Secondlina's Panels

Time and time again, i’m defending the point of view of someone who hates the way women are treated in the media, especially comics. Mostly because comics are where my expertise lies. And often, especially discussing with male readers, I have trouble making my point. I tell them I dislike how women are objectified and most of the time background characters, or “lesser” characters. Often, women aren’t heroes. They are part of the hero team and are even sometimes the main character, but it still doesn’t make them the hero. They are still relegated as “the team chick”. And usually when i’m saying this, the usual replies I get are :

1) If you don’t like comics, then don’t read them.

2) Guys are sexed up too.

3) What, girl’s aren’t allowed to be girly?

Response to #1 - Actually, I love comics. Comics are amazing. There’s a lot of really good comics out there, and, as time goes by, more comics that treat women characters well. This isn’t about bitching about the medium. This is about making it BETTER. Constructive comments. I’m not saying “we don’t want sexy girls anymore in our comics”. No. Actually, I love sexy girls. I love hot, confident, sexually active characters. What I actually want is for these characters to be 3-dimensional. A woman can have a nice bod and even still have a lot of flattering shots at the same time as she has dreams and aspirations. Sexuality, like everything else a character does, is a part of the way they express their personality. Use a character’s sexuality as more then eye candy. Use it as a way to develop a character. Some people are sexy. And you can be sexy in several ways. And the way you are sexy is linked to the way you act. What bothers me is that all comic girls seem to act the same nowadays in badly written comics. So it’s just the same person in different costumes. I loved the Black Widow in the Avengers because she was damn hot in her own way. It’s not about the sexy. It’s about how the sexy is used. Use it badly, and all you get is a empty jello lady.

Response to #2 - Again. This is all about how sexuality is used. Guys are sexualized, yes, but in an extremely flattering way for the male ego. Muscles. Flawless action sequence’s, big penis packages, and of course, female characters all over them. When a female reader sees a girl that looks like a blow up doll, she does not feel valued. However, have a girl look like Asami or Korra in the new Legend of korra, and heck yeah, that is our type of hot. Realistic but awesome bodies. Realistic and awesome personalities. Dick Grayson is awesome because he’s Dick Grayson. The fantastic abs are just a bonus. The sexual aspect is not the main aspect of the character. It’s just a sweet add-on.

Response to #3 - God yes, girls can be girly. And not girly. And jewish. And green. And whatever you want. Girls can be anything. The point is, if you pick a personality, do it well. A female character can be jealous and catty. Yes, female jerks exist. But if that is her personality, keep it together from beginning to end. In my own comic, Namesake, the main character, Emma, rarely smiles. And if that changes, it’s going to plot-related. Not happen magically because the males in the plot demand it. If a girl is girly, keep her that way unless the plot has her evolve away from it over time. Same with all the personalities. Male characters have character development arcs. Girls need them too.

This message has been brought to you by my annoyance.

So there.

Discuss.

This week has been pretty "blah" generally, with the whole sick and tired deal. But i'm getting better. Got a few comic books. I'm on a huuuuge Batman kick again. I have no idea why. But I just want to watch the whole animated series without stopping. And then the Burton movies. And then the Nolan movies. And then read a crapload of comics. Unfortunately, all I seem to have in a couple of the movies. What's up with the lack of Batman in my house? This home needs more vigilante justice.

It also needs another bookcase. I am officially out of room. My bookcases are full of books. No, they are full of piles of books, placed on top of one another. Every space is used in a precarious pyramid of space maximization. So yeah. Time to find a bookcase, Most of hour furniture is nice, thick wooden stuff, so Link is trying to find a cheap yet classy second hand bookcase somewhere. We found a couple of good ones that way, such as one with a great glass casing. Hopefully, something is found soon.

This work week is a bit more busy then usual. Librairies and schools have started ordering a whole lot of books, and books need to ordered, sent, returned, found, organized, etc. Running around is happening. A few of my coworkers are sick/took thanksgiving off too, so tomorrow i'll be working alone (usually there's always two of us in the comic section) and I did an extra long shift yesterday. I just hope I won't get sick too.

Oh well. You all have a creepy Alice now. I was going to post a Batman sketch, but i'm unhappy with it.



- Isa

More clothing designs! I did this one for a steampunk contest on the website "we love fine". So you can actually vote for this shirt, and if it wins, you can buy it. I'll let you guys know when the voting opens. I participated because a) Steampunk is cool and b) winning puts 2000$ in my pockets and puts one of my drawings on the chests of people. How can one say no to that? So, when the voting opens on October 6th (i'll post a reminder), I hope you guys will vote for little old me!

I wrote this as my description : "A true partially robotic lady knows that fashionable clockwork hearts and plasma guns are the way to a man's heart. Preferably through his rib cage. This design has been created by Isabelle Melancon, a Montréal comic artist and creator of the webcomic "Namesake".

Because yeah, robotic ladies get to be classy, amiright?

Yesterday, I went to the "Drawn and Quaterly" store for the release of Craig Thompson (author of Blanket's) second book.



It's a BIG book. It's something like 600 pages and it's hardcover. Link went with me. Thompson did a short presentation (we missed about half since it started at 7h and I get home around 7h), then a Q&A, then he signed books. He drew a Jinn in mine. And then he kinda hugged me.



Yeah, this guy signs books and then hugs it's readers. It's adorable! However, since I am very nervous when strangers hug me and also very nervous when I meet my heroes, my heart just died. I'm sure he felt it trying to beat it's way out of my ribcage, by hey, such is life.

I got hope, placed the large book on my drawing desk and read it for two hours. Words really can't describe this books. It's a muslim fairy tale, a fable about water, a fable about human nature and the environement, a tale about love and loss... it's everything. Everything in a single book. It took him 6 years to make and it shows. I mean, look at it :



Over and out.

- Isa

 A couple of weeks ago, I designed a wedding invitation for one of my best friends. I,m quite proud of the end result. Took a lot of sketching and a couple of versions to get to this :



Here's my second favorite version :



I did a bunch of sketches. It was cool to try to find a bunch of ways for a couple to hold each other. In this case, there was an eztra challenge because he groom is actually shorter then the bride, so all the really classic swoon poses can look a bit strange. I had a ton of fun with the sketching.

( Lots and lots of wedding sketches )

As a couple of you may know, yesterday was a bit of a breakdown for me. I slept a lot today. I feel better. I feel like a bit of a wuss nowadays, because my patience is running thin and I seem to get easily annoyed with a lot of things that don't usually get to me. This was accented yesterday by me having some kind of life crisis and people telling me to get over it rather then being supportive or at least quiet while I flip out. I mean... Yeah. Life is hard I guess. Mine lacks a lot of direction. And it's starting to worry me. I mean, sometimes I feel like Sisyphus, rolling up my rock up that hill, and as soon as I feel like i'm actually moving forward, it rolls back down. I know i'm not the only person in this situation. I know I probably don't have as much right to complain as a lot of people. But I still bitch and moan once in a while. It actually helps. I've been bitching way too much lately I suppose. So... I'm sorry i'm disappointing people. 

*sigh* watcha gonna do?

In a more positive note, there a launch for Jabberwocky this weekend in Montreal. It's on Saturday, June 4 · 4:00pm - 7:00pm at the "Cheval Blanc" ((809 Ontario Est, Montréal, QC H2L 1P1). come by and say hi! Get a cool book! We actually don't have a lot of Jabberwockies left (which is why I didn't do a "sell" post yet on here). But we should get some more reprinted soon. 

Over and out!

- Isa

 

What's that? It's a comic cover for Jabberwocky. With the help of friends, I managed to unblock on the story and i'm currently drawing it. My goal is for it to be available at the TCAF (I'm going to be at the "Trip Collection" editor table, for those who might want to find me). I'm going to post the page here as I get them done, so you guys will be able to read the full 20 page story. A few pages will be under LJ-cut for violence or bloodiness (this IS the story of a girl that goes to gut a monster, after all). I hope you'll all enjoy it! I even took some days off from work to work on these all over the month of March. Isa, thy name is motivation!

I'm really happy with the cover. I love how it turned out I tried using a limited palette or reds and plums. My inking style seems to work with limited palette coloring. If I recall correctly, one of the Namesake reviewers had underlined that fact. Well, I guess it's true.

I tried to base the Jabberwock off the original "Alice through the looking glass" illustration. I love the big buck-tooth teeth. A lot of other artists make the Jabberwock look less... ridiculous. He's suppose to be a feared beast, so they make him look less grotesque and more scary and dangerous (pointy?).

I really like white, immaculate swords...

In non-drawing news... Is my apartment gonna fall on my head. I swear the pipes are plotting to kill us. They tap in the walls. There's barely any hot water. They make noises that sound like they are about to explode when the upstairs neighbor takes a shower. The whole heating in the building is done with pipes too (hot-water-based heating). So I dunno. I feel like the building has a giant, rusty pipe snake in the walls.

Is...is it going to eat me?

 - Isa

Check it out. I managed to finish the Namesake prologue (9 pages) and now i'm working my way thru the first chapter. A total of 25 pages must be drawn before the launch, 15 to be already posted and 10 for me to have a good 3 week advance on my pages.  So far, 12 pages are completed, 3 are almost completed. 10 are left to go. And i've still got about a month. Not bad, not bad.  I'm advancing well.

In internet news, have you guys seen Anime Network News this morning? Apparently, is Ed was a real person, he could have won a contest. Because one of his manga quotes was entered for him by a fan in a contest. What type of contest? Click the link and find out!

(WARNING, spoilers for the last Fullmetal alchemist manga. Only click on the link if you have not read it, or if you don't care about the series and just want a cute story that includes anime.)

Wow. I don't have much to say today. All I seem to do lately is draw Namesake and surf the internet *laughs*

I,m slowly turning into the hermit of the third floor again.

MWAHAHAHA!

I kinda wish I had a pet. Maybe a pet crow. Maybe a dozen pet crows. That I could sic on people while "Ride of the Valkyries" is playing

- Isa