The Manga Memoirs Blogs!

"You ever wonder why there's so much air in a bag of chips? I buy chips because I want a whole bag of chips, not half, nor a quarter. I think this reality is indicative of much of today's commerce---chips"


Rooooonnneeeyyyy!!!! I think the next Manga anthology is going to feature only stories about Andy Rooney. Intersections with Andy. The first story will be about how Andy, as an infant, fought off a pack of wild ravenous badgers, moments after he was born...with a pine cone.

Ahem. Monday.

Number five in the ongoing series of in-depth (not so much) interviews with THE writers behind the first Manga anthology (the one that's not about Andy fighting giant robots in Wisconsin) Up next is Dylan Edwards (aka crackwalker), the man behind CCN winning Hero High. and now Manga Memoirs.

Kireji is a story about a skinny awkward kid, bullied and belittled by fellow students, seeking solace and comfort in the Manga sent him by his Japanese pen pal, Hiroko.


Roll camera, cue sound...engage.

What compelled you to tell this particular story?

When the call went out for personal stories about a connection with Japan, I immediately thought of my pen pal. Her letters and booklets made a profound impact on me at a young age, and form the roots of my lifelong interest in Japanese culture. In coming up with a narrative, I looked for something that would be very accessible, a story that the reader could immediately understand. We're all vulnerable at that age, and taking the reader into that awkward social landscape creates some good drama. It also fits quite well with the teen drama motif we see in a lot of manga. I decided to tell a story that would show how and why Japanese culture became important to me, and how I integrated it into my own life.


Why is a comic the best format for it?

This kind of story works very well in comics because it uses the collaborative nature of the medium to take the reader in, and wrap them up in a different place and time. Many elements of the story can be suggested by what's on the page, and then the reader fills in the exact details in a way that is the most significant to them. The sights, sounds (and smells) of your own junior high school will creep into your vision of the story, making it more real to you. The pacing of the storytelling is also in the hands of the reader. Flipping back and forth between pages, or lingering on a single image can allow the time line of the story to flex, according to the desire of the reader. This is the sense of intimacy I wanted to create in Kireji, and comics are the best way to do it because they give just enough information to get the reader's brain started. Other media can overwhelm tone's own perceptions and not leave time for reflection.

What do you love about Manga or comics in general? (art,pacing etc.)

I love the variety of stories that are told in Manga. Every genre of movies and television is represented, and then some. North American comics are very slowly maturing as an industry, and hopefully they will model themselves on the success of Manga as comics become a widely-accepted storytelling medium.

What brought you to reading comics?

Superheroes brought me to reading comics at the young age of 5. I eventually expanded into European bandes dessinées like Asterix and Tintin. As a teen I read other stuff like Art Spiegelman's Maus, Masamune Shirow's Appleseed , and Will Eisner's A Life Force which cemented my relationship with the medium.




What do you hope readers take away from your memoir?

I'm not sure, to be honest. This is the first "personal true story" I've ever written, and it's a new process for me. I don't know what I want out of this kind of writing yet. With my fiction writing, I always have a strong sense of what the story is about and I can focus on those thematic elements and make sure they are present in the storytelling. With this, I went into new territory as a writer, and so I'm not sure about the whys and wherefores of it.

On a basic level, there's bullying behavior in the story, and I guess that's something one say I'm making a statement about. If people read this and it helps them make a positive change the way they see things, that's great. I think there are parents out there that could be doing more to help their kids learn to be kinder and nicer to other people.

But I would not want to say "this is a story about bullying" , that's not why I wrote it. It's a story about a kid who was living a life in a certain place and there?s more to the story than just "the kid was bullied". I like to think I've left room in there for the reader to reflect on other aspects of the character, and see something more than just one specific "issue". The fact is that I had a pretty good life, sometimes I couldn't really see that. I spent a lot of time wrapped up in my own emotional space. Another kid might have had the same things happen to them, but it would have rolled off their back.

For me, the "true story" form is all rendered in shades of grey. Yes there was bullying and yes, it was bad, but there was no deus ex machina, no divine vengeance or balancing of the scales of justice. There's just life, and it keeps happening, and we make our peace with the bad things that happen and move on.

What is your ideal soundtrack for this story? (or did you soundtrack your writing process?)

http://www.myspace.com/oldmanluedecke

The Cliche` question: What is your favorite Manga of all time? (or comic)

Nausicäa of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miyakazi


What is the first Manga/comic that you read?

Lone Wolf and Cub by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima.

What do you find most challenging/satisfying about writing for this medium?

Collaboration. It's a collaborative medium on every level. Collaboration is both empowering and humbling. You have to have confidence in yourself to have anything of value to bring to the table, and yet you have to have an open mind to understand what others are bringing. I learn a lot from every collaboration, even the failed ones.

What are your aspirations for your creative career? What do you wanna be when you grow up? (a spaceship, fire fighter, Superman etc.)

Creative Producer.


FIN.

Thanks for your time Dylan, and for your insightful responses. I think it's cool that aside from this being a great story, it might serve as a "letter" to someone going through tough times, similar to that of Skinny Kid. As Dylan pointed out, this story isn't just about bullying, nor is it meant to be, but I certainly hope that someone relates and finds a source of power in it.

For some reason reading Tintin books at my local library growing up used to weird me out. There was something about the style of those books that bent my young mind (thankfully so) Now that I think of it, that was one of my earliest encounters with comics second only to the box of Marvel/DC fare my uncle gave me (which my mom later threw away, with my approval...what the hell was I thinking?)

Oh, and wait until you see how Kireji's art turned out...WOW.


Updates!

We be Tweets.

The books that were supposed to done over the weekend, didn't make the finish line. It's not a problem, they would have been done early, now they'll be done slightly less early. We should be nearly, if not entirely, wrapped by the weekend.

...mostly.


MorganJ
Editor-in-mustaches