Week 13: Reconsidering The Superhero

This week I started to read Ms Marvel. I have heard such good things about the comic, and after seeing it on the reading list for this week, I knew I had to read it. Marvel has an amazing way of reinventing their classic superheroes and I’ve always been interested to see how they handle each character change. That being said, I knew Ms Marvel was going to be a redesign, but I wasn't sure how they were going to handle it.

Perhaps I’m biased but I was very pleasantly surprised and entertained by the character of Kamala Khan. She is portrayed with such a realistic teen mindset, and the struggles she faces have a very humanistic feel. The character is quite easily likeable and I thoroughly enjoyed reading the series. I couldn’t stop reading and ended up finishing the whole first run of the series over the weekend.

This was the first mainstream comic in which I saw extreme and well thought out diversification in character and story. The main character’s Muslim upbringing and culture is very well portrayed and done so in a very respectful and appropriate manner. I believe that this form of representation is extremely important in today's society. Not only does this type of comic help people of that culture connect with the character, but it also helps inform readers of a culture they might be misinformed on, or not know much about.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the series, and look forward to reading the next run of the comic. Marvel always has such talented artists and writers on their team, and I was happy to see some of my favorite comic artists work in the series as well.

Week 13: The Killing Joke Questions

Q. What is your reaction to the text you just read?

A. I found this text to be incredibly interesting and quite an escalation from the past Batman and Joker storylines, the plot is much darker and seems much more complex than that of the past. The story takes turns that are unexpected and really help to build the character of the Joker and show his insanity and relentlessness. I found the ending to be witty yet somewhat unsatisfying.

Q. What connections did you make with the story? Discuss the elements of the work with which you were able to connect.

A. I really connected with the frustration the characters feel in the storyline. The Joker gets away with so much and in the story you can really feel the stress and frustration that Batman and the Gordon's feel towards the Joker and his scheme. That being said, I enjoyed seeing a glimpse of humanity from the Joker at the conclusion of the comic.

Q. What changes would you make to adapt this story into another medium? What medium would you use? What changes would you make?

A. Initially I'd say to translate this comic into a movie, that being said, they already have–and I've seen it! The film was great and I thouroughly enjoyed it, however, I hadn't read the comic previous to this, and after reading it, I noticed quite a few changes from the text. If I were to adapt the comic, my first choice would be in movie form, however, I'd try to stay more true to the text. The comic is much more interesting and graphic in my opinion. I believe that perhaps the film would be more successful in a live-action form, with a Dark Knight-esque feel to it. 

Week 12: Comics by Women

This week I read This One Summer by Jillian and Mariko Tamaki. I feel like I say this every week but this graphic novel has its own beautifully unique style as well. I was pleased with how the artist takes breaks from the busy comic pages to let the reader breathe with peaceful and beautifully drawn airy pages (such as below).

 

The author presents the story of two young teenage girls. The story presents the daily life of two girls and their antics. I'm convinced the authors pulled from their own childhoods, as a lot of the information and happenings in the story, I remember from my own childhood.

In doing so, the story feels that much more personal to the readers. Another aspect I found compelling about this story is its presentation of women in the story. In a field that somewhat has a record of objectifying women, this comic broke away from the norm. The story is composed mostly of women, presented in different ages and trope types. After calling one of the other older girls a slut–after she heard one of the men call her that–Rose's mom scolds her daughter. This is presented in a witty way that adds a moral to the tiny storyline. "Bit strange calling someone you don't even know a slut."

Week 11: Comics as Contemporary Literature

This week I read Asterios Polyp, by David Mazzucchelli. This graphic novel truly blew me away stylistically. Unlike any novel or comic I've read, Asterios Polyp has a unique color pallet and style to it. The pages are colored in a two-tone way which gives the book a unique and beautiful feel. The limited color palette also helps set the mood of the pages.

Something that was very low key, but pleased me nonetheless, was the author's attention to detail. Either knowledgable of the art world, or having done his research, Mazzucchelli really brought Asterios' architectural world to life with the collection of designer furnishings in his apartment. In the room you can see furnishings from Eames, Breuer, Mies van der Rohe, Eileen Grey, and Le Corbusier. With such expensive and iconic designer furnishings, it was interesting seeing the space messy and dirty, and the juxtaposition of the two helped set the scene for the opening of the comic.

Another plot moment I found interesting, and shocking, was how the narrator reveals himself as the stillborn brother of Asterios. It adds interest to the story, while revealing a major aspect of the plot. These type of plot reveals are ubiquitous throughout the story, and give the reader big moments of realization.

Week 10: Manga

This week I (re)read the first volume of Death Note, by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. I chose to read this manga because I had read the series way back when I was in middle school, and I remember being head over heels in love with it at the time.

Manga helped push me into the art field, and although I didn't recall most details of the story in Death Note, I do remember admiring the art. That being said, delving into Japanese manga this week, I have noticed some differences between manga and the American comics we know. Most obviously would be the artistic style. Manga seems to be a relatively detailed form of comics, with exaggerated aspects such as larger eyes and hash-sharper angles. Aside from stylistic differences, the themes also seem to be different. Specifically when reading Death Note, the manga deals with a darker and more complex theme then most American comics I have seen. Perhaps this is because they are targeting a different audience.

That being said, I wasn't sure what to expect reading Death Note for a second time. I didn't think I would like it as much as hyped up 12 year old me did, however, I found myself liking the story. The concept behind the story is very heavy and well thought out. The theme is complex and deals with tough questions that the reader can ask themselves throughout the storyline.

Week 9: European Comics Tradition

This week I read Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. I had heard so much about this comic, and its film adaptation a few years back. So I was excited to see what all the hype was about. I wasn't let down! The comic is striking in multiple ways. First–and most obviously–the graphics. The artist chose to illustrate the comic with only 100% black and white. No use of grey tones. I found this very interesting and–as a graphic designer–pleasing. By doing so the graphics are very harsh and simplified looking. This aspect makes the comic simplified and easy to look at.

I also found the story, and the issues that the comic deals with, to be incredible striking. A topic thats been so prevalent in todays society, I found it interesting to hear and see a first hand account of a child growing up and dealing with religious and personal conflicts first hand. The graphic elements and personal feeling of the work, make a compelling and informative story that really paints a picture of what life was like for the author. 

Week 8: Stereotype and The Ethics of Representation

This week I read March, by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powel. My immediate impression was the expressive and graphic quality of the imagery. The comic is drawn in a very expressive style, the viewer can see the brush pen strokes, and the artist doesn't try to cover this up. On top of the art style, the text/speech is also drawn by hand, only using typography for the title pages. An aspect that I found to aid in this is the rigidity of the speech bubbles at times. This is apparent in the opening, when the protestors are confronted by the authorities, their speech bubbles are rigid and rather reminded me of saw blades. This gives a harsh feeling to the text and brings emotion into the work. Overall the expressiveness of the type and imagery dramatically adds to the feeling and mood of the comic.

Along with the art style, I really appreciated how the artist allows some of the drawings to bleed into the page. The graphics really seem to sink into when the artist does this, and it gives and airy and calm feeling to the story. The author seems to use these graphics in this way on purpose.

In terms of stereotype, this comic seemed to be a model for others to follow. I do believe that stereotype is somewhat necessary in comics, since there is no vocal element, the reader needs to be able to tell who each character is. That being said, the stereotyping of characters needs to be respectful and true to form. I think that people tend to think that broad stereotyping is okay, because they don't belong to the community being represented, and therefore aren't being affected. However, if done incorrectly, stereotyping in comics–and all media forms–can be extremely toxic and harmful to individuals who are being falsely represented. I've personally felt stereotyped before, and it's a shame to be pushed into a corner when individuals are so much more complex then that.