Apologies, thanks, and a little bit of manga

First of all, I should apologize to whoever was trying to leave a comment yesterday using Open ID. I have now discovered that the WordPress plugin for Open ID I installed is extremely broken. For now, I’ve just deactivated it, but I do hope to get it working eventually, so people can use that here. I am so sorry for the trouble. I know how irritating it can be to take the time to write up a comment, only to have it disappear into the ether.

To others who may be stopping by due to hits on their site meters: Um, hi. I’ve been adding some folks to my blogroll as I find things that interest me enough to be daily reads. Just trying to clear up the mystery, if there is any. :)

So, I’m know I’m late to the party (as always), but I finally started reading Tokyo Babylon recently, and though it doesn’t resonate with me as much as something like xxxHolic, and the storytelling is not nearly as mature (nor should it be), I’m struck again by how effective the artwork is. CLAMP has such a talent for strong imagery, and especially the use of black. Also, I realize it is unfair to judge the storytelling on only one volume, but at least so far it does not have that wonderful sense of confidence and effortlessness that seasoned storytellers are able to bring to their work. I really enjoyed it, though, and it threw me into a state of pleasant melancholy that sent me down bittersweet, dreamy roads for an entire evening. It was the kind of state in which I would have once written a song. Very nice.

I also finally read volume 3 of Tactics, and I admit I’m still iffy on that series. There are moments of real poignance, and some real humor, too, but overall, it isn’t quite hooking me. Perhaps something deeper is simply eluding me at this time. I guess I’ll wait and see.

On a different note, a million thanks to Lissa Pattillo for answering my plea for advice about seeking an artist for my own comic! Really, my gratitude is pretty overwhelming.

More later, perhaps!