Macphee. J. (2004). Stencil Pirates. Brooklyn.NY. Published by Soft Skull Press. Distributed by publishers Group West.
This text is talking about first person, the author.
Author Joshua Macphee got together many, many photographs of many different styles of stencil art around the world and made a book.
He talks about the many different styles of stencil street art and the different kinds of flavours each artist brings to the plate and the story behind each work.
Macphee talks about how he got into the whole stencil art industry. Growing up in a small town called Massachusetts there where no art stencils painted on the streets around him. He had tried a few times at it but was more interested in the political side of street art. A few years on while on road trips he had discovered real street stencil art. On the lower East side of Rio was a cradle for all kinds of radical political cultural activity, and a birthing ground for street stenciling.
Macphee did his first stencil on the streets in 1992 but people misinterpreted his work. In 1993 living in Washington, DC he and a fellow colleague of his noticed some nazi graffiti round the city and feared that it represented a growing racist movement. So they changed nazi graffiti into a band group called Kiss all over the city, soon after the nazi graffiti stopped altogether.
Since his first attempts, stencils have become a part of his everyday life. He can't stop cutting, painting, and photographing them. They opened up a world of public expression to him, and he wants to share that with everyone that's ever felt like they have no control over their environment.
I think what Macphee does with his stenciling art is meaningful. Reading about what he and a fellow colleague did on the streets of Washington, DC how they changed a racist message to a well known legendary musical non racist band name is really well thought of, and gets me thinking how art can have such effects on peoples lives. There is good and bad art. Each street art represents something, its really up to the viewer on how they will interpret them.
Sang.A. Shaolin Burning. (2011). Published by HaperCollinsPublishers.
This reading is a graphic novel book about Shaolin warriors. A young female infant named Deadly Plum Blossom was about to be assassinated by her father due to what was happening with a Shaolin nun that fled from the emperor forces. War raged out in china searching for the one that turned his back on the buddhist path and embarks on a bloody revenge trail of revenge.
Holding his infant girls head under water a voice yelled out STOP! a Shaolin nun from the temple appeared in sight. The infant was handed over to the Shaolin nun to care for. During Deadly Plum Blossom years growing up the Shaolin nun had trained her a new technique of Kung-fu skills to protect herself in the outside world.
Deadly Plum Blossom is determined to prove herself, and sets off to challenge the most dangerous man in China.
Shaolin Burning is a masterful blending of Kung-fu legends. Chinese legends and stories of those lost to the past. It is a story of breath taking beauty, energy and a lot of kick ass Kung-fu.
Reading this novel book by Ant Sang is kind of interesting to me. I like Kung-fu fighting and fighters. I am mostly liking that a female was chosen to be the main fighting character. I like the fact that now days woman are becoming stronger, more independent and becoming the main source for everything, and in some cases woman are not sexual objects.
Burroughs.S.William, Mcneill.M. The Lost Art Of Ah Pook Is Here (Images From The Graphic Novel). (2010). FantaGraphics Books Publishers. England.
This reading is about the illustrator Malcom Mcneill, his lost art from the graphic novel Ah Pook Is Here. Mcneill and author Burroughs collaborated on a small project back in 1970 on a comic titled The Unspeakable Mr. Hart, which appeared in a comic series called Cyclops a few times, Englands first adult reader comics. Ah Pook Is Here was to inclued their character Mr. Hart, but it wasn't appropriate enough for the comic form to explore side by side of images and words.
Ah Pook was never finshed, in the 1979 edition Ah Pook Is Here And Oher Texts only included words from the collaboration of Mcneill and Burroughs. The book was formed as a single painting, text and images were combined in a way that was appropriate to the narrative. The book consist of 120 continuous pages that folds out, that was unpresented at the time and no publisher wanted to publish a graphic novel. Mcneill created almost one hundred paintings, illustrations and sketches for the book, and now are seen decades later in The Lost Art Of Ah Pook Is Here Images From The Graphic Novel. Burroughs text is not included in this book. Mcneills work represent stunning methods to the graphic novel form to come. This book also talks about the historical records of the collaboration between Mcneill and Burroughs, and the texts that was published without pictures.
I found this somewhat composing, and very much educational and understanding the history of lost art, now forming a book with all art, illustrations and sketches from Mcneill. Viewing his sketched art is very much so unorthodox to me, in a way it looked somewhat not pleasing to look at yet interesting with great sketching techniques I must say.
Anyabwile, Dawad. Brotherman & The Pioneers O Big City Comics chapter From The Book Black Comix. (2010). Mark Batty Publisher.NY.
Dawad Anyabwile (formally know as David. Sims) is an illustrator, he has been illustrating now professionally for 15 years. In this book Black Comix, there is an article about Anyabwile illustration work on a comic series called Brotherman. Dictation of discipline started out in 1990 in a sketch book drawn by Anyabwile, a generic dude in a suit, this character did not have muscles. Brotherman started off as a promotional item to promote a custom air-brush store in East orange, New York City owned by Anyabwile and his brother Jason (known to be Sim #2). The two Anyabwile brothers opened a booth at the Black Expo in NYC in the early 1990s. They gave out free give aways to the people as an advertisement so people could view their booth.
May, 7, 1990 Brotherman was released at the Black Expo, NYC and sold like crazy on the first day.
The Anyabwile brothers soon formed Big City Comics, with the third Sims brother Guy, writing the Brotherman series. The two Anyabwile brothers ran the daily operations of Big City Comics, while Guy freelanced his writing to them. Brotherman centered on assistant district attorney Antonio Valor and his alter ego as his battled for Justice in the corrupt and crumbling city, a super hero inspired by Mad Magazine.
Reading this chapter on how Brotherman came to be, illustrated by Dawad Anyabwile, their determenation towards the release of Brotherman and all the hard work put into this comic series really paid out. Knowing who formed Big City Comics is quite a big thing for me I guess, I love comics, I love reading comics, I have been reading a few of their comics and I would say the super heros would be my favourite of them all.
Odom, Y. The East Coast Black Age Of Comics Convention. (2010). Black Comics. Mark Batty Publisher. NY.
This reading is a interview between Damian Duffy and Yumy Odom.
Odom is the founder and president of ECBACC (east coast black age of comics convention), and is also the founder of First World Komix and has been a multidisciplinary educator and scientist for more than 30 years.
ECBACC first started in 2002, it originally slated to be Pan-African Comic convention. ECBACC started while Odom was compiling a resorce directory of creators and Africentric, African centered and black comic books from 1990-1992 to establish a network for research project. A few years later (1998) Odom gathered professionals from the comic industry including cartoonists, illustrators, writers and others to share ideas, concepts and concerns. On Saturday, May 11, 2002 the first annual ECBACC , the original black comic convention in Philadelphia, was successfully initiated. The first ECBACC convention brought together 35 people, all industry professionals who worked at places ranging from Marvel and DC to independent presses. The eighth annual convention had industry professionals, amateurs, africonado, families and passersby, all had great ideas. The goals for the event originally they had to establish a network of African descended comics creator who had long been overlooked and marginalized in spite of their talents, and also to provide a space for the new and up coming artists and writers to showcase their talents. These goals have not changed. The ECBACC provides a space for those in the comic industry to see African descended comic creators as talented individuals and as a resource for great stories and art ideas.
This interview reading between Duffy and Odom is great and educational. This kind of tells me that black Africans couldn't or didn't have a chance of becoming creators for comics. Odom took the liberty to hold conventions dealing with this matter, so African descendents have that chance of being apart of the comic indusry. I look at Odom to be a strong independent man with power for what he believes in, which is helping his people become important as he is. Its quite inspiring to me and I'm sure to many people out there thats reading this interview.
