Lit. of Comics & The Graphic Narrative

I skimmed Gay Comix with no intention of reading it, even holding my breath just in case I saw something beyond indecent, but I’m glad I was wrong. In fact, I really enjoyed Lee Marrs’s work and found her issue really heartwarming. The main character was just anxious, self-conscious, and really relatable. The push and pull of having a crush can be exciting for a teenager, but frightening for an adult. At least for me, the thought of an adult awkwardly hiding feelings from another seems a bit juvenile, but I wonder if part of the main character’s shame stems from the same sentiment. Nonetheless, she was charming, and I wanted nothing but for her to live her best life. There have always been stories about morally ambiguous and really lonely people, but these stories feel autobiographical. The stories are very real and unfiltered. Each story explores hook-up culture through a different lens. The story about the two black men, where one accuses the other of having a preference for white ...

The selection of books assigned this week was all action-oriented. Scott McCloud dedicated a section of his book on panel transitions, and it’s really cool to be able to distinguish each of them clearly while reading different types of comics. I didn’t know a woman drew Miss Fury until I studied the villain of the episode. The villain was very handsome, but the way his eyelashes were drawn had a subtle, effeminate gesture. For some reason, I thought, “There’s no way a man would draw another man with eyelashes with such care”, and I had this instinctive feeling a woman might have drawn this! It’s such a treat to see a feminine perspective in a male-oriented genre. I used to love reading Tin Tin, but I mainly read them because I had a crush on him years ago. Truth be told, I was never a fan of the action genre to begin with, so I never really found the plots engaging. Aside from that opinion, everything else about the Tin Tin series is lovely; the character designs are made up of sof...

I love the illustrations in Little Nemo. It’s so beautiful and extremely unique. It is a visual trip. I like how we, the readers, get to experience Nemo’s world with the same awe as the characters do. I feel like a lot of Japanese comic artists would find McCay’s work inspirational, as they seem to place a lot of importance on world-building. I think a disappointing aspect of his work is that he always works in wide shots. It’s rare to see any of the environments up close. My relationship with these characters feels impersonal. I want to feel like I’m right next to these characters. I don’t want to feel like I’m on the sidelines all the time. The disadvantage is that the characters often blend into the environment. Whenever a character causes a commotion, I kind of look past it because the characters themselves don’t serve as a focal point. Things just happen, but you aren’t impacted as strongly due to the inflexibility of the compositions. I think Winsor McCay really just wanted an ex...

There is only one thing I find pleasant in Will Eisner's work. The way he uses figure-ground as a transition to the next moment in the story is so smooth and well thought out… other than that, I am utterly uninterested in Will Eisner’s work, and I know myself it's for petty reasons. I read the first 45 pages of "Dropsie Avenue" and understood that there was no singular plot, as it explored multiple stories. The theme of the story illustrates no matter how times have changed, it is in our disposition for prejudice to exist. I would have enjoyed this story immensely if the dialogue wasn’t so colloquial. I was frustrated that, even as a native English speaker, I couldn’t speed through the comic as fast as I wanted to due to the character’s colloquialism. So, I gave up and read the entirety of "Last Day in Vietnam" instead. And I still didn’t like it very much.  Also, why are all of his characters so soggy and unattractive? Almost every character, regar...