Growing up, I read quite a few comic books. I was the kid browsing comic book bins every weekend, and had a great relationship with my local shop owner. I started as a huge fan of Alien vs. Predator, all if its related incarnations, Mortal Kombat, and various Marvel franchises. Big guns? Ninjas? Superheroes? Aliens? That was my schtick. I… Read more →
In our discussion of what makes a comic/graphic novel, we looked at several definitions, some of which seemed pretty solid. Scott McCloud, in Understanding Comics defines comics as “juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence intended to convey information and/or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer.” This is a rather serviceable, if simple and in the case… Read more →
When we remember things, we aren’t aware of how much are representations of the past can be altered by time and the discourses surrounding us. Art Spiegelman’s Maus deals with autobiographical recollections of the past. Specifically, Art Spiegelman’s father Vladek provides a narrative about his hardships in Auschwitz. Art presents Vladek’s memories by remembering what his father told him about… Read more →
When we began our discussion of Fun Home, we talked about the rating system of comics. I want to extend this conversation more to some points we did not really go into as much. Being introduced into to graphic novels and comics solely because of this class I had no idea of the rating system. Yes, I knew there was… Read more →
Some people could look at a graphic novel, comic book, or web comic and can think that seems easy enough to do. Create some characters, draw some background and some action. Add in some dialogue, maybe a little narration, a story plot and you have a graphic novel or web comic. Sounds and seems easy, right? However it is… Read more →
While the sales of graphic novels and comics have been hitting a new high, it’s the print copies that have had a major upshot! “The comics and graphic novel market hit another new high for the century in 2014, and a new high since the mid-90s, according to a new joint estimate by Comichron’s John Jackson Miller and ICv2’s Milton… Read more →
Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi is a graphic novel that follows Satrapi’s life as a child growing up during the Iranian war. The majority of the book is drawn in standard rectangle panels with gutters between them. Any deviation in this pattern calls attention to the speed or intention of the lack of frame. These particular pages are an… Read more →
I remember the first comic book I read. It was a Looney Toons comic from the comic shop where my brother would hang out and play Magic: The Gathering. I picked it up, my parents bought it, and by the time we got home from the comic shop ten minutes later, I’d finished it. I still remember my parents asking… Read more →
For my blog post this week I want to focus on the Scott McCloud reading we did: “Vocabulary of Comics” in Understanding Comics. One of the reasons I choose this particular topic to talk about is because, as an English major, we are always finding something to analyze. Whether this be understanding what a particular phrase or line means, understanding… Read more →
Season six of The Walking Dead kicked off on AMC this past Sunday, and fans were greeted to (slight) SPOILER ALERT: unquestionably the biggest horde of zombies to date, as well as buzz worthy black and white sequences juxtaposing up against the series typical color format. This unique shift in the show’s typical form was used to indicate past and present occurrences… Read more →