For this week, I chose Manga artist
Monkey Punch. I first learned about this
artist when I was researching Hayao Miyazaki,
and found out that the first film he directed was an adaptation of Monkey
Punche's Lupin III manga. Because I liked
the film, I decided to seek out the manga.
The first thing that surprised me about this was the adult content.
While I had heard of adult oriented
comics and cartoons before, this was my first real exposure to them (not
counting the Simpsons). What surprised
me most about these comics was the way wacky antics blended with sexual and
violent themes.
The style of the manga is far more
graphic and sketchy than I’m used to and some of the panels jump around, so
much that it’s hard to be sure of exactly what is happening until the end. At least in the early ones that I've got, the characters
aren't drawn consistently, further confusing the audience, although the end usually
does clear it up.
There tends to be a lot of variety
in the panels; not surprising for a
comic that has little continuity. The panels also lean towards more intense.
Monkey Punch is a pretty interesting manga artist, and I tend to prefer manga like his geared to more of an adult audience in Japan. The edition you were looking at- was it layed out to be read left to right or right to left as in the original version? When pages are mirrored sometimes the effects are lost in translation.
ReplyDeleteHow does the sketchy style affect the mood of the comic?
I'm pretty sure this edition was like the original, meant to be read right to left. the sketchy style gives it a darker, edgier atmosphere. It really feels like an adult story, but it also adds to the mystery a little, making me question what the picture is really supposed to look like, and sometimes even guessing what something is.
ReplyDelete