Another PANiverse Worth Crowing About...

Allow me to direct you to an online comic/graphic novel that deals with everyone’s favorite eternal boy. It’s written and drawn by none other than Jesse Rowden (a.k.a. Musapan), the young lady whose Peter Pan Guild interviewed me once upon a time. (Link on the left.) I have to say I’m enjoying it.

Jesse is an avid Pan fan herself. She, too, gets quite irked when the storyline and facts are carelessly altered. In other words, she’s a purist. However, I have to admit that I don’t fully agree with the timeline and such as she’s laid it out. But then, she also assures me that she has her reasoning. For instance, her tale takes place now, in the 21st Century, and Tinker Bell is still around. Apparently Jesse concocted a great backstory as to how she is alive again... but we’ve yet to find out what it is. She also has a different timeframe in terms of when and how long Peter Pan remained an infant in Kensington Gardens before going to the Neverland. (You’re probably aware that my upcoming interquel Peter Pan: Betwixt-and-Between deals with this very subject.)

I, of course, am not the end-all be-all of the Pan universe... but I'm the only one in print who stays accurate as best as possible to Barrie.*  But this aspect may also very well apply to Jesse's tale as well.  Since I remain in the dark on some it, I can’t really pass full judgement.  Yet I am confident that she’s taking her work very seriously and wouldn’t want to compromise any part of Barrie’s tale. Perhaps she has another lens that applies just as well. It does, however, make it incongruous with my own Pan tales.

Even so, another way of looking at it is that her tale is in pictorial form, whereas mine is in written. Thus, in that sense, hers is entirely different to begin with and she seems to have a handle on her version of the Pan universe.  Each of us are, in theory, consistent within our own works and Barrie in our two mediums.

At any rate, the art is delightful. Cheery, slick and sophisticated all at once. Her panels and each "reveal" are well accomplished.  She’s got Peter Pan’s personality down, too. I particularly like the “game” he proposes (yet again!) and to be honest, I wish I’d thought of it myself. Brava, Jesse!

The 'comic' is still in development, as in she’s plunking away at it admist this thing called Life and every so often another fresh panel of fun appears. A little suspense never hurts, so it’s actually a grand way to experience it.

Please go and check out another tale of the Neverland, Adventurous Soul, and the magic that is Rowden’s art!

Adventurous Soul (links at bottom of pages to bring you to the next...)

* Hook & Jill by Andrea Jones can be considered to do so as well, but hers had been intended to veer off course from the original story... while remaining true to the themes, characters and mythologies of Barrie.

Scott Pilgrim vs...Scott Pilgrim?

So, I finished the Scott Pilgrim series some time ago now.
I did stick to my “waiting simulation” described in this post.

Yes, I loved the actual/original series.  (How could one NOT?)  I enjoyed it for a few reasons. First, it’s just a HECK of a lot of fun. Second, it had been a delight to see how things became ‘translated’ to the movie screen.  Third, there had been plenty “additional” material so that it still seemed fresh.

One of the biggest differences, as I saw it, is that the film takes place with a degree of immediacy. For instance, meet the Evil Ex and BAM! the fight soon follows, with the exception of Roxie Richter. That imposed delay (by Scott), however, does happen in the books. But what I mean is the ‘novels’ take place over the course of a year or more. One of the volumes is all about the Summer. And when Scott does meet an Evil Ex in the books, there’s not an instant fight. The Katayanagi Twins, for example, he meets several times at various parties before he duels with them. Okay, granted, they start to send giant robots after Pilgrim to fight for them before he actually battles them. All of which, you see, is not in the movie at all. Plus, there’s plenty of backstory, side adventures and other characters that fell by the wayside...

All in all, I think the movie did a fantastic job of adapting the books. Yes, things are missing. Yes, events/tidbits are shifted from one character to another. Yes, dialogue/lines are moved.  Yes, there are general differences. But all of these are completely understandable and work incredibly well... as in they CAN be considered “extraneous” or are better suited where they are placed (for the film, not the books.) Plus, as I stated in another post, the movie allowed for quite a bit that the book could not do - sound effects, music, camera movement, etc. All of which served to enhance the delightful tale... one might say to the point of making up for whatever is lacking.

I must say, though, that every fight with an Evil Ex I liked better in the movie. Don’t get me wrong. I really liked the ‘real’ way, too. And the truth is that in most cases, the elements of the book are there... just expanded. And I prefer (perhaps too strong a word) how it turns out in the film. That is UNTIL... the FINAL Evil Ex. Folks, I adored the movie way fighting him. Pleased as punch. But... the book blows it away - and yet it has some of the same bits to make it all happen. I enjoy this “poetic justice” - that the movie improved each battle except for the ending. (Yes, I still like the movie way, too.)

I just have one complaint about the film now. One that I would never have had without reading the books. The film just did not play up “Subspace” nearly enough. In fact, it’s partly due to this loss that the ending is lacking (when compared to the books.) Yes, they do have it in the movie. [If you’ve seen it, it’s the “door” and the “’flying’ through blackness” (which is faithfully rendered to the screen.)] And it is, in fact, explained. Unfortunately, it’s just one line by Ramona and amid all the chaos and hilarity, it gets lost. Way lost. In the books, Ramona’s use of “Subspace” comes up rather frequently (ever so much more than movie.) Scott uses these “shortcut portals across space” on his own as well. Subspace plays a major role in the final battle. They also don’t explain that Ramona’s bag operates in Subspace, too. (Note that it has a star [book & film], like the doors.) No, Subspace is not completely made clear in the books. But it doesn’t need to be - it’s one of those things that work better with a degree of bewonderment. But the whole concept and use of it in the books is so terrific that it’s just a shame that this element of the story is downplayed in the film. But hey, at least it’s in it!

I am of course curious what my thoughts would be had I experienced the tale of Scott Pilgrim the other way around (i.e. the books first.) I’m willing to bet that the result would be just the same, though.  For the it's easy to love them both, for very different reasons.  Bravo to the filmmakers, all of those involved, for repackaging the story so magnificently.

Either way, I’m so happy to count Scott and his all his wackiness among my favorite characters.

Thanks, first and foremost, to Bryan Lee O’Malley! I must also give credit to Edgar Wright (director and screenplay) and Michael Bacall (screenplay) [as well as all the actors!]

I ♥ Scott Pilgrim!

Another Peter JaPAN

Apparently this November another comic/graphic novel version of
Peter and Wendy will be out.

The Japanese mangaka group CLAMP will be producing illustrations
 for Aoi Tori's publication.

The purist in me isn't all that fond of the depiction,
but the drawing is lovely otherwise.

I can't read Japanese anyway.

Scott Pilgrim vs. Peter Von Brown

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

I  it.

I'd probably known about the comic, but admittedly I'd never read it.  And when I'd seen news of its release, I also admit that I dismissed it as something I need not see... because I mistakenly thought it would be along the lines of a "little wannabe rock hero climbs his way to the top into that all-important big competition" story.

Then I'd been to the movies with Bart, Clara & Banky to see something else and a trailer for it played.  BOY, had I been wrong.  Gladly wrong.  Suddenly I needed to see it.  We all did.

And we have.  And we all loved it.  (Buttercup and Josiecat, too!)  Banky said what a joy it is when a movie actually lives up to the way the trailer made you feel.  Yep, our own personal hype for it had been fully delivered...in spades, or in this case, in coins.

I have to say, I am the target audience. I haven't had that much fun laughing with a film in the theater since Napoleon Dynamite.  A special shout-out to the Legend of Zelda references. (The use of the 'Fairy Fountain' song is priceless!)

It's not a hyperbole when I say that it instantly moved into my top five favorite films of all time.

Needless to say, the series of graphic novels it's based on is now on my Wish List.



UPDATE:  I have since read the books.  Here's the post:  Scott Pilgrim vs...Scott Pilgrim?