Literature of Comics and the Graphic Narrative

  I found this to be a pretty interesting read. I haven’t heard of Glenn Gould before, but he seemed like an interesting person. I thought having the narrative be told in a nonlinear structure was a key aspect of the story telling. I thought it made sense because it fit how Gould would recall memories after his stroke. Though I will admit I got a bit confused with who some of the characters were because of how short each recalled memory was, and how frequently each memory would move on to the next. This could’ve been done on purpose though, again to show how it is like to recall memories after a stroke. I thought another interesting aspect of the comic was the surreal/ dream like quality of some of the pages/ panels. Like in the pages where his Steinway falls out of the moving truck, and it shows how affected he was by showing him fallen to pieces. Or at the end when it transitions to showing how he has a stroke from the wrapping tree branches that look like neurons connecting each...

reading points: 37 points class attendance: 7 points no absences  44 points total

  I liked Maus quite a bit. An aspect that really stuck out to me was the personal and honest  quality of the story telling. The comic is told as a retelling to Spiegelman from Vladek, Spiegelman’s father, about his past for Spiegleman’s book. It cuts between the present day, 1978 Rego Park, and the father's account of his experience during World War II in Poland. I think the fact Spiegelman chose to weave these two timelines together made it feel more personal and authentic. It puts the reader in the shoes of Spiegelman as he hears his father talk about his personal story. It reminded me a lot of how my dad or mom talks about their past and how they came to the US from Vietnam during the war. They would stop and go on meandering tangents in the middle of their retelling, like Vladek does about his glass eye, his pills, or to complain about Mala. I think this is relatable to most readers, Vladek feels like a real parent. Like when he throws away Spiegelman’s jacket because it ...

  I found reading Zap Comix to be pretty enjoyable. Each contained story is kind of all over the place, with not many relating to each other- though there are recurring characters in each issue like Mr. Natural and Flakey Foont. They are all tied together by Crumb’s crude humor and satire on the foolishness of humans. This is shown in comics like Whiteman and Ducks Yas Yas. In Whiteman, we follow as the title suggests a white man. His deepest desires are “SEX” and to “KILL.” He tries to suppress these urges by enforcing his sense of identity prescribed by society as an American, a citizen, a hard charger, and a man with the know-how. It is revealed his deepest darkest fear is black people, and he fears for what the world has come to. This all being overtly satirical. Ducks Yas Yas follows the satirical story of a hippy drifter that I imagine you would find common throughout the time this was written. Some of the stories are also just sort of bizarre, like Freak Out Funnies where a ...

 I found the Tits and Clits to be overall pretty light hearted easy read with some exceptions of some pretty heavy topics (like rape) treated with the same light hearted attitude. I think a common theme I found, which is made quite clear in the name of the collection, was an exploration into the sexuality of women with a central focus on the liberation of sex. I think almost every comic featured has some women engaging in some sort of sex or masturbation. The anthology starts off with a cat looking for intimacy, but not knowing where to find it. When she looks it, all she is met with is sex. I found this quite amusing. There was a good amount of lesbian and gay representation, like in A Pastoral Interlude and Out of the Closet and into the Frying Pan. Each having a pretty lighthearted and awkward portrayal of sexuality. Like in A Pastoral Interlude, the couple keep trying to start to have sex, but find each spot they find uncomfortable, until they are spotted by boy scouts. I thi...

  I thought Life on Another Planet was pretty interesting. I liked how it showed different aspects of society and how they dealt with potential contact from extraterrestrials, each having only their self interests in mind. It was also interesting how Eisner chose the different groups to follow, and I think it reflected a lot of the different things that happened at the time it was made or previously. There were tensions between the Soviet Union and the US shown in the comic by how Arango and Malley are basically treated as important assets due to the information they have on the foreign life forms and their initial discoveries. There are spies for both governments littered throughout the comic as well. The Star People cult reminded a lot of cults like the People’s Temple, Heaven's Gate( a bit later), Aum Shinrikyo, and even the Charles Manson family, all led by a charismatic leader like Marco in the comic. The scientists were maybe a reflection on the over zealous pursuit of knowl...

  I found Last Day in Vietnam to be an alright portrayal of the different perspectives a US soldier may have during the Vietnam War. I thought the choice to have it be first person made sense for the story and narrative because it puts you into the story. The choice of having the reader follow the perspective of a reporter was a good choice for this because it allows Eisner to explore different character vignettes, while accounting for the first person point of view of the reader as an outsider looking into the war. This outsider looking in matches the reader’s gaze and investment in the war- at first removed but soon drawn into the thick of it. This drawing in of the reader is utilized especially in the case of the first short story. It starts off as a rather peaceful, removed view of the war as the major takes us around the different parts of the base and on the chopper. This removed quality is shown effectively when the chopper picks up three shell shocked soldiers. The contrast...

  I quite liked Carl Barks’ duck comics. They were pretty easy to get into, and stay engaged with Barks handle over storytelling. As mentioned in the video, there is a certain unassuming and quite modern feel to them. There is no moral, no clear “good guy” or “bad guy,” no preaching. He really just focuses on characters interacting with each other and how events transpire from these interactions in easy going, contained narratives. Like in Uncle Scrooge 15, the story sort of just sort of flows from how the characters are. Scrooge is a prideful miser, which drives him to go to South Africa to prove he is the richest duck in the world. Donald, quite an easy going duck, and his nephews tag along for the adventure. A lot happens in the 30 pages, and as the video states, you don't need to be familiar with the characters before reading it. These characteristics are also shown in Donald Duck in Old California. It relies solely on its characters' interaction to move the story along. ...

  EC comics is geared more towards adults as its stories deal with adult themes such as murder, psychology, ideas of war, marriage, etc. These are shown, specifically murder and psychology, in the Vault of Horror issue 1 in each short story. It starts with an artist who tries to steal the identity of another far more talented artist, and ends with revenge and humans coaxed in wax. It’s brutal, but it’s not simple action, the characters have pretty “adult” motivations, albeit a bit goofy and light hearted, such as insecurity, a desire for wealth and praise, etc. I also liked the next short story as well because it again deals with psychology and murder, while using those ideas to flip the overdone story of a killer werewolf on its head. It is later revealed that there were no werewolves, and the true killer was using hypnosis to trick the “werewolf” into assuming guilt. The last story of this issue, also portrays murder and psychology with a heavy lean in psychology. The women think...

I think the first thing that stood out to me when reading TinTin was the craftsmanship of his work. I thought it was great. The way he used the same line weight to unify his detailed backgrounds and simplified characters was really charming. The contrast of the stylized characters with the detailed backgrounds also really sold the idea of identifying with the character, while exploring a new world( Scott McCloud wrote about in Understanding Comics ) . There are even panels that almost take up the entire page, allowing your eye to travel with TinTin and Snowy through the foreign lands. This choice makes complete sense when considering the traveling adventures of TinTin and Snowy as they explore different cultures, places and people. He would do detailed explorations of the bustling streets of Shanghai in the Blue Lotus, It is clear it is a product of its time though. This is shown in the Blue Lotus through his depiction of Mitsuhirato and in the beginning with the Indian performer. Mi...