tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6486055300803742318.post6637407659989438688..comments2023-09-20T08:18:51.678-04:00Comments on SHAZHMMM...: You Shall Die by Your Own Evil CreationGarrett Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09581824403171265877noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6486055300803742318.post-15043886888724826402009-11-24T10:20:54.365-05:002009-11-24T10:20:54.365-05:00Good points, Jacob, and let me say that I think it...Good points, Jacob, and let me say that I think it's a very well-designed book. It could have used a little more proofreading in the text sections, but some of that is probably just personal preference wrt some stylistic things and coming, of course, from an anal retentive proofreading person. I think both you and Robert are right in that this stuff is valuable read in smaller chunks, and I love the look of individual pages. There's something about Hanks's work that recalls earlier American self-taught artists like Edward Hicks more than 20th- and 21st-century self-taught artists, who tend to be quite a bit messier. I don't think that either Garrett or I mean to suggest we think the stuff shouldn't have been collected, but at the same time, it's more archivally than entertainingly important.hillaryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11115290007190070450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6486055300803742318.post-16599522727239855552009-11-24T00:15:59.864-05:002009-11-24T00:15:59.864-05:00I like your approach to this review and respect yo...I like your approach to this review and respect your dubiousness about the necessity of the second volume. I should note at the outset that I designed these books so I'm biased for all the obvious reasons. But I'd rather point out that I'm the designer so I've really immersed myself in the work and I post this comment out of zeal. <br /><br />I hesitate to call Hanks "lazy". I'm not sure that's applicable here. Not to defend the predictability of his wrathful (and always entertaining) plot lines but to say that his obsessiveness is part of what makes the strips "Art." I wouldn't sit down and read through the volume in one sitting- which could be tedious- but rather turn to it intermittently to experience the way he worked out his (batshit crazy) angst on the comics page. Hanks was lazy inasmuch as he didn't much change things up but he was mind-blowingly honest (presumably out of valid ignorance that anyone would ever pay attention to what he was doing on the comics page) and he was willing to meditate on his neuroses within the fledgling "superhero" format. He did this unconsciously, mind you, but he did it and it's amazing. <br /><br />I consider this work beautiful to look at, and a great reflection of how comics can be meditative and cathartic. That's kind of amazing from superhero comics of the 20s and 30s. Hanks deserves the shelf space for sure. <br /><br />Plus I should point out that these two books couldn't have been collected into one volume from the outset because nobody was "collecting" Hanks. He was just another hack (or something less-than a hack since his skills weren't recognized as skillful) among thousands of anonymous pages. The second volume is a result of a lot of obscure work coming up after the first volume raised awareness of Hanks. This stuff is far more precious than gold if you tried to collect the original comics.Jacob Coveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03327780379925309713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6486055300803742318.post-74840912843255209912009-11-23T10:54:40.063-05:002009-11-23T10:54:40.063-05:00Is part of the problem the fact that this stuff wa...Is part of the problem the fact that this stuff was all scattered around different books? Because, see, if you're looking for Hanks, and you just read a strip here and there in different books, then it's not as much of a "slog" as it seems when it's all conveniently laid out like this. I have not read the 2nd collection, but I loved the first. I had the same problem as Hillary seemed to have with the DC Showcase collection of "The War That Time Forgot". I remember really liking that stuff when I was reading it as back-up stories in "Star Spangled War Stories" that I bought from dollar bins or whatever. But that much of the same damned story, even if it's the same Andru and Esposito story can grate on the nerves after the first hundred or so pages.Roberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10238815476389656673noreply@blogger.com