What would be great is if people hated adverts, as much as they appear now to hate immigrants, homosexuals, people of other colours, etc. I mean if they stopped being so horrible to their fellow human beings, if they stopped wasting time and energy on hating such people... and instead focused on what is actually wrong. We are in an odd world now where things and people who don’t do us much harm or are even helpful to us are strongly disliked, but things that do us a lot of harm are ignored, or even admired!

Adverts are a good example of this. They are a horrible vulture like monster, picking away at us with their sharp beaks… a merciless virus eating us out from within. Lying, cheating, deceiving…

Oh yes!

Seems like i’m exaggerating, and maybe i’m playing with words to enjoy the fun of it. But basically the point is true: adverts have a very bad influence on us, our psychology, our societies. And the fact that 90% of us have no idea of that only makes the damage worse. The cancer that is most likely to kill you is the one you don’t even know is there.

But it IS there, eating away at you.





How so? One thing is that adverts take positive human emotions, natural desires, intimate relations, fun activities etc… and then, have the audacity to tie them to a product.

Utter bastards.

How dare they take something like the image of an innocent child playing happily with it’s grandmother, and then tie that into life insurance. How dare they sully and pollute that positive and natural human relation to sell their fucking product? This abuse of what is good is basically something that should not be allowed, ever.

We are at the point now where the most clearly unhealthy products, like cigarettes, are no longer allowed to be associated with sport, leisure, sexiness, etc. We have at least realised that this is not good, its basically promoting a very unhealthy thing by connecting it to things we like, and therefore is a very underhand con trick. But, one day, let’s hope, we might get smart enough to think that ALL asdverts for all products, of all types, are like that.

I saw an advert today where the outwards focus was on protecting the environment… and the product associated with that very good inclination was a camera.

Oh, fuck off.

Ok...How does your camera help the environment? Do 10% of your huge corporate profits of the company who made that camera go to reforestation? How about the plastic covering of the camera? doesn’t the production process of that pollute the environment? Hasn’t your company made a big effort to get around the healthy and safety standards required in  the factories that make those cameras? Hasn’t your company moved its factory out of the US/UK/Japan etc to China/India/Thailand etc? Did you close the factory in Detroit in order to help the environment of that city? Did the 5,000 jobs you took away help things there? Are the near slavery conditions of the new factory in Asia helping the workers health much? Is the pollution that companies like you produce, that forces people to wear masks half the year, helping the environment?

You utter lying scum. Take your advert and stick it where the environment don’t shine.

We dont want all our positive human emotions, natural desires, intimate relations, fun activities abused to sell your crap. Ban them all and see what a positive change it makes to the world.

Nice!





 

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 This is my reply to George Monbiot's excellent piece in The Guardian recently:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/nov/25/13-crises-we-face-trump-soil-loss-global-collapse


1. Problem: Donald Trump
Solution: create an education system where critical thinking is valued. And a political system with set limits of what can be spent on campaigns and that money to come from a central fund, not wealthy backers. completely ban the media from covering elections other than in purely giving information.  And over haul the basic nature of political parties to actual reflect the wish of ordinary people. And over haul the basic nature of companies, so they are worker run and owned. better yet replace them altogether with local scale councils in which everyone has an equal say.

2. Problem: His national security adviser
Solution: take the ability to make military decisions out of the hands of such advisers or presidents or prime ministers. put it in the hands of a directly elected committee with is genuinely serving and reporting to the peoplegeneral, and that can be dismissed if they carry out actions that the majority do not agree with. for example: they wish to invade Iraq = majority dont agree = we dont invade iraq. end of.

3.  Problem: The rest of his team (Trump’s)
Solution: take the ability to make ANY decisions on any subject out of the hands of such advisers or presidents or prime ministers. put it in the hands of a directly elected committee which is genuinely serving and reporting to the people in general, and that can be dismissed if they carry out actions that the majority do not agree with. if big corporate try to rail road through some law that benefits them but damages the country in general = people see through their crap and not let them (because of 1 above, most people will be able to think critically and not be abused and lied to in education, work, and the media).

4. Problem: The transatlantic backdrop
Solution: Because folk are smarter, not lied to be media and corrupt politicians and profit obsessed corporations they would have voted to stay in the EU. and the EU itself, for the same reasons would be a large association genuinely working towards democratic cross national collaboration for the benefit of the people in the whole area.

5. Problem: Eurozone risks
Solution: in that kind of EU there would be no banking crisis or democratic deficit. take away the capitalist nature of that aspect of the EU and the crisis would be gone. OTHER problems may well arise. but lets hope we could deal with them.

6. Problem: … and their global ramifications
Solution: take away the capitalist nature of that aspect of the WORLD and the banking/profit/economic crisis would be gone. OTHER problems may well arise. but lets hope we could deal with them too!






7. Problem:Job-eating automation

Solution: continue to create automation but restructure society so that the benefits of this technology goes to all, not just a rich elite. rethink the place of profit focused work in society so that it is no longer so important. instead we focus on other types of work, that can give us meaning life. everyone gets a ‘basic wage’ so that no one is left homeless, in poverty, hungry, etc.

8. Problem: If Marine Le Pen wins
Solution: Because folk are smarter, not lied to be media and corrupt politicians and profit obsessed corporations they would note vote for such racist idiots. they would understand the real problems, and deal with them reasonably.

9. Problem: The UN security council would look like …
Solution: there would be no select group dominating the ‘security’ of the world. all would be equal. conflicts that do arise, and some still would.. could be dealt with in a calm, reasonable manner, to avoid damage and death as much as possible.

10. Problem:The Paris climate agreement trashed
Solution: Because folk are smarter, not lied to be media and corrupt politicians and profit obsessed corporations we would sort out this environment action once and for all, and soon. or as much as the planet will let us.

11.Problem: … and the effects on migration
Solution: if despite our best efforts to stop fucking up the planet there are various very serious environmental disasters, we will deal with them as best as we can. which will mean only half well, perhaps. but much much better than in current horrible perverted capitalist system can do.

12. Problem: … with just 60 harvests left
Solution: oh bugger…but again, in a system based on what is good for people and the planet we will likely deal with these physical problems much much better than capitalist system can do, which seems hell bent on destroying and poisoning soil, air, trees, water… anything in sight.


13. Problem: … an accelerating extinction crisis
Solution: Since the capitalist system also does not give a monkeys about how its destroying the feeding grounds of, ah, monkeys, or pandas, or lions, or 1000s of other animals it seems clear where we can look for the main human made cause of extinction. So, if we at last get smart, dump the capitalist system and replace it with a system based on what is good for people and the planet, including the animals… then we will likely deal with these problems much much better. Though I wouldn’t mind fans of Justin Bieber going extinct.




Incidentally this is George in our book PARECOMIC:

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Portraits of Violence
An Illustrated History of Radical Thinking
New Internationalist, Nov 2016, 128 pages.

A graphic introduction to the most important radical critiques of violence, from Fanon to Chomsky, Foucault to Sontag.

A documentary style illustrated book about violence, featuring 10 key thinkers around the issues of state violence, war and terrorism, including Noam Chomsky, Frantz Fanon and Judith Butler. With a text introduction by well known cultural critic Henry Giroux.

A collaboration between:
Dr. Brad Evans (Director of the History of Violence Project, Bristol University)
and Sean Michael Wilson.

Featuring artwork by a diverse range of male and female artists from different countries: Scottish artist Chris Mackenzie, Japanese manga artists Inko and Michiru Morikawa,  US artist Carl Thompson, Vietnamese artist Yen Quach, and English artist Robert Brown.

http://seanmichaelwilson.weebly.com/portraits-of-violence.html





https://www.amazon.com/Portraits-Violence-Illustrated-History-Critique/dp/178026318X




https://newint.org/books/reference/portraits-of-violence/

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Bushido







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JUST RELEASED!BUSHIDO: A GRAPHIC NOVEL
By Sean Michael Wilson and Akiko Shimojima,
Shambhala Publications, 128 pages, $16.95.






"Nitobe originally wrote Bushido: The Soul of Japan in English (1899), in Malvern, Pennsylvania. As Japan underwent deep transformations of its traditional lifestyle while becoming a modern nation, Nitobe engaged in an inquiry into the ethos of his nation, and the result of his meditations was this seminal work. A fine stylist in English, he wrote many books in that language, which earned him a place among the best known Japanese writers of his age. He found in Bushido, the Way of the Warrior, the sources of the eight virtues most admired by his people: rectitude, courage, benevolence, politeness, sincerity, honor, loyalty and self-control.

​His approach to his task was eclectic and far-reaching. He also delved into the other indigenous traditions of Japan, such as Buddhism, Shintoism, Confucianism and the moral guidelines handed down over hundreds of years by Japan's samurai and sages. In addition, he sought similarities and contrasts by citing not only Western philosophers and statesmen, but also the shapers of European and American thought and civilization."



 

Something of an experiment in style for me with this book, as the book has quite a lot of text only pages in addition to the normal comic book/manga art pages. But not together in a back text section, which a few of my books have had before - this time the text pages are in the main sections. Each chapter starts with a text only page (like the one below) and then the next page is also a text page, but with a single 'spot image' on it, like in a magazine article. Then the 3rd page of each chapter goes into 'full' manga/comic book art style. I think it gives this book a unique look, certainly among my line of Japan themed books anyway.

GET THE BOOK HERE FOLKS:

http://www.amazon.com/Bushido-Samurai-Sean-Michael-Wilson/dp/1611802105/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8









 

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JUST RELEASED!BUSHIDO: A GRAPHIC NOVEL
By Sean Michael Wilson and Akiko Shimojima,
Shambhala Publications, 128 pages, $16.95.






"Nitobe originally wrote Bushido: The Soul of Japan in English (1899), in Malvern, Pennsylvania. As Japan underwent deep transformations of its traditional lifestyle while becoming a modern nation, Nitobe engaged in an inquiry into the ethos of his nation, and the result of his meditations was this seminal work. A fine stylist in English, he wrote many books in that language, which earned him a place among the best known Japanese writers of his age. He found in Bushido, the Way of the Warrior, the sources of the eight virtues most admired by his people: rectitude, courage, benevolence, politeness, sincerity, honor, loyalty and self-control.

​His approach to his task was eclectic and far-reaching. He also delved into the other indigenous traditions of Japan, such as Buddhism, Shintoism, Confucianism and the moral guidelines handed down over hundreds of years by Japan's samurai and sages. In addition, he sought similarities and contrasts by citing not only Western philosophers and statesmen, but also the shapers of European and American thought and civilization."



 

Something of an experiment in style for me with this book, as the book has quite a lot of text only pages in addition to the normal comic book/manga art pages. But not together in a back text section, which a few of my books have had before - this time the text pages are in the main sections. Each chapter starts with a text only page (like the one below) and then the next page is also a text page, but with a single 'spot image' on it, like in a magazine article. Then the 3rd page of each chapter goes into 'full' manga/comic book art style. I think it gives this book a unique look, certainly among my line of Japan themed books anyway.

GET THE BOOK HERE FOLKS:

http://www.amazon.com/Bushido-Samurai-Sean-Michael-Wilson/dp/1611802105/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8









 







 

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By Sean Michael Wilson & Michiru Morikawa

When David loses his wife and child in a tragic car accident he decides, in anger at the cruelty of the event, to turn against God. He sets out to systematically break each of the Ten Commandments in order to both spite God and to get his attention! But will he go all the way, and break the commandment 'Thou shalt not kill'? Two mysterious figures, Mr White and Mr Black, try to win David over to their side: the religious or the humanistic. Deeply sad in parts and comical in others, this modern story explores age old questions: Is there a God? And if there is, does that God care about us?

July 2016 6x9, 112pp., B&W trade pb.$11.99, ebook $7.99


Today sees the launch of my 3rd book with the long running New York graphic novel publisher, NBM Publishing. Volume 1 (of a 2 part series)

In case anyone thinks I got the ‘Breaking’ bit from the TV series ‘Breaking Bad’, the book is from an original idea of mine that I had BEFORE that TV series came out - honest guv! This story mixes tragedy and comedy, very moving scenes with very silly ones, has a lot of energetic connection between the 3 main characters... and a certain divinity may or may not make an appearance at some time!

Get the book here (and come back later for the 2nd helping):
http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Vol-Sean-Michael-Wilson/dp/1681120216






Reviews

"An intriguing premise."
-Brigid Alverson, Robot 6, Comic Book Resources

"...a superbly engaging and wickedly barbed tale of lost love, disillusionment and grief-filled reaction that is both hilariously acerbic and potently thought-provoking...Fresh, challenging and superbly enthralling, this is a book no saint or sinner should miss."  - Comics Review.co.uk

"Breaking The Ten is a great examination of a topic not often looked at in comics and even manages to find a fresh perspective on a long standing debate. This is well worth a look if you’re searching for something a little different.Wilson reunites with frequent collaborator Michiru Morikawa who provides some great illustration for this volume. She is particularly good at moving between intense and subdued scenes without it coming off as jarring and has a great grasp of character expression, with David in particular showing off a lot of depth through facials alone in just a few pages."
- Turnaround distributors graphic novel of the week






 

I happened to see part of a review by some ejit who I never read the reviews of because they are always so mean (apparently for the sake of it). They said that the ending of this new book, Breaking the 10 does not have a resolution, a clear conclusion. And that I had also made the same mistake on our previous book The Story of Lee.
​
 To which I say:  'Divint talk daft!'

 I’m mystified as to how they did not notice that both books say ‘Volume 1’ on them, clearly on the cover. And ‘to be continued’ at the end of the book. In the case of The Story of Lee its a 3 part series. How could either story be resolved in the first of what is specifically a series? It's like going to a restaurant for a 3 course meal, but leaving after the first course...and then complaining that you are still hungry. There are two more courses to come! Eat them all and then decide if you feel satisfied or not.

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Once Upon a Time in Morningside - at last out in a beautiful paper version.

The book arrived with me yesterday and looks very nice, well printed, lovely cover, im very pleased.


 


“This is a poetic take on the Scottish childhood of writer Sean Michael Wilson, in comic book form, drawn by lovely Swedish artist Hanna Stromberg. The book mixes together 14 intimate and interesting childhood stories and adventures, with a touch of magical realism.”

This is a special version of 72 pages, with a different cover than on the digital version, for only $6.50 (or 650 yen in Japan) from Nagoya based publisher, BigUglyRobot.

HAVE A LOOK AND ORDER IT HERE, IT'S LOVELY:

http://biguglyrobot.storenvy.com/collections/54321-print-comics/products/17064891-once-upon-a-time-in-morningside

 


 

More info about the book can be seen on its page at my web site:

http://seanmichaelwilson.weebly.com/morningside.html

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A common point made: ‘Human nature does not allow for anarchism/communism.’

Short answer: My arse!

Longer answer: People often say that 'we can never have a communal based system because people are greedy and selfish’. Firstly, this is not a fact, it’s an opinion. An opinion heavily influenced by the media and what the dominant want us to think. Of course people can be greedy and nasty and selfish, SOMETIMES. But we can also be kind, nice, polite and considerate too - right? And quite a lot of the time.

We have an IMAGE that people are nasty and violent and will cheat you left right and centre, and a common idea that this is normal in history, that history proves it. But: what history did we learn that proves that? Was that the whole picture? Maybe the history we learned was biased to support some agenda? Anyway, how many of really know history well? Is some half formed idea of history a good basis for making social decisions now? We don’t release some potentially dangerous medicine on the market based on a half baked test done in a scientist’s lunch hour while he was watching The Walking Dead. So, why make equally important decisions about how we are going to run society based on very weak presumptions with precious little evidence?

In my opinion and my experience, despite our common image of how negative humans can be, the cooperative aspect happens - in practice, in reality- considerably more than the nasty aspect. When I go out for a walk, on 95% of days I don’t see people fighting over some computer in every shop, stabbing each other over a packet of frozen peas, stealing old ladies’s purses, cheating their best friends every chance they get,etc. Most of the time I see ordinary, everyday CO-OPERATION: people moving out of each others way, saying sorry if they bump into you, waiting in line patiently at the post office, doing nice things for their mum, holding doors open for old ladies, etc. That appears to be what most of every day life is actually like. And anarchism and communism have that kind of nice cooperative behaviour at their core, that is what they are based on. To summarize it in a bit of a daft way: anarchism and communism are systems whose image of human nature is that most people most of the time will hold open doors for old ladies.

Still, let’s say, for the sake of argument, that the selfish aspect is stronger than the co-operative aspect. If so, then the LAST thing we should have is a system in which people are rewarded for being nasty, greedy and selfish! Which is what capitalism is. Would that not just make us even more negative in our behaviour? It does not seem like a good idea to make that side of our behaviour even worse by rewarding it with wealth and power. Which is what capitalism does.

With communism or anarchism, the real ideas (not the bollocks that Stalin and Mao pretended was communism), the system would BALANCE our tendencies to be greedy and selfish with structures and systems and habits that encourage cooperation, fairness and consideration. So, we would end up with a system with LESS negative behaviour. This makes sense to me and does not go against human nature, it takes it into account and weaves it into a larger workable pattern.

Last thing - some people say something like: most folk are ok, but some are ejits that would want to exploit the situation and take power for themselves' Ok, this is a point of concern, yes. But... simply put: there are ways around it, ways to decrease it, and we CAN put those things into operation. For example, Michael Albert and Noam Chomsky in our PARECOMIC book went into how we can prevent that kind of 'a minority of arseholes taking over' stuff....It does not mean those plans would definitely work, just that there ARE plans already created to avoid that issue. It's not an inevitable physical law, its not something that has to prevent us from creating a better system.

So, let’s throw this silly myth in the river where it belongs… sorry, I mean bin it in the correct bag and place it out for garbage collection on thursdays, like a good socialist citizen!

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And how much effort, interest and money over the next year will be put into STOP WARS compared to STAR WARS?
It looks like being far, far, less, right? What a mixed up world we are in, putting so much of its energy in the wrong direction.
The root of it being, i think: the film makes money for the elite...stopping wars takes money away from the elite. Solution: use the people force against the dark capitalist elites, he he...
The further irony is that the film shows decent humans (and aliens!) fighting for a fair republic where people are in control of their own lives... against a poisonous elite who want to control things for their own agenda. Ah, ha... how about applying some more of that to the galaxy we are actually in right now?







DJ event this week, a big mix of sounds, from my 60s stuff, to 70's punk and some contemporary indie pop from the Japanese DJs.

Nice!






Comics and Capitalism
I'm here, as ever, to mention the elephant in the room - its not the fault of publishers either, but of the wider economic system that they are ALSO held back by. Most publishers dont want to make poor, cliched, mainstream books that have profit as the key element that needs to be considered, but most of the time they have to - in this economic system...There are only two workable solutions here, a difficult one: comics somehow start selling a lot more, within the current capitalist system. And a very difficult one: we get wise and scrap this current shit system that holds us all back. and instead conduct ourselves within a better economic system that will have more room for art, literature, etc. So, which is it, punk?

3. An article I wrote about artists would be better off in an anarchist society:

http://www.forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/2014/comics-sean-michael-wilson-anarchic-approach/

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AXIOM magazine interview

Just realised that a print version magazine (remember those!) interview with me is now online, from AXIOM magazine a few years ago, with Jimi Okelana (who has his own comics out, and worth checking out too):
"I’m not sure about what your thought processes are, but it seems to be a very significant thing: what inspires people do things. It’s also what holds people back about doing creative work of any type, whether it’s comics, films, writing poetry, singing, playing the piano or whatever. In my opinion, the barriers mostly comes down to self-doubt. So people are holding themselves back, no one else is doing it, it’s themselves. So the first thing is figuring out what do you want to do, and then the second is just do it. That’s it! I mean that’s a key issue and it worries me a little bit that so many people don’t know what they want to do. I think it’s a key problem for many people, and for society in general, since their doubt is linked to the very nature of the society they are in. But don’t get me started on attacking capitalism, or we’ll be here all night!"

http://www.axiommagazine.jp/2011/09/10/comic-book-writer-sean-michael-wilson/




"Mate, if the good die young.. that means you and me must be a bit crap."
- the legendary Gandry Macallan.



Odd things i have learned from George Orwell’s essays (right or wrong!):

No human has green eyes.
Every child believes in the rules of adults even if they break them.
Toads are symbolic of freedom.
Every book is a failure.
It’s impossible to be a Christian and a social success.
Black rings round the eyes are a sign of masturbation.
His school ‘was pervaded by a curious cult of Scotland.’
That corporeal punishment works, ‘in its special mission’.
The Massacre of St Bartholomew was in 1587.
Charles Dickens was 'almost' a Marxist, and 'almost' a Catholic.
That Gandhi thought close friendships are dangerous.
Not to use words derived from Greek and Latin when a good old Anglo-Saxon word will do.
A lot of books are started in anger.
Good novels are written by people who are NOT FRIGHTENED.
Tea should always be drunk without sugar, and ten other points to making a good cup of tea.
That he got twopence for buying sweeties in his school, while the rich boys got sixpence.
And many others...
Seriously folks, Orwell's 1930 and 1940s essays are VERY interesting, enjoyable to read and free to read online from the Australian gutenberg. Check em oot like, ken. And in closing:
‘I wasn't born for an age like this;
Was Smith? Was Jones? Were you?’
http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks03/0300011h.html

More from Georgie-porgie:
“Socialism is such elementary common sense that I am sometimes amazed that it has not established itself already…
The average thinking person nowadays is not merely not a Socialist, he is actively hostile to Socialism. This must be due chiefly to mistaken methods of propaganda. It means that Socialism, in the form of which it is now presented to us, has about it something inherently distasteful — something that drives away the very people who ought to be nocking to its support…
All that is needed is to hammer two facts home into the public consciousness. One, that the interests of all exploited people are the same; the other, that Socialism is compatible with common decency…
Socialism means justice and common decency.”
- George Orwell, The Road to Wigan Pier (various quotes I’ve taken from Part two of the book, the ‘difficult’ part). Which Sanders and Corbyn would do well to emphasize.





Fortean Times issue 338 (March) strongly recommends our GOODBYE GOD book.
Check out the Goodbye God book for yourselves please folks. By which i mean:
1. look at it
2. think about it
3. buy it
...and then look/think some more.
http://seanmichaelwilson.weebly.com/goodbye-god.html





A great review of our book 'The Faceless Ghost'
will appear in the March issue of BOOKLIST the review publication for librarians, book groups and book lovers at the American Library Association.
“This collection makes an excellent crossover title for those inexperienced with graphic novels as well as those unfamiliar with traditional Japanese ghost stories. Hand to fans of Emily Carroll’s eerie collection, Through the Woods.”
Nice!
http://seanmichaelwilson.weebly.com/faceless-ghost.html






Another daft analogy from me
regarding how the Stalin and Mao etc messed up communism and how people have made a big mistake of thinking that therefore communism/socialism/anarchism is impossible:
You try to hold an Beatles themed party. And everyone comes dressed up looking cool, ready to rock. but the band turn up all dressed as the Elvis. You say to them:
‘Actually that is not what we want - we want a Beatles theme’,
And they reply: ’This is the Beatles, this is what the Beatles look like.’
‘No, thats what Elvis looks like.’
‘No, this IS the Beatles - and if you say its not again then we are going to hit you. and if you still maintain that this is not the Beatles then we are going to shot you - comrade!’
And they proceed to enforce their distorted fucked up theme through violence and later through a variety of techniques of spying, conformism, fear,etc.
If that happened would it then be a reasonable and logical thing to decide:
‘Holding a Beatles themed night is an impossibility. It’s been tried and it turned into something totally different and horrible. In fact, Beatles themed parties are against human nature’.
Or would it be more realistic to say:
‘Those violent thugs ruined what could have been a really nice party. We will have to plan better next time.’





Nice to see international corporations like Starbucks bending to a bit of people power.
But I'm looking forward to them declaring this:
"We realise now that we have made the world a worse place by pushing out interesting local cafes and the food made in those areas, and replacing them with shops and food that look 99% the same everywhere in the world. And of exploiting our underpaid, powerless staff all over the world. Yeah, that was our bad...
We will, from this day onwards change ourselves into a workers co-operative in which all our staff share in the profits and the decisions made… that we will involve local food producers in our process, in an equal manner, so that the culture and food of the area we are in is not pushed out of existence. Have a nice day!"
I'm waiting....





This Beatles point is a bit of an exaggeration, of course, i don't think that myself. But one very odd thing IS a reality, which we have never seen before in popular music,this: that mainstream style hip hop music has now been the dominant form of popular music, for about 20 YEARS! It's been the dominant style in the US, UK (and also here in Japan) since about the mid 90s.
I can not think of another form of music that stayed dominant for as long as that - if you look at popular music since the 50s, most of the styles were only dominant for an average of 3 or 4 years, and then some other new style become the mainstream (or sometimes there were a couple of mainstream styles, both very popular). That seems like a healthy thing, culturally, that styles moves forward. For example:
Rock n Roll of the classic 50s type: heyday 1955 to 1959 (4 or 5 years)
Skiffle: 1955 to 1958 (3 or 4 years)
Beatles mania/ Merseybeat style: 1962 to 1965 (4 years)
Etc...
We are now in the state - and its a very bad state, i think - that just ONE music style has been dominant for 20 years. Though, it's not been overwhelmingly dominant (like the Beatles style was in, say, 1963 to 65), but if you had to chose one style that was the majority music style in bars, clubs, music videos, and in young people's fashions etc in the last 20 years it would have to be hip-hop. Regardless of whether you like hip hop or not or any qualities it may have as a musical style, it's not a good sign that ANY one type of music has been dominant for so long. We should be moving on,musically - that is the norm since the 50s... but recently we have not. The record's stuck.
It would be better if the main, popular style of hip hop style had developed a lot in those 20 years, but as far as i can see, it has not changed much. NOTE THIS, FOR PEOPLE WHO THINK IM SLAGGING OFF ALL HIP HIOP: i know there are various more underground styles of hip hop, that perhaps have developed a lot, which is good - but that is not the point here. The MAIN, dominant style of hip hop not changed much - when you compare it with the historical norm - in 20 years. And even if it has changed more than i think, my main point is this:
That its not good that ANY one style has dominated for 20 years. We need breadth and change in music...
I wonder... will it go on forever?
Hip hop forever... I hope not.




Hihan shi nai de, demo... I don't want to be critical, but...
I'm having some doubts as to how good this cake mix will taste.






"British people especially are terrified that someone will call them pretentious, laugh at some detailed intellectual point they are trying to make and say ‘What a pretentious ponce!’ They thing is they say put downs like that as if they are being realistic, pricking pomposity, keeping things down to earth.
But some things are meant to fly off, they dry up and wither if they are keep tied to the ground. So, for me, I see backing down in the face of possibly being called pretentious as being basically a coward, an intellectual coward. It’s giving in to conformism.
If there’s someone who WANTS to make some poetic point, intellectual observation, mention some academic theory, whatever… but backs down because they are afraid folk will laugh and bring out the red card called ‘pretentious twat’.
- Coward!
Just say what you want to say - as long as it’s a genuine view you have - and bollocks to what anyone thinks of you. That’s intellectual bravery. Die fighting on the battlefield of ideas…"
- The legendary Gandry Macallan.



"Hyperbolic documentaries often say things like:
‘History as we’ve never seen it before!’
Well, If it's history then there is at least ONE group of people who
have seen it before: the people it happened to."
- The legendary Gandry Macallan.




The University of Edinburgh kindly features our book THE STORY OF LEE in its newsletter this month, including some visuals of scenes from the book that take place in the university itself.
Nice!
Check it out gals and gals:
http://seanmichaelwilson.weebly.com/story-of-lee.html

 

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Announced today: our book made it to the recommended reading list of this important library association the USA:

'2016 Great Graphic Novels for Teens' of YALSA
(The Young Adult Library Services Association).

Lafcadio Hearn’s “The Faceless Ghost” and other Macabre Tales from Japan: A Graphic Novel. By Sean Michael Wilson and Michiru Morikawa

Our book is recommended reading there, alongside other great book such as:

The Motherless Oven. By Rob Davis.
The Sculptor. By Scott McCloud.
Nanjing: The Burning City. By Ethan Young. Illus by the author.
March, Book Two. By John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell.
Terrorist: Gavrilo Princip, the Assassin Who Ignited World War I. By Henrik Rehr.
Halfway Home: Drawing My Way Through Japan. By Christine Mari Inzer.
Child Soldier: When Boys and Girls Are Used in War. By Jessica Dee Humphreys and Michel Chikwanine. Illus by Claudia Davila.
Satoshi Kon’s: Opus. By Satoshi Kon.

Get them for your library:

http://www.ala.org/yalsa/2016-great-graphic-novels-teens

Here is an alternative cover for the book, that we did not use, but looks good to me:

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My first article in the JAPAN TIMES newspaper, out thursday 26th November:
これは私の記事です

Looking at how Japan is, contrary to the image, NOT a very hi-tech country... and that is, in many ways, quite alright.

With an image in the article from a small local 'sento' spa here in Kumamoto, which I often go to, in order to illustrate this low-tech approach: 'Japanese spa, where the previous old clunky 1970s coin operated hairdryer machine was replaced by a very hi-tech, ah... tennis ball tube.'


http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2015/11/25/voices/japan-surprisingly-sensibly-endearingly-low-tech/#.VlXHztB5d0h

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Volume 2 of THE STORY OF LEE out at last! 

And the first review has come in:

Publisher: NBM   Writer: SEAN MICHAEL WILSON    Art/Cover: NAMI TAMURA  $11.99

“Finally Lee’s dream comes true, as she moves from her native Hong Kong to her dream location: the UK. And with her dream handsome guy: Matt. Exciting! But of course, then comes the reality of being in a new country, of actually living together, and that might not be so easy, especially as Matt’s best friend, Richard, seems more than a little jealous. And once again, wise Uncle Jun turns up to offer his advice. With art by Nami Tamura, a Japanese artist published by Kodansha.

The first volume of Story of Lee was about the joy, hope and infinite possibility we feel in young love, whereas this one takes the relationship between Lee and Matt to the next level, where the freshness has worn off and the hard part of building a lasting relationship begins.

And frankly, I’m not sure Matt has what it takes. I’m many years past my own courtship days, but he appears to be something of a thoughtless jerk, and perhaps a bit commitment-averse. Given that Lee is now in a foreign land with uncertain command of the language, his selfishness crosses over into cruelty. If not for Lee’s uncle, things would have take a natural turn with the characters breaking up and Lee returning to Hong Kong. (The uncle’s wisdom and insight borders on the magical, making him a sort of oracle that I’m guessing is a stock character in manga.)

So despite disliking Matt more and more, I found myself plowing on until the end, and wanting to know what happens next. I think that means I still like The Story of Lee.”

http://captaincomics.ning.com/forum/topics/comics-guide-for-oct-28-2015







My comment:

I expect that most readers, especially female, will dislike Matt.

But that can be useful if it keeps them focusing on the story, as it did with this person above. And, anyway, not ALL characters have to be likeable – otherwise we would have to scrap a very large amount of fictional characters throughout history.

Also, in volume 3 of THE STORY OF LEE…Lee will become even more assertive yet. She already started to be more confident in volume 2. So, over the three volumes there will be a satisfying sense of her having grown and that she has pushed Matt to adjust his behaviour.

As to the uncle – I am not sure if that sort of oracle figure is a stock character in manga, but he is a ‘wise old man’ figure in this book, yes. Him and Lee even joke about that. But that is not so much taken from manga, but from the classic archetype of wise old men who enters the story at key points, of the type that Joseph Campbell talks of.

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‘Kansai mini tour’ of comic book stuff in Osaka and Kobe.

Back from my ‘Kansai mini tour’ of comic book stuff in Osaka and Kobe.

It was pretty good in general, I think. Taught 8 classes on comic books to various ages at the excellent Osaka International School. The kids were good in all classes (expect the older bunch who were a bit cool – it’s really interesting how behaviour changes from the direct enthusiasm of a 12 year old to the cool, detached distance of a 15 year old).

But the younger kids were great. I was very impressed with their questions – which their teacher had got them to prepare before but then they went off into ad hoc ones that were just as interesting. For example the Grade 4 and 5 kids, at only 9 or 10 years old, asked really detailed and insightful questions about how to make comics, how to combine text and art, even on what the financial situation is like!

We did an activity in which i had taken out the text from one page of our comics, and they had to fill in the words with what ever they thought appropriate. Then the reverse – the words were there but I’d taken off the art – so they drew what the wanted that time. They did really well. One young girl wrote hers in Hebrew as she has only been in Japan a few months and her English and Japanese are not good enough yet.

The kids were very nice to me when they saw me in the halls or at lunch time, and treated me like I was a visiting celebrity (even crowding round me for about 50 autographs, as the photo shows). Not that this is my aim, but it was nice to be the recepient of their cute enthusiasm.





Ninja, racism and halloween

Not that those three are connected!

Not in this case anyway…

“To celebrate the launch of SECRETS OF THE NINJA book on July 7th, author Sean Michael Wilson explains to readers how comic books and manga are actually written. Using examples from his own book, he guides us through each step!”
The publisher asked me to do this – it outlines the basic steps of writing a comic, since most people have no idea of even these basic aspects. I also include what these stages are called in Japanese, just for fun.

Notice that this focuses on just the writing aspect of comics. Which is, of course, in no way to suggest that the art aspect is of lesser importance! And, indeed, with some clever people who can do both the words and the art the process maybe be very different from what I outline here:

https://www.northatlanticbooks.com/…/how-to-write-a-manga-…/



2. ‘If you dont like it – Get out my Country!’ … my article in ‘The London Economic’ newspaper on why that racist attitude is a mistake.

“If wrong, to be set right, to be made right, improved on when there is some problem. And how can some wrong habit, position, erroneous view etc be understood and set right if people are not allowed to express their opinion freely? All people, regardless of which country they happened to have been born in.”

…dedicated to certain people I know in Japan, the US and the UK.

http://thelondoneconomic.com/news/get-out-my-country




3. これは私の日本語の記事です　ハロウイーン

Here i am teaching the Japanese kids about halloween in Scotland, including the fun game ‘apple dooking’ – my article in the main Kumamoto newspaper, ‘Kumanichi shinbun’ October 2015.

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Walter Benjamin in The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction (1936) quoting Paul Valéry (La conquête de l'Ubiquité, 1928):

Just as water, gas, and electricity are brought into our houses from far off to satisfy our needs in response to a minimal effort, so we shall be supplied with visual or auditory images, which will appear and disappear at a simple movement of the hand, hardly more than a sign.

What amazing insight into the future this is, and so poetically phrased. The astonishing image of a future in which the tiniest flick of the wrist will bring flooding into our room a visual and auditory avalanche. And that is the state we are in now - we are those future gods! But we have totally taken that power for granted. 'Where's the bloody remote control gone?'

oh boy... did Valery foresee that too?

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Our next historical, samurai Japanese graphic novel is out soon, simply titled:
MUSASHI (A Graphic Novel). A book that looks at the life, from birth to death, of legendary warrior poet, Miyamoto Musashi.

Published by Shambhala Publications in the USA. This is my fourth historical, samurai Japanese graphic novel published with them, and my seventh overall. And as there are four more in the pipeline it will get to a total of 11 such books out by 2016. Sorry to blow my own horn, jibun de ita, as they say in Japan, but I think this is unprecedented - it's the first time that a British comic book writer has made a such a long series on  historical, samurai Japanese themes, working directly with Japanese artists.

The artist on the MUSASHI book is Michiru Morikawa, and she has done a wonderful job. Especially on the later chapters, where there are various 'silent beauty' pages with little or no text - some of her art on those is very beautiful. Lovely stuff. 

"Miyamoto Musashi, the legendary samurai, is known throughout the world as a master swordsman, spiritual seeker, and author of the classic Book of Five Rings. Acclaimed manga creator Sean Michael Wilson has created both a vivid account of a fascinating period in feudal Japan and a portrait of a courageous, iconoclastic samurai who wrestled with philosophical and spiritual ideas that are as relevant today as they were in his time. For Musashi, the way of the martial arts was about mastery of the mind rather than simply technical prowess.  Over 350 years after his death, Musashi still intrigues us—and his Book of Five Rings is essential reading for students of all martial arts and those interested in cultivating a strategic mind."

http://www.amazon.com/Musashi-Graphic-Novel-William-Wilson/dp/1611801354




As with all these books we chose to try for a subtle, sophisticated version, rather than one that exaggerates the fighting, sex and glory. Therefore, all the fights are shown in a realistic way, and are over very quickly - as that is what happens in practice. Now of the stupid hollywood fights that take ten minutes and have folk jumping all over the room. Musashi would have looked with scorn at such antics. Likewise, the attempt at historical accuracy is considerable. My 'Uncle in America', the esteemed translator and researcher, William Scott Wilson, provided a lot of the research that the graphic novel is based on. Plus my own visits to the actual places that Musashi lived, fought and died. We hope you lovely readers can appreciate the effort we have made to make a measured, subtle, accurate graphic novel about the life of Miyamoto Musashi. 



A review of the Spanish version of our book THE BOOK OF FIVE RINGS. No idea what is says, good or bad, though! 

http://comicparatodos.wordpress.com/2014/08/21/el-libro-de-los-cinco-anillos-de-sean-michael-wilson-y-chie-kutsuwada/

And a Spainish review of the 47 RONIN:

http://comicparatodos.wordpress.com/.../los-47-ronin-de.../

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