Get to Know Our Staff: Part I

Cover for Black Widow, issue 2

As a way of introducing our staff and the diverse tastes that we have, I figured it would be informative to send them a few quick questions to overview their past and current tastes. I would like to thank them all for participating, and look forward to their responses come next round. But for now, let's get started with our first Q&A with my friend, Jackie!

1) Are you reading anything right now? If not, what are you watching?

At the top of my head, I am currently reading Nathan Edmonson's Black Widow, Rick Remender's & Wes Craig's Deadly Class, and a whole list of manga titles - though Hiroshi Takashige's Until Death Do Us Part and Eiji Otsuka's Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service are two titles that I eagerly await for the most. 

 2) What do you like/not like most about it?

Black Widow

Cover of Deadly Class, issue 6

I really like how Edmonson writes Black Widow. I think he has her characteristics down to a 'T' and so far, has explored her motives and actions well. My only grief about it was that the plot was really slow moving in the beginning. There were a couple of times where I thought to stop reading the series, but I'm glad I kept reading because it's only in the latest issues where the story is picking up. Oh, and Phil Noto's art is always fantastic to see. 

Deadly Class

Love the plot: taking the next generation of international crime families and training them in the art of assassination. It has your typical high school themes/tropes but with a healthy (or unhealthy) dose of violence, drugs and horror. The art is also really unique, and for me, suits the story well. Lee Loughridge's colouring is great too. There are always a couple of pages in each issue where the panels just pop out because of the interesting contrast of colours that he uses. 

Art from Magic Knight Rayearth by CLAMP

3) What is the first comic you remember reading?

The first comic I remember reading was the manga Magic Knight Rayearth volume 2 by CLAMP. It was also the first comic/manga I ever bought, and the reason why I picked it up was because the art on the cover was beautiful and really, really blue (guess what my favourite colour is). A simple reason, but I'm glad I kept it because the rest of the series was amazing and I'm always in awe of CLAMP's old artwork. 

4) Tell me about your favourite ongoing comic. Why is it your favourite?

   As mentioned above, Until Death Do Us Part and Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service are two ongoing titles that I impatiently wait new volumes for, but if I had to pick between the two, I'd go for Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service. 

KCDS is about this group of graduate students who basically help fulfill the dying wish of an already-dead person. All of the members of KCDS have particular abilities that help them out in this near-impossible task: one's a psychic (or itako), a dowser, a hacker, an embalmer and a channeler...who speaks to an alien residing in his hand puppet. Sounds awesome right?! This manga is refreshingly different in its plot line (and creative in its body horror), and what's nice is that each volume can be read on its own, since there are separate stories in each book. There is an overarching plot line where you'd have to read all the volumes to understand, but it's really easy to get started even if you're not reading the first volume. 

Cover from The Kurosagi Corpse
 Delivery Service,  Book 1

What I also really love and enjoy about KCDS is the presentation of each volume. On the cover of each book is a diagram of a death scene that's unique to the story in that volume. The character headshots that are also featured on every cover also change per volume, so it's really interesting to see what theme they'll do next. Dark Horse - their publisher- in their earlier printings of KCDS used to use this nice cardboard paper for their covers, but due to money issues, had to revert to a more basic paper quality, which was unfortunate.   

    Another great thing about KCDS, is that at the end of each book, there are many pages that explain little details that occur in each comic page/panel - it's basically like reading the special features in a DVD. For example, all the sound effects are translated, any cameos or Easter eggs are revealed and explanations for why a chapter was titled are given. Because KCDS takes place in modern Japan, there are a lot of sayings or mannerisms that would be lost in translation, so those extra 20-or-so pages of special features really help to clarify what's happening in a particular panel.

The only downside to KCDS is waiting one to two years for a new volume to come out. Ugh...Which is why I spoil myself with Until Death Do Us Part since it's being released in North America in omnibus format, so it's almost like getting two volumes in one, but I think I've said enough. 

5) Do you have a favourite artist? If so, who is it and why have you chosen them?

Panel from A Bride's Story. 

Some of my top artists would be James Jean, the ladies of CLAMP and DOUBLE-S, but Kaoru Mori is an artist that I adore and would totally sit down to just watch the process of her drawing a page or even just a character. There are a couple of YouTube videos of Kaoru Mori's drawing sessions, and they are amazing to watch. Seeing the progression of a simple sketch to a complete inked image is mind-blowing to me because I get to see how she works in the details.  One of the best, or probably THE best example of her work is A Bride's Story. The manga revolves around Turkic nomadic culture and its people, and a lot of that is shown through the types of clothes they wear, their crafts and their decorations. All the clothes, jewellery, carpets, carved doors, etc. are drawn with so much detail - adding in all the geometric shapes and symbols and patterns that reflect their heritage - that a two-page spread of a room full of rugs and drapery looked like it would have taken days to sketch and ink out. It's this respect, attention and dedication to even the smallest of elements in her work that I really appreciate.