Blankets-Craig Thompson
I thought this was a well-crafted graphic novel, and almost seems somewhat autobiographical in a way. I think Craig was an exceptionally well-crafted character. I found him to be introspective and relatable. I sympathized with him when it came to his religious upbringing, and found it ridiculous when Craig's church members called 'Art' demonizing. Craig's views on religion were interesting he never seemed to be extreme about his dislike on religion, but yet seemed to have evidence and researched more based on his views: such as defining Hebrew words and Latin words, and stated Revelation being written in a rather pessimistic tone, when in fact it could be written rather optimistically.
The art was also simple, but especially well-drawn. The brush-work was laid out on the page in a way it was extraordinarily expressive, and depicts and the inner world of the main character. For instance, when Craig is being bullied, the bullies look more grotesque and are depicted as bulky. When Craig is calm, such as the drawing of him and Raina in the trees-the lines are more flowy and smoother.
The way in which Raina and Craig's relationship was depicted was beautiful, bittersweet yet sad. I thought that the title 'blankets' may have to do with the temporarily warmth that was in Craig's life and the fact he has moved on--as the only thing he kept was the blanket as a remembrance of that dear memory. Although I found it great that Craig has reconciled with his brother and could somewhat deal with his parents by the end of the story.
Reading the end of the story I feel a sense of emptiness-maybe because of the snow and blank space filling the pages at the end, but rather because I feel that the main character has yet to complete his emotional journey. I would've liked to see more closure-but either way it is a well-written story.
I like stories like this, and wished there were more stories like these (I do like superhero stories as well, but I would like more depth.)
A Contract with God-Will Eisner
I thought the title was interesting-as I find it impossible for a human to ever be an equal terms with God. The story was told in a dramatic, sad, yet realistic way. The graphic novel was kind of a depiction human life. At first appears to be going well for Frimme, he thought it was because of his 'contract' or relationship with God that life appeared to be going smooth. However after the death of his daughter Rachele, his starts to be unhappy despite his successes. The ending I found sad as Frimme formed a new contract with God, but at the expense of terminating his old one, which resulted in his death. The epilogue was ironic, with a new child getting the contract. I think it was ironic because God's depiction of happiness and a human's depiction of happiness may be different, so I am guessing the point being that one should not plead to God and expect God to solve all their problems.
Other than that another thing I enjoyed was the art. I found Will Eisner's lettering especially pleasing to look at, it was freehand with a sketchy style. His panels also have a loose sort of sketchy style to them. Will Eisner's use of full-page spreads also showed mastery of the medium, there would be times he would integrated the words with the image, such as bordered the words within the frame of a door, I admired his free way of placing things on the page. Also his use of borderless panels was fascinating.
As for narrative voice, I found it to be dramatic--not overly in your face dramatic, but subtly allowed to bring the viewer's focus to the character--which was a great thing.
Dropsie Avenue-Will Eisner
What I liked most about the Graphic Novel was the way in which Will Eisner depicts time. His art style as usual is flawless, he often depicts seamless, slowly panel borders to depict natural disasters such as fire or smoke when it is occurring. Another way he depicts time in through the character. I was quite impressed as each character only occurred for a short time and yet their stories were memorable when you looked at them (although I didn't remember their names.) My favorite characters were Mr.Cash, Ms.Rowena, and Abbie Gold.
I noticed a lot of motion lines were used to depict movement, and surprisingly there was a lot of violence in this graphic novel. I think it was probably used to depict how bad the area was, but although Eisner does not show some of the violence at times I actually found it a bit scary. (Not enough to be frightened of course.)
It was interesting to see the development of Dropsie Avenue and what had become of it, issues brought up such as interracial integration was quite interesting to read as it reflected the attitudes of the time. Dialogue was also well-pronounced for each of the ethnic minorities. Either way I enjoyed reading it.
Thursday, September 8, 2016
Thursday, September 1, 2016
Literature and Comics Week 4
The adventures of Tin Tin in America
I felt rather nostalgic about this as I used to watch the Tin Tin animated series (and even watched the most recent 3-D animated film, which was beautifully done), so it was good to read the comic-book series to remind myself about the characters and give myself a refresher.
At first when I was reading it I was thinking..Oh! The dog talked! Then I was thinking...oh yeah, the dog's name was Snowy. I was also thinking that Tin Tin was a really smart character as he was always able to get himself out of a situation. e.g. using dummies to make Al Capone's goons believe he was shot.
I also thought the dialogue was pretty well-developed. As for the stylistic elements the comic seemed to have even panel spacing and nice contrast with the shadows (the shadows would all be inked in black, which was easily distinguishable.)
At times I found the situations they got into hilarious such as the Pedro Ramirez digging his own grave even though Tin-Tin was wrongly accused. There was one thing I wondered though, is that the way they got out of situations was suspenseful but also somewhat lucky--like surviving from a fall--I admire Tin Tin, as I wouldn't be able to cope with a high-risk job like that.
Donald Duck Christmas on Bear Mountain
The thing I liked about this comic was the comedy. The comedy was mainly caused by misunderstandings and by escalating situations: one action making the other situation worse etc.
What I liked about the comic was the dialogue. It was well-written, even without seeing characters I would be able to tell who is who. e.g. Donald saying 'Bah, Bah, Bah' (there were nice quirks to the dialogue.)
What I found interesting though was that in the TV series Huey, Lewie, and Dewey were rebellious and mischievous, but in the comic they were just complained and wanted things, like little children. I often found their actions in the TV series a bit too extreme at times, but in the comic I found it tolerable.
I laughed at the part where Scrooge thought Donald was sleeping next to the bear because he was courageous when in fact Donald just fainted.
Jack Cole and the Plastic Man
I didn't really think much about it other than the thin-paper feeling of the pages, and I liked the stretchiness of Plastic Man, the way he transitions from being all stretchy, then landing on the next was pretty cool. Although personally, I didn't like his outfit
I felt rather nostalgic about this as I used to watch the Tin Tin animated series (and even watched the most recent 3-D animated film, which was beautifully done), so it was good to read the comic-book series to remind myself about the characters and give myself a refresher.
At first when I was reading it I was thinking..Oh! The dog talked! Then I was thinking...oh yeah, the dog's name was Snowy. I was also thinking that Tin Tin was a really smart character as he was always able to get himself out of a situation. e.g. using dummies to make Al Capone's goons believe he was shot.
I also thought the dialogue was pretty well-developed. As for the stylistic elements the comic seemed to have even panel spacing and nice contrast with the shadows (the shadows would all be inked in black, which was easily distinguishable.)
At times I found the situations they got into hilarious such as the Pedro Ramirez digging his own grave even though Tin-Tin was wrongly accused. There was one thing I wondered though, is that the way they got out of situations was suspenseful but also somewhat lucky--like surviving from a fall--I admire Tin Tin, as I wouldn't be able to cope with a high-risk job like that.
Donald Duck Christmas on Bear Mountain
The thing I liked about this comic was the comedy. The comedy was mainly caused by misunderstandings and by escalating situations: one action making the other situation worse etc.
What I liked about the comic was the dialogue. It was well-written, even without seeing characters I would be able to tell who is who. e.g. Donald saying 'Bah, Bah, Bah' (there were nice quirks to the dialogue.)
What I found interesting though was that in the TV series Huey, Lewie, and Dewey were rebellious and mischievous, but in the comic they were just complained and wanted things, like little children. I often found their actions in the TV series a bit too extreme at times, but in the comic I found it tolerable.
I laughed at the part where Scrooge thought Donald was sleeping next to the bear because he was courageous when in fact Donald just fainted.
Jack Cole and the Plastic Man
I didn't really think much about it other than the thin-paper feeling of the pages, and I liked the stretchiness of Plastic Man, the way he transitions from being all stretchy, then landing on the next was pretty cool. Although personally, I didn't like his outfit
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
Comics Assignment Week 3
Krazy Kat
While reading the Krazy Kat comic strips, what I found most interesting was the format:
1. Some of the strips in which I read had panels with no spacing in between, but were divided irregularly. (Example Below)
2. I found some experimentation with the use of ellipses-although I am not sure whether it is common for that time. (Example Below)
3. Use of narration was interesting was interesting-it almost seemed like a moving picture book.
It also seemed with some of the drawings, some of the Krazy Kat strips were not in perspective, while others were in perspective.
The language was a bit hard to understand as the creator mostly used slang with apostrophe's in the dialogue at times, seemed quite varied, and the stories seemed to be mostly about Krazy Kat doing it again. Either way, it was interesting to look at.
t.
Nemo and the Ice Palace in Slumberland
I personally liked the surrealistic element of Nemo's dreams. It gave the creator the ability to add awesome things such as Giants, and to allow Nemo to be trapped in things such as storms. It was also interesting to note that Nemo always woke up with something in relation to the dream such as being scared of tumbling water (as with the storm).
Other than that stylistic elements I liked were:
-The simplistic drawing
-Simple colors (it was such you could see the grain of the paper)
Although one thing I didn't like was the episodic nature of strip in which Nemo always woke up, it was such I couldn't remember most of the contents of the story (or maybe it was me not being clear about the contents of the story.)
A Right to be Hostile: The Boondocks Treasury
I found the main character Huey quite interesting and the way they tackle racial issues actually hilarious, I did not find the comic-strip controversial at all (in my opinion). The way that Huey talks with Jazmine I especially find hilarious, with Huey's witty sense of humor in regards to his skin-color. Either way I like how Michael Moore deals with things in such a manner, it's important that people read stuff like this to be aware.
While reading the Krazy Kat comic strips, what I found most interesting was the format:
1. Some of the strips in which I read had panels with no spacing in between, but were divided irregularly. (Example Below)
2. I found some experimentation with the use of ellipses-although I am not sure whether it is common for that time. (Example Below)
3. Use of narration was interesting was interesting-it almost seemed like a moving picture book.
It also seemed with some of the drawings, some of the Krazy Kat strips were not in perspective, while others were in perspective.
The language was a bit hard to understand as the creator mostly used slang with apostrophe's in the dialogue at times, seemed quite varied, and the stories seemed to be mostly about Krazy Kat doing it again. Either way, it was interesting to look at.
t.
Nemo and the Ice Palace in Slumberland
I personally liked the surrealistic element of Nemo's dreams. It gave the creator the ability to add awesome things such as Giants, and to allow Nemo to be trapped in things such as storms. It was also interesting to note that Nemo always woke up with something in relation to the dream such as being scared of tumbling water (as with the storm).
Other than that stylistic elements I liked were:
-The simplistic drawing
-Simple colors (it was such you could see the grain of the paper)
Although one thing I didn't like was the episodic nature of strip in which Nemo always woke up, it was such I couldn't remember most of the contents of the story (or maybe it was me not being clear about the contents of the story.)
A Right to be Hostile: The Boondocks Treasury
I found the main character Huey quite interesting and the way they tackle racial issues actually hilarious, I did not find the comic-strip controversial at all (in my opinion). The way that Huey talks with Jazmine I especially find hilarious, with Huey's witty sense of humor in regards to his skin-color. Either way I like how Michael Moore deals with things in such a manner, it's important that people read stuff like this to be aware.
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