This is a picture of my current comic book collection as I’ve accumulated it since being here in Vietnam. Half-Vietnamese, half-American/foreign (the black one with the red letters: Epileptic is French). Since childhood I’ve developed a love for comics. The first comic book I ever read is:
Not only was this an introduction into the artistic medium of comics but also my first introduction to Buddhism. Basically, an innocent beginning. Although I’ve gained some maturity in both subjects, I still feel quite innocent. It’s a healthy innocence though, that’s coated with a sense of wonder and curiosity. But I’d rather only allude to my own spirituality and speak directly about my love for comics, I think that’s most fitting.
Lately, in Hollywood Hellboy has become a big blockbuster movie production with Guillermo Del Toro as director. I appreciate Hellboy the comic though for so many reasons. I think Mike Mignola is a bit of a genius. I daresay, it’s comic LITERATURE, not just a book. I think the character Hellboy, more than anything else, is based on demeanor. Hellboy’s character itself carries the comic to its end. It’s not so much about his powers, and his cosmology but about his moral dilemma, it’s about his resistance against imposed destiny and fate. I love to relate to this aspect of Hellboy.
Hellboy is not only in constant realization of his own essential free will but he also carries himself in relation to circumstances with a certain perceptive nonchalance. He is sensitive to what’s going on whilst also himself amidst it. He is human as well as sarcastic. Generally, he doesn’t give a fuck.
I’m not, by any means, opposed to Japanese comics as well. When I think about Osamu Tezuka and how he pioneered comics. He viewed comics as a medium that could evoke moral feeling. I view him as the basis for manga today and his moral-social sentiment permeates contemporary manga. My favourite currently, of course, is Kekkaishi. I guess Kekkaishi translates as “Barrier Master”. What fascinates me most about Kekkaishi is the creativity of the writer (I’m always more impressed by well-written comics than by art, although there’s an allure to good art). Various characters have different powers that are mind-boggling…from people who can contain time and space in clear boxes, to people who have to cultivate three years of blood to create a bird to fly on, to people who can create mental birds that can kill or control people, etc. etc. But I’ve never really been into supernatural heroes because they’re supernatural. I’m not a Marvel or DC fan at first glance. I appreciate supernatural worlds that result from moral dilemmas or vice versa. I look for Kurt Vonnegut and Isaac Isamov and Philip K. Dick in my comics. Not Harry Potter nor Hollywood. Kekkaishi is quite quintessentially asian in its treatment of family, responsibility, inheritance, effort, community and power. I appreciate most the way the characters grow together as people. The subtle differences in their personality play out in the way they use their powers. It’s an interesting matchup.
blood...ABSTRACT! 