"ROOTS" part two

As with my early influence in animation, likewise I have JUST as strong an example in comics.

I of course had read and collected tons of comics when I was a kid. .It was a passion that I Still carry to this day. More than any other 'art loves' that I have, nothing else comes close. From Ditko and Kirby, to John Byrne, Lee and Silvestri. From Neal Adams to Arthur Adams. Love it.

But even with as many comics as I had gone through, there was one example in particular that comes to mind that had a MAJOR impact on me. That ensured that I would follow SOME sort of career in the sequential arts field.

Way back in 1982, Christmas day...A little punk kid was laying on the floor reading a present that was given to him by a pal. It was a comic book. That comic book was

"DAREDEVIL" # 181.

Story by Frank Miller

Art by Frank Miller

Inks by Klaus Janson

For anyone that knows anything about comics, they know that it is the death of Matt Murdock’s girlfriend. The death of Electra.

In brief, she is sent to kill Matt Murdock’s business partner Foggy Nelson, but cant bring herself to do it when Nelson brings up matt Murdock’s name to her . Specifically saying : “your Matt’s girl”..

She lets him go...And soon finds herself in a battle with the hitman for hire, Bullseye, who has tracked her and wants to take out the assassin that took his place under the Kingpin.

Yeah...the Daredevil movie tries to follow it, and I give it kudos for trying to follow the spirit of the comic. But it falls very short of capturing the drama and emotion that the comic creators hit you with--- with the effect of a sledgehammer to the noggin.

Up to this point, the creators have shown you both the soft side and cold hard killer side of Electra. You FEEL for her as much as you are stunned by the coldness of her assassin persona.

And they remind you of her inner turmoil all the way up to the part where she tells foggy in the cab that she "has been hired to kill you"... (Cold killer side).

And then.......she lets him go, after hearing Matt’s name...(softened side).

You feel for her. as she hangs her head, leaning on the cab. Torn between the two worlds that she finds herself in .

And then you see Bullseye emerge from the shadows, and the fight ensues.

And its brutal. BRUTAL. Again the movie does its best to follow the comic, but when you compare the movie to the comic, its astonishing how "soft and mushy" the fight scene comes off as opposed to the comic. As Electra holds her own for awhile, only to get the crap kicked out of her!

BULLSEYE :"your good kid, But me.....I'm MAGIC."

Bullseye pulls out a game players card, flings it at her---slashing her throat. Not just nicking it (as in the movie), but slashing it!

Bullseye then picks her up, places an arm around her waist as if he’s dancing with her....he's enjoying the hell out of this. Not in an over the top way that the Irish Bullseye plays it, as in the movie. But in a sly and cool Brooklyn, hitman way. Subtle. Which is much, MUCH more unsettling.

BULLSEYE: ...."and now...for my next trick."

He takes her own sais and.... (Turn the page...)

A big splash of Bullseye as he runs her through with her own sai. With a big, greasy smile on his face.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAH!!!

HARSH!

HARSH!

HAAAAAAAAAAAARSH!!!!

And then he lets her go...he puts on a jacket and hat, and follows her as she stumbles off...dying.

Hoping that the one person that she goes to...in these final moments...will be the ultimate in knowledge. Daredevil.

She Crawls to the door, leaving a trail of blood. Matt answers the door, knows immediately who it is. He holds her as she takes her last breath...

a crowd gathers around...and in that crowd a dark figure lights a match to his cigarette....the flame lights his smiling face....Bullseye.

The rest of the comic was a classic battle between Bullseye and Daredevil. With even more WONDERFULL twists, that I wont give away.

when I finally rolled to the end, I remember closing the comic, And just laying there. Stunned. Stunned at what I had just read. Stunned at what I had just seen…Stunned.

I remember gathering all of the Christmas loot under the tree in an orderly fashion (as we were supposed to do), But the only thing I took immediately back to my bedroom, was that comic book. Where I laid on the bed, and went through it again and again. Drawn into the emotion, Drawn into the rage, drawn into the heartbreak, and drawn into the love. Drawn into the (once again) HEART of the story. And this book had it, in spades!

I still have this same comic book. And I still break it out to go over it again and again. And refer to the pacing whenever I need a reminder of brilliance in pacing. And staging. It is an extraordinary comic. And one that I point to as having a huge impact to my getting into this wonderful field. No one does it better to this day, then the creators in comics.

“ROOTS” part one

Like anyone else in the "arts" industry. I too have my early influences. And like many, they include Comics and Animation.

And while there were many things that probably molded me to the point where I am now (artistically speaking), I can point to two specific EARLY examples of things that had a PROFOUND impact on me, and pushed me with a force that no doubt more than assured that I would be in this industry in one form or another.

The two examples were in both (surprise, surprise) animation and comics.

About 700 years ago when I was around 7 or 8 years old, one of the earliest movie experience I have was when me and my cousins were taken to see a re-release of Disney’s "the jungle book".

I remember sitting in that theater, popcorn in hand, RIVETED to this film. Sure, chances are that I had seen other cartoons. Other movies, mixed in with more than my share of crappy TV shows. But this movie. THIS Disney film had something different for me. More than any other. The film (for me) wasn’t like any thing else I had seen. For one thing, it wasn’t about a good character fighting against a typical aggressor. It was about loss, being lost, discovery, and sacrifice, and letting go. While some of this is similar in Disney’s future Tarzan, Where Tarzan lacks is that.... well….. there is no emotional pull, no REAL emotional pull in the film. With all its flash and snappy animation. The story fails in that regard.

While jungle book with all its high techy'ness of its time (Xerox baby!), has emotional pull and then some. It works so well that you barely notice that the 'bad guy' in the film is hardly even there. Shere Kahn works basically as a vehicle to continue the story forward. He is just a big fat clock on the wall, because part of the story is that its a race against time...it is only a matter of time, before the killer Kahn gets the man cub. So...get the kid to safety. How? get him to his people. In essence.....let him go.

Shere Kahn gets to come in a few times, ask questions and walk out, until his big finale battle at the end. The bulk of the story is basically character development between mowgli and big brotha Balloo the bear, and of course Bagerea the panther. That’s the investment, right there. Done so well that when you get to the end, and you are sitting in the dark theater lookin at that big stupid bear that you've just fallen in love with, after putting everything on the line for this kid...is now lying on the floor. dead.

When Mowgli tries to wake him up and is unsuccessful, It just rips your gut out. I remember vividly how LONG that scene seemed to go on when I was in that theater. Now it seems to flash by pretty quick. But to an 8 year old kid, sitting in a dark theater. Well.....it packed quite a punch.

When Baghera starts his eulogy, seemingly to underline the death of the Balloo character, And the spotlight hits the slumped bear, It hits that point of being just excruciating.

And then....the bears eyes flutter, and then open. WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOA!!!

He’s alive. And not just alive, but he lets baghera CONTINUE his monologue, while he listens as he just lays there. Loving EVERY WORD of it!

BALLOO : .." maaaan, he's crackin me up..."

Now....as a kid, you've just pooted THREE times within five minutes time. 1) the death of the bear. 2) the revelation of him being alive, and 3) and then your just stoked at the idea of him being a jerk and letting Baghera continue his eulogy! That’s good stuff folks. But that’s not all....not quite.

Now we have the sacrifice of letting go. The bitter sweet ending of having to say goodbye. Not just because Shere Kahn still lives, But because he NEEDS to be with his own.

To have the life that he was born to have. Which is underscored when he see's the girl at the watering hole.

BALLOO : ..."forget about those, they aint nuthin but trouble..."

Mowgli then has to make a choice....stay or go. He chooses to go. The bitter sweet goodbye comes to the fun ending of Balloo and Baghera walking off into the jungle
to an upbeat tune.

The emotional ups and downs of the end were to me, a then 8 year old punk kid, An extraordinary way to tell a story.

In contrast, Tarzan never had the feeling of sacrifice. In the end he swings off with his chicky (Whose daddy even stays WITH them), and all is well with the world. Again, no sense of sacrifice. No sense of emotional investment. And why would there be? Why would you be expected to feel anything for a film that has nothing to feel FOR?

For all of its high tech glitz and beautiful fluid animation. For all of its beauty...It lacked the very thing that made the 'Jungle Book' a TRUE masterpiece. A TRUE classic.

HEART.

And for an 8 year old kid sitting in a dark theater, with popcorn in hand.....that was an amazing lesson in storytelling.