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.