Even Ugly Has to Work

I've decided to take a little break from my drawing. My shoulder seems to be aching from working on this piece.
I've seen three movies this past weekend (or, at least, mostly seen three movies). So, I will give you a brief review during my respite.
The first was an old Italian 'giallo' from the early 70's entitled TORSO. For those of you who do not know, the giallos (yellow) were brainy forerunners of the slasher flicks of the 80's. When I mean brainy, I do not necessarily mean smart. I mean, they were highly over-the-top films with overly convoluted plots. Usually, hard to figure out what's going on, who's killing who, lots of red herrings, and a background story about the killer's motivations that seemingly come out of nowhere. You probably wo'nt be able to figure out what's happening until the very end (except for the fact that tons o' folks get offed). Torso is no exception to this description. It was very controversial at the time, and is not known as one of the better ones of the genre. However, something about it appealed to me. For one thing, it kept making me want to watch THE NIGHT EVELYN CAME OUT OF THE GRAVE (which is no gem, itself...but fun). Torso also came to represent a sort of death of the freewheeling 60's, which I found fascinating. It's definitely a forerunner of the American-styled slasher flicks (i.e. sex=death). Not really recommended for many of you. Borrow it.
Second, I went to see THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO in the theatre. This is a Swedish film. Since I have been living in a cave and stopped watching television, I never saw a preview, let alone heard about this movie or the books it was based off of (it's a trilogy, published posthumously after the author's death of heart attack at 50), I did'nt know what to expect. This is the first film in a trilogy (all of the films are finished now, but we in the U.S. have to wait a while). I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed this film. I was totally in the dark on it and I think I enjoyed it more for that reason (although, it is pretty good in its own right).
Interestingly, this movie was being shown at the theatre where FLUKE was being held. Jeff mentioned it to me and we marveled over the poster as we were waiting to get inside. Highly recommended. Except for illiterates.
The last is a work in process. I rented MACUMBA SEXUAL by the awesome/awful Jess Franco! It's basically a reworking of that tidy little number, Franco's earlier VAMPYROS LESBOS (the soundtrack is really good). This time, instead of a vampire seducing a thick German girl, it's a transexual voodoo priestess seducing a thick Spanish girl (in-famous Lina Romay, for those of you not in the know. Do'nt look any of her images up at your work computers!!!!).
Time being as it is, I have only been able to make it halfway through the flick. I am enjoying it thus far. Recommended for only perverts and sadocinemasochists. Enjoy!
Next on my list? SWEET MOVIE and SALO, OR THE 120 DAYS OF SODOM (again)! Let the pain continue!
ciao, mon amis...

Slums

This is another panel from early in Mandarins. With these city panels, I have been trying to establish the general setting. You see different aspects of the city. You know what the environment is like, so it kind of prepares you for something gritty. It also lets the city itself become a character. This is one of the immigrant slums. They are pretty much all just thrown in there together. I know that various peoples try to organize themselves into these tribal communities (Chinatown, Japantown, Little Ethiopia, Little Armenia, etc. etc. etc. etc.), but this is a case where they did'nt have much of a choice. The government tossed everyone in there, and due to the racial unity (because of the introduction of the hybrids) people find themselves getting alot cozier than usual. They are also breeding more amongst the different racial groups, so that everyone's skin is getting more light brown. They're all beginning to blur together as a species. Well! Is'nt that a rascist's nightmare! It's also a socialist's dream.
The billboards in the poor sections of town are old school. They warp and fade quickly due to the weather....and are usually left in that state for a long time. The nicer sections of town have virtual billboards. "You can live disease free" is another part of the propaganda campaign. Remember the "War on Drugs"? Well, there is a secret government campaign dubbed the "War on Sex". There are some closeted rascists and moralists who have lodged themselves, like parasites, deep within the confines of the government. They have this plan of "straightening" out the populace (i.e. separating the races in order to make it more like the old days and culling the homosexuals and others deemed as perverts. Perverts threaten the "societal fabric". Plus, there's the morality bit, which is ironic, because many of these officials are, themselves, indulging in the very acts that they deemed immoral.Watch Salo, or 120 days of Sodom, and you'll see where I'm coming from. well, without all the sadism. Throw in more absurdity, like religious sex-cults and people who follow talking dogs ("Iloveyou!"))under the guise of frank anti-sexual programs which pass on messages about there being an overpopulation (which there really is, a good cover to hide under) as well as high rates of venereal diseases due the huge amount of people having sex.
On the opposite billboard, old capitalism rears its head in a soda ad. The biggest drink in the land (which is like a super-super size) is Henry the Drink: The King of Colas! This ad was to be seen repeatedly throughout the comic. Somewhere, lurking in the background. On shirts, in reastaurants....
It was part of another campaign, in concert with the gov't, and enacted by heavy industry, to fatten people up for nefarious schemes, which I willnot go into. It was also meant to slow people down. If you have a population who is out of shape, spoiled, fat and lazy, among other things, that...can lead to apathy. What better way to govern people than to make them not care about what is happening? Just feed them crap and make them feel like the world is theirs. Then, you just slip behind the scenes and do whatever you want. You're above the law by being behind it.
Nobody cares that their country is on a downward slope, or even a dictatorship of sorts, because they're too busy watching television, playing video games, watching movies, eating candy, fast food, and drinking colas. I know I'm sounding all moralistic and preachy here, but I meant it in a dark humored state of mind. I felt like I was making fun of modern society, not necessarily judging it. I guess I was in a way...
Oh well, I had so much going into the backstories that I was never able to work all of the kinks out yet. That's the way I left it. Some of the stuff detailed above is metaphorical road kill. I also do'nt like the way some of that makes me sound like an overly pious conservative talk show host. They're full of hot air anyways.

- Chew