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.