is Dancing Echoes: Beats Stumbling Around in Silence. “I am a scientist by trade and artist by soul. My creative outlet used to be dancing but due to injuries and age, I must now find another path. I am hoping my writing, poetry and photography can be this new path. Picture straightener.”~Her About Page, Her Twitter. Possible tattoo on her foot says O-CD Rules, it does, I say it DOES! Yes, I’ve been at this for hours now and I think I am a little slap happy. On to the Haiku: Empty Nest. Mix of the use of life and nature. Cool. Liked it. @cjdraper
First to Enter this Week:
Edwina of Edwina’s Episodes:A New Spring Outfit. Staying with nature. And staying with her theme of, well her theme of entertainment. I’ll put it that way. @Edwinasepisodes
Ruth of Mad Meandering Me: Hangover… Yeah, it’s about someone else. Mhmm.
Mira of They, You And Me and To Wear a Rainbow blogs: Your Beauty. Very much seems to have played off of my image Haiku. Liked it. Then she gave us another from her They, You And Me blog, Forget Me Not. @BediMona
Sandra of Wild Daffodil:Emotion. You have to go see. It’s never just a Haiku when you visit Sandra. Photography, now with Friends and a story to go along with it. I enjoy those. You get a piece of life along with a pinch of it you get from a Haiku. I love having her in the Haiku Family. Yes, I as going to say Haikumily.
Ritu of But I Smile Anyway…:Beauty Queen and Standing Still. We have two. One a commentary I do believe and the other a thinky piece. She has two minds I think. And who does not love her Twitter Handle? I mean, seriously.@PhantomGiggler
Sacha Black of Sacha Black: New Bum. Um, I’m not sure if this is a self help tip or what. If anyone tries it, let me know if it works.@sacha_black
SW ysobel of Spunky Wayfarer. Who? Yes? What? No, Who.. Who is right but you have to go and read to find out what I am talking about. Well, we were told there might be a second one. A Vegas Love Story. Ha. And so many did not go and read this one. I am ashamed. Tsk Tsk.@SpunkyWayfarer
Elizabeth ofTea & Paper: Spring power. Can you tell what part of the world some people are in by what they right?@TeandPaper
Greg of Potholes in the Road of Life: Springtime. Greg gone Nature. I think he and Elizabeth were on the same page. @greg_wolford
clickerwriter of Captured by Aishwarya: Cure for the pain. Do you agree? Do you not agree? Go find out what you are agreeing to or not agreeing to.
Felicity of The Dark Night Chronicles:Brutalized Blossoms. She went high tech this week. She put her Haiku on an image. From the likes, people like it. Felicity is also one of our Authors. You can get her book Erotic Passages at Amazon by clickinghere.@FelicityJohns1
Khor Hui Minof Project Prose:You got to move it, move it. Image and Haiku go perfectly together. The one makes the other work and makes you want to well, move it move it.@MinKhor
Nato of Chasing Life and Finding Dreams– Longing for Love. Tsk tsk tsk. You keep looking in the wrong places. Do I have o draw a map? Geesh. 😛And don’t forget that Michelle also has something else other than great writing talent going for her. VisitMichelle Lunato Photography. @MichelleLunato
Daleen of My Grandfather was an Undertaker: Clock Face. Hmm. Giving a somewhat inanimate object human characteristics. Interesting. Nice.
Serins of Serins Sphere: Has Been. Sometimes you get a message that may not be the message but that’s what I got. Maybe I’m past my prime and need to be silent. @SerinsSphere
Geoff Le Pard of TanGental: Times and Tides. Two this week. I definitely like the first which he has called untitled. Great imagery with that one. Go to Amazon to get Dead Flies and Sherry Trifle. I don’t know who Sherry is but I mean what’s she doing with the dead flies? But yeah, click here for Amazon UK and here for the US.@geofflepard
Rajani Radhakrishnan of THOTPURGE: Time & Again. oooo, very nice ones. Awesome. Must Reads.@TP_Poetry
As a side note, are banana flavored popsicles not like so awesome?
Alyssa of Battered Wife Seeking Better Life:Heart & Soul. Three this week from the mystery lady. Yes, mush for certain this week. But we have some mushy parts to us at times. No comments from anyone, please. She was concerned her third Haiku did not use the word new, however I think she missed the fact the use of the last four words in the third line infer something new is about to happen. So she got it. Those of you who have not been visiting need to start. Each week has a post of its own and her Haiku have come a long way from where she was. Hmm. I think that speaks to a lot of things about her perhaps.@BWseekingBL
Colleen of Silver Threading: Poof, You’re a Fairy.Does the title have anything to do with the Haiku? Maybe. Perhaps. A little? A word maybe? You have to go see to know for certain. @ColleenChesebroAlso remember to drop by the LWI site and read Colleen’s Book Reviews. She is excellent. Click here to see everything she’s written.
Steven Walsky of Simplicity Lane: Seconds Pass. A serious one from our often times humorous friend. Anyone else been concerned about our missing maestro of merriment? Simplicity Lane is free, go here for where you can get it. Through a Stranger’s Eyes hereand Résumé for Love for freehere.
Claudette of to search and to find happiness in every day: Glory. Always has me thinking with these. Okay, as I am thinking I think I thought thoughts that were not thought of as this was being thought out.
Marigold of Versus Blurb:It’s Raining Men. That has nothing to do with her Haiku, but the little image at the top instantly brought that to mind. No idea why. But who knows what was going through her mind to make her so sun shiny at the time? Go purchase Marigold Deidre Dicer’s book The Black Swan InheritancefromSmashwords, Kobo, Barnes and Noble or the iBooks store or purchase it from Amazon on Kindle by clicking here. @MarigoldDicer
Florence of Meanings and Musings: Coffee Time. I based that title on her first Haiku. Read it, think about it, and you’ll get it. Maybe I’m wrong, but maybe I’m right. Also it was her birthday when she posted so go wish her a belated birthday. @FTThum
Vashti Quiroz-Vega:Let Me Go. At first when I saw the title I thought she meant she wanted me to stop the fan mail I send each day. Then I read it and I think it still might mean that. Either that or it’s a new theme song for a Disney movie coming up. You decide..Get Vashti’s current book,The Basementon Amazon by clicking here. @VashtiQV
Melissa of The Aran Artisan: Blackberry Bliss . Ha. Sweet Haiku, the Ha is for the photo. Yeah, that’s Bliss for certain. @thearanartisan
Alka Girdharof Magnanimous Word: All Powerful Time. Three from Alka this week. Reflective Haiku this week. Enjoyed the middle one a lot. @girally
Evolving Ruminations:New Moon. A science lesson as well as a Haiku. Gotta love it.
Sue Vincent from Daily Echo: Tides. Okay, the first line, the first word. Is she like trying to show us up or something? Sue is one of our resident authors with a LOT of books on Amazon. Click here to check them out. @SCVincentBut Check out her NEW BOOK by clicking the image. Available in Paperback and for Kindle.
For me there is some difficulty when it comes to face to face relationships since my accident over a year ago. It might be the memory issues. Perhaps the fear of people. Somewhere along the way . . . hmm, maybe it’s all of it together.
As a father I have to get over it at times. I guess when I am able to get into those moments of discussion and encouragement and help my son grow, he knows it’s the real thing. And there I believe lies true nurturing.
Humans are very perceptive when it comes to fakes or genuines. Yes, another of my made up words. Perhaps I will create a comic book called The Genuines and the enemies will be The Deceptives.
“Focus, Ronovan.”
“Okay, okay, I will.”
My son is very perceptive. He knows when someone truly cares about him when they are discussing things that are to encourage and help him. He doesn’t need encouragement. I suppose encouragement is great in its place but nurturing is really the thing that is needed.
When you nurture you are giving of yourself, your feelings are shared, your time, your blood, your sweat and tears. Even an infant knows the difference between the genuine and the deceptive.
My son, aged 10, began his first season of baseball this year. No one believes it. He was apparently born to play the game. Perhaps it was the hours of throwing balls to him over the summer that helped some, the explaining how baseball works, how to properly run the bases, how to relay the ball. It was a sport I could explain and he could learn that carried over. I suppose it helped I took coaching of baseball in college.
But what is really helping him are the coaches. He has the best coaches in his league. I don’t say that because they are winning, I say that because their mentality of growing young kids into loving baseball, and training them the right way, and not just about technique.
The hitting coach even took time with my son “B” before practice, since it was early, and went through a couple of things with him, and told him he was the most naturally gifted hitter and player he had ever seen. He didn’t have to say that. And his actions back up his words.
I take the guys words as truth because of his background. He played college ball, football and baseball at the same University I went to, but ended up with baseball after the first season and was even scouted by the pros. He still plays in leagues that we have here that aren’t for pros. Oh, did I mention his father was a two time football Super Bowl Champion?
Encouragement without sincerity is just smoke. It’s a commercial for a toy that kids know won’t work. My son even explains to me why the toys won’t work when he sees the ads.
Again, I wasn’t going to do a post today, but it’s #1000Speak for Compassion with the topic of Nurturing. I opened the page and this happened without a thought.
Nurturing can be from adult to adult as well. I have people, person, something like that, not only encouraging my writing but taking steps to nurture along the way to lead in the direction of improvement. Not so much teaching me technique but being honest with me.
Nurturing is not simply being a cheerleader, nurturing is sometimes be the tough guy for the better. The other person won’t always like it, but through a history with you, they know it is for the better and will go with it.
No matter what you do, with whomever you do it with, nurture. It reminds me of one of my favorite verses.
“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”~Ephesians 4:29
If those who follow these words only fulfilled these words, would it not be a wonderful world? I try. I fail at times, I am sure, but I try.
It’s late. I messed up, but here was the first entry in the weeks Haiku Challenge. She really has a way of taking the art seriously but adding a bit of personality to it. 🙂
I am really getting into writing these Haikus (if that is the correct plural). For Ronovan’s Challenge this week we have been given the words ‘time’ and ‘new.’
As amazing as it sounds, the Challenge has been going for 40 straight weeks now. Although I didn’t do a separate poem this week, my example is in the post, as always. I believe my title for it would be Our Greater Joy. I hope you enJOY it.
My Blog Anniversary post of Choice. This was a very quiet post with little to no fanfare or fireworks. Not an overabundance of views. My purpose was not for celebration of my blog but to spotlight another blog brought to my attention. One I believe many would be encouraged by.
This was a part of my #BeWoW blog share for Twitter on Wednesdays. BeWoW standing for Be Wonderful on Wednesdays.
My article for my weekly blogshare hashtag for posts about positivity. Share what you got. Just hashtag it like you see it and throw in my Twitter Handle if you want to make certain I see it. Twitter get’s crazy at times. @RonovanWrites.
A tip on how to do those “Click here to go there within the document.” I’ve updated it to make it simpler. More of this type will be coming. And using them gets easier the more you do use them. It doesn’t take me long now that I have a routine down, and learned some short cuts.
What to expect this coming week?
The Sunday post is already out and it coincides with the #1000Speak Nurturing campaign this month. Nurturing is Genuine. There should be a post from a new writer here on Ronovan Writes. A person who wants to branch out a bit. I also have word of articles possibly coming for guest spots. And you can be certain, that with 10 days left of the AtoZ Challenge I will have some more articles for you. Also the Haiku Challenge will be out, as well as #BeWoW. Why not poetry from me lately? I have thought I didn’t want to overload everyone with too much considering I have all those Challenge articles going out.
Our trip today into Graphic Literature takes us to Komiks. We could venture back to days when pictures and words were put together and people now call them cartoons or comics or as I prefer, Graphic Literature, however I want to jump ahead maybe 30 or so years. My goal today is to see if we can go from the past to the present and connect the artists and writers along the way.
You may have heard of the game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon or Six Degrees of Separation. The goal is to connect Kevin Bacon to any other actor in six steps or less. Let’s see what we can do with the creators today.
After the Spanish
It’s after the Spanish-American War and there is some American influences filtering in.1 On January 11, 1929, Liwayway2 magazine published a character named Francisco Harabas, better known as Kenkoy3. Created by writer Romulado Ramos and the man who would become known as the father of Filipino Komiks, Tony Velasquez (Oct. 29, 1910-1997)4.
A little about Kenkoy. For one thing, the character is such a part of the culture the word kenkoy is actually an official part of the Filipino language now meaning joker or jester. That should tell you something of the character himself. However, his life as a bachelor did not last forever, he eventually marries Rosing, a very classy and classic woman of the Philippines. The two remind me of Dagwood and Blondie in their differences of appearances and overall demeanor, created in 1930.5 With seven biological children and one adopted mute, but wily child later they were a happy, if not crowded, family.
Kenkoy is said to be the originator of Taglish6, which is English and Tagalog7 mixed as a language, you may notice it on social media if you know anyone from the Philippines.
A sad note about Kenkoy. During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines in WWII, Velasquez was forced to use Kenkoy as a propaganda tool. He refused but was convinced by the then Philippine President to use it for the promotion of his health program instead of war propaganda. I suppose it served the same purpose.8
Velasquez was the mentor to someone I found very interesting. As I have of others in the southern hemisphere on the other side of the earth.
Let’s go to Mars.
Mars Ravelo (Oct. 9, 1916-Sept. 12, 1988), was an illustrator and creator of great note.9 Ravelo wore many hats through his Komix career and became known as the “Father of Filipino Komix Superheroes”. I guess you can see why I am interested.
I want to mention two characters. One with a bit of conflict about her history. Darna, originally named Varga.10,
“You know I thought of creating Varga as a counterpart of Superman. Male on the part of the Americans, female on our part. Isn’t that okay?”~Mars Ravelo11
Varga was created just before WWII broke out, around 1939.12 Some say Darna is a rip off of Wonder Woman who first appeared December, 194113 in DC Comics14. Darna’s alter ego is the mortal Narda. For one to become the other they must shout the name of the one they are not. The power to do so in the original origin came when a white stone crashing to earth from the planet Marte was swallowed by Narda to keep it hidden from her friends. With the change between characters being by the shouting of a name, inspired by Captain Marvel (1939), Revelo’s claim would seem to hold up.
Then we have Captain Barbell, May 23, 1963. I have to say this one has an interesting origin. Revelo’s openly spoofed Komik of Captain Marvel, who is now known as Shazam, due to legal issues.15With powers given to a mortal through a golden barbell while shouting the words Captain Barbell. I know it sounds a little cheesy but the powers are given to various people over the years and is quite interesting. Revelo had not intended for the character to be quite as heroic as it turned out to be, but the popularity forced his hand. And it took me about as long coming to this point of writing this part to get the rhyme of Captain Marvel and Captain Barbell. Don’t hate me because I am slow, hate me because I am beautiful. Okay, so I have a sense of humor.
Mars Revelo was a writer, editor and more, but he needed someone to be his artist.
Darna Comes Alive
Enter Nestor Redondo (May 4, 1928-Sept. 30, 1995). Oddly, or funnily, Redondo studied architecture when he was young.16 Why odd or funny? I’ve found this to be true with many Graphic Literature artists before. Many writers and editors have said it seems to be a plus in their backgrounds and detail work. But that’s perhaps for another article.
Why the love of a career in Komiks, with possibly check to prayer to check life ahead? Blame his father who would would bring him American comics. An addiction began for titles such as Flash Gordon and Captain America as well as Buck Rogers and Superman. Little did that boy or his father know what was in the future.17
Then it happened. Mars Revelo came calling and Redondo drew the first issue of Darna. You’ve seen his work above on Darna. Now here are some other pieces. Notice the work commissioned for the promotional comic version of the MGM movie Quo Vadis. The movie studio wanted Revelo to come to the US to work for them after seeing his talent, but he didn’t think he was ready.
But the Philippines could not hang on to Nestor for much longer.
The Filipino Invasion
Through the talent and popularity of fellow Filipino artist Tony DeZuniga, Nestor Redondo and several of his friends came to the notice of DC and Marvel.18 You can call this the Filipino Invasion.
Redondo worked on books for DC such as Phantom Stranger and Swamp Thing. As well as Red Sonja and Savage Sword of Conan for Marvel Comics.19
What he was most proud of or perhaps most passionate about was his work distributed by Open Doors20, a Netherlands-based organization. Being very religious he worked on beautifully illustrate stories of the Bible to be distributed to countries and areas where the Bible was restricted.
The Exodus
After the mass exodus of so many Filipino creators it’s difficult to make the connections from Filipino to Filipino as I have wanted to. In part this is because so many left in 1972. Why did so many leave at that time? September 21, 1972, Ferdinand Marcos, nearing the end of his term as president, declared martial law. Things got bad.
“From what I remember, the local komiks companies set up their own Comics Code (but they were a self-governing body), just so that the government won’t get involved and censor all their works. But just like the Comics Code, they did restrict stories that showed too much horror, sex, and violence. Which, could be, partly the reason why our horror komiks artists looked for greener pastures and found it in the US market.”~Budjette Tan of Trese
Much like other countries where the government takes a strangle hold on any type of media that may influence the population, the comic book industry suffers greatly. If that hold lasts for a long time, decades even, a generation of culture does not inherit a long standing tradition. That’s what happened in the Philippines. Then Komiks became mostly photocopied and stapled together by the creators themselves and sold by the creators as well, many depended on the various conventions that are held each year.21
But now the industry requires greater quality to gain an audience. They all expect Marvel and DC quality.22
Resurrection?
Now there is an effort to revitalize and bring the industry back home. In every aspect of visual entertainment you will find Filipinos, Pinoys. That’s paraphrasing Whilce Portacio. If you are a comic book fan anywhere in the world you very likely know this man’s name.
Whilce Portacio and Bishop, the X-Man he helped create.
Born in the Philippines, but with a Navy dad he bounced or bobbed around until finally settling down at the age of about two and growing up in San Diego, CA. That’s where at the age of ten, his neighbor’s wife made it possible for Whilce to come into possession of her husband’s comic book collection and Whilce became a student of Jack Kirby and Neal Adams through books he never would have had otherwise.23
How did he make it to the big time? Through the help of another? No. He attended his first San Diego comic book convention, showed his samples to Marvel Comics editor Carl Potts24 and he was next inking Alien Legion25. The best I can tell, the original series.
Then came inking Longshot. Then Punisher. In an video interview Whilce talks about how he got his shot to become a penciller, the guy who does the drawing the inker inks over. He said he would ink the Punisher then flip the sheet over. You have to understand the sheets are huge for working on and then shrunk down for printing. He would then draw his on pencil work on the back. While the editor of Punisher would be holding up the page to check out the inking, the assistant editor would see the pencils and say, “Hey, look at this.”
X-Men, Iron Man, and others. you name it he did it. Then he was one of the magnificent seven that started Image Comics and worked on books like Spawn. Not big enough, how about Batman? Oh, and if you don’t know who Image Comics is, think where The Walking Dead began.
That’s all great and good but the main reason I mention him today is his efforts to bring pride back to the art form in the Philippines. To do that he has partners who will be helping to back a studio system in the Philippines with Portacio acting as art director.26
I can imagine who the backers are. His thoughts are the Philippines could be the next Japan for many aspects of the industry from comics to animation. One advantage is the Filipinos already speak English and tell stories in English.27
Why no art by Whilce Portacio? That’s not the reason I mentioned him, although listening to him he is the man to learn from. I would love to be a student of his. But the reason I mention him here?
He’s bringing a culture back home.
One thing Whilce said way back when in an a show hosted by Stan Lee when asked about when he knew he wanted be an artist he said the first grade. And here is the best part of why. The teacher had given the class paper and crayons. As she went around the room she told each student something like that’s nice, and then would ask what are you drawing? When she got to Whilce, she said, “Oh, did you see the Saturn V rocket launch yesterday?” It clicked. She knew what he had drawn. Yes, a teacher gave him confidence with just a few words.
If you were around a few days ago, you may have noticed I did a Guess Who game. I put up a profile photo of one our friends, she had changed it, and I thought it would be fun to see who could guess who it was. It was a bit obvious. In fact it was probably taken on the same day as her previous photo but this would looked all cool and movie like with the wind blowing her hair and all.
The winners, including her if she were reading, got to select a post to be reblogged here on RonovanWrites.
Melissa of The Aran Artisan, the lady in the photo of the game, decided to choose the post of a friend instead of one of her own. So I give you her choice.
Life With a Yellow Bicycle is a blog by Stephanie@stephpeppard.
“My blog is about an ordinary woman with an extraordinary yellow bicycle and how together as a team, they overcame one of life’s dreaded obstacles. It is also about my thoughts and philosophies and stories over the course of that time.”
That’s only the first paragraph of an extraordinary story about an extraordinary woman and her extraordinary yellow bicycle that may have saved an extraordinary life.
This is Yellow Bicycle at the beach, the photo from the article you will be going to read today.
This is Stephanie and Yellow Bicycle. Yellow looks to be the most amazing bicycle. And looks so strong. The picture itself is great. I love the images. Old and new together. An Ireland lady on an adventure called life.
Now it is time to visit Stephanie and Yellow Bicycle in what turns out not to be a reblog but a request.
Today is the one year anniversary of RonovanWrites.
I wasn’t going to do anything because it’s just another day of meeting people for me but I changed my mind after reading this. I have chosen this post as the one I wish for all of you to visit as a present to me. Why? The story is a reason for one. Another reason? Blogging, for me, is more than simply writing about me and my creations. Although that is what you see most of. Blogging for me this past year on RonovanWrites has been about meeting Extraordinary People with Extraordinary Stories who believe themselves to be Ordinary People with Ordinary Lives.
After reading the story Melissa had suggested, I could not think of anything I could write on this day that could come close to telling something similar to what I have been going through since that day a year and a half ago when my life was literally taken away.
She didn’t know he was standing there. He had been for sometime. What would she have done if she had been aware? It’s not like she hadn’t invited him before.
He smiled thinking about his nicknames for what he was doing. So wrong but so funny. A private joke no one else would get. Others would be horrified. He didn’t care about others.
Her hair caught the light and shimmered. That word. Shimmered. Used so many times, or the word glossy. But there were no other words to describe her hair. Liquid erotica, perhaps? One glimpse is all it took. Up, down, forward, pulled back, or fanned across a pillow. Or better yet, wet in the shower.
But now wasn’t a shower. Now was one of his favorite times. He watched her. Her mind was focused elsewhere, concentrating on finishing. Knowing if she stopped it would never happen. She had to keep pushing, no matter the pain. Once she finished it would feel so good.
He knew the signs. This was not new to him. There, the eyes drifting. The hands moving. The shoulders rounding. Back arching. Her body going limp and the breath goes out of her.
Now it is his turn. He walks up behind her, puts his hands on her shoulders and begins to massage. Her hand goes to his. Rests her cheek against his skin.
Her work is finished and the computer can be turned off. Finally. It’s late, after midnight. No matter how much he loves watching her work. Watching her be her. Watching her be beautiful, and intelligent, more than anything he loved watching her smile and relax.
She stands. He puts his hand up. The look is given wondering if he’s crazy. He picks her up and carries her from her office and up the stairs. Her head rests on his shoulder. Thoughts drift from one expectation to the next. He gives no sign.
As expected when he walks into the bedroom she has drifted to sleep. Yes, expectations. Some wished for, some needed. Sometimes expectations are love. The expectations of being. That’s the only expectation he ever has. As long as she is, that is enough for him.
He gently places her on her side of the bed, the covers pulled back. Yes, expectations. He had known. Her sandals slip off, he covers her, shorts and t-shirt had been a good working outfit for work at home today.
Climbing into his side of the bed he begins to write. Working on the next book that may or may not sell, but a book she will love because she is. He stops and looks at her, watches her.
The laptop is put away and the lights are turned off. Lying in the dark he looks at her profile in the moonlight. Her nose, and her lips. Watching.
Oman may have some creators but I didn’t find any in my basic search. I do a decent search for a time then I move on. That being said, do you know how many countries start with the letter O? You got it, one. I decided to go with a province. Yes, I thought about searching in other languages to see if a different spelling came up for a country, but this is a fun project for me, and I do enough translating as it is.
Normally when doing a history I go in chronological order. I thought I would change it up a bit today. We’re going with two creators only. We’re going back in time. From end to the beginning. We’re going north. We’re going maple leaf country.
That’s right.
We’re going Canada.
To be precise—we’re going Ontario.
A lot of times when you start with the newest you end up talking the least about something in history. That has been especially true for Graphic Literature.
Today if you think that, you are wrong. Wrong in a big way. So wrong that wrong is not even enough of a word to say how wrong you and I are.
The Midas Touch
At the age of 39 Jeff Lemire is likely to tell you to be included with our later creator in an article would have been an impossibility. But maybe the reason he is, is because no one ever asked him that if it was possible.1After all, there are a lot of accomplishments out there that when asked of the people that did them, they say, no one ever told me I couldn’t.
I don’t know if Midas Touch applies here but when you start your career self-publishing your first comic, win an award, then go immediately into a company where Alan Moore, legend, is putting out a volume of his The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and when an award with a series with that company, I think Midas Touch fits.2
“I like to tell stories that make people feel something. It takes too long to make comics to just do frivolous or throwaway work. I’m trying to create real emotion on the page.”~Jeff Lemire3
Reading more and more about Lemire you discover one thing about him, creating comics is the important part of his profession. Even with the recent blow up of his world with Sony optioning a comic project from Image Comics, Descender, he hadn’t even put out the first issue of yet, he made sure during the negotiations his role, his time, and his freedom was in creating the book he wanted. He got that deal.4That’s power. That’s talent.
Descender by Jeff Lemire, art by Dustin Nguyen.
Lemire is not your typical superhero storyteller. In truth that’s not his go-to element. Can he do it? He’s written, Batman, the Justice League, and Superboy. Yes, he can do it, but he’s likely to take them out of that super environment.
His early work, such as the Eisner and Harvey Award nominated Essex County Trilogy5 and even the graphic novel, Underwater Welder6 set characters in Canadian settings away from urban areas and mega-powered heroes.
I like the art work here from Essex County Trilogy with what looks like a spoof of the Punisher from Marvel Comics. Brilliantly done.Notice the sharp, crisp lines from the above water scenes in Underwater Welder. The main character looking at his pregnant wife.Here we see an underwater scene with the looser lines and you have images of the above world showing you the contrast.
With Underwater Welder he did some interesting work with the art. Yes, he likes to do all of the work on a book if time permits. Above water he has sharp, distinct lines, while below he has the looser imagery. And there is a purpose.
But I am here to see where he goes for the hero stuff. Call me selfish, I’ve learned about what he does, listened to a number of interviews, one of them above, to see consistency of his character over the years and of his devotion to the story and not to the sells or the fame. Now I want to talk about bookes he has worked on that I can geek out about. And seeing as today is the one year anniversary of this site, I’m going to enjoy and share what I like.
The big moment.
The graphic novel The Nobody in 2009 brings Lemire to DC Comics’ Vertigo imprint. A retelling of the Invisible Man by H.G. Wells. Lemire does all the work on the book except for the lettering.7
Now onto something more mainstream as far as what an average comic fan might now, Jonah Hex.8 I know, you are wondering who he is. Think of the Josh Brolin movie that came out. Lamire did the art on the Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti scripted book.9 The huge part here is the Jimmy Palmiotti part, former partner of Joe Quesada who became the Editor-in-Chief of Marvel Comics for over a decade and eventually promoted to Chief Creative Officer.10 In other words he, Lemire had a cool moment there.
His first big accomplishment, I think, can be seen as a very long run on Animal Man from Sept. 2011-Mar. 2014.11 Why do I say this? He took a character that had apparently no real direction for over two decades since it’s revival creator, Scottish born writer Grant Morrison12, left and turned it into not only a relevant to this day and age, but so much so Animal Man became part of Justice League United.
But the one piece of work at DC that I believe shows the companies biggest vote of confidence in Lemire is when they picked him to step in when Ann Nocenti<13 left Green Arrow14.
I’ve skipped a lot of material but I want to leave off with this one. Lemire is now writing probably my second favorite comic book character of all time, Hawkeye. Although I will give him credit for being given a big gig on a Marvel Comics book, I have to say I don’t much like the ideas he has for it.15Sometimes a fan boy wants his favorite characters to at least remain the star of the book. But that’s the fan boy in me. Old school collector guy.
Rant of the Blog Birthday Boy.
But the ideas of Marvel these days doesn’t hold anything sacred. It’s my blog birthday so I’m speaking my piece here. By Marvel killing the sacred cows so to speak, they are doing more harm than good. I see a lot of what they are doing as more knee jerk reactions to placate to hopefully making sales and get publicity over maintaining long time fans, readers. It’s going to bomb at some point. There has always been something comforting in being able to pick up an issue of Spider-Man and have some idea of who the character is. They killed Steve Rogers, Captain America, brought him back, then aged him, forcing him out of the Cap roll. He’s still in the game as a commander of sorts and picked his longtime partner the Falcon as the new Captain America. I’m okay with that last part. It makes sense. But Steve Rogers not being Captain America doesn’t. Quesada has some problems with his thinking. He thinks the costume is the character. He thinks Thor is the hammer, so anyone picking it up is Thor. Marvel is awesome, but sometimes it’s just screwed up.
One of Lemire’s first DC writing jobs was to write Superboy, but not a young Clark Kent. Long story there, convoluted and a pain in the butt to work out. It seems DC Comics can’t decide what version of it’s universe it wants to keep. Every few years or maybe a decade or so they decide it’s time to destroy everything fans knew and start over. Yeah, Superman and Wonder Woman are making out now. Lois Lane?
Moving On
Whose our other Ontario comic book artist? Who did work on Superboy? Who did draw Superboy?
How about the man who created him and Superman? It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s a legend.
Joe Shuster
A legend? Yes. A happy ending? Wait and see.
Drawing on paper bags and the back of rolls of discarded wallpaper, Joe Shuster did what it took to break into the world of comics. Canadian? Yes. But it wasn’t until his parents moved to Cleveland, Ohio that IT happened.16 The meeting. The chemistry explosion. He met Jerry Siegel.17 You can’t say one name without the other.
If you are not a comic book person, Siegel and Shuster might not spark something in your brain cavity. If you are then you instantly think of the Big S.
Superman.
Joe Shuster and Original Sketch of Superman Cover.
These two young men created what is considered the first superhero of sorts. Two young Jewish boys doing what geeky comic book wannabe professionals wanted to do.
The boys did something they would regret. They sold the rights to the character when they began to work for the future DC comics. At the end of their contract with DC, Shuster did a little more in comics, then disappeared from the business disgruntled with what should have been a beautiful career.
He ended up as a delivery man living with his mother. Although it is believed he did continue drawing comics under other names at times during the 1950s in less than respectable genres. But it was a buck, a living.
For the man who created not only the Superman characters we know, but also detective Slam Bradley, and Doctor Occult, it is a sad ending. An ending that found him blind an in a home when he passed away.
Apparently Siegel and Shuster were the first to have a vampire in a comic book.18 A lot of firsts for a duo that was messed over for so many decades.
I knew of the legal battles between Siegel and Shuster versus DC Comics over Superman, which gave them their byline back and a yearly pension and healthcare in the 1970s, but I didn’t know about Shuster’s leaving the business.
Will Lemire, with better relations and with creator rights more firmly in place end up doing more work in comics than Shuster? Yes. Will he create Superman? No. But I don’t think anyone ever goes out with the idea of creating the next Superman. Thinking about it, why don’t they?
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