Literature of Comics and the Graphic Narrative

In class I read two comics, MU The Lost Planet, and Bizarre Sex: A giant penis attacks New York. Overall, I really love the breadth and depth (or sometimes lack thereof) – of the topics covered in both of these comics. MU is a high fantasy comic, with a semi-serious tone. The story centers around two ancient civilizations, and the struggle for power and control over these technologically advanced worlds. The tone of Bizarre Sex was quite a bit different, and starts of with a story about a werewolf sitting on a dock and using a bucket of severed penises to catch a mermaid, which he then hacks in half and carries off to presumably eat. Ultimately I think its really awesome that there was a form of media that could handle both the fantastically epic, and terrifyingly bizarre.

I really loved how music was integrated into this weeks reading. Both the music and the art styles seemed to twist and flow together in one moment of nonlinear expression. It’s like you could feel the culture of the time, dripping out of its conventional constraints through any and every available crack or gap. The religious experience of Phillip K Dick, was really intense. I've heard a few people talk about his experience before, but had never realized that it was centered on Christianity. I also really enjoyed some of the underground stories and art styles in the Mothers Oats Comix. The pinnacle of this particular reading experience was listening to In-a-gadda-da-vida, while flipping through “The Dope Dealer”. I also really appreciated the diversity of style and storytelling, in “Gay Comix”. It was pretty awesome hearing about different things people had experienced, and seeing the individual ways they wrote about and expressed those experiences.