Literature of Comics and the Graphic Narrative

Midterm: reading points: 37 points/ class attendance: 7 points/ 0 absences (44 points total) Final: reading points: 47 points/ class attendance: 5 points/ 2 absences (52 points total) 44 + 52 = 96 points total

  I liked Megg, Mogg, and Owl. I found it really funny and easy to read. The humor works for me because it is really crass and weird, but it doesn’t try too hard. Like some instances I found really funny are when Owl is in the hospital when he gets his beak smashed and he calls WW Jones’ kids “repulsive” and says “you offend me.” I just found it really funny because you have this really uptight character, and he just doesn’t care anymore. I also thought the characters themselves were interesting, and I liked how there was somewhat of a narrative thread to them. Although it was mostly episodic, events would happen, and characters would reference or still be hurt by them like you see Mogg and Megg’s relationship start to deteriorate starting with WW spanking Megg. This followed by them going to couples therapy, and Megg having sex with Booger. Also during their Amsterdam trip they can’t really stand each other, or just being by themselves without their antidepressants. That was anoth...

I liked Enemy Ace. The art is great with really expressive watercolor paintings, and you can see the earlier stages to how Pratt has developed and refined his craft into now. I thought the story and writing were interesting too. It felt like a very human story to me, even though I’ve never been to war. So maybe I just can’t tell because of lack of real world experience in war, but it felt honest to me. Rather than follow the adventures of the Enemy Ace as a hero, it was really more about two people trying to deal with their trauma from the horrors of war. The Enemy Ace is able to help Mannock’s survivor’s guilt through his recounting of events and advice about how he has dealt with the lives he took and the comrades he lost. I liked the Enemy Ace as a character as well, he actually reminded me somewhat of the later chapters Musashi from Vagabond, at least his views on the ethics of killing others . Both Musashi and the Enemy Ace killed people as a function of survival, and perfecting a...

1.) I thought the Killing Joke was pretty interesting. I thought it must have been quite a change of pace when it was released for Batman comics as it is a very dark and edgy story. Though now, at least from my own limited knowledge and opinion, it didn't have as much impact for me as I feel a lot of stuff related to Batman nowadays is dark and gritty with the psychology of the character’s explored (like the Joker and Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy , which were probably inspired by this comic). Though it is important to recognize it as innovative in starting this shift in tone and view of Batman. I thought the main point of the comic was interesting as well, which was that Batman and the Joker are two sides of the same coin. Both are crazy in a way. Both have tragic backstories, but deal with it in different ways. Joker gives into the random uncertainty in the world, while Batman applies strict order and justice to the world. 2.) I think what I connected with is the idea that your vi...

  I thought Lumber Janes was an alright read. It’s not really my sort of thing, but it was pretty light hearted fun, and I can see why people like it and why it's important to some people. It reminds me a lot of Adventure Time or that general era of cartoons in its absurdist humor like when the statues come to life and flex with their bulging muscles in the 3rd issue, or how the Yeti is drawn with a heart tattoo and mustache. They also use vocabulary like “what the junk?” and do all sorts of random action things-Ripley specifically- like biting a dinosaur. They also make pop culture references like in the 2nd issue when Mal is talking about the discovery channel’s river monsters. There’s actually quite a bit of pop culture references: like in the 5th issue it references a shot in Jurassic Park, in the 3rd Issue there are some Indiana Jones references like when Molly goes to grab her raccoon hat from under the closing doors, and I think Ripley’s name is in reference to Alien. I tho...