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By John Lampkin
©2019 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
04/09/19
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
04/09/19
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
Release Date: Tuesday, April 9, 2019
ACROSS
1 “Star Wars”
warrior
5 Treaded winter
vehicle
11 “Proven,” in
proofs
14 Laptop brand that
sounds like a top
tennis player
15 Pays homage to
16 Prefix with corn
or cycle
17 *Employee
insurance
coverage, briefly
19 It may be
bruised
20 Blight-stricken
tree
21 Deceived
22 Lo __: noodle
dish
23 Church officers
25 “Valley of the
Dolls” author
Jacqueline
27 Animal that
can learn sign
language
28 Parting site in
Exodus
30 “Who’s there?”
response
33 Rank above maj.
36 Makes an effort
37 Small store
38 Serious no-no
40 Poet Pound
41 Be under the
weather
42 11 p.m.
personality
44 Mentalist’s “gift”
45 Installs, as a
minister
47 Sound like an
ass
49 Blu-ray buy
50 Quick breaths
54 “To reiterate ... ”
57 Like sunset-
silhouetted
scenery
59 Golfer’s goal
60 *Unmanned
aerial attack
62 From __ Z
63 Shrek’s kiss
made Fiona one
for good
64 Hint of the future
65 Home in the
woods
66 Treating kindly
67 Sunset direction
DOWN
1 Ranted (at)
2 French school
3 Skin care prefix
4 Annoy
5 Sacred place
6 Carrots, for
snowmen
7 Like one’s prized
music collection,
perhaps
8 Small water birds
9 Big name in
canned meat
10 Baking soda amt.
11 *Hotel bed choice
12 Amtrak
employees
13 “My Heart Will
Go On” singer
Celine
18 Flee to wed
22 Mexican mother
24 Sleep in a bag,
maybe
26 Gig component
29 “Pronto” letters
30 Japanese golf
great Aoki
31 Hardly the best
32 *Persist despite
difficulty
33 Sounds like a
crow
34 Docs who deliver
35 Bausch partner
38 On a scale of
one to __
39 Sculler’s need
42 “Please don’t bite
me!”
43 Persistently
worry
46 Symbolic
Egyptian snake,
which includes
the start of a hint
to the answers to
starred clues
48 Peter of Peter,
Paul & Mary
51 Snail trail
52 Colorado’s __
Peak
53 Cardiologist’s
implant
54 Apple tablet
55 Jason’s ship
56 Lawn mower
brand
57 Take a load off
58 Exxon, formerly
61 Homer’s neighbor
FOR RENT
Making
a
single
comic
strip, however simple the
strip may be, is a painstaking
process. I learned this in fifth
grade, doodling comics in my
workbooks and spending way
too much time trying to get
my characters (Kirby rip-offs
and an OC named Bob, who
was essentially an oval with
Ls for legs and an isosceles
triangle of a nose) just right.
Now take one of those single
comic strips — say about
four panels — multiply it by
over 400 and distribute it
daily. It takes commitment,
dedication and an extremely
sharp drawing hand to pull
off something like that, which
is exactly what Canadian
cartoonist Michael DeForge
did with his latest work,
“Leaving Richard’s Valley.”
“Leaving Richard’s Valley”
takes place in this bizarro
and bleak version of Toronto,
one where animals can talk to
humans. Groups of animals
and humans form, and most of
them turn out to be cults. The
titular
character,
Richard,
is one such cult leader. With
his band of racoons, spiders,
frogs and college classmates,
he lives on a section of land
in a public park he claims as
his “Valley.” City officials
can’t be bothered enough to
throw them out. The multiple
intertwining plots are thrown
into motion when a group of
four animals are kicked out
of Richard’s Valley for trying
to save their sick friend
with what Richard deems as
unpurified water. As per most
daily comics, hijinks ensue
and lessons are learned.
However,
“Leaving
Richard’s Valley” is unlike
most daily comics. DeForge’s
mode
of
distributing
his
comic was via Instagram —
all 475 pages that constitute
the recently released print
collection can also be found on
your phone @richardsvalley.
While
I’ve
seen
other
Instagram artists that have
attempted drawing (mostly)
daily comics for however long
a time (@tommysiegel and @
nathanwpylestrangeplanet
come to mind), they lack
the overarching themes and
stories that DeForge brings to
life, facets that bring to mind
the best of “Peanuts” and
“Calvin and Hobbes.”
I recently had a chance to
interview Michael DeForge
over
email
about
social
media, solitude and his new
graphic novel, among other
things. DeForge will make
a stop in Ann Arbor at the
Vault of Midnight on April
13 for his international book
tour
promoting
“Leaving
Richard’s Valley.” Check out
his words below, and perhaps
get a chance to hear some
different words in person
later this week.
The Michigan Daily: You’ve
been in the comics scene for
quite some time now, not
only traditional print comics,
but also online ventures and
even TV animation. How did
you first get into the world of
comics, and how would you
reflect on your career so far
after multiple years in the
business?
Michael
DeForge:
I’ve
been drawing comics since
high school, but things really
changed when Anne Koyama
(of
Koyama
Press)
first
noticed my what I was doing.
She took a big risk publishing
someone
so
completely
untested. In general, I owe
a lot to people taking those
sorts of chances on me. That
was certainly the case with
my job in animation, where
I was invited to audition for
a design position despite not
having any formal training in
the field. I feel very fortunate
and I’m very grateful.
TMD:
I’ve
never
been
to Toronto — never been
to Canada, in fact — but I
definitely got a real sense
of
the
city
through
the
comic, even though “Leaving
Richard’s Valley” presents a
more fantastical world. How
would
you
describe
your
approach to this, blending
elements
of
fantasy
with
more gritty realism?
DeForge: I wanted to make
the environment seem very
“lived in,” so I added a lot of
both real and imagined bits of
Toronto history to the book.
Hopefully, spending so much
time hashing out those details
helped make it feel like a real
city. It was important that
the characters be tethered to
a specific place and time.
TMD: “Leaving Richard’s
Valley”
was
originally
distributed
via
Instagram,
with you posting one comic
a day for over a year. How do
you feel about social media
having become this new home
for comics and illustrators,
particularly
Instagram
and
Twitter?
Are
there
differences to the varying
social media platforms that
makes one an ideal choice for
hosting a comic?
DeForge:
I’ve
always
posted my artwork online,
so sharing work that way has
been pretty natural for me.
There
are
aspects
to
Twitter
and
Instagram
I
dislike
—
I
particularly
hate having our livelihoods
be
so
wrapped
up
with
corporations who don’t care
about us in the slightest, and
I miss the days when online
platforms were a little more
personal and customizable
— but I also understand this
is the primary way people
follow me. I don’t actually
think either website’s format
is that ideal for hosting a
comic, to be honest, but I feel
sort of stuck with both for the
time being.
TMD:
The
mood
of
“Leaving Richard’s Valley”
is definitely a somber one,
especially
highlighted
by
the color scheme (or lack
thereof ). Could you explain
the stylistic choices behind
the comic, particularly the
black-and-white artwork?
DeForge: I like switching
between color and black-and-
white projects so that I don’t
get too bored with any one
style. I think the look of the
comic really came together
once I figured out the collage
elements and the photocopied
textures. I wanted to make
the city feel cluttered, rather
than just being generally and
vaguely “dirty.” It’s a very
specific type of noise and
mess I was trying to evoke.
TMD: Reading “Leaving
Richard’s Valley” reminded
me slightly of Larry Marder’s
“Beanworld,”
a
comic
I
randomly happened upon as
a preteen, although it seemed
the
connection
existed
mostly in my mind. What
were your personal biggest
inspirations and influences
for the creation of the comic?
DeForge:
Ha,
I
loved
“Beanworld”
as
a
kid!
Berkeley Breathed’s “Bloom
County” was a big influence
on this comic, as well as
on my last strip, “Sticks
Angelica, Folk Hero.” I liked
how it covered this broad
community of characters so
lovingly, and how fleshed
out the setting felt. There’s
obviously a “humans talking
to
animals”
thing
that’s
present in my work a lot. I
barely understood most of
the jokes as a kid, since a lot
of them were fairly topical,
but I ate it up anyway.
TMD: I’ve read that you
worked on “Adventure Time,”
which I’m sure amounted to
something like a dream job.
What role did you play in the
making of the show? Would
you ever want to helm an
animated TV series of your
own?
DeForge: I was the props
and effects designer, but I
ended up doing other things
as well — character design,
storyboarding, concept art,
title cards, whatever. The
concept art I was able to
contribute to a few episodes
is some of the work I’m
proudest of from my time
there.
“Youth
in
Decline”
publisher Ryan Sands and I
were developing a show called
“Mall Nation” for Cartoon
Network that they ended up
passing on. It was about the
student body of an elementary
school getting indefinitely
locked inside an abandoned
shopping mall, who are forced
to build this new, anarchic
society for themselves. It
would have been fun to work
on if it got off the ground,
but the pitching process was
exhausting
and
ultimately
pretty
heartbreaking,
so
it’s not something I’d be
all that eager to jump into
again unless I really had the
right idea for it. I like being
focused on comics.
TMD:
How
does
it
feel
embarking
on
an
international book tour to
promote “Leaving Richard’s
Valley”?
DeForge: Drawing comics
can be solitary work, so
having the opportunity to
travel and talk to readers
on tours is real nice. It’s
certainly not something I
expected I’d ever be able to
do when I was first starting
out.
TMD:
What’s
next
for
Michael DeForge?
DeForge: I have a shorter
comic
coming
out
from
Koyama Press in the fall
called “Stunt.” Aside from
that, I’m just chipping away
at stories that probably won’t
be published for another two
years or so.
Surreal illustrated worlds
with Michael DeForge
CASSANDRA MANSUETTI
Senior Arts Editor
COURTESY OF CASSANDRA MANSUETTI
GRAPHIC CONTENT SERIES
Rhythm games are a unique
product of the video game world
that combines music with gameplay.
If you’ve ever played “Dance Dance
Revolution” or “Guitar Hero,” you
know the intense satisfaction of
correctly dancing or playing an
instrument to a sequence of notes
on the screen. For being no good at
them, I have always been addicted
to
that
satisfaction;
countless
hours have been spent attempting
to master the music (on medium
difficulty at best). In 2014, I found
my calling.
Imagine “Guitar Hero” but on the
computer, and you had to click notes
that showed up on the screen. That’s
the essence of “Osu,” a game that
challenges your rhythm and hand-
eye coordination. Each track you
play is called a “beatmap.” Talented
beatmappers and other dedicated
community
members
work
to
provide quality beatmaps that
rhythm masters play to perfection,
competing for points and a higher
position
on
the
leaderboards.
“Osu” is still affectionately called
an “obscure rhythm game” by its
community, but has grown to 14
million registered players in its
12-year lifespan. It’s not so obscure
anymore, but still nowhere close to
the popularity of “Just Dance.” Part
of that is the challenge — it has an
enormously high skill ceiling — but
much of that might be attributed
to the “Osu” community’s music of
choice.
The
“Osu”
competitive
community is built on thousands of
beatmaps to songs that I collectively
call “anime music.” Anime music
consists of opening and ending
themes to popular anime series,
visual novels, JRPGs and other
media connected to anime. I
myself found “Osu” at the tail end
of my middle school anime phase,
attracted to both the challenge
and the cute, enigmatic vocals —
enigmatic for an English speaker, at
least. I never got sick of those songs,
spending countless hours mastering
beatmaps deep into the night,
thrilled to finally find a rhythm
game I was good at.
I want to write that “at first
glance, ‘Osu’ seems like a normal
rhythm game,” but it’s crystal clear
right away that it’s not an ordinary
rhythm game. The game is deeply
entrenched in anime culture and it
wants you to know it. The name itself
is a Japanese word (pronounced
like “oss”) an expression tied to
Japanese martial arts (i.e. karate).
The game has a pink-haired anime
girl for a mascot. For a time, one of
the default beatmaps was “Tear
Rain” by cYsmix, an electro-pop
song with Japanese vocals that
comes from “Touhou Project,” a
Japanese bullet-hell shoot-em-up
game. The default songs have since
changed to be more culturally-
neutral electronic cuts, but the
vast majority of ranked, playable
beatmaps are anime music. The
game’s ties to anime culture are
so strong that it almost seems like
they’re inseparable — like “Osu”
could not be played over a song
that wasn’t at least tangentially
connected to anime culture.
It actually takes a closer look
to see that “Osu” has no features
limiting it to anime music. There’s
nothing stopping the community
from
making
beatmaps
for
American pop music, or any other
genre of music that lends itself to
a rhythm game. So how did “Osu”
end up becoming a haven for anime
music?
Some might guess that “Osu” is
a Japanese game marketed in its
own country, but that couldn’t be
further from the truth. It’s actually
developed in Australia, and Japan is
only the sixth-most popular country
for “Osu” players — America holds
the number-one spot. Part of it is in
the aforementioned branding: The
game is clearly marketed towards
a target audience of anime fans
and Japanese culture enthusiasts
(which are nearly synonymous at
this point in the Western world).
“Osu” takes a lot of stamina, so
songs on the shorter end tend to be
more popular. Most anime openings
and endings are cut to 90 seconds,
perfect for the competitive player.
Anime music finds a home
in computer game ‘Osu’
DYLAN YONO
Daily Arts Writer
MUSIC NOTEBOOK
YOUTUBE
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com
6 — Tuesday, April 9, 2019
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com