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Akiko 51

Quick Rating: Fantastic
Title: The Akiko Quality Assortment

Akiko Rules

Writer/Artist: Mark Crilley
Editor: Keith Davidsen

In a popular (and very chic) Michigan coffee shop, nine women have taken over a well-lit corner. Calliope is scribbling onto her palm pilot. Daydreaming, Erato is sipping a decaffeinated venti mocha. Terpsichore is out front listening to the street musicians. Euterpe is going through a pile of compact discs which she just purchased at the shop next door. Clio is sulking because no one listens to her anymore. Melpomene is reading the newspaper. Polyhymnia is reading over her shoulder while also trying to get Terpsichore to come inside. Urania is chatting up the barista. Thalia is good-naturedly fending off advances from the college boys at the next table.

Every now and then, the Muses strike, even nowadays. Depending on your opinion of modern American popular culture, you may think that they are very busy flitting about Hollywood or you may believe that the Muses simply refuse to set foot outside of the lonely cabins of a few select writers. In the comic book industry, Muse visits are few and far between. Clio and Polyhymnia show up when you’re creating a pop culture icon, like Superman or Scooby Doo. Euterpe and Terpsichore show up when you’re drawing a page or a panel that will change how people look at comic books. More accurately, they appear months or years beforehand and initiate the process that will lead to great art. The artist gets to sweat it out for awhile on his or her own.

Mark Crilley wandered into that Michigan coffee shop (perhaps it was in Japan instead when he was teaching there- of course that would look more like a scene out of Tampopo) and sat by himself. Maybe he didn’t even notice the table filled with beautiful women. Slowly, they sauntered up to him and whispered in his ear. He didn’t even raise his eyes from his drawing pad.

A few years pass and Akiko has reached its 50th issue milestone. Who would think that a comic book about a girl and some silly looking aliens could be so fantastic? This issue of Akiko continues Mark Crilley’s experimenting with a variety of ways to fill the pages. Sometimes there is a story- sometimes there is commentary- sometimes satire. The artwork is always gorgeous. Akiko 51 contains a variety of short pieces, sending up popular culture and twisting its own characters. Just in Time for Dinner is a punch-line quickie. The Beebles recasts the main characters as another famous quartet. For that matter, My Neighbor Akiko’s Spirited Delivery Service also recasts the main characters in a variety of Hayao Miyazaki films. (Mark Crilley is something of an American expert on the brilliant Japanese animator.) Two Doors is a puzzle picture bearing a story. Akiko at the Age of Eighty is a reminisce with a twist. The style in each tale is unique within the pamphlet, providing wonderful delineation.

I do not think that the Muses can be found attending meetings in corporate offices. They are found in small towns in Michigan in the middle of the night while listening to distant radio stations and considering the floaty bits in their tea. Akiko is written for people who love comic books and can’t remember why.

If you want to know what the future of comics should look like, read Akiko. It is the best comic book out there, bar none.

March, 2004

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Family Valued: Avast, me hearties!

Deep in the remote history of this planet where we keep all our stuff, a young librarian named Hunh sat on a small rock behind a big rock piled high with stone tablets. Under the hot summer sun (between endless ice ages filled with school and more school), cave-lings scampered thither and yon, raving like yet another generation of Neanderthals. Occasionally, the wee ones would collapse from exhaustion and whine, “Ugga mugga bugga boo” (“There’s nothing to do”).

Cave-parents looked to the helpful Hunh, who would wedge a stone tome from the pile and lob it heavily in their general direction. More often than not, the tablet shattered, leading to the invention of marbles. Yet one day, miraculously, the tablet remained whole. A tired cave-let examined the flat rock closely. “Hey, there’s words on here!” And so the library summer reading program was born.

In its 50,000th year (give or take a millennium), the New York State Summer Reading Program’s theme is Books: a Treasure! Generally speaking, children sign up at local libraries and receive prizes for reading over the summer. Libraries across the area are getting into the spirit with a wide variety of activities and displays.

Highland has a magnificent pirate ship filling the children’s area. Gates has “A Pirate’s Life for Me!” on Thursday, July 20 (Ages 5-10). Pittsford has a hidden pirate alcove. Maplewood is letting children make a treasure chest on Wednesday, July 26. The list truly goes on and on and on with every library filled with buried treasure and every librarian sharing a weensy bit of the little pirate-bouncing-on-the-plank of their heart.

The website for the State Reading Program is www.summerreadingnys.org. The Monroe County Library System provides links to local event calendars at www.libraweb.org.

July, 2006

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Family Valued: Apes

“You are a menace. A walking pestilence.”

Here at the Family Valued pixel playhouse and pastel pressroom, we are interested in anything that furthers socializing. Toward that end, we are experimenting with exposing small groups to dinner and a movie. Ideally, the movie is something no one in attendance has seen in a long time. The food should lend itself to a lack of utensils.

Our first victim was the original Planet of the Apes because it was rated G and was sitting on the library shelf. Two of the adult males had fond memories of the film (though it inspired eye-rolling “oh yeahs” from the rest of the adults).

The movie starts more slowly than we remembered; network television probably edited out the seemingly endless walk through the desert which occupies the first third of the film. On the other hand, all you Planet of the Apes buffs can only imagine how grateful we were that the protagonists did not forget the TX-9.

I did notice fewer forays for food once the apes appeared. One adult began muttering, “This is so weird,” which seemed remarkably apropos. We’d all forgotten that Rod Serling was involved in writing the film and were impressed by the heavy amounts of philosophy mixed in with the action. Much to our surprise, we ended up discussing the appropriate places of religion and science in society. Who knew that heavy rubber masks could spark such thoughts?

I can’t imagine how it received a G rating; one character is shot and killed on screen, another is shot in the neck, prisoners are beaten, and the results of a lobotomy are shown. That being said, the film’s violence had nothing on Harry Potter or most current pre-adolescent fodder. Lastly, the DVD cover reveals the film’s final surprise, so hide it from anyone who doesn’t know.

March, 2006