Half of a perfect circle

Asterios Polyp is one of the best graphic novels I have ever read. The story is good, but what makes it GREAT is the art. There are countless different art style going on in Asterios, and they are there not only for the visual, but for the story telling as well. Different style means different personality, condition, feeling, emotion and situation. Polyp himself is mostly a poly constructed person, which representing he is all about function, logic and close to “emotionless”. His world is all about making sense and everything need to function in the way that they are suppose to. (That’s why when his house got burn down by lighting he take it rather hard as none of those things are suppose to happen)

There are a range of different type of storytelling using different types of element, lines, colors, shapes, facial, word and more. One of the most interesting things I found it’s the mix of style when Polyp first meets Hana. They were drawn in two totally different art style (representing personality), and when they start to talk they both has taken the other’s art style and mix within their own. It is visual story telling at its best; not even the best facial emotion drawing can tell a person’s emotion that clear. Polpy’s dialog bubble is always squire and Hana is circle, again, its visual story telling using every element that’s on the page. There in a scene where Polyp visit Hava in the classroom where she is teaching some students, and when they meet the box around that shot become circle to represent they are now a whole instead of individual.

 The use of flashback and what could have been is another great element of the book. Having the “DEAD” twin brother to tell the story of Polyp is a really interesting and fresh style. I realize there is no black ink at all in the whole book, and I think that’s really unique for a graphic novel. I am not sure what was the reason or purpose behind it, but it’s sure interesting to see that. In the end I think Asterios Polyp is more about the icon, shape, lines and color that’s connecting to the reader instead of reading the story itself.

ブラック・ジャック

Black Jack is a manga written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka in the 1970s, who was also the creator of Astro Boy, Kimba and many other famous Japanese manga. He was basically the Japanese version of Walt Disney…well not in term of style. I had been always a big fan of Osamu’s work, but for some reason I never like Black Jack that much when I was a child. I think I was scared by the strange look of the character when I first read it, and never had a chance to return to it ever since. Black Jack is considering the best character that Osamu had ever created by Osamu himself, and I can’t agree more.

It is more of manga for teen and adult, and there are many medical references that children will just never understand. Perhaps that’s one of the reason I never read Black Jack when I was little. The character is a unique hero type, which is always on the grey line of being a hero or a villain. As a black market doctor Black Jack mostly ask a crazy high amount of payment in return for his surgery, and that’s one of the biggest arguments that put him on the border of being a villain. He makes an argument against that by asking how much is worth of life. If you think your life is the most important thing then you shouldn’t worry about how much money you spend, and any price that can save a life is consider to be way too cheap. I personally totally agree with him, as it doesn’t matter how much money you have, as once you are dead it’s all over anyway.

Osamu used a stereotype characters in all of his manga, and basically draw the same type of people with one model and repeat them over and over again throughout all his mangas. This allow the reader easily understand the situation and can focus more on the story.

Black Jack had changed its style more and more toward children after the death of Osamu, and slowly become something that’s almost too childish for adult to read. However Black Jack had became an animated series…well two totally different styles of animated series. One is a realistic and dark Black Jack focusing on the realistic world and the darker side of the story, the other one is a cute and funny style focusing on the lesson that children should learn after watching it.

ABC...D...

(I have no idea who he is, and I don't have the right of this photo but this is what normally a ABC looksl like)

ABC

American born Chinese is an interesting and fresh take on telling a story. I read the story of the monkey king like a hundred times when I was a child, and I must say Gene Luen’s monkey king is really close to the original. It is in a way a WHAT IF story and the mix with a real Chinese boy is a really interesting direction. I love how the story tells you a little about the king and it all turn out to be in the same world. The connection of each character really surprises me, and I love the “all-perfect” Asian guy who turns out to be the monkey king.

The artist use really simple iconic characters and keep the dialog simple too. It is really easy to read and because all those characters are so iconic and simple, it is easy for us to make a personal connection. The takes on the story of a Chinese boy trying to live in an American school isn’t the most unique story, but the way it tell it is fun and easily enjoyable. I think many Chinese or Asians had the same problem trying to blend in to the society, and we all know kids can be really mean. That Chinese boy had done some really stupid stuff to try to blend in and afro hair is really funny.

For some reason I feel that the story doesn’t have a good …or perhaps “HAPPY” ending, and we never really know what happened to the girl he liked and how he is doing in school. The story is really realistic as lots of those things are true, and most of the Asian think being white is better. I used to go to this high school in Taiwan where many girls change their hair color to blond. After graduating from high school I took a month travelling in Asia with one of my friend, and wherever we go he will always be really popular due to his skin color.

American Born Chinese is also known as ABC, and I think it is much different then what it was like before. Many ABC will come back to Taiwan for summer and most of them can speak Chinese, but doesn’t because they feel speaking English somehow make them better. My friends and I don’t really like those ABC, as they speak English to each other, and act like they are better all the time…which is totally not like that boy in the comic. Most of the time ABC had a richer family, and likely to buy a sport car and drunk driving around…well that’s just my experience with ABC back home. I don’t think your skin color matter to your behavior, as it’s where you growing up that will change your behavior. If you are born in America and go to school like everyone else I don’t think you will be too different from everyone else. However I feel America is still a country to judge people on his color, which is really strange for a country with such mix of different nationality.