Literature of Comics and the Graphic Narrative

The greatest web comic I’ve ever read – and possibly the greatest web-comic of all time, is without a doubt Steve Lichman by Dave Rapoza and Dan Warren https://rapozacomics.carbonmade.com/projects/5313679 I think Steve Lichman is a great example of why web comics are so successful. The rough linework and simple color palate give it a personal touch, while the relatively short panel size make it quickly rewarding and easy to scroll through. It really feels like someone’s labor of love, that they come home to each night and scribble out when the mood hits. It also looks like something one of your friends might’ve drawn, and I think that makes the comic feel more personal and contemporary. It s simplicity also makes it feel more visceral, like all of its guts are right there on the page for you to see. Another thing that I think makes it so successful is the overall tone, and the humor and wit, that seem to seep out of every panel. It’s freaking hilarious, and I think that the hu...

I was really impressed by the comic Pretty Deadly, although I think the title could use some work. One of my friends from the Air Force used to be obsessed with Taylor Momsens band “Pretty Reckless” and I always used to give him a hard time about how teen-angst that name sounded.. In all seriousness the comic was awesome. I loved the art; the line work was expressive and detailed, charged with life and beautifully orchestrated. The colors were also phenomenal, and really added to the overall tone of the story. I also really liked how such non-traditional narrators were narrating the story almost like a fable. It seemed to allow for bending of the worlds rules – like having the vulture girl come in as an actual vulture in the first volume. I never would have questioned the legitimacy of a comic based on the sex of its creators, but its awesome to see such slam-dunk work out there in the name of equality.  

This week for comics as contemporary literature I read Transmetropolitain by Warren Ellis and The Bus by Paul Kirchner. I think it’s really refreshing to see contemporary comics grow up a little with their audiences and tackle more literary topics. I love the simple yet somewhat profound themes handled in The Bus, and really enjoy stories in general that create a space to break the rules, leaving one magic stationary place that you can count on, piloting through the madness with the regularity and drollness of a bus stop. I also thoroughly appreciated the subtle nods towards Hunter S Thompson in Transmetropolitain – although I hardly think the good doctor himself would have approved. In one of his documentaries, Thompson goes into a bloody rant in the middle of his kitchen when the first directors set to direct Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas try and turn his famous San Francisco “Wave” speech into a cartoon. Thompson hated being characterized, especially as a cart...

Barefoot Gen was a really heavy way to begin this class. The perspective was both tragic and very humbling. It hurt to watch, but I’m glad that I was exposed to it. Even though the medium of animation doesn’t typically handle heavier topics like that, I think that the story accomplished what it set off to achieve, and was probably able to convey the story in a more palatable way than a live action version would be able to. I’ve always appreciated Manga, (my gateway to the world of manga being through FLCL) but I think its safe to say that my appreciation has been greatly increased, at times forcibly so, since my time studying at Ringling. Building on what Scott McCloud wrote in understanding comics, I think its ability to be so expressive through various levels of magnification and representation makes it an extremely powerful style, and one that is extremely adaptable, handling both serious and entertaining topics alike.

This topic has special interest to me, because of the particularly nostalgic and poignant time in my life when I discovered people like Moebius and Jodorowsky. I was assigned to do six months in the Beale Air Force base Honor guard, when in my off time I stumbled across a torrent with the entire Jean Giraud archive. Far up north in the foothills of Tahoe, for that entire green and rainy California spring, in between flag folding ceremonies and funerary rifle firing - I was absolutely immersed. There are many incredible things about the work of Jean Giraud; his soft ethereal colors, his borderline mystic line quality and geometrically grounded spirituality, his philosophy on art, his humor, its really hard to pick one aspect of his work to rave about. Ultimately his incredibly detailed and sometimes delicate draftsmanship, mixed with his use of both silent and worded storytelling makes for a fantastically engrossing experience. The only thing more fantastic than being absorbed by o...

It was definitely interesting learning about how far we’ve come as a culture when it comes to the stereotypical representations used in early comics and other forms of media, especially in terms of race, sexuality, gender and ethnicity. To me, despite the current cultural climate of dissatisfaction, I think that we’ve come pretty far as a culture in one lifetime. It actually seems like we’re probably pushing the limit for the amount of change and adjustment that some people can make to their worldview in one lifetime, without completely plunging them and the culture into a state of mass anxiety and hysteria. That being said, I wish we would have acknowledged that in class in a more positive way, and approached this topic in the lecture from a more reassuring perspective - especially in today’s current media-fueled maddening political climate. It would have been refreshing to hear about this topic from the perspective that the changes we need to make as a culture, have already happ...