|
|
|
|
First Time For Everything: Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose #44
|
|
|
Location: Blogs Atomic FalloutCritical Mass |
 |
| Posted by: Jake Bell |
Friday, June 01, 2007 3:53 PM |
 Every week, Greg Burgas, a regular contributor to Comics Should Be Good and the creator of Delenda Est Carthago, grabs a book from the new releases that he doesn't normally read to examine how "new reader-friendly" that issue is.
Comics, it seems, have become far less new-reader friendly than they ought to be, and that's a shame. I don't want creators to indulge in Claremontian exposition on every page every month, but writers should make an effort to draw new folk in, shouldn't they? Each week in "First Time For Everything" I'll be picking up a comic I've never read or haven't read in a long time to see whether new readers can jump right in or if they'll be completely lost. Enough explanation--the first comic is a doozy!
 Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose #44
Written and drawn by Jim Balent
Published by BroadSword Comics, $2.95
When I realized that my first column for Atomic Comics would coincide with the release of the latest issue of Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose, Jim Balent's magnum opus, I knew I would have to check it out. Tarot is one of those comics that I've read about but never had the guts to purchase, because I know enough about it to realize it's not really my kind of book. But what the hell... this is for posterity.
This issue opens with a fetching drawing of Tarot, wearing that ridiculous outfit--she has three long spikes sticking horizontally out of her right boot, for crying out loud! How does that work?--that never seems to stay on very long. Sure enough, this page is the very last one in the book in which she has clothes on. I wish I was kidding.
Apparently Tarot has been called to a "witches' gathering," but no one has shown up and she suspects the "realm witches" cancelled the meeting just to spite her. She's a little bummed, but gets over it pretty quickly and decides to take off all her clothes and bathe in the river.
To keep you up to date, we're only up to page 2 and already she's naked and the book has turned to softcore. She feels eyes on her, and realizes that "little imps" are hiding in the grass, staring at her. Of course, they're not leering, because they see the goddess in Tarot, so they're worshiping. In case you ever become a goddess, you should know the proper way to show appreciation to your admirers is to cup your breasts and squeeze them to "expose their round fullness."
She gets in the water, which is of course deliciously cold, and sits in the water. She's sitting on a waterfall, her hair is soaking wet, but her lipstick, eyeshadow, and mascara stay perfect. Butterflies land on her and she "communes with nature," then gets out and puts on her tiny bikini bottom... because she'd hate for you to judge her by her appearance. Tarot thinks to herself: "It is rare in the modern world to find those who can truly see the goddess within. Instead of seeing the magick of the life bearer and the nursemaid, their immature sight just sees a crotch and a pair of boobs." Yeah, how dare they stare at those beachballs on your chest, Tarot! The nerve!
Anyway, the imps "worship" Tarot some more, but then some evil rock trolls show up and attack her before she can even get her clothes on. She wakes up shackled beside two other naked witches who reveal they were also traveling to the witches' gathering. One of them, who is green-skinned and short-haired, is called Twizelpix, and she's a poison apple witch. Perhaps my favorite part of the Tarot-verse is that there's a whole brigade of witches wandering around giving out poisoned apples.
The other is a gray-skinned twilight witch named Twylynn. Unfortunately, they are bound by magical collars that inhibit their spell-casting abilities. Tarot tries to get Twizelpix's collar off, but gets an electric shock for her trouble... though part of me suspects she liked it.
The troll decides that now is the time to put an end to their shenanigans, grabs the chain, and drags all three witches away, leaving Tarot to spout off lots of pseudo-philosophical nonsense about bonding with nature. So that's what you call that whole thing in the river was? Bonding? God, this is goofy. Balent takes it all so seriously, even though Tarot spends the entire book with those impossibly large breasts magically staying round and (presumably) firm. Even without the nudity, the story doesn't really do much--it's all about the "goddess" and communing with nature and typical hippy stuff, and there's even a text piece at the back of the book about some Wiccan ritual. It's a bit difficult to believe that Balent cares about all that "back to nature" stuff when his protagonist has perfect makeup, balloon breasts, and not a hint of hair below her perfectly coiffed head. For that matter, Twizelpix and Twylynn are going Brazilian too, but what's interesting is that those two witches are drawn much more realistically. It's only the title character who has been visiting Beverly Hills surgeons!
Ultimately, Balent can dress this up as "female empowerment" and "being natural" and "worshipping the goddess" all he wants, but at its core, it's just porn. Not that there's anything wrong with that! Just don't go picking it up expecting Betty and Veronica.
What's overwhelming about Tarot is the love Balent has for this comic. In the book's defense, if you can get past the ridiculous chest on Tarot, this is a beautiful comic. Balent can draw, that's for sure, and you can tell he puts a lot of effort into this--none of it looks computer-generated. Balent colored the book, too, and it's exquisite to look at. If you're just looking for drawings of naked women, this is the place to go! But let's not call it anything other than what it is. Not that there's anything wrong with that!
To the ultimate question, this issue, as the first part of a story, is accessible to a new reader. If this is the first comic you ever bought, your head might explode, but you can follow the story (such as it is) easily. No, we don't really find out too much about Tarot, but it's enough to know she's a witch who likes to get naked. It's very nice to look at, and the story is dull but not awful. I can't recommend Tarot, but it's certainly a unique comic-reading experience.
And how often do you see that? |
|
| Permalink |
Trackback |
Comments (4)
|
Re: First Time For Everything: Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose #44 |
By Miss Kitty Fantastico on
Tuesday, June 26, 2007 11:54 AM |
| I read your review with interest, but I can't say I agree. So far as sexuality goes Tarot is, if anything, reactionary to the stereotypes you associate it with - it presents a woman with large breasts, flawless makeup, revealing cosume and so on, and challenges the reader *not* to pigeonhole her as gratuitous T&A. This is only my third issue reading Tarot, but I've quickly found a wealth of themes and ideas in the text, and the symbolism of the art - one could argue that these could be expressed just as well without exhibitionistic artwork, but does that mean they should? I can't agree that every book should be judged with the cynicism the lowest common denominator inclines us towards, where nudity equals nothing but 'porn'. As you sais, Tarot is a unique experience - reading it with the standards and expectations of a regular comic is missing the point, just as watching Apocalypse Now in expectation of a blockbuster action film would inevitably lead to disappointment. |
|
|
|
bare minerals makeup |
By TrackBack on
Wednesday, September 24, 2008 12:16 PM |
Night falls on Grange Park on a cool Sunday in late spring and a small band of urban guerrillas embarks on its first operation of the summer. Their mission: to sow the seeds of a green revolution. Their arsenal: trowels and gardening claws, 10 kilograms of compost, wildflower seeds and a tiger lily. Just after 9pm, the group heads east to the patch of stones outside Above Ground Art Supplies on the corner of McCaul and Grange. Like many plots of land between buildings and curbs, the space outside the art...
# bare minerals makeup |
|
|
mineral eye shadow |
By TrackBack on
Sunday, October 26, 2008 2:53 AM |
to insert the heads into the system, you select the head you want and push the metal part into the hole on the top of the ultimate manicure system. you will probably need to push kind of hard to get it in, it will still have some metal showing after you push it as far as it will go. hope this helped:)
# mineral eye shadow |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|