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Date Posted: 08:06:59 09/30/10 Thu
Author: MelvaT
Subject: Surprise, surprise, surprise!

I like The Exile and I was positive I wouldn't. Ingrained training you see, comic books could and would be rolled up and used against you if you were caught reading one in the house I grew up in. Mother was convinced comics stunted the brain.

Question: Page five, naked Jamie with no scars on his back. Is this 'our' glimpse of what Claire imagines his back to look like in O when she's tending his wounds?

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[> I think it was a mistake. It's clearly Jamie, however. I just finished my 3rd re-read and have mellowed in my view of the illustrations. I'm enjoying the humor e.g. Rupert trying to seduce a woman to get her wedding dress and being run out of the house. Bawd-i-licious -- swarl, 10:49:39 09/30/10 Thu


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[> Hey Mel! Can you imagine what would have happened if you'd been reading hardcover graphic novels like this one back then? Ouch! ;-) As for the Jamie picture, I chalk up the lack of visible scars to the lighting (a bit) and to artistic license (for the most part). I think the image lets us take in the beauty of the whole scene and appreciate the scope of the quandary Jamie faces now that he's decided to remain in Scotland, without his scars being a distraction. Bigger impact later, too, when Claire sees them for the first time. Or, maybe you can think of that scene as his rebirth and he's re-entering the world naked and scar-less. *G* I've been enjoying this book, too. :-) -- Lady Jay, 11:07:12 09/30/10 Thu


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[> [> *VBG* Aye Jay. It feels a bit decadent having the book lying around in plan sight. -- MelvaT, 14:02:15 09/30/10 Thu


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[> My first reaction is that it is a big mistake. But I'm not sure his scars are even mentioned in O until she takes care of his back. So, maybe the GN wants the new reader to see it for the first time at that moment, too. To be silently shocked along with Claire. Haven't read O in awhile...maybe I'm wrong. -- conmama, 02:12:40 10/01/10 Fri


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[> I can't see it as a mistake, not after reading DG's introduction. She's wanted to do this for too long not to have thought out each frame very carefully. I'm not sure how's she's managed to do it, but there's hidden things in this one just like there is in the big books. Can't you feel them? ;-) -- MelvaT, 08:48:49 10/01/10 Fri


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[> [> Love finding those fun tidbits on the second or third time through the book! She and Hoang conveyed a lot more detail and atmosphere than I'd expected to find in the graphic novel. -- Lady Jay, 20:07:08 10/01/10 Fri


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[> I read "The Exile" yesterday at Borders. My reaction is mixed, and yes, this was the deciding factor in not going to see DG at Vroman's last night >>>>> -- Lemora - mixed emotions, 13:14:34 10/01/10 Fri

I felt like I wasn't enough of an appreciator to be there. Judie asked us to state a less than positive opinion once, so I'll do that. I agree with those who feel the scenery is beautiful, but the drawings of the people are wanting. I, too, couldn't tell half the time who was talking, the rendering of Murtagh, especially, was so inconsistent throughout. Claire's fluctuating breast size was distracting, and there were inconsistencies in details --now the dress is ripped here, now it isn't and covers the shoulder, next panel ripped again; and others too numerous to count and already mentioned here. I agree that the anatomy is badly done many times, and the humans look like elves. I found the Kenneth side story completely superfluous; there could've been plenty of action without it. Now the positive: Some of the panels were very beautiful and, yes, exactly the way I imagined it happening, in addition to being well rendered. I'm thinking of Claire in silhouette with an injured Jamie after he falls off the horse. Generally, I like the way Claire and Jamie are rendered. I liked Hoang's color sense, though the bright yellow Leoch dress of Claire's was a bit puzzling as was the wedding dress. I had personal reasons not to drive to Pasadena, granted, but as Merrymags states, it's the people you meet that make Lallybroch special. Now, I feel like going there would've pulled me out of my doldrums and I'm kicking myself a little bit. And today I read about Catherine Heigl being the likely film Claire! Oh Dear!!

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[> [> Lemora, I have been chosen not to participate in discussion here but I learned some things last night, while listening to Diana talk about the process of making The Exile, that assuaged some of the issues I've had with the book. >>>>>> -- Merrymags, 20:29:09 10/01/10 Fri

Diana explained that her part of the process was completed within 6 months, but it took Hoang Nguyen two years to illustrate the novel. He used a Photoshop-type program that allowed him to make the required or suggested changes without having to greatly modify existing panels or begin from scratch a whole new illustration.

There are over 800 panels of pictures in The Exile. Diana would receive the artwork in clusters, sometimes with weeks separating receipt. She said some details were overlooked that then created inconsistencies. She said that there was a definite metamorphosis in the looks of the characters, but she likened that to time-lapse photography, where we see the daily changes that are subtle but evident over a period of time. She honestly admitted that Hoang sometimes characterized the images with features that were too Asiatic and had to remind him who the characters were and where they came from. She mentioned that she had to frequently remind him to lengthen Jamie's nose and round out his ears.

Diana said that there were errors and elements that, if possible to do over again, she would. She said that Claire's voluptuous figure was done purposely - there is a standard, of sorts, in the illustrations of GN female characters and Claire "had to comply" to that standard. She said that while she hoped her established fan base would embrace The Exile, she hoped to appeal to a new audience, the Graphic Novel reader, and by portraying Claire as a babe, it would sell the book to "boys of a certain age!"

Oh! One more thing. I got to ask the first question last night and, dammit, the friggin' thing that popped out of my mouth was not the question I wanted to ask, "Was Laoghaire nothing more than Geillis Duncan's pawn?" Her answer was, "I would never count Laoghaire as completely innocent, but yes, she was used by Geillis."


If I recall more of what Diana said about The Exile, I will include it. She talked about so much last night that we were glutted with info, but the crowd was totally receptive and would've stayed listening had the store manager not given DG a 5 minute warning!

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[> [> [> Merrymags, thanks for posting this. It provided an explanation to some of my issues with the book. -- RisaB, 17:36:25 10/02/10 Sat


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