I Have Never Read Kabuki....Tell Me Why I Should.

[SCOURGE]

While I have been a fan of David's for awhile, I know nothing about Kabuki and have never really had an interest in the book. Murdock's Girl keeps telling me that it is great and that I should read it, but I am not convinced and and I am looking for other opinions. What is it about the book that appeals to you?

One of these reasons that I think that I have avoided it is the shipping schedule. Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to knock on David in any way. I know his style of artwork in very detailed and it takes awhile to put out a new issue, but the schedule really is a big factor for me. I dropped Ultimates (Volume 1) for the same reason. I suppose I could just read it in trade, but I usually do that with comics that I never otherwise buy and want to read in one sitting (exceptions to this is SiP and Fables). For example, Y: The Last Man...I bought the first trade at Borders and hated it. But I have bought the rest of the trades when I have been desperate for something to read. It is part of my bored shitless reading list.

So, why should I consider reading (or even considering puting it on my bored shitless reading list) Kabuki?

Wow me people!

[Jacob Lyon Goddard]

what kinds of comics do you usually enjoy?

[tdaniel]

I'd say first. This deserves reading in a collected format. You're in good luck with all the volumes in print. So get Circle of Blood, Vol.1 and just got for it.

Second, the last 25-30 pages of the first story arch are just absolutely cinematic, imaginitive, super violent and poetic.

Now, flash forward all the way to the Alchemy, the current arch nearing conclusion and you will witness pure artistic and philosophical transformation, one that has radically altered my idea of what comics can be.

The advantage to the publish when ready schedule David has only makes me revisit the singles of the latest volume published to date. Like the best films or literature you can return to them, reread them and get something new and fresh each time.

Risks are sometimes rewarded and you won't even have to be bored shitless to do it!

[Persevering Guy]

I have been a fan of David's for awhile

that should be reason enough. just buy it in trades.

i'd recommend starting with the 5th volume trade. just read the first few pages and flip through it. if you feel it's for you, go get the other books and read them in order. if you still don't have much of an interest, just try this single volume.

if it's still not your thing, the 5th volume makes a great gift that could get someone into comics

[SCOURGE]

what kinds of comics do you usually enjoy?

My reading list:

Daredevil
Captain America
New and Mighty Avengers (although I am probably going to drop one or both of these titles soon--I REALLY hate the artwork.)
Fables (Trade only)
She-Hulk
Ms. Marvel

I have also read in the past:

Powers (The Image run)
Torso
Jinx
Goldfish
Alias
Catwoman

[NaughTibbittz]

Because it's fucking brilliant. The first trade could almost have been written by Alan Moore, which is a compliment I reserve for very few books. Pretty much just Kabuki, Jack Staff, and 3/4 of Warren Ellis' work.

[Arie]

If you hate something, but still come back to it every time as you say you do with Y, The Last Man, and then be somewhat facetious about it by calling it your "bored shitless list" I would say that you approach things a bit negatively. If you are bored, go and do something you like doing!

Again, dropping series because they do not come out regular enough for you is of course your prerogative, but shows more about yourself than about the books that you stopped buying!

Having said that, and I am sorry if am attacking you to some extent, I do not think that with that approach to matters, you will like Kabuki very much!

To really enjoy the storytelling, the art, the "between the lines" references and inferences, the twists and turns, you have to put something of yourself into reading these books. Kabuki requires involvement to "experience" it. As David says himself in the documentary "The Alchemy of Art" the story and the art can only be "completed" by the reader.

If you are unable or unwilling to put something of yourself into it, you can maybe still enjoy the story though like with some of the work of Gaiman, McKean and Alan Moore you could be left wondering what you have just read. On the other hand, if you do put in that effort you could experience great art and storytelling on more levels than you knew where possible.

The choice is yours, but if you choose not to go to these lengths, you'll be missing out on a wonderful experience.

Arie

[NaughTibbittz]

Read it. Reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeead it...

[SCOURGE]

If you hate something, but still come back to it every time as you say you do with Y, The Last Man, and then be somewhat facetious about it by calling it your "bored shitless list" I would say that you approach things a bit negatively. If you are bored, go and do something you like doing!

Again, dropping series because they do not come out regular enough for you is of course your prerogative, but shows more about yourself than about the books that you stopped buying!

Having said that, and I am sorry if am attacking you to some extent, I do not think that with that approach to matters, you will like Kabuki very much!

To really enjoy the storytelling, the art, the "between the lines" references and inferences, the twists and turns, you have to put something of yourself into reading these books. Kabuki requires involvement to "experience" it. As David says himself in the documentary "The Alchemy of Art" the story and the art can only be "completed" by the reader.

If you are unable or unwilling to put something of yourself into it, you can maybe still enjoy the story though like with some of the work of Gaiman, McKean and Alan Moore you could be left wondering what you have just read. On the other hand, if you do put in that effort you could experience great art and storytelling on more levels than you knew where possible.

The choice is yours, but if you choose not to go to these lengths, you'll be missing out on a wonderful experience.

Arie

First off, I read Y out of boredom and didn't especially like it. I gave it another shot and it eventually grew on me. I don't think that it is worth the time or money to buy in single issues, but it is fine to read in one sitting in a trade format. I felt the same way after I read the first Fables trade, bur Fables is one of my favorite books now, and one of the best books on the market today. I only read it in trade, because the singles are to hard to find.

Second, I understand, understand that David's art style and process takes awhile, and that is why he doesn't put out new issues every month. That is fine. If I were ever going to read Kabuki it would solely be in trade format. I dropped Ultimates, for example, because while I liked the story, the constant lateness drove me away. As far as what that says about me...I think that it shows that I am pretty normal. Don't you hate it when someone says...I will do X thing tomorrow, and then says "Oh, I am sorry but I able not going to be able to deliver on my promise for a few weeks." I know that it pisses me off. Especially, if it happens more than once.

Third, I am willing to "experience it", but I am not sure that it is worth my time. That is why I was asking for people to give me reasons why I should give it a try. What is it about? What makes it so good? What don't you like about it? You didn't say anything constructive, you delivered some lame ass, half-baked attack on me.

Try again please.

[Arie]

Hey Scourge,
When you start by saying that “One of these reasons that I think that I have avoided it is the shipping schedule” and further on state “the schedule really is a big factor for me. I dropped Ultimates (Volume 1) for the same reason” you do give the impression that you are at least a little impatient, and if not catered to in that respect you do not want to even give something more than a cursory glance.
That is an attitude - which I am not saying you have, but you did give that impression – of being of the “I want it all and I want it now!” kind. That seems to be, as you say “pretty normal” these days, but just because the majority of people have that attitude, does not necessarily make it right! (don’t you just hate democracy!)

The schedule that is “offered” to the readers is a “promise” only inasmuch as that is what they are setting out to do. If the job in question involves creative work of any kind, I prefer to wait until the creator is happy with the result and then puts it out a couple of weeks (or months) late, rather than have him or her rush it through and not deliver the standard that he wants to produce and I want to see! I know that I myself have not always been on time in delivering on promises, though I always try, and I assume the same with David or other creators that have similar schedule problems.

My “lame attack” was based on the impression that you created, at least with me, of how you approach things.

One of the reasons why I think that Kabuki is worthwhile reading is the fact that as I mentioned obliquely in my earlier post, the Kabuki story and art cannot be seen as the complete story yet. You as a reader have to finish that story by your act of reading it.

When you would just lay out the story-line – which is all you will probably get if you would not be prepared to “experience” Kabuki by putting in some effort in absorbing the combination of the artwork with the text of the story which David has intentionally made in such a way that the one helps to understand the other while sometimes creating a third dimension in me as the reader, you would get a fairly simple “girl works for an agency, gets disenchanted, leaves the agency and is now hunted by them while trying to build a new life”.

The reason why I like Kabuki is at the same time the same one and different from why this is a favourite of Murdock’s Girl, which again is different for Terry Drosdak, which again is different for Miss Fumikos’.

That reason is rather simple: Kabuki is a story that touches us on a personal level. The story is not just a story anymore, but has become more an exploration on a personal level of the whys and wherefores of so-called accepted values in our everyday lives. To me David Mack tells a personal story – and he seems to put more of himself into it the further we go along – trying to reason out why certain things happen/have happened, why we make certain choices and not others and he does this using the emotions of his interacting characters within the context of the story.

These “ruminations” are what I as a reader have experienced and am still experiencing in my own life. My personal experiences therefore define which for me are the most cherished parts of the Kabuki story, and these are therefore different for everyone.

The fact that someone is able to pull me into a story to such an extent that I am emotionally involved and touched by what I have read could mean that I am emotionally unstable and easily influenced, but as I am not the only one who has experienced this with Kabuki in one way or another, I rather think it is the extraordinary gift of David Mack to blend words and pictures in such a way that with my effort of reading/experiencing the story, the end-result is a unique experience.

Because of the personal nature of the whole Kabuki thing, it is impossible to say you should read it because “this part of the story is so cool” and “that scene is so exceptional” and “the art is gorgeous” etc…

While there are, to me personally such scenes and passages, the one reason you should read Kabuki is because it is a unique, very personal and emotional experience that you do not, and can not, get from 99.9% of the other stuff that is on the market.

Arie

[SCOURGE]

Thainks for answering my question Arie. I think I get where you are coming from now.

[MACK!]

Hi Scourge,

Thanks for considering trying my books.

I do get the sense that a lot of people get different things from it, but my best recommendation for it is that it is FUN!

I suppose there are a lot of other things that I put into the story and that I enjoy getting from other stories that I read, but I guess the main point above all else, for me to make a story and for me to read one is that it needs to be quite enjoyable.
So that is my recommendation for it.

And I hope other readers continue to chime as to what makes it enjoyable and fun for them to read.

[SCOURGE]

Hi Scourge,

Thanks for considering trying my books.

I do get the sense that a lot of people get different things from it, but my best recommendation for it is that it is FUN!

I suppose there are a lot of other things that I put into the story and that I enjoy getting from other stories that I read, but I guess the main point above all else, for me to make a story and for me to read one is that it needs to be quite enjoyable.
So that is my recommendation for it.

And I hope other readers continue to chime as to what makes it enjoyable and fun for them to read.


Thanks for the response David. I enjoyed getting getting to meet you Saturday night at WWC. Murdock's Girl and I were talking to Mark Millar at the time. You weren't very talkative though (you guys had just woken up from a nap, I think you said). I think that I will try the first trade and let you know what I think when I am done.

[MACK!]

Thanks for the response David. I enjoyed getting getting to meet you Saturday night at WWC. Murdock's Girl and I were talking to Mark Millar at the time. You weren't very talkative though (you guys had just woken up from a nap, I think you said). I think that I will try the first trade and let you know what I think when I am done.

Thanks for taking the innitiative to try the first volume. I think you'll get a kick out of it. Please let me know what you think. That volume is the earliest work of mine that I keep in print.

Yeah, WWC was really fun, and good to talk with you all there Saturday night. I would have liked to get there earlier and socialize and be more talkative with everyone, but after the show, I got pretty sleep :)

It was a shame because I really enjoy goofing with everyone on Saturday of the show. I'm sure I'll resume my antics next year.

This year the show was so busy, and I was talking so much with people at my table that after I got something to eat, I automatically took a quite time :)

Still was great to say hi to everyone as things were winding down Sat night.

Thanks for visiting my little space here. I think that first volume has some charm to it, and you can see each issue kind of improve and grow as the story goes.

[SCOURGE]

Thanks for taking the innitiative to try the first volume. I think you'll get a kick out of it. Please let me know what you think. That volume is the earliest work of mine that I keep in print.

Yeah, WWC was really fun, and good to talk with you all there Saturday night. I would have liked to get there earlier and socialize and be more talkative with everyone, but after the show, I got pretty sleep :)

It was a shame because I really enjoy goofing with everyone on Saturday of the show. I'm sure I'll resume my antics next year.

This year the show was so busy, and I was talking so much with people at my table that after I got something to eat, I automatically took a quite time :)

Still was great to say hi to everyone as things were winding down Sat night.

Thanks for visiting my little space here. I think that first volume has some charm to it, and you can see each issue kind of improve and grow as the story goes.

No problem, David.

[SCOURGE]

So...I read Circle of Blood, and Murdock's Girl has convinced me to try one more trade, before I stop reading Kabuki altogether. The one major thing, that I got out of COB is where David got is inspiration for Echo. In fact, David lifted a couple of things from his COB story and used them in his Echo stories.