Transmetropolitan - Back on the street

I really like Vertigo's comics a lot. They're a great alternative for people who likes comics but cannot stand seeing men in tights. Well, i love both styles but anyway, i'm going to write a few words about how i feel about the famous Transmetropolitan's volume number one (i heard that there's a volume zero, so i guess volume one is not the first book).

Transmetropolitan, like Channel Zero, is one of those dystopian future stories that are out there which is increasingly getting popular in video games, movies and of course comic books. Well, what can i say ? Pessimism always sells and attracts people. But Transmetropolitan is not all about pessimism, it actually is pretty fun to read and the world that Warren Ellis and Darrick Robertson created is very funky! Man, we even have people who are half alien-humans (one half is human, the other half is alien, like terminator or two-face..seriously? What are they called ? Transcience? Transalien?) here that are protesting for their rights in the streets.

The main character is called Spider Jerusalem (very interesting character,indeed), once a very important protest journalist, decides quitting the city life and spends his last 4 years in a mountain, recieves a call from his ex-publisher that he still has a contract and there are some unfinished business. Ofcourse Spider goes back to the city, this time angrier then ever, ready to kick some politicians asses.

I must say, at first i really did not like this character but now i am at the 5th issue and seems like Spider and I are becoming good friends. If i would have to describe Transmetropolitan from what i read so far, i would say it's a cyberpunk with a lot of attitude and not deepressing like most of it's peers. The art style fits perfectly with the setting.

I'm pretty sure that the story and the comments in Transmetropolitan will get more serious as the story progresses. This is one of those series that i will continue to read.

But i must say, i really missed reading adventures of men in tights... Thank god the break is coming so i can read some !

Brian Wood - Channel Zero

-Might contain spoilers-

Finally i'm writing about this graphic novel! In the beginning of the semester when i saw this graphic novel on the list, i immeadieately ordered it. It was exciting to see a graphic novel in the list. I am familiar with Brian Wood from his Northlanders, a series of graphic novels whose setting has nothing to do with Channel Zero (definitely recommend it to everyone, especially for those who are interested in vikings and northern cultures).

The setting in Channel Zero is pretty much a dystopian near future America where media is completely under the control of a totalitarian government. Our main character is Jenny 2.5, a revolutioner young rebel who, when she was a kid got influenced by important revolutioner icons and tries to become one throught the story.

The first thing i noticed when i start reading this graphic novel was that i immediately felt that this piece was completely done by artistic desires of Wood. You can feel that it's a very personal work. I also liked the introduction by Warren Ellis a lot.

Although i liked the spirit of this graphic novel, i must say that it's not the most impressive future pessimism piece to me. Most of the time, the reading parts and the drawings were not very unified and i found myself reading more than looking at the images, which is not a great thing to do when what you read is a graphic piece. But this is just my opinion.

But there are so many things to write about the concept of this novel. Like most of other dystopian stories, this one makes us think about our future and how close we are to that level. In the story what struck me the most was that towards the end Jenny 2.5 gives up on her fight when she sees the younger generation that were wearing Jenny 2.5 t-shirts and being wannabes. Just like once she was when she was young. She hopes that one day one of those wannabes would become a real revolutioner. That's pretty much how the story ends. I really liked the way Wood shows us this interesting cycle.

To sum it all up, i would say i enjoyed reading this piece and i respect it for being such an artistic endeavour. But it was not effective and strong as Alan Moore's V for Vendetta (or Watchmen).

Neil Gaiman - Graveyard Book

Sadly, i still haven't finished reading this book but i still want to write a few things about how i think about Neil Gaiman and his graveyard book.

Graveyard book is a children's book (that's what i've heard anyway) but i think adults would enjoy it even more than kids. It's about a kid's days who lives in an old graveyard and being raised by the dead folk of the graveyard. It almost feels like the dark version of Jungle book. Again, like other Gaiman's works there is a separation between two worlds. This time it's between the living city and the graveyard at the top of the hill. I really like the way that how Gaiman separates two worlds and most of the time points out this world to us and shows how mundane, how boring it is actually. The same feeling was strong in Coraline too. Both books' main characters are little kids and it's very enjoyable to look at things from their perspective.

The first thing i read from Gaiman was Sandman's first volume and to be honest, i really did not like it (it was years ago) but now i am planning to read some Sandman. American Gods is still waiting for to be read too.

Aye and Gomorrah

"You spin in the sky, the world spins under you, and you step from land to land, while we . . ." She turned her head right, left, and her black hair curled and uncurled on the shoulder of her coat. "We have our dull, circled lives, bound in gravity, worshiping you!"

A beautiful passage from the short story, Aye and Gomorrah. I just read it for the second time and i must say that, it still feels unclear to me. I think that "just enough information" which we talked about in class is not enough here. I don't know, maybe i should read it for a second time.

There is an interesting point in this short story though, that it mostly takes place in Istanbul, the city i grew up. And there are very interesting observations about specific areas of the city, like Taksim square and the Flower passage. ( but camels ? no, we don't have them)

To be honest, the depiction of the city made me a little distracted from the main story and theme. I know that is not good, but from what i understand it's mostly about overpopulation and of course sex. I think for the most part, the descriptions were intentionally limited for us to create the world by relying our own imagination but i wish they could be more, specific..

I was planning to post something about Bladerunner here today, but just now, i decided to watch it again. Then i will write about it. Really good movie.

Nosferatu

  I have been wanting to watch this influential movie for a long time. I watched it yesterday and i think it was an interesting experience. I think old movies like nosferatu have a different kind of effect on audience now than they had back in the they when they were fresh. Is it still a frightening movie ? The answer for that would be questionable.
 
  The reasons for that different kind of effect which i mentioned above are that the movie has no sound except for music- although it's kind of cool and sometimes creepy, it can bore today's audience- and the camera's that the filmmakers used back then has a different framing. It feels like a stop motion animation. I think i don't even need to mention that the movie is black and white and there is a use of heavy make up. Of course the source of all these factors (which makes the movie scary i think for the modern viewer) is the technology that they had back then.
 
  So i think about it and find the fact very interesting that how time works differently for two different generation. All those nostalgical elements that are in Nosferatu probably had no scary effect on 1920's generation and instead of that the main character was the scary element of the movie (i am sure of that! look at that face!).
 
  Thinking about that just brought up a question in my head, as i'm writing this : We, the modern viewer find movies like Nosferatu creepy because of it's nostalgical aspects because we are unfamiliar with them. So how much more powerful effect those movies will have in ..lets say 30 years from now ? Surely, that generation will be much more unfamiliar (maybe completely alien) than we are with those aspects of old movies.
 
   Technology will always have a success at continuing to scare people in many ways.
Next movie, Bladerunner.

David Wellington - Monster Island

I think zombie concept is one of the most popular “what if ?“ scenarios out there. And I see some really good what if stories more and more each day. Like Superman – The Red Son, where superman is the pride of Soviet Union and Lex Luthor is the smartest man and the hero of America. Great graphic novel, I recommend to everyone. Especially to the ones who enjoy reading stories where things are upside down. David Wellington's Monster Island is one of them. Things go upside down in this story. In many ways.

In Monster Island, we have a doomed world. A world with full of zombies, almost completely full. We learn that the most developed counties of the world are overrun by zombies and we have a chance to take a look at things at deserted streets of Manhattan in Dekalb's (the main character of Monster Island) perspective. So far things are pretty cliché for a zombie scenario right ? It still can be a good “what if” story even it's a cliché. But what differs Monster Island from other zombie stories is that in this scenario least developed 3^rd world countries are in charge of things especially Somalia, despite their fanatic (also scarry, to some people) ideological ideas, they are the only hope of the world - which is a great “what if” scenario when combined with the zombie setting. Dekalb is an American citizen, surrounded by Somalian girl soldiers (who are in school uniforms and very young and cold blooded – wow) and together, they seek something which they need desperately in streets of Manhattan and eventually many interesting things happen there. Not only in terms of action scenes but also in terms of cultural and social issues. Like the shock of an american character when he finds himself in Time Square with no lights while the world is full of walking human corpses. There are little things like that worth underlining in this story and I really liked the Wellington's sensitive attitude about it.

In Monster Island, we have an undead who's capable of thinking – another good “what if” to add to the story – Gary who used to be a medical assistant. I think he is a such an unfortunate character in terms of things that happen to him. But really interesting to read. In chapters which Dekalb and Gary are separate we see things in 3^rd person in Gary's parts and in Dekalb, we see things from his point of view. I think combination of this 2 different writing styles adds energy to the story and helps to keep things interesting for the reader.

If I had to recommend this book to someone in one sentence I would say “it's the combination of Walking Dead and Y, The Last Man on Earth” I think, that would explain enough.

Thoughts about H.P Lovecraft and Japanese Horror

Howard Phillips Lovecraft, one of the masters of horror/gothic literature – the creator of indescribable monsters and worlds. The first time i've heard this name I was 15 years old and to be honest, wasn't very interested in gothic literature with it's use of flowery words. Although I remember I read in somewhere that his style was not like the others, that his stories were way beyond it's time. I wanted to know more so I decided to read some of his stories. Some of them I liked, some I did not even understood back then. But there was always something in his stories, in his worlds that attracted me. When I saw some of stories on the list, I decided to take the opportunity of jumping into his mystical worlds again, this time with it's original language for the first time.(it had been 3 years since I read a Lovecraft story).

I read the two short stories on the list ( the unnamable and what the moon brings). And I must say I used the dictionary a lot and I think I am going to read them again. I don't want to write about the stories individually here. What I want to write about is that why I enjoy reading Lovecraft (even though having a tough time when I read of his works) and what is the relation between Lovecraft horror and Japanese Horror.

When I read a book, the first things I notice and pay attention to are the characters and the use of language, it's accessibility (like everybody). I must say none of those elements in Lovecraft's stories are enjoyable for me ; completely boring and passive characters, no dialogues, complicated and long descriptions. But once you get the picture that he describes... You don't need anything. You don't need to know the rest of the story, or it's ending. Everything is in that moment, in that place that you create in your mind. I think Lovecraft stories let their readers to figure things out on their own most of the time. He only shows some hints and then gives the rest to you. That old house and it's broken windows, and that “unnamable” demon for instance (in the short story, the unnamable). I sometimes ask myself the question of is it the power of my imagination or the power of the stories but I can almost smell the things that Lovecraft describes.

The connection between j-horror and lovecraft

In Japanese horror stories, things go slow, usually. Like it's discussed in the class, J-horror is very much like a rollercoaster that's heading towards to it's peak. I think same thing can be said about Lovecraft's style. They may not be similar in terms of settings, characters (popularity of women characters in J-horror can't be found in any Lovecraft story for instance) and culture but they still share the same techniques. In addition, the amount of intensity of horrific elements are almost at the same level in both styles and when compared to hollywood productions, there is a big difference In terms of that level of intensity.

H.P Lovecraft says that “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” And I think the fear of the unknown is the strongest element in J-horror.