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Re: Finally here it is...

Posted By: MACK!
Date: SAT, 5/5/01, 3:03 p.m.

In Response To: Finally here it is... (french tbolt)

I love those people at Comic Box!

Anh and I had such a great time in France this year. Even though it was short notice, we got to stay longer this year than the last couple of visits to France. I met so many wonderful people.

The French readers, the entire comicbox crew, and so many amazing artists, and more.

Thanks T-bolt. IT is cool to see that interview here. Although I think there may be a couple translateion bugs in some specific words.

Here's a secret decoder ring: The term "real time" is used twice and I think I said "realized". Now it will be a little more clear when you read it. :)

DM

: ...here is the ComicBox interview with Mr Mack...
: enjoy!

: Thanks to zemo and to Xavier Fournier for their
: cooperation...;)

: So: 1) Your two main « creator owned » projects (Kabuki
: and Scarab) are infused with japanese culture. How did
: you find yourself involved with this specific culture.
: Why this one and not another one ?

: In collage I was competing in Japanes style of
: Karate. I then met a friend (Takashi Hattori) in my
: painting and dring classes who happend to be a
: teaching instructor in a similar style of Karate, So
: we started practicing together. Eventually I met the
: rest of his family and the rest of the Japanese
: sub-culture at the school. Since a lot of my friends
: were Japanese, I decided to learn the language. So I
: then took the Japanese Language courses for the rest
: of my university years. This also lead to more
: immersion in the history and culture and several trips
: to Japan. As my brother was also friends with my
: Japanese friends, he married a girl that was gong to
: my school and he went to shcool in Japan, so I now
: have an extended Japanese family. He eventually began
: teaching Japanese classes when he came back to the
: states. I guess it just started because of the friends
: I met in collage.

: 2) Your paintings are actually pieces of art that
: could be seen as comics pages (or covers) but wouldn’t
: be out of place in a art exhibition. Are you
: influenced by classic painters, both americans,
: japaneses or europeans ?

: I certainly am. I try to learn from everything that I
: observe and experience.

: 3) Did you ever try to expose/sell your stuff in the
: market of art exhibitions ?

: I use to do that more when I was in college. There
: isn’t really a need for me to do that right now. I
: still show my work in some art exhibitions, but my
: focus is on putting it in books. I can reach a much
: larger audience that way.

: 4) Comic Books often reflect a mostly negative image
: of Japan, with Yakusas and cyber-samurais everywhere.
: What do you think of the stories using Japan or
: Japaneses that can be found in the american market ?

: I think most of them are silly.

: 5) The «Noh» in your Kabuki is supposed to be some
: kind of balance between organized crime and a
: legitimate (but sometimes corrupt) commercial system.
: Do you see Japan like a land divided between those two
: extremes ?

: Not Japan specifically. The stories in Kabuki are set
: in Japan and the cultural and historical détails are
: spécifique to Japan, but most of the truths in those
: stories are universel and I think reflect situations,
: metaphors, divisions, extrêmes and balances that
: people can relate to around the world.

: 6) Most «american made» japanese characters, like
: Kabuki are visually linked to the traditional aspects
: of Japan, with references to the japanese antic era.
: At the same time, japanese mangas and video game are
: increasing their use of asiatic men and women with
: modern attires, punk colors in the hairs, who’re
: fighting while listening to some techno rave music…
: Why do you think that american creators are less
: interested with this more modern aspect of the
: japaneses ?

: One of the things that I enjoyed doing in Kabuki is to
: put the traditional and the modern together. In Circle
: of Blood and the Scarab story, there is a very urban
: feel that reflets a lot of the philosophies and
: sub-cultures of the youth culture in present day
: Japan. That is somesthing that I’m fascinated with,
: and it reflets in the story. Japan is a country that
: is rooted in tradition, but the new génération in this
: modern global world has a very different point of
: view.

: 7) During your time in France, you showed us a great
: knowledge of Oriental philosophy. Do you read
: particular books or are you following particular
: oriental rules/disciplines ?

: I have read many books on the subjects. Probably
: hundreds. I’m fascinated with the a range of
: philosophies and disciplines.I’m fascinated with Zen
: and Toaism. I’m someone that has a passion for
: creating things and for integrating things. So my
: whole Outlook on life if through a lense of creation
: and integration. When i was leasrning Karate, there
: came a point in which I realized that the basic
: principles of learning one art or discipline is the
: same for learning all other arts and disciplines. And
: that you need to learn it in a way that it is useful
: at all times and in all things. So this is how I
: approach everything and it wasn’t that I learned it so
: much in books, as from the in action and experience in
: martial arts. And then I real time that martial arts
: and all the other arts that i did were actually the
: same thing. Then I real time that my goal was always
: to unify art and action and make them
: indistinguishable. Then after learning more about
: Zen, I was able to understand these ideas in an even
: broader range.

: 8) Kabuki and Scarab are both women from a
: non-american culture. And in your recent Daredevil run
: as a writer, the main woman, Echo, has an amerindian
: lineage. Do you have something particular against «
: white american » womans J ?

: Well, Kabuki takes place in Japan, so pretty much
: everyone is Japanese. The main racism that is
: displayed in Kabuki, is based on fallout effects of
: the racism involved in the Comfort Women situation. In
: hich Japan subjugation women from neighboring Asian
: countries. And the fact that Kabuki does not quite fit
: in because her mother was Ainu. So she is not full
: Japanese in a society that looks down on anything less
: than that. Because the race issue in Kabuki is not
: polarized by black and white, I find that this is an
: efective way for us to view the situation from a
: different point of view and see the absurdities with
: out being blinded by the trappings the kinds of racism
: that we are used to in the west. If we see the
: ridiculousness in this situation, it can help us to
: further see the absurdities in our own situation.

: As far as Echo in Daredevil, I wanted her father to be
: somewhat of an outsider. So the Kingpin could relate
: to him more. He is more of a loner if he could not fit
: into one of the more traditional ethnic groups in New
: Yourk City. So I figured looping very Amerindian in
: NYC would make him not fit in his little world so
: much. He and Fisk team up as they are both outkasts in
: apparence and personality. I imagined that Echoes
: mother was Peurto Rican. Hence the name, Lopez.

: 9)… Or don’t you think that your use of women who
: aren’t from the «white american majority», wich issued
: both the male heroes (like Daredevil) and the majority
: or the (male) readership, is some kind of
: reimforcement of how both sexes, from any country or
: origin, are a cultural mystery for each other ?

: I suppose there may be somesthing to that as well. I
: did want Echo and DD to be very different from one
: another. To be a mystery that the other wants to
: explore.

: 10) What is the worst japanese cliche that you ever
: seen in an american comic book ?

: It’s just the same old stock stéréotypes over and
: over.

: 11) With the illustration that you recently did for
: Daredevil, Swamp Thing and the already «famous» secret
: Marvel project where you will also do the covers,
: you’re setting up some kind of parallel career as a
: cover artist. Is that something deliberate for you ?

: I enjoy writing. And I enjoy telling a story visually.
: But I also really enjoy focussing on one single image
: painting. I like to do all of these things and after I
: do one of them for a bit I need to do something in a
: different format for a change. So far I can do all of
: this in the realm of comics !

: respectfully
: french tbolt

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Messages In This Thread

NEW: Finally here it is... -- french tbolt -- SAT, 5/5/01, 12:28 p.m.
NEW: Re: Finally here it is... -- MACK! -- SAT, 5/5/01, 3:03 p.m.
NEW: Re: Finally here it is... -- french tbolt -- SUN, 5/6/01, 7:45 p.m.
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