Comics Read 02/10-03/31/2024
Over this period of time I read a special compilation called The Flapper Queens, Women Cartoonists of the Jazz Age. The compilation is in this beautiful hard cover volume. It was edited and compiled by Trina Robbins and I have been meaning to look into more of her work ever since I learned that she created the costume design for Vampirella. (I am sad to say that between starting to draft this and posting it Robbins died.) While reading this didn’t do much to better acquaint myself Robbins’ work it was interesting and a mostly enjoyable to read collection. The cartoonist that this volume focuses on are: Nell Brinkley, Eleanor Schorer, Edith Stevens, Ethel Hays, Fay King and Virginia Huget. I have not idea if anyone else should have been included. Not all of the cartoons were great, and the standard warnings about the racism and sexism of the times needs to be applied. Still the drawings were often very pretty and the situations depicted were a fascinating time capsule. If I wrote this in a more timely manner I might have written more about it presenting a view of how flappers were perceived in their time, but not really what it was like to be one, leading me to wonder who the target audience was… but I didn’t write this in a timely manner and now I have to write about two more comics that I read.
The first is Girl written by Peter Milligan with art by Duncan Fegredo and colors by Nathan Eyring. I know Milligan is controversial, brining up tricky topics in not the most sensitive ways, or ways that become quickly out of political. But I mostly like him as a writer. I think he can get to a sublime sense I don’t get from many writers. He and Fegredo did that with their earlier comic Enigma. That said, I didn’t like Girl that much. The grim set up felt too heavy, the potentially delusional narrator too sad. It may have started with some interesting ideas, but it did not really pull them off. The too happy ending was neither earned nor unsettlingly unreal. I wanted it to be real because the misery earlier was too much, but mostly it made the story feel pointless. I didn’t love the art. This was originally published in 1996 and some of it is that style just isn’t to my taste these days. Though I have to appreciate how the artist worked to make two characters identical except the hair and clothes.
Finally I read the miniseries Afterlift. I bought it because it was written by Chip Zdarsky, artist for Sex Criminals and writer for the Kaptara, (which, much to my surprise has a second volume coming out this week) as well as some Big Two titles that I don’t read. The art is by co-creator Jason Loo, with colors by Paris Alleyne, Letters by Aditya Bidikar, and edited by Allison O’Toole. This was a refreshing read. It is the story of a ride share driver named Janice Chen who unknowingly picks up a demon planning to escort a miserable soul to Hell. It’s funny, it cares about the state of the soul, it’s not too attached to any specific dogma. The art is fun, easy to read, filled with distinct, both human and divine. The colors are great at evoking different dark scenarios while still being clear. A good reminder of why I sill make time to read comic books.
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References in Servamp
Arabian mythology
Jinn. Ch. 16
Greek mythology
Elpis. Ch. 75
Moirai. Ch. 108
Pandora. Ch. 130
Pygmalion. Ch. 123
Pandora's Box. Ch. 97
Japanese mythology
Gashadokuro. Ch. 129
Kitsune. Ch. 3
Raijin. Ch. 85
Norse mythology
Baldr. Ch. 39
Bifröst. Ch. 88
Brunhild. Ch. 88.
Freya. Ch. 65
Frey. Ch. 131
Gleipnir. Ch. 101
Hati. Ch. 91, 131
Hod. Ch. 39
Hliðskjálf. Ch. 96
Idunn. Ch. 65
Loki. Ch. 15
Mimir. Ch. 29
Mjölnir. Ch. 53
Ragnarök. Ch. 101, 122, 131
Sigurd. Ch. 101
Thor. Ch. 41
Yggdrasil. Ch. 42
Biblical references
Abel. Ch. 8
Adam. Ch. 128
Boaz and Jachin. Ch. 42
Eden. Ch. 21
Eve. Ch. 1
John the Baptist. Ch.122
Lucifer. Ch. 135
Nod. Ch. 29, events
Hinduism
Asura. Ch. 57.5, 89.
Tarot
The Fool - Mahiru. Ch. 50
I. The Magician – Night trio. Ch. 41
II. The High Priestess – Mikuni. Ch. 42
V. The Hierophant - Shuhei. Ch. 77
X. Wheel of Fortune - Junichiro. Ch. 53
XII. The Hanged Man - Tsurugi. Ch. 50
XV. The Devil – Shamrock. Ch. 72
XVI. The Tower - Touma. Ch. 47
XVII. The Star - Iduna. Ch. 73
XVIII. The Moon - Yumikage. Ch. 69
Literary references
"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" Lewis Carroll. Ch. 3, 4, 7, 19, 98, 122. Misono, Lily, Dodo, Mitsuki, Yamane, Hattori, Mikuni, Bad B and Good B.
"As You Like It" William Shakespeare. Ch. 10, 38.5. Mikuni's spell.
"My Fair Lady" English nursery rhyme. Ch. 10 Mikuni's spell.
"Dracula" Bram Stoker. Ch. 12, 30. Hugh.
"Romeo and Juliet" William Shakespeare. Ch. 23, 34. Hyde, Ophelia.
"Faust" by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Ch. 29 Johannes.
"Through the Looking-Glass" Lewis Carroll. Ch. 29, events. Mikuni, Johannes.
"Julius Caesar" William Shakespeare. Ch. 23, 84. Hyde.
"Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" Robert Stevenson. Ch. 23, 37. Hyde, Licht.
"Macbeth" William Shakespeare. Ch. 24, 31. Kuro, Saint Germain, Mahiru.
"Night on the Galactic Railroad" Kenji Miyazawa. Ch. 26, 142. Higan, Tsubaki.
"The Little Prince" Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Ch 30, 67. Kuro, Mahiru, Sloth demon, Gear, probably Jeje.
"Hamlet" William Shakespeare. Ch. 33, 34. Hyde, Ophelia.
"The Phantom of the Opera" Gaston Leroux. Ch. 36 Licht and Hyde technique.
"Peter and Wendy" James Barry. Ch. 44, 56, 74. Tsurugi, Touma, Mahiru.
"Ring a Ring o' Roses" nursery rhyme. Ch. 53 Junichiro's spell.
“Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens” James Barry. Ch. 53, 75. Tsurugi, Touma.
"Death in Venice" Thomas Mann. Ch. 55 Gilbert technique.
"Total Eclipse" a play by Christopher Hampton. Ch. 55 Rayscent's technique.
"The Morning of the Last Farewell" Kenji Miyazawa. Ch. 57.5 Tsubaki.
"Spring and Asura" Kenji Miyazawa. Ch. 57.5 Tsubaki.
"The Catcher in the Rye" Jerome Salinger. Ch. 62 Shuhei.
"Four and Twenty Blackbirds" Agatha Christie. Ch. 62 Shuhei's spell.
"Metamorphosis" Franz Kafka. Ch. 62 Shamrock technique.
“The Nighhawk's Star” Kenji Miyazawa. Ch. 62, 76. Shamrock technique.
"Rock-a-bye Baby" an English lullaby. Ch. 70 Touma's spell.
“Schlafe, mein Prinzchen, schlaf ein” lullaby. Ch. 70 Touma's spell.
"Who Killed Cock Robin" an English nursery rhyme. Ch. 70 Yumikage's spell.
"The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" Lyman Frank Baum. Ch. 70, 88. Tsukimitsu brothers’ spells.
"Daddy-Long-Legs" Jean Webster. Ch. 74. Dark Night Trio, Touma.
"King Lear" William Shakespeare. Ch. 86. Hyde.
"The House of the Sleeping Beauties" Yasunari Kawabata. Ch. 86. Iori.
"The Divine Comedy" Dante Alighieri. Ch. 118, 120, 121. Niccolo, Ildio, Gluttony demon.
“A Brute's Love” (人でなしの恋) Edogawa Rampo. Ch. 122 Mikuni, Lily.
"Coppelia" ballet Leo Delibes. Chapter 122 Mikuni, Lily.
"Salome" Oscar Wilde. Ch. 122 Mikuni, Lily.
"Turandot" opera by Giacomo Puccini based on the play by Carlo Gozzi. Ch. 129, 136. Lily.
"The Tempest" William Shakespeare. Ch. 131. Licht and Hyde.
"The Old Man and the Sea" Ernest Hemingway. Ch. 134 Hugh.
"Flowers for Algernon" Daniel Keyes. Ch. 135 Hugh.
"Jane Eyre" Charlotte Brontë. Ch. 136. Hokaze.
"Madama Butterfly" opera by Giacomo Puccini. Ch. 136. Lily.
"Hansel and Gretel" the Brothers Grimm. Ch. 140. Faust and Otogiri.
Music
"Für Elise" by Ludwig van Beethoven. Ch. 34
"Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" by Johann Sebastian Bach. Ch. 125
Sonata No. 17 "Tempest" by Ludwig van Beethoven. Ch. 131
Movies
"It's a Wonderful Life" (1946). Ch. 131
"Life is Beautiful" (1997). Ch. 131
I believe this list can be expanded. Somewhere I’ve written only chaps when some reference was mentioned for the first time and omitted all further mentions.
Special thanks to hello-vampire-kitty, joydoesathing and passmeabook, because some works wouldn’t be included in the list without their observations.
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