Dave McKean - "Cages"

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Classic man, classic. I've only read 3 chapters so far, but if he keeps up only at half this pace even, he will have surpassed Gaiman as a dialoguist and daresay a storyteller.

Yeah, $50, but there's 400+ pages, about $0.12 a page.

And there's cats in it. We all lub cats.

― Leee (Leee), Saturday, 10 May 2003 18:05 (twenty-two years ago)

it's pretty great, yeah. mckean didn't have far to go to surpass gaiman tho, now did he?

the binding on my original pressing of the hardcover has fallen apart tho. use better glue you fuckers, esp if you're going to make me pay $50.

― jess (dubplatestyle), Saturday, 10 May 2003 18:09 (twenty-two years ago)

*shudder* I can't look at his stuff too much 'cause it reminds me of the art that was in those "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" books that fucked me up as a child. The one about the woman who turned into a horse and they put horseshoe on her still gives me the creeps and it's mostly cause of the art that went along with it!

― Dan I., Sunday, 11 May 2003 01:44 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, those were some scary-ass pictures, I still remember them. The art he did for Coraline reminded me of that stuff a little.

So I love Dave McKean, what's the deal with this book? Is it mostly art?

― Jordan (Jordan), Sunday, 11 May 2003 05:10 (twenty-two years ago)

Checked out Amazon, they have it for $35.

― Jordan (Jordan), Sunday, 11 May 2003 05:12 (twenty-two years ago)

its a story Jordan. it might be bloody good but i stopped at 7 when i went a travelling and now the 3 issues i have to buy are ridiculously expensive.

― gaz (gaz), Sunday, 11 May 2003 08:53 (twenty-two years ago)

So it was originally released as individual issues? I had a weird idea that they were serialized in an anthology or something.

While it's definitely not an art book, it has a narrative, though not exactly a story. At least so far as I've gotten so far.

― Leee (Leee), Sunday, 11 May 2003 15:33 (twenty-two years ago)

I've not read this, but obviously I have to pop up to note that he did do a cover for me once.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 11 May 2003 15:55 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah, it originally began serialization in something ridiculous like 1990...a casualty of kevin eastman (he of the ninja turtles) great tundra publishing empire collapsing (which is what happens when you publish incredibly specialized art comics in full color with amazing production values), then being handed off to kitchen sink who also promptly collapsed. ah, comics.

― jess (dubplatestyle), Sunday, 11 May 2003 17:56 (twenty-two years ago)

Yes, it was released as individual issues (which is how I have them). Hadn't read them in a very long time so I went down to the garage and fished them out.

― Chris Barrus (Chris Barrus), Monday, 12 May 2003 07:19 (twenty-two years ago)

and...?

― gaz (gaz), Monday, 12 May 2003 10:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Man, that part where the old lady is talking to her bird about her husband who left her,,,,,that really made me blue.

It's a very pretty book, except in some places you can just tell the Photoshop effects he was using --- I like his drawings better than his digital collages. I love how he draws faces.

There's also a very nice part where the musician shares the personalities of each of the musical keys. I remember hardly anything about the actual story, but there were many gorgeous asides such as this one.

― Fivvy (Fivvy), Monday, 12 May 2003 13:39 (twenty-two years ago)

McKean's inks I love so much better than his painted stuff. And "Cages" is like 90% inked drawrings!

― Leee (Leee), Monday, 12 May 2003 23:08 (twenty-two years ago)

and...?

Er, nothing yet. I read the first three issues last night and tried to get my head around it again. Somehow I'm convinced that the cat is the main character of the story.

― Chris Barrus (Chris Barrus), Tuesday, 13 May 2003 05:40 (twenty-two years ago)

That's the answer to Ulysses.

― Leee (Leee), Tuesday, 13 May 2003 05:51 (twenty-two years ago)

two years pass...

Heh, kind of a pleasure to discover there was a thread about this. Only heard about it a couple of months back and thought it would be interesting to ask for Christmas, and thus I got it as a gift. Just spend the afternoon reading it and thought it was quite excellent. I went through it as a big rush so whenever I reread it I'll take more care in the details.

If I had to pick a sequence I thought was spot on, it was when the artist and botanist were talking in the club all night as time went on and wine was consumed -- without a single word, McKean was able to capture that sense of blurry pleasure when you're having some drinks with someone you've taken a shine to and anything and everything else beyond the conversation you're having is secondary.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 3 January 2006 00:28 (twenty years ago)

I found this in the library a month or two ago, and I really liked it. I'm glad he mainly stuck with inks - his paintings/collages/whatever are great, but they work much better when they're spaced out. When you finally reach the bit in the middle with the girl in the field, it's a fantastic effect.

I do wish that the Angel wasn't so perfect - characters that exist to dispense wisdom bug me, even if the wisdom is well-written. The stuff with the keys was really cool, though.

― clotpoll, Tuesday, 3 January 2006 02:21 (twenty years ago)

The Angel is seemingly perfect but I prefer the fact that he clearly bugs a few characters, most notably the barkeep. It keeps him from being too saintly.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 3 January 2006 03:42 (twenty years ago)

nice thread to bump, i think i'm going to reread this book tonight.

i liked it in a pleasant sort of way

― Ste (Fuzzy), Tuesday, 3 January 2006 09:41 (twenty years ago)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/plechazunga/comics/cages002.jpg

― c(''c) (Leee), Tuesday, 3 January 2006 19:31 (twenty years ago)

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