Daughters of the Dragon, Please

http://fuckyeahladiesofthemcu.tumblr.com/post/178363890747/gamoras-hoe-give-us-daughters-of-the-dragon

What a Cool Idea...

I'm very much looking forward to the premier of Jessica Jones Season 2 on Netflix next week, and I am totally digging having these "Episode Covers" for each episode. I very much approve of this advertising gimmick.

http://fuckyeahladiesofthemcu.tumblr.com/post/171564066737/marvels-jessica-jones-season-2-titles-revealed

Sense8

Sense8 Netflix Promo Image

I am only four episodes in and I am already in love.

In fact, I find I cannot binge-watch Sense8 because each episode requires my full attention. Each draws me in and leaves me wanting to linger in the sensations and thoughts it has provoked in me.

I felt this way about the Wachowskis' Cloud Atlas as well.

I find myself haunted and intrigued. I feel as if they are tapping into something profound, some piece of humanity's shared experience right out of the Jungian collective unconscious.

And, as a result, these stories touch me in the same inarticulate-able way that music can stir the heart.

And J. Michael Straczinski -- writer of plays, films, TV, and comics as well as a director and executive producer of one of my favorite Sci-Fi shows in 1990s television: Babylon 5 --  is their co-writer and co-creator! What a combination of idealists and dreamers.

There is something deeply rooted in the human experience that is noble/heroic, despite the harm and selfishness and idiocy we subject ourselves and each other to. These creators write normal humans who are extraordinary within their normality.

And, as with their other works, in Sense8, Straczinski and the Wachowskis proffer a deeply personal interconnectedness, one in which all humanity shares as hopeful, conflicted, inspired, and wounded beings--- one that we all could embrace by letting compassion and empathy be our guides.

If I were to be said to have a mystical belief system, this Netflix show depicts that spiritualism made manifest. We are better for our link to one another, a link that must be believed in and embraced and protected.

Color

I have been reading the first several issues of the 1964 Daredevil comic after Netflixing/binge-watching the entire first series of the TV show on Netflix. (Yes, I watched all 13 eps within 24 hours of their 10 April 2015 release date -- addix is a part of this blog's title after all).

Since I am a nerd of the highest caliber, I have created a database in which I keep track of all the comics in my collection. This has enabled me to better associate authors and artists with their works. Besides the comics themselves, I use online sources to help me fill in some of the missing details (like release dates if available and variant issues, etc.).

The two primary sites I use to dig up this data are www.comiXology.com and www.mycomicshop.com. Sometimes I cross-reference the information between them, but the release dates can get kinda dicey with the older stuff -- month and year, at best.

Nowadays people have access to better, more specific data online. That said, one of the issues I have with these sources, especially in regards to older issues, is that they often do not provide the colorist for the mags.

They will list authors, pencils, inks, letters, editors, practically everyone and the kitchen sink, but they fail to list the colorists. I don't get this as one of my favorite things is the beauty and depth coloring can add to an image. Coloring is like the soundtrack for the story -- it enhances the emotional layers we feel in a way we aren't always cognizant of.

Mike Deodato, Jr.'s Joker

Fábio Di Castro's 3-D Model 
of Deodato's Drawing

Here is an example to illustrate my point (pun's impossible to avoid here). Mike Deodato, Jr. is a terrific artist, and I have collected several of his comics and images of his work online. On his blog, he shared this Joker piece along with Fábio Di Castro's 3-D model based on Deodato's original drawing.

The art is top-notch creepy in the black & white ink drawing; there is clear menace and madness in the Joker's eyes. But, then, when you add color--- the Joker simply pops off the page and becomes a whole different kind of creepy. The lighting effects shift subtly, and now there's a sense of room around him, like he actually exists in space with you.

The point is that they are both beautiful and effective, but they are different pieces because of the choices made with the color palette. Those choices are a part of the art of comics, and the colorists should get credit for their good work, even in those books from the early days of publishing when coloring options were more limited.