Matt Demers dot com

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Sat, 19 May 2012 19:20:25 -0400

beatonna: Every picture of Louis Cyr is the best picture of...

Sat, 19 May 2012 13:58:28 -0400

Every picture of Louis Cyr is the best picture of Louis Cyr and also he has the best statue in all of Montreal. Click for MORE

Probably one of my favourite parts of Paul Goes Fishing is the Cyr museum.

THEME

Sat, 19 May 2012 13:05:14 -0400

serenadingseoul:

Since I suddenly checked and my old theme was broken, I changed it to a new one. I hope you guys like it, I think it looks pretty dandy :) If anyone knows the html so that clicking on the picture will bring up the larger sized version, please let me know :D Many thanks~

Looks great! If you like awesome pictures of Korea, you should follow my friend Steph’s blog.

Read/Review: "Lost Dogs" by Jeff Lemire

Sat, 19 May 2012 12:57:00 -0400

The first Jeff Lemire comic I read was Essex County, his huge (and I mean huge) tribute to rural Canadian life. As a guy who grew up on the cusp of the community that Essex portrayed, I felt a little bit of attachment to it; in the long haul, it’s one of my favourite graphic novels to read start-to-finish,and I can definitely recommend it as essential Canadian lit.

Lemire’s style isn’t one I thought I’d end up liking, but now I have an appreciation for how much emotion he can pack into panels that are the opposite of sharp, clean lines. Below is my review for his earlier title, Lost Dogs, which I had a chance to pick up at TCAF 2012. Click the read more link to see it.

As always, if you enjoy my stuff, feel free to give me a like/reblog, follow me on Twitter, or Facebook.

Lost Dogs is a relatively short graphic novel with a limited colour palette; at its core, there is only white, red and black. Even then, the red is used very sparingly, usually with blood, or the stripes on the main protagonist’s shirt.

This gives the entire story a very raw feeling; this is a quality I stole from the back of the book, but it conveys what I ended up feeling about it so well. You can read the entire narrative in less than half an hour, but it ends up leaving you so drained. It’s a classic tragedy of revenge, loss, emotion and ambition; it will wrench your heart out.

But I think that’s what I really enjoyed about it. While it wasn’t a plotline that I haven’t seen before, the art evoked such a strong emotional response because Lemire’s art is very visceral: you can feel the depression, anxiety, anger and regret.

And really, don’t you want that from a book? Don’t you want something that will wretch the emotions from the pages and throw them in your face, shouting FEEL THIS, YOU BASTARD?

Maybe I’m just weird like that.

Anyways, pick up this book if you’re a Lemire fan and enjoy his work on Sweet Tooth and Essex County; also, if you’re looking for a good story that will rest on your heart for at least a couple hours, this book will do that, as well.

Thanks for reading.

Evening reading.

Sat, 19 May 2012 00:40:42 -0400

Just in case you didn’t see earlier, feel free to check out my Read/Review of Becky Cloonan’s Wolves and The Mire, and my Watch/Review of Lupin the Third: Castle of Cagliostro!

Bought my first pair of raw denim jeans today on recommendation...

Fri, 18 May 2012 21:19:17 -0400

Bought my first pair of raw denim jeans today on recommendation from my friend Luke. They’ve been kind of weird so far because of how tight they are, despite me buying a size larger than I usually do. I’m informed that I have to work them in, so hopefully they’ll feel a bit more comfortable than they do now.

Getting paid feels good, but paying all my bills today gives me a grand total of.. $200 to get me through the next two weeks.

Joy.

Nice to see you dabbling in Ghibli. Don't be put off by the "younger" target audience- their stuff is timeless, thought-provoking and visually? Flabbergastingly fantastic! What are you going to watch next?? :D Mononoke Hime was my first Studio Ghibli film.

Fri, 18 May 2012 18:14:40 -0400

I’m thinking about Spirited Away, then Ponyo, then Mononoke. Really want to tackle the Miyazaki stuff.

Watch/Review: "Lupin the Third: Castle of Cagliostro"

Fri, 18 May 2012 18:06:00 -0400

As a nerd, I feel a bit guilty for not having watched a Studio Ghibli movie before.

Yes, I realize that it’s Japan’s equivalent of Disney. Yes, I realize that the movies are amazing examples of animation, and they should be watched with reverence. Yes, I will get on that as soon as possible.

But I guess I put it off.

This past weekend, however, I decided to procure the whole batch of them, and I started with Lupid the Third: Castle of Cagliostro (1979). I’ve always been most curious about Lupin, perhaps because the others seemed aimed at someone younger; while I have no problems watching something out of my age range, I figured I’d at least start with something… comfortable?

Click through to read what I thought about the film; as always, if you enjoy what I’m writing, give me a like, reblog, Facebook like, or recommend me to a friend! You can also follow me on Twitter.

Having no previous experience with the Lupin mythos, I was marvelled at how easily I took to the character; both the master thief and his supporting cast each have something likeable about them, so it’s easy to become engaged. Lupin is a scoundrel, yet has his moments of gold-heartedness. Jigen is easy-going, yet fierce in combat. Goeman is stoic, honorable and loyal. Fujiko rocks the “badass female mercenary” vibe. All very lovely.

The mix of comedy, action, drama and romance kept me hooked through the entire thing, as well; it also didn’t hurt that I had the Japanese audio (with English subtitles). I find that these help to keep my attention, as sitting at my computer with the film on my big screen makes my eyes wander a little bit.

It’s kind of weird how I can’t really sit through movies anymore; it’s a large barrier that keeps me from actually watching them. I’m not a big film buff, and despite having a decent collection of DVDs and digital copies, I find that I rarely have the motivation to watch them.

But I can say I really enjoyed Lupin for a number of reasons, including the superb animation. I’ll always be blown away by how far the pencil-and-paper method can go, and sequences like the rooftop infiltration and the car chase (pictured above) had me amazed at how fluid they were. It gets you appreciating the craftsmanship of what went into making the film, and the superb direction that was needed to achieve it.

And ultimately, that’s why I’m starting my Ghibli quest: to gain a greater perspective and appreciation for animation as a whole. It’s not enough to just sit back and watch the “classic” shows and current flavours of the month (no offense to Korra, but at the moment, attention is at a fever pitch) - you have to look back to the past, and see what inspired them.

That’s what this movie did for me, most of all. It gave me a base to look forward and say “Oh, that’s where they got that from” or “Oh, here’s where that was pioneered.” It got me to look at things a little critically, all while being grossly entertained along the way.

I don’t want to sign off with the cliche “If you’re looking for a good story, pick this up” message, so I’ll say this: regardless if you’re looking to check out a classic animated film or looking for some perspective, you won’t regret your time with Lupin.

Thanks for reading.

Read/Review: "Wolves" and "The Mire" by Becky Cloonan

Fri, 18 May 2012 10:58:27 -0400

I don’t really remember when I first came across Becky Cloonan’s art. To be honest, it probably came from seeing her work with Brian Wood, one of my favourite comic writers; their work on Demo really inspired me as to what indie comics could be.

Recently, she’s been putting out her own comics; one called Wolves, and the other called The Mire. I picked up both at TCAF 2012, and was fortunate enough to get them signed by her. I sat in one a writer’s panel the next day, and got to hear Becky talk about her perspective as both a writer and artist, and it was just interesting to hear that point of view.

I really liked her books; hit the “Read More” link below to read what I thought in detail. If you enjoy what I’m writing, give me a like, reblog, Facebook like, or recommend me to a friend! You can also follow me on Twitter.

To be concise, I liked these books for a few reasons:

They’re short
They’re focused
They have soul

While this might seem a little vague, I’ll explain.

In both Wolves and The Mire we’re introduced to a few key players and a plot, and they’re left to do their thing. Unlike a mini-series, or even a full issue, the stories seem self-contained to a point where they don’t even have mood shifts - they stay constant from beginning to end.

This is a good thing, because it gives us a chance to stop focusing on the plot and start paying attention to the feeling that accompanies it. While I’m not saying the story should be discarded, there’s some things that can easily be swept aside by a few key twists and turns. With both books, we’re given a premise that we ride out until the end, and as we’re given more details about the outside factors at work, those premises solidify.

And ultimately, we’re left with something pretty damned strong: I would definitely recommend both books to fans of fantasy, adventure and a teensy bit of horror. While I’ve always liked Becky as an artist, these titles proved to me that she has more than what it takes to write books, and I’m looking forward to see what she comes up with in the future.

Thanks for reading.

What happened to you working for Comic Vine?

Fri, 18 May 2012 00:47:51 -0400

To be honest, they laid me off due to costs of keeping freelancers on board. I took it a little hard, and thought there might’ve been some stupid stuff behind the scenes at the time, but they were sold to Gamespot (I think?) less than a month later.

So letting me go kind of made sense, I guess.

Two blog posts queued for tomorrow

Fri, 18 May 2012 00:28:52 -0400

Writing makes me feel good.

philnoto: MCA Forever

Thu, 17 May 2012 11:50:19 -0400

philnoto:

MCA Forever

agentmlovestacos: ‘TIS THORSDAY!

Thu, 17 May 2012 10:25:20 -0400

agentmlovestacos:

‘TIS THORSDAY!

In case you were having a bad day.

Thu, 17 May 2012 10:24:57 -0400

In case you were having a bad day.

suspensefulgraphics: Do Not Work for Free! Truth and wisdom.

Thu, 17 May 2012 09:36:23 -0400

suspensefulgraphics:

Do Not Work for Free!

Truth and wisdom.

Photo

Wed, 16 May 2012 18:05:38 -0400

zdarsky: “When you see another animated gif tumblr”

Wed, 16 May 2012 16:38:42 -0400

zdarsky:

“When you see another animated gif tumblr”

A timelapse of Planet Earth from the Elektro-L, a...

Wed, 16 May 2012 11:55:18 -0400

A timelapse of Planet Earth from the Elektro-L, a geostationary satellite orbiting 40000km above the Earth. It creates a 121 megapixel image every 30 minutes with four visible and infrared light wavelengths. The infra-red was originally orange but I have changed it to green. The images are “masked” by a circular barrier that blocks out the light of the Sun and other stars. This is to prevent damage to the camera by exposure to direct sunlight. The images have been interpolated (blended) to create a smooth animation.

Read/Review: "Unlikely" by Jeffrey Brown

Wed, 16 May 2012 10:57:56 -0400

I’m not sure why, but for the last little while I’ve been on a pretty big kick when it comes to autobiographical comics.

Perhaps it’s because I’m going through some pretty big changes in my life right now, and seeing what other people are going through/have gone through acts like a bit of a salve. Being able to relate to a story really increases my enjoyment of it, and stories rooted in personal journeys (not necessarily non-fiction) tend to resonate especially well.

I picked up Jeffrey Brown’s Unlikely at TCAF this year after looking at the back and determining that this might be something I could dig. It reads:

250+ pages of young love, sex, drugs, heartbreak & comedy.

How could I say no to that, right?

The book starts off in earnest, and doesn’t dawdle on its way to the main point of the story. Author Jeffrey Brown wants to date a girl named Allisyn, and the book is about their relationship together.

When I cracked Unlikely open, I wasn’t a big fan of the art style: Brown’s drawings remind me of mini-comics scrawled in a notebook during particularly boring lectures. However, it wasn’t enough to turn me off, like some other books have: I doubt I’ll ever really be able to take an R. Crumb book seriously, which stinks, because I’ve heard he’s phenomenal.

Getting back to Unlikely, I feel that this book was written with the intent to portray both the ups, downs and downright boring parts of being in a relationship. The book isn’t a long narrative; it’s broken up in chunks with subtitles notifying you of change. While this works for the first little bit, it’s sometimes hard to leave a scene before there’s any resolution: I’ve found this to be a problem I have with reading straight journal/autobiographies.

But eventually, this book grew in me. It’s not my favourite in the genre, but the author makes no qualms about being honest with his reader. There are parts where he seems inadequate, overbearing and downtrodden - there are others when we cringe alongside him. There are times when I felt on the cusp of wanting to smack characters upside the head, but lacked the last little bit to provoke a genuinely emotional reaction.

And ultimately, that’s what kept this book from being something that affected me on a deeper level than “Huh, that was an alright read.”; there is a distinct lack of personal introspection by the narrator, and we’re just left to take the events at face value.

But maybe that’s what some people need, in order to create a connection: context that they can create themselves.

Thanks for reading.

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Well, this apparently happened.

Tue, 15 May 2012 18:53:47 -0400

Well, this apparently happened.