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.