Daily Thoughts 1/3/2010

Stan Sakai at WonderCon 2009.28 February 2009(2009-02-28)This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License by Brokensphereon on Wikimedia http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stan_Sakai_at_WonderCon_2009_1.JPG Stan Sakai is the author of Usagi Yojimbo.

Daily Thoughts 1/3/2010

Usagi Yojimbo Yokai by Stan Sakai

Miyamoto Usagi is a ronin, a roaming unaffilitated samurai in this graphic novel. The character is loosely based on Miyamoto Musashi. The setting is a medieval japan populated by mythical creatures and anthropomorphic animals. Miyamoto Usagi is a rabbit. The graphic novel by Stan Sakai has been running for 25 years. This book was specifically produced for the 25th anniversary of the comic. It has won a variety of awards including the Eisner Award, the Inkpot Award, an American Library Association award, and many others. The writing and drawing is very entertaining.

This edition is a standalone edition. The colors are done with watercolors which is not like most American comics. Stan Sakai is from Hawaii. It adds a different feeling to the comic. The lines are also very strong and fluid. This makes the characters well defined. The background is a medieval Japan with some unusual touches, oversize mushrooms, some strange animals, it transports you to a mythical place.

The story takes place on the night of Oborozuki-Yo (the hazy moon) at the same time it is tied with the Yokai (haunts). This gives the author license to introduce ghosts, demons, and spirits from Japanese mythology as well as some of his own fanciful creations. Some of there are silly like the tentacle beast, and some of them are mythological like the fox spirit and the fire breathing salamander.

At the end of the book, there is an interview with Stan Sakai. He details the design, panel layout, writing, and research into Japanese folklore to create the story. He also talks about his work with Sergio Aragones as a letterer for the comic Groo.

This comic was fun to read with plenty of color, action, monsters, and folklore.

I wrote this review while I was sitting in the laundromat. Then I rewrote it a bit while I am sitting at the computer.

I also had time to read a little bit more of In The First Circle. Right now, I am at the point where Stalin is a character in the book. He is rather self important and more than a little deadly in an uncompromising ironhanded way. If Stalin is insulting the other characters, they will live, otherwise if he is quiet, they die. Every couple of chapters the main characters change. This is a very hard thing to do.

Stalin makes several literary references inside the book which is different. He praises the book, Iosif Vissaronovich Stalin: Short Biography and he describes how he made sure that the book portrayed him in a positive light. Later Stalin also praises the book Tito: Traitor In Chief by Renaud de Jourenel one of his rivals.

I watched a bit more of the BBC production of I Claudius. I am up to Chapter 6 which is called Reign of Terror. Tiberius is running the Roman empire with an ironhand and accusing many people of treason. Soon, Caligula will be in power.

Good Morning, Good Afternoon

Brain in a vat. I don't know why I chose this image. Maybe, I feel a bit dreamy today.

Good Morning

I read Black and White on the train in to work today. I reserved By Schism Rent Asunder, a new David Weber in his series Armageddon Reef. This series reads very differently than his books published under the Baen label. This book is published under the Tor label so the editing should be considerably different.

I also found a review for The Automotic Detective on http://www.sfsite.com/ This is the exact link to the review http://www.sfsite.com/07b/ad276.htm . I liked the review enough to recommend it. It is accurate.

Good Afternoon

During lunch, I noted down the outline for the review of Don't Make Me Think A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability. I am not going to write it out today. One review in a day is enough. I think more than one review would be rushed and a little sloppy.

I am feeling a little better than this morning with two cups of coffee fortifying my thinking.

One of the reasons I am doing this blog is for self motivation to get myself to do a little bit every day of different library and literature related things...

I weeded some of the graphic novels in the adult section. I did not get rid of a lot of the classics. People still read Milton Caniff, Rube Goldberg, Jules Feiffer, Al Capp, Gary Trudeau, and Berke Breathed. I know these are often quite old, but people are still checking them out. As soon as the new graphic novels I order are here, they go out very quickly.

Often the people who sit at the computers have a waiting time of half hour or longer. Many of them read graphic novels while they are waiting for their turn on the internet computers. Graphic novels are quick and easy to read.

I checked out a few graphic novels for me to read this weekend. I always check out the books which I am going to use. It is the right thing to do for librarians. Check out your books. It increases the amount of circulation for your library. Libraries are partially funded by circulation.

I have the following graphic novels, The Facts In The Case of the Departure of Miss Finch by Neil Gaiman, Michael Zulli, and Todd Klein, Usagi Yojimbo The Mother of Mountains Volume 21 by Stan Sakai, and The Savage Sword of Conan Volumes 1, 2, and 3 written by Roy Thomas. These are Dark Horse comics compilations. They should remind me of when I was younger and liked to read Conan. It is a bit nostalgic to look at these three volumes.

Also, I have The Future of the Internet and How To Stop It by Jonathan Zittrain. This should be interesting. Finally, I am looking at Fueling Our Future An Introduction To Sustainable Energy by Robert L. Evans.

Thoughts For Today

Thoughts For Today

I read the July 7 Publishers Weekly this morning. There was an interesting title listed for graphic novels. It is War Eagles by Carl Macek. There is an introduction by Ray Harryhausen. Ray Harryhausen currently is working on a new animatronic film called War Eagles. This is the graphic novel adaptation of the film.

Also, we had a Dominican lady come in and talk about her new poetry book. We may be doing a poetry reading in Spanish which should be quite interesting. We just have to make the arrangements for the program.

I am almost done reading The Public Domain.

I have a copy of Usagi Yojimbo Tomoe's Story, Volume 22 by Stan Sakai. I think this is my favorite manga and possibly one of the best comic series I've ever read. I love the story and the style of the artwork. Usagi Yojimbo means "rabbit bodyguard". The main character is Miyamoto Usagi, a wandering rabbit ronin inspired by Miyamoto Musashi. It is an anthropomorphic or furry comic book. Stan Sakai was inspired to write the story while he was a letterer for Groo the Wanderer.

It has numerous elements from Japanese folklore including ghosts, tengu, spirits, and demons. There are also ninja, assassins, bandits, and other adventures which Usagi runs into. He fights numerous duels with the sword. There are also different furries some of them present unique challenges. Stan Sakai has a website at: http://www.usagiyjojimbo.com/