Webcomics

I read a few webcomics here and there but overall I've read many. The most notable and obvious one would be Homestuck. As a Tumblr user, it was inevitable hearing about it and how it created a mini-renaissance is cool as hell. The music, flash games, gifs, unique readability, characterization, and how all types of conflict and elements that make an epic being present is even cooler. It's even better when Andrew Hussie had Toby Fox do the music, so much of Homestuck's fanbase helped Undertale's unexpected popularity to the point of overexposure effect. I could go on and on with how much research was put into Homestuck and how masterful the entire story is written from subtle foreshadowing to all these hints where you'd realllly need to know what to look for to have some chance in hell to actually find it. A lot of these things may just be an accident, but what were the odds of them happening regardless? Especially when the comic updated regularly and erratically where it would parallel or reference real-world events that happened that day. Another webcomic I read was hyperbole and a Half where there was a lot of dark, cynical humor. Similarly to Cyanide and Happiness, another comic I like to read occasionally. Another one I read is Problem Sleuth, the comic Hussie wrote before Homestuck, being Homestuck's prototype. 

Superheroes Reconsidered

Of three comics I read, I liked "Saga" the most because of the art was superior, writing tight, and character design well drawn. Due to little time, I couldn't read all that much of it, and could only skim the other two, "Manhatten Project" and "Dr. Who Star Death". Art-wise, "Dr. Who Star Death" isn't stylized and made it hard to get into and "Manhatten Project's" stylized art isn't too appealing for me, though I would have tried harder if not for the last of the semester becoming hectic and not knowing what to say a lot of in general being difficult as it is.

Women's Comics

The best part about the women's comics is how humanized the characters are and how interesting the most mundane thing can be. "This one Summer" has excellent characterization and the whole thing can easily be binged. "Lumberjanes" has a nice aesthetic, interesting setup, and the setting has that sense of familiarity but kept fresh enough to feel boring. "Pretty Deadly" has a great female lead for the type of story and the overall dynamic with her master is unique to say the least.

Assessment : Killing Joke

What is your reaction to the text you just read?

I love the framing, writing, and smooth transitions from scenes. How there's a natural flow and progression to the story, complimented by proper use of shading to convey the tone of the scene. Everything's well drawn, particularly the facial expressions and perspective.

What connections did you make with the story? Discuss the elements of the work in which you were able to connect.

I connected the Killing Joke with psychology, because despite whether it's accurate or not, the story could be an interesting case study given how three dimensional the Joker is. From smooth transitions from past to present, the natural progression of pacing and build up adds a layer of strength to the storytelling. I also connected the Killing Joke with film language, because as mentioned before, the shot composition, shot transition, and writing are masterfully executed.

What changes would you make to adapt this story into another medium. What medium would you use and what changes would you make?

I'd adapt the Killing Joke to a videogame, in a Fallout sense of lore exploration and Pokemon Red sense of story. This done through similar shot transitions and story telling elements, though Batman would be a silent protagonist, because the player would have the motivation to go against the Joker given the sort of franchise this is. The player would then play as the Joker when the backstory parts are revealed as the game goes on.

Contemporary Comics in Literature

Defining Traits and Characteristics:
Alice in Sunderland
-Mixed Media
-Philosophical
-Strong Characterization
Strangers in Paradise
-Nice storyline
-Descent art
-Overarching plotline and character development
The Fountain
-Implied lines
-Nice use of shading and color
-Sketch drawings for background characters
Blood on the Moon
-Has old aesthetic
-Interesting mix of words and visuals

What're the assumptions that govern the work:
The Dream Hunters
-Reads like a novel with portraits between the pages
-Inspired by Japanese mythology
-Vocabulary and writing style simple enough for a 1st grader but won't patronize the audience
Bones
-Entertaining for all ages including humor and style
-Meant for kids but not condescending
-Tells a story it wants to say, doesn't pander to the audience

Thoughts on the work:
Channel Zero
-Silhouettes remind me of 2D class with composition
-Text doesn't intrude on visuals
-Striking aesthetic
-Part of interest stems from propaganda feel of the narrative

Common Elements:
-Passionate Work by all artists and authors
-Visuals used to the aesthetic's advantage
-Text and Visuals compliment each other
-Thought provoking
-Subtle messages underlying the more prominent ones
-Narrative respects the audience regardless of demographic

Manga and Osamu Tezuka

     It's always a fun time when manga is specifically brought up. Considering how unique the history is for manga and subsequently anime, such as comics are with animation in the west, a lot of dynamics are involved. The first one being Osamu Tezuka, the grandfather of manga, with his best known work, "Astro Boy". Tezuka was influenced by animations over in the west, such as Betty Boop, and Bambi. Laying various foundations of how people perceive manga, he did so not only through genius work, but inspired other artists, such as Akira Toriyama, creator of "Dr. Slump" and "Dragon Ball", essentially innovating a sort of renaissance with manga. Considering how distinct Tezuka's artstyle is, the framing and action works to his advantage when telling a story. The pacing is well done, so his work is easy to binge. The continuity between chapters also supports the entertainment value, so it's easy to see why "Astro Boy" was and is still influential for all of manga and comics.
   

Wide World of Comics

     After reading quite a few comics from around the world, despite the short span of a week, it was unexpected and interesting. The comic I read the most of was Vink's "The Mad Monk", where the desaturation of the color pallet was striking and facial expressions emphasized the situations. One of the most interesting details about this comic and what I've noticed with other series, was how the dialogue boxes were literal boxes as opposed to ovals or circles. The pacing and framing were unique, where the artist has a clear style on how to write and draw their story. Unfortunately, I was unable to finish the full story, I thoroughly enjoyed what I could read. Other pieces I read was Hugo Pratt's Watercolors. It was interesting to see so many different styles and poses by various artists in the 60's and all in water color in their own style. It's particularly interesting how some pieces such as "L'ile au Tresor" and "L'ile au Tresor, portrait de John Silver" have two or three colors of choice, work in progress, and mixed media consisting of pencil, pen, and watercolor. Other pieces by David Balfour have a monochromatic pallet, more finished, and also used pen to outline the detail of his work. My favorite piece is Miyazaki/Moebius: A joint Exhibition Catalogue, a collaboration between two animation directors, showcasing their work. It's interesting how the text in the book has French and English, yet there will inevitably have a hint of Japanese considering Miyazaki's notes. It's always fun to see concept art and key frames of iconic movies, especially with a joint effort between two directors, so there's an easier time to compare their styles and quirks.

Stereotyping in Media

     Stereotyping in media has and always will be present because it's also dependent on context. Whether it's lazy writing, satire, or just making a point. Stereotyping could be interpreted as racist, sexist, or aforementioned lazy writing. In some cases there may be stories that are mistaken to stereotype so not only would the majority assume this, but will likely deny the objective criticism given by the minority about said majority's assumptions. Stereotyping as a whole is part of an unique situation where it relates to or overlaps with racism and sexism, regardless of how apparent any of them may be whenever any or all are brought up.
     Stereotypes can be seen as racist by how women are seemingly only represented as the passive love interest and men have more range of archetypes that portrays them as heroic in some manner. Depending on which archetype is used, however, will likely give away the ending. This aspect of stereotyping also goes into racism territory, by portrayal of any ethnicity represented in film thus far since its inception. Stereotyping is seen as cliched because replaces any sense of characterization the characters could potentially have. This however makes an interesting situation, especially in Disney's case, where it's made necessary for minor characters to convey a sense of character. When stereotyping is used, developers are accused as racist and/or sexist. Again to Disney, when there's no ethnic diversity, they're whitewashing, but when they do have a diverse cast, it doesn't matter if it's really stereotyped, offensive, or well portrayed, there will always be that one percentage of the audience that'll deem Disney as "Racist".
     It's interesting when stereotyping is done right if whether it's satirized or for comedic value. South Park and Simpsons could get pull this off right assuming they haven't, though with their reputation they most likely have. After a while, I'm desensitized by it, because I'll lose a bit of interest in the story if not much thought is put into it. So regardless of the intention, in the end, it wouldn't matter, just as long the execution is done well, despite there always being that one person just waiting to say it's stereotyping, racist, or sexist.

Legitimization of Comics - Maus

     Art Spiegleman's "Maus" have notable aspects that makes it stand out from other competing stories. With the amount of Holocaust stories that's been written since the ending of World War II, "Maus" is unique. "Maus" is a comic book that respects not only Holocaust as its subject matter, but also the medium as a whole. Superhero comics gave the general populace the impression comics were for kids and made out to be a waste of time. Then Underground comics emerged as rebellion, so the reputation for comics split people who wouldn't fit society too easily and by those who looked down on said people who such comics. When "Maus" was published, it gave hope to what the medium could provide if enough care and common sense were given while making them. Given how "Maus" is an autobiography in disguise, it features the main character, Arthur Spiegleman interviewing his father about his experiences during the war. This premise has a lot to play around with not only by direction of the writing, but by execution of the art.  

     The art in "Maus" takes full advantage of being a graphic novel. There are two volumes, giving as the time needed to flesh out every character, story, and environment. The panel layout makes interesting liberties, as the story goes on, trying new things so nothing becomes monotonous. Some panels are drawn around the characters, so it's a matter of framing rather than acting as a window for the background. There were others times where there would be landscape oriented shots broken up into smaller panels to give a sense of movement. The art style itself is interesting, because everybody is portrayed as anthropomorphic animals to emphasize the metaphors presented. Sometimes they'll wear a mask of another animal to blend in during certain situations and rarely will they be presented as humans wearing the mask of their animal while the story is after World War II. The Spiegelman family are presented as mice and their survival against the cats of Germany. Other animals are presented as well, pigs being the secondary animal, and a few others here and there like frogs and dogs. I like how this metaphor is handled, Nazis after Jews like Cats are with mice. Even more interesting how the other animals would have a neutral relationship with cats and mice if ever given the chance to interact with each other in real life. 

     The story is taken in an interesting direction and becomes more meta as the story goes on. The story takes place in the 80's, as the main character, Arthur Spiegelman is interviewing his father, Vladek, about his life during the second World War for a comic book. The story jumps from present day to the past, starting with Vladek's life before meeting his wife and his trivial troubles all the to his time while at Auschwitz. The present day storyline also presents interesting insight and contrast to both Vladek and Arthur's life and relationship. The story goes in detail not only the impact of World War II for Vladek and other fellow Jews, but also his wife and their family. While exploring the relationship between Vladek and Arthur, it shows the kind of person they are and how Vladek and other survivors turned out after the war and concentration camps. The story gets considerable meta in the second volume, where the Arthur is drawing his comics and all these interviewers come in, bombarding him with series of questions on where his story will go next, like adaptations and merchandising. This understandably overwhelms him, and during the ordeal does he revert to a child and is later shown growing up from panel to panel as he feels better telling all this to his psychologist. 

Underground Comics

     Air Pirate Funnies is the comic version of Cards Against Humanity, right down to the proposition paragraph of why the reader should subscribe on the last page. Considering how nothing goes uncensored, that gives these comics a certain charm to them despite its graphic material. Considering how there are classic Disney characters in sexual situations, it easily makes everything better, worse, and odd all at once. The Silly Sympathies issues go even further because everything is drawn in full detail despite the simplistic art style. Dirty Duck is my favorite of all the other issues because he has a more defined personality and everybody else does things that make sense to their character. The zany humor that's seen in classic cartoons like Merry Melodies and Metric Golden Mayor cartoons are an added bonus. That said, the graphic nature of seeing Micky and Minnie have an adult fun time together was unexpected, despite being aware of the nature of Underground Comics.
     I like "Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers" because it gave a satirical look of the 70's. "Fat Freddy's Cat" is a more mature version of Garfield, because the cat actually does stuff and the overall nature of these two comics knows what they want to say and won't hold anything back. "4 Sketchbooks" is interesting because it's exactly that, sketchbook drawings, giving a unique perspective on the artists' psyche. For each new comic, I get a little scared because I wouldn't know the exact way they'd go about offending me or how scarred I may get in the process. Overall, underground comics give an interesting insight of the times they were made in, what they intended to say and pushed the narrative while saying it, and good for the artists staying dedicated to their work, consistent art, and finding creative ways on offending everybody. 

Graphic Novels

     After reading Will Eisner's "Contract with God", I immediately noticed how distinct the overall aesthetic of the comic is. Aside pre-dating Disney's 2D art style which I enjoyed, partly because of how the story's tone gets progressively darker, but it compliments the body language constantly used through the stories. The first story sharing the title, has one of the best use of body language I've seen in comics and the way the heavy downpour is portrayed compliments the narrative. For all five stories, the use of cross hatch giving that sketchy feel makes everything more genuine, as it goes well with the stories told about the human nature. Whether they're mistakes, faults, or just regular screw ups, the art's direction conveys everything to a T with its distinct line of action, gesture lines, hatching, inking, lighting, and expression.
     Craig Thompson's "Blankets" goes in a unique direction both narratively and artistically. The inking in "Blankets" notably uses paint rather than "Contract with God" using pen. The strokes used in "Blankets" varies in width and sometimes the paint is in the midst of drying up on the brush as the strokes have specs of white for interesting effects. In Eisner's work, however, there's more detail in the background, even in silhouettes far out in the background, all with finer line work. I personally prefer Eisner's art style despite Thompson's use of framing and perspective making better use of the medium overall. Page 11 panel 4 and pages 14 and 15 exemplifies this by how unique the perspective is made, since it's from two young brothers. Narratively speaking, "Contract with God" is an anthology, taking place in the same year and setting focusing on a wide range of characters whereas "Blankets" focuses on a single protagonist, smoothly transitioning to and switching back from various phases of his life to portray the innocence of his first love. Neither comic are afraid of showing adult themes, such as nudity, sex, and the condition of the human psyche.

Action Comics

     Reading the original action comics that laid the foundation for the super hero genre, I have mixed feelings about them. The style of comics have interesting color as part of the printing process, which gives it that nostalgic feel. The narrative for many of these comics went in interesting directions, lore being used by the writer's full advantage, clearly a lot of passion was put into the overall story. My favorite style would be Batman 600: Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, where facial expressions are more apparent than that of anything Superman related, where at best, they're too subtle to have a wide range of expression.
      Other than that style of Batman, however, the general realistic style isn't as interesting unless you've read enough comics to know the differences between artists, like inking techniques or coloring style. One technique I notice that's used a lot in action comics is used in Superman's "Captive of the Red Sun", page35 panel 3, I notice how perspective and framing doesn't work well with each other, as the rocket Superman is thinking about isn't in his line of sight. Regardless, it is fun noticing color errors, like Batman's boots not colored blue on page 22, panel 5. After a while, I'm more interested in the thought process of both writers and artists, because the dialogue keeps reminding me the target demographic are children. I somewhat hate how there's inner dialogue expositing to the audience the motives for the character's actions, particularly Superman. There's more telling than showing, but for sake of how many pages the staff had to work with, it made sense why, but still distracting at times.

Smithsonian Collection of Comics

     As useful as the Smithsonian Collection of comics are in preservation of the comic strip dating back to the 1910's, the magnitude involves a lot of time investment. The only downside to this collection, however, is how the strip carried over, the scale likely affecting the font of the dialogue. There were times where I tried to zoom in as much as I could, only to barely make out what the words were. The insight given at the beginning of each chapter before showing the comics of the designated era adds an additional layer of intrigue to the history as a whole. With this established, I could not finish the collection all the way through due to time restraints, but what I could read is interesting to say the least. The fact that there are comics by familiar icons that aren't associated with comics as much alone makes things interesting. For example, Winsor McCay is known for his genius work in animation yet his comic series "Little Nemo" is underrated and even then people might not associate his name to his work, kind of like knowing the actor's role rather than the actor themselves.
     My favorite comic strip I read by McCay is "Midsummer Day Dreams", where he brings up topics of everyday life that is still relevant today. My other favorite comic series is "The Gumps", by Sidney Smith, where the satire of a married couple complimented by dry humor. This made me think how well these comic strips aged, dating back to a little over 110 years ago, and the comics shown throughout the collection makes for interesting insight on the evolution of the comic strip as a whole. Most particularly, the serialized structure comics had in the 1910's and their own stories that carries the narrative shows the thought process of somebody before anybody's time.

Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud

     In Scott McCloud's "Understanding Comics", many interesting points are brought up and through inventive visual cues, his points are clear and concise. Out of all the points he makes, my favorite is the apple analogy. McCloud mentions how there are six steps for an ideal comic, the idea/purpose, form, idiom, structure, craft, and surface. I find it interesting how he uses an apple to show the layers and their individual importance and how each layer compliments the follow layers. When he explains how the surface is the most noticeable at first glance, he bites into the most appealing apple, having nothing else to offer and therefore hollow. When McCloud goes further in detail by using various situations as examples, the easier these six steps' importance are put into perspective.
      When re-reading this part of his comic, I related it to other comics I knew of, like Hiromu Arakawa's "Fullmetal Alchemist", Shaun Tan's "The Arrival", and Andrew Hussie's "Homestuck", it adds a few more new layers of appreciation and admiration for their work. When thinking about all the points mentioned with the apple analogy, it feels like a life hack to know how applying these six steps is like the underlying skeletal structure of story structure. Seeing the visuals used in McCloud's demonstrations explaining these six steps, there's a sense of motivation. When the years show all these creators and their breakthroughs, it doesn't necessarily mean there aren't any more fresh takes on anything. On the last pages of his book, McCloud shows the variety of vegetables, suggesting the endless possibilities of ideas and inspiration, creating an endless cycle of creativity. This makes me want to find other comics with all six steps and analyse those, appreciating the medium all the more.

Kindness Week by Max Ernest

I translate the first page of Ernest's comic as fear is only a mental manifestation, as the rooster is unphased by the dark cloaked figure. The rooster is unphased by death.

Page 2 Shows the same rooster and cloaked figure with feathers rather than fabric now with a mutual understanding, looking at a woman on her deathbed dressed in black. Death is doing his job, going to the next person. 

Page 3 Shows both the rooster and cloaked man now with white, longer feathers with a beast and lady overviewing the beforementioned woman underground, posing as a good luck charm for her in the afterlife. 

Page 4 has the rooster now part man and the cloaked figure more distinct with formal attire in the process of revealing something, as two women are lying about and a man standing on top of the statue, death just nonchalant and wondering who should die, when, and how they should be judged. 

Page 5 Shows death celebrating the death of a woman, and the rooster looking at his counterpart, in a bedroom, blood surrounding the woman's body. 

Page 6 shows Death and the rooster on his shoulder peering out the door being barricaded by a well-dressed man, dramatically posing in the process protecting the woman inside, warding off death, reminding me of "The masque of the Red Death". 

Page 7 Death is having an interesting conversation that leads to conflict with one woman and amusement for the other, explaining how death works. 

Page 8 Death changed his form, lurking in the halls, two women hiding at night, a candle on the floor, will most likely cause a fire.  

Shaun Tan's "The Arrival"

Shaun Tan’s “The Arrival” uses its art to push its narrative without any dialogue, achieved by shot composition and storytelling. Various camera angles add an additional narrative layer through its execution. Reading through all six chapters three times, each in one sitting, it was noticeable how each panel was presented as finished storyboards. This style of storytelling is complemented through various camera angles, providing each scene with its own importance. Each panel comes together with a steady pace, letting the audience experience a new foreign world vicariously through the exploration of the main character.

The main character’s expedition through this foreign world leads to observing the inhabitants, various lifestyles, and their overall daily life. Throughout interactions from various people, the main character gains a better understanding of the quirks and culture of this new world, going from one odd job to another. When getting to know other people, their backstories show conflict through symbolism and how each character came to this foreign land as a means of refuge. Interactions have interesting interpretations with clearly defined body language and a wide spectrum of facial expressions. This leads to believable situations by how realistic the art is executed and how well indirect characterization is portrayed.

The biggest advantage for the extent Shaun Tan goes to make everybody as realistic as possible is how surreal he can make the world. Everything feels natural and lived in, with predominantly geometric shapes inside bigger shapes. The relative style of design shared between environments, food, technology, and creatures make everything feel related and thus a more fleshed-out world. By use of foreshortening, perspective, spatial depth, and rhythm, every panel feels like a photograph. This is complemented by the use of shading, lighting, and faded edges accompanied by cracks and folds to give that aged aesthetic.