Maus

Maus must be considered one of the most powerful comics ever written. Art Spiegelman's portrayal of his father's story was truly a masterful work of art. Spiegelman seems to put a lot of personal experiences into his work. This is part of the reason why I believe it was such a successful and truly popular graphic narrative. The story is based on Art Spiegelman's attempt to unravel the history of his parent's struggles through the holocaust. It seems like Art Spiegelman throws his heart into Maus which I feel makes it much more relatable to everyone who reads it. That's the best thing about Maus everyone seems to be able to relate to it in some way or another. I felt a strong connection to the characters within the pages of the comic and I believe everyone who reads it does as well. Even though the book revolves around anthropomorphic animals it is still a very personal read, and besides, who doesn't love cute animals. This story was downright depressing at times and at the same time, very uplifting. Since none of the characters in the book are actually human I believe it makes it easier to feel for them. A reader does not have to think about what type of person they are. In Maus they would only look into the human like characteristics and personality traits that make the characters so relatable to us.

As a Jew this story really hit home with me. I could really understand everything that was being said and the pain that Art Spiegelman's parents must have went through. I grew up knowing a married couple of holocaust survivors. I've seen their pain first hand that still sticks with them 50 to 60 years later. Knowing this couple and having them as a very prominent and important part of my childhood this made the feelings in Maus that much more believable. The strained father son relationship was also very believable to me because with the survivors I knew they were going through a very similar situation with their son. I believe that their pain must have just been so immense it must have been hard to bring yourself close to anyone. I don't think these people could handle any more pain in there lifetime. Having this situation engrained in my head helped me feel a very personal connection to Maus.

Maus is one of the greatest and most groundbreaking graphic novels ever written. It was pretty much flawless. I find many things about other graphic narratives to have problems. To put it bluntly I'm a picky reader but I felt such a strong personal connection to Art Spiegelman's story that it was hard to not be amazed by it.     

Underground Comics

I found Underground comics to be a little bit to over the top.  They were raunchy and frankly very gross.  The art was to gritty and gave me a slight uncomfortable feeling.  I can understand that they were an important step in comics but they are just not for me.     I’m not really sure who their target audience was.  Was it considered the porn of the time or was it just to make people feel uncomfortable?  Maybe some people like feeling uncomfortable from comics.  It would be a little like enjoying getting scared at a horror movie.  But some of these comics were just to out there even for me.  Granted they were an interesting experience to read.  I feel that a lot of drugs were involved in the writing of these.  My problem is that once you get over the shock value of the comics what else is there to read in them.  They were all very much the same story over and over again so I just don’t see a very endearing story keeping anyone interested after they are used to the gratuitous violence and graphic sex scenes and they have lost their zest.  Not too sure what I think about these comics.  They were fun to got though for a while but after about an hour of reading the same stories over and over again they got very boring.  

Eisner

Will Eisner hands down revolutionized the comics industry and how they are thought about today.  He strongly stressed the attitude that comics should be thought of as a form of art and not just a tool for cheap entertainment.  His drawing style is amazing.  It is hands down some of the best art for a comic I have seen.  It gets the point that it is trying to make across so easily and his characters are so expressive.  A Contract with God was a great story.  I loved how expressive the characters were.  It made them very easy to relate to.  With this story I feel that he was pushing the boundary of what a comic is and really made it into a piece of literature.  With this story he really successfully created the genre of the graphic novel.  There is definitely a reason why The Eisner Award is the biggest award in comics.  He really revolutionized the Graphic Novel industry and helped it reach the heights that it was at today.  In contract with God the characters were so relatable.  It had me tied down on an emotional level.  The continuous story line (unlike that of the previous weeks comic strip assignment) kept me locked into my seat reading this wonderful piece of literature.  I enjoyed Eisner an lot.  

The Comic Book

Tintin in Tibet was an enjoyable comic.  I really liked being able to get more into what most people think of as the “traditional” comic genre.  Herge did a good job developing the character Tintin and it really is considered a classic.  I remember when I was younger all my friends were very into reading about Tintin.  I’m glad I finally had a chance to read it.  The characters were very funny as well.  I really had fun reading the parts with the angry sailor character.  He truly had a mouth of a sailor.  The humor in this story is particularly great.  The story did get a tiny bit slow in a few parts but overall it was a fast entertaining read.  One thing I really found impressive about Herge’s story was how truly developed the characters seemed to be.  Everyone had strong personality traits and different dynamic ways of acting to different situations.  Tibet was also a good environment for an adventure to take place, very exotic.  I mean who wouldn’t be interested in Tibet?  Oh I would love to see a comic take place in Cincinnati……….. wrong!  Tibet was a great and gripping place for Tin Tin’s adventure.  

The Comic Strip

I really did not enjoy Krazy Kat in the least. The strip was hard to follow and fairly boring. The line work was sloppy which I felt did not help define the clarity of the comic strip. However the main problem with this strip was the writing. The use of slang and accented speech was almost impossible to read. The plots within each comic really had nothing that I found entertaining, I would even go so far to say that even when they were understandable there was really nothing even interesting to them.

Little Nemo in Slumberland was a much more pleasant read. I really enjoyed the artistic style Winsor McCay used to create this classic piece of work. His drawings are quick but very readable. Each comic showed a different story or setting yet still kept a common theme in terms of plot development throughout. Nemo wakes up to find himself in a new strange environment and ends up getting scared. The fun part is that every environment and situation is different. For being one of the first works of art in the genre of the comic strip I still think that the work holds up.

Calvin and Hobbes is in my opinion one of the greatest comic strips ever made. Everything about it is what I consider to be perfect. Calvin and Hobbes was a huge part of my childhood. It actually, even though it is a comic strip, got me into reading for pleasure. I used to buy the big compiled versions of the comics and sit and read them for hours. Not only can most people relate to the character (be it a children or an adult) the strip is also laugh out loud funny. I have always impressed by Bill Watterson's ink work as well. He has a way of keeping everything expressive and perfectly readable with a lovable style of characters. I also find it interesting that the stories don't always end after one daily strip. He often would continue one story arc over the course of a few weeks, something that I always found fun to follow. Calvin and Hobbes is truly a classic.

Understanding Comics

Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud was an interesting approach to a non fiction book made for the purpose of explaining the workings of comics or sequential art as a medium. I enjoyed the fact that he found away to simply explain comics by using exactly the item that he was trying to explain (a comic). I feel the reason I found that concept so enticing most likely spurs from the knowledge every student learns in middle school: you should never try to explain a concept or a definition using the same word, or I guess in this case, medium that you are trying to define. I believe, the fact that he managed to explain the inner workings of a comic using a comic helped make this book such a fun and compelling read. I feel much more knowledgeable about the medium of “comics” or “sequential art” after finishing this read.

McCloud is not stuck on defining the exact content of what a comic is. He pretty much avoided talking about one totally specific genre of comics. McCloud seemed mainly interested in discussing with the reader what comics potentially could be instead of what most people think of them as. Many people label comics as a children's form of cheap entertainment. Comics are not really considered an art form in the least, or at least weren't until very recently. McCloud tries to stress that comics are a viable medium compared to painting or a good novel.

One part that I particularly enjoyed was the section on bare bone shape. The statement that humans try to look for faces in everything was enthralling and also, in my belief, true. I feel that people look for faces in random objects to help relate to the world around you. You can take any object, and with the addition of a bulls eye symbol, make it into a face. The more basic and less recognizable the face the greater the amount of people that can relate to it.

This book was an excellent and creative way to explain a medium. It didn't drag on, it bombarded you with information without confusing or overwhelming you. I think Scott McCloud was very successful in his effort to define and explain the graphic narrative as a medium.