Something different.

I decided to change the title of my blog to include "Comics" in it. That's because when I've only been sticking to Manga I've been honestly running out of ideas to blog about...That and it limit's my tastes too much. I've been trying to expand my interests by exploring comic books. I know, something besides manga, are you CRAZY?! Yes I am. Another reason is because of the change in my art style. I've been trying to draw realistic and I have seen a great improvement over the pseudo-manga style I used to draw. I still like manga though! And time to time I might review one or two but for now I'm looking towards comics. I just have one problem, I don't know where to begin!

When I go to Barnes & Nobles, the first place I always go to is the manga section. I've tried to go into the graphic novel section and I really don't know where to start. I know Scott Pilgrim, Whiteout and Marvel and DC but even then I'm not super familiar with them. That's where I ask for your help.

I WANT YOU to recommend any good comics, graphic novels or manga that you want me to read and review. They can even be web comics! They don't have to be super-popular at all. So I await your suggestions!

*Yes, that's me cosplaying as Big Boss from Metal Gear Solid 3. I though the exclamation point was appropriate for the blog.

What's gonna work? Teamwork!

Yes, that's a quote from the wonder pets. But it seems appropriate. I've been trying to brainstorm a comic lately and so far I'm mostly doing character models for reference. That and I've been getting better at drawing guys (that don't look like girls! *gasp*). But I've been thinking a lot of what it takes for a comic to be successful. I need help. I can't do this comic alone, I need a peer. Someone who can help me edit out what's unnecessary. Someone who I can show my ideas to so they can help me shape it better. That's when I realized that a great comic is made from a great team, not just one person.
Usually this idea is commonly seen in American comics. For example a long running comic has a team that works on it. Usually it consists of a writer, an editor, a pencilist (or the main artist), an inker, a colorist and for traditional comics a letterist (that's the guy who does the wording of the comic by HAND. No computers). I know that I definitely cannot write words in a comic for SHIT. @__@ That's what a letterist is for because that is an art form. Plus my brother taught me that a letterist also does the placement of word bubbles in a way that doesn't contradict the artwork. As for colors I'm going to need to up my game for that. I remember when my best friend Hannah and I did comics together, I would do the pencils and she would do the inking and coloring, she still is to this day WAY better than me at coloring.
This idea can also apply to manga. Usually when I read manga where the story and art is done by one person I read about the editor, the art assistant, and the toning artist (the one who applies the grey effects). I tend to think of the art group CLAMP (they did Tsubasa, xxxHolic, Chobits, Cardcaptor Sakura...) when I think of a manga team, and I won't lie, it's probably the best thing that they team up for their manga. Their manga has a good story and good art because it has multiple people working on it who work together and help each other out. That's why I think I need the help of my big brother (who's a great writer) for my comics. He always helps me shape out ideas and he can tell me which parts are confusing or need to be cut out. With his help I know I can create a great comic.
Here is an example of a long running successful comic that follows this idea. And for once, it's not manga. O__O

Manga--er, COMIC review: Sonic the hedgehog (Archie comics)

Story by: Currently, Ian Flynn
Art by: Currently, Steven Butler and Tracy Yardley!

DON'T FRONT just because it's a comic about Sonic. It's actually really good once you think about it. Basically the story is about Sonic the hedgehog along with his help of the freedom fighters, led by Sally Acorn and how they fight to save their world Mobius for the evil Dr. Eggman (or Robotnik) along with other villains. You would think the story is too straight forward but it actually spans out as a rich environment for many stories. The characters have major psychological development unlike the characters in the Sega games and the readers are able to relate to them. There is comedy along with drama and action that makes this comic not just for kids but for all age groups. But what really makes this comic special is it's team behind it. Throughout the comics there have been multiple members working on it. Each story arc has a different writer, editor, artist, inker, colorist and letterist. I find that the variety of artist help introduce different art styles to the mix and impresses the reader at the same time. Sometimes the artist gets better and improves his/her art overtime. Each writer introduces new characters and new environments. I can easily say that it's because of a good team behind the comics that it has lasted for many years and it's still going! As the story progresses, when new sonic games come out they find a way to incorporate it into the comic without ruining the current story. Sometimes the new games help introduce new characters and new story ideas to the comic, so it advertises the game and comic at the same time. It's a lot of work when you think about it. And that's why when I read Sonic comics I see it as an example of a successful, long running comic. I read it now not only for the story and art, but to also study how the comic develops in modern time. It inspires me also to make sure that my comic has a rich environment that can develop into multiple stories that entices the reader. So I salute you Sonic the hedgehog comic.

Be nice to women, draw them right.

Hey guys. Recently I've been practicing my realistic style of art by drawing different bodies of women. I'm not talking pin-up, I mean regular women and their different postures, height, weight, things like that. I actually drew a realistic picture of my BFFs and I. I've known them for many years and I've always drawn the three of us Anime-style. This time I decided to draw us how we are in real life. I felt proud of myself and my BFFs liked it! They weren't ashamed that it showed their real selves and their bodies. I even drew myself how I look in real life and I didn't make myself taller. I tried to think of Manga that drew women realistically and I was at a stand still. All I could think about was how manga women are usually drawn, thin with big enormous breasts.

My brother taught me something important. When men draw women like that, how do women feel about themselves? It's demeaning when you think of it. Men draw women in manga how they would like to see women in real life. It can make women feel bad about their body, That they're not that thin or that sexy. I now know for sure that boobs that big on that body means they're fake. The only genre that I can think of that draws girls with moderate size breasts is Shoujo manga, and even then the girls are super skinny. It's like they're afraid of curves. To men out there drawing manga or comics, if you're going to draw boobs, draw them right. Use reference material if you have to, by that I mean anatomy books. Or use art models. Here's one manga that doesn't follow this concept, like so many others.

Manga Review: Kujibiki UNBALANCE

Story by: Kio Shimoku

Art by Koume Keito

I wont badmouth this manga too much cause it's really supposed to be a parody of typical Boy-centered manga. It's about a boy, Chihiro Enamoto with his girl-friend Tokino who has been lucky to win the kujibiki (a lottery) to enter the prestigious Rikkyoin High school. A school that everything is run by the student council and by lottery. In the beginning of the year the school has a lottery to choose the candidates of next year's student council. Chihiro is known for his ridiculous bad luck but then Tokino gets "Vice-president". Chihiro gets "President". Soon he encounters the next secretary of state, a genius mad-scientist named Renko and her android Yamada along with an elementary school girl who accidentally got "treasure". The student council is made up of three girls, A shrine maiden with a samurai sword who's vice president, a thrifty foreigner who's treasure and the hard-ass German born president Ritsuko, who is also Chihiro and Tokino's childhood friend. They all go through wacky adventures trying to train to be the next student council at the risk that if they fail, they'll be expelled. It's actually a funny story. It's a parody of typical Harem manga where the main guy character is surrounded by women. The story also pokes fun at typical character stereotypes, like the beautiful, big boobed and oblivious friend and the crazed sword wielding tsundere (she plays "hard to get"). As for the art, all the girls are supposed to look cute and sexy while defying gravity. Then again the artist did use to draw erotic art. While the story and overall concept is satirical this is one of many examples of how men typically draw women in manga. So I wouldn't use this for anatomy reference if I was you.

Something Changed...!

Hey guys, long time no see! I got some good news. A while ago my doctor finally found out what I have. It's called P.O.T.s and no it's not a weed. It means Postural Tachycardia. Basically it means that the nerves controlling my blood vessels aren't working right. When I stand up they're supposed to close to keep blood in the head. Instead they're still open so the blood is being drained from my head causing low-blood pressure, light-headiness and fainting. So I've been taking salt tablets, drinking a lot of water and wearing compression tights. I've been getting better so I've also been able to go out by my self at times!
Aside from my health I've been working on my art. With the help of my bro and sis I've realized that my art style was not the best of me. While I love manga, I feel that drawing it for a while kind of limits my abilities to draw realistically. I'm getting better at anatomy and now I'm practicing real faces (like my brother's face! I actually got it right!!). After drawing for observation I never realized how good I was at drawing (I'm not trying to be egotistical). It gave me more confidence in my work, that now it can really be original. It doesn't mean that I don't love manga and anime anymore, no no no. I still love that shit and I'm not giving it up. But I am getting better at art and that makes me happy. There is one manga that kind of follows that improvement.

Manga Review: Nightschool: The Weirn Books

Story and art by: Svetlana Chmakova

I known the creator of the book from her previous manga "Dramacon". That one was very funny, had a cute manga style to it. But when I saw this manga I immediately saw improvement. And I like it. The book tells about a young girl Alex who is a weirn (a type of witch) accompanied by her astral (a shadowy figure). Alex was home schooled while her big sister Sarah worked as a night keeper for nightschool. A school for Demons and magical figures that takes place at night. When Sarah disappears without a trace, Alex searches for her by going to the very school she avoided. At the same time there are a group of hunters lead by their teacher Daemon. Daemon gets a signal from one of his students, a young seer named Marina who is working for werewolves. When he meets her she tells him of a vision she had of seven children causing massive destruction. He then retrieves her and takes her home where the other students protect her. At the same time the werewolves want their seer back. That's all I can say without spoiling anything. The plot itself doesn't just focus on one character. It spans out to many different characters. While I like the story I really like the art. Here I can tell that Chmakova really improved her art. She still maintains a "manga" style but she expands on it with great coloring skills, good anatomy skills, dynamic poses and ethnic details in the face (that you don't see too often). Her clothing looks and folds in the right way and her detailing is subtle yet immersive. I like it when artists improve their work instead of limiting themselves to a style that "works". Real artist are not like that. They always work hard to improve their style like coloring or anatomy. When an artist shows improvement in his/her series it shows that he cares about his art and isn't just comfortable with one style. I applaud Chmakova for taking that leap as an artist. I know I'll continue to work on my art until it's unbelievable!

P.S. the top image is a little self-portrait I drew. :D

You're the best...Around!

I'll admit it. I haven't been doing well since I got out of the hospital. I had a hospital stay at Mount Sinai for an EEG, to monitor my brain waves to see if I'm having seizures. The only thing is they didn't find anything. Even when I woke up in the middle of the first night, twitching, blinking and the room going dark around me, unable to call for help until it all of a sudden stopped. No seizures. But my heart rate has been very high. At first it was only raising as I was sitting up or standing up. Going from 119, to 127, to 132, to 148 to 152. It was very fast. And even in laying in bed, my heart rate would go up and down, giving me moments of spacey-ness. They believed that my heart was causing trouble so I saw cardiologists and I explained to them what happened. Later I talked to my neurologist who explained to me that my problem was "Autonomic". Meaning that something was wrong in the nervous system that affects my heartbeat. They think it's PATs, Postural Autonomic Tachycardia but that would explain my heart racing while I was stationary. So I went home with no answers, just more questions. But I was happy to be home. I missed my family terribly. My sister especially.

When I got home things didn't change. At the hospital I was exhausted, and at home, waking up in the morning was an hour-and-a-half process. Because of that I'd sleep in and have trouble going to sleep at night. Before I went to the hospital I've had moments of lightheaded-ness and pressure that made me dizzy and have to lay down where ever I was. And now I'm still having that happen. Through out the day. I've had multiple moments of pressure going around in my head, my pulse increasing and my blood pressure dropping, causing me to get dizzy and extremely pale. Then I have to lie down where ever I am in case I, god forbid lose consciousness. I even had an echo cardiogram of my heart and even though it was 115, they found it to be normal. Lately I've been trying to train myself to wake up earlier by eating early, taking my meds early and going back to sleep for a short period to wake up around 9:12. I feel it's an improvement from my usual late-sleeping. I wasn't like that. When I got up early I stayed awake and only went back to sleep if it was a losing battle. I was proactive and doing everything. Now I'm trying to be proactive but I often find myself with dizzying effects after. I'm seeing an autonomic neurologist soon, who will test me to find out exactly what I have. I really want to find out what's wrong and fix it. Because what ever I have is not going to stop me. It's not gonna stop me from going to SVA and it's not going to stop me from becoming a cartoonist and a more dependable person. I want to get better so I can stop worrying my family night and day, everyday. I want to be able to hang out with friends again. But right now I can't. Not until I find out what's wrong. In the mean time I can only bear with it and learn from it. But I'll always be grateful for my family, who is always there to take care of me.

P.S. While I was in the hospital I heard about my sister dedicating a blog to me and how she missed me terribly. So I had mom take a picture of me in a pose (with the wires to my head from the EEG) and I sent it to her by phone with the text "Work Bitch!". She then replied "Miss Thing!!"

On a more serious note...

I'd like to take a break from manga for a sec to write about something that's been on my mind.

For those who don't know, a long time ago I have had problems with my blood sugar, When it was low I'd be spacey and a little...stupid. Around the end of march I had my first fainting episode. All I remembered before I had it was my leg cramping, my heart racing, and my blood pressure was going up and down creating a pulsing sensation in my body and head. I said "I don't feel well" and I closed my eyes. I woke up on the floor a minute later to my sister holding an icepack to my face. Apparently I had passed out and hit the wall with my face (I even left a little bloodstain). The EMT's (or paramedics) took my blood pressure and said it was extremely low, so they gave me oxygen to raise it. I was crying because I was scared to go to the hospital but my sister comforted me and said it would be ok. I went to ER and I had an IV and blood test. Everything was normal. They diagnosed me with a fainting spell. After I had been monitoring my blood sugar by snacking frequently and having occasional glucose tablets as told by my doctor. We thought everything would be ok. Until last Thursday where I fainted again.

I had woke up early because it was my niece's picture day, so we had to get her ready. I went to the bathroom first and was then going to eat but I had to watch her for a sec. Both my legs were cramping and my heart was racing. I was scared. I then felt pulsing in my head and I said "My blood pressure is going up and down" and I closed my eyes and woke up 5 minutes later on the floor to my sister saying I passed out, again. What really shook her up was that my brother was smacking me trying to wake me up and it wasn't working. My arms were huddled up and I was groaning, my lips had turned white and my sister was afraid I stopped breathing. I felt so bad for her. I thought "Ok I'm never gonna scare my sister like that again!", so much for that. This time four police officers came because they thought that a four-year old had passed out. Not a nineteen year old (soon to be twenty). The EMT's took me to the hospital were I was taken to pediatric ER (it goes up until 25). This time I had no IV but I did have my first CT scan of my head. Thankfully nothing was found, but it still didn't explained why this happened again. I had an interesting experience this time, the nurse brought me back from radiology and I asked in a polite, adult-like manner. "Excuse me miss but is it possible for me to go to the bathroom?" She then replied to her fellow nurses "Ms. Kayla wants to go Pee-pee!", I was a bit embarrassed. So I went back home where my family and I were still shooken up. My sister, who had a history of seizures and my brother believe both times that I had fainted, I've was also having a seizure. I was frustrated with my self that this was happening and that now, I couldn't travel or be left alone. Now when I was in middle school I worked hard to gain the privilege of traveling alone to school and in high school I gained the privilege of traveling alone (but not at night, for safety). So I felt like I had a major regression where I couldn't travel or be left alone and I do understand why. I just hope I can get this stuff sorted out before I go into college... So now this week I'm awaiting both my birthday and my neurology appointment. Wish me luck!

Breaking the gender barrier

Hey guys, How you doin'? Let's see, I'm FINALLY finished with my art portfolio and next Monday is my portfolio presentation, and tuesday is my birthday :). I'm really exited that I'm going to show off my work to the college I really want to go to. So wish me luck! So lately I've been reading some shoujo manga. For those who don't know, Shoujo is another word for Girl, just as Shonen is another word for boy in japanese. Shoujo manga is basically manga for girls. Shoujo manga often has themes of Romance and slice-of-life. They also can go into fantasy and adventure. Shoujo manga is also characterized by a very pretty, elegant art style. One that focuses on beauty and flowing images. I'm not putting it down cause I do like shoujo manga. Like Moyocco Ano's "Sugar Sugar Rune", or Kiyoko Arai's "Beauty Pop". Shoujo manga is typically done by Female artists and Shonen manga is typically done by Male artists. I thought that was natural in the manga world, but then I realized that there are a few shoujo artist who dare to break this barrier. Nowadays I've been seeing shonen manga done by, get this, Female artists. Here are some prime examples, Rumiko Takahashi is a legendary shoujo AND shonen artist. She is known for manga that use styles from shoujo art and uses them for shonen works. Like "Urusei Yatsura", "Ranma 1/2" (yeah you thought a GUY drew that) and the super popular "Inuyasha". It blew my mind, that it was a female artist behind this boy (and girl) centered wonders. It blew my mind more when I discovered that a manga artist from Shonen Jump was rumored to be a man but was really a woman! That woman is Katsura Hoshino, most known for her super shonen manga, "D. Gray-man". The translators thought she was a man too. But he was really a she! And I look at her style now and I see slight, hints of shoujo in it, but I do like her stylized shoujo/shonen art style. I want to be that kind of artist. I want my comics to appease to both genders. I don't want to be bound by gender to only do Girly comics (no offense). I like to make a style that isn't bound by gender, which is why I'm focusing on making my girls feminine and my guys manly at the same time (see previous posts for more info). Recently I've stumbled upon a comic book who's creator broke the gender barrier for the first time.

MANGA REVIEW: Arata: the legend

Story and art by: Yuu Watase

Now for those who don't know who Yuu Watase is, Watase is a well-known Shoujo artist, most known for her works like "Absolute boyfriend", "Imadoki" and her super popular "Fushigi Yugi". "Arata: the legend" is her first Shonen comic. It's about two Arata's in two worlds. One Arata lives in one world where he is the male heir to the matriarchal Hime clan who keeps peace among the land, who usually pass down power to girls. However, Arata was born a boy and raised as a boy, until his grandma listed him as a girl when he was born and forces him to cross-dress as a girl and succeed the current matriarch to maintain balance in the land. His friend Kotoha, a nice girl, still stands by his side as his aid and friend. All goes well until Arata is caught in the middle of an attempted murder of the matriarch and is framed. In our world, Arata Hinohara is a boy starting high school who has constantly been bullied since middle school. Arata some how encounters a weird occurrence where another Arata has come from his world and the two meet and switch places. Now Arata Hinohara has come to the other Arata's world in his place and must set things right in the land. The style still has alot of shoujo in it but it's simplified and action heavy enough to be a shonen comic. The story is well written as Watase is a well known manga artist and writer. I like it because it's a different direction in Watase's work. This time the protagonist is male and the story itself is more action heavy than watase's other works. It's also a big deal that a shoujo artist has decided to do shonen work. The story though is not limited to boys as alot of girls read it also. It has less action than some other shonen works I know, so it's in between shoujo and shonen. Like a tomboy of manga. It's still a really good work. I like that it's a different direction that still holds the essence of Watase's works. Because it's hard to transition to another genre without completely changing everything about the style and way of writing. If you want to go into another direction in your work or another genre, It's good when it still has a bit of you in it. It's hard to explain. But Watase has successfully done that very thing and I applaud her for it. It almost makes me want to try something out of my league...hmmm....