Web Comics

This week I read some of the web comics that were posted on the class blog.  I read Octopus Pie, the Bad Machinery Scary Go Round, Girl Genius, the digital flash comic talking about the new possibilities of the medium and Delta: First Word.

Being so new to comics I have never read any of these before but I really enjoyed most of them.  Octopus Pie was really cool and very entertaining.  I really liked the art style I felt that its style really fit with the content of each piece and the characters had a nice charm to them.

The Scary Go Round one (not exactly sure what the title is) was really cool as well.  The humor was funny to me, pretty dry with awkward moments and random happenings like the caped homeless hillbilly really made me laugh.  The art direction was also really appealing as well.  It reminded me a lot of the shows cartoon network has been putting out recently.

The girl Genius strip was not for me. I found it really overwhelming both with the layout and compositions which seemed really crammed and the text which felt forced into it.  There were a handful of panels I struggled to tell what was going on.  I was really turned off from the first few pages and didn't really give it a chance maybe I'll revisit it again another time.

The little digital flash comic was by far my favorite.  It brought up tons of new possibilities for digital story telling that I for one never really considered.  I really like the idea of the reader controlling time while the artist controls the space within that time which is something Delta: First word really suffered from.  While reading that comic I felt I had no idea what was going on and I had no control over the pace it was told.  I found it very interesting the way it kept so many of the things that make comics appealing and to me it really improved the experience.  There was a strong sense of motion from panel to panel and it never fell apart at any time.  I read Delta after I read this one and Delta really suffered from many of the points the flash comic made.  Not only with the time and space aspect but the special effects and gimmicks that were forced on to the reader.  I felt they added confusion and weren't really necessary.  They could have been solved with better posing and staging from the character rather than using the special effects.

Overall I had a really positive experience with the web comics and I am looking forward to reading more of them.      

Super hero comics

This last week I read Batman Year One but I really wanted to talk about some other I have recently read as well such as Arkam Asylam, The Dark Knight Returns and The Long Halloween. I've always been a his use fan of Batman and being so new to comics Btman was naturally where I started and I have found a new love within these narratives.

Since I didn't know where to start I did some research of the top 25 Batman graphic narratives and pretty much just start there. I started with The Dark knight returns and I was blown away. The psychological element Frank Miller pulls off is something that's influenced comics for the last 20 years was completely new to me and I really couldn't put it down. The grtitty dark qualities are seen in almost every other Batman comic I've since and for a good reason. The emotional impact it has on the reader was very successful and kept it really exciting to read.

Year One was another one I just flew through. It had many of the same qualities as The Dark Knight Returns that made it so appealing for myself. The internal struggle within Jim Gordan and Bruce Wayne was amazing and the way it found a way it survive without relying on any super popular villains such as the Joker is something I really enjoyed.

Arkam Asylam was a book in it's own league. It was truly a work of art and is something I will never forget. I read it quite a long time ago and what's interesting is I barely remember the story line but I vividly remember the art work and paneling. Each page was just as good if not better than the last and for that reason it took me a very long time to get through it since I was so consumed by the art. I can't imagine a better visual of inside Arkam Asylam which was always a consistent element within Batman and Gotham city and it was depicted as terrifying as I could imagine.

The Long Halloween was a a good solid story with equally solid art work. It didn't stand out naturally after reading the other narratives I have listed above but I enjoyed it very much. I read it on my I pad and the colors and layout translated very well and I enjoyed it very much.

Recently I decided I need to branch out to some other works about different character in an attempt not to pigeon hole myself and grow. I decided to read Watchmen.....wow. I can honestly say I've never read anything like this and I cannot wait to continue it. The atmosphere and the the dialogue are so dark and intense and they play off of each other wonderfully.

Graphic Fiction and Graphic Non Fiction

This week I read Arabian Nights, Diary of a Dominatrix, and I watched Cartoon Noir.  Needless to say the three of these are very different from one another.

Diary of a Dominatrix really reminded me of most of the content in the Underground Comics selection.  I found it reminiscent not only because of the sexually explicate material but the organization of the story itself.  The paneling was all over the place and the and the story line was not centered around a main conflict or character goal, it was just a woman talking about her average days as a Dominatrix which was entertaining but very different from most stories and comics I've read thus far.  The artwork was interesting.  It had a almost surreal feel to it with cross hatched backgrounds at some points and super forced perspectives, but it still felt genuine and real while reading it. I think the forced style really had a successful emotional impact forcing the reader to feel exactly what the artists wants them to feel.

The comic Arabian Nights is a story I'm somewhat familiar with.  I wasn't really a big fan of the writing or the art but for some reason I tended to get lost in the stories the more I read it.  I think it was because to me the writing and art were exactly on the same level, it wasn't mediocre writing with amazing artwork or vise versa.  They worked well together and if it would have been uneven in quality I think it would have taken me out of it.  I don't mean to sound like a dick but I really felt that the writing was really mediocre and the art within the panels seemed cramped, messy and as if it was competing with the text.

I also had watched half of Cartoon Noir.  The impression I got from that was mixed.  I was really impressed by the quality of the first three works but the story lines got a little too weird for me.  I like to think of myself as pretty open minded when it comes to independent film making but the manikin piece kind of put me over the edge and quite Frankly scared the shit out of me.  But again I respect how well done it was =]

Maus and Barefoot Gen.

I was really impressed with both of these works.  Maus was a great novel that I really enjoyed.  I didn't get a chance to read it until after our class discussion about it but I feel like hearing other peoples responses helped me to analyze it on a few different levels I would not have realized otherwise.  The first thing I noticed was the art work.  I was done it a deliberate crude fashion that really fit the mood of the story and I felt the staging was brilliant.  I was really struck by one of the very first panels where the father was riding his bike and his son was trying to get him to tell his stories of the war.  As the father says to him nobody wants to hear his stories you see the son framed by his father hunched over the bike and you see the tattooed numbers on his forearms from the camp.  That frame to me told the story in itself.  I couldn't help but look for different framing techniques used.  Another cool example was when you see the father telling the story sitting in his chair and the background was still in the story being told.  I also really liked the train ticket with the text telling the story in the middle and the information about where the train was heading on the sides.  Other things I appreciated that where touched on in class were the different races and nationalities made animals.  It brought emphasis to the ridiculousness of the situation and the simplistic roots of a complicated situation.  My favorite part of the novel was the framing and story telling in general.  It was something that I personally have never seen before and I was really impressed how seamlessly it worked and how much it influenced the story as a whole by setting the pace and bringing clarity.

Barefoot Gen was another beast in and of itself.  That was really hard for me to watch.  Having family on both sides of the war I really connected emotionally with the film.  I often don't know what to feel when I see things like that and they always make me think about my ethnic background and where I come from.  Overall it was a very well done and was very successful film in accomplishing what it was meant to do and I cant imagine how difficult and liberating it had to be for the creator to tell his personal story in such a powerful way.

Underground Comics

This week I read Robert Crumb's Whiteman, Heroes of the Blues, Fat Freddy's Cat by Gilbert Shelton and I read about half of Gay Comix.  I had know idea what to expect with underground comics and I soon found out.  The readings were littered with sexual content which was interesting, it was used as humor and also helped to discuss feelings the characters were feeling.

Whiteman was the first comic that I read and at first seemed like a regular comic but soon turned into a XXX love affair with a female Bigfoot.  I enjoyed the comic all in all and I thought it was really funny at times it just was not what I expected.

I also read the Heroes of the Blues which was really cool piece consisting of short bio's of Legends in the Blues genre.  I a, a big fan of the Blues and I had a good time flipping through looking for names and the illustrations that were created of the influential men who made the genre what it is.  The art in Robert Crumb's work is really interesting and it has an awesome gritty quality to it that I really enjoyed and was consistent throughout what I saw of his work.

I found Fat Freddy's Cat to be hilarious.  My favorite was the comic about him working as an agent for the government and just recklessly killing everyone.  He was do full of shit telling the kittens this story I could help but laugh my ass off.  I love rich characters like that who are bullshitters and do things with their with motives no one else knows about.

The last reading I read Gay Comics was really a neat piece that gives insight into people who have tried to deal with being "different" in society.  While reading this piece it felt so honest and had such a variety in it's stories that all of them really were their own individual stories and experiences.  I enjoy stories that leave nothing out and feel raw and personal and this collection of experiences was full of those stories.

Brief History of the Comic Book

For this selection I read Carl Barks' Pygmy Indians Story and Tin Tin in Tibet.  I chose to read Barks' Pygmy Indian Story because I was interested to see how Donald Duck translates through comics instead of animated.  I chose to read Tin Tin because I have never read a Tin Tin comic and since all of the talk happening after this new movie I really wanted to see what all of the fuss is about.

I enjoyed Barks' Pygmy Indian Story although it was very evident it was a work of it's time.  There were many stereotypes used when referring to the Indians, not all necessarily bad but because it was a cartoon some of the characteristics features and beliefs were exaggerated.  Also there was a interesting social commentary that was taking place throughout the duration of the story.  A lot of time was taken referring to the modern morals regarding nature and the preservation of land.  All together I really enjoyed this comic and i had a good time reading it.

Tin Tin is a comic I had been looking forward to reading for a while. growing up I never really heard all that much about it but I recognized the character and when the film came out I saw all kinds of commercials and trailers and the old distant recognition came back.  I knew it was big in the UK but I didn't realize the entire world loved it except the US, so naturally I wanted to see why.  When I first started reading Tin Tin in Tibet it took me a few pages to adjust to the humor and story telling.  The first thing I noticed was that in the beginning there was a lot of time talking about other things and setting up the story before the inciting incident occurs.  Also the humor was very different but it was very refreshing.  At times it felt very English but it was still very funny.  This comic also contained much more reading than previous comics I have read, and I laughed to myself thinking what a lazy American I was when I saw a page full of dialogue and sighed.  I enjoyed reading Tin Tin very much and I really liked how it could appeal to all audiences which I could only assume is part of the reasoning behind it's huge success.

History of the Comic Strip

For this weeks reading I chose to read "Peanuts," "Calvin and Hobbs," and "Get Fuzzy."  I really enjoyed reading these little strips it was a great time and took me back to a younger version of myself.  I am very new to comic books and graphic novels but I have always read comic strips on growing up. My grandma used to read the spiderman strip to me every Sunday and I remember how excited I would get waiting to hear what happens next.

"Calvin and Hobbs" is the series I was least familiar with and very quickly I realized what all the fuss is about  and why there is such a huge fan base.  It really make people connect to a younger mind set and while your reading it life is simple during those panels.  I think that applies to most comic strips and is part of the reason so many people have loved them for so long.

"Get Fuzzy" is a comic I have been reading for the past few years when given the opportunity.  The character personalities are so great to me.  They contrast beautifully and the sense of humor is at times very dry and at times very sarcastic.  I stumbled onto this strip one morning at work in high school one summer and it was the first time I really laughed out loud at a comic strip.  The expressions Darby Conley draws onto these characters supports the text so strongly it really gives life to the characters and at times I found myself laughing to myself, "What the hell is that Cats Problem!!"  Something about how ridiculous the circumstances and characters are really appeals to me.

I also read the "Peanuts' featuring good ol Charlie Brown.  I had to read these strips.  I felt that if I didn't read the Peanuts during a week where the assignment was to read comic strips I would be slapping Mr. Shultz in the face.  I felt reading these strips now opposed to when I was younger I appreciate them much more now.  I liked them when I was little and I could relate to them but I was more into the action or physical slapstick humor found in other strips.  However now when I read the strips I have a blast and I am all of a sudden back to being 9 or 10 years old but I catch all the little jokes and nuances that the Peanuts are so loved for.  Snoopy cracked me up and the strip where Charlie Brown washes his hands before dinner and then pets Snoopy and has to watch them again had me laughing for 10 minutes.  Snoopy's reaction to Charlie Browns sister yelling at him that Snoopy has dog germs and Snoopy's reaction was brilliant.  The way the strips connected in the complete book made them a lot of fun to read as you follow the characters through the seasons and through obstacles.  There is a reason"The Peanuts" strip is considered a masterpiece and I am glad I can now appreciate it for what it is.