tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6300559060189924423.post2164051791585342689..comments2024-03-17T21:10:29.428+00:00Comments on ComicAlly: Ricky Rouse Has a Gun Review (Jorg Tittel, John Aggs)Noelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03936275600540998073noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6300559060189924423.post-738194764007834612014-06-24T12:52:50.785+01:002014-06-24T12:52:50.785+01:00With all due respect, I feel you have been thunder...With all due respect, I feel you have been thunderously dismissive of the book and were pointedly unwilling to appreciate the deeper layers of this work - which is a shame because I think you've missed out on a fun book that has something interesting and thought-provoking to say. Your review, I must say, very much reads as you absolutely not wanting to like it and not even bothering to discern positive elements, which are very clearly present. <br /><br />I found it a little strange that you referred to Prof. Sprigman's foreword as "overly intellectual", not least because you've apparently written for Sequart, which of course is academic in tone...? But, really, the subsequent "for such a dumb book" is the key to that line, and it's simply mean-spirited. For me, Sprigman provided a fascinating context with his identification of Shanzhai - which I had never heard of myself - and it sparked a more nuanced (and less knee jerk) consideration of the concepts of IP / Copyright et al – and that’s the deeper meaning of Ricky Rouse Has A Gun. Let's be honest, Sprigman wouldn't have written and put his esteemed name to it if he didn't think that the work actually reflected the themes he was referring to.<br /><br />I too identified the main thrust of the later part of the story as “Die Hard in an Amusement Park” – an element that I thought Tittel and Aggs rendered with amusing and dynamic aplomb – but that’s really not the be all and end all of Ricky Rouse Has A Gun. To judge it solely on that element is, I think, to grievously mis-judge the work as a whole and, in your review (which really isn’t good humoured, as your blog indicates criticism would be), you infer great confusion about what the book is trying to do, but you can’t seem to get past your outright irritation that the book parodies a film that you have high regard for. It’s patently obvious what the book is trying to do, and it’s using a Die Hard-style action format to refract a wider discussion/analysis about the differing attitudes of US and Chinese culture – and it does it really well, in my view.<br /><br />Obviously, no one’s forcing you to like it and if you really dislike it, then fair enough, each to their own – but your review, such as it is, doesn’t provide your readers with a truly objective critique. It’s purely destructive, as opposed to constructive, criticism. You never explore why. You really cannot suggest that Ricky Rouse is a poor book on every level and has no redeeming qualities whatsoever – that is, if I may say, critically dishonest. Were that the case, I very much doubt a respected and highly experienced comics publisher like SelfMadeHero would have gone near it, and yet they have clearly discerned it to be a project of value and thematic interest to add to their roster – and they’re right in their judgement, I firmly believe.<br /><br />As a veteran reviewer, I know the comparative ease (and “fun”) of writing a harsh review, but I believe that good practice in professional reviews is to understand that every work has an audience and that a review should make the effort to discern and identify the positives that will appeal, as well as the objective discussion of shortcomings (ie a “well-rounded” review) What you’ve done, essentially, is just gleefully pissed over a project that clearly had a lot of effort and thought put in to it. What will your readers get from that – apart from your overt self-satisfaction at wielding the axe? <br /><br />Ultimately, I don’t think you’ve given Ricky Rouse Has A Gun a fair shot (pun intended). It’s not beyond criticism, certainly, but this is just a curiously bitter hatchet job. <br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12722328744425114492noreply@blogger.com