dechezette

23 February 09

What We Can Learn from Comic Books

Beyond an appreciation of art, as creative and interactive professionals, what can we learn from comic books?

The answer is simple: storytelling.

Whether you are creating an immersive flash experience, a product finder, or a how-to guide you are weaving a narrative for the user.

Pitches, client presentation, creative briefs — all stories to be told.

In its most basic form comic books are story boards. Through masterful storyboards we can construct compelling, entertaining presentations and engaging user experiences.

Even if you’re not into comic books, I highly recommend reading Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics. It really reveals the power of the medium and proves it through by telling its story through the medium. Apple Macintosh co-creator Andy Hertzfeld has called it “one of the most insightful books about designing graphic user interfaces ever written”.

Looking to dip your foot in? Here’s a list of a few graphic novels and series that I’m following or have recently completed. No men in tights.

Y: The Last Man
What if everyone (and everything) on the Earth with a Y chromosone spontaneously died — all but one guy and his monkey. Author Brian K. Vaughan explores what a world run by women could look like. The complete series is available in 10 trade paperbacks, and has been the most talked about comic book over the past 6 years since The Sandman. The movie starts filming soon.

100 Bullets
A crime noir series, that has a bit of a Quentin Tarantino feel to it with intricately woven layers within layers. The story centers around an independent group called The Trust that keeps the balance of power between a number of crime families. This series has been going on for ten years and is set to wrap up very soon with the 100th issue. Almost all issue are collected in trade paperbacks.

Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life
I picked this one up upon hearing countless praises from industry critics and comic creators alike. Set in Toronto, the story follows jobless 24-year old Scott Pilgrim’s love life and adventures in his band “Sex Bob-Omb”. Somehow creator Bryan Lee O’Mailey fuses a the simple everyday life of slacker with an all-out manga-style battle of the gods. I’ve only picked up the first one, but will definitely be picking up the four others that are currently out.

The Walking Dead
How many more zombie tales can be told? I’ve never been a big fan of the genre, and the premise of this one wasn’t even anything new. But yet again the praises couldn’t be ignored. I read the first trade paperback and wasn’t convinced, but was urged by a fanboy to “stick with it, it gets better”. I’m glad I did.

19 February 09

How Watchmen Changed the Perception of Comics

In celebration of the much-anticipated film Watchmen, I’m going to dedicate a few posts over the next couple of weeks to the art and storytelling -form of comic books.

Unless you’re a comic book reader you’re probably wondering why there’s so much hype around this film. Simply put, when this comic book was originally published in 1986-1987 it transformed the medium and began the long road to transforming the public’s perception of the medium.

Up until then comic books where largely looked at as cartoons about men in tights. Watchmen deconstructed the superhero paradigm, added mature themes, and leveraged the medium to tell its story in a way that no other could. It garnered praise both in and out of the industry, and is the only graphic novel to be recognized by Time in their list of “the 100 best English-Language novels from 1923 to the present”. Watchmen was the first comic book to elevate the medium to literature.

The term “graphic novel” is also worth a mention. The twelve-issue series was collected and reprinted and marketed as a graphic novel. This brought comic books out of the comic book stores and magazine racks onto the shelves of book stores and libraries. Gaining visibility to new audiences.

If you’re interested a more in-depth look at the significance of Watchmen can be found here. But really the proof is in the pudding, go out and pick up a copy and see for yourself.

02 February 09

Matsumoto’s No. 5

One of my regular podcasts today turned me on to the beautiful art of Taiyō Matsumoto. His surrealist style is apparently pretty unconventional for manga. You can definitely see the Moebius influence. The loose line work also has a bit of a reportage feel to it.

I’m not a big reader of manga, but Matsumoto’s No. 5 is something that I will definitely be picking up.

11 January 09

Kirby: King of Comics

At the tender age of ten, my first career aspirations were to become a comic book illustrator. It seemed like every comic I was attracted to and every character that I tried to copy was drawn by Jack Kirby.

Kirby’s influence on the medium is undeniable. He created the visual language that transformed the one-dimensional, drab, square panel style of comic strips into electric, action-charged pages where characters exploded from the frames. When Kirby’s characters punched, you could feel it in your jaw.

I recently treated myself to a beautiful hardcover book that celebrates his life in comics. The book contains many pieces of his work in raw form, and is the next best thing to seeing his art in person.

If you haven’t been lucky enough to catch one of the rare exhibits of his work, merchants of original art abound at your local comic convention.