Cursed Pirate Girl by Jeremy Bastian
Yesterday my wife and I went to Challengers Comics in Chicago for a Jeremy Bastian signing session, and picked up a copy of the Challengers Collected Edition. It was nice to get a signed copy and to view the original ink panels. For those who haven't yet had the chance, rush out, purchase, and read Cursed Pirate Girl. It is really quite astounding. The art resembles etching, but is hand drawn with a razor sharp pen. Viewing the original art makes one realize that the artist can not only draw. . . he doesn't make mistakes. The writing and mise en scene is also outstanding. He innovates with time, space and scale. With time, he seems to avoid clumsy play by play panels and instead go for images that contain many different bits of time. The end result is that the action remains in the head of the reader. With space, he uses the pirate and oceans metaphor to surprising effect. Rather than describe voyages across the sea, many scenes do something that I can only call "going inward". Spaces that one did not know could exist in our world open up in surprising detail. Examples of this include the voyage to the bottom of the sea, the secret shack of the cursed pirate girl, and the innards of a shark. The effect is usually not surreal but causes a sense of recognition, as in a dream. With scale, one never knows if the world is small or huge. Everything is always off kilter: faces can be huge and float like a Mardi Gras giant head mask. And while of course I don't know what Mr. Bastian was thinking of while writing, my thoughts must go to the Lacanian Mirror. In this case the tension between aristocrats and pirates makes for a funhouse mirror in which the child struggles to recognize herself. In this way, although the tale is about pirates, the themes as they relate to what it is to be child in the 21st century remain relevant. It is a good feeling to be amazed!
Olympian Publishing link to the comic here.
https://www.olympianpublishing.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=15_2&products_id=409
Challengers Comic book store is also impressive. I saw so many titles that pulled my heartstrings I knew I had to run out of there so as not to spend too much money.
http://www.challengerscomics.com/
Cursed Pirate Girl by Jeremy Bastian
Yesterday my wife and I went to Challengers Comics in Chicago for a Jeremy Bastian signing session, and picked up a copy of the Challengers Collected Edition. It was nice to get a signed copy and to view the original ink panels. For those who haven't yet had the chance, rush out, purchase, and read Cursed Pirate Girl. It is really quite astounding. The art resembles etching, but is hand drawn with a razor sharp pen. Viewing the original art makes one realize that the artist can not only draw. . . he doesn't make mistakes. The writing and mise en scene is also outstanding. He innovates with time, space and scale. With time, he seems to avoid clumsy play by play panels and instead go for images that contain many different bits of time. The end result is that the action remains in the head of the reader. With space, he uses the pirate and oceans metaphor to surprising effect. Rather than describe voyages across the sea, many scenes do something that I can only call "going inward". Spaces that one did not know could exist in our world open up in surprising detail. Examples of this include the voyage to the bottom of the sea, the secret shack of the cursed pirate girl, and the innards of a shark. The effect is usually not surreal but causes a sense of recognition, as in a dream. With scale, one never knows if the world is small or huge. Everything is always off kilter: faces can be huge and float like a Mardi Gras giant head mask. And while of course I don't know what Mr. Bastian was thinking of while writing, my thoughts must go to the Lacanian Mirror. In this case the tension between aristocrats and pirates makes for a funhouse mirror in which the child struggles to recognize herself. In this way, although the tale is about pirates, the themes as they relate to what it is to be child in the 21st century remain relevant. It is a good feeling to be amazed!
Olympian Publishing link to the comic here.
https://www.olympianpublishing.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=15_2&products_id=409
Challengers Comic book store is also impressive. I saw so many titles that pulled my heartstrings I knew I had to run out of there so as not to spend too much money.
http://www.challengerscomics.com/
Comments