DRAWRING

Here are a few quick comics I have made concerning things that happen to me on wednesdays. I think the simplicity [and therefore clarity] of the four panel one works loads better than the second.

Love & Rockets - No. 1

Love and Rockets No. 1 by the Hernandez Brothers tells the tale of the Ti-Girls, the Fenomenons, and their search for the troubled Penny Century. The most notable component of this comic is the focus on the role of women. Thinking back, I can't recall a single male character in the entire Ti-Girls comic. I found this to be particularly interesting considering that the authors are both men.

The first prominent feminine theme that defines the story is the competition between stereotypes. Despite the fact that all of our characters are super gals in one way or another, we have a constant tension between the Fenomenons--slender, flashy, beautiful women who attract [or steal] attention--and the Ti-Girls--old, overweight, unconventional hero types. Although they eventually find a way to cooperate and save the day, their multifaceted interactions are an exaggerated portrayal of the female psyche in real life. Members of the audience do not have super powers, but can nevertheless relate to the way these women act because there is an aspect of reality in the character development. Women are competitive, judgmental, and make assumptions about other women based on nothing more than their appearance, which the Hernandez brothers pay keen attention to and use as a storytelling element.

Another motif throughout the comic is motherhood. More specifically, we see a demonstration of different mother-daughter relationships, and the power of maternal instincts. Penny Century's entire ordeal is based in the fact that she lost her daughters, and is thrown into blind rage by their separation. This too is based on some level of reality: readers can easily understand the possibility of a woman reacting severely to such a situation. The authors take this subject to another level later in the story when the Ti-Girls somehow "give" maternal instinct to one of the heroes in order to aid her in locating Penny Century's daughters. Again we see motherly tendencies, which are a very real part of most peoples' lives and are often unexplainable to a point, being exaggerated to add interest to the barrier that the characters face.

Sandman - Neil Gaiman

In addition to reading Neil Gaiman's Sandman #5, I did some research on his life and other work to gain a better understanding of his influence on the world of comics. In short, his success is far reaching, and his comics demonstrate only a part of his ability as a writer. But regardless, his graphic work has earned tremendous recognition, which I would argue is due to the fact that Gaiman is so versatile. Gaiman's experience ranges from children's books to venues beyond the visual arts such as poetry and prose. In short, his multiplied success allows him a greater understanding of what will appeal to any given audience.

Sandman's mystical subject matter was what struck me the most while reading it for the first time. Such topics are easy to butcher, so it is impressive to witness a thoughtful treatment of magic and myth paired with quality design in his comics. In the video we watched during this week's class, Alan Moore [whose work I think clearly relates to that of Gaiman]discusses the necessity for successful fantasy to remain a derivative of reality in some aspect. Despite its fictitious qualities, the reader remains grounded in parts of Sandman such as the zombie figure receiving a ride from a usual woman in a usual car, or our empathy that results from the same character having lost his mother and using that as a driving force for his actions. Overall, Gaiman's knowledge and care in his own work are what allow him to so eloquently execute comics that resonate with a great number of people.

Asterios Polyp

Asterios Polyp by David Mazzuccheli--for lack of a less dramatic phrase--changed my life. Initially the visual aspect of the graphic novel struck me unlike any other graphic piece I have encountered. The use of color and varied typography as more in-depth storytelling elements was highly sophisticated, and because of their addition to the collective story, the characters are more developed, which results in greater audience interaction with the story.

Beyond the visual artistic components I was highly impressed with the intellectual content of Asterios Polyp. Mazzuccheli found intriguing ways of illustrating abstract concepts that surround the subject of thought and intellectual limits. In other words, this novel dealt with the core of Asterios' inner wiring which serves as an examination of greater human kind in general. For example, in one section of the book we see a diagram resembling some kind of atomic structure with the statement that Asterios is the center of his own story. We see his face very large in the center next to his wife's [which is considerably smaller] with other prominent people in his life in varying positions around them on the atomic track. Not only does this illustration give us insight as to the flaws in Asterios' character, but we also better understand how he operates due to the fact that we can place ourselves in his position from the structure of the panel to see that if we are honest enough with ourselves we will probably see that our own personal diagram would be similar to Asterios'.

Soon after we see this panel, Mazzuccheli presents another version of the social diagram after telling the readers of Asterios' divorce with his wife. At this point his head has shrunk, the atoms have been blown off their track, and the viewer sees a chaotic version of what had previously been shown to them. This of course signifies the importance of being level headed by pictorally representing Asterios' struggles after finding himself more or less alone.

Overall, I felt that this novel was successful because it paired stunning design with an honest examination of human tendencies. It could be my personal sympathy with Asterios, but I truly felt that by reading Asterios Polyp I was reading about some abstract version of my life, or peoples' lives in general. Sounds lame maybe, but what can I say? My interest in graphic novels has skyrocketed in these past few months.

Persepolis

Marjane Satrapi's work Persepolis stood out to me among the novels I have read thus far this semester because of its context. The plot follows a decent chunk of Marjane's life, and although other works such as Blankets does the same, Persepolis seemed to have so much more information within the story.

I read the entire novel in two days, and considered stopping several times due to other work I had. I thought "I have a good enough idea about what is going on that I can finish this after Thursday." However, luckily I persevered and discovered that there are important developments in Satrapi's tale throughout the plot. My greatest connection with this novel is not one of deep analysis, but of quantity. After completing the novel, I felt like I had just lived her life with her and experienced those same struggles, as opposed to merely observing it.

Manga & the Japanese Comics Tradition

For this week, I read Phoenix: Karma vol. 4 by Osamu Tezuka. This graphic novel resonated with me in several different ways. My first reaction was surprise: nearly the first half of the book seemed to consist of the protagonist trotting around killing whoever he pleased regardless of who they were or his relationship to them [ex: he slays his wife part-way through the plot].However, things took a turn after he killed his wife and Tezuka introduced some valuable life lessons into the story. I was impressed that such eloquent themes evolved out of such a violent start, which added a deeper level of legitimacy to this genre for me.

But beyond these elements of the graphic novel, what struck me the most were the panel progressions that depicted a short amount of elapsed time, and focused on the images to explain the scene as opposed to words. Any words that were used were onomatopoeias, which retains a pictoral quality despite the inclusion of actual letters. A few examples of these progressions are shown below.

I think that I am attracted to theses kinds of sequences because of my roots as an illustrator. Although my interest of sequential work and the use of text in any art form has always been there and continues to grow, I am most impressed by smart design within pictures that do not rely on another form of language for the audience to respond.

Stereotype & the Ethics of Representation

After discussing stereotypes in class and reading American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Tang this week, I was reminded again of Scott McCloud's agrument of the icon. The importance of the icon is demonstrated most effectively in the context of stereotypes.

Because comics depend on immediacy in recognizing the content of each panel, comic artists often play on stereotypes to maintain that level of urgency in communication with readers. In Tang's novel, the character cousin Chin-kee is a perfect example of the embodiment of a stereotype. He introduces himself on page 48 in a single panel that spreads the whole page and exclaims "HARRO AMELLICA!" wearing a typical Asian garment, with his hands clasped together in front of his chest. Cousin Chin-kee's yellowy skin, slit eyes and flat looking nose also add to our impression of his character. Tang holds no barriers in conveying to the audience that Cousin Chin-kee is clearly of Asian descent, and his execution is highly effective.

Although Chin-kee's traits are iconic and the most effective way to communicate to readers, there is also the potential of Tang's creation of his character being offensive. As with discussion of any stereotype, the line is often thin between acceptable and attacking. This leads us to the question as to what methods are available for comics artists besides use of the stereotype? In other words, how would Tang pictorally demonstrate Cousin Chin-kee's race without giving him slit eyes, a distinct accent, etc? The most satisfying answer that I have come up with is that the use of stereotypes in comics is more or less inevitable, and the difference between okay and not lies within the context of the stereotype and to what degree it is taken.

As for Cousin Chin-kee's character, Tang pushed his mannerisms much farther than any other character in the novel, and displayed him in a comical way. Although it is not too far for me as a reader, I can easily see how some individuals may be left with a bad taste in their mouth because of Cousin Chin-kee.