2011 Reading #73: Red by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner
Books 1-10.
Books 11-20.
Books 21-30.
Books 31-40.
Books 41-50.
Books 51-60.
Books 61-70.
71. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown.
72. The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin.
73. Red by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner. I had heard, before seeing the film adaptation of this, that it was significantly different from the comic, and it is. I enjoyed the film, with that sort of double-consciousness of enjoying films which deal with the fact that governments routinely do unethical and illegal things that we condone by our apathy. But we were speaking of the comic. What's wonderful about Ellis, as opposed to some people writing comics, is that he is a student of the medium, and in his writing he exploits the possibilities of it. Much of this comic has no dialogue, and much of the action happens off-screen, implied in the way that all action in comics is implied, by what happens before and after it. There were a few spots where the images alone didn't quite convey the details of what was happening, but overall it works well. The biggest difference between this and the film is tonal; where the film was sort of a comedic romance with guns, sort of like "True Lies" forty years later, this is a dark, bleak book, and Moses (Paul Moses here, as opposed to Frank in the film--why, I have no idea. Sort of like changing Bruce Banner to David for the TV show, I guess) isn't a hero. He's superhuman, yes, but he's broken, and he doesn't retaliate because he's angry so much as because he's given up.
Books 11-20.
Books 21-30.
Books 31-40.
Books 41-50.
Books 51-60.
Books 61-70.
71. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown.
72. The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin.
73. Red by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner. I had heard, before seeing the film adaptation of this, that it was significantly different from the comic, and it is. I enjoyed the film, with that sort of double-consciousness of enjoying films which deal with the fact that governments routinely do unethical and illegal things that we condone by our apathy. But we were speaking of the comic. What's wonderful about Ellis, as opposed to some people writing comics, is that he is a student of the medium, and in his writing he exploits the possibilities of it. Much of this comic has no dialogue, and much of the action happens off-screen, implied in the way that all action in comics is implied, by what happens before and after it. There were a few spots where the images alone didn't quite convey the details of what was happening, but overall it works well. The biggest difference between this and the film is tonal; where the film was sort of a comedic romance with guns, sort of like "True Lies" forty years later, this is a dark, bleak book, and Moses (Paul Moses here, as opposed to Frank in the film--why, I have no idea. Sort of like changing Bruce Banner to David for the TV show, I guess) isn't a hero. He's superhuman, yes, but he's broken, and he doesn't retaliate because he's angry so much as because he's given up.