Scott McCloud's "Understanding Comics"; Character Faces

After reading McCloud's "Understanding Comics", I've noticed that I tend to try to find face in what I read as well. It might be said with all writing really but society might personify characters to relate to them move and be invested within the story. We want to connect to a new different environment that’s a little similar to the one we live in. The pictorial icons that represent realistic figures tend to get more interest in adventure comics like from DC, Marvel, “the Walking Dead” series. These comics have given us specific details that are similar to our own so we can take the tone of these comics with either a serious one, or a average one that’s relatable to the audience. But with the use of Amplification through simplification, cartoon like facial features like Archie or Charlie Brown, it helps eliminate unnecessary details. It leads to more focus on the story and setting rather than the depiction of the character. Rather than your eyes try to form a realistic head on the character “Charlie Brown”, you start to shape the circles and swirls into a face caricature. You focus more on the line of dialogue and situation rather than if the face is realistic. This causes you to relate more to what’s going on in the story. This is what I got out of the book and I feel he hit the nail on the hammer. I’ve felt that I could understand the characters and setting without being taken out of the plot. I see humanity in the characters and start to relate more in how they act. Even in shape’s that are no way similar to my own. I have a feeling that I always knew about the perception but no one can describe the experience until I’ve read this story. I hope many others would realize that the image of the character isn’t as important as human will always see humanity in things, even in things that aren’t defined by shape.

My interpretation of Max Ernst's A Week of Kindness

From what I could tell, here is how things are happening in between each panel.

Panel 1: a woman is using a spell on a chicken egg and she killed a man as a sacrifice.

Panel 2: A man turned into a rooster is looking a an unconscious woman. Probably his lover.

Panel 3: The chickens are opening up a coffin with a woman in it with them looking down on her.

Panel 4: The chicken men are wrapping something right next to a dead woman on a stone floor.

Panel 5: the chicken man comes home to find his woman/lover dead and a bunch on non-anamorphic chickens around her body. He throws his arms up in despair. 

Panel 6: Two woman are prying cabinets against the door to keep the chicken man for getting them for whatever purpose. 

Panel 7: A chicken man is telling a dark terrible fortune to two different women and one of them seems distressed about the situation. 

Panel 8: women are hiding from a chicken man like in pane 6 but he looks more monstrous than human like. There is also a goose head coming out of one of the women’s heads. 

Panel 9: a bunch of skeletons are attacking a couple dressed as sailors and trying to take them somewhere. 

Panel 10: Barbaric chicken creatures are taking all the women away from a moving train and kidnapping them to be tortured. 

Panel 11: The chicken creatures are basically a cult and they not only torture women, but their own kind as well. They are using a device that’s similar to anal burning.

Panel 12: They are then whipping women and torturing them to death.

Panel 13: Then women are outside in a different location and are shooting each other to the death. 

Narrative told without a Voice

The Arrival was a lot of fun to read and its tale really sets you up for what the story has to present. It narrative about a man looking for a new home for his wife and daughter and the tale of asking people how to get there. When he asks others we get a look as to what their life was like and what they had been through. The story could be read without words since it’s imagery follows like how artist use storyboards to show their client what actions would take place during the story. It’s scenes are mostly set actions that the main character is doing such as a frame by frame of him opening a letter by holding it half open, then having it folded into squares, then him putting it in his pocket. It uses step by step while only focusing on the important scenes.To me however, what’s unique about the arrival is the lack of color that draws the reader to the story and the abstract landscape that catches the eye as the main point of interest. The look of the piece is with a tannish color with shaded parts to represent shadow, which is an unusually choice of design. It’s tone was clear as it reminded me of silent movie where the characters main action was what told the story, not through vocal communication. Sometimes certain shots were like camera shots to show you what’s important and to not bore you sometimes when you follow along in the story. It would also help that sometimes you can just imagine the characters moving on their own even though some frames are just a still image… or is that just me? Either way, the narrative is more driven by the imagery and each scene is very detailed in quality. The Arrival is one of the rare few pieces I’ve read that can describe a narrative without words and have been yearning for more. The imaginative setting is both different but familiar to what I’ve seen and has me reflect on how many other stories could be told without voice.