~3. Back 2 High School - Towel Style ~

All right, guys!  Here we are with the next five panels of my old high school comic featuring my Towel character.  It's slowly, slowly moving out of the slice-of-life shoujo style and into the action, magical girl realm.

Ah, in the last post I couldn't figure out this guy's name.  Akiru, huh?  Anyway, apparently he has always noticed Towel around school.  So when he asks is her best friend, Cornbread, her boyfriend, she freaks out and hits him.  While the attack wasn't necessary, she freaked out for good reason.

How inpatient of her.  Here Akiru is trying to ask her out and Towel's like, "hurry up."  I have to laugh, though.  That's very much like myself.  Get to the point.

Here's the new girl again.  She's giving her teachers' hell per usual.  What's her deal?

Yep.  Curse the teacher out.  Snap the ruler in half.  Then kick the teacher in the face while proclaiming how things are about to "change" in the classroom.  Sounds about right with something I would think of back when I was 17.

Now all of the students are flying out of the classroom under her influence–with the exception of Towel who seems unaffected by her sway.  Even Clip sticks out her tongue and splits for the door.  So is this new girl human?  I more or less took this scene from an incident that happened to me while in the tenth grade.  The lights went out in the entire school, and when the substitute we had for English left to check everything out, the entire class got up and left.  I'll never understand why I got into that, seeing as I didn't have anywhere to go.  However, I have to admit that that week of in-house suspension was great.  I spent that whole week writing a story until I finished it.

See you guys in the next 5!

Free Comic Book Day

No, I don't have a comic book to give away.  If I was aware of such a day as Free Comic Book Day, I might've been prepared.  It was only recently brought to my attention, though.  So I'll do what I can and share a few old scans from back when I used to do comics for my high school newspaper.  They are messy, but enjoy them the best that you can.  (^_^)

V-Day Skit

Notice the Sailor V influence?  I really, really should go get some good bristol board and try this all over again.  Anyway, thanks for stopping by.  

Manga Mysteries ~ Sherlock Holmes Had a Niece?

Okay, for all the manga readers time to share a series I discovered a little over a year ago.  I almost looked over this one, and then realized my Comic Towel drawings were inspired by this style of art.  Blend that with my month of reading mysteries, and consider me encouraged to share Kaoru Shintani’s Young Miss Holmes (Seven Seas Entertainment), or its Japanese title, Christie High Tension (Media Factory).

Debutting in 2007 (it didn't hit the west till 2012), Young Miss Holmes tales about an aristocratic and--somewhat presumptuously educated--ten-year-old named Crystal "Christie" Margaret Hope.  She goes by "Christie" as a polite throw to English crime novelist, Agatha Christie; and it just so happens she's the niece of famed literary figure, Sherlock Holmes.  The homages to manga-Christie's character blooms rampant and clear.  Nonetheless, as a character who has her own, her University-level education translates through her unique ability to discern her surroundings with blade-like sharpness.  This ability supports her subsequent need to ask questions, leading to a performance of logical deductions and reasoning.  Have I pumped up Christie too much?  Probably so.  But I like her so I must continue.

On the other hand, her aristocratic upbringing translates into her freedom to roughly--but resourcefully--explore her talents with a decorum of respect from others.  Besides her exercised clout of owning the title as the niece of Sherlock Holmes, this exploration includes Christie’s need to run behind her uncle and his murder cases.  However, she often falls down the tunnels of her own hunches until she’s left to dig her own way out.  Which strengths my resolve for loving the mystery genre because it's always about characters thinking for themselves.  

Mutton sleeves attached, Christie is either cornering a jewel thief; deciphering a murderous lithograph; or pursuing Shintani’s twist on Holmes's popular case, The Hound of Baskerville.  And while Christie does much of her sleuthing to gain the approval of her famed uncle, she is not alone in her pursuits as she drags her unexpectedly self-sufficient teacher and nannies into her troubles.  Each and all done with some amazing manga-style flips, flares and wit.  Oh, and some hard India ink.

I am currently working my way through each story-packed volume with a balanced pace.  See, I confess that I sometimes read quickly through manga and graphic novels, to the point of walking away with nothing of use besides admiring the art.  Maybe because this is a mystery manga that I’ve decided to take my time, much like how I did with Tadashi Agi‘s thriller series, Remote, some years ago.  Nonetheless, from Young Miss Holmes, I find myself charmed with Shintani’s whodunit storytelling underneath his obvious, sparklingly admiration of Author Doyle's virtuoso.  Shintani does dip a touch into fantasy, but his stories are not without that cobblestoned London 1891 glow that's probably rarely seen in manga.  The amusing, over-expressed (classic in my eyes) construction of his line work carried each story just as cleanly as the stories themselves.  His style has the throwback appeal of manga from the 1980s, ala Project A-ko and Galaxy Express 999; and that, along with early 90’s style, appeals to me from a growing-up stance.  I should mention that I do adore Christie.  Or did you already figure that out?  Yes, she can sometimes be a brat.  Despite all of her intelligence, she’s still ten.  However, there is a compassionate side to Christie that is easy to miss.  One example lie in her encouraging words to her troubled, illiterate nanny.  Like I said, something unanticipated remains here beyond the mystery and comedic attitude of the series.  

Nevertheless, I love how outstandingly fun and hilarious this series is, as well as bewildering.  Bewildering in a good way I should say.  Whatever the case, Scandal’s “The Warrior” would easily describe Christie’s detective moxie.  After I finish Rita Mae Brown’s Wish You Were Here, I feel another episode of Christie coming along.

Manga Realness: "Ultra Maniac" by Wataru Yoshizumi

The last series in my favorite completed manga set is Ultra Maniac, by Wataru Yoshizumi.  This is quite possibly my favorite between the four I've recently written about, and for serveral reason.  Besides the franatic storyline underneath a schoolhouse backdrop, the artwork (or line work) is clean beyond belief.  Taken with an artistic eye (not that I'm a professional of any sort), the drawings are very clear.  Even clearer and cleaner than Naoko Takeuchi's work.  Maybe it has a lot to do with the different time periods the two series were released, but I noticed Ultra Maniac was very much on par with Absolute Boyfriend's line work.  Perhaps, a smidget cleaner and more meticulous.  Never mind, they both are nicely done.  I just notice it much more in Ultra Maniac.

Yet another manga series I followed through each English adaptation's release, Ultra Maniac also brought me comfort during some frustratingly lonely times.  Also as a note, this one of the few manga series where I own the anime version also--which is just as clean and wonderfully put together.

Ayu Tateishi.  Rei Hino, anyone?

Rei with her secret crush, Tetsushi

So those who are unfamiliar with the short series, Ultra Maniac, let me first summarize what it’s about before why I like it.  For starters, the series combines comedy, romance, and fantasy.  It’s magical, with extended emphasis on celebrating our uniqueness and the friends we gather from doing so.  The story revolves around Ayu Tateishi (who I’ve attributed has an attitude and likeness similar to Rei Hino in Sailor Moon).  As a middle-school girl, Ayu is somewhat of an inspiration to her classmates.  She has a maturity about her that many of her peers admire.  She isn’t one to let loose her emotions or super-express her feelings in concerns to school crushes and chasing idols.  Also, she firmly states that she isn’t one to believe in magic and fantasies.  Ayu has a smooth and practical personality, which I identified with from the jump on some levels.  Nevertheless, Ayu hides a lot of her feelings behind this demeanor--through a personification built mostly because of her interest in a certain student named, Tetsushi Kaji.  Much of her development comes from accepting and projecting her inner desires, trusting that she can believe in the impossible becoming possible.  And this is where Nina Sakura--the teen witch--comes in.  

Nina Sakura and her little spell-tool box

Tetsushi Kaji, the popular boy

From the beginning, Nina comes across as somewhat of a scatterbrain.  Yet, that's a part of her cute, spunky, and likeable charm.  She is like the antithetic to Ayu, or the Pippi Longstockings to Ayu's calm personality.  Nina has just about the same level of energy and gusto as Pippi Longstockings, as well as the unwavering passion for believing in the unbelievable.  However, just like Ayu, Nina hides many of her insecurities behind her jubilant personality.  Somehow attracted to Ayu’s resonablities, Nina is in distress after losing a personal item related to her witching.  It’s a big issue because Nina is in this “world” to prove she is capable of becoming an outstanding witch, considering the people from her world don’t seem to trust that aspect of her.  Once Ayu finds and returns Nina’s magic tool, Nina sees Ayu as the perfect individual to divulge her secrets to.  This includes confessing her desires to be an outstanding witch.  I suppose Nina felt she could share this with Ayu because of Ayu's smooth personality, but now thoroughly attached, Nina does anything she can to make Ayu happy.  To her, they are friends now.  However, Nina's magical antics doesn’t always turn out in Ayu’s favor.  And this is where the adventures begin.

Opposites attract, leading the girls down exciting paths encouraged by one another’s differences and inner similarities as they develop a close friendship filled with trust and adventure.  Between the two secondary male roles expanding onto the friendship, and friends from Nina’s witch world entering many chapters, Ultra Maniac makes for a comedic five-volume series. 

Tetsushi's best friend, Hiroki

As I outline Ayu and Nina’s characteristics and differences, I want to make it known that those elements are what made me love the series.  Particular because I spent my middle school years in somewhat of the same circumstances where I had to cover up myself just to survive the experience.  The funny thing is that in middle school I was more like Ayu, calm and collected.  It wasn't until the second year of high school that I became out going like Nina.  It balanced out eventually.   And necessarily so. 

Nevertheless, that's only half of my identification with the manga series.  While I wasn’t the most popular in middle school I had enough “credence” to associate myself with a few of the more popular students.  I suppose in many respects I was that in-between kid.  Nevertheless, my best friend was one of the students who was forever looked over and bullied by others.  He was the kid I would have to defend from ignorant tormentors.  It had a lot to do with him coming from a family in economic straits (like who wasn't?).  Straits that showed in his tattered shoes and daily repeating outfits.  On top of this, his family weren't that nice to him.  I remember a time when I had extra money and got us both Snicker bars out of the school vending machine.  He took his home.  The next day I asked did he enjoy it.  Sadly, his dad took it away from him and told him that he didn't deserve it.  What kid doesn't deserve candy?  I was angered of course.  Months later I bought two copies of a collection of ghost stories.  Nobody took that from him.  

Nina flagging down Ayu

Maybe because I've always tried to remain receptive to people, but I see no other way to find acceptance in yourself but through the accepting of others.  Nothing is more bonding than being genuinely emphatic and sympathetic to another.  What he and I shared was a love of Stephen King (which may say a lot) and the imagination.  Not Air Jordans or Mustangs.  Just books and some creative thinking.  We could be ourselves while everyone else was shooting to be relevant to others.  Therefore, I enjoyed his company and considered him a friend.  I needed one just as he did.  

Now, while there is much, much else to speak about in Ultra Maniac, the story of two girls who seem to support and compliment each other inspires me to remain open to people.  Have you been open to people lately?

Book/Manga Chat 1

Why of course Towel & Cornbread is a blog about books, manga, and the various methods I like to share concerning self-help.  So to tie those in, I’ve posted my recent book chat video.  Inside I discuss books by Gloria Naylor and Laurell K Hamilton (who I should do a blog post on because of my love-hate relationship for her Anita Blake series).  I touch a little on Naoko Takeuchi’s Sailor Moon English reissue of volume 12, as well as some bonus material from the depths of my general interest.

The Men of Brewster Place - Gloria Naylor
Linden Hills - Gloria Naylor
Mama Day - Gloria Naylor
Bailey’s Café - Gloria Naylor
Affliction - Laurell K. Hamilton
Sailor Moon 12 - Naoko Takeuchi
Time and Eternity - NIS America
Songversation - India.Arie