Literature of Comics and the Graphic Narrative

I really liked this series of short stories, probably one of my favorite works from the readings so far. I like these sorts of contained more human realistic stories. Like the stories follow fairly average individuals, in a somber and increasingly modernizing and isolating world with their very human flaws and misery laid bare. That's a key factor that I think tied the stories together, there are panels that consist of main characters being lost in the crowds of people or stuffed in train cars like sardines. I thought it was interesting how a good portion of the main characters didn’t talk all that much, like how in the 2nd story, the main character’s only speech is “I’m going to get tea.” This is when his fiance starts to remind him of his mother and how she “did so and so for him, and all the trouble it was.” He goes back to find her dead, after he left her. Tatsumi also does some interesting stuff with metaphor as well. In the third story, it is revealed that the secretary is t...

  I haven’t read any of Tezuka’s work before, I’ve only heard of him through recommendation, and watched the Metropolis movie (which is a great film). I thought Buddha was a pretty enjoyable read. The style is really cute and very reminiscent of early disney work, which you can see quite clearly in the expressive round animals. I thought a really strong aspect of the work was how clear the paneling is. In action scenes you really understand what is happening like after Chapra, his mother, and Tatta return to the village which was attacked and invaded by soldiers. Tatta and his gang hide in pots to attack General Budai. You really understand who’s attacking who, how they commence their plan, the key reactions of everyone, and where they are in space relative to each other. It’s clear how Tatta takes the General’s sword, and attacks. You almost don’t even need the dialogue to understand what is going with how clear the art and paneling is. There’s also an aspect of humor that lighten...

  I read this a while ago in highschool when it came out. I remember liking it quite a bit, but I don't have a great memory so I wanted to try rereading it. I thought it was good, but I definitely think it resonated with me more back then. Though I think a lot of the stuff Nagata deals with in this is pretty relatable. Like the vague desire to be accepted unconditionally, but not knowing how or not having the social skills to make any realistic or tangible steps towards that desire. I’ve definitely felt this before, I think most humans do to some extent. Like she goes to work at a family mart, expecting it to be like a family, but of course it isn’t like that. She also has this insecure and imagined desire of wanting to live up to her parent’s expectations. I've definitely felt this at times, and just a desire to please people I admired in general. I think that sort of thing is just inevitable when you’re wildly insecure and desperate for the unconditional acceptance that was t...

  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 ...