Revised Narrative told without a voice: Take 2

I've felt that I've gotten a better understanding on how a narrative could be explained through visual imagery after reading Shaun Tan's graphic novel, "The Arrival". When first reading the story, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to see the theme of the illustrations connecting to each other but to my surprise my brain was able to pick up on the following image. The synopsis of the story depicts a man searching for a specific location that his spouse and child would be more comfortable living in. Since he doesn't know the destination of the place or his way around the landscape, he finds company in several people he meets during his travel and sometimes hears their own tales about they're background. It could be said that Shaun Tan's style of narrative could derive from what animators use today to explain their scenes called "Storyboards". Storyboards are a sequence of drawings of shots planned out for film industries and television productions. A key difference in these was that Tan's style was more detailed and imaginative while most storyboards are simple and staple just to get the point across to the clients. Another technique that Tan used in his book was the set color tone with the dominant color through out the story being sepia. The color was set to emit the emotion of a surreal classical setting. The variety of imaginative imagery also helped the story to reinforce the point of interest in certain scenes. These techniques helped to lead the audience to let the brain create the scenario inside their minds to follow along with the still imagery. It's one of the few pieces that I've seen that could creative a narrative without the use of type to reinforce the character's actions and emotions. It is believed that Shaun Tan's graphic novel could bring the question of having other novels and forms of media to still depict their narrative without the use of type or voice to push the actions of the characters.

Reconsidering the Superhero- Locke and Key- Realism in Comics

While speaking with my dad on the phone one day, he told me what comic books were like for him when he was young. It was just super heroes saving peoples lives with super powers. But since I read a lot of comic books now, I have a different experience from him.

Comics have changed as a whole, and not just the super hero ones. They now focus on character backstory, interactions, setting, tone, a whole narrative just to get the story going from A to Z. The surreal setting seems less to come from fairy tales and more into comics. While keeping the superesque theme that my dad grew up with it has changed into incorporating more realistic elements. Things like relationships, past experience, loss, sexual activities, violence and more are heightened into an unrealistic universe. It could be argued that this change makes the readers relate to the characters more and understand their experiences. In contrast they over-exaggerate the fantasy themes and have realistic explanations (mostly scientific) for their items and abilities.One series that I've found a while ago does this really well. It's called "Locke and Key", in which depicts three siblings using supernatural keys to fight an antagonist who is possessed by an entity. The entity is trying to find a certain key that releases demons from the other side. Each key that a character finds has magic properties that either effect the person or effect the environment when used on a door. The series has a narrative and goes from one siblings perspective to the other. The heavy theme of loss is major in the story since the kids lost their father and them and the mother have different ways of dealing with it. It has a nice resolution and I would highly recommend reading it.

Another comic book series that deals with super-powered beings is "The Authority" created by Warren Ellis. "The Authority" shows a take of super heroes living on a flying ship in space where they solve the problems of calamities happening on Earth. As with "Locke and Key" they also have personal issues like relationships, sexual activity and drugs. Each character's abilities and personalities are widely different and their bizarre behaviors are even apparent in battle. One of the key things that make them different from you "regular heroes" is that they kill most of their foes. There is no "if I will them, I will be just like them" bullshit. They do whatever it takes to save planet.

Comics have widely changed from what they were before in my dad's time but this realistic approach in comic books might be in the right direction.

 More Locke and Key

More Authority in Actions

One of my favorite characters in his stand-alone.

Perfect Couple.

21st Century Comics- Webcomics- Girls with Slingshots, Oglaf- Humor can have a Brain.

Since the use of internet and computers, the populace has found a use in disrupting their media through the world of online. Before, comics were viewed through newspapers and grocery stores. Now they can be viewed online where the world, even different countries can experience other peoples work of art. Even now, I can enjoy some online webcomics when I'm bored or just follow along to the narrative the creator has given the lore of their world. I know of 2 webcomics that I would highly recommend to people since they each offer a little slice of life.

The first one had JUST recently ended her series after going along for 11 years after starting in 2004. It's called "Girls with Slingshots" and it was created by Danielle Corsetto. The comic stars Hazel Tellington, and her friend Jamie McJack going through the struggles of unemployment, relationships and other problems in life. The series has a lot of humor in it and has a variety of characters with different personality quirks that make them all unique and interesting. What got me interested in the webcomic is the way the characters behave around each other and how they go through these relatable problems that life seems to throw at you. The running theme is the girls drink a lot and discuss sex to a degree that you'd think they need it to survive (which they probably do). After a couple of years, the stories had gotten serious while still including a little humor hear and there. They start at getting split into main arcs to discussing so and so breaking up and how they coped with the aftermath. Or the marriages between another character and how their friends and family react to the engagement. The themes are also imaginative with a talking Scottish talking cactus , McPedro, that (originally) could only be communicated through drinking, a ghost kitty that floats around screaming "DOOOMMM" and many more anomalies.

The series later become known for including different sexual orientations specifically lesbians. While there were a few gay and lesbian characters, non were the main cast before and were originally just used for a punchline or a joke. But when romance came into play, soon the lives of two main characters came to discussing how to make their romances work while dealing with their own personal struggles. To credit Danielle, she kept her characters's personalities in tact without changing them to society's agenda to how others deal with these issues. While being interviewed by the Washington Post, Danielle was asked the question of including a transgender character into the the mix. I love the response she gave since it's how I feel about characters in comics in general. She states:

"The inclusivity of sexual subcultures and unusual relationship dynamics in “Girls With Slingshots” can again be attributed to the people I surround myself with. The world of  “Girls With Slingshots” isn’t unlike my own, where every other person has some unusual kink or relationship dynamic, or doesn’t fit into one label for their sexual orientation.

I avoided intentionally adding a trans character to  “Girls With Slingshots” for two reasons: one, because I found it insincere and borderline rude to add a character solely to exploit their hot-topic sexuality. And two, because I know practically nothing about trans people. Oh! And lest I forget the third reason: I didn’t want blunt, insensitive, oblivious Hazel interacting with a trans person. It would have required a lot of carefully-written PSA-style strips to make up for whatever insulting comments Hazel would casually drop, and the cast is already large enough that I didn’t feel I had enough time and space to dedicate to such a delicate topic, one that I knew so little about." 

She based the character's personalities and struggles on people that were a part of her life and she had set their strengths and weaknesses in advance rather than focus on the hot topic social issue that's become popular. I will miss the series since it was able to provide me a slice of life with humor into the mix. I was always excited to know what the characters were going to do next after the next day I read it. The comic helped me make sense in what confused me in life, that I can feel the amount of time and love in the piece. I hope Danielle will continue to find passion and love in what she does and sets out to her new journey. 

The second webcomic I love reading is coincidently one posted on the blog. It's Oglaf. I loved the humor and lore told through a medical fantasy realm using sexual references... or actions...either or. While the story first started with the tales of the apprentice Ivan, it continued even after he was "put to rest" with a lot of humor and gags. To many people I've talked with the book about, they didn't know one of the authors was a woman (Trudy Cooper). I love that she's not afraid to state that male AND FEMALES love sex and use the action constantly for their daily lives. Sometimes the stories can offer different themes and religions that people tend to not think about. Overall each page has a humorous result based on the actions that people make. 

Both Oglaf and Girls with Slingshots can offer themes of real life elements into the narrative but still produce humor into issues that one would think is serious and challenging. 

More Girls with Slingshots comics

More Oglaf comics

Comics as Contemporary Literature- Neil Gaiman "The Sandman"- Drama told through Mythology

 xI've grown a love for mythology since coming to college. The lore that it presented in the stories seem like a soap opera to me. All the tales of betrayal and some gods trying to kill demigods. All of it excited me and made me welcome to know more. What I didn't originally know was that Neil Gaiman had already written things for this.

Neil Gaiman's literature, "The Sandman", is about a character that rules the dream world and his known as the title as The Sandman (alias being Morpheus). He is trying to rebuild his kingdom after being imprisoned for 70 years by a ritual cult and is trying to change his actions after what he did before. He's known as a tragic hero, someone who had not done wrong and you start to see their morality decline and understand his or her motivation to do so. In the Batman movie, "The Dark Knight", the character Harvey Dent could be considered a tragic hero since he started as a defender of justice to a fallen broken man. While the story starts off as a dark setting in later books it's more of a fantasy genre with myological beings introduced into the mix. It's art style is surreal and it's narrative goes from one character to another, even introducing characters that won't stay long for the story.

I'll be honest, my first time reading "The Sandman" I started on volume 9, "the Kindly Ones". I didn't know what to expect in reading it since it was my first time reading one of Neil Gaiman's work. I was confused (probably because I started in the middle of the arc instead of the beginning) but I wanted to know more about the characters, more about the world that the Dream Kingdom took place in. After reading the book, I actually started in the beginning to know what the hell was going on. I was shocked to know how little mythology was included in the first novel since it was a prominent thing in the ninth volume. The myological aspect didn't start till the fourth volume with the giving the figure Lucifer more background rather than just someone Morpheus pissed off.  When I first saw the art style, I wasn't all that interested since it was too abstract to my taste, but with the narrative and mythological references you'll grow to love it like I have. What I didn't know originally was that a character from the DC universe, Lyta (Alias: Fury) was incorporated into the universe and that some of the actions effected their replicative books and even tied into the Doctor Fate series. There are no points where I feel disappointed in the narrative and feel that the lore has some ties into everyday life that people endure (another reasoning that most of the setting takes place in the modern world).

Neil Gaiman "The Sandman" has amazing flow and pacing. The art is mystical and abstract and it plays in favor with the setting. I would say that I enjoyed his work and hope to find more mythological aspects in other works he's done.

Preacher Questions

These are a series of questions asked within the class to the comic "Preacher"


Were there any prominent symbols in what we read and how were they used?

Well there were a lot of symbols of the theme of God with the depiction of Genesis and how they were incorporated into the story. Genesis was used as a being from heaven coming down to Earth to process a soul and it soon processes Jesse and destroys the church. Jesse later states that the voices that he hears in his head are similar to the voices of God commanding him to give voice to the lords teachings, kind of fits since he's a preacher. You could say his killing people in the church was him killing all of the sinners for their actions and them not being excepted like Noah's ark.

Is there a aspect of the story in which you were able to make a personal connection, what was the nature of the connection?

I'm not sure that I felt a personal connection with the elements presented in the story since I didn't really go through all of the "edgy" matters that happened like running away from enforcers or the truth behind people. I guess I could say it was based on when everyone went to church. While in the comic people only went to church just to see Jesse make a fool of himself in front of everyone like he did in the bar the night before but for me it was different. My mother usually goes to church when we visit her home town and when she does she usually see's people who were in gangs or how sold drugs or even those that had babies from different men and they went to church acting all mighty and worshiped despite their past actions. They would tell others about their change even though others have been going to church longer. It's like the two rapist who went to church acting like going there would make their actions forgivable. It was disgusting and hilarious to see people go through that metamorphosis like there were always little angles. That's the only real connection I felt.

If you were to adapt this story to another medium, what changes would you make and why?

While generally most people would go for a movie, I would try to go into the video game genre. I would make it be a objective based game while caring elements from the video game "Heavy Rain" where the cutscenes were more interactive and environmental. I would have to remove the word nigger and fag and replace them with other forms of dialogue that gets the point across of them referring to African Americans and a cigarette. I would also make the violence not that impactful but still have the effect of brutality in the slaughter of the cops and people in church. I feel a video game effect is more interactive than just viewing a movie and you could get away with more crazy effects while keeping the tone the same or at least similar to the comic.

Manga and the Japanese comics traditions- Osamu Tezuka's Buddha- The Power of a Cartoony Art Style

The Japanese Manga industry is a whole different genre than what I expected when growing up. Their use of black and white ink to create emotional pieces of art are what makes their work interesting and creative. 

Osamu Tezuka’s Buddha is no different from what I experienced. His use of simple character deigns helped connect me to relate with the characters while keeping it cartoony to get away with exaggerated movements. Still though, when I saw the cartoony look, I didn't expect some mature themes like death, alcohol or even religion (though it should have been obvious since the title is names Buddha). Tezuka's work has always interested me since my first time reading Astro Boy. While these elements that I stated are common in his work it was still surprising to still feel connected to the story even though it's kind of dated. Reading only his first volume (where Buddha is born) has left me wanting more to know what happens next to the characters and the story. While no set protagonist in the first volume, each of the other characters lives are intertwined with each other and they impact on what happens to characters later.

Another mange that most probably haven't heard of is called MAR (Marchen Awakens Romance). It starts a school kid named Ginta where he's transported to a fairy tale like world that use magical items to do battle with the antagonist the chess pieces. How it connects to Tezuka's work is that it's able to take a cartoony appearance while addressing mature themes in the narrative. The characters have over exaggerated expressions and act upon their reference like Jack and the Beanstalk or Wizard of Oz, and even Snow White. It impresses me that you can still depict artwork through black and white inking and still keep the reader focused on the story. Both pieces or work have a play on magic and supernatural occurrences as well has oppression based on social class. Don't get me wrong, there are still humorous moments in the story but it more so focuses on the pressing issues the world and setting that was at hand.

I hope later in the near future the world will continue to remember that Tezuka and others worked on in their earlier stages since it's a hole lot better than some stuff that is produced today. 

Wide World of Comics- (Wakfu, Persepolis)- Are they so different from America?

"How I spent my spring break? I worked on thesis, chilled with the family and of course read some comic books." Is that the stereotype report people give when asked about spring break in school? I don't remember, I may be thinking about summer vacation or something like that.

Anyway, the topic for today was the Wide World of Comics. Specifically from European artist. I've read a bunch of comics from European artist since I try to read all types of comics from different genres. I could list a lot comics that I've read but that could make this post go on and on and I would rather focus on one specific style and recommend the others later. The one comic that I focus on is from the series called Wakfu. It's basically from a French video game series that's a tactical MMORPG developed by Anakma Games. The series plays on a mythical world where there a twelve character classes that are based on the twelve gods that the world lives by. Why do I go into so much detail on this series? I wanted to get into the basic understanding of the world for people to understand the narrative of the comics. Even though the series was developed as a game, it became MORE successful as a television show and comic book series. what make this series comics different from the ones America have are that they tie into the narrative of the games and the TV show. It's narrative is either on the main characters in a different scenario or the origins of the side characters that are in the games and shows. One specifically that I really enjoy is called "The Black Raven". It tells the origin of Kabrok, a former warrior relapsing that his adventure days are over and trying to continue his life as a salesman. He's not only mostly known in the games, he even appears several times in the show. Now the talk about the comic itself. The colors and art style are colorful and cool. The themes of alcohol and sexual escapades are rather apparent even though the series is suppose to be for children. The series has been known to talk and illustrate things that most American comics feel is too controversial. It's something that a lot of French comic series seems to tell. They don't see those themes as something that is too inappropriate.

Another series that I read, or re-read since I've read about this series in high school is Persepolis. The story is more about a comic in a graphic narrative format that's in black and white. It tells the life of the writer, Marjane Strapi's life growing up during the islamic revolution. She get's into really specific  detail in the struggles in being an Iran woman living in a oppressed country where they weren't allowed to be free. The first book more so focuses on Iran and her childhood where she would sometimes see herself speaking to god (till the death of her uncle). The second one focus on her coming of age into America and how she adapts to living in a country full of freedom. You don't have to be a specific gender to connect with the story and understand her struggle. From my point to view, I loved how she wrote about her life since the point of view from woman in Iran is rare and I've never heard much from them in most medias, specifically in a graphic narrative format. Her issues with sticking to her free will and her faith in religion are things that most people go through or at least through similar situation. How her work differs from American comics is the narrative of a realistic problem that comes with realistic solutions and losses aren't shown that much. A narrative that is based on another country is also something more fascinating since different countries problems ins't that well know to others. What makes the books stand out from others tales about their life in different countries is that the way the characters are portrayed are of a cutesy styles with no humane details in their portrayal. While this cartoonish look would not usually work in many other tales, Marjane can still staple their issues with them and you can feel a similar emotion that many people in life have come to relate to. I've enjoyed re-reading it to understand what got me interested in this series before (though in high school I was forced to read in for class). I've even seen the movie twice and loved the humor shown. I would highly recommend it to anyone, it's not long and it's really enjoyable.

While many European comics may not be as popular, they are able to tell different struggles and issues that many Americans didn't go through but many can still relate to and understand their points of view.