I hope my FB friend, Al, won't mind, but I am quoting myself from a little "talk" we had today:
I like joy, anger, and physical, human feeling in art. In comics, I see that diminished by Spiegelman & Fantagraphics' influence, and am angry about it.
I'm reading some early Tezuka now, and THAT is work I like. Unafraid of being earnest to the point of "uncool".
It's my first time reading his comics at length. They have a sense of fancy and sincerity discouraged in current fare.
I mean, I'm tired of hipsters desolate over their coffee mugs, "above it all".
COPYRIGHT 2014 BY MILTON KNIGHT
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Sunday, July 13, 2014
LATEST EDITION
Regarding CLR James: Ye editor says not to lose heart, the book will be published. I dam sure hope so!
Below, another sequence from my CLR James 'graphic novel' (comic, dammit!). James at age 8 in Trinidad.
Yrs, MK
COPYRIGHT 2014 BY MILTON KNIGHT
Below, another sequence from my CLR James 'graphic novel' (comic, dammit!). James at age 8 in Trinidad.
Yrs, MK
COPYRIGHT 2014 BY MILTON KNIGHT
FOILED AGAIN
The project I’ve been working on since Fall last year is less than likely to see print. The history of CLR James, 20th century Trinidadian social activist, is not a subject I would have chosen myself. It was presented to me by an editor who said it had a publisher and that it was a “done deal”. It wasn’t, and once the months of (paid) labor were presented, the publisher passed on it. They have committed themselves to too many ‘graphic novel’ projects as it is. (I have my doubts about the legitimacy of the “graphic novel revolution’, but will go into that another time.)
Since the humor element of comics has been supplanted by strivings for Art and Education (‘humor’, ‘comics’, how’s that for irony?), I hoped that this book might break one or two glass ceilings for me, and also hoped that the book would serve a more noble purpose: to use a cartoon style to present images of blacks in new, constructive, even heroic roles. I wanted to make a book that would make kids’ eyes pop and would inspire wonder and interest to those of all ages, especially those who normally avoid the majority of stodgy graphic textbooks. A sort of ‘learning by accident’.
Since, as I said, the book is less than likely to see print, I feel less beholden to keep it a secret. Here’s a sequence summarizing CLR James’ play, TOUSSAINT L’OVERTURE, about the former slave who led his fellow Haitians to freedom. Paul Robeson created the leading role, and it is he who plays it here. (Note: Haiti was under French rule at the time, 1791, and renamed San Domingo. The blacks had been officially freed, but the conditions of life remained the same.)
Since the humor element of comics has been supplanted by strivings for Art and Education (‘humor’, ‘comics’, how’s that for irony?), I hoped that this book might break one or two glass ceilings for me, and also hoped that the book would serve a more noble purpose: to use a cartoon style to present images of blacks in new, constructive, even heroic roles. I wanted to make a book that would make kids’ eyes pop and would inspire wonder and interest to those of all ages, especially those who normally avoid the majority of stodgy graphic textbooks. A sort of ‘learning by accident’.
Since, as I said, the book is less than likely to see print, I feel less beholden to keep it a secret. Here’s a sequence summarizing CLR James’ play, TOUSSAINT L’OVERTURE, about the former slave who led his fellow Haitians to freedom. Paul Robeson created the leading role, and it is he who plays it here. (Note: Haiti was under French rule at the time, 1791, and renamed San Domingo. The blacks had been officially freed, but the conditions of life remained the same.)
Yrs, MK
COPYRIGHT 2014 BY MILTON KNIGHT
Monday, July 7, 2014
NOTION
Tired of 'awesome' art that isn't ABOUT anything.
This is a 'Golden Age' of polished artists; the schools are spewing out more than ever before. But most of them are high on polish and low on actual ideas. There is nothing there besides being 'awesome'. And to see every country going this way is depressing to me. No more styles unique to their countries. Just one big, highly polished lump.
This is a 'Golden Age' of polished artists; the schools are spewing out more than ever before. But most of them are high on polish and low on actual ideas. There is nothing there besides being 'awesome'. And to see every country going this way is depressing to me. No more styles unique to their countries. Just one big, highly polished lump.
SLAUGHTER THE EVIL
Today's my first day seeing Tod Slaughter, England's drooling, cackling poverty row horror star. These broad melodramas are like staged spook shows. Even Ed Wood said they were bad (but loved them). Three finales here.
Friday, July 4, 2014
Thursday, July 3, 2014
CANINE/FELINE CLASSICS!
Now out: another in the GRAPHIC CLASSICS line of paperbacks; CANINE/FELINE CLASSICS features a whole heap of vital cartoonists bringing pet-oriented literature to life in full color. (Happy to say I have two pages therein.)
Now available from the publisher at only $15. http://graphicclassics.com/
Now available from the publisher at only $15. http://graphicclassics.com/
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
HOW PLIMPS AND PLUMPS FOOLED THE DETECTIVE
Odd German cut out animation from about 1912. I believe the full title is HOW PLIMPS AND PLUMPS FOOLED THE DETECTIVE. http://youtu.be/8ZlFUSSC8IA
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