Elin's Journal

Wal-Mart sued over refusing to carry Plan B.

Yet another reason to dislike Wal-Mart. In some areas, it's the only store people have access to, for either groceries, a pharmacy, or what have you. I am disgusted that they refuse to carry Plan B in their pharmacy, and annoyed yet again that the over-the-counter version of Plan B keeps getting stonewalled by the government (though the FDA has said it is safer than aspirin, and approved it several times...) It's *not* an abortion pill (it does not cause an actual abortion), any more than the standard every-day birth control pills are abortion pills. Honestly, the people opposed to Plan B and birth control pills and teaching birth control methods to teenagers keep saying it's "for the chillllldrunnnnn", but really, I think it's just that they hate the idea of uppity women who can control their own reproductive systems. It's a crazy concept, I know. But then the people who believe that Plan B and the pill are abortion-causers also seem to believe that if abortion is kept legal, women will just have them constantly so they can screw some other guy immediately afterwards. I can't help but think that it's a fear of women's sexuality that causes this. Fear of women's sexuality has caused a lot of crap over the years, little annoyances like being burned at the stake or stoned to death. Apparently, the uterus and the vagina are intensely scary to some people and need to be *controlled*. Lord knows if you don't, they'll suck up the whole world, like thousands of little black holes! Eeek!

I made the mistake of reading a couple of comics I picked up for one of our Japanese artists. He likes Terry Dodson's art and Frank Cho's, so I've been getting him New Avengers and Spider-Man & Black Cat (this despite the fact that I stopped buying Marvel books a few years ago because I didn't like their business practices... you do what you gotta to keep your artists happy...). Well, I read the SM&BC final issue, and what a pile of crap. Felicia Hardy used to be a cool character, she was this sexy cat-burglar girl and when I was growing up, I always thought she was way cooler than boring old Mary Jane Watson or Gwen Stacy. Black Cat was neat, she was kind of like the Julie Newmar Catwoman, all sex appeal and mischief. Plus, she was pretty smart and capable, in that she planned and executed all her own capers. But now it's all because she got date-raped? What the hell? Why is it that every strong woman in mainstream comics has to have had some violent act perpetrated against them in order to make them go into being a costumed heroine/villain? Why do they all have to be victims? Is it that this is the only trick male writers can come up with? Oh wait, no, I am wrong, the other trick they have is the classic "Madonna/Whore Switcheroo", when a nice, sweet-as-pie heroine turns "evil" and instantly becomes a slutty dominatrix. (And you know, what the hell does that say about the guys writing this stuff? See my previous paragraph about fear of women's sexuality...) Is it any wonder I stopped reading superhero comics? I read then as a kid because there were lots of cool girl characters, characters I looked up to. When Storm became a punk, I was so there, she was rad. When her boyfriend took away her powers, well, I wasn't too thrilled with that. (And what the hell kind of boyfriend takes away his woman's superpowers? A fucking insecure one, that's what...) There's a reason I read manga and independent comics, because the women in those are complicated, complex, well-rounded, and interesting. They aren't cardboard cutouts in fetish wear, designed to make woman-fearing nerds feel safe. Although in the case of some manga, they specifically *are* designed for that, but when even *harem anime and manga* have better defined, more complex female characters than superhero comics, Something is Wrong.

I would like to see some superheroines that aren't "less than" their male counterparts. I would like to see some superheroines that aren't destroyed or driven crazy by their superpowers (read: vaginas). I would like to see some superheroines who have actual, messy, complicated personal lives, like the girls on Sex & the City or the girls in Love & Rockets. I would like to see some superheroines who are more than just "the nice girl" or "the slutty girl" or "the mean girl", because women's personalities are more than just one note. I would like to see some superheroines who aren't actualized by rape or molestation. Some heroines that would actually be HEROIC would be nice, please and thank you.

In other non-feminist-ire-causing stuff, I seem to be developing a sore throat. Right when I have to go to work at VGSX. Yay!

Today is just a day of posting and posting! But I can finally reveal the manga we have been working on in secret, as they have been officially announced on the company's website! These manga will feature rewrite by myself, and lettering and touchup by PD and willworks (splitting the work evenly), and sometimes, translation by our good pal, DD.

Manga #1 is:



Hybrid Child by Shungiku Nakamura, which contains three seperate but linked tales set in a historic Japan that has android "Hybrid Child" dolls, which grow and change based on how much love their owners give them. Sort of like a Saber Marionette J-crossed-with-Rurouni Kenshin-mixed-with-boys'-love kind of thing. The stories are all really dramatic and tragic. Here is some of the description I wrote up for it:

The Hybrid Child is an amazing android that can grow if it is lavished
with enough love and care from its owner. Neither fully machine or
human, the various Hybrid Child models can develop strong emotional
bonds with their owners. This volume contains several short stories of
love, sacrifice, and drama. Young layabout Kotaro learns the
importance of responsibility when his Hybrid Child's lifespan runs
out. The tragic swordsman Seya learns to love again with the help of
his Hybrid child, Yuzu. Our final tale tells the story of Kuroda, the
creator of the Hybrid Child designs, and how his lost love inspired
their creation. Beautiful and romantic storytelling from Shungiku
Nakamura!

Manga #2 is:



Dear Myself by Eiki Eiki, which does feature translation by DD. It's got more humor than Hybrid Child, as the main character regains his memory after losing it two years previously, and so he has no memory of the gay relationship he's been in. Despite the funny touches, the story has a serious core and some very tender moments. Here is the description I wrote up for that one:

One fateful morning, Hirofumi awakens to discover he has no memory of
the previous two years. All he can recall is the car accident that
caused his amnesia, but he can't remember his classmates or anything
he learned in school. He's shocked to discover that he's been
romantically involved with the tragic and handsome Daigo and finds a
letter he's written to himself to explain their relationship! Can true
love triumph over the loss of memory? And will Hirofumi be able to
make Daigo smile again? Find out in this tenderly romantic tale by
Eiki Eiki!

So there you have it! I don't know the ship dates for these yet, as we only just finished the final corrections for Hybrid Child and are in the middle of working on the touch up for Dear Myself (with me working on the rewrite for Manga #3 and the impending Novel #1, I work ahead of the touchup crew...). But there! Look! Manga that I have worked on yet again!

Will Allison speaks the fucking truth about comic books and the concept of "throwaway ideas". willworks doesn't post often, but when he does, it's always good. Go and read it now!

I gotta say, it's the truth though- your brilliant masterpiece? Might never sell for shit. But that thing you scrawled as filler? Might be the thing everyone loves to pieces. Rumiko Takahashi's Maison Ikkoku is a genius piece of work, but people only really care about Ranma and Inu Yasha. Evan Dorkin's Hectic Planet is some of his best work ever, but people only really beg for more Milk & Cheese.

Here's the thing- you don't get to pick what you'll be popular for or remembered for. The audience does that. And you never really have any control over who your audience will be.

Anyway, time for me to get to work.

Yesterday, we finished paying for the Ebin & May trade and went over the blueline proof. Everything looks nice, can't wait for the finished books now.

Then, we stopped at Target to get a couple of household items, and discovered that Target's Halloween stuff is in stock and looks adorable- and it's cheap, cheap, cheap. So, to all the fellow spooks on my flist, get to Target! Maybe it's the fact that I grew up watching The Munsters and The Addams Family, but for some reason, I think Halloween items can be used all year round if they are not too orange. Yep, closet goth, that's me. I'm going to have to go back after Halloween and pick over the remains when it all gets reduced to 50%-75% off. ^_^

Meanwhile, the discussion of the elephant in the living room that is the whole TokyoPop contract thing continues at matthigh's journal. You can read it here. I should say, I am not advocating that people not work there at all, just that they go in with their eyes open. I am just categorically opposed to companies taking the rights to people's creations, coming up as I did in the early 1990's, and having read all the history of the industry before that. The very idea is abhorrent to me, on every level. A creation is like a child, and why would you sell your child to the highest bidder to get a brand name stamped into its cheek?

At any rate, I am kind of happy this is coming to light either way. When friends of ours first got these contracts full of ownership clauses and first-refusal rights clauses and royalty caps, we tried to warn them- not to get them to quit, but because we were worried and concerned. We were pretty much ignored until things started to go south. So in a way, it's kind of interesting to see other people talking about this subject and being open about it.

EDIT: A wonderful dear friend of mine made an excellent, though locked, post where they broke down some of the math involved. This person has been pitched to by TPop to submit, and has friends who have books there, so they do not want to cause distress to anyone, and thus are remaining anonymous. However, I have been given permission to repost their mathematics breakdown publically. So, under the cut, we will have "Fun With Math!":
( Read more... )

That is some damn scary math. Considering if you were working full-time, full-bore on comic pages, you would not have time to work another job to make ends meet. And you would really need to, because last time I checked, trying to live like an independent adult on less than or around $10k a year is nigh-on impossible. You would be required to either live with your parents, or live with a very understanding boy/girlfriend or spouse who is willing to foot the bills while you work on comics all day, every day, with no breaks. Retail wageslave register jockey jobs pay more, and you get benefits and don't have to worry about paying self-employment taxes.

CB Cebulski brings up an interesting point on TokyoPop contracts on The Engine. (You may have to register to read it, I don't know if you can otherwise.)

Basically, he brings up the point that no one else has really talked about- that if you sign, TokyoPop expects to get first refusal rights on everything else you come up with besides the book you signed for. This is similar to the contracts that Disney makes their animators sign, where anything you come up with while working for Disney belongs to Disney. (At least, they used to have those contracts... I don't know if those have changed now...) And, according to CB (a guy I trust, by the way, he's a straight shooter), he was told this was non-negotiable at SDCC this year. This is something that bothers me on a deep level, because I know that freelance artists *need* to get as much work out as possible, in as many different venues as possible. It's just not feasible to try to make any kind of living from just one company. (Well, unless you like ramen noodles and living in a carboard box...) Even if an artist does have monumental company loyalty (as many of my artist friends do, and for good reasons) and wants only one company to publish their works, they still are able to supplement their income by making their own merchandise, goods, art prints and gewgaws themselves based on their published works to earn extra cash on the side. Will TP artists be able to do this themselves? Or will they need approval for such things?

I'm thinking there are many different definitions of "creator-owned" floating around out there, and few of them reflect the actual meaning of the term. Considering how hard freelancers have had to fight over the years for creator's rights, I cannot help but think this sort of stuff is a step backwards.

EDIT: The discussion continues on other blogs, with a lot of other good information:

Lea Hernandez posts about the whole thread and then Robert DeJesus posts about it too. Interesting comments by Bruce Lewis, and others also. These are people who have been doing "American manga" since the 1980's. They know what they're talking about.

Riyoko Ikeda to adapt Yukio Mishima's Spring Snow as a manga.

Oh how I want to read that translated! It's unfair that none of Ikeda's works have been released here in the states.

Back to work on Manga #1 final edits for me. Soon, I'll even be able to reveal what it is, and who it's for! Hooray!