Tiny Kitten Teeth

Out of the few webcomics I checked out, I liked Tiny Kitten Teeth by Becky and Frank the most. During this whole semester, a big contributing factor to liking a comic has been visuals, and this one is my favorite! On one page I can't decide which character is the cutest and then in another the characters are so gross-looking but fit so well with the style of the previous ones. There are also so many bright, vibrant colors in every panel of the story. The color palettes used are well thought out and bring together the whole story, page by page. Although it changes drastically from happy bright colors to dark... yet still vibrant colors, the reader can see that they belong together in the same comic. The crazy colors also accentuate the crazy story. Like the previous comic I read about super heroes, this one doesn't seem to have a deeper meaning. I am just reading it for fun. Although it is confusing, I would keep reading this story specifically for its illustrations. They are very inspiring and have aspects that I would love to introduce into my own illustrations.

Kingdom Come

I've had rotten luck the past few weeks when it comes to liking my first pick and this week was no different. My first choice was Watchmen. I figure, you know... it's pretty popular, a lot of people like it, I might too! I couldn't make it past the first few minutes of the movie... and unfortunately I didn't make it past the first fifty pages of the comic. It's not that I didn't like it... it just had way too much going on and I had no idea what was happening even a few pages in. So I switched to Kingdom Come.
It took me about two days to read everything but I loved it. I've always watched the superhero movies and as cheesy as some are, I really like them. So I figured, why not read a comic about all those superheroes I love?
So that was what first attracted me to the book. Then I began reading and I was so curious as to why they were in hiding... why was Superman not saving people? I just had to keep reading to find out. Then the artwork totally captivated me. It isn't my usual style but it was so... detailed? Awesome? I can't believe there were over two hundred pages of that style of painting, it must have taken forever! It was beautiful, the colors, the lighting... some of them almost looked like photographs.
I don't believe there was anything deeper in this book other than entertainment (at least not for me). I just considered it to be a fun read and completely enjoyed it.

Donna Barr's Stinz Charger

Unfortunately, this week, I waited until the last moment to choose a book, so I picked up Stinz Charger: The War Stories by Donna Barr. I did not like it at all. The writing frustrated me... switching from english to a few german words. Other people talked in old english, and it was difficult for me to understand what was being said.
The images themselves didn't encourage me to keep reading. Some characterizations worked very well, but many of them were very general or, for example, the women had many manly characteristics. It also seems that in order to fit the drawings into the comic boxes, the anatomy of the horse part of the centaurs were changed. If it looked crammed, then they were smaller and it looked awkward compared to the regular sized other half of the body.
I like the concept of the story though. My interpretation was that the centaurs represented a certain minority in a nation. I connected it with America's history and how African Americans were not allowed certain rights even if they were allowed to fight in a war for their country. However, the clever concept, was not enough to keep me entertained while reading this book.

Asterios Polyp

This week I am reading Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli. When I first started reading it, I was really confused but at the same time really captured by the illustrations. The color palette is so calming and quiet that even though his house is burning down, I feel rather relaxed.
I had began reading Swallow Me Whole by Nate Powell, but I didn't quite make it past the first few pages. The illustrations were beautiful but very chaotic, combined with small type. It was really hard to follow. So, jumping from Powell's to Mazzucchelli's novel, was a nice change. In comparison, the images of Asterios Polyp are pretty simple, mostly consisting of flat, light colors. I really loved the sections where either the story changed or it went to the past and then the colors completely changed so that the reader can distinguish it. For example, when he is on the bus with another man and he asks him about the lighter. It flashes back to his dad but those two slides change to a blue color. I also like the slides previous to that, which refer to his student seducing him. The reader can see the change in the letters between Asterios and his seductive student. This suggests a different tone is being used by her.
Although it clearly has aspects I like, Asterios Polyp is rather boring. The only thing that kept me going through the pages were the images. The silk-screened illustrations were gorgeous along with his masterful use of perspective.

Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis

I had come across the name “Persepolis” a few times before hearing it in my literature of comics class. I probably saw it scanning through my Netflix selections online. Because of the picture on the cover, I had no idea what it was about but I didn't really have any desire to watch it. For some reason I chose to read that one this week and I am so happy I did because my ignorance would have stopped me from learning about a subject I care a lot about. I am very invested in learning other cultures and especially what is happening in the Middle East.
I opened the book and I instantly loved the simplicity of it. Everything is quite literally in black and white. There are no gray areas. The drawings look like the sketches of a child and it fits perfectly with the story. The author tells the story of her childhood in Iran in very simple language following the simple illustrations. It was very easy to understand not only the story, but the complex situations happening in a struggling country.
As I've mentioned, the simplicity is my favorite part of this whole book. I felt like I could connect, not to what she was feeling (because I have never been through that) but to what she was thinking. As a child things are very black and white and we can read her thoughts as they change as she grows up. We can see how easily she is influenced by something she reads or hears, like when she wanted to beat Ramin with nails because she heard his father had killed millions. I think the author is subtly teaching us lessons by letting us into her young mind. For example, in the chapter where she wants to beat Ramin up, she learns about forgiveness, which in turn is something we learn.
Overall, this has been my favorite story. I connect better with stories about current or past events rather than fantasy because I am interested in learning about the world.

Rumiko Takahashi's Mermaid Forest

I feel that there is a big controversy when it comes to reading Manga. Like either, you are one of those people who love it and always read it or you are one of those who are insulted by the idea of having to look at it. I would say I fell into the category that would probably... never read a Manga. Maybe it is because since I have learned of it, I have been taught that that's not the art we should be making. However, since we had to read one for this class, I chose Mermaid Forest by Rumiko Takahashi... and I really, really liked it. I literally could not put it down until I finished it. It took me a little under an hour to read the whole book. It wasn't so much the drawings that did it for me, but the story. At the moment I am in a very... let's call it a Twilight haze. So any book that I find with a romantic kind of supernatural theme, I'll read it. This one happened to be mermaids (another favorite!).
It was a little frustrating when it changed stories right in the middle of the book... but I found myself loving that second story just as much as the first one. It was a confusing reading both stories and trying to understand which Yuta came first... but by the end of the book, I figured out why that middle story couldn't have the happily ever after. If it did, Mana wouldn't be with Yuta! Apart from the romantic aspects, it had a lot of action and twists that kept me tense at the edge of my seat. Some of the pictures were even a little scary, with those creepy old women wanting to eat Mana's flesh.
This week I was prepared to blog about my distaste for Manga and the fact that I was being forced to read one. But, as you can see, I picked a Manga that really captivated me and totally changed my views of what Manga is. I also learned not to judge a book by it's cover... or my ignorance. Or to judge a genre by other people's stereotypes.

Joe Sacco's Palestine

As I read this, President Abbas from Palestine is requesting for Palestine to become its own nation. So I thought it would be appropriate to read Joe Sacco's graphic novel. This issue between Palestine and Israel has been going on for a long time, but it is incredible to see that not much has changed. In the first chapter we see Sacco talking to a man that says "Israel should get out of the Occupied Territories, and there ought to be a Palestinian state... and if it doesn't happen in the next 10 years, it'll be in 20 or 30." As we can still see today, that is still a problem.
I was really interested in reading further into this subject. After reading the first few pages, I was a little confused. It wasn't the wording or the speech, it just took me a few pages to understand his placement of speech bubbles/boxes. There are many pages that have a lot of word boxes right under each other. They each hold a different thought. I also noticed that there were word boxes and word bubbles. After a few pages, I realized that the boxes were his thoughts while the bubbles displayed what people said out loud. The artwork along with the words are very chaotic, which I think reflect the message being sent by his story.
After reading most of the graphic novel, I realized that for a long time Americans had misconstrued opinions on Palestinians. By Sacco telling a story where it portrayed their everyday life, it showed that the Palestinians are more than terrorists or victims, as they are often seen.
In an interview on Aljazeera, Sacco discussed his intentions on writing this graphic novel and that he was not seeking to reconcile the differences between Israel and Palestine. He said he didn't mean to show anything spectacular either. He just showed their everyday life and how they are usually treated. Sacco argued that it is easier for us to relate to the "everyman experience" rather than the harsh treatment of someone who is being humiliated.

Maus

I have always found World War II and the Holocaust very interesting topics to read. It is actually a bit of an obsession. So, when it was time to read Maus, I was really excited! I wanted to learn more about the Nazis, the concentration camps, and the war from a source that had been there. And in comic book form? That's brilliant!
The concept that cats are Nazis and mice are Jews is also very clever. That concept can be used to introduce the happenings in the Holocaust and the war to younger students. Even though I am reading a story where the characters are animals, I don't feel like they are. I can't say that I relate to them, because I have not lived through half of what they did, but I can sympathize with them, and that connection makes it easier for me to understand the purpose of the story. But, you can also take a step back, and if it becomes too much, just look at the characters, the illustrations. That's where showing this to a younger classroom can be wiser than introducing something as tragic as the Holocaust in say... a movie.
It started different than I expected. I really like that it shows Spiegelman writing and drawing the story of his father. The style of the drawings and the writing itself caught my attention immediately. The shapes are very clear and it is a lot of dark and light against each other. It is very simple, much like the concept of cat and mice against each other.
However, a few pages in, we meet Vladek, his father. It is a shame that he is such a hateful man because I really want to like him. There are small comments he makes here and there that throw me off. Especially when he speaks to or about Mala. How she “never does anything right” or if something spilled “she'd just leave it there.” It seems like she is just an inadequate replacement for Anja until he finally dies. The story switches from his interactions with his father while creating this comic book and Vladek's survival during the Holocaust. It is a nice relief from all the horrifying events occurring in the 1940s, but I wish their relationship was more likable.
For a while I thought this comic was meant to tell his father's story; his experiences fighting the Germans, getting caught, his life with his mother, the concentration camps. But towards the end, I think that it might be more about his mother. Throughout the story, he tries to get his dad to take a step back and tell the story chronologically, as if he didn't want to miss a single detail. In the beginning, he insists to know how he met his mother and what happened with this woman Lucia? A lot of the story, although from his father's point of view and his experiences, is about his mother and what she went through too. The panels of her suicide are very different from the rest of Maus. The fact that it contains human characters makes it even more daunting than the rest of the story.
Overall, it is an interesting comic book. There are elements that I love and cannot put down, like the experiences involving Germans and Jews and even the relationship he had with Anja. The things I did not like, though, cannot be changed because if they were the story wouldn't be real. And... if he were to change something to make it more appealing, how would you know he didn't change something else, like his father's time in the camps, to make it more or less horrifying?

Yellow Submarine!

When this video began playing, I was... skeptical? Maybe a little taken aback... because it's so weird! The characters and settings are very exaggerated in proportions and colors and are almost a little crude. The animation is very primal and not well refined but it works so well because it takes place during a time when a groovy, “trippy” style is happening.
When the yellow submarine appears, the introduction has not yet revealed that this animation is based on music by The Beatles. When it did, and especially after this man walking, that greatly resembles one of the Beatles (later revealed to be Ringo), I was really interested in watching the rest! It's funny how we can watch something and not really be interested until we relate it to something we like.
Then, when I became immersed in this film, I was amazed at the creativity or maybe how stoned the creators were when they created these creatures. There are critters you can only imagine existing in your dreams.
One of my favorite parts is when he's counting the sixty-four seconds to “show us how long a minute is.” At first, I thought “Are they really going to count a whole minute?” That comment alone, shows how long we think a minute really is. But then when every number was uniquely illustrated, I did not want the minute to end! It was a great film, with great colors and funny comments throughout the different scenes. And let's not forget the awesome music played by its popular characters.

Left Field Funnies by Bobby London

Reading underground comics was an... interesting experience. I read Left Field funnies by Bobby London. The first story was a little weird and I don't think I followed it very well. Was it about this drug dealer and another man trying to stop him? And... is it a coincidence that his name is Fidel and it is under quotation marks? Then it turned towards the story of this man, who was trying to stop him. He meets this woman, who looks a little skanky with her tight top and saying she works at a porn theatre. But at this time I am thinking... okay it could be worse. And then the next page shows multiple graphic images of these two people having sex. I am not quite sure what the story is or how it ends because I flipped to the next story!
The next story is a little different. It's funny a way that is kind of... ridiculous? This guy is out in this van having sex with some chick, who is not his wife. Then his brother comes out hoping to score some drugs and he tells him to get lost. But when his brother threatens to tell his wife what's happening, Lovie (the older brother) gives him all kinds of drugs! This comic came out in 1972. I think if a comic like this was widely spread now, there would be much controversy. Look at all the commotion happening with violent video games and how it creates serial killers (according to many people against violent video games). What would be the response to a story of someone giving drugs to his eight year old little brother in order to keep his affair quiet?

A Contract with God

I have never really read or flipped through a graphic novel. So when we received a list of graphic novels to buy and I read the name A Contract with God, I was a intrigued and did not waste time purchasing it.
From the moment I opened the first page I was smitten! The artwork inside the graphic novel is beautiful. I absolutely love the style and the line work. The pages are also uniquely different. Some of them are in a comic style (a scene surrounded by a box) but others are just sitting on the page. Sometimes the text isn't surrounded by any shape. It is very different from the few examples I have seen but I like it's individuality.
The content itself is mesmerizing. I really enjoyed the story of Frimme Hersh. I think it's the fact that it is very relatable but a bit exaggerated (maybe to make a point). I don't know about most people but I think sometimes I make these one-sided contracts with God. For example, oh god if I get a good grade I will... I don't know, be nice to the people I don't like. A more serious example is when someone is sick or dies, sometimes people go through the phase of bargaining. We make this make-believe contract with God and when it does not happen we, of course, don't follow up on our end (even though we promise things that would usually benefit us). I really liked that aspect of Eisner's story.

Tintin in Tibet

When I got a book of Tintin comics in the mail, I was so excited! I think I remember seeing pictures of him when I was little. So I started reading Tintin in Tibet. The first couple of pages were not very exciting. I almost put it down. Until I found out Chang was dead! Then I was a little intrigued and really got more into the story. I fell in love with Captain because he seems so scholarly smart but all these things happen to him for not paying attention or having bad judgement. I think I relate a little to that character because, like Captain stepping over the cow to get across the street (when you know it's a bad idea), I make bad decisions when I know the consequences. I also love how he says "you're on your own!" all the time, but he always ends up following his friend to take care of him. My favorite part though, is that it had a happy ending. Many stories nowadays, in order to seem more realistic, don't have happy endings (I refuse to believe that reality isn't happy!) but Tintin's adventure ended perfectly.

The drawings are really beautifully done. I enjoy looking at the characters and the scenes around them. The colors, however, are almost always the same value. If these drawings were to be in black and white, almost everything would get lost! I would like to see more variety and maybe some more appealing colors.

Little Nemo and Krazy Kat!

Winsor McCay's comic, Little Nemo, can be interpreted in many ways. One interpretation I heard was that Little Nemo's dreams are basic human fears: like not finding your way home and being rejected.

The style is very simple yet it shows a lot of details. The relation between drawings and words are very irregular. It seems that he put the word boxes anywhere he can find extra space. There are many unexpected factors, like how he will wake up and how the issue in his story will end, but it is always expected that he will wake up in the last panel.

I find George Herriman's comic, Krazy Kat, really hard to follow and understand. All the actions seem unexpected. However, at the end of the comic, he seems to be content, as if he realized his purpose throughout the whole crazy tale. The style is pretty sketchy and simple. The panels are very bare as opposed to McCay's. Whereas McCay's speech boxes are fit in any open spot, Herriman's seem to be planned out. They are always moving upwards and are near the top of the panel.

Understanding Comics!

I definitely feel like I understand the concept of comics better after reading Scott McCloud's book. What caught my attention the most in his book is the concept of amplifying through simplifying. A lot of times we think that the most details we add to something, the better it will be. However, when we simplify an image, it becomes clearer and we can relate to it better.

Another interesting topic in his book is his talk about icons. He says that us, humans, are pretty self-centered. We see images of a face (two dots and a line) everywhere. We see them in the front of cars and outlets. We can see a face in any shape that has a circle with a dot (an eye). It is a really interesting idea, because this gives us the power to make a character out of anything! We can easily create a character that people can relate to and has feelings!

Max Ernst Panels!

Panel 1: A strange woman is posing with a rooster standing in front of her. Could she be a witch casting a curse? Maybe on the man that is laying unconscious in the background? Or is the rooster preying on an unsuspecting woman?

Panel2: A woman is lying on a table. Maybe she's about to be examined? Is she dead? A feathered figure is hovering above her. They seem to be in a laboratory.

Panel 3: A woman is in a coffin being put in the ground. Above her and to the left is the same feathered figure, but the feather looks more like a shield being help up by a person. Another strange figure is hovering above her on the right. Like a vampire, maybe she is about to be turned into a chicken.

Panel 4: In a room with statues, a woman lies on the floor. She is either trapped or dead. The mentioned feathered figure is a mix between a human and a rooster. It is communicating with another strange figure. Above them is another woman in a similar position to the one lying on the floor. Is it a sacrifice?

Panel 5: The setting is in a bedroom. The rooster man is either expressing great joy or despair. There are roosters all over the room and a figure (a woman?) lying on the floor with a dark shape around her (blood?). The innocent-looking roosters might have killed the woman. Or she could have committed suicide before turning into a chicken.

Panel 6: In a living room a man (?) is dancing or striking a strange pose, while a woman behind him watches. The rooster man is looking from behind a structure. He could be looking at them with longing. He got his humanity taken away and he wishes he could be like them.

Shaun Tan's The Arrival

In the past, I have not read many comics, much less wordless comics. However, reading The Arrival felt very much like reading a short book. The story was beautifully told using very detailed illustrations. I assume that most of these illustrations are heavily based on reference taken by the artist. The transition between frames is perfectly blended together and creates a story that is easily understood. Using images to tell a story that is based on reality but portrayed in a fictional world is difficult, but Shaun Tan successfully accomplished to display the message of the story clearly. Even during times in the story where he showed memories or stories being told by other minor characters, his purpose was obvious. By changing the hues in the illustrations and the colors of the pages, the reader immediately noticed that something in the story changed and it did not take long before he knew that we were reading into the past. Being introduced to these type of comics has encouraged me to look for more books similar to Shaun Tan's that portray beautiful illustrations and a meaningful story.