Maus to me has always been a real beauty, when showing just how powerful the graphic narrative can be. Art Spigelman tells the tale of the holocaust and the horrific events that took place perfectly, and the cartoony characterization of mice and cats strangely fits to make it bearable for the audience to continue reading, learning about the terrible things that occurred for people. It wasn't necessarily a look back to the holocaust, but almost a personalized story of what took place, and how they coped with the events that took place. The underlying theme was who to help when and why, because it could mean life or death.
I think by anthropromorphisizing the characters, it adds a real almost fictitious tone to the story, much like how world war 2 actually felt for many people. But even though the tone may feel fictitious, theres always that wandering thought in my mind that knows the events that took place were probably real, and how horrid that time actually was in human society.
Overall Although i did not make it through all of the graphic novel, I plan to continue reading it over time, so I can see how deep it dives into that era.
Maus very much dives into the area of no return, with seriousness, but presents it in a way that many readers will be able to digest. He shows a format of delivery that was able to convey the message in a powerful way, but in just the right way. The holocaust is still very much a sensitive topic today, not only because of the survivors but also because of the recordings, and museums that show the damage that was done during this time.
Monday, February 23, 2015
Underground Comics
For this weeks selection I read Tijuana Bibles and Dopin Dan.Tijuana Bibles was pretty entertaining, however there wasn't a lot that really stuck out. There was never a deep underlying plot, something that connected them, or something that really yells amazing. But it did make me laugh a little, I found the puns at the end of the shorts were pretty creative and served there purpose. However some of them did feel a little "forced" ba dum tsst* Overall the shorts were fun to read and had me smirk, but its nothing outstanding, nor do I think it's supposed to be. The jokes served their purpose, and it gave me a laugh, however some people today might find some of these offensive.
Dopin Dan was interesting, its humor was clearly aimed towards those who haves served in the armed forces. Although i pick dup on a lot of the jokes, they did not make me laugh very often, and i did not find a lot f interest in continuing them. Tijuana bibles made me laugh with some of its jokes, but Dopin Dan, wasn't my sense of humor. I don't think it has much to do with being a soldier, because the punch lines and set ups were clear to me, its just the way they were delivered. They were dry and too slow for my taste. I can see where people could find humor, but the comic just wasn't up my alley in terms of standards.
Dopin Dan was interesting, its humor was clearly aimed towards those who haves served in the armed forces. Although i pick dup on a lot of the jokes, they did not make me laugh very often, and i did not find a lot f interest in continuing them. Tijuana bibles made me laugh with some of its jokes, but Dopin Dan, wasn't my sense of humor. I don't think it has much to do with being a soldier, because the punch lines and set ups were clear to me, its just the way they were delivered. They were dry and too slow for my taste. I can see where people could find humor, but the comic just wasn't up my alley in terms of standards.
The Spirit by Will Eisner
I did my reading on The Spirit by Will Eisner, The interesting thing about Eisner's comics, is that they seem to tell their stories in a much more modern way than many other comics during the 1940's. The story typically follows The spirit, a regular badass, as he hunts down and fights crime. He's basically like batman, but is much more open about who he is, and doesn't need a silly disguise to get the job done. The only form of concealment he has is his mask, to hide his eyes.
Will Eisner uses story in a very different way than most comics did during this time. The Spirit felt linear, and had many moments that made you question what was to come next. Which although was successful, it was no where near as popular then than as a story element used today.
Will Eisner changed the way comics were written, and even inspired Jack Kirby, which led to giving super hero problems, and making them more relatable as characters. This pushed the comic industry miles, and now is a huge market product in the movie industry. Although Will eisners characters weren't always moral on race and sex, that is mostly due to the time period and how people were brought up in society in the 40's.
Will Eisner uses story in a very different way than most comics did during this time. The Spirit felt linear, and had many moments that made you question what was to come next. Which although was successful, it was no where near as popular then than as a story element used today.
Will Eisner changed the way comics were written, and even inspired Jack Kirby, which led to giving super hero problems, and making them more relatable as characters. This pushed the comic industry miles, and now is a huge market product in the movie industry. Although Will eisners characters weren't always moral on race and sex, that is mostly due to the time period and how people were brought up in society in the 40's.
Monday, February 9, 2015
Week 4 History of Comics Analysis.
Comics have gone a long way in history, but it amazes me how much we still take from the originals and classics, to make our comics read even more powerfully today. Jack Cole is a huge inspiration for me, not necessarily for the comics he created, but more so for his pinup illustrations, and pushing the female figure in an interesting appealing way. The eyes he draws are iconic, and he draws women not with a straight forward pinup intention, but the natural subtly is still there. As for the comics of this time, a new form of storytelling was coming out. Many in the Military started to take interest in comics, and the comic book started to make its debut.
Scenes in comic books became more violent, and started to lean towards more adult audiences. It opened a whole new market for comic books. It amazes me to see how far some of these comics during the time have gone, captain america was first published in the early 1940's, and now is a reoccurring character in the Avengers, and has two modern cinema movies, soon to be three.
The dialogue behind early comics, almost read as old radio shows, which could have very well been an inspiration when making them. However, as time progressed dialogue became a prominent factor behind comics, and narration was much less often of a reoccurrence between panels. Overall it was the 1940s that really began to have a wide variation of comics, for multiple ages. It was this time that was he golden age of comics.
Scenes in comic books became more violent, and started to lean towards more adult audiences. It opened a whole new market for comic books. It amazes me to see how far some of these comics during the time have gone, captain america was first published in the early 1940's, and now is a reoccurring character in the Avengers, and has two modern cinema movies, soon to be three.
The dialogue behind early comics, almost read as old radio shows, which could have very well been an inspiration when making them. However, as time progressed dialogue became a prominent factor behind comics, and narration was much less often of a reoccurrence between panels. Overall it was the 1940s that really began to have a wide variation of comics, for multiple ages. It was this time that was he golden age of comics.
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