Comments on: Words and Pictures: If Isaac Asimov Wrote Manga (‘Pluto’, and a Bit About ‘Watchmen’)

By: Brian Ruckley

Brian Ruckley — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 14:53:13 +0000

James: Fair cop, re: the introduction. I’m guilty of careless imprecisison. What I meant (but didn’t necessarily say) was to suggest Charles Brown might be the one who is known for articulating the general idea in the specific context of sf, rather than having invented it from the ground up. It was always my impression it was supposed to be a particularly strong, if not actually unique, feature of the genre, but maybe nobody ever said that.

Anxiety of Influence is a great phrase, which I wasn’t familiar with until I googled it just now. Bloom’s use of it seems to be interestingly specific: he sees the pervasive influence of past poets upon present poets as somehow a bad thing, as I understand it. My impression was that folk like Brown thought the dialogue between past and present was in fact a strength of sf, but again I might well be wrong …

It’s all interesting stuff, in any case.

By: James Holder

James Holder — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:41:38 +0000

Interesting post. I will have to check out Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka when the library finally puts them on the shelves.
I do have a quibble with introduction, though. Harold Bloom, I think, should be rightly credited for developing the notion of the anxiety of influence- the concept that all works are in dialogue with previous works.

By: Brian Ruckley

Brian Ruckley — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 08:46:05 +0000

@Matt: the ‘family-friendliness’ of Pluto is a great point to raise, which I didn’t really have the space to get into.

It’s very striking that a Western/US comic dealing with the same story and themes would likely contain material not suitable for a young reader, yet as you say, Pluto pulls off the trick of being appealing to both young and old (although I do think it’s quite impressive for a ten-year old to follow and enjoy the whole story: comics-reading comprehension levels in your family must be quite advanced!)

I’m not at all surprised that you enjoyed Pluto more than other manga you’ve read: stylistically and conceptually it’s different from most other manga I’ve tried too, and there’s no doubt it’s more accessible to the western sf fan than most. That’s why I reckon, despite it’s referential nature, it’s actually a great starting point for the manga-curious reader.

By: Matt Mikalatos

Matt Mikalatos — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 07:17:12 +0000

I loved Pluto… someone recommended it to me about a year ago. I was a bit skeptical, having tried some manga before and not enjoying it much, but to say I loved it would be an understatement. I actually like it a good bit better than Watchmen, and the story of North No. 2 is a great example of why. It’s beautifully done, both the story and the art. Actually, my ten year old daughter read them after me, and she loved it also. She’s a long, long way off from being allowed access to Watchmen.

Anyway, thanks for the article. Glad to see another Pluto fan out there!