LOL to the hair thing, that must've been paaaainful!
I like your thoughts a whole lot and in many ways can empathise - I think, conceptually, a splice of the two styles is a wonderfully idea but if it would actually work in practice - I'm not sure. The resulting effect may then simply be jarring and inconsistent in the not-good way.
I'm having a hard time making a decision. I think that the new colouring is 'better' from a modern aesthetic POV - it's nice and clear, it's pretty, you can see a lot of detail that perhaps got lost before - but I think the old colouring has a great deal of merit for numerous reasons, not least being the surreal, nightmarish impact that it has on the reader. Some things may become lost, but the overall atmosphere is magnificent. In many ways, although the new colouring has that tinge of despair, it also kind of limits the emotional scope in the reader because it has just the one sustained emotional atmosphere throughout.
But you know what? You and I are both looking at this from the POV of people who've read the original numerous times. So when we open the book we know what's coming storywise and that *doubtless* effects out mindspace and emotions as we begin to read again. I would be interested to know what someone who has never read the book or heard about it thinks when they first open it up.
To be honest, I think the decision I am coming to after spending the last week being just not-sure, is that I am really glad there are TWO versions of the story out there and that they are both so different and so fabulous for very different reasons. Since I don't have to make the choice, I'm not going to. I'm going to let each one rest on its own merits. The original was for a very different time in comics, and my own attachment to it is nostalgic. The new is for a somewhat more self-conscious time, as comic books are being more and more seen as significant art forms. The thing is, the original KJ actually contributed not-insignificantly to this mentality, odd colouring and all. I guess my concern is now that the new colouring will be touted at its expense and the attitude will gradually come to be that it was a botch job rather than appreciating it for something that was really quite daring and interpretative and effective.
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Date: 2008-03-29 10:32 pm (UTC)I like your thoughts a whole lot and in many ways can empathise - I think, conceptually, a splice of the two styles is a wonderfully idea but if it would actually work in practice - I'm not sure. The resulting effect may then simply be jarring and inconsistent in the not-good way.
I'm having a hard time making a decision. I think that the new colouring is 'better' from a modern aesthetic POV - it's nice and clear, it's pretty, you can see a lot of detail that perhaps got lost before - but I think the old colouring has a great deal of merit for numerous reasons, not least being the surreal, nightmarish impact that it has on the reader. Some things may become lost, but the overall atmosphere is magnificent.
In many ways, although the new colouring has that tinge of despair, it also kind of limits the emotional scope in the reader because it has just the one sustained emotional atmosphere throughout.
But you know what? You and I are both looking at this from the POV of people who've read the original numerous times. So when we open the book we know what's coming storywise and that *doubtless* effects out mindspace and emotions as we begin to read again. I would be interested to know what someone who has never read the book or heard about it thinks when they first open it up.
To be honest, I think the decision I am coming to after spending the last week being just not-sure, is that I am really glad there are TWO versions of the story out there and that they are both so different and so fabulous for very different reasons. Since I don't have to make the choice, I'm not going to. I'm going to let each one rest on its own merits. The original was for a very different time in comics, and my own attachment to it is nostalgic. The new is for a somewhat more self-conscious time, as comic books are being more and more seen as significant art forms.
The thing is, the original KJ actually contributed not-insignificantly to this mentality, odd colouring and all. I guess my concern is now that the new colouring will be touted at its expense and the attitude will gradually come to be that it was a botch job rather than appreciating it for something that was really quite daring and interpretative and effective.