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MACK! ... a new reader's thoughts on Kabuki [spoilers]

 
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tedio
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Joined: 16 Oct 2003
Posts: 490

PostPosted: Nov 23, 2004 5:03 am    Post subject: MACK! ... a new reader's thoughts on Kabuki [spoilers] Reply with quote

Mack -

I met you at the WWTX con a few weeks ago. I'm the guy who gave you the Cockroach poster. I was new to Kabuki, but had always meant to try it, so you pointed out the best few trades to start with, and cut me a hell of a deal on Circle of Blood, Skin Deep and Metamorphosis. You threw in a few other extras as well, and your price for all of that generosity was that I post my thoughts here when I finished the books.

First of all, I thought I'd tell you what my impressions of your work were before I'd actually read any of your stuff. I'd seen your art on Daredevil, as well as covers and pinups here and there. I've always thought it was very impressive, but I had somehow convinced myself to expect a comic that was heavy on visuals and light on story. I expected that the story would exist solely to put a framework on your artwork, but wouldn't be notable in and of itself. I was astonished at how wrong that impression turned out to be.

In fact, I truly enjoyed every one of the Kabuki trades I read. I loved the use of leitmotifs that recurred in all three trades I read (the water pitcher shattering into fragments shaped like Japan, for example, or Kabuki's missing goldfish, which was in turn a metaphor for aborted children!) I am a big Western fan of Chinese culture - what they call an egg - and I got a huge kick out of seeing a Western interpretation and obvious love for Japanese culture. I can't imagine how long it took you to develop the depth that you gave Kabuki, or how long it took you to figure out how to integrate that depth into a workable, entertaining story, or how long it takes you to create a single page... (especially some of those pages in Metamorphosis - whew!) but I imagine it was an insanely long time. As a reader, I truly appreciated it.

There were a few things that struck me, though. I'll admit, I've only read these three trades, and I realize that there is a lot of Kabuki out there I haven't read, but the stories I read did seem extremely focused on Kabuki's past. The climax of Circle of Blood seemed like a catharsis for Kabuki that could have helped her move on, but in both Skin Deep and Metamorphosis she was still stuck on the same issues she was in Circle of Blood - her mother, her adopted father, her biological father, etc. I'll admit, it's realistic, because real people don't move on from trauma right away, sometimes never. On other hand, Kabuki is a fictional character, and you have the leeway to move her on to new (external) challenges a bit faster than a person in the real world might be able to do it. Maybe you're already doing that in the new Icon series - I don't know, but I'll probably be finding out soon.

Despite my minor criticism above, I think you've achieved something very unique and impressive with Kabuki, and I can understand now why people talk about the book with the amount of admiration they do. Keep it up!

--Charles Soule
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MACK!
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Joined: 27 Sep 2003
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PostPosted: Nov 23, 2004 1:41 pm    Post subject: Re: MACK! ... a new reader's thoughts on Kabuki [spoilers] Reply with quote

tedio wrote:
Mack -

I met you at the WWTX con a few weeks ago. I'm the guy who gave you the Cockroach poster. I was new to Kabuki, but had always meant to try it, so you pointed out the best few trades to start with, and cut me a hell of a deal on Circle of Blood, Skin Deep and Metamorphosis. You threw in a few other extras as well, and your price for all of that generosity was that I post my thoughts here when I finished the books.

First of all, I thought I'd tell you what my impressions of your work were before I'd actually read any of your stuff. I'd seen your art on Daredevil, as well as covers and pinups here and there. I've always thought it was very impressive, but I had somehow convinced myself to expect a comic that was heavy on visuals and light on story. I expected that the story would exist solely to put a framework on your artwork, but wouldn't be notable in and of itself. I was astonished at how wrong that impression turned out to be.

In fact, I truly enjoyed every one of the Kabuki trades I read. I loved the use of leitmotifs that recurred in all three trades I read (the water pitcher shattering into fragments shaped like Japan, for example, or Kabuki's missing goldfish, which was in turn a metaphor for aborted children!) I am a big Western fan of Chinese culture - what they call an egg - and I got a huge kick out of seeing a Western interpretation and obvious love for Japanese culture. I can't imagine how long it took you to develop the depth that you gave Kabuki, or how long it took you to figure out how to integrate that depth into a workable, entertaining story, or how long it takes you to create a single page... (especially some of those pages in Metamorphosis - whew!) but I imagine it was an insanely long time. As a reader, I truly appreciated it.

There were a few things that struck me, though. I'll admit, I've only read these three trades, and I realize that there is a lot of Kabuki out there I haven't read, but the stories I read did seem extremely focused on Kabuki's past. The climax of Circle of Blood seemed like a catharsis for Kabuki that could have helped her move on, but in both Skin Deep and Metamorphosis she was still stuck on the same issues she was in Circle of Blood - her mother, her adopted father, her biological father, etc. I'll admit, it's realistic, because real people don't move on from trauma right away, sometimes never. On other hand, Kabuki is a fictional character, and you have the leeway to move her on to new (external) challenges a bit faster than a person in the real world might be able to do it. Maybe you're already doing that in the new Icon series - I don't know, but I'll probably be finding out soon.

Despite my minor criticism above, I think you've achieved something very unique and impressive with Kabuki, and I can understand now why people talk about the book with the amount of admiration they do. Keep it up!

--Charles Soule



Thanks! I really appreciate that. I'm glad you liked them.

You'll find more in the moment action, in the other trades, Masks of the Noh (vol 3), and Scarab (vol 6).
The trades I suggested to you were to give you the whole story that comes before the current storyline and show the introduction of the new characters and thier histories, that play a part in the new series.

Hmm, so in a way, you were saying the art being "impressive" kept you from reading it? Smile

I'll fix that!
Smile
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