Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.

Underground > Comic Books >

The Other Side

Page: 1 2 3(4)5

21:59 / 08.12.06

Also:

15:33 / 09.12.06

The script for issue 3 didn't grip me as hard as the first 2, things just kind of plodded along between major plot points IMO, but the art more than makes up for it.

Cam, that page with the dragon... wow. Great moment.

The colors have been excellent! The heat they give off - there's a nice feverish effect that amplifies the halucinations and the heavy atmosphere of the jungle. Love how the colors make the jawless ghost stand out, and the jungle somehow always looks like it stinks. Kudos to Dave McCaig. You guys make a good team. Are you happy with the collaboration? Think you'd work with him again?

17:38 / 09.12.06

Dave McCaig is a genius, one of my very favourite colourists. I'm always stunned when he sends in the colours for The Other Side - when my pages are good, he makes them GREAT, and when I think I've done a crappy job, he rescues them and makes them good again. I love what he's doing and would work with him again in a heartbeat.

22:58 / 09.12.06

Stronger than fucking dragons. Good comics.

McCaig is brilliance. No need to fellate Cam's ego any further, he knows he's a superstar.

The continuing intrusion of cartoon fantasy nightmare into the real world of the war is what consistently sets this apart from other 'war stories'. It's like the Wiz, taking the terrible, mundane, and unbearable and coping with it by making it fantastic, both Vo and our caucasian friend seizing control of their narratives in concertedly insane ways, in order to make sense of it and provide themselves an illusion of control. Exactly like 'The Wiz', but completely different.

I'd like to see this made into an animated movie.

Do more animated movies, Cameron. And bring Dave McCaig with you.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

01:30 / 11.12.06

Phuwh. This is definitely a contender for the role of "comic that most pleases and distresses me." I finally had the time and focus to sit down with The Other Side #3 tonight. "Stronger than Dragons" was, obviously, a great page; I like that Dai is starting to develop the hallucinations/haunting that Everette's been going through since the beginning.

The most obvious and beautifully creepy example is the hail of bullets in slow motion (in so much as still images can have motion), muttering Dai's name over and over. A suitably horrifying counterpoint to the Cussin' Gun. I'm not sure how I feel about the bullet sequence, though, and Dai simply standing still and not being hit - I had to reread the sequence to make sure he wasn't dreaming but just being haunted in real-time.

There's a definite magic realist flavour to The Other Side, ghosts aside.

Dai's beginning to show some depth of character that felt a bit lacking in the first couple issues, he wasn't as immediately fleshed out as Everette was.

Still think there are some narrative clarity issues going on, something which could be cleared up by adjusting the colour of one set of captions - either give Dai another colour, or Everette, so we can differentiate their voice-overs, especially when they share the same page. There's one page which flashes between the two camps while they sleep that works really well, but it took me a couple read-throughs to be exactly sure of what's going on.

But that cliffhanger and the promise of a Final Meeting. Wow. Great last panel.

02:14 / 17.12.06

I just read this today. My God. This is good comics.

The panel with the talking bullets? Wow. The dragon splash? Holy shit, wow.

Awaiting #4.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

00:24 / 18.12.06

I'm still trying to come up with a keen enough analysis of the whispering bullets and the cussing gun, and what they mean for our respective protagonists. Does anyone have any specific thoughts on that they'd like to share?

22:05 / 18.12.06

I think they mean that the Vietnam War was fucking hellish, and our protagonists are going crazy.

Also, that their battles are as much archetypal and interior, mythic, as they are real and physical. Both the art and the writing do a fantastic job of not short-changing either aspect.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

22:16 / 18.12.06

Well, I was more talking about how the gun reflects an internal death -- suicidal impulse -- and the bullets are an external threat, and what that difference means for the two characters' psychology.

03:36 / 24.12.06

Issue 3 = great!

I've been wondering about the symbolism of the talking gun and the zombie soldier. I've wondered if the zombie soldier might be the main character seeing a possible future for himself. The gun is goading him for sure, but why? To make him want to kill?

I also like the parallels between the two protagonists. The American seeing talking guns and zombie soldiers and the Vietnamese National seeing dragons and zombies (but his are more like how I always pictured the hungry ghosts of Buddhism.)

The difference in how they got to the war seem to be important as well since one is there by choice and one is forced. Not sure what to make of it all at this point but it's got my interest.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

20:30 / 04.01.07

Bump. Next issue's out this very week. I've picked it up but I haven't sat down and read it. Looks like dinner as usual, though.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

03:49 / 05.01.07

Okay, well, I've read it but as usual it feels folded in on itself and I need to crack it a couple more times before it really sinks in - you know? That butterfly. That whole sequence is some of the most beautiful comics I ever did see, I think. The voices were more clearly delineated this time 'round, but I still think Dai feels like a flatter character than Everette. Maybe I need to reread the whole series, though. He is developing, but at a much slower pace...

And that last panel (as the end of a series of repeating panels) is beautiful and terrible.

Essential Dazzler

13:24 / 09.01.07

The Butterfly sequence and the series of church panels are probably the highlights of the series for me so far, really unpleasant stuff.

I instantly felt guilty and queasy after getting a laugh from the "Cease Fire" line.

And yeah, that final panel just broke my heart. Any chance of a happy ending?

12:36 / 11.01.07

Was it me or was there a little bit of philip bond influence in the inking of some bits of this issue?

Haus of Mystery

13:06 / 11.01.07

I'm really loving the collision between Cam's EC Comics-esque artwork and Aaron's hard as nails modern writing. Gives the whole package a really distinctive flavour. Really, it pisses on a lot of Vertigo's recent output. The best mini-series in a long time, straight up.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

17:42 / 13.01.07

Agreed. Vertigo's felt like it's surfing on a tide of the-way-things-were rather than putting on gripping stuff in the last little while. Many series feel a little too "generic." The Other Side is kicking ass.

18:29 / 13.01.07

I'm glad to hear you say so, guys. Thanks very much!

17:45 / 15.01.07

Will there be a trade of this? Or is it the usual 'dependent on sales & a trade paperback decision will be made 8 months after the series is finished'?

14:01 / 16.01.07

I think a trade is solicited for March? I could be wrong.

15:13 / 16.01.07

I just saw that the trade is listed in DC's new solicits (which just came out last night, I believe). So that's good news!

12:42 / 18.01.07

Yep, there's a trade coming (I was promised there would be one before I even started work on the book, which is rare, and nice). There's going to be some supplemental material too, which is a bit of a drag for those who supported us through the last five months, sorry about that.

12:51 / 18.01.07

Oh and it's out on May 23.

Elijah, Freelance Rabbi

13:32 / 18.01.07

No worries about costs Cam. For the last couple of years I have collected series, then sold them back to finance purchasing the trades. Keeps the collection down to a manageable size and supports books I like twice.

Issues 3 and 4 were excellent. I had not picked up my books in a couple of months and was glad to see TOS waiting for me.

19:05 / 07.02.07

The last issue is out today. I'd love to hear what people think of the story's conclusion.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

21:54 / 07.02.07

YES!!!

I cam to this thread to ask if there'd be a trade, as financial and other concerns have meant I've missed out on all my comic shopping for about the last three months, and I was a bit worried I'd never be able to find the back issues.

03:33 / 09.02.07

I was a little let down by the ending, mostly because of issues involving Vo Dai. I kind of felt like his story peaked with the dragon moment, and Aaron kind of had nowhere to go with him after that. I'm also left with the unpleasant impression that Vo Dai's whole purpose in the story ultimately was to serve as some kind of object lesson in the humanity of the enemy for Everette. It's a bit "Women in Refrigerators" for me, except more like "Nonwhite Foreigners in Refrigerators."

Mind you, I'm slightly disappointed because I'm judging it by the stellar standards of the earlier issues, which is kind of absurd. The least compelling aspects of this series are still much, much better than 99% of the rest of the stuff on the rack.

04:00 / 09.02.07

I really liked it. Terrific cover and art, Cam. The story was pretty strong, too. I think I'll have to pick up the first Scalped trade when it comes out.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

22:34 / 09.02.07

How do I feel about the last issue...

It's rather complicated.

One the one hand, it does add another layer of meaning to the earlier scene where whizzing bullets whisper Vo Dai's name to him like a lover's soft coo. That particular issue was probably one of the peaks of the series so that's definitely a good move.

However, I can totally agree with/understand where diz is coming from. I think I would have preferred to see Everette die as well, possibly leading to an ending where both characters' lives come crashing down before their eyes, caught up in a whirlwind with each other, mirroring the interlaced narration throughout the series. As it stands, Dai death does fall into the trap of being more for Everette's benefit than a resolution to his arc, possibly because we're granted more of Everette's interior monologue with stronger characterization than we get for Dai (keeping in mind that Dai is still a fairly well fleshed out character, and his visions in the earlier issue are a particular highlight). We all knew that it was coming down to the two of them meeting and having some kind of experience, but as it stands Dai dies and then we get a weirdly paced aftermath which may have been the result of dwindling page count and the knowledge that this was the final issue.

It felt a little rushed this time 'round.

The scenes of leaving Viet Nam with the dead soldier and (more importantly) the bemoaning rifle were tops. I was a little confused about the "What the hell happened over there?" Was that because people are confused about what's going on in Viet Nam as a whole or why Everette got to come back early? The scene with the mother and the little brother could have been fleshed out more to highlight the alienating loss of innocence.

I'll need to reread the whole thing in one insane flurry shortly so I can post up some overarching thoughts on the whole thing.

I'm impressed with the evolution of Cameron's art. His links are bolder and more confident, thinner and more dynamic than Seaguy, it's nice to see his work developing with more and more projects.

Looking forward to seeing further stuff from both creators...what's next?

01:56 / 10.02.07

I was a little confused about the "What the hell happened over there?"

I thought it was a reflection of the American homefront having started to come to terms with what was happening "over there." Before the war, it did not even occur to many, if not most Americans, that we could actually lose a war. Victory was taken for granted as a foregone conclusion.

Looking forward to seeing further stuff from both creators...what's next?

Jason Aaron's already working on Scalped, which has had a promising debut issue.

08:45 / 10.02.07

Thanks, guys, for your thoughtful comments. Even though the ending may not have entirely worked for you I hope you still found it a worthwhile story.

Jason's rapidly becoming - as I predicted - the Next Big Thing at DC and has Scalped and some other things coming. I am already 30 pages into my next project, the first volume of (hopefully) several original graphic novels at Oni Press, The Apocalipstix, co-created and written by fellow 'Lither Ray Fawkes. It's a complete 180 degree turn from my work on The Other Side, I'm puahing my drawing to be cartoonier and more energetic than I've ever done before. The first volume will be out in the summer. I'm also doing finishes over another artist's pencils for an upcoming Vertigo series which will likely be announced at the New York Comic Con at the end of this month.

Thanks again for the comment and analysis on The Other Side and hopefully the discussion will continue through the release of the trade in May, which has some interesting supplemental material.

A beautiful tunnel of ghosts

20:52 / 10.02.07

That really fucking hurt, guys.

I'm angry and upset, but I think it's indicative of both your talents that I wanted to hold Vo Dai as he died, but was at once both prevented from doing so and compelled to watch as his life flashed before our eyes.

Thanks and congratulations on a powerful and affecting work.

14:12 / 11.02.07

I find it interesting that readers are able to identify with Everett and not Vo Dai. I had very little sympathy for Everett, though I'm not sure this isn't because of my carefully-cultivated New Yorker's disdain for rednecks. And, even when he was going around telling people about them, I had a hard time reading his hallucinations as "real"--they struck me as a magical-reality allegory rather than the product of a shattered mind. For one thing, they appear well before Everett confronts the horrors of the later issues. He's so passive! He just sits there miserably and wonders at the horror of it all, even when he's got an answer (Vo Dai's diary) in his hands.

It does seem like Everett got more face-time than Vo Dai--someone could do a page count or something to confirm that--but Vo Dai struck me as the more heroical chap. He was not surrounded by as many you-may-know-me-from-such-films-as-Apocalypse-Now-and-Full-Metal-Jacket "types", like the asshole drill seargent, the tough-yet-sympathetic Sarge, the groovy Negroes; maye that accounts for some of the difficulty readers had fitting themselves into his place. There are a number of factors that kept his death from being a "woman in a refridgerator" case, like the page where he is dying (look carefully at that page, all its elements are laid out in a really amazing flowchart kind of progression), or that quiet little scene with his parents, and really the idea that the man who survives the war was the lesser is one you see in war stories occasionally.

14:17 / 11.02.07

Another thing that makes Vo Dai's story not a "woman in refridgerator" one, of course, is Cam's art. I can't think of anyone else off the top of my head who is able to make real so many individual expressions and features. Has there ever been a comic about "foreigners" where their faces, their homes and neighorhoods, and their inner lives were drawn with such care and skill? Will Eisner's Bronx stories, maybe.

15:45 / 11.02.07

To put it another way, Vo Dai's story is very mch not an object lesson until he meets with Everett's bullet. Then he's dead, and whatever the story meant to him is over, and it's up to Everett to draw some meaning from his life--which Everett fails, or refuses, to do.

If Aaron had chosen to reverse this ending--Everett dies, Vo Dai lives--how would he have written it? Khe Sanh happened in '68; Vo Dai's war would've continued for 7 or 8 more years. It'd be a tremendous challenge, I think, for an American author to write that story. It's hard to understand what went on here in those 8 years.

And if they had both died... eh, I dunno. That would mean War is Hell, I guess. I do feel like Everett's ghosts are trying to tell him something and when he fights them off at the end it represents another failure on his part. What is that crazy grin all about? The rifle is quoting Christ there, by the way--"My Lord, my Lord, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"--which contrasts with Vo Dai's death vision in an interesting what I'm not sure I understand. "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" vs "Namu amida butsu"... whatever, this is starting to wander. Thought provoking work.

16:18 / 11.02.07

The rifle's last words, btw, "Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?", are an anachronism--Johnny Rotten didn't say that until... '77? '78?

Page: 1 2 3(4)5