JIMMY CORRIGAN: THE SMARTEST KID ON EARTH (Chris Ware, 2000)

in

(***** / *****): On something of a Chris Ware kick lately (there are worse to be on), to the point (even) that I resubscribed to the Paris Review, just to re-read their interview with him. At times brutal, particularly the flashbacks to Jimmy's grandfather's upbringing, but always bursting with a spirit of experimentation and an unfiltered love of the medium. Nothing short of (awe)inspiring.

GODZILLA MINUS ONE (Takashi Yamazaki, 2023)

in

(*****+ / *****): Best GODZILLA film since the 1954 original. Deeply-drawn characters whose pain and fear pack an emotional wallop; a resonant anti-war message and examination of Japanese PTSD and devastation; and – at last – a return to Godzilla as a terrifying, world-destroying monstrosity. Adding to Blu/4k library as soon as it's available – hope they include the black and white version. Masterpiece.

godzilla chases a boat

KRAVEN'S LAST HUNT (DeMatteis / Zeck, 1987)

in

(*****+ / *****): Hate to admit it, but this isn't a re-read: a cardinal sin – nevermind KRAVEN'S LAST HUNT's hallowed status, but (for me) that it's penned by one of my favorite Spidey writers (and comics writers in general; I have a soft spot for his run on THE SPECTRE, featuring Hal Jordan on his post-Parallax road to redemption), JM DeMatteis, under the moody, evocative pencil of genius Mike Zeck makes it even more so. That said, HUNT deserves every bit of its hallowed status: though I knew the main points of the story and the surprise at the end of part five, it still came as a shock. A case study in why I'm devoted to getting the "Great" comics stories in their original single issues: to experience it for the first time largely as it was originally released was something special.

in

Pondering: can the day's (creative) work be considered honest only when you combine the discipline of showing up with the willingness to set aside the perceived expectations of yourself and the imaginary audience and follow – without thought of gain or productivity or any other artificial metric – the path of your inspiration even if, at day’s end, it led you down a (temporarily) unusable path? Leaning towards probably…