« Where In The World Is Koko B. Ware? | Main | But What's His OBP? »
November 06, 2005
Shojo Wienie
I don't have a choice - I have to start today's strip like this:
Mr. Stantis, I know manga. Manga is a friend of mine. You sir, are no manga artist.
Today, Scott Stantis stretches his "artistic" muscles and tries something completely different. He attempts to channel the popular Japanese style of manga, a traditionally action-oriented form of comics featuring detailed panels and plenty of fight scenes.
In other words, he's in WAY over his head.
At first you might be fooled into saying to yourself, "Hey, this looks pretty cool." But look closer, my friend. A more grown-up, "realistic" looking Carmen sits reading a copy of MAnn Coulter's "Treason" when she spies a werewolf-looking Winslow (in pants!) running at her. They charge each other, smashing together in an explosion of light.
In the last panel we see the battered twosome, in their normal forms, explaining it's a "manga-girl thing." I can't tell if Winslow is wearing pants or not.
(I should say it's interesting that the werewolf Winslow not only wears pants, but jeans with a belt. Why a wolf needs a belt is beyond me.)
Normally this would be kinda cute. I've read some manga and enjoyed it, but I prefer Japanese anime' (what you might call "cartoons"). And I'm sure the idea of drawing Carmen and Winslow in a different form is a nice break from the scribbling Stantis normally does.
But seriously, this strip looks like it was drawn by a 13-year-old boy scribbling in the corners of his Biology notebook. Sure we all make fun of Stantis's normal drawings, but it's excused because it's a traditional comic and most of those grew out of Charles Schultz's "Peanuts."
But here, Stantis is tackling a much different form of drawing. Look at the panel where Winslow looks right at us. Can you honestly tell me that doesn't look like a kid drew it? My friend Ed was drawing better characters in the 6th grade than this crap. Carmen looks okay, and I like the half panel when she looks over her shoulder, but Winslow is a flat-out embarrassment. Next time Scott - spend a little more time researching your "How To Draw Manga" book (there are plenty at Borders) before you attempt something that is way above your skill level.
Then again, political comics are way above his head and that hasn't stopped him before.
Comments
This comic does stir the debate re: Carmen's supposed ethnic background. Couldn't tell when he draws his normal PC strip, but in today's version, Carmen clearly has braids, and they appear afro-centric at that.
Posted by: FredN. at November 6, 2005 01:23 PM
