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Week Four: The Comic Book

I was actually surprised by the diversity of both the artwork and content, that was beginning to arrive on the scene as comics started to appear in book format. The colors may have been simplified when compared to Windsor McCays shimmering hues, but the content was much more involved and graphic. Some of the plots seemed blatantly violent, which is understandable giving the nature of the time period, but It made me understand why the Comics Code Authority may have reacted to some of the subject matter the way that they did. It was also interesting to read super hero stories like Superman, in the context of the time they were created. Despite the fact that the artwork, plot, and dialogue may have been lacking, the character of the Superman felt a lot more at home helping Indians, fighting crooks, and lifting cars in the world of the 1930’s, than he does watching over the world of today from a space station, wearing the same blue spandex and underwear. Out of all the action stories I read, I felt like the ones by marvel, like Captain America, were actually done really well. The artwork pushed the action outside of the conventional comic-panel, and the overall narrative flow often had a really nice rhythm, and felt very natural.

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