Just when I thought “Pearls before Swine” was losing its edge

What are you looking at?

DD News – our old and faithful Government Owned National Network News, is airing a documentary on the amateur porn industry and this website had a lot to do with it!

No, not really. We have an aggregate readership of about five people – HOWEVER, our ace commentator, occasional contributor, part time comic strip artist and full time documentary film maker – Bharath (the ‘Actionist’ on Gmail, WordPress & Youtube – or T.A.O.G.W.Y.) is the chap who made it… and got DD to air it. It wasn’t easy – as the mail he sent out suggests – and the All CAPS fonts are more likely out of relief and ecstasy that one feels while dealing with anything associated with the Government. Way to go dude. While you’re too modest to mention it, can you please let me know if this is the same film that won you the grant to shoot a film on self published Manga?

The film airs tomorrow night – the unholy asterisk at the bottom does mention the prospect of a last minute change – and I’m setting a reminder for it. A few questions you can answer once we’ve seen the film:

1. When’s the DVD coming out – you know with the uncut version, deleted scenes, research material, stock footage, more stock footage, more research material?
2. What did you do with the research material?
3. Who names their kid Tulika?
4. Seriously dude… if one would like to take a look at the research material how do you suggest we go about it?

Enjoy!

IF ANY OF YOU CARE TO WATCH DD NEWS, PLEASE TURN ON THAT CHANNEL ON YOUR TV SETS AT 10.30 PM ON JULY 12TH.
MY DOCUMENTARY CALLED “WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?”, WILL PLAY AT THAT TIME.

THIS FILM IS ABOUT AMATEUR PORNOGRAPHY, AND MORE SPECIFICALLY ABOUT ‘MYSORE MALLIGE’, AN AMATEUR VIDEO THAT MOST PORN WATCHERS IN INDIA LOVINGLY DESCRIBE AS THE BEST PORN FILM EVER MADE IN INDIA.

IT TOOK ME THREE VERSIONS AND TWO YEARS NEGOTIATING WITH PSBT (PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING TRUST) TO BE FINALLY SCREENED ON DD NEWS. NOT SUCH A BIG DEAL, BUT BIG ENOUGH FOR ME, FOR IT IS A RARE THING THAT ANY FILM OF MINE IS SCREENED TO A WIDE AUDIENCE.

SO, PLEASE WATCH IT…

BHARATH

Dear Bharath,

Doordarshan has scheduled What Are You Looking At? telecast for July 12th at 10.30 pm on DD NEWS *.

tulika

* Subject to last minute change by Doordarshan

Abstract & arbitrary comic book reviews – Ruse (Crossgen Entertainment)

For the companion post (recommended) on how our dedicated reviewer managed to get his hands on this series of comic books click here or visit http://anirban1980.spaces.live.com

Ruse features detective Simon Archard and his ‘assistant’ Emma Bishop as they combat crime in the city of Partington, on the planet Arcadia. Partington is a city facing (among other threats) a gargoyle infestation- they fly around like pigeons and have eaten all the bats. Otherwise, Partington is a lot like Victorian-era London, Arcadia is a lot like Earth …. and yes, Simon Archard is a lot like Sherlock Holmes. He has his ‘razor-sharp’ mind, a network of agents (who may or may not know each other), a know–it-all attitude that borders on arrogance and the open support of Partington’s finest. Unlike Holmes, he appears to be a man of means, has his headquarters in a Cathedral, has volumes of books and old newspapers filed in a library and has the face and social skills (or lack thereof) of Bruce Wayne. He doesn’t carry a revolver and relies instead on a cane that apart from being used to counter a sword is seen to support a grappling line, acid and flash powder. Like Holmes, he confides in his assistant/partner (Emma Bishop) more on a need to know basis and on occasion, disappears without sharing his whereabouts.

Emma Bishop (the narrator) is a sorceress (Archard doesn’t know it… in fact nobody does) but she isn’t allowed to use her powers and on one occasion (conversation with an unseen person) refers to Simon Archard as her ‘student’. Go figure. She refers to herself as his partner, is a ‘proper’ Lady and performs an acrobatic save early in the first issue. Smarter than Watson, older than Robin, not a love interest (so far) and isn’t in awe of Simon’s powers of observation. I won’t put in any spoilers, but Emma seems to be the reason behind the title.

Its Written by Mark Waid. And its pretty Damn Good!

I may have bought the series by fluke and on the cheap (read companion post here) but that doesn’t take away anything from the quality of work on display. Where Waid scores is in getting Ruse to be anything but a Sherlock Holmes story in comic book form. My initial reservations about Ruse being a Sherlock Holmes rip off were put to rest in the first three pages, where Simon solves the murder of the banker in 3 panels and Waid doesn’t feel the need to get into the motives and the science of deduction. He chooses instead, to focus on Simon’s handling of the resulting hostage situation, Emma’s background as a sorceress and skills as an acrobat. Simon’s armchair exploits on other ‘baffling’ cases are largely restricted to the narrative or references thrown in by minor characters and the series continues (Batman style) on a more ‘villain driven’ story arc with plenty of action, witty dialogue and moderate detective skills present in each issue. The first story arc has the duo pitted against the baroness Miranda Cross – stranger in town with intentions of taking over the city via mind control.

The artwork is excellent (though I must confess thats not my area of expertise ). The landscape reading format (ie. you’re supposed to read panels from left to right across both pages before you move to the next row) takes a little getting used to. Mark Waid’s storyline moves forward smoothly and hardly any sections in the story appear unnecessary. The banter between the two protagonists throughout Waid’s run is one of the wittiest that I have ever read in a comic book (and that includes Buffy season eight). Waid’s ability to keep both Sherlock Holmes and Batman in the back of your mind while coming up with an original piece of work at the same time is commendable – the series has the look of a Sherlock Holmes novel but the adventure is more likely to appear in Batman’s resume. I would put this on a shelf right next to Alan Moore’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and while I make no attempt to compare the two (LOEG was supposed to be a limited series while Ruse was to be a continuing one) Alan Moore’s decision to leave out Sherlock Holmes seems to work in Ruse’s favor. Moore believed that keeping Sherlock in the ranks would take away the attention from the other illustrious members of the league (point well taken) and that creates the perfect spot for Simon Archard & Ruse – Victorian Era detective fiction with plot elements involving sorcery, mind control, vampires and vengeance – with a detective who believes only in science aided by a time stopping (but non interfering) sorceress. What Emma interprets as sorcery, Simon views as a combination of chemistry, magnetism and hypnosis and while LOEG climaxed on a ‘cordite powered’ airship Ruse’s first story arc has rather modest surroundings which are put to optimum use. My favorite set of issues had a ghost town, vampires, gypsies and a scantily clad Emma thrown in for good measure, dialogue involving impeccable powers of observation too weak to notice a moving train and the first appearance of the Consortium of Aggrieved Manservants – all while they are on the trail of Simon’s former partner Lightbourne, earlier presumed dead now among the living.

If I were to pick flaws in the series it would be the inconsistencies in Emma’s physical prowess (saves a hostage while jumping down and grabbing a grappling line in one motion in the first issue and has much less flattering acrobatic feats in future issues) and the degree of mystery solving involved, which IMHO is not consistent with the image portrayed in the narrative. Yup, thats about it.

Now for the sad part. I had a ‘missing reel’ moment after Chapter 9 thanks to unfortunate gaps in my purchase of EDGE comics (refer companion post here). Chapter 11 saw the city in ruins, gargoyles gone feral, an underwater lair and Scott Beatty replacing Mark Waid as writer. Mark Waid left Crossgen after 10 issues citing creative differences with Crossgen and was replaced by Scott Beatty (Batman). The banter between the protagonists didn’t appear in the remaining issues that I have in my possession. The series ran for 26 issues till Crossgen filed for bankruptcy. Issues 1-6 (Enter the detective) and 7-12 were also published in TPB form (so you need not buy more than a dozen issues of EDGE comics to get most of the series). Keep an eye out for Ruse#10 or EDGE #7, 10 & 13 for me please. I will hold you in high esteem.

Ruse has a wikipedia article on it. I looked it up only after I read the first story arc and that’s where I got most of the info on the creative team (other than Mark Waid… I know most of his work).

Written by Mark Waid (Kingdom Come, 52, Superman:Birthright, JLA, Fantastic Four, Batman)

Penciled by Butch Guice (Bunch of Marvel & Stuff including Micronauts, X-Men, Superman)

Coloured by Laura DePuy (Astonishing X-Men, Planetary, JLA, Serenity – Those left behind)

Inked by Michael Perkins (Judge Dredd, 2000 AD, misc. Dark Horse/Marvel/DC)

Wikipedia tells me that Ruse was nominated for 5 Eisner awards and won for Best Coloring, but doesn’t mention that 2002 was a rather competitive year… which included among the other nominees mentioned here, Spider-Man’s Morlun saga (winner: Best Serialized story). Here are the other nominees – winners in bold and marked with *.

Best Continuing Series

Finder, by Carla Speed McNeil (Lightspeed)

100 Bullets, by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso (DC/Vertigo) *

Planetary, by Warren Ellis and John Cassaday (DC/Wildstorm)

Queen & Country, by Greg Rucka and Steve Rolston (Oni)

Ruse, by Mark Waid, Butch Guice, and Michael Perkins (CrossGen)

Best Writer

Brian Azzarello, 100 Bullets, Hellblazer (DC/Vertigo)

Brian Michael Bendis, Powers (Image); Alias, Daredevil, Ultimate Spider-Man (Marvel) *

Grant Morrison, FF 1234, New X-Men (Marvel)

Greg Rucka, Queen & Country (Oni); Detective Comics (DC)

Mark Waid, Ruse (CrossGen)

Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team

John Cassaday, Planetary (DC/Wildstorm)

Butch Guice, Ruse (CrossGen)

Gene Ha/Zander Cannon, Top 10 (ABC)

Humberto Ramos/Sandra Hope, Out There (DC/Wildstorm)

Eduardo Risso, 100 Bullets (DC/Vertigo) *

Francois Schuitten, Brusel (NBM); Nogegon (Humanoids)

Best Coloring

Edgar Delgado/Studio F, Out There (DC/Wildstorm)

Laura DePuy, Ruse (CrossGen), Ministry of Space (Image) *

Patricia Mulvihill, Wonder Woman (DC), 100 Bullets (DC/Vertigo)

Jose Villarrubia, Fantastic Four 1234 (Marvel)

Chris Ware, Acme Novelty Library #15 (Fantagraphics)

Best New Series

Private Beach, by David Hahn (Slave Labor)

Queen & Country, by Greg Rucka and Steve Rolston (Oni) *

Ruse by Mark Waid, Butch Guice, and Michael Perkins (CrossGen)

The Sandwalk Adventures, by Jay Hosler (Active Synapse)

True Story, Swear to God, by Tom Beland (Clib’s Boy Comics)