The Comic Strip

Winsor McCay has remained one of my favorite illustrators ever since I was first introduced to his work last year. Conveniently enough for the purposes of the Literature of Comics and Graphic Narratives class, Little Nemo in Slumberland and Dream of the Rarebit Fiend are among my favorite bodies of work that I have come across not only for their artistic merit but the substance in their subject matter.

Upon a general reading of either strip, the audience can clearly understand that McCay presents us with dream sequences. However, after closer reading there is much more to be appreciated than a mere group of pictures.

The structure of the panels reflects the plot within them, as their size and shape often change according to the state in the dream, the characters within the dream, or the difference between being awake or asleep. Not only does this characteristic provide more meaning to what is happening within the strip, it also makes for a more visually interesting page. McCay also composes each frame to subtly indicate what may happen in the next panel, and thus creates a relatively seamless path for the reader to follow. For example, a character continuing to slump or fall over during the course of several panels may be leading up to the final "awakening" panel in which we see that the dreamer has fallen out of bed. McCay is able to combine finesse in all aspects of visual storytelling to produce a beautiful and sophisticated work that stands out as the pinnacle of comic strip creation.

I also found the differences between Little Nemo in Slumberland and Dream of a Rarebit Fiend to be intriguing. Although they both are categorized under "dreams," the two strips adopt contrasting approaches to how they address the subject. Little Nemo centers around children, seeing as Nemo himself is a small boy who wanders throughout his own dreamlands. Although he seems quite alarmed at certain points, the general tone is one of wonder and discovery. Dreams of a Rarebit Fiend on the other hand deals much more so with fear and insecurities. The latter also has adult characters, which I interpret to be a comment on the differences between adult and child mindsets. Whereas children typically approach the unknown with an absorbent mindset, adults are much more rigid in their uncertainty which results in much more frantic reactions to the situations presented in their dreams. But in both cases, the comic strips bring to surface issues that are relatable in the sense that many people have felt or thought about the subjects that McCay addresses, but never voice. Because of the universality contrasting the personal secrecy of McCay's subjects, readers can easily place themselves in the characters situation and can easily become emotionally invested in the episodes which is a valuable quality in any good piece of work.

Scott McCloud - Understanding Comics

Reading a text book in the format of a comic book itself was a new and thrilling experience for me. Hell yes, this is another reason why I love art school was the first thought that came to my mind as I considered the fact that most of my friends from back home were pouring over hours of writing lab reports while I was cozying up with some tea to read a comic about comics.

And indeed, it was a pretty pleasant experience. Coming from someone who doesn't know much beyond the surface level of comics, I feel much more knowledgeable after reading Understanding Comics, and a few aspects were particularly interesting to me. The first topic that stuck with me was the difference between Eastern and Western comics. Although I have always noticed that there is a clear visual difference between eastern and western comics, I had never pondered the reason behind why those variances exist. For example, McCloud mentioned that eastern comics are often characterized by more realistically rendered backgrounds contrasted by stylized and simpler characters. Up until this point, I assumed that anime, manga, and things of that sort were just different, and a little strange to be honest. It was interesting to hear, however, that this difference is due to the fact that Western comic culture rejected the new and radical pairing of different styles, which left Eastern cultures to embrace it as their own. I feel like this topic illustrates a key difference that exists between these two groups that is relevant beyond the world of comics and can be applied to a lot of current events.

The idea of the icon was another topic that I have been thinking about after reading Understanding Comics. While my instinct tells me that more realistic and rendered images are easier for audiences to relate to, McCloud argues that icons, or subjects shown at a basic level hit much closer to home. His reasoning behind this makes a lot of sense, because the lack of specificity in icons allows for our minds to fill in the details, and often place a part of ourselves in the characters or story.

Over the course of this class so far, I have enjoyed viewing comics on a deeper level and have grown to be interested in how they can comment on our society at large or even address humanity as a whole.