Journals224
Newest
Forward
1 min read
There are many different reasons why I stopped using DA (and deleted most of my work here). After many years of progression, it just didn't make much sense anymore to preserve all of this. It felt like way too much. I might still use this account to check what's on dA and favourite things and I'll also leave the blog as it. Thank you for seven wonderful active years and an eight year, in which I didn't do much. I still remember the thrill of uploading my first deviation and if I can get creative again after obtaining my PhD, who knows, I might be back. For those of you that know me in person, I have an active wordpress by now, Facebook and Twitter, so you'll surely find me.
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
USA and whatnot
7 min read
After two great weeks abroad, I'm back in The Netherlands. Everything seems narrow and weird here now but I'm sure I'll get used to it soon enough. Goes without saying that I loved America. Even big cities like NY and Washington never seem really crowded and people still manage to stay polite, even during rush hour. We were there when it was pretty damn hot but that didn't spoil the fun at all.
In New York, we had a hotel on Long Island, which was nothing special, so my sis and I mostly explored Manhattan. From Time Square, to downtown Manhattan and Wall street to Central Park North and Harlem, we saw it all. The great thing about the island is that it's actually quite small in real life. It seems huge when you see it in movies but you can traverse it quite fast and all of the nice spots are close to each other. We saw the statue of Liberty, fed squirrels in Central Park, had some junkfood at Grand Central Station and saw the Rockefeller buildings. We got some stuff at the Nintendo store, downtown in Toy Tokyo and found some shady comic book stores. On Sunday, we met up with an internet friend of my sister, who turned out to be the nicest person ever. We sat in the diner you see in Seinfeld (Tom's Restaurant). We went to the MoMa, which is pretty much an art lovers idea of heaven. The collection is so huge and awesome it makes your head explode and then you've only visited one of the 9 floors. You turn your head around and find yourself staring at another Van Gogh or Picasso or Holzer. We also went to the Central Park Zoo but that one was not as awesome as it is in Madagascar. The peguins were the only decent animals they had - no zebras, lions, giraffes, mind you! - and we sat with them for an hour, because they were in a cooled room with airco.
Washington, then, was very different than I had expected. The city was very clean and certainly not as impressive as New York. It is flat, new, and a bit European with a hint of suburbia.The best things to do in the town are tourist-oriented and specifically aimed at Americans themselves. Here they can reconcile with there cultural heritage and visit tons of museums and memorials. That was about all there was to do in Washington. We covered a few memorials of the presidents (the Lincoln one for instance) and of particular wars (Vietnam, Korea) and though they were pretty, it was a bit weird that there were that many. Even the boy scouts have their own memorial. Needless to say that we covered five museums (The three Smithsonian art museums, a museum for flight and the natural history museum), the zoo and an aquarium to pass the time decently. It's a pity though that many Smithsonian museums are very educational and clearly target family outings and schools. You have to push some kids aside to see a proper dinosaur there. We also found a nice mall near the Pentagon which was pretty awesome.
Since I hadn't won the Broadway lottery in NY, I took my time to see Wicked in Washington. The show was definitely amazing. The stage had been downsized a bit for the occassion, but to be honest, I didn't really miss those stairs on which the flying monkeys are sometimes dancing. We had Dee playing Elphaba and Amanda as Glinda (who played her with a touch of Lottie from The Princess and The Frog; wheezing excitingly and overly happy). I was amazed by Dee's performance but she played Elphie for many years on BW too, so it's no surprise she gave such a brilliant performance. Madam Morribelle was also fascinating; she played with a bit of a weird (French?) accent that worked out great. Even after having seen the show before and replaying the soundtrack endlessly, the musical stll means the world to me. I was very affected afterwards and happy that I had seen this performance. I don't expect much from the Dutch version of Wicked - Willemijn, who I saw in the German Wicked, gives a good performance but cannot ace the belting part of Defying Gravity while Chantal is definitely not the soprano you need for Glinda and on top of that, a prototypical Dutch musical star.
Otakon in Baltimore was really amazing as well. The convention was huge and included lots of nice panels. The downside was that sometimes you were not allowed in certain rooms because they were over their capacity but for the big events like the masquerade, they had even rented an arena to make sure everyone could attend. The most beautiful thing was meeting Peter S. Beagle who wrote The Last Unicorn, one of my favourite animations ever was based on his book, and seeing The Last Unicorn on a huge-ass screen afterwards. I had forgotten how much I loved Molly and Schmendrick and frankly, I don't think I ever loved them as much as when I watched the movie this time, years later, and realized what interesting, wonderful characters they were. As a child, I saw them as average, even stupid people, who maybe failed a bit at life and were very comical. Two stupid characters that weren't half as pretty or awesome as the unicorn. Now I noticed they were anything but that. Their sadness and their tragic flaws are all over the movie. When I was young, I watched for the unicorn and lóved her to bits. Now I just find her a tad boring and love what happens between the other characters and how they struggle in life and slowly come to terms with their capacities and each other.
Anyway, back to Otakon, which - I'll emphasize this again - was so dámn big that you never came across the same cospayer twice. They had a few buildings and even had a few buildings just for an evening or so. The visitor flow made it a bit difficult to take pictures of nice cosplayers but I got a few I'd love to share.
Bender
Supergirl
Old Spice Guy
Mummymon
Ico
Tingle
I saw Helga from Hey! Arnold walking by, Freakazoid and whatnot. Still, because there was so much to do at the con and because there were so many awesome cosplayers, it wasn't really like a European con were people stand still to pose for a very long time. In a way, that was good too. I like it that the con had good cosplays but wasn't at all about showing off.
During the trip, I dug up some nice graphic novels and books. I finished The Last Unicorn just now and let me tell you, if you never read the book and even remotely liked the movie, you will adore this. It gives the characters layers, you wouldn't believe it. As a sad note, I'd like to mention that the graphic novel of Darkwing Duck got cancelled because Boom Studios went broke. I was very upset by this and still am. Despite its flaws, I loved what it did with the series and dared to do. It advanced the characters and the story world immensely. I will miss it dearly when it's gone.
For a short entry, this became a bit long. XD Ah well!
Events where you can find me:
Abunai
Other sites
Curtain Call
Cosplay gallery
Twitter
In New York, we had a hotel on Long Island, which was nothing special, so my sis and I mostly explored Manhattan. From Time Square, to downtown Manhattan and Wall street to Central Park North and Harlem, we saw it all. The great thing about the island is that it's actually quite small in real life. It seems huge when you see it in movies but you can traverse it quite fast and all of the nice spots are close to each other. We saw the statue of Liberty, fed squirrels in Central Park, had some junkfood at Grand Central Station and saw the Rockefeller buildings. We got some stuff at the Nintendo store, downtown in Toy Tokyo and found some shady comic book stores. On Sunday, we met up with an internet friend of my sister, who turned out to be the nicest person ever. We sat in the diner you see in Seinfeld (Tom's Restaurant). We went to the MoMa, which is pretty much an art lovers idea of heaven. The collection is so huge and awesome it makes your head explode and then you've only visited one of the 9 floors. You turn your head around and find yourself staring at another Van Gogh or Picasso or Holzer. We also went to the Central Park Zoo but that one was not as awesome as it is in Madagascar. The peguins were the only decent animals they had - no zebras, lions, giraffes, mind you! - and we sat with them for an hour, because they were in a cooled room with airco.
Washington, then, was very different than I had expected. The city was very clean and certainly not as impressive as New York. It is flat, new, and a bit European with a hint of suburbia.The best things to do in the town are tourist-oriented and specifically aimed at Americans themselves. Here they can reconcile with there cultural heritage and visit tons of museums and memorials. That was about all there was to do in Washington. We covered a few memorials of the presidents (the Lincoln one for instance) and of particular wars (Vietnam, Korea) and though they were pretty, it was a bit weird that there were that many. Even the boy scouts have their own memorial. Needless to say that we covered five museums (The three Smithsonian art museums, a museum for flight and the natural history museum), the zoo and an aquarium to pass the time decently. It's a pity though that many Smithsonian museums are very educational and clearly target family outings and schools. You have to push some kids aside to see a proper dinosaur there. We also found a nice mall near the Pentagon which was pretty awesome.
Since I hadn't won the Broadway lottery in NY, I took my time to see Wicked in Washington. The show was definitely amazing. The stage had been downsized a bit for the occassion, but to be honest, I didn't really miss those stairs on which the flying monkeys are sometimes dancing. We had Dee playing Elphaba and Amanda as Glinda (who played her with a touch of Lottie from The Princess and The Frog; wheezing excitingly and overly happy). I was amazed by Dee's performance but she played Elphie for many years on BW too, so it's no surprise she gave such a brilliant performance. Madam Morribelle was also fascinating; she played with a bit of a weird (French?) accent that worked out great. Even after having seen the show before and replaying the soundtrack endlessly, the musical stll means the world to me. I was very affected afterwards and happy that I had seen this performance. I don't expect much from the Dutch version of Wicked - Willemijn, who I saw in the German Wicked, gives a good performance but cannot ace the belting part of Defying Gravity while Chantal is definitely not the soprano you need for Glinda and on top of that, a prototypical Dutch musical star.
Otakon in Baltimore was really amazing as well. The convention was huge and included lots of nice panels. The downside was that sometimes you were not allowed in certain rooms because they were over their capacity but for the big events like the masquerade, they had even rented an arena to make sure everyone could attend. The most beautiful thing was meeting Peter S. Beagle who wrote The Last Unicorn, one of my favourite animations ever was based on his book, and seeing The Last Unicorn on a huge-ass screen afterwards. I had forgotten how much I loved Molly and Schmendrick and frankly, I don't think I ever loved them as much as when I watched the movie this time, years later, and realized what interesting, wonderful characters they were. As a child, I saw them as average, even stupid people, who maybe failed a bit at life and were very comical. Two stupid characters that weren't half as pretty or awesome as the unicorn. Now I noticed they were anything but that. Their sadness and their tragic flaws are all over the movie. When I was young, I watched for the unicorn and lóved her to bits. Now I just find her a tad boring and love what happens between the other characters and how they struggle in life and slowly come to terms with their capacities and each other.
Anyway, back to Otakon, which - I'll emphasize this again - was so dámn big that you never came across the same cospayer twice. They had a few buildings and even had a few buildings just for an evening or so. The visitor flow made it a bit difficult to take pictures of nice cosplayers but I got a few I'd love to share.
Bender
Supergirl
Old Spice Guy
Mummymon
Ico
Tingle
I saw Helga from Hey! Arnold walking by, Freakazoid and whatnot. Still, because there was so much to do at the con and because there were so many awesome cosplayers, it wasn't really like a European con were people stand still to pose for a very long time. In a way, that was good too. I like it that the con had good cosplays but wasn't at all about showing off.
During the trip, I dug up some nice graphic novels and books. I finished The Last Unicorn just now and let me tell you, if you never read the book and even remotely liked the movie, you will adore this. It gives the characters layers, you wouldn't believe it. As a sad note, I'd like to mention that the graphic novel of Darkwing Duck got cancelled because Boom Studios went broke. I was very upset by this and still am. Despite its flaws, I loved what it did with the series and dared to do. It advanced the characters and the story world immensely. I will miss it dearly when it's gone.
For a short entry, this became a bit long. XD Ah well!
Events where you can find me:
AbunaiOther sites
Curtain Call
Cosplay gallery
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Devious Journal Entry
4 min read
Dear all,
It's been a while again. I'm mostly using my DA at the moment for fan art. I think that somewhere soon, I might throw out a lot of orginal art and mostly use this account for a few Curtain Call pages/previews to plug the webcomic, bits of new original art and maybe the Darkwing Duck art (which I should make more of, soon!)
This summer I'll be on holiday in The States late July/early August. I'll be in New York, then Washington and then Baltimore to attend Otakon and hopefully, the Final Fantasy live performance in a church. If anyone else is there and wants to meet up, I'd be glad to! (Though I'm not sure if the foreign watchers I have read this journal that much, but you know, a shout-out is always nice!)
Currently I'm working hard to get a comic project finished as much as I can before I leave the country. It's based in the Cassandra myth. We are doing a Greece mythology pocket with our doujinshi circle. We're still looking for more illustrations, so if you are interested, mail or PM me (mail would be faster though, I think it's in my profile/contact info.) Since I've been accepted for the big game conference, Digra, I'm also trying to ace a paper and yes, get a cosplay finished in time for Otakon (Fourier of Tales of Graces).
Fiction wise, what I loved reading lately was The Magicians by Lev Grossman, a kind of adult Harry Potter with lots of angst, gay subplots and a very obscure magical world. I'd highly recommend it to anyone interested in stories that blend reality with magical worlds/AU. Other than that, I'm addicted to a particular series of Holmes pastiches, the Mary Russell series, and finished reading the first 9 novels of True blood, which don't hold a candle to the HBO adaptation at all. I nearly finished House of Leaves, which everyone thought I'd like, but I actually find very kitschy, too postmodern and gimmicky and lacks a solid plot.
Needless to say, I'm addicted to Game of Thrones. I've nearly finished Babylon 5, but detest the last season, started on Lost, which I'm still sceptical about, and working my way through Mad Men. Rather than gaming and producing stuff, I'm fine just lying on the couch after work lately and drawing or sewing a bit in the mean time. I do look forward to playing the new Alice game but can't afford it. Same goes for L.A. Noir which really seems to be my type of game as well. Oh, and the new Portal.
I'm also watching too many Disney movies (even the horrible sequels) and hopefully, by Autumn, I can save some cash to go to Disneyland Paris again because I'm feeling a bit itchy. I even made a kind of Disney blog but since I fail at updating stuff lately, I might de-publish it. Though the journal might seem a bit dry, I'm actually doing rather fine and the neglect of my DA is actually a sign of how well I'm doing.
And the result of using too much Facebook and talking about all the 'important things' there.
Events where you can find me:
Otakon
Abunai
Other sites
Curtain Call
Cosplay gallery
Twitter
It's been a while again. I'm mostly using my DA at the moment for fan art. I think that somewhere soon, I might throw out a lot of orginal art and mostly use this account for a few Curtain Call pages/previews to plug the webcomic, bits of new original art and maybe the Darkwing Duck art (which I should make more of, soon!)
This summer I'll be on holiday in The States late July/early August. I'll be in New York, then Washington and then Baltimore to attend Otakon and hopefully, the Final Fantasy live performance in a church. If anyone else is there and wants to meet up, I'd be glad to! (Though I'm not sure if the foreign watchers I have read this journal that much, but you know, a shout-out is always nice!)
Currently I'm working hard to get a comic project finished as much as I can before I leave the country. It's based in the Cassandra myth. We are doing a Greece mythology pocket with our doujinshi circle. We're still looking for more illustrations, so if you are interested, mail or PM me (mail would be faster though, I think it's in my profile/contact info.) Since I've been accepted for the big game conference, Digra, I'm also trying to ace a paper and yes, get a cosplay finished in time for Otakon (Fourier of Tales of Graces).
Fiction wise, what I loved reading lately was The Magicians by Lev Grossman, a kind of adult Harry Potter with lots of angst, gay subplots and a very obscure magical world. I'd highly recommend it to anyone interested in stories that blend reality with magical worlds/AU. Other than that, I'm addicted to a particular series of Holmes pastiches, the Mary Russell series, and finished reading the first 9 novels of True blood, which don't hold a candle to the HBO adaptation at all. I nearly finished House of Leaves, which everyone thought I'd like, but I actually find very kitschy, too postmodern and gimmicky and lacks a solid plot.
Needless to say, I'm addicted to Game of Thrones. I've nearly finished Babylon 5, but detest the last season, started on Lost, which I'm still sceptical about, and working my way through Mad Men. Rather than gaming and producing stuff, I'm fine just lying on the couch after work lately and drawing or sewing a bit in the mean time. I do look forward to playing the new Alice game but can't afford it. Same goes for L.A. Noir which really seems to be my type of game as well. Oh, and the new Portal.
I'm also watching too many Disney movies (even the horrible sequels) and hopefully, by Autumn, I can save some cash to go to Disneyland Paris again because I'm feeling a bit itchy. I even made a kind of Disney blog but since I fail at updating stuff lately, I might de-publish it. Though the journal might seem a bit dry, I'm actually doing rather fine and the neglect of my DA is actually a sign of how well I'm doing.
And the result of using too much Facebook and talking about all the 'important things' there. Events where you can find me:
Otakon AbunaiOther sites
Curtain Call
Cosplay gallery
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
The World is Changing
4 min read
Life
How are you all? I'm having a great time at the uni, some teaching's coming along nicely (bachelor papers to supervise, a skill course in analyzing literature and paintings, a gothic fiction lecture in april) and for my dissertation, I'm mostly working on my Glee case now and a lot on the Sherlock Holmes opening case for the book. I'm meeting up with friends a lot nowadays which is great. The closet nerdiness of all of us must be wearing off, and of course having a few new and old friends living nearby helps.
Fiction
Finished Okami, all I can say is that I loved it to bits. Only point of annoyance is that the game works towards defeating one huge-ass boss for a long time, Orochi, and then you suddenly find yourself in the second part of the game which is a bit of a different story altogether that forms a quilt of various myths. Though it was coherent, I think they could've done more effort in relating these narratives and bringing them together much earlier through some foreshadowing.
Also, I can't shake off my love for all things related to superheroes at the moment. Of course Darkwing Duck got a great reboot last year with a new graphic novel, I'm a huge sucker for it, and if you look at my DeviantArt now there's a fat chance you only bump into Morgana fan art. I apologize for behaving like I'm 16 again but I've never felt better. Recently, movies like Kick-Ass and series like Misfits and Batman: The Brave and The Bold have changed my view of what the superhero genre can enable. Yes, you can constantly play with the characters and reboot the franchise, but the weird thing is that by adding or deconstructing a few elements, the content becomes so very different. Take the more campy take on Batman for instance, it's insanely amusing and really works. What I like about the genre as such is that it really brings out the more tragic and eccentric features of characters (or humanity as such). It's modern mythology pur sang.
Projects
My webcomic is coming along nicely and I'm having a great time working on it. The plot is thickening, especially now that it's becoming a bit more of a superhero comic than it ever was, with pff, powers and all that! Of course, I would have loved to provide a bit more updates but a few comic projects for OpenMinded, have kept me rather busy. We're working on a new yaoi and yuri anthology and a Greece mythology pocket with a bunch of great artists. Meanwhile, I also have a staff function at the Dutch yaoi and yuri convention, which is coming up in nearly two weeks already. Add an awesome social life to that with nifty, geeky friends and you pretty much got a picture of how I spend my evenings when I'm not organizing stuff or aspiring to be creative.
Fairs
This Saturday, March 12th, I'll be attending the Stripbeurs in Gorinchem, the Dutch 'Stripdagen'. Usually it's pretty awesome and this is a new location, so I'm very excited. Though I'm in the manga/graphic novel collective Mangafique, I'll be sitting at the stand of the Dutch yaoi and yuri convention, YaYCon, the most. We'll be selling tickets for the convention, have another lotery and sell promotional issues of Aniway for real cheap. So be sure to visit both stands! And then, it's only two weeks until YaYCon! What I like about the convention is not only that it upfronts yaoi and yuri, and also the social dimensions of the genre, but also focuses a lot on fan practices and craetivity. This year, the festival will be visited by VIPs as Dany and Dany, Yamino and Dutch artists as Flo and Ype & Willem. We're excited! There's still tickets if you are interested!
Events where you can find me:
Stripbeurs Gorinchem
YaYCon
Other sites
Curtain Call
Cosplay gallery
Twitter
How are you all? I'm having a great time at the uni, some teaching's coming along nicely (bachelor papers to supervise, a skill course in analyzing literature and paintings, a gothic fiction lecture in april) and for my dissertation, I'm mostly working on my Glee case now and a lot on the Sherlock Holmes opening case for the book. I'm meeting up with friends a lot nowadays which is great. The closet nerdiness of all of us must be wearing off, and of course having a few new and old friends living nearby helps.
Fiction
Finished Okami, all I can say is that I loved it to bits. Only point of annoyance is that the game works towards defeating one huge-ass boss for a long time, Orochi, and then you suddenly find yourself in the second part of the game which is a bit of a different story altogether that forms a quilt of various myths. Though it was coherent, I think they could've done more effort in relating these narratives and bringing them together much earlier through some foreshadowing.
Also, I can't shake off my love for all things related to superheroes at the moment. Of course Darkwing Duck got a great reboot last year with a new graphic novel, I'm a huge sucker for it, and if you look at my DeviantArt now there's a fat chance you only bump into Morgana fan art. I apologize for behaving like I'm 16 again but I've never felt better. Recently, movies like Kick-Ass and series like Misfits and Batman: The Brave and The Bold have changed my view of what the superhero genre can enable. Yes, you can constantly play with the characters and reboot the franchise, but the weird thing is that by adding or deconstructing a few elements, the content becomes so very different. Take the more campy take on Batman for instance, it's insanely amusing and really works. What I like about the genre as such is that it really brings out the more tragic and eccentric features of characters (or humanity as such). It's modern mythology pur sang.
Projects
My webcomic is coming along nicely and I'm having a great time working on it. The plot is thickening, especially now that it's becoming a bit more of a superhero comic than it ever was, with pff, powers and all that! Of course, I would have loved to provide a bit more updates but a few comic projects for OpenMinded, have kept me rather busy. We're working on a new yaoi and yuri anthology and a Greece mythology pocket with a bunch of great artists. Meanwhile, I also have a staff function at the Dutch yaoi and yuri convention, which is coming up in nearly two weeks already. Add an awesome social life to that with nifty, geeky friends and you pretty much got a picture of how I spend my evenings when I'm not organizing stuff or aspiring to be creative.
Fairs
This Saturday, March 12th, I'll be attending the Stripbeurs in Gorinchem, the Dutch 'Stripdagen'. Usually it's pretty awesome and this is a new location, so I'm very excited. Though I'm in the manga/graphic novel collective Mangafique, I'll be sitting at the stand of the Dutch yaoi and yuri convention, YaYCon, the most. We'll be selling tickets for the convention, have another lotery and sell promotional issues of Aniway for real cheap. So be sure to visit both stands! And then, it's only two weeks until YaYCon! What I like about the convention is not only that it upfronts yaoi and yuri, and also the social dimensions of the genre, but also focuses a lot on fan practices and craetivity. This year, the festival will be visited by VIPs as Dany and Dany, Yamino and Dutch artists as Flo and Ype & Willem. We're excited! There's still tickets if you are interested!
Events where you can find me:
Stripbeurs Gorinchem YaYConOther sites
Curtain Call
Cosplay gallery
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Happy new year, everyone! Hope you are all doing well and had a nice Christmas with a few days off. I had a great time visiting friends and family, and I'm very thankful as to how the year ended. I have made a list of wishes and good ideas for next year, hope I'll stick to 'm. I want to thank all of you watchers and webcomic readers too for making 2010 such a great year!
Darkwing Duck: The Duck Knight Returns
When I was at my parent's place yesterday, the Darkwing Duck comic I had waited for since a few weeks had finally arrived. And because I'm so completely, utterly in love with it right now, I want to devote this journal entry to it a wee bit. The first TP, the Duck Knight Returns, is a great reboot of a hero many of us grew up with. Darkwing stopped fighting crime after the government instituted robots to keep the town under tight surveillance (sound familiar? To anyone who read the pocket Heroes and Villains of OpenMinded, it should). Anyway, turns out there's a lot of deep drama involved that actually forced Darkwing to stop, that makes his character seem pretty damn grim, and also raises vital issues about what being a superhero is all about. (Spoiler: When Negaduck finds out Dark is actually Drake, he nearly kills him, Gosalyn and Launchpad in their own house.) Still, when the Fearsome Five reunite (the four main villains of the series) Dark quites his office job and takes up his job again.
Throughout the comic there's intertext everywhere. Great references to the series - those who have the DVD boxes or watch the series on YouTube will drool - as well as Ducktales, Rescue Rangers and whatnot. This is intertext at its best. Characterwise, I was surprised. There was more development in the characters than in the entire series combined. There's twists that include Gizmoduck and Quagerjack's doll. Gosalyn suddenly has a personality beyond being annoying. Launchpad immediately becomes more than a henchmen. He gets power. There's overlap with Ducktales that's beyond happy-making. And don't get me started about the main villain. I will not spoil but damn, this is góód.
I've also read through the latest issues of the new story arc, and I wept a bit while reading them. The biggest problem I had with Duck Knight was that it never mentioned Morgana. Not once. The new issues explain this though and devote four issues to this - an arc that was probably planned in advance, but there was a big chance that if the first issues didn't go well, the whole project would be cancelled, and that would have left readers like me who fangirl Morg hard-core. Anyway, the new issues are super great and also feature my surpreme geek fantasy, one that I had ever since I was eight, a Morgana-Magica de Spell face-off. And man, it's great. As a shipper, I was really struck by some things the comic already mentioned pretty early, like minor remarks about Morgana/Dark and why they live apart and so on. It also features Morgana actually discussing serious stuff with Drake, which is nice, because in the series you only saw her with Dark. And that kinda made you wonder: 'Is this the kind of Superman/Lois thing or does she know about his actual identity?'
So having this book in your hands, it makes you think a bit about what the cartoon was, and what it stands for now. It's like Darkwing Duck grew up with us. It's not the old cartoon that episodes with unclear pacing, weird plot lines, or was pure bliss for five minutes of hero-themed acttion, and tean 15 minutes of whack animation and slapstick. No, this is like the 10 best episodes of Darkwing Duck combined and then targeted at adults. The comic features a zillion brilliant moves; the kind of stuff I always hoped the series would have, but that never came through because it, you know, was a Saturday morning cartoon. And now, it's a graphic novel. And it's kicking ass. It's still very Disney, I should probably mentioned that, it never gets really gruesome or weird, but you can definitely see it's targets a somewhat older Disney-savvy audience.
Now why do I care so much about this? Because Darkwing Duck has, and always will be, one of my favourite cartoons. Like Hey! Arnold it mean the world to me, and like Hey! Arnold, the show never really got the fleshed-out ending it deserved. Reading this changed the entire canon that I had in mind for years, and I like it. This is good stuff. This is what it must have felt like to get Dr. Who back on the air after a super long hiatus and seeing a new canon that kicks ass. This is what the new Star Trek movie felt like as a fan experience, only it kicks ass so much harder because no one really expected to see Darkwing back after 20 years. It's the start of 2011 and Lords of Kobol, I am thankful and inspired.
More Disney musings
Tangled was the best Disney movie I've seen in a long time. Very catchy, very well-written, good jokes, great characters, nice songs. I was positively surprised, especially after The Princess and The Frog, which, after rewatching it, turned out to be even worse than I remembered it. Disney's finally making a come-back, but I really hope they'll keep at it, and more importantly, start innovating a bit. Tangled is a start of that, but it's still the old Disney formula freshed up. It has extremely lovable characters, but it's still caught in familiar frameworks. Tangled, The Emperor's New Groove, and maybe games like Epic Mickey, are very good, somewhat recent takes on the Disney's regular formulas, but still, I feel they could push it a bit more. Maybe Tangled is the start of what Disney movies in the new Millennium can be.
In my opinion, the nineties were the golden time of Disney in both series, games, as well as merchandise. Simply imitating that in movies like The Princess and the Frog just doesn't cut it anymore. Disney can, and should be self-concious, not just in terms of narrativity (be a bit self-referential and clever like Kuzco, Mickey and dare-I-say-it-Boom!Studios-Darkwing-Duck's-graphic novels)) but take it up a nodge; dare to portray the characters a bit differently. After all, that's what made Kingdom Hearts and Epic Mickey such great games, and taking that spin just a bit further means striking gold. That's what old, nostalgic fans like me want; an extension, a twist, with the old familiar content. Daring to actually show the dark side of Mickey and portray him all steampunky (which Epic Mickey, in the end, didn't do despite the concept art) is one example of that. Boom Studio cleverly reworked Darkwing and freshened him up. Why can't we have more of this nowadays?
The nineties worked for Disney not just because the movies were clever, but also because they took it a step further with the cartoons. Placing Goofy in an awkward position by making him raise a son in Goof Troop, that's pure gold. In the same way, Darkwing Duck was innovative, by tapping into the old Ducktales stories, and changing them into a superhero narrative with a lot of potential that also included interesting family relations. I feel like Disney has lost some ties with its characters and franchise though. What I hope for 2011 and beyond, is that Disney keeps at it, and renews a bit. Adapt. And not in lousy full-lenght sequels no one wants to eye, no, in quality projects. After all, that's what building story worlds is all about. Making characters and texts that stick with us.
Today's ship
Morgana and Dark, obviously.
Events where you can find me:
Tsunacon
Other sites
Curtain Call
Cosplay gallery
Twitter
Darkwing Duck: The Duck Knight Returns
When I was at my parent's place yesterday, the Darkwing Duck comic I had waited for since a few weeks had finally arrived. And because I'm so completely, utterly in love with it right now, I want to devote this journal entry to it a wee bit. The first TP, the Duck Knight Returns, is a great reboot of a hero many of us grew up with. Darkwing stopped fighting crime after the government instituted robots to keep the town under tight surveillance (sound familiar? To anyone who read the pocket Heroes and Villains of OpenMinded, it should). Anyway, turns out there's a lot of deep drama involved that actually forced Darkwing to stop, that makes his character seem pretty damn grim, and also raises vital issues about what being a superhero is all about. (Spoiler: When Negaduck finds out Dark is actually Drake, he nearly kills him, Gosalyn and Launchpad in their own house.) Still, when the Fearsome Five reunite (the four main villains of the series) Dark quites his office job and takes up his job again.
Throughout the comic there's intertext everywhere. Great references to the series - those who have the DVD boxes or watch the series on YouTube will drool - as well as Ducktales, Rescue Rangers and whatnot. This is intertext at its best. Characterwise, I was surprised. There was more development in the characters than in the entire series combined. There's twists that include Gizmoduck and Quagerjack's doll. Gosalyn suddenly has a personality beyond being annoying. Launchpad immediately becomes more than a henchmen. He gets power. There's overlap with Ducktales that's beyond happy-making. And don't get me started about the main villain. I will not spoil but damn, this is góód.
I've also read through the latest issues of the new story arc, and I wept a bit while reading them. The biggest problem I had with Duck Knight was that it never mentioned Morgana. Not once. The new issues explain this though and devote four issues to this - an arc that was probably planned in advance, but there was a big chance that if the first issues didn't go well, the whole project would be cancelled, and that would have left readers like me who fangirl Morg hard-core. Anyway, the new issues are super great and also feature my surpreme geek fantasy, one that I had ever since I was eight, a Morgana-Magica de Spell face-off. And man, it's great. As a shipper, I was really struck by some things the comic already mentioned pretty early, like minor remarks about Morgana/Dark and why they live apart and so on. It also features Morgana actually discussing serious stuff with Drake, which is nice, because in the series you only saw her with Dark. And that kinda made you wonder: 'Is this the kind of Superman/Lois thing or does she know about his actual identity?'
So having this book in your hands, it makes you think a bit about what the cartoon was, and what it stands for now. It's like Darkwing Duck grew up with us. It's not the old cartoon that episodes with unclear pacing, weird plot lines, or was pure bliss for five minutes of hero-themed acttion, and tean 15 minutes of whack animation and slapstick. No, this is like the 10 best episodes of Darkwing Duck combined and then targeted at adults. The comic features a zillion brilliant moves; the kind of stuff I always hoped the series would have, but that never came through because it, you know, was a Saturday morning cartoon. And now, it's a graphic novel. And it's kicking ass. It's still very Disney, I should probably mentioned that, it never gets really gruesome or weird, but you can definitely see it's targets a somewhat older Disney-savvy audience.
Now why do I care so much about this? Because Darkwing Duck has, and always will be, one of my favourite cartoons. Like Hey! Arnold it mean the world to me, and like Hey! Arnold, the show never really got the fleshed-out ending it deserved. Reading this changed the entire canon that I had in mind for years, and I like it. This is good stuff. This is what it must have felt like to get Dr. Who back on the air after a super long hiatus and seeing a new canon that kicks ass. This is what the new Star Trek movie felt like as a fan experience, only it kicks ass so much harder because no one really expected to see Darkwing back after 20 years. It's the start of 2011 and Lords of Kobol, I am thankful and inspired.
More Disney musings
Tangled was the best Disney movie I've seen in a long time. Very catchy, very well-written, good jokes, great characters, nice songs. I was positively surprised, especially after The Princess and The Frog, which, after rewatching it, turned out to be even worse than I remembered it. Disney's finally making a come-back, but I really hope they'll keep at it, and more importantly, start innovating a bit. Tangled is a start of that, but it's still the old Disney formula freshed up. It has extremely lovable characters, but it's still caught in familiar frameworks. Tangled, The Emperor's New Groove, and maybe games like Epic Mickey, are very good, somewhat recent takes on the Disney's regular formulas, but still, I feel they could push it a bit more. Maybe Tangled is the start of what Disney movies in the new Millennium can be.
In my opinion, the nineties were the golden time of Disney in both series, games, as well as merchandise. Simply imitating that in movies like The Princess and the Frog just doesn't cut it anymore. Disney can, and should be self-concious, not just in terms of narrativity (be a bit self-referential and clever like Kuzco, Mickey and dare-I-say-it-Boom!Studios-Darkwing-Duck's-graphic novels)) but take it up a nodge; dare to portray the characters a bit differently. After all, that's what made Kingdom Hearts and Epic Mickey such great games, and taking that spin just a bit further means striking gold. That's what old, nostalgic fans like me want; an extension, a twist, with the old familiar content. Daring to actually show the dark side of Mickey and portray him all steampunky (which Epic Mickey, in the end, didn't do despite the concept art) is one example of that. Boom Studio cleverly reworked Darkwing and freshened him up. Why can't we have more of this nowadays?
The nineties worked for Disney not just because the movies were clever, but also because they took it a step further with the cartoons. Placing Goofy in an awkward position by making him raise a son in Goof Troop, that's pure gold. In the same way, Darkwing Duck was innovative, by tapping into the old Ducktales stories, and changing them into a superhero narrative with a lot of potential that also included interesting family relations. I feel like Disney has lost some ties with its characters and franchise though. What I hope for 2011 and beyond, is that Disney keeps at it, and renews a bit. Adapt. And not in lousy full-lenght sequels no one wants to eye, no, in quality projects. After all, that's what building story worlds is all about. Making characters and texts that stick with us.
Today's ship
Morgana and Dark, obviously.
Events where you can find me:
TsunaconOther sites
Curtain Call
Cosplay gallery
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In